Author: ERICK NUNEZ

1. There has been a debate on how marketing was perceived in business in terms of the relationship between “buyer and seller” until it was understood that both parties contribute to marketing. 
2. Present trend days asserted this contribution in both parties as development in technology has changed the behavior in consumers.
3. The author explains how there has been minimal academic discussion on co-creational marketing and that this paper focuses on these co-creational practices. 
4. Consumers began establishing a role in the marketing process by being a co-producer in the value of the product, specifically music.
5. This resulted in the formation of five types of co-creational marketing such as viral marketing, sponsored user-generated brand (UGB) marketing, user-generated content (UGC) marketing, vigilante marketing, and prosumer marketing.
6. Viral marketing essentially gives consumers the power to share artists music through social media platforms giving the producer little control of the marketing process.
7. Sponsored user-generated brand marketing, also known as UGB marketing is when the consumer is able to contribute through contests set up by the artists/label which promotes music in a bit more of a professional way.
8. User-generated content marketing, also known as UGC marketing, is almost like a mix of UGB and viral marketing which consists of video clips, mash-ups, Q&A’s and so much more made by the consumer, hence given the name “user-generated.” 
9. Vigilante marketing talks about advertising strategies brands do in order to market an artist while also not getting paid to do so. 
10. Prosumer marketing is when a consumer is much more hands on towards the creation of a product, in this case the music of an artist.
11. The author restates his claim about the relationship between consumers and producers and how co-creational marketing strategies have evolved with the developments in technology. 

My question for my writing is “How do certain musical artists become successful overnight?” Another smaller question I have for this is “What marketing techniques do the artists use?” Also, the artist isn’t the only person that is responsible for their success. Their label brings up my question, “What does the label (if they’re signed) do to elevate an artist’s sales?” Another question I have is, “Does a small fanbase or decently big fan base play a role in how an artist blows up to be known globally?” Lastly, “Does quality matter when becoming a successful artist?” in terms of a good mix in a song. Artists such as XXXTENTACION became popular with terrible quality in their songs, so does this matter?

Gallo speaks on the topic of surveillance cameras and how they have negative and positive effects on society. He brings up both sides saying that surveillance cameras are a violation to people’s privacy yet they provide comfort to vulnerable people. Gallo also observes how cameras enforce societal norms to be established in communities since the pressure of being watched makes people behave. She brings up how in the 1990s, African Americans were seen as a threat to people and surveillance emphasized this as it, “normalized concerns around the “danger” of African-Americans.” However she adds the benefit of having cameras around vulnerable children such as youth swimming. Policies have been placed to protect these kids from potential pedophelia or abuse by coaches providing a safer environment. However she counters this by saying the need for cameras violates coaches’ privacy. Overall, Gallo shows how this controversial topic can go both ways.

I have noticed that Gallo uses sources that aren’t biased to address both sides of the argument. For example one source that Gallo used was an article titled “Surveillance and conformity in competitive youth swimming” by Melanie Lang where she was able to provide not only background information towards the correlation in sports and cameras, but a specific example by addressing youth swimming and the policies surrounding it. Another source she uses is an article called “Performing honor online: The affordances of social media for surveillance and impression management in an honor culture” where she explores the topic of how people, specifically young adults, behave under surveillance and how this causes rebellion in places where they don’t seem to be observed such as social media. Behaving and following strict rules are considered a norm in society due to the consequences of getting caught by surveillance cameras. Gallo was able to use this to explore the results of surveillance and how it can have a negative/positive effect on people’s careers. 

I practice crap detection everytime I see certain family members that come from Florida to visit me and my family. When my parents grew up in Argentina, racism was a common thing in South America so they grew accustomed to people voicing their opinions about African Americans and how they “ruin the development of societies”. Unfortunately even in 2021 some of these people still exist and my great aunt is one of them. Everytime she comes over she can’t help but express her political views on African Americans which are ignorant and flat out racist. However, me and my parents always ignore her when she speaks about this since her opinions are not valid.  

As I have done research in the past, I have never considered the stance of the author from my sources on the topic I am researching for. While it seemed like an obvious thing to do, I am so focused on researching as quickly as I can I don’t stop to think what the author may think. This shouldn’t be a problem yet authors subconsciously write about their own opinions which could possibly influence me. 

A past rule I have been taught in writing which is now unhelpful to me is not using certain words such as “you” and even contractions because it makes the paper seem “informal.” While this may be true, I’ve learned that everyone has their own style of writing and limitations like this should not hold a person back. I’ve used the word “you” in multiple papers to relate to the reader on another level and even if I believe the word sounds misplaced I use “one” instead to represent a person. 

An unpopular opinion I believe in is that people should hold their fork with their dominant hand and their knife with the other while cutting food. As a person who enjoys food and consumes it at least four times a day, cutting into steak to even a pancake has been very easy for me. This is simply because holding your food down with your dominant hand will give you a better grip on what you are cutting, thus allowing a steady cut to be made. When I was a child, cutting food was very hard for me until I made the switch and it became much easier. When people cut food with their dominant hand a greater amount of force is used to cut, yet their non-dominant hand isn’t keeping the food down steadily enough which can cause strong foods such as steak to be prone to slipping. People say that when you finish cutting with your right hand, you must put the knife down, switch the fork to your dominant hand then eat what you cut. This is all unnecessary because if people used their fork in their dominant hand, this switch wouldn’t need to be done. 

One process of inquiry I have pursued simply for pleasure is music and how certain songs were made. In my free time I would remake popular songs just by listening to them over and over again in order to understand what makes up a popular song. My “research” is gaining knowledge of drum patterns and music theory to create catchy melodies. This also answers my questions as to how a song is made and what little aspects they have in which the average listener wouldn’t notice. 

One experience I would like to research more about is how a setting affects people’s productivity. For example, I always find myself being more productive when I’m in the library rather than being home. It makes me wonder how different aspects of the setting might affect our behavior. Another topic I would like to do more research on is serving the military and the long term effects it may have on a person. I am close with people who served and I wonder how a specific event can cause triggering episodes for some veterans. Lastly, I would like to do more research on why smaller dogs tend to bark at other dogs compared to bigger ones who are usually calm. I have two small dogs in my house and after observing the behavior of other dogs, I came to the conclusion that bigger dogs are usually calmer. 

Something that I learned for the first time about research after reading Lunsford and Ruskiewicz is that Wikipedia isn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be. As long as you verify the credibility of your source you shouldn’t hesitate to use it. Also, when using a search engine such as Google it is important to note certain keywords to use such as and, or, and not. While they don’t seem important, these keywords tell the search engine specific command as stated on page 155, “In doing such searches, you’ll need to observe the search logic that is followed by a particular database.” Lunsford and Ruskiewicz state that it is much better to use library databases when researching on a specific subject because you may not find what you’re looking for on Web searches. 

Yablonovskiy wrote about the show Nu Pogodi which is essentially a Russian version of the American cartoon Tom and Jerry. He describes how shows like Nu Pogodi were purposefully played as propaganda for children in the USSR in order for them to follow the rules of their society and become successful citizens. The cartoon was also watched to, “escape the conformity of life, and experience a relief from feelings of depression caused by the strict, mundane routine they endured outside” (Page 140). This shows how the propaganda not only influenced the community of the Soviet Union but served as a distraction from the hardships of a communist group. He explains how the bunny and the wolf in the show partake in social events like singing and dancing to influence children to become “well-rounded citizens.” He also explains how the wolf gets arrested numerous times, showing the correct behavior citizens should follow. Overall, the communist norms of the USSR influenced this kind of propaganda to be displayed in order for the “perfect” community to be developed in the Soviet Union. 

Yablonovskiy’s argument is very persuasive as he uses specific examples like the show “Nu Pogodi” to demonstrate the propaganda that was present in the Soviet Union. He even points out specific scenes from the movie to show how it could influence the citizens of the USSR, specifically children. Some things I didn’t know about the Soviet Union was that there were cartoons specifically made to impact children so they can distinguish right from wrong. This is similar to the United States as certain cartoons are made to inform children about culture and norms in society such as Dora the Explorer. However, these Russian cartoons were described as almost manipulative by Yablonovskiy since their main purpose was to shape children for the perfect society.

The issue Chau is addressing is the discrimination of Chinese immigrants and how Hollywood movies minimize the issue as a insignificant matter. 

This is a controversial issue because people have always seen Chinese as anything else but normal due to their hardworking trait. However, big influences such as movies like “Fresh Off the Boat” make these problems seem unimportant, which could result in the Chinese race being undermined. 

Chau’s argument using the movie “Fresh Off the Boat” is the strongest because he calls the movie unrealistic and thoroughly explains why. He states, “…to use only comedy in movies and tv shows and to avoid real issues such as domestic violence and prejudice” (Page 137). Not only is this a strong argument, but it persuades the audience by relating to the feeling of comedy movies and how it acts as a distraction of the true issue; discrimination.

The best argument I could imagine for the other side is that these modern day sources such as movies should be recognized as false. This would encourage people to educate themselves to learn more about the truth behind Chinese discrimination. These movies shouldn’t be seen as unreliable, but an opportunity to learn more.

Some gaps I have discovered is the reason a lot of Chinese immigrated to the United States and it was because of the Gold Rush. It makes sense that these immigrants would want to work hard resulting in Americans claiming they are intentionally stealing their jobs.