Sunday, December 21, 2008

Four great projects in Fall 2008

In project management, we did four projects with between four and five people in each group. I asked the class as part of the final exam to choose who did the best job as related to the course objectives. Usually it is pretty clear who is best and who comes in last. This quarter, it was pretty tight. All the projects were great – certainly a first – and three had very good presentations. One was a great project where the presentation fell short of showing all the work that had been done.

Here is how the classes rated the projects:

Seven for http://hammerstruckco.blogspot.com/

Four for http://anunknownproduction.hunterunknown.com/

And two each for http://celebratingactionsports.blogspot.com/ and http://lakatcafe.blogspot.com/

Check out the projects and judge for yourself!

Eldrich in the World's Dirtiest Video

Eldrich did an authentic and hilarious job on this project for Digital Marketing. The task was to make a commercial for Axe products meeting the rules (and my rules) of the Axe company. The 30 second spot must be able to be show on network TV and have the theme "World's Dirtiest Video". This was a two week assignment done entirely outside of class to be posted on YouTube.com with an emphasis on marketing to get hits. Eldrich took it off YouTube after the quarter was over, but I hounded him to let me post it here. With a bit more time and a budget, I think he'd definitely have a late night TV commercial. Although not entered in the actual Axe contest, I think you will agree it is a winner!




PS: Look elsewhere in this blog for Rob's project. It too is quite good.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Cooking with Your Sole Cookbook

I think Chase did a great job in developing this video. He worked with Rob to prepare an instructional video for his cookbook proposal, “Are you tired of cooking with your hands? Is the arthritis forming from chopping too many onions? Did you lose your hands in a tragic accident with the garbage disposal? Did the loss of your hands leave you starving? Well with the Eating with Your Face, Cooking with Your Sole Cookbook you can become the next top chef with your feet.”

Trying to Cook Up a Hit.

From the Wall Street Journal article “Trying to Cook Up a Hit. Could a self-published cookbook be a big holiday seller? “, the concept behind "Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's" is simple. Two women who know their way around the aisles at Trader Joe's have borrowed the supermarket store's name and are making a splash with a cookbook that treats the retailer's offerings as a prep line for working moms who want to serve home-cooked meals. Few self-published books amount to much commercially, but the authors say "Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's" has already sold 20,000 copies since its first printing in November 2007. Borders Group Inc. helped arrange for national distribution and stocks the title in nearly all of its 522 superstores.

The Fall08 Fundamentals of Marketing class was inspired to make their marketing projects around their own proposed self published cookbook. They really come up with some creative ideas. If you go to any of the better projects, you will find a blog list and be able to follow the links to all other projects in the class. Here are some of the highlights:

1) “A Couture Candle Lit Dinner” cookbook offers low fat, low calorie recipes and pointers on how to make a date unforgettable that any woman into fashion will love. http://www.stylistaforever.blogspot.com/

2) From Apricot to Zucchini; Basic and intermediate cooking recipes for the visually impaired. http://www.cookingwithfeelings.blogspot.com/

3) Veguns is a bi-monthly trade paperback comic that provides recipes using creative narrative and graphics. Just like veganism, it offers an entertaining alternative to cookbooks in general. We are providing a want for people who choose to live these lifestyles. http://www.avengersink.blogspot.com/.

4) We have design and brand ourselves as reputable, fun, exciting and easy to use. We can’t just mash our self's with the hundreds of thousands of cook books out there. Our Displays have to be prominent to attract consumers to pick up our book. http://averagekitchen.blogspot.com/

5) For those who want an easy snack, my ghetto Cookbook is a creative source for easy fun recipes which includes snacks not gourmet meals to make life a little easier and fun. http://www.chelzproductions.blogspot.com/

6) My Cookbook offers a modern and innovative "new-school" way of finding and using recipes. People today get their weather, music, news, and other daily information all instantly from their everyday electronic gadgets and devices. So, why not add recipes to that list? http://www.osteenmg.blogspot.com/

7) Have you had to satisfy the hunger pains of guests who have very different tastes? Or are you a meat eater who doesn’t think you can prepare a delicious vegetarian dish? Now you have a single cookbook for beef, chicken, or fish dishes with their ever so tasty vegetarian counterparts. http://www.gogogoentertainment.blogspot.com/

8) The “Tastes like Chicken” cookbook offers a new unique approach to your everyday home kitchen cooking. Tired of Bland burgers? Try a Buffalo burger. Want something different then Chicken Alfredo? Replace that with an Ostrich Orzo. This book will make frog legs, rattlesnake, cow tongue and pig feet taste even better than they sound! http://www.tekworkproductions.blogspot.com/

9) Are you tired of cooking with your hands? Is the arthritis forming from chopping too many onions? Did you lose your hands in a tragic accident with the garbage disposal? Did the loss of your hands leave you starving? Well with the Eating with Your Face, Cooking with Your Sole Cookbook you can become the next top chef with your feet. http://www.scenefulphotography.blogspot.com/

Las Vegas Movie Insider Prototypes - Web Marketing Fall08

The Fall 2008 Web Marketing class completed their Las Vegas Movie Insider projects. The goal was to make a site that was fun and interactive, so much so that people would want to sign up to maintain a relationship. By starting with gathering email addresses, and then adding demographic information like ages and zip code, the demographic profiles could be sold to local retail and restaurants to deliver high potential future customers. For instance, a group of 21 to 35 year old women might be sent to pick up free movie passes at a bar on ladies night. They might get free movie tickets to a film like Sex and the city or Bride Wars. The ladies would get the free tickets, the bar would get a bunch of potential new customers and the guys going for ladies night would get an opportunity to meet a bunch of women who might possible not have gone out to that particular place that night.

The websites include only movie fun and information about free movies and swag. All advertising is delivered by push email marketing. Only people who match the profile of the advertiser would get the marketing message. Local businesses would pay to have a particular demographics delivered to their door.

Check out a sample of what they did. These are complex projects that are works in progress. We did not build the backend that would hold the databases. Some are the LVMI prototypes and some are the movie obsession websites that are part of the LVMI web sites:

1) Here is the new site that we have created for Las Vegas Movie Insider - http://www.cassieproductions.com/lvmi. As we analyzed the original Las Vegas Movie Insider site, there were specific areas we wanted to focus on.

2) My experience in this class has been amazing. I have not only broken the barrier on web marketing, but it is this class that makes me excited to pursue an advanced career in not only the web but technology, and making money is not a bad idea either. Check out http://www.joshhessdesign.com/thewillferrellproject.html

3) I had a hard time trying to figure out how I would engage a customer without just telling them to buy something. I never realized how much times the sites that I visited daily made me click my mouse. http://royalroomproductions.com/rrp2/home.html

4) These past eleven weeks, I have found that involving the end user is critical in itself. To connect emotionally with customers I feel is the only way to connect today. http://www.lynnschaferdesigns.com/martian_animation/ and http://lynnschaferdesigns.com/lvmi/

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Seher Cinema Dirty Videos

Rob Seher made this video for a project called "World's Dirtiest Video" as a promotion for Axe Body Wash. It had to be fun, but follow the rules. The key rule was that is must be able to be shown on network TV. I think he succeeded!


Monday, December 8, 2008

CES - You need to be there

There is still hope if you have not signed up for CES.....

Work the CES Convention
Las Vegas, NV
12/08/2008
Las Vegas Review Journal/Sun
Work the CES Convention! Must sign up now. Typists-40 wpm, room monitors, customer service, registration staff. Need 100 positions filled. Call 307-1320 for directions and questions. Marathon Staffing Group....

If you hussle, you can get full access and GET PAID!