Smile! :)

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/16500000/Have-a-great-day-Peter-Susi-speter-16523055-500-375.jpg

Loving commercials

 Everybody hates commercials, however I consider myself as one of those people who enjoys seeing them on TV. These are some of my favorites;

This one is from a Turkish bank,

How Wilkinson approachs its target market;

Image source:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GlluUExN6Hs/TqGVo2SjJJI/AAAAAAAAA-U/i09oV5EhNFQ/s1600/we_love_advertising_on_Design2Share.jpg

Famous "IKEA effect"

Everyday is more common the existance of companies that involve customers in the design and assembly of products; from Converse allowing customers to design their own shoes to IKEA asking customers to assemble their own furniture. This is known as the "IKEA effect". Researches use this concept to explain hte increase in valuation we place on products we build ourselves. 

Converse 

IKEA

This has several implications on firms;
         - Successful assembly of products influences customers to value them over the value that arises from merely purchasing a product.
         - Successful completion is an essential component for the link between labor and liking the emerge.
         

Spring Rodeo at MSU

Today, Sunday April 15th, is the last day of rodeo here at Montana State University.
Come support our Bobcats;

For tickets click here

Image source:
http://www.montana.edu/rodeo/10-11%20revamped%20pics/Bobcats.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiInRR_Hxuay03GPcx078czDN_JVPNBuQQKmmL-kAqjwhFc2VQcitX4s_cqYDMJayCQA7uw8hoH3B18vM5GZcAyaS428FpPNLvNxR5hv_cNb7VLq7Yyg5-T2PjSAb0mdVACJAnE0MFLJ4c/s320/1260295272-msu_bobcats-primarylogo_256x256.png

Best commercial ever!

The message in the video is clear; children imitate behavior that they see around them; talking on a phone, body language...smoking, violence, so make sure that you're setting a good example.
 

Remember; children do what they see.

Why companies change their logos?

Can you recognize these firms just looking at their logos? I bet you can. However are you aware of how the logos change over time?

As we can observe, the logo is a company's identity boiled down to its bare essence and in most cases is the  main image consumers have in their mind when they think about a corporation. As products change, logos do it as well. 

Let's see some of the most famous examples:

Image source:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ie8LbgFJHv_KUfHGAltCRo3zK9e6qvm9HRuK8Cc3NIYwJGBmRG8WiHs-to1lZubie2SflY0nzpgMUzoax52sT4W1nFnSiUlvQtvE91PjqhbxcwjQjtqepXq91l7mRBXl9gmjNnckAw/s1600/logos.png

http://cdn.instantshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bcle-20.jpg

http://cdn.instantshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bcle-14.jpg

http://cdn.instantshift.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bcle-01.jpg

Great day in the music world!

Today, March 25th is the birthday of two of the most important musicians; Elton John & Aretha Franklin.

Congratulations! :)

Here my favorite songs of these two big artists:

Controversial campaign

This is the controversial campaign launched by Loewe in Spain. The brand has become Trending Topic on Twitter.

The debated issues is the way of how the new generation was pictured and the choice of people for the ad; all of them relatives to famous people.

These guys, dressed in an impeccable way, explain the issues of the people of their generation. Pretty far from the truth, taking into account that Spain has the highest unemployment rate within the 17-nation eurozone (most of it among young people).

Here there are some of the "pearls" said: "Loewe I associate it...the 'love', right?" or "Be in love is superguay everything spins around you...it's like butterflies"

For those who do not know the brand, Loewe is a Spanish luxury clothing and accessories firm

Image source:
http://www.modamarcas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Loewe.jpg
Info sources:
http://www.deltaworld.org/technology/The-advertising-campaign-of-Loewe-raises-the-parodies-of-Internet-users-on-social-networks/
http://www.eitb.com/en/news/life/detail/850144/twitter--latest-loewe-ad-campaign-causes-uproar/

TheFancy.com :)

Nowadays, we use Internet for almost everything; shopping, to meet new people, to book flights or hotels, to work...and as a result almost everbody has an account on Facebook, Twitter, Badoo or LinkedIn.
Let's focus on the shopping side. Who has not heard about eBay or Amazon?

Few weeks ago I was reading this article on "The New York Times": http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/fashion/virtual-closet-web-sites-like-pinterest-and-stylitics-revise-online-fashion-shopping.html

It talks about a new social network called thefancy.com. This is a social photo sharing website where you can connect to different users sharing tastes and the "things" you find interesting. It is definitiey a new style of social network so I totally encourage you to check out the web: http://www.thefancy.com/

Here is the icon so you can get used to it! :)

Image source:

http://www.gizmobhai.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/5.png

http://mrmikestreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/thefancy.jpg

How to respond to Deceptive Advertising

Few days ago, a friend of mine went to Wendy's, one of the most famous fast food restaurants. She loves it, however this time the experiences was not good enough since she got really dissapointed. The reason? According to her, the burguer advertised looked more delicious that the one they served to her.

Can you imagine it? I'm pretty sure it had to be something like this...

However, Wendy's is not the only firm which employs these methods in order to persuade the customer. Let's see that most of the companies (fast food restaurants in this case) use what is called "Deceptive Advertising":

According to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) defines "deceptive advertising" as a representation, omission, act or practice that is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances.

How the customers respond to this?
In order to answer this question I found an interesting article about the consequences of deceptive (or false) advertising in our brains: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120228102011.htm



Info sources:
http://www.ftc.gov/

Image sources:
http://mollyjscanlon.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/wendys_advertised_vs_reality_2008-06-28.jpg
http://www.idaconcpts.com/wp-content/false%20advertisement%20taco%20bell%20burger%20king.jpg#false%20advertising

KONY 2012

Let's make him visible and bring him to justice!

This has nothing to do with Consumer Behavior, Marketing or anything you can learn in class, this has to do with life and freedom. I got very impressed when I watched this video for the first time so I aim everybody to check this out, I think it's totally worth it!

                                               

Image source:
http://adiek84.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/kony-2012_stop-at-nothing-549x251.jpg

Consumerism & happyness

Consumerism is a pretty controversial topic. Almost everybody agrees that money cannot buy happyness, actually some researchers have found that buying life experiences (concert tickets or a weekend away) makes people happier that buying possessions. But that is still buying!


According to this, I found a very interesting webpage where you can take free surveys to find out what kind of shopper you are and how spending choices affect are affected;

                                                 http://www.beyondthepurchase.org/

                                         

This is a webpage created by psychologists of San Francisco State University with the main objective of knowing how consumers spend their money.

Image source:
http://www.ourbreathingplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/consumerism-beginners.jpg
http://www.thetinylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/barbara-kruger-consumerism-critique.jpg

St. Valentine's Day consumption

Finding a Valentine's Day gift? This could be one of your challenges this February. 
Only one month a half after Christmas and we are looking to consume again for a holiday...consumption society!

In some countries, Valentine’s Day is considered a “day of love and friendship,” but in the United States, the emphasis is on love and romance. There are some figures about how much people spend on gifts:

$3.5 billion on jewelry this Valentine’s Day, up from an estimated $3 billion last year;

$1.6 billion on clothing vs. $1.5 billion in 2010;

$3.4 billion on dining out vs. $3.3 billion in 2010;

$1.7 billion on flowers;

$1.5 billion on candy; and

$1.1 billion on greeting cards.

You also should know that man spend $158.71 to the average and woman only $75.79!! Express love for your admirer is too expensive nowadays...anyways HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

Info source:
http://www.swifteconomics.com/2011/02/13/st-valentines-day-consumption/

Image source:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcw6Kl-WtOLh0HV655-COSDuZ0byVGazgTiqhfvMSW2M7vFmR04trt2fydalSUX_81XeE9ZleOAdiJU80vV2PMjxMwp-G6bBJdZIDRSUzK66GgzrdIbvo4iJSSDL_Rp2-KNZOrG7nt3orh/s320/beso+ni%C3%B1os.jpg

World Cancer Day

http://bookxcessblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/world-cancer-day2011.jpg

Today, Saturday 4 February 2012 is the "World Cancer Day". This illness affects all the countries without distinction. This is a global event and everybody can get involved and do something for all those people.

http://www.worldcancerday.org/

Madrid Fashion Week 2012

The "Madrid Fashion Week 2012" is taken place this week on the capital of Spain so I was reading the news and watching some videos about the show when...

my face expression changed as I saw this...

http://blog.muchosol.es/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/%C3%81gatha-Ruiz-de-la-Prada-Cibeles-Madrid-Fashion-Week-511.jpg

Isn't this a ridiculous fashion? So I started wondering if someone would be so crazy to wear this even in a costume party. Althoug taking into acount that there are lots of fashion victims...who knows?

I also would like you to see the designer, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada; once you see her picture, what can you expect about her idea of fashion?

http://www.rtve.es/imagenes/cibeles-madrid-fashion-week--agatha-ruiz-prada/1284918512241.jpg

Just thinking that many people spend hundred of euros in these dresses makes me crazy!

Blogging!

College stress? Need advice about social problems? Some professors at the Unversity of Haifa (Israel) have found that blogging could be a therapy for teenagers.

http://blog.hubspot.com/Portals/249/images/i_love_blogging1.jpg

This morning reading the newspaper I found this interesting article on "The New York Times" so I encourage you to create your own blog. You can express whatever you want so....lets blog!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/fashion/blogging-as-therapy-for-teenagers.html?_r=1&ref=style

New experiences!

Ready to live new experiences in Montana?

Telling that as Im from Spain I've heard the question around a million times. Last summer I came to Montana for the first time and YES, I was ready to live my new life. Now, five months later I can tell: I love Bozeman!

This is my first blog so, welcome to my blog, welcome to Montana.

http://jimrharris.smugmug.com/AerialPhotographs/My-Favorite-Aerial-Photos/MontanaSign/1235148494_QnLAW-L.jpg