Blogging as a Means for Communication

Generally speaking, I have enjoyed the blogging process this semester.  I think if I had started earlier on the blogging process my contributions might have been a little more valuable and constructive.  Blogging is not as cut and dry a I thought.  Honestly I assumed that this would be an easy process and that I could knock out blog posts just like checking off boxes. But I was wrong. In order to formulate valuable blogs, it is important to brainstorm and research the topics you are wanting to discuss. This takes time and creativity.

I believe that for companies who are wanting to gain more of a presence across the internet, blogging is a great medium to implement by a company to spread awareness, their services and products.  Through our final project we found out the value of blogging and that diabetics greatly utilize blogs to communicate and spread awareness of new products and ideas.   I believe that the power of blogging is greatly underestimated and untapped.

But, for now I will leave blogging to the professionals.  I don't have any intentions of maintaining this blog, it's been fun guys.  Good luck to the new graduates and I'll see the rest of you degenerates (kidding) next semester!

Signing off.

Choosing Education

With over 4,000 Colleges and Universities in the United States, how is one ever to choose the right fit?  The options are seemingly limitless for perspective students.

My college career started off in Auburn, Alabama.  Being an Alabama native, I was actually raised and Alabama Crimson Tide fan and has always planned to go to the University of Alabama.  That all changed when I met a girl in high school and though I would spend the rest of my days with her.  Boy was I wrong.  I ended up following this girl to Auburn and had that implode in my face. Soon after I completed my freshman year at Auburn University, I decided that I needed  change of scenery.  Montana was the obvious choice.

I moved to Montana without the intention of going back to school.  I just wanted to be a fishing guide and a ski bum.  I soon found out that working entry level low paying jobs was not the way I wanted to spend the rest of  my life. After realizing this, I made the decision to attend Montana State University in the Fall of 2013.

For me choosing the schools I attended was a bit of a no brainer.  Geographically speaking at least.  But for students that do not have any direction on where they want to live or study face seriously difficult decisions on where to attend school.  For many, there are several external factors that affect their decisions such as costs and acceptance to school's of their choice.  Ultimately, when choosing education it is most important to go with the best possible fit for your wants and needs.  I found out the hard way that external pressures generally don't lead to happiness with your institution.

Groups

Working in groups offers a clear advantage for any team be it marketing, scholastic or any other entity for that matter.  We saw the value of working in teams when completing our final design sprint projects during Consumer Behavior.  If it was not for the cohesive team that we were placed in, then I do not believe that the project would have been completed on time or up to satisfactory specifications.

Here are six ways that teamwork benefits you in the workplace.

1. Fosters Creativity and Learning. Creativity thrives when people work together on a team. 
2. Blends Complementary Strengths. 
3. Builds Trust. 
4. Teaches Conflict Resolution Skills. 
5. Promotes a Wider Sense of Ownership.
6. Encourages Healthy Risk-Taking.

All of these six advantages came into effect during our project process.  Perhaps most importantly, we were able to blend complementary strengths and foster our creativity.  Due to the nature of the design sprint process, being able to foster and capture our creativity was essential.  Truthfully, I do no consider myself to be the most creative or artistic individual.  But, thanks to the ideas and creative environment that my group created I was able to step out of my personal "box" and help create meaningful and valuable ideas. 

The Weight

This is going to get heavy.  I promise this post to be my only depressing post in my series of blogs.

Due to the current events of today (12/13/2016) I have found myself opening the pandora's box that is the Middle East.  Today, Aleppo, Syria according to multiple news sources has fallen into the hands of the Syrian Government and Assad.  This means in all probability that the rebel movement has failed in Aleppo to oust Assad's dictatorship of Syria.  Truthfully, I am not informed enough to make an educated statement on the implications of this fact or any of the Middle East for that matter (truly embarrassing).  I have found myself over the past few hours trying to catch up on the last 5 years of Middle Eastern current events to try and understand what this means.  From what I have gathered, both the Syrian Government and the rebel forces have little regard for civilian life.  This is what brings me to this post. In order to stay neutral on this topic, I am going to forgo any political opinions that I may be thinking.  I genuinely just want to focus on the misfortunate civilians who are paying the true cost of war at this point and have very little voice in such matters.  This situation really is a mess.

With this in mind, upon reflection of my previous posts, they all seem rather silly.  I have greatly focussed on the consumption of goods that really have little importance to life in the grand scheme of things.  From coolers to fishing equipment, none of these items are essential to everyday life and existence. It seems extremely arrogant to talk about the choices that modern western consumers posses in terms of material items when our eastern brothers and sisters barely have the choice of life or death.  With Aleppo in mind, we have seen the non-stop, mindless dispatching of civilians in all forms from men, women and children. My heart and mind mourn for these people who are experiencing incomprehensible atrocities at this very moment.  These are human beings just like us, of which I have no doubt would give everything to be sitting in my position with a hot cup of coffee and music playing typing this very post.  My biggest concerns at the moment involve finishing these blog posts and other school assignments, not worrying if today will be my last day. To put it lightly, this is an extremely difficult burden and realization for me to carry at the moment.

I really don't know what else to say.  My heart it heavy, I just pray and worry for all innocent people facing excruciating hardship at this very moment.

Yeti

COMPANY PROFILE

COMPANY: Yeti Coolers

2016 INC. 5000 RANK: 510

HEADQUARTERS: Austin, TX

YEAR FOUNDED: 2006

2015 REVENUE: $468.9 million

3-YEAR GROWTH: 748%

In today's saturated environment of outdoor gear and products.  It is necessary for companies to differentiate their brands to stand out through the noise of too many products. In a market such as coolers, on company has stood out from the rest and created a brand that is unmatched in the industry. This company is Yeti Cooler's.

How do you get consumers to buy a $400 cooler? To do so, Yeti didn't just create the most rugged, durable and effective cooler on the market, they created a lifestyle. What Yeti has been so effective in creating is a community within the brand.  By pushing their coolers into that hands of nearly every professional in all aspects of the outdoor industry (primarily fishing and hunting) they have been able to create a need for their coolers rather than a want.  I personally own two of their coolers and some of their other miscellaneous merchandise.  Their coolers are the highest quality possible and can hold ice for days which is important for my profession.

Yeti has implemented heavy use of social media into their advertising strategy.  They have many representatives on Instagram and continue to heavily sponsor television shows and independent outdoor films to spread company name and create exposure.  Yeti has also been featured in a popular country song and numerous Instagram and social media "trends" without any implementation from Yeti.  They have truly created a cult brand.

Social Media

In recent years, technology has opened the door for literally immeasurable amounts of opportunity for retailers, manufacturers and sales companies.  A major part of these opportunities has been the ability for companies to communicate with perspective consumers in their respective industry's. Among the avenues of communication that technology has provided said companies with has been the increasing popularity and use of online social media platforms. 

Social media has taken the role for many peoples, especially millennials, communication and news source. Many companies have recognized this statistic and have started to put their products into the hands of social media personalities to market their products. Take the Kardashian's for example. The Kardashian's would not be famous if it were not for social media.  Based on a quick personal Instagram search, Kylie Jenner (one of the Kardashians) has roughly 90 million followers on her account.  She is currently marketing and selling her own beauty products and is having great success. She rarely has to perform any outside marketing schemes for her products.  Her personal image and social media presence essentially sells her products themselves.

Many companies have adopted social media as a means of marketing their products to a wider scope of individuals.  There has been copious success using these tactics and social media is becoming more and more valuable for every firm in the world, not just sales.

Utility Vs. Creativity

For this post, I would like to examine the design of similar products and how some products are designed to attract and how some are designed to preform.

The main product I have in mind for this comparison is fishing reels.  When working in the fly shop, I have ample opportunities to "pull apart" all of the available fishing reels on the market.  Our shop carries an extremely comprehensive line of reels, therefore I have the opportunity to examine each reel in great detail. Essentially, all modern fishing reels are the same.  There are three main components to every reel: 1.) drag system 2.) spool 3.) reel handle.  Almost every reel in every price range has these three components, and from copious amounts of testing I have conclude that (for freshwater applications) all reels perform the same regardless of "prestige" or make.  So, the question stands, what to reel manufactures do to sell high end reels over more affordable and just proficient reels?

To answer this question, we must look at how these reels are aesthetically designed and what materials are used.  The major advancement in reels these days has been the use of machined aluminum for body construction.  This type of construction is infinitely more appealing to the eye and is far more lightweight and durable compared to the conventional "cast" aluminum.  this allows for intricate designs in the body of the reel and allows for compelling permanent images to be painted onto the reel.  The reel company Abel perfected this art with their series of reels.  They were the first company to implement high end designs and materials into their product.  This implementation spread through the industry like wildfire and Abel immediately captured the market share and industry standard for high end reels.

Abel's $800 reels in application are no different than the $40 Cabellas' reels.  They both preform their task equally as well and are both suitable choices for consumers.  But Abel has been able to catch the "eye" of the consumers and their company image and price tag reflect this notion.

"A Day That Will Live in Infamy"

December 7, 1941.

(Drafted on December, 7th)

Truly "A Day That Will Live in Infamy". On this day 75 years ago the history of the world changed forever.  When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on that faithful Sunday morning the innocence of our previous generations America was sunk to the bottom of the harbor.  From then to the end of World War II consumers had to be hyper conscious of their purchases and needs.

Due to the nature and sheer scale of WWII, materials and supplies were scarce in the states in order to fuel the war machine that was trudging on through Europe and the Pacific.  Most notably, American families were obligated to ration consumer goods such as gasoline, coffee, butter, shoes, sugar, and meat. Rationing was a complex and far-reaching challenge that required the efforts of all of the American people.  Rather than having endless amounts of choice to consider, many families were given food stamps and rationing coupons to purchase their goods with.  For some, rather than using food coupons, many families took to gardening and farming their own produce for consumption.

Due to the American peoples effort and abidance to forgoing lavish food choice and consumption, America was able to win WWII and supply the war effort that required every ounce of energy and resources available.

http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/8204/volumes/v25/NA-25

Boutique Vs. Function

In the summers, I am fortunate enough to work at two local fly shops in Ennis, Montana.  Due to the unseen politics of the fly fishing industry, it is rare for shop employees to work in more than one shop at a time.  To make a long story short, this past summer my boss (who already owns a shop called Montana Trout Stalkers) purchased another local fly shop in Ennis, thus now we have two entities to manage. Coincidentally enough I used to be employed at the store we purchased, the Madison River Fishing Company.   For me, it has been extremely interesting to see the acquisition and transition of power in the Madison River Fishing Company.

Some background on the Madison River Fishing Company: MRFC has always been seen as the fly fishing "super store".  MRFC carried literally all of the latest products and gear and had the knowledgeable staff to boot.  It was and still is revered as an extremely comprehensive fly shop. Though it's layout was difficult to navigate in nature, customers were still able to locate or be directed to the products that they needed.  MRFC was never intended to be a boutique establishment, it's function is pure utility.

Some background on Montana Trout Stalkers: MTS was founded three years ago.  When we set out to design MTS, we wanted to create a type of "clubhouse" atmosphere. While we still wanted to carry a comprehensive line of fishing gear and supplies, we were not focussed on filling the shop to the gills with everything that any angler anywhere in the world might need.  We wanted to give it a "boutique" feel.

Tying it all together: Now that we own and manage both MTS and MRFC,  we are able to provide customers with the best of both worlds.  Those customers wanting a unique fly shop experience are now ushered down to MTS to grab some flies, a beer from the bar literally 10 feet from the porch and can sit on the porch and enjoy the sights of main street all the while listening to welcoming music playing from our speakers.  Also, those customers wanting more of a utilitarian experience or just wanting the latest and greatest fishing gear can be directed toward MRFC for all of their fly fishing needs and questions.

Anxiety

Who else has been tossing and turning at night?

These last two weeks of school is akin to drinking from a firehouse.  Everyday there is a predictable and steady barrage of projects, papers, tests and presentations.  Just a few minutes ago I created the list of assignments left to complete before I reach the refuge that is #winterbreak2k16. Now I'm stuck at the crossroads.......where do I start?

Of course I could always take the first come first serve mentality. Just one by one go down the list and check em' off as they come. But then I think, what about deadlines? What about scheduling? What would Jesus do? *giggle giggle*

The reason I bring up this topic is to not self loathe in guilt and disappointment of not starting my blogs earlier or that ambitious me forgot to consult with December me and thought it would be a reasonable idea to take 18 hours worth of upper level classes (I know some of you can manage this feat with no problems, and for that I am greatly envious).  But rather I bring up this issue because as I stare at my lists of assignments I am left with a considerable amount of choices to make.  Just like a consumer staring a the endless shelving and candy, how does one even choose?

*Sorry for the less than professional writing, that's just my anxiety talking.

America Online

"You've got mail!"  well.....not exactly that kind of AOL.

I'm talking about the endless amounts of online shopping and spending that goes on each day here in America and across the globe. Ever since the evolution of online retail services, the preferred method of shopping for goods has been pivoted from in store sales to online sales.  The ease and privacy that is associated with e-commerce has made this the preferred channel of purchasing.

I can remember as kid that my mother would sit online and order goods that that would immediately be sent back.  For example if she wanted to buy a new pillow for the couch, she would purchase several different variations of that pillow online and keep the one she wanted and return the ones that didn't make the cut.  The ease of purchasing and returning through online methods is what influenced this type of behavior.

Ever since the introduction of smart phones, we have seen a large spike in purchases being made from our phones as opposed from our computers.  Students can sit in class and order concert tickets right from their phone with hardly any effort at all. Does this type of ease and accessibility promote greater spending and less responsible spending habits? I would contend that it does because consumers can make haphazard purchases without ever seeing the instant ramifications. By just being able to purchase an item with a simple press of a button the consciousness of money literally flying
out our wallets is drastically diminished.

As e-commerce evolves, consumers will need to stay extra vigilant and aware of their spending habits and budgets.  If they do not, then they could easily "click" themselves into bankruptcy.

Choice

So far, we have examined the many ways consumers can be persuaded into making a decision.  But we have yet to truly cover that amount of choices that consumers have to weed through.  As one could have gathered from my posts thus far, I am deeply passionate about fly-fishing.  One of the most popular aspects of fly-fishing is the opportunity to tie and fish ones own personal creations.  Fly-tying is just as or more intricate and variable than any other aspect of the sport.  The amount of choice that anglers have in materials is truly mind boggling.  From hook choice all the way to thread and materials selections there are literally hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of available combinations for anglers.  So, this posses the question.  How can one ever make a decision with so much choice?

When shopping for fly-tying materials I tend to find myself lost in the labyrinth of peg boards and cubby holes stuffed to the brim with feathers and an assortment of game hides.  For consumers, it can be difficult to even know where to start when there are so many alike options to choose from.  When shopping, it is important for consumers to keep in mind of their desired results of their purchases.  This will help reduce much of the confusion and "noise" associated with too much choice.