The Hidden Talent

By: Brendan Kelley

Finding a job is really hard. It is especially hard when you lack social and networking skills. How are you able to succeed in an interview let alone get one? Could you imagine trying to get a job, while also suffering from autism. Well many companies are trying to change this.

            A German Software company called SAP is making an initiative to hire more people suffering from autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. It all started two years ago when they hired a woman named Janis Oberman as a software specialist. Janis had been diagnosed with Asperger’s as an adult and for years and went in and out of temporary jobs. Even though Janis had a master’s in multimedia fro California State University, she still had trouble finding a job. She got hired as part of the company’s global initiative to recruit candidates with autism and Asperger’s.

            People with Autism can be very smart. Sometime it is just the social skills that are slightly lacking. Strengths of people with autism include, the ability to find patters in data, and focus of highly repetitive work. These qualities are perfect for jobs in data analysis, IT, software design and multimedia.

            Tim Weiler says, “They’re diligent and capable of a period of prolonged focus. If you can alter your sourcing strategy by not unconsciously screening them out when you interview them, you can solve management issue.” So far the information technology services company for SAP, CAI, has hired 50 people with autism and is aiming to hire 120, 3 percent of their work force.

            I think that this is a great initiative. Because autism can effect people’s social skills it makes it hard for people suffering from it to excel in interviews and face-to-face discussions. With all the benefits of these hard working individuals it would be idiotic to not hire them because they present talent that can be extremely useful for companies.

Sources:

Che, Jenny. "Why More Companies Are Eager To Hire People With Autism." Huffington Post. 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.

Opportunity Cost in Business

By Jinsui Y.

What is opportunity cost?

In economic theory, Opportunity cost of one activity is the value of the next-best alternative. For instance, if you spend extra one hour watching TV or playing video game, you will have one less hour to playing volleyball. So, TV is the next-best value. The opportunity cost for TV is the one hour on volleyball court. Also, it can also be measured in dollars. What is the opportunity cost of spending $40 on a pair of jeans? The opportunity cost is that those $40 will not be available to be spend on something else. In a word, Businessmen always want to minimize opportunity cost when they making commercial choice. Opportunity cost is one of the most essential standards in business activity. 

What are the prerequisites for using opportunity cost?

1.      The resources are scare.

2.      The resources have multiple uses.

3.      The resources have been already used efficiently.

4.      The resources are free mobility in market.

How can we use opportunity cost in market?

As the development of modern society, most of us begin to have very busy and fast-paced lives. In that case, time become valuable for us as a scare resources. We could use one hour to take a wonderful dinner, have a meeting in company, watch a fantastic moving, or have a talk with family. We can use it in different ways. Also, many people use it efficiently. Also, it is free mobility in market because of the employment relationship. Therefore, time meets all the prerequisites for using opportunity.

Nowadays, many people did a great job on using opportunity cost about time. For example, McDonald did a good job on it because this company knew that saving time is important for people. Compare to waiting some good and healthy food for a long time, people are willing to get fast food. In that case, getting good and healthy food is the opportunity cost for time. So, McDonald understands the thought of people and get a lot of profits through using opportunity cost.

In a word, opportunity cost is always an essential consideration for consumer and firm before they make commercial choices. So, if a consumer could minimize his/her opportunity cost he/she would get highest degree of satisfaction through little cost. A firm could get largest profits, if it could use opportunity cost in proper way.

Image from:

McDonald's Franchise. Digital image. https://www.franchisehelp.com/franchises/mcdonalds/. Web. 29 March 2016.
Joshua, kennon. 3 Types of Opportunity Cost That Influence Your Investment Portfolio. Digital image.  http://beginnersinvest.about.com/od/Opportunity-Cost/a/3-Types-Of-Opportunity-Cost.htm. Web. 29 March 2016.

Reference:

Joshau, Kenon. about money. 3 Types of Opportunity Cost That Influence Your Investment Portfolio. Web 29 March 2016.

Competing For Customers

By Heidi G.

    Over the past few years, online travel websites such as Expedia, Hotwire, and Travelocity have been competing with hotels and airlines for customers.  While you would assume that websites such as these would benefit your business, hotels and airline companies think otherwise.  As these companies are attempting to create a brand loyalty, travel websites are ruining this.  Travel planning websites are designed to give the customer the cheapest options, regardless of the hotel or airline company.  In return, this makes it so that less people book directly with any hotel they would like to stay at.
    Hotels are changing their ways, by attempting to create loyal, lasting customers.  Hotels like Marriott and Hilton are being forced to advertise loyalty programs to ensure that people will stick to their hotel brand.  Marriott loyalty customers are offered free wi-fi as well as being able to check-in and check-out using their mobile app.  Hotel and airline companies are trying to build trust, so that in the future customers will have loyalty to their company ensuring them their business.
     While hotels and airlines are doing this, your best bet is still to book using a travel website.  Travel websites don't pick favorites when it comes to major hotel and airline companies.  They ensure that the customer finds something that meets their needs, at the cheapest price possible.  When you book using travel websites, the hotel or airline must pay them a commission regardless of the company.  This is why companies such as Marriott and Hilton are pushing for people to book directly using their own websites.  Although competing for customers is very prominent in the travel industry, it's something commonly found in all forms of business.


Sources:

 "Home - Expedia, Inc." Expedia, Inc. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

 "Marriott Removes Ad Likening Agents to Creepy Petrol Station Attendants | Traveltalk." Marriott Removes Ad Likening Agents to Creepy Petrol Station Attendants | Traveltalk. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.

Tugend, Alina. "Hotel Chains and Travel Websites in a Tug of War for Customers." The New York Times. The New York Times, 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016. 

Prompt 4: Considering Delivery And Style

By: Ian O.

      One of this main dilemmas anyone is going to run into when researching is whether the source they are looking at is right for them. This can either range from whether it is professional enough, accurate enough, or even if it fits their audience. To look at this further, we are gonna look at both a blog post about marketing, found here, and a scholarly article about marketing, found here. We will analysis the use of both styles, look at delivery, and determine when to use both kinds of writing in order to make your research as good as possible.

                                                                The Articles: 

      To start, we have our example of the blog post. This is a post written by Micheal Andrews, a freelancing content strategist who has a wealth of experience in the field. The article itself is delivered in a way that makes the reader think they are having a discussion opposed to being lectured at, allowing a more casual feel. The article isn't backed by huge amounts of statistics, but instead consists mostly of the authors own experiences and stories.

     On the other side, we have the scholarly article. This is written by Yoo Myongjee, a graduate student out of the University of Nevada. This article is very cut and dry, relying on a basic claim followed by example format. The examples are typically based on statistics and polls, and has a very professional feel to it, almost feeling like a lecture.

                                                           
                                                            What They Bring:

     In terms of style, the blog post brings a much more casual sort of feel, with the scholarly article being very professional and strict with it's focus. This can be seen in both the language being used as well as how examples are supported. Much like how I mentioned before, the blog post was typically supported by personal experiences and stories as opposed to the scholarly article which was based around statistics. This means if you are looking for something that showcases the cold facts, a scholarly source might be better, however a blog post might be better if you are looking for something you want your readers to relate to and feel more. Some concerns, however, can be biases the writing has as well as inaccuracy within the examples.

     On to the delivery, the first thing to notice is that the blog post tends to be much more loose with how it addresses the reader. It feels more like a conversation, with the professionalism sprinkled on but overall a casual tone with it's word choice. The scholarly article was much different, with the delivery being completely based around statistics and facts, and much of the dialogue being strictly third persona and professionally based. It feels more like a lesson then it does a conversation and can be difficult to read for many.


                                                               Which to Use?
 
       With both article examples analyzed, it is time for us to look at when to use each type. The blog post shows a much more casual and free versed style of writing, sacrificing cold facts for experiences and stories when it comes to it's examples. This means it might not benefit when researching for a research paper or a analysis report, but instead should be used for a persuasion article or a blog post. It's casual feel makes it great for getting the audience to relate and think while still presenting information.

     The scholarly article is a much different type, showing strict professionalism and cold facts with statistics. This does mean is sacrifices a lot of relate ability, making it hard for a persuasive point. With this in mind, it is much better to use scholarly articles when writing research papers and analysis papers, as opposed to blog posts or other casual styles of writing. It's upfront facts and professionalism makes it great for a paper that needs that professionalism or  paper that relies on being backed by a multitude of facts and statistics.




Citations:

Andrews, Micheal. "Content Strategy for Product Reviews." Web log post. Http://storyneedle.com/.              31 July 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. 

Myongjee Yoo , Sojung Lee , Billy Bai , (2011) "Hospitality marketing research from 2000 to 2009 :              Topics, methods, and trends", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,            Vol. 23 Iss: 4, pp.517 - 532

Pic One: http://connect-prod.mheducation.com.s3.amazonaws.com/connectmarketing/prod/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Flip_v3-02.png

Pic Two: https://www.audioconferencing.com/img/illustrations/question@2x.png

Engel's law

by zeyang wu

The mid-nineteenth century, the German economist and statistician Engel on consumption of different income households in Belgium conducted a survey to study the effect of increasing income on consumption expenditure components of demand, put forward the theory with regularity; thereby Engel's Law is named. Engel’s law is the proportion of total food expenditure in the total consumption of individual consumption.

The less a family income, household income used to buy food, the greater the proportion of expenditure, with the increase in household income the proportion of household income used to buy food spending will fall. By extension, a poorer the country, the average income for every citizen of the proportion of expenditure on food, the greater, with the rich countries, the percentage decline.

Engel's law is expressed primarily food expenditure to total expenditure ratio varies with changes in income certain trend. It reveals the relationship between household income and food expenditure, the total consumption expenditure, with the proportion of food expenditure to illustrate the economic development income increased degree of influence on life consumption. As we all know, eating is the first need of human existence, at lower income levels, which inevitably plays an important role in consumer spending. As income increases, in the case of food to meet the basic needs of the consumer focus will begin to wear, use and other aspects of the transfer. Thus, the greater the Engel coefficient of a country or family life more poverty; on the contrary, the Engel coefficient is smaller, more affluent life.

Engel coefficient of 59% or more for the poor, 50-59% of normal, well-off 40-50%, 30-40% for the wealthy, less than 30% for the richest.

resource:
Carle C. Zimmerman, "Ernst Engel's Law of Expenditures for Food," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 47, No. 1, , p. 80.November 1932. book. Mar. 2016

Airlines Plummet

Brendan K.

Terrorism is a terrible thing. It puts our people in a state of fear and insecurity. It is hard to track and a lot of times once the government is on its trail, it is too late. On March 22, 2016 there was a bombing in Brussels, Belgium by the terrorist group know as “ISIS”. 31 people were found dead and over 200 injured. The news of this event left people all around the world in shock and fear. But the people around the world weren’t the only ones to feel the after shock.

            Shortly after the reported bombing occurred airline stock started to plummet. Airline-France decreased by 4.8 percent hours after the attack and many American and Delta airlines decreased by 1.63 and 1.42 percent. These stocks falling most likely have something to do with the location of the Brussels bombing. The first bomb of two went off in an airport leaving people running for their lives, while the other went out on in the subways.

            The occurrence of this terrorist attack taking a toll on the people and the airline stock markets is similar to what occurred on September 11^th in the United States. After 4 planes were hijacked by terrorists and crashed into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, many people were fearful to fly for a few years following. It is also proven that less people fly on September 11^th and airline tickets were much cheaper every year up until 2010 because many people refuse to fly on that day.

            The effect that terrorism has on the global economy is unbelievable. It can cause a stock to fall in minutes. Human emotions have a big impact on buying habits and when we aren’t happy we are less likely to and buy things. I think that the marketing world is amazing because of all the outside factors that contribute to people’s buying habits. It’s an unpredictable field and tricky to figure out what will happen in the future.

 Sources:
Kaufmen, Alexander C. "One Account. All of Google." Huffington Post. 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. 

Wagner, Laura. "Terrorist Bombings Strike Brussels: What We Know." NPR. NPR, 22 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

Wheatstone, Richard. "Live Updates in Brussels as ISIS Terrorists Are Unmasked by Authorities." Mirror. 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. 

Office Environments Impact on Productivity

By Heidi G.

     Many working environments are very bland in order to ensure that workers don't get too distracted.  As time goes on, the workplace is expanding and conditions are becoming better than ever before.  More and more people are being able to work from home, or places other than work such as a restaurant or coffee shop due to technological advances.  For people who unfortunately must still work in an office environment, there's plenty of ways that companies are making up for this.
     Working from home can cause many distractions, so many companies don't allow it.  Family matters, and personal matters are much more likely to get in the way of productivity at home, whereas there are few distractions when working in an office setting.  When stuffed in a solid colored, basic cubicle, there's not many other things to do besides getting what needs to be done, done.  Although, there's many benefits to having employees come into the office, there's also many downfalls.  To compensate for this offices should do all they can to increase creativity and production.
     Bright colors can go a long way.  Bright colors are proven to increase creativity.  It does so by inspiring people and generally making them happier.  Who wouldn't be happier when sitting in a colorful room rather than a white one?  The answer is not many.  Picking the correct color is also very important depending on what the business or office is about.
     Another thing to boost creativity and production is to not sit employees in the stereotypical office cubicles.  Allowing employees to work where they can also interact with peers is important for creativity, because it makes for interaction about new ideas that would otherwise not have been thought about.
    Comfort is key when it comes to productivity.  Not many people are going to want to get much work done sitting in uncomfortable, stiff chairs.  Although, it may not seem like it, providing to employees needs can be more productive in the long run.

Sources:

 Gray, Sherry. "Can Office Environment Boost Creativity?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. 

     

 

What Makes a Slogan Work?

By Ian O.

     Slogans, or attention seeking phrases used during advertising and marketing campaigns, are something that is always brought up when talking about whether said campaign is successful or ineffective. They are often times the only thing people will know about a company, and can dictate whether people remember you or not.

What makes these slogans effective though? 

    As stated in a very insightful Business Insider article written by Aaron Taube, there are 3 things to consider when making a likable slogan.

                                             1: Clarity of the Message
                                             2: Creativity of the Delivery
                                             3: Familiarity with the Brand

   This might seem very simplified, but in all honesty it isn't. The idea behind a successful slogan is rather simple, with most of the important components being listed above, Where most will fall short is in the execution, mostly due to either poor research or outside factors. To really illustrate this, lets look at a successful slogan as well as a not so successful one.

                                                                  The Good

   For our successful slogan, we look at non other then the titan of footwear, Nike. Their long running slogan "Just Do It." is one of the most recognizable phrases out there, and defines the idea of being short and sweet. This accompanied by the iconic Nike swoosh as its symbol is a great example. Lets run through the check list to see why this works so well.

1: The message is very clear, for it is short and demanding. Being a company revolved around sports and activity, "Just Do It." is a challenge that gets their customers on their feet.
2: It's creative in that most slogans are not so, for lack of a better word, bossy. Instead of trying to persuade you, Nike is just like "Nah, Just Do It". It was a gamble, but it worked wonders for standing out.
3: Nike had already gotten some traction before this slogan was used, so their familiarity was a a moderate level. This slogan was definitely part of their surge in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s however.

                                                                   The Bad

      For every good slogan like Nike's, there are always A TON of bad ones. The one we are going to look at is McDonald's newer slogan "lovin' beats hatin'". It replaces their previous phrase of  "I'm Lovin' It", which was iconic in it's status, and has been met with a large amount of backlash from both professional marketers and the average consumers. To better understand their dislike, let us run through the checklist once again.

1: This has to be where it falls the most. "lovin' beats hatin'", as many will point out, has very little to do with fast food. With their previous slogan "I'm Lovin' It", it revolved around enjoying the food. With this one, it sounds more like they don't love the product, but they don't hate it either.
2: The creativity behind this is somewhat lackluster, mostly because it really just piggybacks on their previous slogan. They try to bring in some new culture with the word "hatin'", which has become more popular as of late, yet still seems to fall short.
3: This is the funny part, THIS IS MCDONALDS! Even their global recognition can't save their slogan from the other two parts on the checklist. It really shows how important all 3 aspects are important and can not be neglected, no matter how big you are.

      Slogans are a crucial part of any marketing campaign, and knowing what makes one work is crucial to success. No matter how big you are, as seen with McDonalds, you need a good phrase or line that can be known by the public. This isn't just important for business either, for things like name recognition, which has similar aspects to slogans, is vital to any professionals career. Knowing how to be known is easily one of the most important, but also most difficult, things you can learn.









Business Insider Article:

 Taube, Aaron. "Psychologists Discovered The Secret To Creating A Really Great Slogan." Business            Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 27 June 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. 

Nike Photo:

Miller, Mark J. Nike Slogan. Digital image. Http://brandchannel.com. 3 July 2013. Web. 20 Mar.                 2016. <http://brandchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Nike-JustDoIt-560.jpg>. 

McDonald Photo:

Oscar: The Average Price for 30 Seconds Ads as High as $2 Million

By Jinsui Y.

 

On February 28, it seems that all the people around the world were cheered for Leonardo DiCaprio. After being nominated five times, he finally won an Oscar this time. Why an Oscar has that high attraction for the actors and film maker? It is because that it has high rate of concern around people, so, it’s not only a film event but also a profits resources in business.

It is reported that the actors who won an Oscar can get 20% more payback in there next film. What’s more, the average investment for film is 17 million dollars, but it can gain 8.25 million dollars after winning an Oscar. The return is as high as 395% of the investment. Also, advertisement is also a part of this commercial war. Many companies wants to fight for the advertisement right. Therefore, the price is high and grow rapidly in recent years. In 2015, the average price for the Oscars advertisement was as high as 1.8 million dollars. In the whole event, the total profits from advertisement is high to 110 million dollars. In this year, the price increase to 2.2 million dollars.

As the development of internet, social media also wants to gain something from it. The most successful social media marketing broadcast is the selfies. In 2015, Ellen DeGeneres took a selfie with some Oscar candidates and posted it on Twitter. This selfies was re-posted by 810 thousands of people during 35 minutes and it became the most re-tweeted selfies in Twitters history.

From the Oscars event, we could know that the concern of public and commercial is a way for the business to establish corporate image and produce promotions. As the development of media, the marketing and advertisement become more and more important for the success for a company. 

Image from:

Brain, Steinberg. ABC Press For Record High Price For Oscar Ads ( EXCLUSIVE). Digital image. http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/oscars-abc-advertising-cost-1201618801/. 2016. Web. 19 March 2016.

References:

Brian, Steinberg. VARIETY.  ABC Presses For Record High Prices For Oscar Ads (EXCLUSIVE). 2016. Web 19 March 2016.

Luchina, Fisher. abc NEWS. Ellen's Oscar Selfie Most Retweeted Tweet Ever. 2 March 2014. Web. 19 March 2016.

Nap Time!

     By:Brendan K.     

        Do you remember back in High school trying to do homework and have a job, then have to wake up at 6 am to go to school? You seemed to never be able to get enough sleep and that only gets worse in college! Well I have some bad news for you. It might be this way your whole life. Unless things change you are looking at hard, sleepless years ahead of you. But that might be turning around soon.

       
     Studies are showing that workers who don’t get enough sleep have been costing companies $63 billion a year, reports the Wall Street Journal. The continuation of lack of sleep can cause stress leading to even less sleep. Out of 196 business leaders, consulted from the firm McKinsley, 43 percent said they didn’t get enough sleep at least 4 nights a week.

            Research shows that years of bad sleep can negatively impact your memory, decision-making skills, creativity, and social interaction. All of these are critical skills for people in top corporate positions. When you are asleep your brain flushes out harmful toxins while process information acquired during the day.

            Why aren’t companies promoting the necessity of getting enough sleep? Well some companies don’t have the organizational effort to emphasize it and it is lower on their priority list. But some companies are beginning to build a work culture that advocates better sleep and productivity. Some companies are implementing “Power Naps” during the work day, such as, Google, Zappos, Ben & Jerry’s, and Huffington Post.

            These companies have created nap rooms for their workers. Companies have also promoted this by encouraging employees to take all of their vacation day (40 percent of Americans don’t), restricting servers from allowing emails to be sent after a certain time, and not allowing them to send emails on days they took off.

            I think these tactics that big corporations are implementing will have a good long term effect on their workers. With the emphasis on getting enough sleep and encouraging workers to do so will increase their worker’s productivity when working because the brain is complex system, but it can’t function properly without enough rest.

Sources:

Che, Jenny. "Why More Bosses Need To Embrace Napping At Work." Huffington Post. 7 Mar. 2016. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

"Lack of Sleep Costs Billions? How About Cats?" WSJ. 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

What did Warren Buffett Invested in business last year?

By Jinsui Y.

Warren Buffett is known as the most successful investor in the world. As a fine example in investment, his decision and action in business are all concerned by public. He usually invests in a wide range of investment. However, it is observed that he purchase more stocks in the field of energy last year in 2015. He invested 1 billion dollars in oil in Phillips66. Why did he turn his investment to energy?

As The Wall Street Journal said, the profits of insurance service had decreased a lot in his investment in recent years. The compensation for car’s insurance in GEICO increased in 2015. There is a reason that the price of crude oil slump caused the price of oil decreased 50% in America. Therefore, more people chose to drive, and they drive more often. So, the number of traffic accident was increased. Another reason is that there are more competition in insurance service area, so, they profits became smaller.

However, many people would say that the price of oil continued decrease from 2014 to 2015. How could Warren Buffett make such an unadvisable decision? However, will the price of oil continue to decrease in 2016? That is necessarily so. For example, it is calculated that the price of crude oil had decreased rapid from 1997 to 1998, however, it rise suddenly and sharply to 105% in1999. So, it is very possible that the crude oil marketing will be change and the price will increased. In that case, the crude oil stocks which purchase by Warren Buffett in very low price will bring him a huge profit.

In a word, investment always has risk, but it is also the catalyst bringing about advance in development of business industry.

Image from:

Akin, Oyedele. While price were crashing, Warren Buffett kept increasing his bet on oil. Digital image. http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-energy-2016-1. 14 Jan 2014. Web. 14 March 2016.

References:

Travis, Hium. The Motley Fool. Warren Buffett Admits Renewable Energy Is Big Threat to Utilities.10 Mar 2016. Web 14 March 2016. 

Black Market

by Zeyang W.

Black market without government approval and illegally formed to deal allowed commodity market price or higher than the open market price, the characteristics of its secret trading market. Such as black market stock, gold and silver, smuggling and other black market goods. In order to escape the country on trading behavior of commodity prices, exchange rate and securities market prices, interest rates and other restrictions on the formation, known as the black market. Traded on the black market price, said the black market price. This refers to the use of improper means hedging of production and tight important consumer goods to high resale or trafficking in contraband smuggling, antique artifacts, exotic jewelry, firearms, ammunition, gold and silver, foreign exchange profits from securities trading.

There is a demand there will be supply a market. Essentially the black market is actually a natural formation in the market. But since human beings have consciousness of civilization, all acts will have good and evil points, thus the formation of the moral and legal. The so-called black market is unethical or substandard legal market. But this demand and supply still exists, so both parties will look for other ways to go underground from the ground, thereby forming the black market.

The emergence and development of the black market have adverse consequences to economic development and national interests. Make national cultural treasures outflow of counterfeit and shoddy goods flooding the market, a shortage of product concentration, the market out of control, rising prices, harm the interests of consumers, undermining the country's economic construction, harm the national interest.

sources:

pushit95notany."Black Market Reloaded-Tips To Stay Anmonyous".blog. October 17, 2013.web.Mar 2016

Prompt #9: Recognizing Significance

By Brendan K.

Marketing is a very important part of the business field. It is important to be able to use words that will pull emotions from your audience. Doing this will cause people to feel more emotionally attached to the advertisement.

I watched a YouTube video explaining the power of the words you use. In the video a homeless man is sitting on the sidewalk with a sign that says “I’m blind, please help.” He waits and only a few people give him some money. After a while and woman walks by and does a double take. She takes the sign and starts to write on it. She sets it down next to him and walks away. Now many more people are walking by and giving this man money. At the end the lady comes back and the homeless man feels her shoes and realizes it is the same woman. He asks her what she wrote and she said, “The same thing, but with different words.” They swivel to show the sign and it says “It’s a beautiful day and I can’t see it.”

This video was a very accurate representation of how marketing works. Walking by the sign you see that this man is blind and might feel bad for him. But with the new sign people start to realize what they have and this man doesn’t. They are enjoying a beautiful, sunny day with their friends and this man can’t even see any of it. This is similar to how marketers work.

 

In marketing the road to success is getting your brand to stand out and above all the other brands. There are many marketing approaches that are used such as repetition and celebrity endorsing, but it all comes down to what is said. It doesn’t always have to be the most emotionally provoking phrase. Like in the Super Bowl commercial Puppymonkeybaby. I saw that commercial 3 times and I could easily tell you that’s a Mountain Dew Kickstart commercial.

The marketing field is dominated by a combination of 3 colors and 26 letters. It seems like the simplest thing, but the combinations are endless, which means that this job isn’t for everyone. In a capitalist market dominated by the media, everything revolves around marketing. I think that this is an amazing field because you serve a great significance.

Sources:

Gardner, Andrea. "The Power of Words." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Gelok, Ron. "Power of Words." Ron Gelok III. 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Hill, Brian. "The Importance of Marketing & Communication." The Importance of Marketing & Communication. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

Business Ethics and Wether it Should be Taught

By Ian O.

      Business ethics is always a hot topic when discussed, and has led to many different opinions on the matter. One of the arguments that stems from this topic is whether or not business ethics should be taught, for many see it as subjective as well as counterproductive towards profit. A thesis, which can be found here, is a written argument against the idea. We are going to look at how John Hooker, a business ethics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, approaches his argument FOR the teachers of business ethics, as well as how he approaches criticisms to his argument.

His Approach

       As a preface, the majority of his views are typically made after he counters the opposing view, seemingly trying to build on the idea that his view is better by belittling the other. Now that this is understood, we can discuss his actual views.

      His first argument is in response to the counter argument that business's only responsibility is to make money. He responds by stating that while money is a main focus, to ditch the teachings of ethical ways to make money is to create a business world where everything is primal and based on only money. He argues that rules and ideas, as well as moral responsibilities, need to be taught in order to control business owners and companies. This argument is fairly well put, for it strikes what the other argument lacks, emotion. If we look at this from an outsider perspective, which would they sympathize with more? The one that is cold and says that businesses only care about money or the argument that expresses more of an emotional basis and sympathy towards the everyday worker.

   

      His other argument worth showcasing is made in response to the counter argument that if businesses were to behave ethically, it would be because of government incentives and sanctions, not the things they learned in school. Hooker's argument is that incentives alone can not persuade people to be ethical, and that the teachings of business ethics is needed as a "guiding light" in order to further motivate ethical practice in business. This is a fairly good argument, for it doesn't completely disregard the other argument. Some might see it as very passive, but what it does is explain that these things go together and thus makes it easier for someone on the fence to accept both the teaching of ethics and the use of incentives as options instead of saying only one works.

My Opinion

     His overall argument seems to be fairly solid, with a very effective strategy of not only showing his case, but countering the opponents case. There are some weak spots, which seem to rely on opinion and not numbers a bit to much, but besides those he has a convincing argument. From my own opinion, I already believed ethics courses, especially in business, were essential. Even though I am already for his argument, I still feel he holds up very valid points for his idea, and is focused throughout with consistent sources.

Sources

Thesis 

- http://web.tepper.cmu.edu/jnh/paper81.pdf

Picture 

- 1st: http://www.livetradingnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/wheelbarrow-of-money-520x340.png

- 2nd: http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xd/495818052.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=DF8D445051B40C74CE3A5ABE036605E6D6D7111452E48A17F36836C6664EDF3447C960A44BD962FF

Marketing Towards Women Over The Years

By Heidi

As women are becoming more equal to men in terms of rights, and power, marketing strategies are being forced to change.  The old school marketing styles that were used by companies aren't going to cut it anymore.  Companies are transitioning to market their products with a women empowering goal.  Some of the most noteworthy ad campaigns principle in this attitude are Pantene "Not Sorry", Under Armour "I Will What I Want", and Always "Like A Girl".  In these ad campaigns, women are portrayed as being powerful, and able to do anything a man can.

According to Forbes, this is only the beginning.  More and more companies are most likely going to start adopting this strategy in the future.  Up until recently, people have failed to recognize women in the retail and purchasing.  Thus, companies have failed to market and advertise correctly to women as a whole.  Women are the most powerful consumers, spending the most amount of money on products.  They buy more household products, and cars than men.  Also, they go on equal amounts of business trips as men and control equal amounts of wealth.

So, why have women just recently become the main focus of advertising and marketing strategies? Women have always purchased an immense
amount of products, just go look in any girls medicine cabinet for proof.  It could quite possibly be because men, for the most part in the past, have been the main focus due to their overwhelming amount of power in our society.  As more women are being added to the business field, they create a voice for other women in marketing and advertising.   Women are only going to keep gaining more power, and this is only the beginning when it comes to marketing and advertising strategies.



Sources

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bridgetbrennan/2014/12/30/marketing-to-women-trends-to-watch-in-2015/#285d9732792c

https://www.emaze.com/@AILZWIIW/ICM-501:-Commerical

https://www.ketchum.com/marketing-women

http://prd-minisites.prevention.com/defy-your-age/blog/inside-her-medicine-cabinet-dendy-engelman-md