Week 1

About Me

I was prompted to enroll in this class because I am very intrigued by the world of marketing but know virtually nothing about it. I figured this class would be a great way to get my feet wet in the world of marketing!

I am a Business major with a focus in management and entrepreneurship. I have been thinking of changing my focus to marketing so I think this class will help me in that decision.

For this class, I am most interested in building my personal brand. I have always had the goal of working for myself and being my own boss. I am excited to learn how to narrow down and find my niche in the world for what I am truly passionate about.

When I'm not working, one of my favorite hobbies is cooking. I have loved cooking since I was young and the Food Network is still my number one favorite channel. I find the entire process of cooking extremely relaxing (well, except the clean up part) and have found that I really enjoying serving people through cooking.

Another hobby I enjoy is the realm of beauty. I enjoy trying new make up, hair care, and skin care products to see what I like best. I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but I enjoy doing the hair and make up of my friends and family. I love that the body is a blank canvas that I am able to create different looks with.

I had a blog for a few years (2008-2013) where I would post occasionally about my everyday life. One of my biggest wishes is that I would have kept it going and not let it fall to the wayside.

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Marketing In The News

This article is about the company Organic Valley. The company was founded by seven farmers in 1988 and now has more than 1,800 members. The company is spending $500,000 to 1 million dollars this year on a new website and social media programs. With everyone on the go in today's society, Organic Valley is also pushing to make all of their websites mobile friendly, so consumers are able to easily use them while shopping in store.

Organic Valley worked with the marketing agency HZDG. The chief creative officer, Karen Zuckerman is quoted in the article that Organic Valley's marketing strategy "is that they will share their experiences on the farm with their many followers, who will then investigate organic farming for themselves." 

How this article applies to marketing is that Organic Valley is making it a priority to be transparent for their customers. Consumers now, more than ever, are caring about where their food comes from and the process of how it gets to their home. This is similar to the TED talk with Gary Vaynerchuk where he talked about truly caring about your customer. In my opinion, transparency = caring.

I learned that Organic Valley's total sales in 2015 reached $1.04 billion and that organic foods now make up almost 5% of the food sales in the United States. And according to research groups, millennial consumers are mostly responsible for that boost.

If you are interested in reading, here is the article about Organic Valley. Oregon State University even gets a shout out!

Hayley