Prompt #9 Recognizing Significance

Yesterday, April 2^nd, Rhode Island’s top marketing official, Betsy Walls, resigned due to making a rather embarrassing error in a video funded by the state hoping to increase tourism. What was the blunder? The video, which featured different landmarks and desirable places in the state, showed a clip of someone skateboarding in front Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. A state-wide marketing campaign dedicated to showing off the wonderful places to visit in Rhode Island, and they mistakenly show a video of a building in a completely different country.  To say the least, people were shocked, upset, and downright confused about how this could have happened.

          Marketing plays an insanely massive role in our daily lives. Pretty much every form of media and every advertisement that we encounter throughout the day was chosen by a marketing team. Marketing dictates what we see and what we are exposed to, and influences the ideas and thoughts we have. Marketing and media have a huge responsibility to the public, so people often get angry when something being marketed isn’t represented correctly.

            

           Marketing is built on trust. If the advertiser does not establish themselves as credible, the ad is basically meaningless. Marketers have a moral responsibility to the public to keep their advertisements 100% honest and accurate at all times. Marketing and advertising are how we get so much of our information, and this news story is a prime example of how upset people will get when they are not being presented with accurate information. The significance of a job in marketing is to figure out how to educate, inform, convince, and appeal to viewers, and without establishing your brand as a trustworthy source, you will not be successful.

            When marketing is not done with research, integrity, and extreme attention to detail, the company or product will not be successful, and will definitely not gain the favor of the public. 

By: Rachel Seyfarth

Sources:

Bramson, Kate, and Patrick Anderson. "R.I. Video with Iceland Images Released despite Raimondo                Staffer Questions." Providencejournal.com. N.p., 30 Mar. 2016. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Juliusson, Ingolfur. "Tourism Video's Oops Moment." Stuff. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

"Rhode Island Marketing Official Resigns over Botched Tourism Video | Fox News." Fox News.                      FOX News Network, 02 Apr. 2016. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.