Minutes 3/21/12

Minutes Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Prepared by: Brooke Hamroff

Present: Leah, Remington, Robert, Casey, Jordan, Carmen, Jacqueline

Presentation:

Casey presented the minutes from last class.

Topic:

Suzanne collected our State of the Union Twitter Press Releases.

Discussion:

Suzanne asked us to think about mental images associated with Harley Davidson and Vespa, and explained that different brands have different associations. She then shoed a Styrofoam cup, versus a paper coffee cup with a lid, versus a paper coffee cup with a  lid and a Kaldi’s Logo Sleeve on it. We discussed that we would be willing to pay more for the Kaldi’s coffee since it is branded and we trust it more than the small, cruddy Styrofoam cup.

Topic:

Branding! A logo is the most recognizable part of a brand. Companies as well as causes, movements, commodities, and names can all be branded. Examples: Breast Cancer Ribbon, Got Milk?, Cotton, Coca-Cola. Some of the most well-known products are actually associated with brands rather than their technical names. Examples: Facial tissues are referred to as Kleenex, cotton swabs as Q-Tips, and gelatin as Jell-O. McDonald’s golden arches is the world’s most recognized brand, and they still advertise to maintain that status. Brands have a lot of power over consumers. For example: Circuit City went bankrupt but its brand was bought out for $15 million by Systemax just so they could use the name “Circuit City.”

Topic:

Suzanne explained the Chiquita Banana logo update that happened a few years ago. Chiquita used crowd sourcing – a technique that throws decision making out to its audience; a lot of people now do this on social media – to help design a new logo for the brand. It was very successful and they got some great logo designs, that they actually used them on their bananas for a period of time. This created a lot of buzz around the brand and people sought out Chiquita bananas over other brands.

Discussion:

Suzanne pulled up different logos and we had to guess which brand it was. Examples included: Nike, Olympics, Microsoft, and Gerber. Suzanne also explained that Steve Jobs said his biggest mistake in branding his company was using the apple as its logo. The word apple and the idea of an apple cannot be trademarked because it is part of the public domain, and it is too generic.

Discussion:

We discussed the successful rebranding of Old Spice. Back when Suzanne was growing up, Old Spice was not cool; it was the type of brand you’d find in your uncle’s bathroom. It was for cheap, old men, with older images and an outdated font. In the 1990’s they were planning on getting rid of the whole brand, but instead they decided to keep the scene but change the entire look of the brand. They rejuvenated the brand by updating the logo and lettering and hiring a hilarious actor for the commercials. The commercials were extremely successful, and now Old Spice is a very popular brand; they actually won a primetime Emmy for their commercial spot. We watched a few of the commercials, including “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”

Topic:

Suzanne gave a breakdown of St. Louis and St. Louis County areas and their common associations. Examples: Northside – dangerous, highest crime rate in the country (higher than Tijuana); The Loop – entertainment district; Central West End – lovely, restaurants, etc. Old North (Northside) rebranded itself by creating an appealing website with hopeful images as well as community support. The rebranding campaign was very successful, and now the once dangerous area has an urban progressive community and a more positive reputation.

Topic:

Charlack is a small town in St. Louis with 350 families and about 1400 residents. It has a horrible reputation due to its corrupt legislation. They illegally put up speeding cameras on I-70 and raked in a large amount of revenue from speeding tickets. When they were caught, they lied and said a police officer was there patrolling the area, but really they only put a dummy in the cop car. Later, the head of the police department turned in the mayor for embezzling Charlack’s money. The mayor resigned, and turned in the head police officer as well for embezzling money, which was true. The town has a horrible image, and our assignment for Monday is to rebrand Charlack.

Assignment:

Rebrand Charlack! Our deliverables for Monday: explain why Charlack needs rebranding (a few sentences), create a destination/activity for why people should come to Charlack, create an image that defines Charlack (ex: a logo), and create a slogan for Charlack.

Minutes 2/22/12

Minutes Wednesday, February 12, 2012

Prepared by: Jordan Peters

Attendance: Jordan, Robert, Remington, Jacqueline, Casey, Brooke, Leah, Carmen

Robert began by presenting the minutes from Monday's class.

Topic:

Adjustment letters. We began by going over our responses to the Virgin Airlines complaint letter. Suzanne informed us about a few things that we neglected in our letters. Some of us did not respond to both issues at hand in the complaint letter, being the food as well as the entertainment (video screens). Also, many of us forgot to use a real handwritten signature to sign Richard Branson's name at the bottom of the letter. This should be beneath the "Sincerely," line and above a general signature block that includes at least his name and title. We also need to remember that there is no need to mess with the letter format. Indented paragraphs or block format are both appropriate, but still to the standard format. We also discussed how spaces between paragraphs is fine for 3-4 paragraphs, but if there are more than that do not include spaces, because it is more important to have a one page letter. Make sure to maintain visual balance and separate paragraphs for separate topics, even if this means having a one sentence paragraph. Extra credit points were awarded for those who used graphics, letter head, or just had well-thought out and well-worded letters. Suzanne handed our letters back to us at the end of class. 

Discussion:

We did one of our grammar activities to keep us constantly making sure that we use proper grammar in our writing. We started by assessing a sentence individually and then as a class we talked about the problems with the sentence that Suzanne gave us. There were a few important take aways from this exercise. One was that if a sentence uses the phrase "not only", then the phrase "but also"must follow it. Another phrasing correction is that you should use "different from" rather than "different than" (although this is acceptable when talking). Also, make sure that you spell words correctly, and spell them for your audience. The British style of writing a word such as rabbit (rabbitt), may not be appropriate if in the United States. The word "however" at the beginning of a sentence can be controversial. Many believe it is grammatically correct and if it is not followed immediately by a comma, then the meaning of a sentence can change. Sentences generally flow better when you stick this word in the middle of a sentence. 

Topic:

Blogs. Blogs have increasingly become a must have for all businesses. They can provide a good lens into an organization and can be rather insightful if used properly. Blogs are a great marketing tool, because they let people outside of your organization know about what you are up to. They are great because as an organization you get to control what information you put on them, so you can highlight the positive aspects of your organization. As a class we looked at a few blogs, namely, the St. Louis Symphony's, Kaldi's, Meds & Food For Kids, Patagonia, Ben's Blog as well as The Sartorialist. We gathered that blogs with pictures, music, and other engaging features are easier for a reader to digest. Also, the blogs that are more focused on connecting people to resources, sharing stories and experiences, or keeping its audience updated on projects that are of importance to them are ways to ensure a successful blog. It is important to not have too many distractions on a page and to keep entries rather short. 

We set out own guidelines for what makes a good blog entry. You should always make sure to know your audience and use a personal voice or perspective while writing. Having good, fluid, concise writing with an appropriate length for your audience is key. The entry needs to be visually appealing to your audience and make sure that the format helps guide length as well as comprehension of the subject matter. An entry should be easy to scan/skim through and there should also be good headlines, tags, and other identifiers on the post. Lastly, each entry should only have one topic.

Discussion:

We ended class with a few housekeeping notes and real life examples that apply to topics we have covered in the class. First Suzanne reminded us that we will have a speaker on Monday's class. We are to read 5-7 blog entries on Chris' blog. He will be discussing the most effective way to blog. We will also be discussing our midterm assignment on Monday. Also, Suzanne told us about how JPL, a company at Berkley, who started having meetings while standing up. They did this in order to have a more succinct agenda and shorten their meeting length, which was getting out of hand.

Minutes 2/8/12

Minutes Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Prepared by: Brooke Hamroff

Present: Leah, Remington, Jordan, Robert, Casey, Jacqueline, Carmen

Presentation: 
Carmen presented the minutes from last class. Suzanne explained that presenting the minutes is a good way to practice presentation skills and learn to speak confidently and effortlessly.

Topic: 
Suzanne collected our memo responses to Howard Schultz. One per group (4 total).

Topic: 
Suzanne handed back our email response homework evaluations. Overall our responses were good, but some of us lost points on forgetting to revise the subject line. Some forgot the signature block, and Suzanne clarified that the signature block does not act as a closing signature – an email needs both. Also, we should not say “Dear Client(s)” in a personal email.

Topic: 
Letters. Letters are an important way to communicate both internally or externally. They are more formal and have remained a common form of communication for centuries. Examples of historical uses of letters include St. Paul, Epistles, Sherlock Holmes, ancient Egyptians, and many more. Letters are important for archiving, they are more personal and formal, express more thought, and are tangible. Letters have kept a standard format over the years and over seas. Suzanne explains that a letter has the ability to grab you – she got a letter with a DIY origami and she kept that over other less intriguing letters.

Discussion: 
Suzanne showed us the website www.LettersOfNote.com that posts interesting letters. We looked at letters from Conan O’Brien, Pete Docter, Ronald Dahl, Stephan Hawking, Harper Lee, and Princeton University. We also saw memos from the head of Tiger Oil Company, which were very harsh, and Jeffrey Katzenberg at Disney. We each went up and read a portion of the 28-page memo as an impromptu public speaking exercise. We discuss how the memo is similar to Howard Schultz’s memo, urging the company to focus on its core values – a common theme in business memos and evaluation.

Discussion: 
Suzanne speaks about twitter and other forms of social media as new ways to get messages across in big ways such as revolutionary ideas across borders (ex: The Arab Spring). Letters used to be the main form of communication in times of political revolutions. Ex: After WWII – Einstein, Hitler, Gandhi. This led into our assignment for Monday. We were each assigned a historically famous letter (MLK Jr., Abraham Lincoln, the Macon County Department of Health, Virginia O'Hanlon, Ghandi, Albert Einstein, Rainer Maria Rilke) and must research the historical context of the letter. On Monday (2/13/12) we will each present a 3-minute presentation discussing the context of the letter and the historical significance. We will be evaluated on our ability to cover the importance of the letter, the time limit, keeping eye contact, not fidgeting, and using the room rather than standing in one spot.