I does make me wonder though, why is the fact that the Coca-Cola recipe is such a big deal? Don’t all vendors want to keep what makes their product special, top secret so it cannot be duplicated?
I agree with Paige regarding the Coca-Cola recipe. In summary, she describes how Coke has this "special" and "mysterious" recipe that no one will ever come up with. Ever since Coca-Cola came to be, this has always been part of their company. The fact that no one knows what ingredients go into this popular beverage, makes it so interesting. My question is, why is it such a big deal with Coke? Every product around has their own recipes for things but it have never grown to be such an ordeal, as it has with Coca-Cola products. A similar situation as this one, is with the Big Mac sauce from McDonald's. Supposedly no one knows this magical sauce recipe. Some say it is a mixture of ketchup, mustard and relish but to me, it never tastes the same. This is what makes products so diverse in nature. Each one has their own recipes that makes them number 1 in the industry. Why do you think it's so hard to decipher with Coca- Cola?
Whole Foods Market is known for their high quality food and their employee-customer relationship. But, what is it that makes them so much different than an ordinary supermarket?
1.Whole Foods is one of the most socially responsible companies I know of. They strive to put the customers first in every situation. By satisfying the customers, they are able to satisfy the other stakeholders of the company. Their employees are another example of good treatment.
2. Every employee is important to the company as a whole. They get together weekly to discuss problems, improvements or other various ideas for the growing supermarket. They treat every employee like the others. Everyone has access to all of the annual figures because they believe everyone deserves a right to know.
3. Finally, the environment is one of the most important aspects to this company. They support organic agriculture and are against animal abuse. No matter the cost, Whole Foods uses the most of its resources to provide the freshest foods for all of its customers. They also like to play a large role in the community and contribute a percentage of their profits to non profit organizations in the environment.
Have any of you ever been to a Whole Foods Market? Do you see this company acting as socially responsible as they say?
"Do you think the taller and skinnier can is contributing to a negative portrayal of body image?"
I think that Pepsi went about this new design the wrong way. Like Erica said, they are creating this new "skinny" can as a celebration of beautiful, confident women. This is just as bad as saying that ONLY "skinny" women are beautiful, which is absolutely incorrect. If they created a slogan that was a lot less degrading then I think it would have been okay. I think a slogan aiming at less sugar intake would have generated more sales. I found an article about this controversy and it quotes "Our slim, attractive new can is the perfect complement to today's most stylish looks, and we're excited to throw its coming-out party during the biggest celebration of innovative design in the world," Jill Beraud, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo said in a statement. (charlotteobserver.com). In my opinion, the marketing of this product was very poorly chosen and I think a lot of people were offended.
Have any of you ever heard of Groupon? It is a website aimed at promoting "deal-of-the-day." You type in the closest major city to you and you can purchase a certain "deal," which leads to major savings. I recently heard of Groupon after viewing three very different commercials. These commercials were aired during the Superbowl and viewed by ALOT of people. Ever since, there has been a lot of controversy. These ads ranged from deforestation to the poverty in Tibet. The commercials made mockeries of those situations and ended by promoting a deal. I wonder if Groupon was really aiming for all of this attention in the first place. Companies only get 30 seconds of fame during the Superbowl, so they have to do what it takes to stand out. The controversy is whether this ruined the Groupon name or if it is actually helping them generate sales. In my personal opinion, people are very clearly talking about this controversy, which will lead them to the companies website. I believe they have a mission accomplished: people know about them now. Whether it is a good advertisement or a negative one, they were able to generate commotion. What do you think? After watching the three commercials below, do you think they crossed the line? Or were they creative with their mockery?
"Take thetest, look at the profile, and let me know what you think. Were the results true to you? Do you think that this is an accurate way for companies to screen their applicants? Were any of the attributes in your profile things that would be helpful in a Marketing career?"
The test that Britney is referring to is the Myers Briggs Personality Test. In a quick synopsis, this test is designed ask you questions and to find the 4 letter combination which results in your "personality profile." I agree with a lot of what Britney said. This test is being used very frequently among businesses when hiring prospective employees. I think this is a very good tool to add on to an interview, application and possibly recommendations. I don't however, think it should be the only form of information to base your decision off of. I took the test and my results yielded 'ENFJ.' After reading the summary of what those letters stand for I saw a direct coorelation to my personality. I think this is a very unique test in that it really helps define the type of person you are. This is beneficial to employers because they will see if those are the qualities that they want in a worker, and be able to find a position that will need their strengths.
Although I see this as a good test, I do see some things that are not included in the results. For this reason, I think there should be other aspects to include when hiring somebody. This test doesn't measure things such as psychiatric history, skills that would qualify one for a position or how one works under stress. I think paired with an interview and letters of recommendation, you will get a better picture of the type of person applying for the job. What was your personality profile? Does it match what you bring to your current or previous job?
Millions across the United States watch the Superbowl for not only the football game, but to rate the commercials. From this years Superbowl, which aired on February 6 2011, you wouldn't have even guessed that the car industry had previously declined. There were commercials for many various car manufacturers: from GM to BMW. My question to you is, how effective do you think these Superbowl commercials really are for car manufacturers?
Let me lay the figures out for you. It costs anywhere between $2 and $3 million dollars just for a 30 second commercial. With the economy on the upturn, do you think people are really in the market for buying a brand new Mercedes? In my opinion, no. I saw various commercials for different cars so I'm wondering how the competition effects buyers decisions. This is an article I found that compared the effectiveness of each car commercial. http://www.carsdirect.com/automotive-news/2011-superbowl-car-commercials. They quote:
"Of course, shelling out the money to purchase the airtime is only one half of the equation. The next step is to create a compelling commercial that is able to communicate the value and feeling of the brand in a short period of time. Whether it's through humor, playfulness, nostalgia, sexiness, visual inventiveness, music, or celebrity endorsements, each brand tried to get their message across to consumers in the most efficient way possible. Whether they succeed or not is another story."
There is a very large competition between brands during the Superbowl each year, but I have come to realize that car manufacturers have the biggest! Having only 30 seconds of fame, I can imagine how hard it is to get your selling point across. One of the commercials that stood out the most to me, and I can imagine it did to others, was the Volkswagen commercial with Darth Vader. It can be seen below. I wasn't aware this was even a car commercial until halfway into it. The music made you tune in until you knew exactly what it was for. What car commercial do you think stood out the most?
"So should companies even be able to use social networks to dig up dirt on people or in a positive way to see how well people can use social networking? How much information do you put up about yourself on the internet?"
Aubrey makes a very good observation about how prospective employers view Facebook before hiring a candidate. In my opinion, if someone is going to post "partying" pictures on the Internet then they are up for viewing. Facebook and other forms of social networking are the growing phenomenon. Employers have the right to look at the job candidates Facebook pages before making a decision on who to hire. Like Aubrey says, there are privacy settings so that you can decide how much of your profile you want shown to the public. I don't fully trust the people that are on the internet so I only accept people that I am friends with. I also don't have anything on my page that I wouldn't want my Boss to see. The internet is a very large, growing, and dangerous place. You should never put something out there that demeans you in any way.
