Backpacker Segment Report

【Name】Jessie Lin (Chia Jou LIn) 【Student ID】02601333
【Phone】 415.832.0994 【Email】jessiecolorful@gmail.com
【Instructor/Director】Cameron Maddux
【Class】Directed Study : One on one section
【Semester】MFA POST-Midpoint
【Entry Category】Account Planner
Target Segment of backpacker

Backpaker Segment

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Purpose
The climbing numbers of backpacker travelers hits the traditional mass travel patterns of the world. Most of backpackers tend to seek experience and call themselves as “Experience seeker.” Experience is part of individuals' inward, and will be transformer into memory which engages in the behavior decisions. It is important to realize the target consumer before asking positive benefits from this market.

Art of Backpacking
【Yesterday's drifters should become today's movers and shakers.】
It is far more than a way of traveling or vocation, but a means of education
It doesn't matter where you're from, only where you're going. The plan is there is no plan
It doesn't teach you independence - it hones your independence and makes you more self-sufficient.
Once you've figured out how to survive in this strange world, then you can embrace its difference, marveling at its richness and its unceasing variety.
If you can survive as a backpacker, you can deal with any problems that life may throw at your later.

The Global Nomad
1. Who are the backpacker? 2. Why do they choose backpacking?
3. Which destinations do they visit?
4. How do they travel? 5.What are their motivations for choosing specific destinations and travel routes?
6. What sources of information do they use on their travels?

Insights - Experience Seeker
1. Long duration of travel (3 months to years)
2. Focus on inexpensive travel options 3. Stay in discount accommodation (hostels)
4. Primarily 18-25 age bracket
5. Desire for adventure
6. Interest in local cultures
7. Commonly work while traveling
8. Carry large backpacks
9. Use a lot of low-end public transport
10. Tend to be social and enjoy meeting others
11. Minimal advance planning

The backpacker mindset - “The plan is there is no plan.”

Process
I followed the way of visual-thinking precess in conducting my research.



【4 types of International Backpackers】
It was then, I conclude backpackers into four different type of backpacking.

Type 1. Experimental and Experiential Backpacker
Type 2. Humanist Backpackers
Type 3. Diversionary and Recreational Backpackers
Type 4. Multiple Backpackers

Segment Introduction and Fiction Personas
The backpacker market is not homogeneous but includes a number of identifiable segments, which have slightly different interests and needs.

Type 1. Experimental and Experiential Backpacker
- to feel

Type 2. Humanist Backpackers
- to think/ to live


Type 3. Diversionary and Recreational Backpackers
- to play

Type 4. Multiple Backpackers
- mixing

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Site Specific Life Insight - The Bone Room

【Name】Jessie Lin (Chia Jou LIn) Vicky W Chang 【Student ID】02601333
【Phone】 415.832.0994 【Email】jessiecolorful@gmail.com
【Instructor/Director】Brady Baltezore , Joshua Brandau
【Class】Directed Study : Advertising Media Planning
【Semester】MFA POST-Midpoint
【Entry Category】Account Planner
【Site Specific Life Insight - The Bone Room】

【Story behind this assignment】
Ever since me and my partners got the hint,which is a line "mounted butterflies & a jar of human's toes", from instructors, we started our research online. We found this is a place, located in Berkeley, claims itself as a Natural History Museum. Of course, we had to go there on our own for visiting and experiencing. Our main goal is to find out the insights behind this store, and make people interested in this place. It was then, we started planning how to make this assignment more interesting.


We'd never been to this store before, it was like an adventure for us. Adventure?! sounds like fun! How about put ourselves into the plan? making a video? just like a TV show or Discovery Channel? It was where our idea and video came from in the beginning.

When we went into the store, there are variety of insects' fossils, human bones, and some unique objects. Many of you can look around and find intriguing items for your home. As for the jar of human toe bones, the coiled and beautifully mounted cobra skeleton, the pickled shrew in a jar, they are interesting but not something I'd personally take home but that is what makes the store fascinating.




So, what's the insight behind this cool place?

After being through the experience, we felt that this is definitely an eclectic little corner of berkeley. It doesn't have information or details as many as you expect, but it does be a place where inspire people in different ways.

Originally, our plan is trying to talk a lot in this video, like a traveling program host interviews with the boss and people visiting the store. However, when we were there, there's nobody there but only us. And, the boss is "kinda" busy and not be able to talk with us without scheduled. It turns out to be that we gotta have "Plan B". So, we use several expressions and reactions from the movies in our video, in order to show the feeling of inspirations which the store give people in the first sight.

We believe that this is just the first step to connect with this curious world, and to inspire you. Just like the story books, always have a sentence in the beginning "Once upon a time…", what else? WE will see.

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► My Last Fall in San Francisco

It's been a long time I haven't written anything about my planner diary for months, and now I am starting again...without reasons.

This is a really awkward semester for me, I just start going toward in the professional field of planning and strategies, but it's as well the last semester for me having all these classes in San Francisco. Probably I will be back to Taiwan before 2010 Spring. Why? After all I don't have any rest of classes in my Direct Study but only one GS class left, so there's no reason for me to stay here without going to school for my profession anymore. It is said that I'm gonna have my final review in Taiwan through the web cam with Cameron(AP director > which is my boss) and Milanda (Advertising Director), and take GS class(通識) online as well after then. Right, this is my PLAN!

People ask me how come you won't just stay here and find a job in the U.S, after all you got a pretty nice resume so far, and it won't be too hard to find a job here then. It definitely would be a great experience for you. Jess, stay!!!

Wait...Sounds great, isn't it? Let me think about that again...Okay...I got it!

Listen! my sweetest dearest friends! Are you really thinking it will be that easy for international students staying here with a working visa? if not so, how about just get an opportunity of internship without salary, still feed myself and ask money from parents still? C'mon! Don't be silly!

Why don't you just stay? Gosh! I'm 26 years old, and I am EAGER to earn money right now! I don't care what people thought, I just know that I used to earning money on my own for years, and now I cannot stand anymore asking money from my parents! It's pretty common thing for students for sure, but it's just NOT me!

Why don't you just find a job here? since I don't wanna take any risks staying here with uncertain opportunities, wasting both my time and money just because of "an experience". Surely I know that experience is gonna be my forever treasure in the rest of my life, it definitely costs priceless. But you know what? personally I do believe it depends on the value of one's mind still.

Experiences? I've had already. Enough? It's never gonna be enough. What to do? just keep going with your faith and value, you will get more back in the future as long as you exactly know what you are doing every single moment. Then, it worth.

I miss my country so much, but I'm as well pretty hard to let my life and friends in San Francisco go without feeling bad. It's time to memorize all these pleasures in my way of blogging. San Francisco? there's a Taiwanese girl's story started here, and it's gonna last forever in her mind for sure.

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► Harder is Better

yes we can!
原由 jessiecolorful 上載

Some of my friends in Asia couldn't really get the ideas of how exactly an account planner works in an adverting agency, so the majority just know that I am learning something in Ad, and all they know about the advertising world is that people who might be really professional in Photoshop or people who might be really talent in writing, and moreover, people who might really know how to sell or promote a product, that's it! So, I barely mentioned about the position of mine in this world, even I know we do play important roles between clients and agencies, people don't even mind afterwards.

Honestly, I never heard of the term of Account Planner before I came to the U.S. In terms of this real word, even my dad is a certain big guy in the Ad world in Asia, I should be able to know about that, but we ain't used to have AP in the Ad world. So, I was really ignorant before.

It's true that I'm sort of wondering afterwards I still have to go back to my country, and how am I going to do? Being an Account Executive forever? or just going back to broadcasting company whatever? Come'n, we all know it's been a hard time for graduated students to find a job in this global currency of recession, no mention us, International students. However, in my point of views, it can be an challenges or opportunity for us, Account Planners.

I know the origin of account planners was from U.K, and some Britishs might consider that planner is just all about blogging or emailing (I've found out for a while when I was reading Britisher's blog), but I just know there's something more than that for sure. And this is also the reason why I've been SO enjoying everything from learning so far.

Even thought I always have a feeling of "Not Enough", but which also means that I'm never done. It's like you are running a race, and you know theres' always someone beyond you, the only thing you can do is to keep running and running until you decide to wave the white flag, otherwise you are never done. If planning is really about culture and people, either of them are changing, you have to be changed all the time as well. As long as you've been following the trends, you won't be able to become a history.

So, what if there's a global obsession out there, the only thing to do is to change yourself, adjust your mind but rather than to cry for how unfortunate you are in this currency, or how unsuccessful your company is. We know cultures, we can do everything which is related to cultural design or development; we also know about people, everything is all about people, not just only in the world of advertising. Planner is just a Noun, we gotta make it become a Verb, afterward we could be able to have chances making it become a Proper Noun.

Hey! think about this way! How lucky we are to be able to do literally ANYTHING in nowadays?

I know it can be really hard to stay in the U.S after I graduate, I know it's not that easy to get the H1 VISA after then, and I also know there's still no AP position in the most of agencies in Asia. But I will keep moving forward to prepare myself becoming a more challenging people. I believe harder is better, therefore, there's nothing can really crackdown us.


Because, yes we can!













Damn! I think I can be a psychologist, who wanna book a consolation with me?
= =

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► Language Does Matter

A piece of me
原由 jessiecolorful 上載

Could languages change one's personality? Trust me, yes. I've been trying so hard to conquer the language problem since I came to the U.S. For non-English speakers, even you can read well in English, it doesn't mean you could speak or listen well; for international "graduate" students, when you've started to speak or listen much better than before, it's time to graduate from school and go BACK home!!!(Come on! College students at least have 4-years to find the way out.) Here is the problem, if you couldn't express yourself appropriately, how is it possible for forieners to really immerse into this culture and learn from it?

"It's really hard for me to make friends in English. It's not ME! I can't even express myself in my style." Once my Taiwanese friend in the U.S told me the reason why he didn't want to or try to make friends with people in English. I have heard once before that "To have another language is to possess a second soul." I know not too much people have ever experienced the issue of switching languages do change your personality things, but as an advertising school student, let me share some feelings of mine with you, no matter you are natives or foreigners, trust me, language does matter.

08/20/2007, I remember clearly this was the date I came to the U.S, and it's also the date I stared to become like a person who I didn't even know who I am. Every time when I was trying to speak, I MUST practice in mind first or write a note holding in my hand in advance, just in order to keep conversation smoothly or fluently. Regardless of how good I used to be, in the U.S I was like an elementary school student, making joke in front of crowd became as normal as usual.

It was then I came to the ADV Department, the fewest international students' major in our school. Damn!!! Nobody told me that the reason there are fewest international students here is because of we need to present everything, everyday in each of our classes, which certainly hang over us. And as an AP, speaking is like the only thing to do in the class, no mention presentation , Power Point and Keynote are our best friends.

But after going through lots of awkward silence or communication problem, I realize that the best way to conquer language is to think naturalness, not perfection. It's like a curse that as long as I wrote a note or prefect speech and practice the rehearsal several times before on the stage, I screwed out without doubt. But only if I present something more like a conversation, I work things out.

It doesn't mean that "Right Way" is not good thing to do. But sometimes either you or me definitely think the same way that expressing oneself straightforwardly might be the best way to make people listen.

Now, I may unconsciously change my personality when I switch languages. However, I've got the idea that even we always concern the difference between cultures and languages, the most important thing is still to do thing not intentionally. Time goes by, you will find yourself INTO this culture and languages. Afterward, you will have much more advantages than others, because you know how to put yourself into currency.

I am still not good in word, at least this is true me.

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► Not Enough

The School of Advertising
原由 jessiecolorful 上載

I am supposed to share something after the midpoint review thing on Monday, but I didn't. I am supposed to be really happy with my passing of my midpoint review thing, but I didn't. That's a really awkward feeling, I have no idea what's going on with me. But one thing that I am really sure is "Not Enough". Not enough with learning, not enough with doing, not enough with everything. Am I sick?......yeh..probably.

Recently, when I have been reading a lot, I found the more I read, and the more I feel lost. I start chasing the latest trends as much as I can, it was then I feel so afraid it wasn't enough. Eventually this is not my culture background. Even though how hard I was giving into, I still don't know large amounts of brand in this marketplace. So , i am not only trying to read a lot, but also trying to "KNOW" a lot. That was a really horrible feeling.

How many time have you got a new product and you don't even know what the hell was it? And you felt bad to ask detail since everyone looks like all having no problem with it. You was trying to get the ideas during the instructors' short introduction, and till felt lost until going back home to browse Internet. Finally, you won't show the confusing smile in your face. But, it was too late to talk about your reaction of this product in time of class. (I suppose we account planner all need to have lots of first thoughts of any products.)

People won't never feel this frustrations until you're crossing the borders. Right now, I finally can REALLY understand how my overseas friends felt when they came to Taiwan for studying and living. It's not that easy. What you are going to face is not only language shock but also culture shock. It's really hard to call for others' help, since they can be hard to understand what you feel and look. It's not their fault for sure, because they can live as easier as they want in their familiar way. It was then people get used to being with their own country's friends in the strange country. However, that is not supposed thy way we are looking for, aren't we?

It's fortune that I have lots of overseas friends from different countries but the U.S being together with me. So, I still can be really getting involved in what I am trying to do. Some of them come from English as first language countries, some of them are not. But we all get the same feeling in this way of learning. So, we are all really willing to support and help each others. And by being through the process, I improve my English a lot and feel mind-fulfill as well. Just for some reasons, especially in the part of account planner, I somehow will feel so lost until I find the way going back.


Still, keep going.

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► As A Planner....

Advertising School
原由 jessiecolorful 上載

In our department, we are separated into three positions, Art Director, Copywriter, and Account Planner. Since this is an art school. the majority students are art directors or copywriters, then, we account planners are the fewest people in this department. Yeah, we are sub-culture.

Some people might say why don't you just go become art director, but I surely know that I wouldn't like to be a "skiller", technically, an "artificer", in the future. If I do, I would prefer to be a film director instead of an art director(No offense. It's not about art director, it's about me. I know that I can't be that good in those software like Shravan or Mauricio, or Rob. But I might can be good in motion pictures or something like Final Cut Pro). Since I love art more than others, and I do love money as well (Tell me who don't?). However, the best way to make both happen is Advertising rather than Movie industry (you know, there is no Hollywood in Taiwan. = =) Finally, I'm still back to the family business, Advertising.

I never intended to be a planner, it kind of just happened. I know talking about this is sort of too early, after all I haven't really dedicated to this industry yet. But when I was in the first semester, we all need to decide what we're going to be in the future, then, we could have the advanced classes in our professional field. At the same time, I was pretty lucky to have Cameron's class (He is really passionate about teaching students in the way of storytelling style). Bomb! he hit me! I realized that I definitely do love movies, but maybe what I really love is the way people tell their stories more. No doubt, I do want to be an planner in this school without thinking.

However, in this department, people don't really pay too much attentions on us. And poor me, always being the only account planner in each class. Some classes are only designed for art directors and copywriters to cooperate making works done. So, how about account planer, me? yeah, honestly I almost don't need to do anything but only PRETEND I was working hard. No one really cares about me anyway. But I do know this is not the reason I came here. I want to have something back from classes, I want to have gain people's trust. Even though I don't even need to do anything for classes, I still try so hard to work on my own, then , get involved actively. Sometimes, it's kind of really like a dumb.

One thing that I really enjoyed so far is finally I found my way in learning. I read a lot in current trend and news. I watch a lot in TV shows, Movies, and DVDs in order to improve my English. It was then I started to realize that the most important thing for account planner is not to TAKE something from people,from customer, even from brands but to GIVE something for them. You are never done, you never stop learning or you will become history. If planning is really about culture and people, and they won't stop moving forward, so do you.

If there is nothing people can do for me, then, I do for myself and them. Hopefully one day I will really give something for people.

In the end, I still wanna say, I really love and appreciate all of you, my friends and teachers, who always support me, inspire me, cheer me up. Right now, I might not good enough. But, one day, I definitely will.

To all of account planners, my sweet partners.
Jessie

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► Pecha Kucha

Pecha Kucha
原由 jessiecolorful 上載

For most of students, the most difficult and horrible things definitely are presentations. Actually, I never feel nervous when I was going to have a presentation in front of the crowd, of course, only in Mandarin. (I am no kidding you, I was really GOOD in speech. Kind of won variety awards in speech.) But now, in English, if I were going to have a presentation in the class, I will need to practice and practice several times, in order to making everything perfect as what I've done in Taiwan. Since I kind of can't stand for bad expressions in every detail of my life. However, we won't never escape from this horrible thing, especially us, Advertising students. "Taking" is the basic skill in every class, not mentioned about "Well-Taking".

Yesterday, in my Strategy Thinking class, we were going to have a presentation for our first project of culture experience. Yeah, this wasn't a special thing for us. BUT, we were going to use a new skill of presentation "Pecha Kucha" to do it. So, what the hell is Pecha Kucha?!!!!

Briefly, Pecha Kucha is a presentation format in which (mostly creative) work can be easily, efficiently and informally shown. It was started in Tokyo, Japan around 2003. The main idea behind Pecha Kucha is to keep presentations concise. So, you're gonna have 20 slides for each 20 seconds. Only images.

When I first time got this information, I felt like "umm...not that hard, 20 seconds, do I have that much to say?".....Then, hahahaha, I totally screwed up! A terrible MESS. I couldn't even finish the whole speech what I've prepared to say, I could barely talk about the image on the slide, and then, it jumped to next slide directly. When I realized it was finished, I was still in the mood of rush. So, I was pretty upset last night, even though Cameron and everyone all felt it was great, and they totally got the idea. I still feel like shit.

Anyway, if next time you are going to have Pecha Kucha presentation, I would suggest you that only using one sentence describes what you are going to express in each slide, then, if time is still enough, just talk about anything just jump into your mind which you would want to let audience know, and then, go to the next slide unhurried. Trust me, you will do a really great job ever.

Pecha Kucha, Fuck you!!!!!!!

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