Week 7 - The Pitch

Lanikai Hawaiian Vodka brings the true essence of Hawaii to awaken and invigorate your senses. As the name would suggest, Lanikai, or "Heavenly Sea," is a light, crisp vodka that is refreshing and rejuvenating, just as the well known beaches of Lanikai in Hawaii are known to be.  Lanikai Vodka is not only gentle and smooth, giving a sense of serenity and peace but also suggests liveliness and spirit through its special infusion of the island bounty.  When you drink this vodka, you are reminded of the delicious fruits of the island: Pineapple, Guava, Papaya and Passionfruit.  Your senses want to sing and dance and invigorate you into celebrating life.  The hint of Yellow Hibiscus in the vodka, suggests to you the secret splendor of the island: beauty, finesse, wonderful health benefits, and delicious indulgence. Because our vodka is uniquely distilled through fermentation of these rare and delicate fruits, herbs and ingredients, our product is not only healthy but utterly delectable. Aside from the taste, Lanikai Vodka is especially appealing to people with allergies, or those looking for added health benefits.  The hibiscus flower us a powerful antioxidant and with many added health benefits. Yellow Hibiscus also acts as a cooling agent on the body, so that when you drink our vodka, you remain cool and refreshed, not overheated and flushed as most other vodkas may leave you. You can retain the cool, fresh, island feel of flowing water and freshness.  Lanikai Vodka is also infused with Jin Dan Hua, a honeysuckle flower, makes this Vodka especially appealing to people with allergies because of its medicinal benefits that combat allergies and sinuses and reduce the inflammation of airways. You will love Lanikai Hawaiian vodka. It's light, smooth and refreshing taste on the palate leaves an exquisite essence of Hawaii and indulging in Lanikai Hawaiian Vodka is like a vacation in itself. Sail away on your own personal adventure with this heavenly sea, Lanikai Hawaiian Vodka.

Week Six - Me x3

Of the many products out there in today's world, we all have specific products that we're partial to. They help us create our sense of self and define our identity. We can closely relate specific products to parts of our personality and indiviuality. For me, there are many. However, for the purposes of this blog, I am going to list my top three and explain what they mean to me.

1. My Apple iPhone. I use my iphone every day. In a very large way, it has become very personal and a huge part of who I am. Not in the sense where the phone defines me, but I define myself through it, and very much rely on it to keep all of who I am right there tangibly with me. I almost feel naked and lonely without it. I know most people can agree they get that sense of discomfort without their communication devices also. I'm not sure if everyone's decisions on which phone/brand is as calculated, or influential to them, but for me it is crucial. When thinking about why I choose this product over all others, seems like a simple estimation, but rather is very complex. Many decisions reaffirm that this phone, this product and brand, is by far the best and at this point, only option for me. The quality I know I can expect is one thing, but the capabilities and features are more extensive and really give me a sense of freedom and ability to explore. It is personalized to fit my life. It is many things to me. It houses my most sacred possessions: my personal photos, my theraputic music, and I am able to wirelessly send all of that info to my computer, so it is never lost, via iCloud. Best of all, my family and friends are right there at my fingertips with just a few clicks, even though, I use the actual phone feature least of all. But just knowing it's there and having the options available to me is satisfaction enough to validate the necessity.

2. MAC, Makeup Forever, NARS, Urban Decay, Benefit, Too Faced, Lorac. These are the only brands I use for makeup. I am very speicific. And of those brands there are specific items I use of each. For instance, I only wear MAC Lipstick. I am not against trying new ones, but I have a need to have my MAC Lipstick and or gloss always in my possession. It's necessary. I wear NARS blush, and I layer their gloss over my MAC lipstick. My Makeup Forever foundation is a constant, even though my Makeup Forever liquid blush is in rotation with NARS; however I'm kind of partially in love with it more than the NARS at the moment. NARS isn't too happy, since it was my baby until I discovered it. I am also obsessed with Urban Decay and Too Faced for their eyeshadows and sets! I have to buy all the new sets when they are released, I'm such an eyeshadow whore. I don't even have to use them; just knowing that I have them is enough! I do love Too Faced's bronzing powder. I only wear Benefit's Bad Gal Lash Mascara because it is absolutely amazing! And - oh my God - Lorac lotions are the finishing touches that make my skin glow and look gorgeous. I can't imagine living without my Tantalizer and it's newest addition - Self-Tantalizer! They are divine. My point is that these speicific products are the example of how united we become to certain products. The pleasure I find in beauty products is really kind of absurd from the outside looking in, but my obsession is truly satisfying.

3. Last, but certainly not least, is my infatuation with Northface. I love my Northface Osito hoodie. Simply put, Northface is the warmest, yet breathable, most snuggly, soft, cozy hoodie on the face of the planet. I love that they are thin and small; yet can be worn out in the snow. And when you wear them in mild weather you don't get overheated, so it's actually good in most weather! Love it!

Week Five - Social Networks and Job Hunting

Marketing today has dramatically changed from previous years. Most of marketing is now making the transition directly into Social Media Networks. Marketers use social networking sites to find out a plethora of information about their consumers as well as to send out information about their products and services. Marketers are also now beginning to use this world of social media networks to recruit new employees and also market at the same time. Thus, job placement sites are actually becoming a united facet of social networking sites and now marketers are creating a new avenue for companies to locate employee candidates and for people to locate job listings.

One example of how this would work is the process by which marketers are now hiring “brand ambassadors.” 

 “Marketers select their brand ambassadors very carefully, based on customers’ devotion to a brand and the size of their social circles. They sometimes search blogs and online social networks to identify individuals who are already functioning as brand advocates. Once selected, the ambassadors are trained with real brand knowledge to go along with their passion for the brand. The ambassadors then tap into friends, family, groups, and broader audiences through personal conversations, blogs, live events, and online social media. For the ambassadors, it’s often a labor of love more than a paying job. Rewards include product samples, gifts, discounts, and token cash payments. Perhaps more important to many brand enthusiasts, they get insider access to company information, such as new products or services in the works.

Brand ambassador programs leverage the power of peer-to-peer communication. Consumers hear about products and brand experiences from others just like themselves—people they trust—rather than from commercial marketing sources,” (Armstrong/Kotler p. 143).

These “brand ambassadors,” or, people who and endorse the companies product are found online on sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Craigslist. Their position consists of them being surveyed themselves and also talk to and interview people about the product, and to promote it and be compensated with possibility of future job opportunities and promotions within the company. This is an absolute breakthrough in the job market. We now have this huge world opened up to us. However, at the same time, is this also a bit more taxing on our privacy and personal lives?

            This quest that marketers have to examine consumer behaviors is becoming extremely personal and almost infringing upon our very independence. The true test will lie on the future growth of Facebook.com. “Beginning next week, the company also plans to pilot a new Facebook application that will allow them to search for candidates on BranchOut Inc.'s Facebook app which, similar to BeKnown, builds a professional networking layer on top of Facebook and has more than 2.6 million monthly users, according to AppData.com,” (Joe Light, Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2011).  Only time can tell if this is a genius new advancement, or if it is another step toward losing individual rights to preservation of privacy.