Poster Campaigns

It's happening. Students at Ivey are running for various positions on the student executive team for next year. There's something that angers me about all this campaigning... and it's the lack of campaigning. The following picture says it all.

These posters result in one of two following outcomes for me:

1. I don't know the person. I've never seen them, or heard of them, and I certainly won't vote for them if they only put up a poster saying: Vote John Smith, VP student events.
2. I know the person. They're in my class, and I certainly won't vote for them if they only put up a poster saying: Vote Alim Fahreed, VP student events. Why would I want to vote for Alim if he's coming across as lazy by only putting up posters of himself?

Where's the passion? Why do I want to vote for someone who is putting no effort into this campaign whatsoever? Why don't they do the following?

• Send out personalized emails to all the individuals they know explaining why they would be a good fit for the position they are running for and how they would appeal to my individual wants and needs. 
• To reach out to the individuals you don't know, set up a booth around Tim Hortons and make yourself present during break times. Hand out print advertising that talks about how great you are (but make it comical to spread word of mouth). Giving away food at your booth is also a great idea. 
• Use social media to your advantage. Tweet about it, make yourself visible on facebook. Start a facebook event. If I am voted as VP student events, I will; throw a party for all of the HBA1s, donate my hair to cancer, organize a rave, etc. (Anything that will draw attention to yourself and raise awareness)
• Make T-shirts. Get all your friends to wear them in order to create awareness. On the back of the t-shirt state what your platform is. 
• Make an announcement in all of the classrooms. Provide students with your email address, twitter page, etc. 

These are just some ideas that could be implemented. Of course there are tons more. 

So what's the point?

Don't vote for someone just because they're your friend and they put up 10 posters around the school. If they only put up 10 posters chances are they won't do a good job at whatever position they are campaigning for. Many of the students that are campaigning for the executive team at Ivey are coming across as lazy. Where's the passion? Why would I want to vote for you? What would you do for me? I'm sorry, but the poster with your face and name isn't communicating this. 

Labels

Who knew label-making was such a complex process? I visited our family label manufacturing plant yesterday, and snapped these photos with my blackberry. Not the greatest quality...  Enjoy

The below photo is a picture of the raw materials that go into making labels: label stock and different ink colours. There are tons of different label stocks. No two rolls that you are looking at in this picture are the same. They will all have different adhesives and serve different purposes. For example, the stock used for the label depends on what the label is being applied to. If it's going outdoors and needs to withstand all weather elements, it will need to be printed on a stock that is very durable... and unfortunately costly for the customer.

The second photo is a birds eye view of where the majority of the action happens: the printing presses. It's kind of hard to tell from this photograph but there are 6 presses in this photo. The silver pipes you see are used to suck up the fumes from the presses (the smell is really strong and probably detrimental to your health) and release them outside of the plant. The pipes also suck up all the waste from the label production process and all the excess paper (waste) is carried through the pipes into a compressor where it is compacted and then recycled. 

The steps are a lot more detailed than I've explained above. Many people probably don't find label making the most exciting so I'll refrain from expanding on this topic. 

Just wanted to provide some insight into how much work and how complex your product labels truly are. 

Advertising Week- Next Generation Day

On January 26th I took part in Next Generation Day, which was a one day conference of the week long "Advertising week" that is held on an annual basis. 


I ended up visiting the ad agency Bos for the afternoon. There we worked and brainstormed on two accounts that they are currently working on. It was nice to have insight into how they actually approach a new project as a team. The experience was very beneficial for me. Bos seems like it'd be a cool place to work.


Here's some of the stuff that we had a look at when we were at Bos:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUpY6uXQ_Gg


Rona wanted to communicate to its customers that they recycle paint. This video shows a billboard that was somewhere in Quebec, and although it was a localized effort, it received great amounts of press. Rona was able to effectively communicate to customers that it recycles paint on a low budget. Apparently they had to take it down after a day because of legal issues perhaps? Who knows! Regardless, pretty cool.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZlhHsMXl6Y



This billboard was for fruit burst candies and was implemented in New Zealand. Really cool... yet probably illegal to implement in Canada or the U.S. I can see some issues with candies flying everywhere? lawsuits?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UbHEzTSor0



There were a series of commercials that Bos created for Mac's WTF "what the froster" slushies. The slushie didn't taste like anything recognizable to customers, hence the name. Mac's saw slushie revenues increase significantly after these commercials were launched (I can't remember the exact number, I want to say 50% increase?) Anyway, the commercials aren't really my type of humour, but it seemed to have worked for Macs. 

The Dip- Book Review

For our communications class today we were asked to give a two minute presentation on a topic of our choice. I chose to talk about my favourite book The Dip, written by Seth Godin. The Dip is an amazing book that teaches you when to quit and when to stick it out. Here's the gist of what I said:

I really like this book for three reasons. The first reason is because it's very motivational. It motivated me to quit things that weren't right for me, and refocus my efforts in areas that count. It motivated me to work hard. It taught me that "extraordinary benefits accrue to the tiny minority of people who are able to push just a tiny bit longer than most."

The second reason I really liked this book is because it's very applicable to me at this point in my life. It discusses when to quit or stick with a particular job, career, school subject, relationship, or even a hobby. I'm at a time in my life where I have to make big decisions. It's crucial to figure out what's right for me, and quit what isn't working. 

The third reason I really liked this book is because it taught me that quitting isn't a bad thing. In certain instances it's a strategic decision. My dad always told me never to quit. My teachers always told me never to quit. Here's what Seth Godin has to say about never quitting:

"Never quit? Bad advice. I think the advice giver meant to say 'Never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can't deal with the stress of the moment.' Now that's good advice."

I really think that anyone can find value in this book and I highly recommend it.