Here is the video I edited for Coach Stortz's farewell party.

Brand Recognition

Brand recognition is a very important aspect to many companies, especially when it comes to consumer products. The goal is to create an image that can be immediately linked to a product offering. Here is a quiz to test your familiarity with some popular brands.

 Brand Recognition Quiz

Cemex Corporate Strategy

This week in MQM 385 we dissected a case study on Cemex, an international cement company. Starting off in Mexico, Cemex gained enough capital to spread their organization through mergers and acquisitions. Once Cemex had control of the Mexican market, they expanded to the United States and other Spanish speaking countries.

The success of Cemex comes to their approach of increasing their geographic scope. First of all, they need to standardized their operations and stay within the cement industry. This makes it easy to merge and implement operations at new locations. Important items to consider when looking to acquire a potential company are geographic location, political stability, and cultural differences. Cemex sets the high goal of controlling 25% of the market when entering a new area.

Viral Videos

This week in MKT 331 we have been talking about viral videos.  This is a really interesting topic and many of you may be familiar with videos such as: Charlie Bit My Finger, David at the Dentist, Kony 2012, and more. It is difficult for organizations to plan a strategy for implementing a viral video.   Most popular videos get strong exposure from word of mouth, but it is never certain what will get people talking.  Honey badger don't care? At the same time, organizations do not want to create a video that seems too desperate for attention because viewers will instantly know it is not genuine. 

We also talked about the subservient chicken video from Burger King.  This is more of an interactive video.  Essentially a man in a chicken suit stands in a shabby living room and whatever action you type in, the chicken will do.  A truly strange video but it fits well with Burger King's somewhat odd approach to their advertisements.  Within the past month the Red Hot Chili Peppers have released their new music video for the song, "Look Around" off the new album, I'm With You.  I believe this is the first interactive music video ever! Not quite a viral video, but a really innovative idea.  Check it out below!!

http://redhotchilipeppers.com/news/301-look-around-interactive-video

LZ Football

This past month, LZHS head football coach, Bryan Stortz, accept a new position as the head coach of Rock Island. As many are already aware, coach Proffitt has been named the new head football coach at LZHS.  Coach Proffitt has extensive football knowledge and is a master of his stingy 3-5 defense.  Assistant coach, Aaron Towne, will fill the role of offensive coordinator for the 2012 season.

 "Dave Proffitt Named New Head Coach at LZ"

There will be a celebration to honor Coach Stortz’s dedication to the LZ Football program on April 22, 2012.  The event will be held from 2:00 to 5:00 at Knights of Columbus, in Lake Zurich (right next to Kits).  There will be a presentation from 3:00 to 4:00.  Former players are being asked to share their memories in the form of letters or video messages.  Players- please email your memories to bobbydeleo6@yahoo.com and they will be compiled into a presentation.

Spring Semester Midpoint

The past two weeks have been very busy with class assignments.  On the 29th, myself and MKT 385 colleagues delivered a presentation on the core competencies of Southwest Airlines.  Using the value chain as our guide, we concluded that Southwest has developed a relative source of competitive advantage within the airline industry.  The areas where they excel are human resources, segment positioning, cost control, and marketing.  Together these activities contribute to the enthusiastic Southwest culture and company success. 

In MKT 332, we have been developing our creative platform for our Emack and Bolio's client project.  We have successfully established our target market and campaign objectives.  On a separate note, we have also started working with Photo Shop in class.  Many of the skills from Adobe Illustrator carry over and I am very excited to have the opportunity to become familiar with these programs. In MKT 338, we have created our initial screening survey for our client, New Energy Technologies.  We are focusing on their Motion Power sustainability research.  Essentially what has been developed is hubs that are placed in the road and harvest energy from slowing vehicles.  This energy is then converted into electricity and can be used to power street signs, houses, buildings, and more. 

This week has primarily been devoted for studying for midterms.  I have put in a lot of time outside of class to prepare, and thus far it has paid off.  I am extremely excited to have the next week off for spring break, and to be visiting my friend, Brent Marks, in Arizona.  I have wanted to go visit Brent for some time now, but haven't been able to make it happen until Aunt Deb helped me out. 

England - Belgium 2012

Today I spent much of the day trying to promote the 2012 England and Belgium Study Abroad Program.  Myself and 19 others took this trip last summer and had an incredible time.  This is a four week long program that gives you the opportunity to study in England and travel around Europe in your free time.  While attending classes for three weeks at The University of The West of England, students are required to stay with a host family.  This is a great way to introduce students to foreign surroundings and help them develop an understanding of certain cultural barriers.  The final week of the trip is devoted to traveling across Belgium with a UWE professor.  Overall, this trip is a great way to step out of your shell, become independent, adventure to new places, make great friends, and create unforgettable memories. 

With organization from Dr. Lahiri, I went to six different classes today to give a brief presentation on how students can benefit from this program, and I will be going to a hand full again on Thursday.  Besides enjoying the opportunity to share my experiences with students, I enjoyed talking with Dr. Lahiri between presentations.  He is a very wise man and I am thankful for the re-encouraging words he gave me about my future ambitions.  I have a high level respect for Dr. Lahiri's kindness and openness, and I appreciate the life experiences he shared with me today.