Week 10 EOC: The Benefits Vs. Features.

What does the benefits versus the features actually mean? What would the benefits be and what would the features be? Basically, the features are what people expect from a particular product. take a new car for example, no one car company is going to advertise the fact that it has a windshield, or an engine or even A/C, it would obviously be included. But something like a 100,000 mile warranty or heated/cooled cup holders would be a benefit. Providing your customers with an amazing customer service department could also be a benefit.

With all that out of the way, all vodka contains the same basic elements, water and ethanol. Much like sushi at its very basic is merely seaweed and rice, vodka is simply put, just water and ethanol. These are the most basic features of course. Other features could be the simple fact that it comes in a bottle, or even the fact that almost all vodkas are 80 proof or even that it gets you tipsy.

With that said, the benefits of my person brand of vodka would be the fact that my vodka is a 100 proof beverage. Its made from the best ingredients, it has a particular and unique flavor and overall my companies stance of providing excellent customer service is our main priority, a happy customer will keep coming back for more and more. So in conclusion the benefits of something go way past the features. The unexpected, something that isn't always included. Something new and un-pioneered, or even something done better than the rest could all be examples of benefits.

EOC Week 9: Three Great Mission Statements

After reading through peoples mission statements, i have narrowed my three down to Shyanns Fashion Blog, McCoys Audio Spot and "Fundamentals of Marketing".

I really enjoyed Shyanns it is very professional and it even has some clever puns in it. It gets to the point and really shows what this persons vodka is all about.

McCoys Audio Spot's was also good. It was alot lengthier than Shayanns but it also covered alot more ground. It even went into where the water was taken from and where the ingredients were from. While it didnt have a missiony statement feel. It did cover what the statement was.

Fundementals was good too. Reading through the ones that were actually done showed me that there is a wide market for vodkas. For men and for women. This particualar one was for women. Slender vodka is for the busy woman who cares about her calories. The mission statement was well written and supported by direct quotes.

Overall the ones i read were on spot. Not all of them were as professional as i was hoping but still decent none the less. Our class needs to work hard to catch up on your work!

Week 7: EOC The Pitch

In 2011 a young college student studying in Las Vegas, NV named Phillip Ornelas decided to create a beverage unlike the rest. To stand out and out sell the competition. His vision was to create a new, improved, high quality Polish vodka using only the freshest ingredients found in the world. Pikané 100 proof full powered Vodka.

The first ingredient is water. using the purest artesian spring water found in Poland helps give The vodka its signature smooth finish and crisp flavor.

The alcohol used is made from the freshest ginger root. It is grown all year round and picked at the peak of its freshness just for this premier beverage.

The final ingredient used is a small amount of cinnamon. This cinnamon is used to boost the flavor of the ginger and give the drink a more well rounded flavor that our customers have come to expect from us.

The process of quadruple distilling is done by passing the vodka through 15 feet of oak charcoal and through 25 rare black diamonds. Distilling the liquor trough oak gives the vodka its smoky flavor to create a unparalleled drinking experience.

The process of choosing fresh ingredients, distilling with oak charcoal, and using cinnamon gives the vodka a spicy, smoky, smooth flavor for $79.

Week 6 EOC: Me x3

Some people say that I am a silly person, maybe a little immature and definitely a "dude". But, one thing that anyone who knows me personally will say is that I am a very laid back person. I take life as it comes and deal with it. With a laid back personality comes a laid back lifestyle, which means purchasing laid back items. Here are a few products i purchase that really define "Me".

Shoes: I have to have really comfortable and/or lightweight shoes. Being comfortable is my number one priority. For instance, right now I am wearing a pair of Vans shoes that are made of canvas. I love them, and they show my personality in them. They are beat up, torn and dirty and i wear them on a daily basis. People identify them with me. If I switched to another pair of shoes that i own and started wearing them regularly, I'm fairly certain people would notice. I am almost due for another pair of shoes, and I am fairly certain I'll be waltzing into the Vans store again very soon.

RedBull: As almost any college aged young man, I juggle about 3 or 4 things, A social life, work, school, and my girlfriend. This exhausts me tremendously. And when one is tired and can't nap, a good ol' shot of caffeine will brighten up your day! Any given day you can see me walking around work, campus, or almost anywhere drinking a RedBull. A lot like my shoes, people expect for me to have a RedBull (No a Rockstar will not do!). This beverage is a part of me and my daily life.

And finally, my ensemble would not be complete without my "Band Tee" This is probably my biggest "this is me". Every single day, night afternoon, no matter what I am doing where I am i ALWAYS have on a t-shirt from one of my favorite bands. I love giving my bands i listen to the added exposure and I like getting funny looks, and/or questions about my shirt. (Especially people asking what a storm trooper has to do with the book Of Mice And Men( Which is a band also)).

These 3 things, among others, are what make me who I am.

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

In today's economy jobs are hard to come by and some people are desperate to find one. But when it comes to a job looking for you, how far is too far? Many companies have been relying on a lot of social media sites, such as facebook, to bring in potential new hires. "Facebook hires account for less than 1% of the total hires companies are making" according to Jobs2Web.com. Monster inc. recently made a facebook application as well. "The application now has nearly 800,000 monthly users, according to AppData.com". During focus groups, people were asked about facebook as a way for companies to contact potential new employees and most said that it was too intrusive. Which i agree with facebook is more about connecting with friends and family and not so much where you would go looking for a job. Still, Facebook is being used to do just that, and the market for it is definitely growing, and fast. "VMware Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif., cloud-computing company, hired its first full-time recruiter dedicated to working on social networks in November and is building a team of recruiters who will focus on social platforms.". But in this society of internet using peoples, I see facebook being used for much much more than just jobs in the very near future if it is still relevant for much longer. With the population of internet users and people who need jobs growing, the use of social media for jobs will probably explode, even if it is intrusive.

Week 4 EOC: There's An App For That

I think my idea for an app could be a big money maker. The app would allow you to take a picture of a high area with you phones camera. After the photo is taken, it asks for your height and weight, the app then analyzes the picture and determines whether a fall from the height would be fatal or not, and if not what injuries you could possibly face.

Apps are quickly becoming huge money makers. With iPhone, Android, Blackberry and various other mediums it seems anyone can make money producing apps. “The global app download market will grow from $1.94 billion in 2009 to a whopping $15.65 billion by 2013.” There are various books on how to make these applications and send them out to people all over the world to download for $0.99, or even free.

I think the reason that people love applications are how easy they are. Not to mention cheap and ridiculously convenient. You can have games, books, social media, movie rentals, medical dictionaries etc. all right there in your pocket. It also seems that no matter what the app is there market is there for SOMEONE. Some of the dumbest apps make the most money, take Angry Birds. The game is a puzzle game where you throw birds into pigs. The fact is this game has been around for YEARS, just not with birds. “Sales of the Angry Birds iPhone game reaching a massive 10 million paid downloads, and that’s just on one OS.” Its sales have surpassed Michael Jacksons “Bad” album and Pink Floyds “The Wall”

Almost all apps make money, even the dumb ones. There is an app that shows the image of a burning candle and the wax melts and everything for $5, or the “Soft Serve Poop Machine” for $0.99. They say that the app is "Created especially for all you fans of iFart and the dozens of other fart and poop apps on the app store. Did we say Chocolate Fudge? Mmmm!". Apps are completely taking over our phones and even our lives with Facebook, Twitter and the like. And from a marketing standpoint apps are genius, they make money and everyone can use them.

Week 3 EOC: Making Money For Good.

With so many companies making products selfishly for their own personal monetary gain, there are a few companies that make money for good. This doesn't mean that they will ALWAYS make money. It means they are making money for good reasons. One of these companies is TOMS shoes. For every shoe they sell, they give one shoe to someone who doesn't have shoes in another country. There are more organizations like this, here are a few more.

Tide: When people think of Tide they automatically jump to thinking laundry detergent. While this is true the company also gives to communities in struggle. During natural disasters they take a mobile laundromat and cleans residents clothing free of charge. They also sell t-shirts for $20. The money goes to families affected as well.

Sonic: teachers spend an average of $1500 out of their own pockets providing materials for their students. They sold lemonade and other drinks with ads to send them to a website to vote for their teachers. At the end they donated over half a million to help teachers afford materials to teach effectively.

Burts Bees: Burts Bees makes eco friendly bath and body product. "We're committed to protecting the planet and also to improving our community," says Yola Carlough, the company's director of sustainability. The workers of the company spend 30 business hours a year helping. Last year they closed down their head quarters in order to help build an eco friendly playground. They also donated 400 pairs of jeans, that we re-purposed to be used as insulation for homes.

This is just a few of the many. Not all companies are money hungry thieves. Many are out to do good and give back to the community.

Week 3 EOC: My Demographic

First came the Baby Boomers, Then, Generation X. Now we have the group of people born mid 1980's and later. The millennials (Or generation y) Are estimated 70 million strong. A millennial is classified as a group of people who are tech savvy, family-centric, achievement and team-oriented and attention craving.

Personally I am in this demographic. I was born in 1989, I am tech savvy (this is an internet blog inst it?), family centric, and achievement oriented. I love technology and like learning new things about it. Family is a big thing to me. With my Mother and both of my Grandparents living within 2 miles from me, i try to see them as much as possible. While older generations put work before family I (and our generation) is opposite. I am also very achievement orientation I WANT to do well. I want to do what my family hasn't or cant do, I want to be successful and achieve what my elders couldn't. On the flip side, I personally am not in the population of the final two.

I am no team oriented. I should be, but working in a team usually ends with me doing the work, In which case I'm pretty much doing it on my own anyways. Attention craving is another falsity for me. I hate being the center of attention. I get nervous and uncomfortable.

All in all the demographic I am in is me except for a couple elements. We are definitely an interesting unique group of individuals and I am interested to see where our generation goes in the future.

EOC Week 2: Boston Consulting Group- Video Games

With times being as hard as they are, not only are the small people being affected, but also big business, Including one of entertainments most profitable cash crops in the world, Video Games. Over the years video game system and game sales have taken a big plunge. "Sales of games, hardware and accessories fell 23 percent in August - after a 26 percent drop in July. Sales were $670 million, down from $874 million during the same period last year.” Using the Boston Consulting Group Grid, Let’s go over a few of these, shall we?

Sony PlayStation 3: When PlayStation 3 first hit the scene it was the must have gaming system, in 2006. Now it seems they are beating a dead horse. It’s still a great product but until they update something, anything, it will continue to be a cash cow. “Fiscal Q1 revenues from game hardware, software and online services dropped 11.9% from the previous year to $1.5 billion, while unit sales of the Playstation 3 dropped to 1.8 million compared to 2.4 million the year prior.” This is still BIG money. But people want something more.

Microsoft Xbox 360: Much like PS3, Xbox is probably Microsoft’s biggest cash cow. The only reason im slapping it with a “cash cow” is because of the Kinect. The Kinect re-vamped Xbox sales and brought it out of the “dog” zone. But people are once again losing interest. They need something new as well.

Nintendo Wii: What can I say about the Nintendo Wii? Nintendo has almost made NO advancements since its launch back in 2006. The only advancements were video streaming. “The Wii fell to No. 3 from No. 1 this year, with U.S. sales in the first 10 months down 24% from the same period a year earlier.” For that, I’m going to put the Wii into the Question Mark category. Only because the Wii 2 will be coming out very soon, and with probably a huge demand. But, I don’t think the same can be said for Nintendo’s other products.

Nintendo DS: The DS has been re-imagined many, many times over the past few years and they sell. But not well enough. The whole concept of “Handheld Gaming” (Excluding phones) is pretty much dead in the water. The PSP, DS and the like are all Dogs. People don’t want to lug around bulky game systems that take time to load up and take cartridges. That’s why most people are preferring my next “platform”

Mobile Gaming: In the past 5 years gaming on a mobile phone has completely changed the way people play games. From playing “Angry Birds” in line for the bank to playing “Dead Space” waiting for a movie to begin. “The mobile gaming industry is booming; last year alone (2010) it made an estimated $800 million.” That is HUGE! Considering most games are only 1 to 2 dollars, or even FREE. This “platform” is definitely a Star. It combines a fun game experience, fast, when and where you want and at an affordable price.

Steam: Steam is a new concept that I am giving a question mark. It allows you to download new big budget games as well as small “app-like” games directly to your computer, and sometimes at a cheaper rate than going to a game store and buying a physical copy. It’s a mobile gaming concept on a big platform level and it will definitely be one to watch out for. http://store.steampowered.com/

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

About every season I get allergies, Really bad ones that really end up ruining me for about 2 weeks. Sick, coughing and runny nosed I stumbled into Wal-Mart and headed straight for the pharmacy center. I found the nearest pharmacist and asked “excuse me, I’m having some terrible allergies, what kind of allergy medication would you suggest for me?” She then took me over to the isle and pointed out the Claritin and Alavert. It was a little pricey but if it was going to relieve me I had no qualms about spending the 17 dollars on it. So I bought the Claritin. I took one immediately when I got home and waiting a few hours and nothing happened, I felt exactly the same. I decided to wait and took one the next day and still, nothing. I did this for about 3 or 4 days with no relief. So I finally got out of bed and took my remaining pills back to Wal-Mart. In the midst of being sick for four days, not sleeping well, working and going to school, I lost my receipt; I was tired, grumpy and sick and irritated. So I stumbled up the register, they asked me how they could help me and I told them the pills didn’t work and id like a refund. They asked me if I had my receipt and I explained the situation at hand and that I had lost it. They told me that it would not be a problem at all and that they would be happy to refund me the 17 dollars for the faulty pills. I asked if the opened packaging and the missing pills were going to be a problem and they said no and refunded me. No questions asked and no trouble at all. It was great, Wal-Mart gets a bad rap, but they do provide some good customer service.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

My name is Phillip Ornelas, I am twenty one years old, and I live in Henderson Nevada. I work as a cashier for a company that gets a lot of bad rap. But, providing excellent customer service for our customers is important to me and I really love helping people. But, cashiering is just a pit stop for me. Ever since I can remember I’ve loved music, I remember helping do garden work in my grandparents garden just listening to my Walkman and singing away killing weeds. I love all things related to audio and music. Sounds have always intrigued me, I am the kind of person to notice that tiny, miniscule humming noise that no one else seems to notice, or water dripping from a faucet that people walk by without a care. I also love movies and would love to provide audiences with the audio to go hand in hand with the picture on screen. In my spare time I play the guitar and also dabble on the drums and keyboard. Writing music and recording it onto a computer is something I love and am very passionate about. Something about playing a song and being able to capture it and share it with the world is very exciting and the fact that I could make a career out of it is amazing and exhilarating.