One Stop Prom Shop

HEY GUYS!!!

So what's up?! I'm back and ready for action! I know, I know, I haven't talked to you guys in, like, forever, but STILL... I can't even hear the crickets. OK! Nevermind then. Anyways, I have really amazing news!!!

I don't know who all has heard of this, but my high school marketing and design class is helping to stage an assembly for the 'One Stop Prom Shop', a compilation of local prom/dress/tux/etc. shops at discounted prices, including coupons and great deals and door prizes. Anyways, I'm part of the assembly team helping formulate the GAME SHOW. That's going to be at the end of the show, after the stop animation video and morph suit dance and right before we give out AMAZING prizes to our amazing student audience.

Anyways, we're going to have three contestants, a judge, and a couple prizes. Because I KNOW you guys are excited to know MORE...I'll tell you. Each question will come with a challenge of some sort that has to do with getting ready for prom and such. Things like a tie tying race, a makeup-doing race, and a dance off! The person who finishes first or does the best presses the buzzer and answers a who, what, when, where type question. It'll be hilarious!

Anyways, we've gotten our contestants, our judge, and our 'secret prize'...a date with another student whose name will not be disclosed during the game. (Wink wink) I'm super excited to be working on this project, because it's going to take a lot of practicing, redoing, editing, etc. I rarely watch gameshows though, so it's going to be a challenge to NOT make it cheesey with any of my ideas. I'm sorry, I just love cheesy comedy. It's an illness...sort of like bad puns...but that's besides the point!

Well, that's all I've got for you right now. I'm excited to talk to you guys again! You're my only source of excitement right now...literally. Well, I gotta go go GO...mostly because I'm starving and it's almost time for lunch.

BYE!

Ma Bizznizz

Two posts in one day! Incredible, I know! I just had to share this wit you guys!

Now, you guys may or may not know that I've been searching for a business to design and market for. I needed one by last Friday and it was starting to look like I wouldn't find one in time. My teacher, thankfully, had one for me. Our high school library has projects every year for us to work on, and I went down and talked o the librarian about it. She hasn't given me all the info yet because she's not heard back from the marketing company she's getting everything from, but it's looking like I'll be designing something for the new E-books we'll be getting in the library soon. I'm super excited, though I don't often use E-books myself. She said something about a really good Blog Post (Ironic I know), and maybe an online flyer or pamphlet. So things are looking up.

Also, I've got super awesome AMAZING news! Another guy I'll be working with has contacted me back. He owns a Deli with his sixteen kids. (Crazy I know!), and due to health reasons he said to contact him about the potential project after the holidays. So I've got that in the works too! Happy day!

Anyways, that's about it for the business end of things. I'm seriously worn out today. I worked all weekend at a Chrstmas Tree Farm hauling trees and shaking and bailing them. (Shaking the dead needles out and putting them into netting). So yeah, every part of my body hurts right about now, but I feel great. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.

I'ma hop off here for today and I'll catch you cats on the wild side! Ba-bye!

Year Book Covers!

Hey guys! It's been a while, I know. I missed you all! Or whoever bothers to actually read my posts at least. But still, lots of love to you guys! So let's get this going, huh? You might have figured it out already, since the title is self-explanitary, but our Design and Marketing Class has been working on Year Book cover designs for the school's yearbook team.

I probably won't win, and I know that. I'm not that great at desiging things like that yet, since a yearbook design sort of has to be a bit more traditional. I love symmetry though, and I found the rectangle tool on photoshop, so there was a lot I could do with black, yellow, and white...sometimes grey, but not usually. You'll see that I sort of went shape crazy with these. I do hope you enjoy them though. They remind me more of posters, rather than year book covers, but I never buy yearbooks, so I don't really have a good idea of what to design.

Just be prepared...because there are a lot of them...no, seriously, there are... My favorite was probably the one with the tiger on the yellow background. You'll know it when you see it. It was just perfect for what I wanted, though I forgot to put yellow around CFHS along the side.

Black Friday Anyone?

Hey guys! I know I haven't posted in a long time! ...and i can hear the crickets chriping away in the background. Enthusiasm? Probably not.

Anyways, are you guys as excited as I am about the 2012 Black Friday shopping this year? I hear it's going to be big-and you never know! If the world does end (insert sarcasm here) then you'll have enjoyed the best deals of the season and left money in the pockets of a lot of businesses this year.

I, personally, am not going out to the chaos that is Black Friday. I'm not brave like some of you handy-dandy shoppers. You guys are brave, you really are. Besides that, being poor and transpo-less kinda factors in... BUT!!! If I WERE going Black Friday shopping, I would probably go and find one of those new Apple things that's an ipad with an attachable keyboard. (Is technology impared and doesn't know what it's called). It would be a super help though, because I've been searching around for a good deal on a laptop that's more transpo-friendly than the clunky 2007 one that I had to carry around in a big black bag. (ugh). So yeah, I think the hunt for that would drag me out.

After all, last year's Black Friday rush let my best friend get the newest (then anyways) iphone that WOULD have been 600 + dollars, in addiion to data packages and whatnot...for 100 something dollars. Great deal, right? I don't know just how easy it WAS to get her hands on it, but I know that I wanted to steal it from her by New Years. (Is really not kidding...)

ALSO!!! I'm not sure if it was just me, or if other people didn't know this befoe either, but Black Friday is a coined term that refers to that mythical 'big sale' day right after Thanksgiving where business profits are in the black, meaning they'e doing good...really good. You've got to think that if they're in the RED...that's bad. Red is bad bad BAD to a business's pofit. Personally, I thought it was a day in history that kicked off the big spending-like a holiday. (shrug)

Now you guys KNOW if I'm posting...that means i've got a cool article to show you all. It covered three things business changed from 2010 to 2011 in order to improve their sales and relations with their customers.

1.) Customers Crave Mobility: I actually HAVE noticed this recently when I'm out and about with my friends. They're always talking about Ebay and Paypal...and i just sort of sit there twiddling my thumbs. But it does feel like mobile purchasing/shopping via ebay and paypal is getting big. My gradparents are ebay-holics, so I get to hear ALL about it. (Insert heavy sarcasm)

2.) Consumers want 'Couch Commerse': I actually have seen this happen, and it goes and relates back to things like ebay, or online catelogs/walmart. Basically, consumers (people who buy the product) want the ease of the online store, and that has begun to increase drastically as of late, especially with the ease it takes to turn on a mobile device, hop on the web, and buy something. Brilliant idea o the couch potato... (absolutely no sarcasm, surprisingly)

3.) Success Centers On The Customer Expeience: This is probably the most important aspect of the three listed in the article. A business/store/what have you cannot function successfully unless they can relate to their customers and center themselves on a specific typel of customer. Black Friday aside, I don't know if you guys have seen/heard of/been to a 'Hot Topic', usually in a mall, or visited their online store, but hey have a vast selection of merchandise specifically for a typle of teenager or young adult. They, in almost every aspect, RELATE themselves to their customers. I know because I've gone birthday shopping there recently for my cousin.

So, in short-and if you've survived m rambling, I've seen Hot Topic, Paypal, Ebay, and even Wal-Mart following the advice given in the article. Wal-Mart especially CHANGED near me and completely REMODELED and built on to their store. It literally gave a new face to how I viewed Wal-Mart.

So with that said, I'ma hop off for today and I'll catch you guys on the flipside. Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Quanza, etc... And be careful out there on Black Friday. It gets brutal... (has already begun to gather movies to pass the time during Black Friday)

Business Letter

Hi guys!! I know, I know, I haven't been on in so long! I missed all of you!! I'm excited about this post! Running on an empty stomach and tired as all heck, this is probably the most productive thing I've done all day!

Anyways, I'm posting my business letter to you guys, and I hope I've gotten the spacing right...this time. Word wouldn't let me save a JPEG of he letter, so I had to go to photoshop, copy paste the letter into it and fix the spacing, add my cool new letter head, and fix things... Yeah, a lot of work to post it on this blog, I know, but Blogger won't let me post word documents...so I posted a JPEG. I hope you guys enjoy! Bye-bye for now!!!

Logo!!

Well guys, I'm super excited! I got my logo design done today, and it looks really cool! It took me really...really long though...and more than a little brain power... This might have been the first project I actually had to walk away from completely for a day. It was strange, because that was the day I just felt off...

Either way, I'm back and on the ball! I hope you guys like this one!! I loved making the butterflies. Keep in mind my first design was a dark brown diamond shape with green initials (SB) outlined in light pink... Yeah, no the most inspiring logo... I loved making this one though, because I could really gonnect with it, and I loved the colors. I don't really like them on their own, but this combination seemed to pop and bring something sleek to the usual artsy flairs I love using.

... Alright, I'm rambling and hungry, so I'll just psot the picture for you now!

Anyways, the printout was somehow grey and black...which sucks... I really wanted o see the printed version in color. Oh well, I still loved how it turned out! Before I start rambling again...bye!

Thank You Card

Two posts in under an hour - I think I'm on a sugar induced roll here guys! Anyways, you've all seen or can see my Business Card, but NOW I'm going to show you my Thank You Card. This one's a little less heard of universally, but when someone does something for our class or for us, we send them Thank You cards. I want to show you guys mine!

Keep in mind my favorite color in the entire world is any shade of green. Yeah, too emotional about it, and not all of you will like it as much as I do. This one I had a few designs on, prior, but I loved working on this one the most, again because it was green and very simple.

 

 

Also, you might figure out just how much I love the gradiant tool. It's absolutely amazing! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Business Card

Hey guys! It's me again~!! This time I've had donuts AND a cupcake...so I'm about to have a sugar peak. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you guys about business cards.

In this class, as with everything in business, you need something to remind your potential clients that you do, indeed exist. That being said, I want to show you guys my newest business card. It's...bold, to say the least, but my name is all green and retro, so I enjoyed making it. Originally, though, I came up with nine or ten OTHER designs...which all failed...badly. For security reasons, though, I can't post it. Sorry guys!!!

Who Would'a Thought?!

Hey guys! Been a few days, huh? Anyways, it's a Monday, and I'm beat. Sugary treats like cupcakes and cinnamon rolls have yet to be very affective (though very delicious). Anyways, I'm back with another article!!! I know, you're all excited! But before you groan and tell me "It's a Monday thing, calm down girl!" hear me out!

You thought you knew carrots, and I KNOW you thought you knew Baby Carrots. I bet you never thought of them like this before, though! More than that, you probably thought you knew Coca-Cola. I bet you never expected there to be a connection though.

Jeff Dunn, following in his father's footsteps, became one of Coca-Cola's top executives. When he shifted his attention to baby carrots, though, his experience in Coca-Cola would help him market the kids healthy snack food in a whole new light. By the time he shifted companies, sales of baby carrots were falling flat. Because of their shelf life, carrots in general remained in the veggie bin of the fridge and were never heard from again. This had to change! Using his marketing knowledge from Coca-Cola, a product he called 'sugar water and fairy dust', he decided that Baby Carrots needed that 'fairy dust', and to shift to a new category.

Working with a marketing company, Crispin, Dunn set his sights on an entirely new goal. He didn't want to advocate carrots as health foods anymore. That had been done, and it wasn't marketing. Instead, he moved to change the carrot business entirely. To his mind, carrots vs. junk food wouldn't work. Instead, he strived to MAKE carrots the junkfood. Using all new, yet strikingly familiar, package strategies (most often seen in chip commercials), Dunn wanted to put baby carrots on the top shelf of the fridge, on the kitchen counter, and in vending machines. Using newer, bolder, commercial straegies, mirroring Mountain Dew and their bold commercials, they brought baby carrots into the world of junk food. In the article, he noted that Baby Carrots WERE the original Orange Doodle. They had the basic characteristics. Neon orange and bite sized, they were crunchy, dip-able, and fairly addictive. Afterr a year, sales rose 10 to 12 percent!

Wow, I never thought they could pull it off, honestly! I'D buy it if the commercial featured a rocket-shopping carts in the desert, baby carrot gun-fire, pterodactyles, and famous stars or actors! You can't tell me you WOULDN'T at least be curious.

Seriously though, the way they do this is really a stroke of modern genius. Dunn, in partnership with Crispin, came up with an idea to use familiar material-like chip bags-to market individual carrot snack packs, using modern sleek designs and commercial advertising. Heck, they're even appealing to teens now. By putting vending machines in high schools, not only is the popular snack fresh and ready to eat, but the method is visually appealing.

Personally, guys, I LOVE Baby Carrots, and I'd buy them even in a simple container, so long as I had peanut butter or ranch dip to go with them. I have them every day for lunch. After reading this article, though, I have to say I love the modernization and the new ideas. By appealing to younger generations-teens and younger-they're opening up a whole new door of opportunities.

Well, that's about it for my new found (sugar induced) streak of inspiration! I'll see you cool cats on the wild side! (Yes, yes, chessy lines are cheesy. I know...and now I want cheese).

Social Media - Hurting or Helping Sponsorship

Hey guys! Wow, I'm on a roll! This is so much fun! Now on to the meat and potatoes of it! (I'm starving).

Recently, I read a very interesting article on prdaily.com. It was over the London 2012 Olympic games and it was...interesting. I don't personally follow the Olympics, but they're fun to hear about-especially with so many creative sponsorships! The details were all over Facebook and Twitter.

That being said, it's starting to feel like social media is beginning to actually hurt sponsorships and brands. Sponsors have begun to rely on social media for marketing and advertising, and the new-stricter-rules mean a competitor or spectator could be placed in hot water for posting certain photos or videos onto social media sites. This also means that competitors can't comment on one another's performance or post about a brand (including food they may have eaten) before the competition- I.E. Michael Phelps can't post that a Subway sub propelled him to victory when his sponsor is McDonalds.

That aside, the article brought up a very good point. Sponsors will use what's known as the Halo Affect to ride in the glow of the Olympics. Likewise, though, the Halo Affect can go the opposite way. The sponsor could potentially be affiliated with the Olympics. Confusing, I know... I still don't fully understand how that works. From what I undesrtand, the sponsors 'bask in the good vibes created by the Olympics'.

Another interesting point brought up by the article was the concept of 'Brand Equity'. That confused me at first, because it doesn't state it often. However, if my understanding is correct, Brand Equity is the potential profit a sponsoring brand can rake in because of big events like the Olympics. It's actually quite a simple yet effective method-though very brutal where competition is concerned.

Some brands, like Nike, use a different technique. In their recent Olympic campaign, 'Make It Count', Nike references the Olympics without actually sponsoring it, therefore bypassing the rules set in place in London this year to protect its Sponsors. Their plan? They placed themselves strategically in a shopping center near the main Olympic venue where nearly 70 percent of the spectators will pass by. See what they did there?? They aren't sponsoring, so they bought a space in a nearby shopping center-which is technically legal because they bought the spot and didn't sponsor. Brilliant and just a bit sneaky. I liked reading it.

In my opinion, though, I don't think the Olympic sponsors should be governed by any strict laws whatsoever. If you stop to think about it, isn't our economy based on company competition? The more the competition, the cheaper the product and the better the drive to improve the product to win over competitors, therefore giving the buyer a better chance to reap the benefits of all of it. Personally, I don't think sponsors should get the privilege of bypassing competitors for those key Olympic spots closest to the venue. It isn't fair to the smaller sponsors and businesses who are also trying to make money. They should have an equal chance at it.

Well, till next time guys. I gotta bolt for now!!

Adventures in Design and Marketing With Renee

Hi guys! The title must say it all, but some of you might be squinting at your screens right now. "What is this crazy person talking about?!", "Why am I reading this?" Don't worry, I know what I'm doing and I'm going to tell you...eventually.

This is my blog, it's about graphing, design, and marketing. These things you know by now. What you probably didn't realize was that I'm actually doing this for a class! Crazy, I know! I'm super excited about it and I absolutely love it. We do so much! I'm getting along really well with the other people in my class, which soothes at least ONE fear I had coming into it. What a relief! Now I can be nervous about the upcoming projects!!

Let me lay it all out for you if you're still confused...because I didn't understand all of it at first either, really. In this class we will learn the ins and outs of marketing and design. We will work first on projects to get us used to the flow of it, and eventually we'll have three to four or more projects going on at once (that's a really scary thought actually). From what I understand, it'll be everything from business cards, posters, and packaging, to commercials, advetisements, and other things. To me, this is going to be a huge leap in my (hopefully bright) career! For the most part, I'm getting the hang of it. We've already made our own unique business cards. How cool is that?! Mine looks super retro.

Besides business cards, thank you cards-on and on and whatnot-we'll be focusing on marketing and the different techniques a company or business will use to sell a product or service to potential clients. Maybe later I'll get to market something of my own or market for someon else. It's an interesting idea.

What I'm really looking forward to, though, is working outside the class. Later in the year, I'll get to work with individual businesses to design or help market something! That makes me so nervous, but I'm trucking along nicely. I know the marketing and design world is a tough battle field in an economy like this. I'm hoping the jobs will still be in demand by the time I get into it. I may even be paid! (That's an exciting incentive because I'm broke *cough cough*)

Alright, now that you've gotten the gist of it, I really want to tell you something! ... Wait for it, wait for it~... I get to go to New York! Again, to a poor person, this is amazing. It'll be later in the year, and we'll get to visit a few big design firms in that general area... The only downer is that the people AROUND me are broke too, so fundraising is...interesting, to say the least. Being in the big city will be another nervous fit, but I'll deal with that when it comes. Anyways, be looking for more updates.