Beyond One for One

A mission that changes lives

Toms is a company that believes in giving to those who are in need. They are a company that knows how to improve the lives of those who cannot help themselves. This giving company started in 2006 and has been growing and improving every day. Toms “One for One” business model promises a free pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Toms, was on a trip to Argentina when he became aware of a need. A lack of shoes meant kids were exposed to a wide range of diseases and much more. He wanted to do something about this, so he put his background in entrepreneurship to use. Toms has gone from giving just pairs of shoes to giving sight, water and safe birth materials. Improving lives is the purpose of this company and they have done that and more.

10 million and counting

In 2013, Toms sold their 10 millionth pair of shoes. That number has only increased since then. So, how has this company become so successful? When LA Times heard about Mycoskie, they immediately wrote an article about the company. Publicity took off and
Times, People and other popular magazines started to write and spread the word about this new company. One thing that Mycoskie did, was he talked more about the mission of Toms than he did of the company. He stood behind his company and was honest in what he does.

My thoughts

I think that Mycoskie is a great business man. Although he never finished his degree in business, he was able to take his passion and determination and turn it into a company that changes lives. Mycoskie is a very laid-back guy that cares about the mission of the company more than anything. The way that he talks about his company is what appeals to the public. Everyone loves a company that has a purpose and a reason for what they do. Making this known, is what makes Toms so successful. Everyone wants to help people in need, but a lot don’t know how to or where to start. Toms is a great way for people to buy something for themselves and to also feel good about doing it.

 

Peace, Love, Ice Cream & Equality

Chubby hubby to hubby hubby

Ben and Jerry’s is a well-known ice cream brand. This company creates many irresistible ice cream combinations that are sold in perfectly sized pints. This Vermont based ice cream company has held true to their popular slogan “Peace, Love & Ice Cream” since 1978. 9 years ago, Vermont legalized same-sex marriage and in response to support this change, Ben and Jerry’s changed their popular flavor “Chubby Hubby” to “Hubby Hubby”. The pint container was also changed to display a rainbow and a wedding cake with two men figurines on top.

Love for everyone

Ben and Jerry’s is all about “Peace, Love & Ice Cream”. Changing the name of the “Chubby Hubby” flavor was a way to let the public know that they support the Freedom to Marry and to “raise awareness of the importance of marriage equality.” Although it was just for a limited time and sold locally, this change “reached audiences worldwide.” While this change did appeal to some, they did lose some customers because of their opposing views on sexuality.

my thoughts

I think Ben and Jerry’s is a great company that has a great mission. When an ice cream company can make an impact by simply changing a flavor name, it makes me appreciate their purpose. I think this was a great move by PR to do this. They were able to widen their audience by showing their support of same-sex marriage. I think if they were to sell this limited “Hubby Hubby” pint nationwide, it would have made even more of an impact, but I do appreciate them keeping it simple and avoiding any strong conflicts that would come from it.

Dove Keeping it Real

What is a perfect mom?

In April 2017, Dove launched Baby Dove. To kick off this new line, they created a campaign and displayed an ad in the UK. This ad had an image of a woman holding a child along with the words “Is this a perfect mum?”. The woman displayed on the ad, is a computer-generated mom of what woman are used to seeing in the media. An unrealistic representation of what a mom should look like after having a baby. Dove did this with cause. They knew that new moms were being deceived by the media and wanted to provoke thought in the public. They pose the question “Is this a perfect mum?”, to bring to our attention that “there are no perfect mums, just real ones”.

healthy self- image

Dove is an honest and genuine company. They are stepping away from what the media calls perfect and shining a light on what is real. In the past, Dove has created many commercials that promote and encourage women to have a healthy self-image. To name a few, the “Like a Girl” campaign and the “Real Beauty” campaign. These ads show women that are un-edited and real. With their new campaign, “no perfect mums, just real ones”, they are aware of their audience’s needs and once again meet them. Many new moms feel like they need to meet the standards of what the perfect “Instagram mom” looks like, buys, eats and does. Dove opens up and makes a statement, once again, that there is not perfect, but there is real.

My Thoughts

I think Dove is an amazing company. They have great PR methods and know how to uplift and keep their targeted audience. They are a fighting force in the media to empower women and their real beauty. This campaign for new moms, proves they are aware of this important role that women have. There already is a lot of pressure on woman to raise children and they don’t need more pressure to look “perfect”. I think Dove does a great job with keeping it simple and clear that what matters is real beauty.

Starbucks Welcomes All

Open- door policy

About a month ago, two black men were escorted out of a Starbucks and refused access to a bathroom. Starbucks responded to this issue with an apology and a statement

released that said Starbucks nation-wide will be closing and training employees on their policies of how to treat co-workers and customers equally. Now that they are done with training, Starbucks released the statement that they will have an open- door policy that allows anyone to use the facilities even if they did not make a purchase. This update to a policy caused some Starbucks regulars to become upset. They were concerned that Starbucks will slowly become a place for the homeless gather.

Sticking To It

Because of several negative responses to this updated policy, Starbucks has responded again to the media. Starbucks chairman, Howard Schultz, said that “we don’t want anyone at Starbucks to feel as if we are not giving access to you to the bathroom because you are less than.” They are sticking to their new policy. They want the community and customers to know that they accept everyone.

 

My Thoughts

I think Starbucks is doing a great thing by implementing this new policy that everyone is accepted. The way they handled the original situation was professional and apologetic to the community. It really showed everyone that this company cares and wants to make all employees aware of their policies to prevent this from happening again. One thing I don’t like is how Starbucks is sticking to their policy, even after the many concerns and complaints of the public. These concerns that they are having are concerns for their safety and protection. I am not asking that Starbucks change their policy again, but that they respond to the public and ensure that they will still be safe in all Starbucks locations.

 

Tuna Causing Trouble

Bumble Bee Tuna fixing prices

On Wednesday, May 16^th, Christopher Lischewski, the CEO of Bumble Bee tuna, was charged of a price fixing scheme with tuna prices. Lischewski was communicating and planning with other seafood companies to try and keep the price of tuna high in stores. This scandal was occurring for over 3 years starting in November 2010 and continuing until December 2013. Because of the high fixed price, Walmart, Albertsons and other large grocery chains sued Bumble Bee. If Lischewski is convicted of this crime, he will face a 10 year prison sentence along with other penalties. Bumble Bee has had several representatives of the company plead guilty in the past. Now the company as a whole has come forward and agreed to plead guilty. By pleading guilty, the company will pay a $25 million criminal fine.

 

 

Pleading guilty and asking for FORGIVENESS

Bumble Bee agreed and plead guilty to the charges they received. From there, a statement was released that let the public know that as a company, they “accept full responsibility” and that they will make sure that they work “with integrity and transparency in every way” to prevent a scandal like this happening again. The company wants to take a proactive stance on this scandal and apologize and gain the trust of the public back. Lischewski’s lawyer said that he is innocent and stated that “When the facts are known and the truth emerges, Mr. Lischewski will be found not guilty, and that vindication will rightfully restore his good name”.

My Thoughts

I think that Bumble Bee did a good job by stating to the public that they did make a mistake, but they want to gain their trust back. They not only said that, but they also gave some examples on how they will gain the trust back, through integrity and transparency. It shows that they really care about their reputation and was to be forgiven. The one thing that bothers me is what Lischewski’s Lawyer said. I know that it is his job to defend his client, but it is clear that the company is guilty. Lischewski can still protect his reputation if he follows the company’s statement and moves forward as an honest CEO.

 

A $97.3 Million Lunch Break

Pay the Price

A Wells Fargo bank in California owes $97.3 million to some of their mortgage consultants and bankers. California law requires that employees get a 10-minute paid break for every four hours that they work. It was discovered that these workers were not being paid within these standards. When brought to court, Wells Fargo argued that they only needed to pay the amount of $24.5 million, which was the sum of the regular hourly rate for their breaks over the 4-year period. The Judge over the case sided with the employees and agreed that the amount they should receive will be based on hourly pay and commissions. Wells Fargo was in violation of California’s labor law, and they will pay the price.

Just Sweep It Under the Rug

Wells Fargo choses to always stand behind their actions, and this isn’t the first time they have ran into trouble. The bank is planning to appeal this court decision. Warren Buffet is a shareholder and also stands behinds Wells Fargo. He made a handful of statements that seem to be targeting other banks and their troubles, to soften the blow of Wells Fargo’s mistake.   Although they have plans to appeal, the CEO Tim Sloan, said that he wants to view this as a turning point for the company, but hasn’t done much.

My THoughts

As most people know, this isn’t the first time Wells Fargo got caught up in an illegal situation. From the research I did, it doesn’t seem like much effort is given from the company to own the mistake and turn it into a positive situation. The few statements from the CEO and other shareholders seem to ignore the problem and defend the bank. They want the public to think that they have done nothing wrong, and that other banks have done much worse.

Starbucks Serves Black Coffee, But Not Black Men?

Right to a Restroom?

On April 12^th, two black men entered a Starbucks in Philadelphia and attempted to use the restroom. They were abruptly stopped by the store’s manager and asked to leave because they did not buy any food or drink. Once the two men refused, the police were contacted and shortly appeared to escort them out in handcuffs. Starbucks didn’t want to press charges, so the two men were released shortly after. What were the two men in violation of? Nothing. The city of Philadelphia reviewed the case and came to the conclusion that the situation “lacked evidence that a crime was [even] committed”.

The $200,002 Apology

Responding to this incident, Starbucks released several statements apologizing. Of these many statements, the chief executive of Starbucks, Kevin R. Johnson, stating the steps that the company will be taking to turn this event into a positive and beneficial learning opportunity.

Johnson also commented on how the company “stands firmly against discrimination”. A decision was made to close Starbucks Nation-wide for a day the following week. During this closed time, they would train the employees on how to “treat one another [and customers] with respect and dignity”.

Not only did Starbucks respond to this incident, but so did the Govender of Philadelphia. Instead of paying the two victims a large sum, the city decided on creating a program for the local high schools. This program would have a grant of $200,000 to help students learn the importance of financial literacy and how to create equality in different situations.

My Thoughts

I am always shocked to hear about these incidents that happen because of racism. Luckily, this was a non-violent situation that resulted in benefitting the community and Starbucks Nation-wide. I agree and appreciate the approach that the company took. They were able to take a bad situation and turn it into a learning opportunity by owning the problem and implementing trainings. This kind of public relations can help maintain a good reputation among the company and also uphold the positive public opinions of many people.

 

Never Stop Exploring

INtro

This project was created on multiple Adobe programs. The ads were created in Photoshop, and to create the slides, I used InDesign. I choose an ad campaign from a company and analyze the ad. Then I created a new ad for the same campaign that had similar elements. I needed to analyze the color, typography, and layout of the ads.

Original ad

This is the original ad that I chose. It is a North Face ad from the “Never Stop Exploring Campaign”. I chose this ad because it was simple and easy to re-create.

 

 

 

 

 

For my slides, I analyzed the typography and colors of this ad. I chose a grey background for my slides so the ad stands out and a red stripe on the bottom to incorporate the red from the logo. The font used for analyzing is a light, sans-serif font to add contrast to the bold font on the ad.

New ad

This is the new ad that I created using Photoshop. The background photo and the logo are two different images I got from outside sources. They are linked at the end of the post.

I analyzed the consistencies it has with the original ad. The font I used is a bold sans-serif font. The background image is also an outdoor picture with cool tones. The logo and the text are center aligned also. I kept the same slide format and font so it looks uniform and is easy to follow.

title and transition slides

 

 

 

 

For the title slide, I used the light grey and dark grey backgrounds to contrast the ad and the red logo. I used a light sans-serif font that contrasts the ads bold font. For the transition slides, I kept the light and dark grey to create unity, and added a red line to unify with the other slides and the red elements in them.

conclusion

This was a great project. I was fun to re-creat an ad, and to make slides on InDesign. I liked being able to use multiple programs to create one project, it really tested my skills. I liked using a color scheme that was simple and added to the over-all design.

links to original photos

The Boo-Boo Fixer

Intro

For this assignment, we were given random target audience and a household product that we had to create an ad for. Based off of the product, we had to choose a brand and come up with a headline and some body text. This ad was created using Photoshop and we needed to blend at least two different images.

 This ad consists of 3 different images. The arm, the kiss mark, and the band-aid. The band-aid is my own image. The arm and kiss mark were found on the website unsplash.com (links at end of post).

target audience

My target audience for this ad is single males ages 18-26 with a master’s degree and an income of $15,000 – $39,000. This design appeals to this audience by using a fit, young man’s arm as the focal point. Men in this age range are usually in their best shape, or want to become in better shape. Considering they are single, they might still be “mama’s boys”, and depend on their moms to kiss their boo boos.

Design ANALYSIS

For this ad, I wanted to keep my color scheme simple so the arm on it stands out. I chose to do a red kiss mark to tie in the red in the “Band-Aid” logo. For the background, I decided that a solid grey seemed harsh and plain, so I did a gradient to add depth and lighten it a little. The large font I chose to be a sans-serif to match the “Band-Aid” logo, and a serif font to add contrast. The drop shadow on the larger font also adds depth and some contrast to make it stand out to the reader.

Closing

This ad is simple but portrays a strong message that these band-aids can heal almost anything. The colors and fonts have contrast, but also create unity. Every man has a little bit of “mammas boy” in them.

 

Picture links

    (my own image)

 

 

 

 

 

Communications Portfolio

Résumé

 

Cover Letter

Class notes

9/14/2017-John Thompson

We had an introduction to I-COMM. He was a great speaker that just explained all the different things that we can do within this. I learned a lot about the program that I didn’t know.

9/28/2017-Sheila Wener

Today we learned how to create and perfect our Grad Plans. I work in academic advising, so I knew most of what she was saying. My grad plan was already completed also. But it was nice to get a refresher of all the different tools that you can use on grad plan. It isn’t just for planning classes, but it can help you find a career and major also.

 

10/5/2017-Lane Williams

This class was interesting for me to listen and learn a lot. Although I do not want to go into journalism or news, it was still helpful to me in my major. It was nice to learn about the news and the media. Because I am a visual emphasis, I can create things that are popular in the news. Not only is it important to keep up with the news for personal reasons, but for the purpose of my future career also.

 

10/12/2017-Brian Howard

I didn’t know much about video production, so this was interesting to learn. They showed some advertisement that was created and it was super good! It surprised me with how much work goes into each little clip that we see all over the internet and on TV. The crew behind each clip also surprised me. There is a person assigned to a specific job, and in the end, it all comes together.

 

10/19/17-Sister Hansen

Advocacy is when people that choose to stand up for those how cannot speak for themselves. Being able to get the most out of your major requires a wide range of skill sets. Don’t be afraid to explore a little and learn new skills that will benefit you in the work place. This is a very sensitive major. In the workplace, it is crucial to not alienate and or offend those in the community. It doesn’t matter what your degree is, it matters what your skill set is.

 

10/26/17-Brother Cannon

SO EXPERIENCED. Amazing job background and life accomplishments. Public relations can mean anything from planning events, to writing articles for magazines. It is a broad major to go into with many possibilities of a future job. Public relations is female friendly. Around 60% are woman who hold management positions. Something that you need are critical thinking skills. It is your job to represent the company to the media. Knowing how to respond to a situation to make sure your company has a positive reputation. Not what you say, but what you do.

 

11/2/17-Visual Communications

This presentation was amazing! I am a visual emphasis, and I loved all the different things we learned. We viewed past student work and talked about each class that we will have to take. The professors are amazing! I loved learning about the product re-branding that we will be doing in a later class. It was great to see the success of other students in this emphasis.