I am an extremely self-motivated individual. I have always been able to push myself towards goals without any outside help. I thrive off the feeling of accomplishment and always look for ways to improve myself. My background as a track athlete helps show my ability to motivate myself by competing in an individual sport. The only competitor in track is the clock and I pushed myself to complete every workout and refine my form to better myself.
I can’t. Any employee that promises to stay is just lying. There are key factors that will make me stay with your company. Those factors, in order of importance, include advancement opportunities, creative environment, and a collaborative culture.
I want the ability to advance myself.
I always work best with a goal in sight, and hate the feeling of not achieving a goal. If a company offers me the chance to continue to grow and achieve, it would be very hard for me to leave without exhausting every opportunity that I am provided.
I want the ability to be creative.
Every task has multiple processes that can achieve the same end result. I love being able to put my own twist on a task. My creativity allows me to take ownership and lots of pride in my work, and brings out my best work. A company that allows me to work through my problems will reap huge rewards through my hardwork and intense loyalty.
I want to be a part of a collaborative culture.
My favorite work environment was with the KUSBDC that featured a culture built around collaboration. Each employee worked together and small ideas became perfect ideas. I thrive in positive, team environments and it would be very hard to let my team down just leaving.
On December 12th, I spoke to the board of Leadership York on what I learned and what I continue to use in my life through their Future Leaders of York program (FLY). FLY is a program for sophomores and juniors in high school to meet business leaders and develop leadership skills. I learned a lot through the program, and continue to use the skills I have learned in all aspects of my life.
The three things that FLY has taught me are: who I am, how to lead in unfamiliar situations, and how to be a follower.
Who I Am.
I always remember the exercises that highlighted one’s personality. I loved reading about all the traits that described who I am in many situations. I found it fun to learn my strengths, but more importantly I was able to read about my character weaknesses. I have been able to work to improve my leadership with openly acknowledging my shortfalls, while actively working on my weaknesses and delegating to others who are stronger in those areas.
How To Lead In Unfamiliar Positions.
In high school, I exhibited my abilities as a leader, but in organizations (student council, class president, track, and football) that I had been a part of for at least five years. Future Leaders of York helped me practice my leadership skills in situations and organizations of which I had less familiarity. I learned how to tap into my pure leadership skills in these situations. This has helped me walk into situations and assert my role as a leader immediately.
How To Be a Follower.
I find that this lesson that I learned to be the most important thing I learned in the program. FLY presents a highly unique situation, especially for a high schooler, by placing 30-40 leaders in a room. When entering a situation with a group full of leaders, sometimes the best way to lead is to step back and become a follower. I am able to analyze the times when I need to step forward and lead. At other points, I am able to see when it is best for others to lead, and for me to fill the crucial role of a follower. Two quotes that helped me learn how to be a great follower were “A good leader leads all the time, a great leader allows other to lead” and “You can’t win a war with 40 generals and no soldiers.”
I am happy to have had the Future Leaders experience and can attest to its lasting impact five years down the road. I continue to show my leadership skills and can not wait to utilize my leadership in the business world.
More info on Leadership York and the FLY program can be found here.
Branding works best if it is involved in every part of the business. This week I am reviewing two companies that exemplify the total marketing approach to their business.
Pier 1 is a perfectly targeted store. The company aims to attract women from the ages 25-50 that are homeowners. The store name, set-up, pricing, and advertisements all tie-in to perfectly excite their target market. The store name, Pier 1, gives the shoppers that they are heading to a market filled with unique products from around the world. The store has a crowded feeling with many nooks to make the consumer feel as though they discovered this one-of-a-kind product, and the advertisements also have this design. The pricing at the stores is consistent with bazaar pricing that offers great deals. As you watch the commercials, one sees how they continue to stress the idea of discovering unique products. Pier 1 ties their whole approach together with their tagline, “Find What Speaks to You,” and helps highlight the goals of their target market. As a male consumer I don’t prefer to enter the store because it is not tailored to my preferences, but I can respect how well the store is targeted. Everything in the store works well together, and that helps cultivate the brand’s goal in the consumer’s mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maXAKhMSVm8&feature=c4-overview&list=UURB9ATqts_wsFpyvhKb7UFw
Wellspan Health runs York Hospital and is currently reviewing plans for a new emergency center. After months of planning and drafting the team decided to have a replica of the center built of cardboard in an empty warehouse. The team then took various groups through the design and they were able to pinpoint several changes to make the plan a successful reality. This approach should serve York Hospital well with the completion of the center. I commend the team in taking this total marketing approach to make the center consumer, and employee friendly. A successful business always needs happy employees and happy consumers and this approach to design should help Wellspan achieve new levels of success. The full story can be found here.
The cold air is creeping in, so what better to do than curl up by a fire and read? I have been in the midst of reading two books, Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis and Group Genius by Keith Sawyer. In between those two reads I always peruse the internet for any articles from which I can learn.
Africa. The land of riches and potential. I loved this article in fastcoexist.com, that highlights a consumer research company, Geopoll, and their work in Africa. Africa has the potential to be the driver of the world economy in the next 60 years, with their growing access to markets. Geopoll is a crucial step towards accessing Africa, and will help transform the marketing in the country. As Africa gains mobile users, Geopoll has worked to build a database of over 50 million people. The company is able to send out mobile surveys that reduce the expensive and time consuming process of paper polling research. This development will provide lots of data on the African consumers. http://www.fastcoexist.com/3021115/how-geopoll-is-transforming-african-market-research-by-actually-doing-african-market-researc#!
Now this is a very short article but I find it to be very relevant to the hyper-connected social media world. One of the easiest ways for a customer to complain is to go on a company’s social media site and send a message. A complaint isn’t a bad thing, it just shows that the consumer cares. This requires a social media manager to respond in a timely manner and operate as a customer service representative. I feel as though a complaint is your best opportunity to show off the true nature of your brand, and repair the relationship between a consumer and your company. http://www.inc.com/margaret-heffernan/why-you-should-love-it-when-customers-complain.html#!
This question floats on a recent graduates mind just about everyday. Its a tough question to answer, but when one does know what they want, they help themselves find the start to their career.
I majored in marketing at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, not because I didn’t know what to do, but because I loved the idea of solving a consumer’s problem with a product. The career fields I would like to focus in are marketing research, advertising, and brand management. I know have the skills and motivation to be successful in these fields and will look for positions that are in these fields or will lead to these fields. I am always open to talking to any industry or company and if you want to contact me click the photo below for my contact information.
After an advisory meeting with my one professor, he looked at my grades, knew my work ethic, and knew my career goals. He suggested that I would be an excellent candidate for an M.B.A. I started a whirlwind of looking at who offered the programs, what I was going to focus on, and quickly preparing for the GMAT.
I sent out my applications and started to do further research on this opportunity. The more I read, the more I saw that an M.B.A. is more about the name of the school than the degree. I also read that the better programs have better connections to the top consulting, marketing/advertising, and financial firms. I then focused on the better M.B.A. programs because these are the fields where I can make the biggest impact. The only drawback to choosing to focus on the better programs is that they want candidates with three to five years of work experience.
I have not given up on the dream to get an M.B.A. I’m just following a new path.
The summer days are closing and for the first time in 18 years I will not be returning to school. Although I don’t have new teachers to look forward to, I am continuing to expand my knowledge base in the field of marketing and beyond.
This first article from the Wall Street Journal, highlights some interesting social media findings. It states that a “like” will encourage more to like the post with a “positive herding-effect.” When people find, hear, or see that something is popular, that individual is more likely to also rate that something as popular. This highlights the importance of early stage marketing and validates product placement and celebrity endorsements.http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/08/09/science/internet-study-finds-the-persuasive-power-of-like.html
Dashburst released a video on the state of video for marketers in the year 2013. The video graphic highlights the growth of video and video ad spending for the next two years. It also highlights video as being the number one source for content marketing.
The last article is from The Economist and highlights the surprisingly oft ignored niche market of the highly affluent. The article highlights the experience marketing tactic and how marketing to the affluent can be highly focused. Adlux runs private jet terminals and highlights the quiet and quick downtime their customers face. Luckily for marketers, the terminals the affluent move through are less crowded allowing for a higher likelihood that the ads are noticed and processed. Also with the smaller wait time, the travelers are more likely to observe ads in the terminal rather than averting their eyes to their electronic media. http://www.economist.com/news/business/21582511-how-sell-more-stuff-those-who-want-nothing-posters-plutocrats
Everyone in the marketing field has certain marketing campaigns that they admire. Recently I have picked up on three campaigns that I have found interesting and useful in my future career. Sheetz, General Mills Cereals, and the television show Whose Line all have different yet valuable marketing promotions.
Sheetz is the master of branding and brand continuity. Looking at their products that are all somehow customizable and have a “z” stashed at the end whenever possible, it is quite evident to see their positioning in the marketplace. The social media accounts have a voice that is very appropriate to the image they portray, and now their commercials continue to develop and ensnare their target market. Sheetz has a devoted following of millennials who love customization, speedy service, and quirky humor. Sheetz has mastered their positioning strategy.
Walking down the ever growing cereal aisles in your grocery store, take a look at General Mills cereal boxes. Each box has proudly stamped on it a saying of “With Whole Grain first ingredient.” Now odds are that roughly 90% of the cereals in the aisle have their first and most abundant ingredient as whole grain (except the cereals craved by my useful self that start with sugar and then add in the other ingredients). Despite the other cereal makers also having whole grain, General Mills now owns that position in the consumers’ eyes. The marketing team took a look at the unchanged ingredient list and suddenly made a strength and a position in the market out of the ingredient list.
Whose Line Is It Anyway has returned to the television after an almost 10 year hiatus. The show has long had a strong niche following and the return of the show to the CW network has been well received. While watching the show, one can notice that it has been reworked slightly by a marketing team to bring the show to 2013 and beyond. The episodes continually bring on actors from popular TV shows to guest star for a skit, therefore bringing in new viewers. The show works to keep the viewing audience talking on social media with constantly updated hashtags appropriate to each skit. The skits are broken apart and placed on Youtube to allow quick and easy sharing of a viewer’s favorite part. The social media team is constantly talking with viewers to get feedback and work with suggestions. I see the work on Whose Line as some of the best show launches on a smaller network in a long time.
Companies often look for individuals that are well-rounded so that their employees can bring in many different ideas and fresh outlooks to plans and operations.
My hobbies include reading novels and industry related materials, running and other athletics, and following my childhood favorite team, Penn State. I can constantly be found in the midst of a novel and spending down time perusing industry sites like Under30CEO, SocialMediaExaminer, PopularMechanics, and The Economist. Although collegiate running is in my past, I find that running allows me relieve stress and sort out the toughest problems. Other sports including church league softball allow me to help satisfy my craving for competition. Lastly, every fall Saturday is devotion to Penn State Football that is something that connects well to most Pennsylvanians.
Nate Caruso 