Assignment for Monday, April 27th

1. Blog about an article that you find on the internet that relates to how the Myrtle Beach Wildfires will affect tourism and the Billion dollar tourism industry in South Carolina. Provide in depth responses not just the one or two sentence ones that "most" of you usually give. Be thoughtful and educated in your response.

2. In your marketing book, in chapter 24 complete the vocabulary for the chapter and complete the end of chapter assignments. Print and turn in by the end of class for extra credit on your Business Plan Project!!

3. Be Good!!

Find Your Own Article

Find an article that relates to our management/,arketing class and tell why you icked it and why it relates to this course

Hard Rock to reopen as Freestyle Music Park

The former Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach could reopen as early as Memorial Day as Freestyle Music Park.
The park will incorporate genres of music including rock ’n’ roll, country, reggae, beach music, pop, R&B, alternative, Christian and disco, a statement from the owner FPI MB Entertainment says.
The theme park’s moniker has been up in the air since FPI bought the $400 million park out of bankruptcy for $25 million in February.
“With Freestyle Music Park, we own the name, leaving us unencumbered by one specific brand,” said Steve Baker, president of FPI, in a news release. “This will allow us, from a partnership perspective, to explore other opportunities and collaborate with national and international brands that will strengthen and extend the Freestyle brand in Myrtle Beach and throughout the world.”
The new owners said they wanted to keep the Hard Rock name, but couldn’t reach an agreement with Hard Rock International. The park’s previous owners leased the Hard Rock name for $2.5 million per year.
Many of the rides, restaurants and areas in the park are being re-themed, and FPI is developing musical and live stage show acts, the statement says.
The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News is a McClatchy Newspaper.
1. Will the new management be successful with the new theme?
2. What are some things you would add to the theme park if you were the new management?
3. How will the economy effect tourism to this theme park if it isn't associated with Hard Rock?

Farron Gilpin saved an extra 10 percent to 15 percent this year on his room at St. John’s Inn, where he and his family have been staying for years on their annual Myrtle Beach summer vacation. The discount, he said, was enough to keep him from checking out other hotels to see if there were better rates.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of people that’s not going to get to take a vacation this year because of their job situation,” said Gilpin, 38, an insurance adjuster who lives in High Point, N.C. “I really like Myrtle Beach reaching out to me and my family.”
As hotels scramble to fill rooms in a lagging economy, many are trying to lure new visitors — and keep old ones — with rate discounts. Country Club Villas and Sandy Shores III, both timeshare resorts, are offering a 20 percent discount this year to the general public, instead of just owners, for the first time.
“I feel like people are going to still take their vacations,” said Joy Korros, the general manager of both the resorts, “but they want the best value for their money.” Although the rate cuts are good news for consumers, some say going too low is not the best business strategy. A joint study by Cornell University and Smith Travel Research, a private firm, found that dropping rates led to more guests, but it also led to decreased revenue per room for hotel operators.
The higher number of guests also did not make up for the lost revenue, according to the study, which analyzed hotel data from 2001 through 2007. That held true for both lower- and higher-end hotels and did not vary much from year to year.
Jeff Higley, a spokesman for Smith Travel Research, said many hotels began discounting after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to attract guests as the travel market tanked. Adjusted for inflation, he said it took six years for rates to get back to pre-Sept. 11 levels.
So why are hotels discounting again? “It’s a sign of the times,” Higley said. “I don’t think it’s desperation out there, but it’s as close as you can be in some cases to desperation — of just trying to stay afloat while the market’s tanking, while the economy’s tanking.”
For the first time since 2003, data from Smith Travel Research shows that Myrtle Beach’s average daily rate dropped during January and February compared to the previous year — from about $64 a night in 2008 to $62 this year.
There can be a ripple effect, too, Higley said. As one hotel discounts, others are likely to follow suit.
That’s why Josh Neidig, the general manager of the Grand Atlantic Ocean Resort in Myrtle Beach, is offering up to 30 percent off all year if the rooms are booked early enough. Last year, he said, no discounts were offered during the summer.
“The only reason we ended up discounting was because the other hotels were discounting heavily, and even if people liked us better, it’s hard for them to give up that big of a discount,” Neidig said. “People are still going to be smart with their money.”
There are deals to be had in Myrtle Beach for the savvy consumer. At Hotel Blue, visitors can get rooms for as low as $33 a night in the first few weeks of April. Caribbean Resorts offered discounts up to 50 percent in March, according to their Web sites.
Some hotels are offering other deals, too — such as buy six nights, get the seventh free.
Matt Klugman, the director of marketing for Endless Fun Resorts, which includes St. John’s Inn, part of The Caravelle Resort, said his chain is also offering discounts of up to 30 percent for guests who buy early enough.
Part of the idea, he said, was to encourage visitors to book early. As the economy stumbles, many travelers are waiting to make their reservations in hopes of getting some last-minute deals.
“We’ve really wanted to be careful about how low we go,” said Klugman, adding that the chain has never offered discounts as high as 30 percent before. “We’ve trained people to wait until the last minute and they get the best deal, and we’re trying to avoid going down that road.”
Joining Gilpin and his family on vacation will be his parents and his sister, Stephanie McFarland, and her family.
McFarland, 36, a waitress who lives in Bluefield, Va., said with her family cutting back a little to save money, she was pleased St. John’s Inn offered the rate discount.
“When you do have two kids, and the prices of everything nowadays, every little bit helps,” she said.
1. Will these discounts work?
2. Is the economy that bad as to where people will not travel on vacation?
3. Does it hurt in state residents decision to travel to in state vacation areas?
4. Would it hurt the economy more to offer these discounts?

Assignment for Wednesday, March 25th

Use the following website to help you in developing your Business Plan
http://leeds-faculty.colorado.edu/moyes/bplan/Templates/modern.doc

Here is another website that gives you several places to go for information on your Business Plan.
http://www.khake.com/page31.html


You are to work on your business plans today. Be sure that you have the second part ready to turn in tomorrow. I researched these sites to help you and make it easier. I want these done professionally....NO READING....NO GOOFING OFF...WORK ON YOUR BUSINESS PLANS...the second part is due Friday.

I will be back on Thursday.

Tips for saving money on summer camp

The end of the school year is coming faster than most parents would like to think.
So what do you have planned for the kids this summer?
And what can you afford?

Don't get soaked by the price of summer camp.
Here is some advice on saving for summer camp:
LESS IS MORE: Day camps usually cost considerably less than overnight camps. Check whether the camp offers shorter, cheaper sessions, too. Fees vary widely, but day camps can cost around $275 a week, while sleep-away can cost about $780, according to the American Camp Association.
SCHOLARSHIPS AND OTHER AID: Ask about scholarships. Members of the American Camp Association gave away $39 million in scholarships last year. Ninety percent of camps also offer some form of financial aid.
NEGOTIATE: If you can’t get any formal aid, it won’t hurt to try and negotiate. For instance, ask if you can get a sibling discount if you’re sending more than one child to the camp.
BROWN BAG IT: If the camp offers a meal program, save by packing your child’s lunch. In this economic climate, your child probably won’t be the only one.
TAX FREE: Check if your employer offers flexible spending accounts for dependent care. You can use this option if you’re sending your kid to day camp.
THINK AHEAD: It’s probably too late for early enrollment this summer, but secure discounted rates by signing up your kids for next year.
Getting started
There are more than 12,000 sleep-away and day camps in the country, according to the he American Camp Association, meaning there’s one likely to suit any budget.
In some cases, nonprofit camps such as the Boys & Girls Club might waive fees for families who can’t afford to pay. Churches, synagogues and social service groups also offer low-cost or free options.
One way to begin your search is through CampParents.org, an ACA-run site that lets families search for camps by region, price and key words like “soccer” or “language studies.”
The site also lets users narrow options to camps that accommodate special needs such as autism, diabetes or attention deficit disorder.

1. What are your thoughts on summer camps?
2. Are they worth the money in this economy?
3. What are some alternatives to summer camp that you can think of?

Unemployed strive to ‘find something’

By GINA SMITH - gnsmith@thestate.com
Even when other parts of the state have struggled economically, Midlands residents typically have been able to find steady work. But recession has come to the Midlands, and thousands are unemployed for the first time.
Here are some of their stories:
LOST BOAT, LITTLE HOPE


S.C.'s unemployment rate hit a generational high of 10.4 percent last month. Many never thought they would be in this position, laid off and not having many prospects of employment. Paulette Cunningham is a teacher with 10 years experience. Even she can't find work now. So she's starting a motivational speaking company and Thursday, appeared on a radio show hosted by Don Frierson of WGCV AM. on a radio show.
Steven McDowell of West Columbia relied on his green fishing boat to help him relax.
Every weekend, McDowell and his wife would grab their fishing poles, slide into the little boat and push off into the waters of the Saluda River.
The catfish, bream and bass they pulled into the boat made for a tasty breakfast the next day, served with fried eggs.
But after McDowell, 51, lost his job as a master electrician last month, he sold the boat.
“Now on the weekends, we just sit at the house and watch TV,” said McDowell, who is trying to make ends meet on a $215-a-week unemployment check. “This is the only time I’ve never been able to find work, the only time I’ve ever had to ask for help.”
While McDowell has worked as an electrician for 28 years, he says he would take any kind of work at this point.
“I’ve looked for jobs buffing floors, working in restaurants. I stop when I see people working on job sites and talk to the electricians, see if they need help,” McDowell said. “But no one is hiring. They’ve either got enough help or about to lay people off themselves.”
‘(THEY) DON’T WANT TO HIRE SOMEONE MY AGE’
Regina Boney of Gaston knows she is taking a big chance.
Boney lost her call center job in late 2007 and has not been able to land a new one since. So she has stopped taking her two most expensive medications.
“I had to cut costs,” said Boney, who suffers from emphysema and high blood pressure.
Being unemployed is a new experience for the 61-year-old, who landed her first job as a helper at a mechanics’ shop when she was 14.
Boney said she has worked steadily since, including a stint in which she owned her own dog-grooming company. “But I got to the point I couldn’t pick those big dogs up anymore,” she said.
Even as she rang in her 60th birthday last year and the call center closed, she didn’t anticipate trouble finding a new job.
“But I haven’t gotten any responses even though I’ve sent my resume out everywhere,” she said. “I’m older now. There’s a recession. And with all of the competition out there now, it’s tough. Lots of places don’t want to hire someone my age.”
Boney doesn’t want to retire. But she has almost given up on getting hired in this economy.
She turns 62 next month and will qualify for Social Security.
“I’m going to try and live off of it, but it’s not much,” she said, adding she still will not qualify for Medicare’s health benefits for another three years. “I just can’t go to the doctor until I’m 65,” she said.
‘IT FEELS LIKE I’M STUCK AT A STOP SIGN’
When you’re used to working full time, how do you occupy your time when you get laid off?
Lisa Ross, 47, is struggling to figure it out.
Ross, who lost her job in August, scans the newspaper and Web sites for job postings. She helps her sister with housework and caring for her dogs. She stops by restaurants and clothing stores to inquire about jobs.
“It feels like I’m stuck at a stop sign,” said Ross, who has worked as a cashier for the past 10 years.
The Michigan native is hesitant to return to that state, ranked No. 1 nationally in unemployment.
But staying in South Carolina — ranked No. 2 — isn’t working out either.
“I’ll find something. I’ve got to find something,” Ross said as she waited for her name to be called at the work force center in Columbia. There, the unemployed can sign up for benefits and search a job database.
‘YOU THINK YOU’RE SAFE, BUT THEN ...’
Nearby, Mark Green, 28, also waits to be called, his face hidden underneath a ball cap.
After losing his job as a supervisor in an ice machine factory in Fairfax, he packed up his car and moved to Columbia.
“I’d heard there were more jobs here,” said Green, who is living with his sister and brother-in-law and dipping into savings to make ends meet.
“You think you’re safe, but then something like this happens,” he said. “More and more people who’ve never been in this spot before are here now.”
‘SEARCH OUT MY CALLING’
When Barack Obama entered the presidential race, Eastover’s Paulette Cunningham knew she had to help get him elected.
“There was no way I wasn’t going to work for the first African-American (presidential) candidate,” said Cunningham, 38.
She quit her job of 10 years as a teacher at Southeast Middle School in Columbia and became an Obama field director in Orangeburg, speaking on college campuses, registering voters and manning the office.
Obama ascended to the White House.
But Cunningham couldn’t return to the classroom.
State budget cuts meant school districts were not hiring.
So Cunningham got creative.
She pulled money out of her retirement nest egg and started a motivational speaking company for youth.
It’s not paying the bills yet, but Cunningham is hopeful. She’s making contacts and has twice spoken on the “Urban Scene” radio program on WGCV.
“A lot of people go to work and they hate it,” she said. “But getting laid off can be a good thing, a time to tap into your passion.
“I don’t regret what’s happened to me,” she said. “It’s made me search out my calling.”

1. Are these people doing the right thing to gain a job?
2. What could they do to make themselves more appealing to prosepctive employers?
3. If you became unemployed, how would you go about finding a job?
4. Are those with degrees more able to get a job or is the economy so bad that it doesnt matter?

Upstate restaurateurs hope to grab piece of pizza business

Four Upstate entrepreneurs opened their American Pie Factory restaurant Wednesday, with hopes that it may be the first of many.
Ron Mueller, Joe and Laura Mahaffey, and Bob Armstrong began operations at 103 Beacon Drive, near Pelham Road and I-85.
The group said the 6,000-square-foot restaurant, which specializes in New York-style pizza, wings and homemade desserts, is the prototype for possible future expansion.
According to Joe Mahaffey, president of American Pie Factory of Greenville LLC, the restaurant’s concept stems from a favorite pastime — going out for pizza after Little League ball games.
Mahaffey said the idea is to create a restaurant with a family-friendly environment that caters to today’s sports teams like the restaurants of childhood days.
Later into the night, the restaurant atmosphere is transformed into an upscale sports-type bar for the mature crowd. It offers 24 different types of beer on tap.
Mueller, the group’s vice president, said, “We want to be a family restaurant first and a bar second. I don’t think we ever want to confuse ourselves in that.”
Mueller and Joe Mahaffey owned a finance business before deciding to sell it and open the restaurant. Mahaffey and Armstrong, who has 18 years of restaurant experience, played Little League baseball together in the Greenville area.
The former Tony Roma’s restaurant site was “completely gutted” and remade for the American Pie Factory, Mahaffey said
Armstrong, managing partner of the group, believes the restaurant will do well in this economy.
“We’re giving a great value for the typical middle-class family to be able to eat and relax in a middle-tier type of restaurant,” he said.
A lunch buffet, featuring pizza and wings, will be available Monday through Friday. During that time, customers still have the option of ordering from the full menu.
American Pie Factory is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.
1. Do you believe that the owners did a good job of market research?
2. Do you feel as thought this business can be successful or are there too many sports bars and pizza places to go to?
3. With the economy, how can they make sure this business survives?
4. How would you markt this business to possible customers? Give your bets sales pitch!!

Dora makeover

Can't a cartoon character at least be ageless? Answer: No. Nor can she just be a cartoon character. Next fall, Dora the Explorer may be trading in her androgynous bob and shorts for big hair, pumps and a miniskirt.
An actual doll will be part of the new version that Mattel says it will create for tweens. The younger, more innocent version will still be around, however. (Search for "Dora grows up.")
The only early evidence of what the new Dora would look like was a silhouette Mattel released as a teaser. That was all some needed to raise their voices. (Search for the silhouette.)
But just this week, the new Dora was revealed. (Search for more.)
Parents are PO'd. And a petition is circulating to pressure Mattel and Nickelodeon to reconsider. In it, petitioners ask, what's next: "Dora the fashionista with stylish purse and stilettos?"
It might not be so troublesome if the little Latina weren't seen as such a role model for kids. (Search for more.)
Among Dora's new features are some contemporary skills: shopping and makeovers. Plug her into the computer to change her hair length, jewelry and eye color.
Let's just hope Dora doesn't show up on one of those sites about bad plastic surgery.
And don't forget, Dora isn't the only doll trying to enter the modern world.
An ageless Barbie celebrated her 50th by getting tattoos. (Search for more.)
Strawberry Shortcake ditched the candy for fruit and a cell phone for a makeover described as "berry disturbing."

1. Why is this such a problem for parents?

2. Do you believe that Mattel and Nickelodeon are trying to stay with the kids that have grown up with Dora?

3. Would you be an upset parent?

4. Is this just another marketing campaign for Mattel and Nickelodeon? Are they helping or hurting their program and Dora goods?

Extreme dollar-stretching

Amy VanDeventer has always been a cheapskate. The recession is taking her to new extremes.
Before the economy tanked, she was still wearing maternity clothes from her last pregnancy, clipping coupons, and using hand-me-downs to dress her daughters, ages 2 and 3. Now, the Colorado mortgage loan underwriter salvages bagel scraps left on their plates for pizza toppings and cuts lotion bottles in half so she can scrape out the last drops.
If you thought those cheapskate friends and relatives couldn’t pinch pennies any tighter, think again. The recession is making tightwads like VanDeventer cut back even more. They’re going way beyond sharpening their coupon scissors, replacing already cheap store-brand fabric softener with vinegar and even making their own detergent. VanDeventer was drying her hair in front of a fan after her portable hair dryer broke — until her friends bought her a new one.
The recession is radically changing behavior among many different types of people, from the Wall Street bankers who are now waltzing into Wal-Mart for the first time to buy their groceries to teens who are now thumbing through the piles of status jeans at secondhand shops to save money. And experts say that such behavior could linger long after the economy recovers.
What surprises frugality bloggers is that many cheapskates such as VanDeventer haven’t lost their jobs and are not in danger of losing their homes. Many have stashed a good chunk of cash away. But the economic uncertainty is catapulting them to new levels of thriftiness.
“I do it out of fear, because I would rather put that money in the bank or purchase something we really need,” said VanDeventer, who now saves about 50 percent of her take-home pay, up from 25 percent before the recession began more than a year ago.
The trend is disturbing for merchants, who are already reeling from the sharp pullback by spenders. Such extreme miserly behavior could only worsen the decline in consumer spending.
“Frugal people are now looking at more ways not to spend money,” said Lynnae McCoy, who runs a blog called beingfrugal.net, which attracts seasoned penny pinchers. In January, her site received 110,000 hits, up 30 percent from a year ago. What intrigued McCoy was the interest among frugal folks to save even more money by making their own detergent and other household goods.
Jeff Yeager, author of The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Roadmap to True Riches, sees a silver lining to the economic downturn.
“Whatever you do to simplify your life is a good thing,” Yeager said. A self-proclaimed cheapskate, he has spent no more than $100 over the past five years on clothing for himself and won’t throw anything out until it literally falls apart.
But he’s found ways to cut back even more now, such as eating more lentils — which are cheap and nutritious — and biking more to save gasoline. His mantra for buying food? Buy not what you want, but what’s affordable at the time.
Many people are embracing the new challenge of squeezing the most value out of every last penny. Who knew you could make household products such as detergent? McCoy says it’s not hard: mix borax with half a bar of soap, baking soda and its relative washing soda, which cuts grease and can be found in the laundry areas of many supermarkets.
“If you have vinegar, Dawn soap and baking soda, you can pretty much make any cleaning product,” McCoy said.

1. Is this too extreme at this time in the recession?
2. Do you or your family do any saving to this extreme? If so, What?
3. Do you think that eventually we will all have to save 50% or more of our income each month?
4. What are other methods that you may know of to save more money?

Myrtle Beach hopes expanded summer activities will draw more tourists

Downtown Myrtle Beach businesses are gearing up for the tourist season by sprucing up their properties and planning new activities for the area, including a carnival for children and more concerts.
The Oceanfront Merchants Association presented its plans for the season to the Downtown Redevelopment Corp. at Wednesday’s meeting and asked for an extra $35,000 in this year’s budget to make them happen.
The corporation usually gives $50,000, but board members voted unanimously to give the merchants $85,000 for entertainment.
The city of Myrtle Beach promised the merchants $85,000 this year, and the group will request $60,000 from the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
As vacationers start trickling to the Grand Strand, area leaders have said that the economy could put a dent in the tourism season. But downtown merchants remain optimistic, saying they’ve seen positive signs so far.
They are planning new activities, including the carnival and more concerts, to give the downtown a festive feel to lure visitors.
The new carnivals will feature bounce houses, a bungee-cord run, obstacle courses, street performers and perhaps a scavenger hunt, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. each Monday of the summer season at Plyler Park.
In addition, the merchants want to add a night to the free concert series, said merchants association member Jonathan Staton, who owns Dagwood’s and made the budget presentation to the redevelopment board.
Staton said local hoteliers have been calling the merchants association making sure there will be the same activities for visitors as last year, because, they’ve said, their repeat customers are requesting them.
They’ve also been advertising the Wednesday-night fireworks shows in their hotel brochures, he said, because they are so popular.
“The area just felt livelier last year,” Staton said. Those who run parking lots downtown reported increased demand on event nights, which prompted the merchants association to prioritize adding the Monday-night carnival and Thursday concerts to the regular Tuesday-and-Saturday lineup to draw more people downtown.
Buz Plyler, who owns the Gay Dolphin gift shop, said he thinks this summer could be “a relatively good season. People have been holding back, not spending, and they’ll be ready to go,” Plyler said. “People will want to enjoy themselves when they get a break.”
He said he has seen “20 times more foreign visitors” recently, which he never would have anticipated for the Grand Strand, and sees as promising.
Part of the reason for that is advertising. Myrtle Beach is being introduced to new markets through marketing, and the merchants are trying to do the same, though in a more local way.
They are planning a new circus-themed campaign advertising “Hot Summer Nights,” the peak season between the beginning of June and Labor Day, and Staton said they hope to put up banners on lightposts in the downtown area, as well as billboards around the county letting families know there are free activities in downtown Myrtle Beach.
“It looks like, if all this comes to fruition, it could be the biggest and best year yet,” board member Doug Martin said.
Vice-chairman Jay Bultz said he appreciated the merchants association’s efforts, as well.
“You all have done a lot of work to make this happen,” he said.
1. Could this be a good idea?
2. Did it hurt Myrtle Beach that they are going away from students and bikers and push more toward families? Why?
3. What would you do to encourage tourists to MB during this recession??
4. Are free activities what MB needs to do to gain tourists?

Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship: Response to Midlands Biz Blog
At Riley Communications, we are avid readers of MidlandsBiz.com, so much so that we have come to expect the prompt 6:01 a.m. delivery of the latest Midlands Business news every morning to our Blackberries (and one iPhone) just as regularly as our morning coffee. The latest e-mail newsletter edition featured a less routine, but still enjoyable element: a new blog from creator Alan Cooper.
The blog focused on something our office is entirely based on: entrepreneurship. Our own company, as well as our office-fellow Human Resource Dynamics, began as an entrepreneurial endeavor. Among other aspects of going out on a limb with a new business, Alan points out “44% of new startups are created by people between the ages of 18 and 34. To me, that says that the majority of new creations are made by people over the age of 34 and that it’s never too late.” A solid truth, considering Human Resource Dynamics founder JoAnn Moss started her firm as a second career. But don’t forget the fresher entrepreneurs out there are still fierce — Riley Communications was born in this young, yet experienced brain.
No matter what age entrepreneurs may be, though, Alan insists there are two types: “the ‘caught between a rock and a hard place’ entrepreneur, and the serial entrepreneur. The former start their own businesses out of necessity or because they never again want to put their fate in someone else’s hands. The latter do it because it is in their DNA. They have never worked for someone else a day in their life.”
Now that we can attest to — some of the best businesses are formed in response to some of the worst. Most inspiring of all, though, is that Alan, despite his attempts to appear squeamish about branching out into a new business, is a die-hard entrepreneur. After getting fired from his own family’s business (proving that job security is a dreaded myth), Alan pushed himself out of the nest and actually flew!

1. What are your thoughts on the comments on this article?
2. Visit this blog and give your comments on what is said about entrepreneurship?

Assignment for Friday, March 6th (DO NOT COMPLETE UNTIL FRIDAY!!)

1. Research the three types of risk (economic, natural, and human) Writing down what each part represents and give an example.
2. How do they protect against each risk from the aspect of a business owner or entrepreneur.
3. Have them find the website for About Retail Industry. It is part of the About.com network. And answer the specific questions here:
a. How much money per year do businesses lose through theft and employee error
b. What is the majority age of shoplifters
c. What is the average theft amount per incident
d. What is source tagging
e. What are the three major retailers that are using source tagging
f. Find another article on retail theft and name it. Also, write a short paragraph summary of the article illustrating the main points.
g. Why do you think people shoplift?
h. What are the advantages for a retailers using source tagging?
i. Do you think About retail industry would be a good source for information for a business owner. Who or why not?

Richard Branson, Founder Virgin > Richard Branson was born in 1950 and educated at Stowe School. It was here that he began to set up Student Magazine when he was just 16. By 17 he'd also set up Student Advisory Centre, which was a charity to help young people.In 1970 he founded Virgin as a mail order record retailer, and not long after he opened a record shop in Oxford Street, London. During 1972 a recording studio was built in Oxfordshire, and the first Virgin artist, Mike Oldfield, recorded "Tubular Bells" which was released in 1973.This album went on to sell over 5 million copies! Since then many household names, including Belinda Carlisle, Genesis, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson and The Rolling Stones have helped to make Virgin Music one of the top six record companies in the world. The equity of Virgin Music Group - record labels, music publishing, and recording studios was sold to THORN EMI in 1992 in a US$1billion deal.The Virgin Group has now expanded into international music Megastores, air travel, mobile, financial, retail, music, internet, drinks, rail, hotels and leisure, with around 200 companies in over 30 countries. Yes, we've been busy!Virgin Atlantic Airways, formed in 1984, is now the second largest British long haul international airline and operates a fleet of Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 aircraft to New York, Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Delhi, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Shanghai and the Caribbean. The airline is based on the concept of offering a competitive and high quality Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy service. The airline has won many major awards, including Airline of the Year Award several times.During 1997 Virgin took over Britain's two most run-down rail franchises, CrossCountry and the West Coast Main Line. Virgin is currently engaged in a £2billion fleet replacement programme.In 2002, the combined sales of the different Virgin holding companies exceeded £4billion. In addition to his own business activities, Richard is a trustee of several charities including the Virgin Healthcare Foundation, a leading healthcare charity which was responsible for the launch of a health education campaign relating to AIDS in 1987.
Virgin > Virgin - one of the most respected brands in Britain - is now becoming the first global brand name of the 21st century. We are involved in planes, trains, finance, soft drinks, music, mobile phones, holidays, cars, wines, publishing, bridal wear - the lot! What tie all these businesses together are the values of our brand and the attitude of our people. We have created over 200 companies worldwide, employing over 25,000 people. Our total revenues around the world in 2002 exceeded £4 billion (US$7.2 billion).We believe in making a difference. In our customers' eyes, Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge. We deliver a quality service by empowering our employees and we facilitate and monitor customer feedback to continually improve the customer's experience through innovation.

1. What do you know of Virgin?
2. What are your thoughts on beginning a business from scratch and making it into a multi-billion dollar corporation?
3. What kind of marketing techniques did he use?
4. Do you think that you are bron to be an entrepreneur or become one through schooling and learning?

Entrepreneurship

If you were to start a brand new business all from scratch, What would it be?? Who owuld be your target market?? And What types of strategies would you use to bring in your customers and get them to stay??

Make sure to use thought and cut out the one line answers. Grading will get tougher on the one line answers starting this week!!

Frito-Lay tries to enter minds, lunch bags of women

Sorry, men: Baked Lay’s are no longer meant for you.
Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo, is overhauling all of its calorie-conscious snacks to make them appeal to women, including the baked versions of Lay’s, Fritos, Ruffles, Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos; Smartfood; Flat Earth; and its 100-calorie packages of snacks.
It has researched women’s feelings about snacking and guilt to produce new packaging, new flavors and a new ad campaign, all in an effort to get women to eat Frito-Lay snacks.
Women are snacking more than men but are not eating as many Frito-Lay snacks, said Jill Nykoliation, the president of Juniper Park, the advertising agency that handled the Frito-Lay women’s project. “So if it’s, you’re snacking two times as much, but you’re not snacking with us, why, and what can we do for you?”
Frito-Lay is also trying to replicate its success with its good-for-you message on its SunChips brand, which is one of its fastest-growing, said Gannon Jones, the vice president for portfolio marketing at Frito-Lay North America.
Sales at Frito-Lay are strong: Frito-Lay North America posted 8 percent revenue growth and 7 percent profit growth in 2008. However, men’s growth in salty snacks is far outpacing women’s, Jones said.
According to Frito-Lay research, women snack only 14 percent of the time on salty foods. Women snack 25 percent of the time on sweet foods; the other 61 percent of snacking includes drinks, fruits and vegetables.
1. Will this new strategy work for women.
2. Men, or think like a man, would this hurt your consumption of baked goods?
3. Is frito-Lay making the right move here?
4. What could they do for men?

When Interviews Go Wrong.

Resumes are due today. Please make sure that we get those done.

Going through the motions of a bad interview is like peeling back the layers of an onion. Sally learned this lesson the hard way, hands-on during an interview that should have been a piece of cake. Sally applied for a position that fit her qualifications perfectly. When she received an invitation to interview, Sally believed she was a shoo-in for the job. Feeling confident, she approached the interview in a lax manner. She didn’t prepare and prematurely celebrated an offer she was convinced would be extended.

The day of the interview, Sally was surprised by the level of anxiety she felt. Her apprehension began to build and she began to prepare for the interview at the last minute. By the time she arrived at the interview, she was visibly shaken.

Lesson learned: The time to collect your thoughts is prior to an interview, not on your way to one. If you arrive to an interview bewildered, the recruiter will take notice and you run a high risk that you will be not get the offer.

The interviewer entered the waiting area and introduced himself. To ease the tension, he asked a common icebreaker question, “Did you have trouble finding us?” Sally has never been a smooth small talker and she answered the question candidly. She confided that she doesn’t have a good sense of direction and coupled with the fact that she was anxious, she passed the building entrance quite a few times. The interviewer smiled politely and proceeded to walk towards the interview room. Realizing she goofed, Sally hesitantly followed the interviewer.

Lesson learned: Everything you say and do during an interview is scrutinized; from the instant you walk in, to the moment you walk out. An innocent question doesn’t exist during an interview and a careless misstep is seldom forgotten. Choose your responses carefully.

When Sally was escorted to the interview room, she was surprised to see a panel of interviewers. She was only familiar with the “it’s just you and me, kid” type of the interview – the one-on-one. At the start of the interview, she quickly realized that it was going to be a challenge to manage that interview.

Lesson learned: Interviews are unpredictable. One never knows the broad range of topics that will be covered and the type of formats that may be presented. Familiarize yourself with all interview settings.

Because she was not ready for the series of questions, Sally tripped over her answers. She focused on issues that weren’t relevant and provided little information on what was pertinent. She began to ramble and appeared under-qualified for the position.

Sensing that she was interviewing poorly, Sally began to lose patience with the process. She failed to maintain eye contact and began to fidget. The enthusiasm she felt for the position and the company slowly diminished as she witnessed the blank looks on the faces of the panellists. She withdrew mentally from the interview, and as a result, appeared disinterested.

Lesson learned: Most interviewers expect candidates to be nervous during an interview, and they rarely will forgive you if you fail to demonstrate a sincere interest in working for them. Most hiring decisions are based on whether the interviewer feels a connection to you. The failure to establish a bond immediately is usually beyond repair.

After the interview Sally realized that the questions she had been asked were not difficult. She had been overwhelmed by nervousness and that had clouded her ability to communicate clearly and to the point effectively.

Lesson learned: Even if you have the “right stuff,” nothing is guaranteed. Don’t get caught off guard; prepare for interviews; do your homework.

Recognized as a career expert, Linda Matias brings a wealth of experience to the career services field. She has been sought out for her knowledge of the employment market, outplacement, job search strategies, interview preparation, and resume writing, quoted a number of times in The Wall Street Journal, New York Newsday, Newsweek, and HR-esource.com. She is President of CareerStrides and the National Resume Writers’ Association. Visit her website at www.careerstrides.com or email her at linda@careerstrides.com.

1. Post what you thought was interesting about this article.

Resumes

Continue woking on your resumes. They are due at the end of the block. If you did not get a sheet from Coach Williams then do so before you begin.

The Top Jobs for 2009

By Chris Dannen
Courtesy of fastCompany.com
In 2009, the job market will be full of contrasts: some industries will be eviscerated while others face shortages of workers. The good news is that despite the recession, there are still real jobs to be had. The bad news is that you may have to change fields to find one.
The trick to job hunting in 2009 will be to figure out how your skill-set can translate across industries, says Elaine Varelas, a managing partner at Boston-based outplacement firm Keystone Partners, so that you're not confined to searching one sector of the economy. "People are frustrated because it's taking them a while to assess the job market," she says. "They'll have to figure out other things they can Ð and want Ð to do." Successful job-seekers will be the ones who can figure out how to take skills learned in one kind of job and translate them into assets in others.
Here are the top eight areas where work can be found in 2009:
1) Nursing & Medical Services
Perhaps the best bet in 2009: Becoming a registered nurse or medical technician. With over 50,000 new nursing jobs to be created this year alone, med techs and nurses will have their pick of jobs and salaries, the latter averaging about $57,000 per year.
Social services jobs will see a boom too, as a swelling number of retirees check-in for medical care, says the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report. But not all health care jobs will see equal growth. "The growth here will be more about the services and delivery people--nurses and technicians--than administrators," Varelas explains. "Hourly workers interested in changing roles should get into any role that services the elderly," she suggests.
2) Computing & Engineering
Computer-related jobs are projected to grow by more than 20 percent in the next decade, and 2009 will be no exception. Software engineering is particularly in demand, with network systems and data communications analysis also booming. These jobs also had some of the highest median salaries in 2006, according to the BLS, with computer software engineers earning a median income of $79,000 a year.
These positions are expected to grow at nearly double the rate of other types of jobs, but that won't last forever. "As the software industry matures, and as routine work is increasingly outsourced abroad," fewer computing jobs will be available in the next decade, the BLS notes.
But for now, technology workers are still in high demand, says Varelas. Most of the open positions will be found at smaller companies, where employers will be looking for a versatile, multi-faceted worker that can fill more than one role. "You have to be a business person who's also a tech person," to be an ideal candidate, Varelas explains. That could give an advantage to seasoned workers over recent grads.
3) Education
"To a great extent, education is recession proof," says Roy Krause, President and CEO of recruiting and staffing company Spherion. In 2009, roughly 38,000 of our economy's new jobs will be created in colleges and universities nationwide. As more students wait out the recession in college and graduate programs, the need for teachers, administrators, assistants and other staff will expand.
The demand for primary and secondary-school teachers will be booming as well. "There always seems to be a shortage there," says Krause. Some of the most in-demand teaching roles will prepare workers for the most in-demand jobs. "There are literally not enough educational programs to generate the volume of health-care workers we'll need," Varelas explains. As high schools and universities expand to meet demand for nurses, computer engineers and teachers, the demand for teachers and professors will grow commensurately.
Post-secondary teachers can expect a media salary of about $56,000, according to the BLS, while kindergarten through 12th grade teachers can expect between $43,000 and $48,000.
4) Green Jobs
So-called "green" jobs haven't been measured in BLS reports to date, but some experts have predicted they'll shake up the list of the fastest-growing jobs before the end of the decade. "More and more companies are adding dedicated staff to focus their environmental efforts," says Alison Doyle, About.com's Guide to Job Searching. Green jobs are arriving in two breeds, she explains: some will be at specialized firms that reduce human environmental impact, like environmental consultancies; others will simply be jobs at environmentally-friendly companies looking to improve their eco-image by hiring specialized "green" officers to audit and improve the company's environmental impact.
But the recession might slow the corporate world's eco-makeover, as many companies' transition to green-hood is delayed by financial problems. To see any growth in green job demand, we'll also need to see some "very creative new organizations," Varelas explains. Upstart green-services companies may be hiring, she says, but otherwise this sector will be what she describes as a "slow-growth industry: high demand but high competition."
Companies that can afford to go green will hire staffers like Traceability Managers, who will examine global supply chains and check for suppliers that might be excessively pollutive or carbon-costly to buy from. Environmental consultancies will seek to hire engineers or architects who are LEED-accredited, understand HVAC systems and can help guide developers through the LEED approval process for their buildings.
5) Energy
"There's a big buzz on campus about renewable energy," says Chris Higgins, Senior Associate Director of Career Management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Outgoing students are particularly interested in startup companies, he says. "Biofuels seem to be the biggest area of investment." Those venture-backed businesses should still be in good shape to hire in 2009, since they are more insulated from the broader economy.
"Obama's talking a lot about green initiatives, so alternative fuels are going to be big," agrees Spherion CEO Krause. But those renewable energy jobs might also see a glut of interest from workers in traditional energy, thanks in part to increasing volatility and competitiveness in the market for oil and gas jobs that has resulted from wild oil-price fluctuations. "We're seeing a slowdown in Texas and Canada," Varelas says of North America's two biggest oil-producing areas. Workers in the energy industry have very specific skill-sets and knowledge that don't translate well to other industries, she notes. She predicts that many of these workers may "be jumping at a green energy job" if they have the opportunity.
6) Infrastructure
With the president-elect vowing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on internal improvements like roads, bridges, broadband infrastructure and financial oversight, some experts are predicting niche job booms. "We work with a couple of companies that build bridges, and they're expecting a lot more business." says Krause.
Financiers might also find new lives as a part of the government's new regulatory apparatus, which will need auditors, accountants and compliance officers. Obama's energy-independence programs will also require electrical and mechanical engineers, grid managers, biofuel chemists, and civil engineers. Electrical, mechanical, chemical and civil engineers made median salaries of about between $68,000-$79,000 in 2006, according to the BLS Median salaries for power plant operators were about $55,000, or about $70,000 for operators at nuclear power facilities.
7) The New Finance
Financiers should prepare to be especially flexible in 2009. "Those people will need to take a look at reinventing themselves. They'll have to figure out where else they can use their skills, and move into other industries," Varelas says. For many bankers, that will mean applying their middle or back-office operations knowledge in other businesses. How long before they can move back into their former careers? "This consolidation is going to be long Ð at least three-to-five years," Varelas says.
But don't discount finance yet. "We'll simply see shifts. There will be a shift from originating mortgages, for example, to collecting on them," Krause explains. "If interest rates go down to 4.5%, you'll also see a lot of refinancing." This will require underwriters, actuaries, and administrators.
For financial workers switching fields, an initial pay cut may come with the transition. A financial analyst who made the median 2006 income of about $66,000 and decides to become, say, a commercial loan officer will probably net about $10,000 less in 2006 dollars. However, after three years of experience, that loan officer's salary would jump to between $61,000 and $100,000, according to the BLS.
8) Self-Employment & Small Business
Replacing farmers in the self-employment demographic are growing numbers of people "who don't want to be employees anymore," says Katy Piotrowski, a career counselor and author of The Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers. "I'm seeing a lot of people buying franchises, or setting up arrangements that involve multiple online businesses," she says.
As a career counselor who assists adults interested in mid-life career switches, Piotrowski reports growing numbers of workers "trying to escape the desk job format." Experienced career jumpers are also wary of taking new positions that promise little job security Ð jobs Piotrowski likens to "black holes" of employment. Top prospects for small businesses will be Internet companies that can get funding while the venture market is still well capitalized, as well as green consultancies and international sales, which could benefit from the volume generated by a weak dollar.
The BLS does not calculate income estimates for self-employed workers of any kind.
9) Retirement, Reconsidered
The BLS says that over the next ten years, "the need to replace workers who leave a field permanently is expected to create more openings than growth will." But with retirement accounts losing value, many baby boomers could postpone leaving. Could this affect turnover?
"This recession will delay retirement, but not the traditional way," says Krause. "Retirees will come back into the workforce on contract or part-time basis, but not keep their old positions." Because longevity means larger salaries and a lower cost-basis, companies will still pressure older workers to retire, but will also need their experience to weather a recession not equaled in decades. If retirement is your next stop, look for firms where your wisdom could be useful on retainer.
10) Telecommuting
The first quarter of the year will be rough for job-seekers. But the upside will be more employer flexibility. "Candidates will have to market themselves," says Krause, "but more employers are open to job sharing and telecommuting as gas prices fluctuate and there is more emphasis on getting the candidate with the right suite of skills." Which means that it's wise to expand your geographical search, and inquire about whether working from home on a part-time basis is an option, regardless of the job you are seeking.
"What's heartening," Krause says of the incoming administration, "is that there's a recognition that there's a problem." If the president-elect's stimulus package works as intended, American job-seekers could see the creation and preservation of about 2.5 million jobs before 2010.

1. Of these 10 jobs, which grab your attention the most?
2. Is your desired career field listed, if not, then research it and find out where it stacks up in today's economy.
3. What skills would you need to have to pursue the career you are looking for?

S.C. open jobs, jobless often don’t match up

There were nearly 40,000 job vacancies in South Carolina last month and more than 200,000 people who were unemployed in the state.
Why can’t at least some of those jobless workers be matched with the open jobs?
Gov. Mark Sanford has asked that question repeatedly as he has warred with the S.C. Employment Security Commission, saying he should have control of the state’s jobs agency.
“It makes no sense to have an unemployment rate that is higher than we all would like while at the same time there are ... unfilled job postings across the state,” Sanford said during his State of the State speech.
Sanford argues the state’s high unemployment rate — 9.5 percent in January and expected to be higher when the latest numbers are released Friday — could be lowered if the state employment agency did a better job of placing people in jobs.
Others say the state’s unemployment problem is not a black-and-white numbers issue. Instead, they say it is complicated by other problems, including:
• Too many untrained workers who lack the skills wanted by employers who are hiring
• Too few jobs in rural areas
• And, some Sanford critics say, the state’s failure to attract enough new jobs
The task of putting the jobless to work is complicated by a gap between the skills of jobless workers and the skills wanted by companies that are hiring, said Stephen Marshall, deputy executive director of the S.C. Employment Security Commission.
There also is a geography gap, Marshall said. Many rural areas lack jobs, but many rural South Carolinians are reluctant to move to larger cities to find work.
“We still have two very distinct South Carolinas,” Marshall said. “We have metropolitan areas and the rural areas. Most of the openings are concentrated in the metro areas.”
THE NUMBERS
To understand the debate, it’s important to know where the number of jobs reported as being open comes from.
Each month, The Conference Board, a New York-based nonprofit economics think tank, releases a report on the number of job vacancies in each state.
The report is an estimate. But it is intended to be an indicator of the job market, said June Shelp, a Conference Board vice president. The board collects online job ads and eliminates duplicates to arrive at its number.
Last month, 44,100 jobs were advertised in South Carolina, 7,000 fewer than in December, according to the Conference Board.
That number is not an exact counting of job vacancies, Shelp said. Some openings are not advertised. In other cases, a company may post one job ad but have several openings for that job description. Also, some employers constantly advertise because of high turnover rates, so there may not be actual openings.
Over time, though, the survey presents a fair picture of a state’s job market, Shelp said.
Right now, it’s not a pretty picture.
“For every advertised vacancy online, there were a little over four people looking for work,” she said. “It’s an indication of how difficult the market is.”
The report also breaks down the number of ads by sector.
In January, the largest number of ads posted was for jobs in the professional sector. That sector, which includes teachers, engineers, nurses and financial specialists, showed 16,023 open positions in South Carolina.
The smallest number of openings was in construction and manufacturing. Each category had a little more than 800 jobs available.
Those are the same two categories that are eliminating the most jobs in South Carolina.
In December, the state lost 22,000 jobs — 1,400 in construction and 2,100 in manufacturing. Construction — where an unprecedented boom took place between 2005 and 2007 — has lost jobs for 14 straight months. Manufacturing has lost them for nine consecutive months, the Employment Security Commission reported.
Therein lies part of the problem in filling job vacancies in South Carolina, said Marshall, who oversees job training at the employment commission.
THE SKILLS GAP
There is a skills gap between workers and the jobs that are available, he said.
People who hold the disappearing jobs — construction and manufacturing — are not qualified for many of the jobs that are open.
Or, as the Conference Board’s Shelp said, “Obviously, if someone is looking for a registered nurse and they were kitchen help, they are not qualified.”
Part of the problem is South Carolina’s shift away from a manufacturing economy.
Twenty years ago, people quit high school and earned a decent living by working in their town’s textile mill, Marshall said. Those plants have closed by the dozens during the past decade.
“All of a sudden, they’ve lost their manufacturing job, and the jobs that are there to replace it require an associate’s degree,” he said.
Jack Canter, senior development officer at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, experiences the skills gap firsthand.
At any given time, his company has 70 to 100 openings in information technology. It searches across the country to fill the jobs, he said.
Why?
A laid-off mill worker can’t walk out the factory doors and into BlueCross’ information technology department.
There also are occupations where the differences are more subtle.
For example, BlueCross always is looking for information technology project managers, Canter said. There’s even a Project Management Professional certification that is given to people in all sorts of fields. But someone with that certification who worked as a construction project manager probably won’t fit Canter’s job description.
“They don’t have an aptitude and an understanding of the inner workings of IT,” he said.
HELP WANTED: A BETTER MATCHMAKER?
Joel Sawyer, the governor’s spokesman, says part of the problem is the Employment Security Commission is not doing enough to match job skills with job openings.
“The Employment Security Commission should be using every resource available to marry people with the jobs that are opening out there,” Sawyer said.
He pointed to a six-month report from the commission’s OneStop offices, charged with placing workers in jobs. The report shows the state’s OneStop offices had 35,839 jobs that companies had asked for help in filling. Of those, 14,386 — only 40 percent — were filled through the OneStops.
“Where I come from, 40 percent is an ‘F’ many times over,” Sawyer said.
Sanford has demanded the employment agency hand over information so his staff can figure out why the commission isn’t doing a better job, Sawyer said.
Earl Capps, a board member of the Trident Workforce Development Board in Charleston, which works with OneStop centers in that area, said the governor’s criticisms are wrong.
The centers are a catchall for unemployed people and businesses looking for workers, Capps said. And they operate with limited resources.
“We don’t have the resources to recruit specialized for job openings,” Capps said. “We have people coming in the doors, and we hope we can fit them into a job. Sometimes, it’s fitting a square peg into a round hole.
“The governor’s argument is missing the point.”
And, the jobs agency says, it eventually finds jobs for about 70 percent of the jobless workers who walk in its doors. That’s better than the national average of 67 percent, the agency adds.
... OR A BETTER JOB RECRUITER?
Other say Sanford shares the blame.
Lawmakers, including House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, have said Sanford has not done enough to recruit the right jobs to South Carolina.
When Sanford began his second term in January 2006, there was one state-advertised manufacturing job for every 5.9 unemployed factory workers, according to Employment Security Commission data. For every state-advertised sales job, there were 6.3 unemployed salesmen.
By July 2008, those rates had grown to one job for every 17.8 unemployed factory workers and one job for every 15.7 unemployed salesmen.
(Skilled workers — including those in finance, math, engineering or science — have done better. The rate only increased from one job for every 2.2 unemployed workers in 2006 to one job for every 4.2 unemployed workers in 2008.)
While critics say the state has failed to land enough jobs, the state Commerce Department, which reports to Sanford, says it is has done exactly that.
Commerce has recruited 49,079 jobs to the state over the past three years, said spokeswoman Kara Borie. Of those, 29 percent were in rural parts of the state, she said.
A skills gap does exist, said Peggy Torrey, the Commerce Department’s deputy secretary for work force. But there are plenty of opportunities for people to learn a new craft, she added.
Now is the time, Torrey said, to go back to school, and there are programs that pay for laid-off workers to do that. “We really believe there are some opportunities in this very difficult time.”
Marshall, Torrey’s counterpart at the Employment Security Commission, said his agency has the same goal.
“We want these people to go back to work,” he said.
But, he added, “We want there to be viable openings for them to go back to.”

1. Post your thoughts.
2. What could be done about the growing number of jobless that are not meeting the specifications of the open jobs in South Carolina.

Commercialism in classroom: Publisher defends non-book products as way to spark interest in reading

Scholastic Corp., the U.S. publisher of the Harry Potter books, has come under criticism from a children’s advocacy group for using its vast, venerable network of school-based book clubs to market toys and other non-educational items ranging from video games to lip gloss.
The world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, Scholastic earned nearly $337 million last year from the book clubs, which it inaugurated in 1948. The company estimates that three-quarters of U.S. elementary school teachers — and more than 2.2 million children — participate annually in the clubs.
Over the decades, the program has won praise for encouraging children to read by offering discounted books ordered through their teachers, who in turn can qualify for further deals on books and other classroom materials.
However, the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood — a national coalition of educators, health-care professionals and parents — launched a protest campaign Monday asserting that Scholastic has exploited its unique access to schools by marketing an array of non-book products in its monthly book club fliers.
Items pitched to elementary school students in the last 14 months include M&M’s Kart Racing Wii video game, an American Idol event planner, the SpongeBob SquarePants Monopoly computer game, lip gloss rings, Nintendo’s Baby Pals video game, Hannah Montana posters and the Spy Master Voice Disguiser.
The campaign said about one-third of the items for sale in Scholastic’s elementary and middle school book clubs either were not books or were books packaged with other items such as jewelry, toys and makeup. The group is running a e-mail campaign to urge Scholastic officials to make changes.
The campaign is the latest fight over exposing children to advertising and commercial products at school. Other criticism has been leveled against schools that offer students sodas or fast food, an in-school news channel that includes advertising and a company that provides radio programming with commercials in school buses.
Judy Newman, a Scholastic executive vice president who oversees the book clubs, defended the program and indicated it would not be changed in response to the protest. The toys and other non-book items were included in the fliers primarily to help spark student interest in the books, she said.
“We’re losing kids’ interest (in reading). We have to keep them engaged,” Newman said. “This (book club) model is 60 years old, and it has to stay relevant to do the work it does. To the extent we put in a few carefully selected non-book items, it’s to keep up the interest.”
ABOUT SCHOLASTIC
Scholastic operates in 15 countries, with annual revenue of $2.2 billion. Its latest annual report describes the school-based book clubs and book fairs as “core businesses.” The company operates a book fair unit in West Columbia.

1. What are your feelings on scholastic selling non-book items to chilcren in schools?
2. Is this ethical?
3. If you were a parent would this bother you?
4. If you were scholastic, would you change your item list?

Coffee competition warming up

The allure of the value meal has long seduced penny pinchers craving a cheeseburger. Now, as the dismal economy slurps up profits, Starbucks is hoping to find some sales salvation in its own value meal variety.
The tug of war for coffee drinkers has gotten hotter in recent months, with McDonald’s offering new, lower-priced specialty coffee drinks and Dunkin’ Donuts advertising value-minded deals.
Starbucks has yet to offer many details about what chief executive Howard Schultz described to investors last week as “several breakfast pairings” at “attractive” prices. More details are expected as early as later this week.
But analysts wonder if the plan will be enough to keep value-seeking customers from abandoning the mermaid for the clown.
Starbucks is looking to rebound from dismal sales in the U.S. as more consumers cut back on spending in the deepening recession. In its fiscal first quarter report last week, same-store sales — a key indicator of a retailer’s performance — dropped 10 percent. That’s worse than the 8 percent decline in the fiscal fourth quarter.
Restaurants have been increasingly trying to break into the specialty coffee market, which has grown substantially since 1995, when only 2.7 percent of adults drank a specialty coffee drink every day, according to the Specialty Coffee Association of America. In 2008, that percentage stood at 17 percent.

1. Is it wise for Starbucks to try to enter the "fastfood" fields with McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts?
2. Do you think they will be successful?
3. What are some ways that Starbucks can compete or gain customers without entering a battle with Fast Food companies?

Projects

Use class time to finish up and perfect your handouts. Remember that these hand-outs are something that is too look professional that you would hand out to your actual employees. Take time and consideration into what you are putting into your hand-outs.
Make it professional and organized. They are due at the end of the block.

Advertising Search

Search the internet and find an advertisement that you feel does a great job in grabbing your attention, communicates its product well, and is unique.
If there is a picture of it, then save a copy of the picture and save it to your G drive and post it yuor blog, give a brief discription of what it is for, why it caught you attention. Don't just settle for something easy, really research and find something new and unique.

Phelps avoids hot water with sponsors - for now

MILWAUKEE -- Michael Phelps doesn't seem to be in much hot water with his sponsors despite being photographed inhaling from a marijuana pipe.
From apparel company Speedo to luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega, several sponsors are standing by the 23-year-old swimming phenom - at least for now - and have accepted his public apology. Other big companies, like Visa Inc., Subway and Kellogg Co., aren't talking yet.
Experts say if Phelps doesn't stick to the straight and narrow, he could hurt his chances at future endorsements. And there's no guarantee he won't be dropped quietly once the furor dies down.
In this Sept. 8, 2008 file photo, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps is hugged by children after sharing his Olympic experience during a visit to the Boys and Girls Club of Burbank, in Burbank, Calif. Phelps acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after a photo in a British newspaper Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, showed him inhaling from a marijuana pipe.
Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals at this summer's Olympics in Beijing, acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after the photo appeared Sunday in the British tabloid News of the World.
The paper said the picture was taken during a November house party while Phelps was visiting the University of South Carolina.
Phelps handled the situation well by apologizing and saying he regretted his actions, said John Sweeney, director of sports communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Phelps went a step further and promised "it will not happen again."
In 2004, after the Athens Games, a then-underage Phelps was arrested for drunken driving. He pleaded guilty, apologized and again said he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
Sweeney said if Phelps is caught transgressing a third time, he could stand to lose many sponsorships - and the public's trust. For now, the public and his sponsors could look past it. After all, he said, President Barack Obama has acknowledged using marijuana and he still got elected.
"My prediction would be that this will pass," he said with caution. "If it does happen again, it'll be twice the story and it will hurt him."
Swiss watchmaker Omega said Phelps' actions were a private matter and "nonissue" while Speedo called Phelps a "valued member of the Speedo team."
Sports performance beverage PureSport's maker, which tapped Phelps to be spokesman for its first national advertising campaign, also said Monday that it stands by him but it said it does not condone his behavior.
"We applaud the fact that he has taken full and immediate responsibility for his mistake and apologized to us, his fans and the public and we support him during this difficult time," said Michael Humphrey, chief executive of Human Performance Labs.
Hilton Hotels Corp., whose relationship with Phelps dates to 2007, likewise stuck with him.
"We continue to support Michael Phelps as an athlete whose numerous athletic feats outshine an act of regrettable behavior," the statement said.
But former sponsor Rosetta Stone, the foreign-language tutorial vendor, which had a one-year deal with the athlete that ended Dec. 31, did not like the news.
"We do not condone his activities and are disappointed in his recent judgment," Rosetta Stone said in a statement.
Both AT&T Inc. and PowerBar nutrition bar makers Nestle SA, two other big sponsors, quietly ended their relationships with Phelps at the end of 2008. Neither company would comment on the photo or describe the duration or value of their contracts.
Companies are getting pickier about their marketing and sponsorships amid the recession, when they need to get the most impact for what money they do spend on marketing, said Joe Terrian, assistant dean in the college of business at Marquette University.
It makes sense that, say, Speedo and PureSport would continue to support Phelps because their products are ones that he uses for his sport, Terrian said. But companies with products not directly linked to athletics, like foodmaker Kellogg and credit card company Visa, may not see him as kindly.
Terrian said that, given the 2004 incident, sponsors may look to cut their ties soon.
"Do you want to risk those sponsorship dollars when money is really, really tight?" he said. "I think that some of them will think twice."
Visa, Kellogg, Subway and 505 Games did not immediately return multiple messages left by The Associated Press seeking comment.
A spokesman at sports marketing agency Octagon, which represents Phelps, said the athlete is taking this seriously.
"He has spoken with his sponsors to personally apologize. We are encouraged by their support," the spokesman said.
Terrian said Phelps's sponsors could be looking in their contracts for so-called 'morality clauses' - ways that they can back out of deals if certain instances happen. Those became more widespread after Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was charged with rape in 2003. Those charges were dismissed.
More companies could choose to end their relationships with Phelps quietly. And those whose ads he stars in could publicize such a move as evidence of "their goodwill and social responsibility," Sweeney said.
But Sweeney said companies may be willing to overlook indiscretions depending on how prominent an athlete is. A minor indiscretion could get a minor athlete tossed from a sponsorship, but it could take a bigger incident to bring down a bigger athlete, he said. Considering Phelps's unique accomplishment, sponsors still may want him.
"There's only one of him," Sweeney said of Phelps. "There's only one person with eight gold medals, and there's probably going to be one for a long time."

1. Would you as a sponsor continue to give money to Michael Phelps?

2. Would you as a business owner still pay Phelps money to Market your products?

3. Post your thoughts about the situation.

Work on Board

All of you should work on the presentation board for the Business law and Marketing 2/management class. Be creative. If you need to go to the library then do so and make it look good. Come up with a slogan for both classes and be creative. Make it eye catchy. Print things out on the color printer. IDC. The board is in my office in room 804B.
Make me proud!!

Kellogg tests space-saving box

Kellogg has started testing a new version of its cereal box that it says takes up less space in grocery aisles and consumers’ pantries.
The maker of Frosted Flakes, Cheez-Its and Eggo waffles said it is conducting a six-month test of the boxes, which are shorter and deeper than traditional cereal boxes.
The test in Kroger and Wal-Mart locations in Detroit started Monday with 10 stores. Thirty more will be added soon, Kellogg said.
Kellogg, the world’s leading cereal maker, said the new size is the most significant innovation in cereal boxes since the 1950s.
The tests affect the majority of Kellogg’s branded cereals, including Frosted Flakes, Corn Flakes and Special K.
The new boxes, to hold various quantities of cereal, use an average of about 8 percent less packaging material per box.
The company made the change to address consumers’ concerns that the taller, thinner boxes are difficult to fit into cupboards, said John Ferro, director of commercialization for Kellogg.
“We tried to address that by making the boxes more geometrically friendly,” he said.
The company will evaluate in six months how well consumers accept the new boxes, how retailers react and other factors, including manufacturing of the boxes, he said.
Kellogg could decide to change the packaging of its entire lineup, although Ferro said it was too early to say whether or when that may happen.

Does the new Kellogg test box signal the beginning of the end for the current cereal box?
What do you see as the benefits and/or drawbacks to the new box design?

Test Day

Go over your notes for your tests and prepare to make a good grade!!

Once finished with your test, work on your PowerPoint presentations and rehearse them to make sure you have met all the criteria that are needed to ensure a good grade!

Make them interesting and unique!!

Officials prepare tourism ad campaign

HILTON HEAD ISLAND — Tourism officials at Hilton Head Island are banking on a costly ad campaign to support the region during the summer vacation season that’s already seeing sluggish booking rates.
The Island Packet of Hilton Head reported that the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce will spend at least $200,000 on advertising beginning next month.
The ad campaign will target vacationers from Atlanta and Charlotte who can drive to Hilton Head. The ads encourage visitors to experience the coast “as only an insider can.” So-called “insiders” can obtain a free card that can be used for special deals on restaurants or tours.

Villa and resort owners have been worried about sluggish booking rates, even during the usually busy periods in spring and summer.

1. Is this enough to boost tourism to Hilton Head?
2. Is it wise to target consumers who are in driving distance?
3. Is this slogan enough to catch your attention as a tourist?
4. Create your own ad slogan for Hilton Head that you feel would gain attention and bring visitors to the Hilton Head area.

Research

Do a litte reasearch on the internet and find and article that interests you about marketing or management. Post the article and then give a brief statement as to why this article grabbed your attention.
Once finished, be sure to comment on your classmates posts. Then finish and print your logo projects. If finished with those work on your personal powerpoints.

Super Bowl ad costs $100,000 a second

Marketers that advertise on the Super Bowl are always seeking more bang for their buck.
This year, with each 30-second commercial during the game estimated to cost a record $3 million — yes, $100,000 a second — and the recession threatening to dampen viewer enthusiasm, the sponsors are intensifying efforts to amplify the force of what they plan for Super Bowl XLIII.
“Especially in this economy, people are saying, ‘I’d better get my money’s worth,”’ said Andrew Graff, president and chief executive at Allen & Gerritsen, which conducts an annual survey online on the Super Bowl spots viewers consider most meaningful.
So a first-time Super Bowl advertiser, General Electric, intends to make its commercial the springboard for an elaborate campaign — in print and online as well as on TV — focused on innovative ideas “now” in areas like energy and the environment.
The campaign promotes GE products like Smart Grid energy technology as “innovation you don’t have to wait for” rather than far-off fantasies. The various aspects of the campaign, including digital holograms, online films and a special Web site, are all scheduled to go live on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 1.
A returning sponsor, Coca-Cola, is using the Super Bowl to help introduce an “Open happiness” campaign for its flagship soft drink. The campaign will be supplemented by everything from short spots on “American Idol” to 16-ounce bottles of Coke at lower, recession-friendlier prices of 99 cents each.
In addition to two commercials during the game for Coca-Cola Classic, there will be a Coke Zero spot.
Another returning advertiser, E-Trade, is surrounding its Super Bowl spot with a variety of Internet initiatives, including some that began on Facebook and YouTube (youtube.com/etrade) this week and on Twitter early next week.
The E-Trade commercial will bring back a character from two popular spots the company ran in the game last year, a talking baby wise beyond his years. The campaign also includes ads in newspapers and movie theaters and on Web sites.
“It’s more than a 30-second spot,” said Nick Utton, chief marketing officer at E-Trade. “The Super Bowl is part of a total plan.”
GE pondered the decision to make its Super Bowl debut at such a fraught moment, said Judy Hu, global executive director for advertising at GE.
One reason the company is going ahead with the campaign, she said, is that it has what she called a “positive, optimistic” spirit. The Super Bowl commercial features a song by the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” and concludes with the company’s upbeat “Imagination at work” theme.
For Coca-Cola, in one spot scheduled for the Super Bowl, insects conspire to swipe a bottle of Coke Classic from a youth sleeping in a park. A second spot, commenting on the popularity of online and onscreen avatars, suggests that a bottle of Coke Classic can restore some human interaction to the interactive world.
Among the other advertisers on Super Bowl XLIII, to be broadcast by NBC, are Anheuser-Busch, Audi, Bridgestone, CareerBuilder, Cars.com, Castrol, Denny’s, DreamWorks Animation, GoDaddy.com, H&R Block, Hyundai Motor, Monster.com, PepsiCo and Teleflora.

1. What are you thoughts on a company spending this type of money on an advertisement?
2. If you were a business owner or CEO woudl you spend this type of money to advertise?
3. Do you think that the Super Bowl could bring a company that much more business than other times?
4. If you didn't advertise during the Super Bowl, what event would you focus most of campaign on?
5. Would this be a great place to spring board a campaign?

Coca-Cola Co. plans to launch new marketing campaign on 'American Idol'

NEW YORK - Coca-Cola Co., the world's biggest beverage maker, launched a new global marketing campaign on Wednesday to try to draw consumers back to soft drinks.
The campaign raises the stakes in Coke's competition with rival PepsiCo Inc. Both have increased marketing efforts — changing logos and running more ads — to shift their messages back to soda. They had put greater focus on pricier bottled water, energy drinks and sparkling juice drinks but amid the economic downturn both companies are returning to their roots.
Soda sales fell about 4.8 percent in the U.S. during the first nine months of last year, notes Beverage Digest Editor John Sicher. But Coca-Cola Chief Executive Muhtar Kent has asserted that soft drinks are key to the company's success, and both Kent and PepsiCo Inc. CEO Indra Nooyi have unveiled rebranding campaigns that, in part, are designed to slow the decline.
"The cola wars are back in high gear," says Sicher.
Coke's new "Open Happiness" ad campaign, tied to its "Coke Side of Life" ad slogan, is scheduled to launch on "American Idol." Ads will continue to show up on TV spots, billboards and in stores over the next few weeks. Part of the campaign includes three ads to run during the SuperBowl on Feb. 1.
"A lot of people have left the category," Sicher says. "Also a lot of young people have not entered the category, so these ads may help Coke both recruit new, young consumers and rerecruit some lapsed consumers."
As part of its marketing campaign, Coke said it will sell 12-ounce plastic bottles of Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Sprite and Fanta for just 99 cents. The lower price appeals to recession-weary consumers.
The Atlanta-based company plans to have TV commercials, outdoor ads and a song that is a collaboration of Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo, Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy, Brendon Urie from Panic at the Disco and others.

1.What are your thoughts about Coca-Cola's new marketing campaign to push people back towards softdrinks?

2. Do you think it will be successful?

3. Will the new bottle and lower price be enough to attract customers back to softdrinks?

4. Do celebrity spokespersons really help sell goods or services? will it work here?

G vs. Gatorade

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The “Gatorade bath” is synonymous with championship celebrations. But when University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer was doused with a bucket of the sports drink after the Gators won the national title last week, he technically took a “G bath.”
That’s because Gatorade Co. is re-christening its product simply as “G” — a bold move that has angered the family of the man credited with inventing the legendary beverage.
“We’re mad about it, if you want to know the truth,” said Mary Cade, 79, a Gainesville resident and the widow of Dr. Robert Cade, a former UF professor who helped create the drink in 1965. “I don’t think I talked to anybody that wasn’t upset about it.”
About Gatorade
The drink, created to help hydrate Florida football players, has become an iconic brand over the years and has provided more than $150 million in residuals to UF. Jeremy Foley, the school’s athletics director, did not return a call seeking comment.
Several years ago, Gatorade introduced a commercial that retraced the origin of the drink. The ad featured footage of Gator games at Florida Field, legendary college football announcer Keith Jackson and Robert Cade.
The new bottles and packaging feature a dominant “G” with “Gatorade” appearing in small type.
The TV marketing campaign, launched in the past two weeks, features past and present sports icons, including Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter and others. The athletes appear on the screen in black and white, and the commercials end with the letter “G.”
Those ads, produced by actor/director Spike Lee and voiced over by rapper Lil’ Wayne, have created a buzz — not only for the impressive lineup of legends, but over confusion about what product is being sold since the word “Gatorade” is never mentioned.
Cade wonders how someone will spot their favorite sports drink in a store.
“I said, ‘How are people going to find it on the shelf?”’ Cade said. “Why do we need to change this? Why change something that is a success?”
The “G” marketing campaign is the brainchild of Sarah Robb O’Hagan, who was named the company’s chief marketing officer in June.
In a release, Gatorade Co. said it is “redesigning everything from the sidelines to the shelf to appeal to a broader range of athletes and active people,” while using “bold new packaging.”
Reached at the company’s headquarters in Chicago, a Gatorade official, who asked that his name not be used, assured that, “It’s not a name change. It’s still going to be called Gatorade. It’s just a design change on the bottle.”
Cade is not so sure.
At a November meeting in Tampa for the Gatorade Trust — the family members and shareholders of the five scientists credited with inventing Gatorade — the new marketing representatives tried to sell everyone on the “G” marketing strategy, Cade said.
“‘It’s ‘Good.’ ... It’s ‘Glorious.’ ... It’s ‘Grand,”’ Cade said. “It was every ‘G’ word they could think of, except ‘Gatorade.”’
Robert Cade died in November 2007, and his wife knows how he’d feel about the “G” campaign.
“He’d be pretty upset,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to say the words that he might say.”

After reading this article, what are your thoughts about:
1. Changing an iconic name like gatorade that has been successful over the years
2. Do you think it could work?
3. Do you think it will have an overall effect on the consumption of Gatorade?
4. What could have spawned this sort of change in marketing? ex.losing business, younger crowds, etc.

Post your thoughts on your blogs and be sure to be thoughtful. You may copy and paste this article and questions to your page. Be thoughtful in your responses and responses to others. Remember your response quota!

Welcome to Marketing 2 Class

Welcome to class!! This site is used for fun and discussion for your marketing two grade. Everyday you will come into class and participate on this discussion board by completing the assignment posted in class. Be educated in your answers and be thoughtful. Here is how you participate:

1. Log in and answer the discussion question or assignment posted.
2. Reply to at least 3 of your classmates responses. If none are posted yet then wait until later and reply. You can do this from home. By the end of the week you should have all questions answered and at least 15 responses posted to classmates.
3. Answers must be at least a paragraph long.

Assignment for Tuesday 1/13/09:
1. Create your profile
2. browse the site to figure out how it works.
3. You will begin discussions on Wednesday.