Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

There are plenty of companies out there that do a very worthy cause of donating some of their proceeds to charity. One company I have in mind is The Body Shop.

The Body Shop shop sells natural beauty products. They are very selective as far as what ingredients and materials they use. They uses bottles that are made of 100% recycled materials and do no testing on animals. They sell skin care products from toners, cleansers, moisturizers to body sprays, perfumes, and shampoo.

Donating plays a major role in society. It helps out the people that need it most (whether it’s in the form of money, clothing or food) and it also benefits the person or business that’s doing the giving.

With The Body Shop their main focus is human and civil rights. 100% of the profits from the sale of Soft Hands, Kind Heart Hand Cream are donated to the ECPAT foundation. The ECPAT foundation is a global network of organisations and individuals working together for the elimination of child prostitution, child pornography and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes.

Recently, Susan Sarandon has added her star power to The Body Shop to help put an end to sex-trafficking. The store will also encourage it’s visitors to sign a petition and spread awareness to this matter.

So far The Body Shop has raised more than 1.5 million in proceeds which all go to help the fight against the sex-trafficking of children.

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

Millennials are also known as Generation Y or the echo boomers. This generation of people where born between the years 1977 and 2000. $733 billion is what we make up in purchasing power.

I myself fall in this generation and being fluent and comfortable with technology is something that all of us have in common. From iPhones, iPods, iPads, computers, and on our generation was the first to grow up in world filled with these technologies. I’ve gotten so used to it that I’m not exactly sure what I would do without. With it I find myself more productive and I am able to get just about any information I need when I need it. All I have to do is pull out my iPhone!

We find ourselves spending a lot of our time on the Internet. “A recent study found that 91 percent of Millennials are on the Web, making up 32 percent of all U.S” (Marketing An Introduction). Social networking sites play’s a big role in our generation as well. We spend a lot of our time networking on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. “According to another study, 77 percent of Millennials frequent social networking sites…” (Marketing An Introduction).

When it comes to marketing we are hit the hardest and from all angles. It’s everywhere. We see it on the internet, TV, billboards, magazines, and the radio. It’s even on some of the free apps on my iPhone.

I currently work at home and so do a lot of other Millennials. Our generation has sparked this boom due to the conveniences of technology like computers, fax machines, and fast and reliable internet connections.

Family life is different now. Most have grown up in a traditional family household and I can relate to that. Now we are seeing more people of my generation more independent. The number of working women has increased greatly and couples are choosing to get married later on in life and not intending to have children.

As marketers, this is all information we must considering when creating a campaign.

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

Video game systems have been around for years now and you can find people from all ages and backgrounds playing these systems. From Mario Bros. to Call of Duty: Black Ops, videos games keep many Americans glued to their couches for hours at a time. “More than two-thirds (68%) of all American households play computer or video games, a three-percent increase over 2008 that indicates growth of entertainment software across all demographics, according to a study from the Entertainment Software Association.” (http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/two-thirds-of-us-households-play-computer-or-video-games-9521/)

In recent months gaming industry retail sales has taken a plunge. ”U.S. retail sales of video games fell 26 percent to $766.2 million in April from a year earlier, hurt by a lack of game launches and the Easter holiday falling in March.” (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37140577/ns/technology_and_science-games/)

One of the reasons for this drop is due to the fact that people are holding on tighter to their money and hoping for the price of these systems to come down. Another big reason is the explosion of social network games and mobile game apps. A lot more people are loading their phones and iPads with gaming apps that produce the same visual quality and content as some of these gaming systems. "The top iPhone app categories among the top 50 are games (82%, includes gag apps)..." "The top iPad app categories among the top 50 are Games (36%)..." (http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-app-store-analysis-heres-the-difference-between-the-ipad-and-the-iphone-2010-5) Best of all most of them are free or cost next to nothing.

For the gaming industry, The NDP Group expects 2011 to be better with mobile games and social media-based games being key players.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

The other night a lady friend and I decided to go out and eat at Outback Steakhouse on South Las Vegas Blvd. It was a Sunday evening and upon entering one of the Hostess opened the door for us and greeted us with a cheerful “Hello, welcome to Outback!”

The place was pretty busy. The bar was full with sports fan watching the Pittsburg Steelers taking on the Baltimore Ravens.

We were guided to our seating area and told that someone would be here to serve us soon. Several seconds later a guy with a friendly attitude by the name of Chazz introduced his self as our waiter. After taking our drink order he told us that if we needed him for any reason while we were deciding on what to order… to just pick up one of the drink coasters and to fling it at him to get his attention. We laughed at his humor.

Chazz came back with our drinks and by then we had figured out what we wanted to order. I went with the Norwegian Salmon and my friend went with the Prime Rib. Chazz asked her if she would like it prepared “Outback style.” Outback style is when they use their special seasoning and sear the meat a certain way. He highly recommended it.

10 to 15 minutes later our food arrived. I cut into my first piece of Salmon and the tender, well seasoned piece of fish exploded in my mouth! It was great. My lady friend took a bite of here Prime rib and unfortunately it was a different experience. She did not like.

Our waiter came back and asked us how everything was. I told him that mine his perfect and she explained that she really didn’t her Prime Rib. He apologized and asked if he could cook another one the way she wanted, but she told him not to worry about it and that she would manage.

Shortly after, the manager came out. She had a very friendly attitude and asked what was wrong. She wanted to know if it was the taste, if it was over cooked, etc. My friend explained to her what it was and the manager apologized in a very sincere way and told of not to worry about it and that she would remove it from or order!
Overall our experience there was great and the customer service was excellent. I will definitely be going back!