Pieces of April Thoughts

It saddens me to see a family like that so torn apart, a family not thankful for anything. I just couldn't believe how the mother searched for reasons not to see her own daughter. She made her husband pull the car over a few times, smoked some pot to ease her painful memories, bought junk food (donuts, candy bars, and chips) to fill their stomachs so they didn't have to bear her daughters cooking. While on the road  to see their long lost daughter in NYC, the family probed each others mind for positive memories of April, and failed to find a good memory. 

The presumptions or judgements that we have of each other reflect in our behaviors and affect what we consume.  In this movie, April is foreseen as a mistake, a bad child, and her image (body piercings and tattoos) reflect that judgement. Usually when a person is rebelling they engage in activities that are the polar opposite of what or whom they are rebelling, and tend to express themselves through the way they dress and act. In this movie, April is considered the odd child compared to her perfect sister. The way April acts and dresses compared to her neighbors reflect the different presumptions that we have about others. The movie showed a variety of different personalities and lifestyles and how they conflict. No family is perfect by any means, we all have our quirks.

April tried so hard to please her family, along with the help of her boyfriend. The lifestyle they lived didnt even compare to the lifestyle that her family lived. But in the end, and despite the differences, they accepted each other for who they are and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

More thoughts on Black Friday

Retailers are making it easier for consumers to buy their products this year. With the amount of people that own tablets and smart phones, retailers have the opportunity to provide an easy way to help consumers make purchases.

Some people hate store lines, let alone finding a parking spot to get a few items. Now people have the luxary of purchasing items from the comfort of their home. Almost every store has a website, and on that website they offer sales. According to a survey, 52.9% of smartphone owners and 64.1% of tablet owners will use their devices to do research and make purchases.

Black Friday has already started, its no longer a one day deal. Businesses are opening up earlier and extending their sales throughout the weekend. Walmart is the leader in a lot of the behavior of stores. Walmart now is opening its store on Thanksgiving for the sales of Black Friday. Target is doing the same, following the footsteps of Walmart. Not to mention Amazon has been doing "pre-sales" all week.  Some stores even offer the chance for consumers to reserve their item online for easy pick up at the store the next day. Stores are trying to ease the chaos thats associated with this day, in hopes to encourage those consumers who absolutely despise Black Friday.

Black Friday really isn't all about just shopping, i believe its about the experience. Gathering your best friends together, waking up early, dressing up in bright clothes so you dont lose each other in the massive crowd of hungry shoppers, grabbing a Starbucks coffee, and after all of the fun maybe catching a movie.

Black Friday

The biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday. People wait in anticipation as time slowly passes by before the store doors open. Sales sales sales galore, which store to you go to first? how many do you buy? oh my goodness what color should you pick!?

The experience of Black Friday has become a ritual for many American families. Every single store has a sale, some have enormous  sales, and some have very few. How do people ever decided what store to go to, and most importantly at what time? I know people that plan weeks in advance on what store they plan to visit on this big shopping day. They go through all of the paper advertisement inserts in the Newspaper along with doing their own research online.

Usually people make a list of friends and family that they want to buy gifts for that year and then try to match up one of the "sale" items to that particular person. It's interesting to try to associate a product with someone you know. You think to yourself "hmm what would John like for Christmas this year?" How often do your friends and family correctly pair you up with your favorite products? I think that a lot of people intend to shop on Friday for their peers, but really, they are shopping for themselves. Thoughts swarm through their mind "those boots are on sale, and they are so cute, just what i have been looking for! I doubt anyone will get these for me for Christmas...i cant bear to pass up this deal." Just like that, people (I'm a victim) will snatch certain items for themselves, because they cant pass up the deal. This day could either be the most giving day of the year, or the most selfish day of the year.

 Honestly i wonder how many people buy gifts for themselves on this day more than they buy gifts for others. I mean, you can always return the item you bought, right? I feel like Americans collect a lot of junk on this day, meaning they purchase items they don't really need. They are restricted by time and money, and make these purchases solely on the fact that its on sale. Everything that the book Predictably Irrational talks about, is demonstrated very well on Black Friday.

Ladies night

I recently just experienced an event downtown called "Ladies Night." This to me is a great example of event marketing. This is defined as the activity of designing or developing a themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit to promote a product, cause, or organization. Event marketers main goal is to get the consumer involved with the product. 20 plus businesses downtown Bozeman participated in this event. They offered discounts in their stores, coupons for future business, complementary food and beverages ONLY for the ladies.

I saw this event first advertised on Facebook, then throughout the week i heard it constantly on the radio. This nudged me to do some more external searching, so i went online and discovered all of the cool things that the stores were offering. Some stores offered free wine and chocolate (every woman's guilty pleasure), while other stores offered cookies and hot apple cider. The point of all this was to persuade the ladies into their stores with the "free" food and offer them a discount on their product only for that one night. My friend was a victim of this marketing, and purchased a few things just because they were on sale (i of course new better), although a part of me was really considering purchasing some items.

Having an event like this was very effective, i discovered new stores that i have never heard of, and now i have that awareness. The point of this event was to get ladies to buy items that one night. Even though i didn't buy anything, i have that knowledge that they are there, and who knows maybe sometime in the future these stores will receive my business, all because of this one night.  The chocolate, the wine, the discounts, and my two best friends all lured me into this night of fun and shopping!

Gentleman, just wait...your night is coming up just around the corner. My guess is that there will be free pizza and beer.

Whats the brand of Bozeman? Has it changed?

Bozeman is consistently growing. New businesses are popping up left and right in this "small town." While families are on vacation heading to Yellowstone National Park they usually stop in Bozeman and discover the rare beauty that this place offers, and they yearn to live here. These people not only bring their character to this town but their business too. Is this good or bad? It definitely boosts the economy and the style of living, but others feel as if all of these people and these new businesses will ruin the beauty of Bozeman.

What is the true brand of Bozeman? After talking with a few of my co-workers i have discovered how Bozemans image has changed over the past 10 years. When my co-workers were asked to describe Bozeman they started naming a few things that came to their mind such as; mountains, snow, rivers, outdoors, skiing. Then i tried shaping their thoughts towards the people of Bozeman, because ultimately the people make up the town. It was interesting to hear the things they listed off. They both agreed that Bozeman residences are conservative and wealthy people that drive Audi's and Subaru's.  Then i picked at their brain a little more and asked them if these people had the same personalities ten years ago. They replied by saying that they don't remember any buildings on 19th ave and that everyone was a farmer or rancher. Bozeman has evolved from a small town rancher to a high class conservative. I conclude with this; Bozeman's, just like with any other towns, brand image will change to fit the needs of the residents.

New Artist of the Year, will he be able to keep his endearing image alive?

Hunter Hayes…a music legend is what “they” say. Who is this guy that everyone is talking about? Hunter Hayes got nominated and won New Artist of the Year at the 2012 CMA Country Music Awards. He is a young little buck with a charming voice. His first single is the song “wanted”, and every man and women in America drooled as they watched him perform Thursday evening on the CMA awards.

Just like every brand has its own personality that it portrays, every person has a certain quirk about them that they show off to the world. There are some brands that help a person emphasize their own personality as well. For example owning a BMW convertible shows the world that persons has class, is trendy, smooth, and glamorous.  People tend to pick brands that align well with their personality. We all as individuals have our own identity and this is seen as our personality roots. Then, we use visuals, communication, and behavior to express our personality.

When I ponder this idea I automatically think of first impressions. In the school of business, they tell us that first impressions are very important and it could affect our success of landing our dream job. Now, the problem here is our ability to keep that first impression alive. We show people what they want to see, not necessarily who we really are. This is a huge issue in relationships. This is a huge issue in Hollywood. We have this image of a celebrity that we absolutely love, and then we are offended, if not shocked, when we find out bad things that they have done while the spotlight was not shinning on them.

Now as for Mr. Hunter Hayes, it will be interesting to see if he keeps his “wonderful” image alive, or if he eventually backslides like the rest of Hollywood.