EOC: There's an App For That

Grocery shopping is a pretty popular thing for Americans. For some people, it's too time consuming. Companies have made it easier and allow people to have groceries delivered to them. But what if there was an iPhone app for grocery delivery orders? iPhone applications are hotter than ever. (webdesignerdepot.com) Imagine just going to your app, selecting your groceries and having them delivered soon. It sound like a pretty useful app to me. It could be useful in a lot of special ways. Maybe you want groceries delivered to someone another person's house for some reason. This would make that easier. Especially if they live in a different city. You could also get creative with it, using the magic of digital technology, like allowing people to keep certain items checked on the app that they usually get each time they grocery shop. If I bought my own groceries and had the extra money, I would definitely take something like this into consideration. This way we wouldn't have to worry about driving to the store, going through the store and getting each individual item at a time, or waiting in line to ring up your groceries. You also shouldn't have to worry about items being out of stock. Grocery shopping can just be a pain sometimes. Sometimes we get home from shopping and realize we've forgoten something. After coming up with this idea, I did research and found a grocery shopping app that already exists. It's called Grocery IQ. It has a favorites list, a list of different stores to choose from, and also a coupon section.

EOC: My Demographics

Born between 1977 and 2000, these children of the baby boomers number 83 million, dwarfing the Gen Xers and larger even than the baby boomer segment. One thing that all of the Millennials have in common is their utter fluency and comfort with digital technology. They don’t just embrace technology, it’s a way of life. (Marketing: An Introduction) I definitely fall under that assumption. I can't remember the last day I had without technology. And I really don't see one coming soon. The Millennials were the first generation to grow up in a world filled with computers, cellphones, satellite TV, iPods, and online social networks. (Marketing: An Introduction) That's very true for me as well. And it's crazy to see that children are becoming  professionals with this technology at such younger ages now. Who knows what 9 years old will be doing by the time they're my age! Technology is growing and improving faster and faster. The Millennials are bombarded with marketing messages coming at them from all directions. And rather than having mass marketing messages pushed at them, they prefer to seek out information and engage in two-way brand conversations. (Marketing: An Introduction) This is kinda true about me. I'm actually kind of a cheap person and I don't too much seek out information as they say. I do, but rarely.  

EOC: Great Customer Service

I will never forget a great customer service experience I had while eating at a Chilli's resturaunt once. I was there eating by myself, so the waiter decided to actually sit down across from me while taking my order. I know some customers might have actually not liked her doing that, but I thought it was nice. She was very humble and friendly. I was very unsure on what to order, but she remained very patient. That's a big thing for me, because I definitly don't like when a waiter gives an impatient impression. I don't like feeling rushed. She was also nice enough to suggest some great deals. When my drink would get to about half-way full, she went ahead and filled the glass up. This I loved, because that way I didn't have to worry about finishing my drink and waiting for my refill. She made sure to check on me every once and a while to see if I needed anything. "The aim of marketing is to create value for customers and to capture value from customers in return." (Marketing An Introduction, Page 5)  She definitly succeeded in good marketing skills. She was actually my waitress another time when I ate there with a cousin of mine. Again, she was very humble and friendly. She told us about a great special they had and we ended up getting it.

EOC: Making Money For Good

We live in a world where a lot of people are extremely more underpriveliged than others. What I feel is a very powerful way that those people can be helped is "making money for good." Three companies which embrace that tactic are Keeper Springs, Livestrong, and TOMS. Keeper Springs uses bottled water to help protect and clean up our nation's water supply. They with local organizations to protect the water supplies in the area where the water is purchased. This gives consumers the opportunity to contribute directly to a cause that will help clean up the water in their very own backyard. (bottledwaterweb.com) Water is obviously a big deal for people because we all need to drink it. This company is doing something so simple, yet so helpful. We don't want to drink unhealthy or damaged water, so many people may be interested in supporting this business. Livestrong is an organization that fights to imporove the lives of those affected by cancer. (Livestrong.org) They host running, walking, triathlon, fundrasings, and other events to earn money. They also sell sporting wear and bracelets. Cancer is a popular issue today, so what they're doing is defintely good for our community. In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers. (toms.com) I find this story pretty touching. I think it's great that Blake noticed that sad issue and decided to help those children. It's very inspring, and it gives me a stronger desire to help the underpriveliged.

EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

The video game industry has definitely come a long way. There’s been so many different ways to play games, repeatedly pushing the other ways out of the way. The Nintendo DS and Playstation PSP are definitely the dogs in the video game industry today. They have both low growth and low shares. They’re just not exciting anymore. Other recent portable games have ruined their value. I say internet gaming is the question mark in the gaming industry. They’ve been pretty high in growth as they improve, but the shares probably aren’t too great. There’s a lot you can do with the internet, so it’s easy to come up with something new and cool to get people’s attention. Facebook gaming is a popular thing today. “53% of Facebook users play the games and 56 million of them play daily.” (www.allfacebook.com/facebook-games-statistics-2010-09) I would say that the XBOX 360 console is the money cow in the game industry. It’s decreasing in growth as the excitement is fading. The shares, however, aren’t too bad. Tons of people arplaying them every day. “Over four million people now use Xbox Live in some form or other.” (www.eurogamer.net/articles/news191006xboxlive) Lastly, the star of the game industry would have to be mobile games. They’re definitely high in both growth and shares. With the capabilities of phones today, mobile games are just incredible! They’re a lot cheaper than console games, and some are even free! They’re right on your phone, so they’re always with you. “Angry Birds alone has been downloaded 140 million times.” (www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-mobile-gaming-statistics-stats-2011/) Who knows where else the video game industry will go! But I’m sure it will be interesting.

EOC: About Me

        My name is Kiere Espinoza and I work in multiple audio related activity. My favorites of those include music recording, post music production, sound desigh for film, and foley production. Another audio activity I can do is field sound recording.
        I've loved music for a long as I can remember. Ever since I was little I loved piano's and keyboards, and now I'm a pianist. I used to play really great by ear, but now I'm actually reading music. I also enjoy creating instrumentals in my Pro Tools and Reason 4 softwares. Being a student at The Art Institute of Las Vegas introduced me to the other audio fields I enjoy. After working on projects doing sound design for video, I was inspired to work on movies, TV shows, etc.
        In my future, I'd like to open a music studio of my own. Working on movies and TV would be a plus, but it's not my main goal.