How does the design of a building influence us?

When you think of the space you work in the last factor you believe to effect the quality is the building you are in. There are two specific factors when it comes to measuring the potential output; through a Q score (a measure of familiarity with the team) and the notion of proximity (how close individuals who are working together are). Where there have been several instances of success through a good combination of these factors there is one building that stands from the crowd. It is MIT's building 20.

Building 20 was 250,000 square feet across three floors and was initially created with Asbestos panels on the outdoors. Despite its' disgusting view the individuals who frequented there referred to it '...as one of the most creative spaces of all time...'. Sadly in 1998 the building was demolished, but the secret that building 20 had offered us remained. During the time of use building 20 had a remarkable way of forcing students/faculty of one study to run into students/faculty of another. Due to these remarkable run ins many great ideas were sparked and in turn building 20 earned the reputation it did.

One such invention one might recognize that came out of building 20 was a pair of Bose headphones. Amar Bose had his start in the early days of building 20 and proceeded to actually design the first Bose speaker model in the building. This in turn led him to an international corporation that now does business practically all over the world. Other such products building 20 can be responsible for: video games, high-speed photography, and even the physics in the waves of a microwave. Building 20 took the sub conscious design and perfectly placed it for the ultimate success. 

How much do our perceptions change our taste

Naturally you would assume that an orange tastes like and orange and an apple of an apple, but exactly what makes us associate these tastes with these objects?  In a recent study done by psychologist a bunch of individuals were told they were trying strawberry yogurt. However, during the process of the yogurt distribution, the contestants site was obstructed and they were given chocolate instead.

During this study 19 of the 32 contestants said they loved the strawberry and one went as far as asking for the brand name so she could switch. Simply because these individuals saw a strawberry logo and were told the yogurt would be that certain flavor their perception changed. Their mind led them to believe the flavor that had been hardwired into their brains to take over the dominant one at the time. SO, why does this matter? It shows us that our perception of how we want something to be or anticipate it to be can be led on enough so that it can change the taste. With all of this applied it opens a new door for the consumer with the challenge being challenge the status quo because your perception might not always be dead on.

Are the traditional media outlets still equally as powerful?

In the times of early marketing there were four main media outlets. They were Television, Newspaper, Magazine, and Radio. Over those times things have changed. Newspaper sales are the lowest they have been since the 50's while ad costs for the super bowl were the highest ever. It used to be thought that each medium had their benefits, but that seems to be quickly changing. 

As sad as it is, the time of the newspaper is behind us. With sales and ad revenue at their all time low in seventy years this medium is been increasingly losing its' touch. With the adaptation to free online news major companies are losing the golden revenue they once had hurting the industry all over. Not all bad is coming from this though.

In the recent years a push for more humor thrilled advertisements have drawn the attention of a younger audience as well as more people seeking out said adverts. With this more word of mouth is being conducted hence helping a company get the message to the consumer. If you were to as me, if the fall of newspapers will equal humor filled adverts than let them fall. 

New Age Technology, The Issues it brings us.

These days it is more common to be connected to the to grid than it is to be off it. Touch phones, tablets, super light weight computers, if you can think of it chances are it is either out there or being created. With all these devices we are going farther than we ever have before. Seeking out not only knowledge, but products with the best deals. With all these new doors being opened many problems are coming up. The largest that seems to be is the social.

With all the connectivity comes large social consequences. Walking around in todays society is like watching zombies. Everybody has their head down, just pacing at a good enough screen that they can seen the ground in front of them and shoot a quick text to their BFF jenny. To top that during actually social meetings people tend to sit on their phone surfing through the variety of social networks as opposed to interacting. Essentially society has become far less personal as a result. Now with the next age of technology coming to stores new questions are arising.

This is an Apple watch. It can do everything from notify you when you have meeting to direct you around the grocery store to get the proper food. Keeping this in mind you are staring at your wrist whilst doing all these things. This is all pretty neat stuff, but it leaves us wondering how are we to solve the largest problem of this technology boom. It leaves us asking, how can we as consumers influence this push to a more positive?

How Useful (or hurtful) is a Products/Companies Lineage

While having a strong past can be useful to a products future with success, sometimes the past can actually hurt you. One such instance was brought to light after Fanta, a product of the Coca Cola company had some rather unexpected advertising consequences.

While it may seem like unknown knowledge, Fanta was actually created during 40's in Nazi Germany. During a recent celebration of 75 years in existence Fantas' advertisement referred to the time of their creation as "bringing back the feeling of the good old times". While many experts frequently debate the amount of casualties during World War II, they unanimously agree that it was most definitely not a "good old time". While it is hard to think of times that the past have hurt companies it is quite easy to see companies it has helped.

Prudential Insurance is one of those companies it has helped. Granted they have recently pulled their age from their logo, but they frequently mention the fact that they have been around since the early 1900's which reinforces the fact of security in the harsh finical world. At the same time they are not specifically mentioning the fact that the the company unethically charged workers leg and arm for the insurance they needed to work when the company began.