Does Packing Sell?

As little as we think about it packing plays a huge role in how we as consumers make our choice. Whether it is for safety reasons or just catching our eye the packing of a product is what makes or breaks the final sale for a consumer. However it begs the question of what exactly are we missing?

For a perfect example we can look towards tylenol. While it seems relatively insignificant to most the brand has done a fantastic job with packaging. The obvious is the box is bright red assuring the catching of an individuals eye, but that is hardly the most important part. That is the little sealing on the top. The reassurance that the product is safe and will not hurt you is a strong selling point to a consumer. It creates a reliable connection with the company to ensure that the consumer keeps on coming back for the safe product they have grown to trust.

All you need is the perspective to see how important packaging has really become in society today. Once you have that perspective you can start to understand all the benefits that the innovation of it has brought as well. All it takes is a little looking.

The Power of Eight

While design thinking is a very powerful subject in the world of consumer behavior, when it comes to coming up with creative designs there is a magic number eight. The idea is,  you identify a problem you are trying to solve. Than fold your paper so a there is a total of eight squares. From there you set a timer for a minute a piece and draw a picture that would be a solution to said problem.

I think the largest benefit from this overall process is the individual route each cell can take. It opens the door to the most creative and abstract solutions to a problem and that is why I think it is the largest benefit to the overall process. So next time you find yourself in a stump with a creative way to solve a difficult problem. Give the great eight a try and maybe, just maybe you could come up with that million dollar solution. 

Pint Pass- Tapping a hard tapped market

College students rejoice, there is now a promotional way to get cheaper beer. If you thought people have thought of everything, well your wrong. Finally somebody got the memo and created the medium for people like you and me to get the cheap beer they deserve when they go out. At the same time this idea is revolutionizing the market as we know it. 

In today's society there is connectivity for pretty much anything, but some people are taking it to the next step. Pint pass is the next step in connecting the consumer world to promotions.  The idea is pay a small fee at the beginning of the year and then get discounted beer for a disclosed amount of time. In the long run the individual should save enough money that the card essentially pays for itself. In turn fulfilling every college students dream of finally paying for a membership they enjoy and that isn't known as a library. 

Pint Pass did something many find hard to do: charge a college student a membership fee. Their ability to find success was based off a college student's imense love for beer and even larger love for saving money and convinced us that our spending now will save us in the future. For that I say good job Pint Pass

Visit their site and check out what they are all about here

http://www.pintpass.com/

Have finally we stopped tolerating bad role models

In the past year there have been several major rumblings in the world of sports. Several key figures were ousted from their rosters in a move that the world of sports rarely sees. Everywhere from Michael Phelps' fall from grace with a DUI to the banishment of Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson with domestic violence issues it seems as though America has finally woken up to the issues our roles models are presenting and we can tell cause companies have stopped paying them.

It is no news that Mayweather just walked away with an one hundred eighty million dollar pay off the other night, but the more interested part is about how he made that money. Believe it or not, Mayweather has actually not had a sponsor behind him since 2009. You can attribute this to a couple of reasons. First off he has had three domestic assault charges thrown against him as well as a lack of apology or even acknowledgement in regards to the matter. To add to the fat he has become one of the most cocky hated fighters around because of the way he acts, however not every athlete has faired as poorly. 

Michael Phelps on the other hand has been able to bounce back from his downfall. First he got caught smoking weed, than a DUI which was closely followed by some quality time in rehab, but after he bounced back and flourished. He started by proposing to his long time girlfriend and quickly moved to become an advocate of a clean life. While Phelps lost countless millions in the endorsements he lost along the way as well as once getting kicked off the US swimming he team he has been able to rally.Who knows we might even be seeing him in the pool again for team US soon, cause who really retires at like 30.

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

If you haven't heard about the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight than clearly you have been living under a rock. Some are saying that this is one of the most anticipated fight since the times of the great Muhammad Ali and people are most certainly acting like it. You can tell due to the fact that every restaurant with a television is playing it and to top that they are charging you a cover fee for just coming in.

The low end estimates from business insider say this fight is going to rank in around three hundred million for a couple of reasons however there is one primary reason. Quite seemingly the largest and most unknown reason is this fight should have happened five years ago. In 2010 the fight was scheduled, the boxers ready to go, but Mayweather backed out of the fight moving the $60 (at the time) pay-per-view program off the map maybe never to be set up again. Now we are here with a program that people have been talking about for the last five years and instead of paying $60 for the view they are now paying closer to $100 a view. With increased anticipation for the fight of the past couple of decades it is clear that this is going to be one of the highest grossing events happening this year and that is without pushing in all the gambling that will be happening. 

America's Racism, is it really as dead as we thought?

In a time before I was born inequality and persecution plagued certain religions and races in the United States. However, in my raising and education the idea of racism in the United States is frequently dismissed as being part of the dark past of this country. Recently, the opening of technology has put this question of racism back on the chopping block.

In this past week cities have joined in protest over the outrage of a senseless killing by police officers much like they did on several occasions last year except this time the outcome was different. Just days ago six police officers were charged in the death of Freddie Gray. The reason why this is such a stepping stone is because it is finally an acknowledgment of part of the racism that we really are facing today. The real statement of what does this have to do with consumer behavior?

The national bureau of economic research states that "Job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback." What this essentially means is that discrimination is very much still alive and present in the United States. Whether it be sub conscious or completely obvious in regards to choice the U.S. has got some work to do in changing its' mind set.