The War to Inform

This week, we looked at the war on drugs! We examined the measures that the US Government and other organizations are currently taking, and have taken, to combat the war on drugs. All of the current methods have been relatively ineffective… SO, it is our job to try and come up with a new strategy!

Where I would start:

After reading through the case studies, and watching some of the ad campaigns it has become apparent that the types of drugs, and public opinions of drugs have changed since the campaign first started. One video targeted marijuana, trying to instill how bad it is for the youth. I am not saying whether this is right or wrong, as I am no scientist, however, it must be acknowledged that marijuana is now legal in a number of states. With this in mind, I feel that it is important to be specific about the types of drugs that are being targeted in this campaign. Do some research to see which drugs are being abused most and go after them. 1. Targeting the right drugs!

To delve into this even further, I feel that the campaign needs to address the difference between pharmaceutical drugs and recreational drugs as both are being abused. Yet there is a strong conception that one is worse for you than the other. 2. Define the difference between pharmaceutical drugs and recreational drugs and how they can both be damaging.

The last, and probably most important thing is to come up with a campaign that reaches the audience. We learnt in class that the scare tactics that organizations have used in the past were not received well by the general public. We know that TV and print advertisements are the most effective way to reach audiences, so we just need an effective strategy to help get OUR message across. 3. The strategy is key!

 

What strategy I propose:

We need to inform people of what the drugs are and what they do to you. It was mentioned that a lot of the previous campaigns had been accused of making teens even more curious about drugs; Telling someone that something is bad for you and that you should never do it can be intriguing to rebelling teens. Kids trying to fight the system may take it as a personal challenge. It reminds me of the abstinence first method of sex-education. Not giving teens all the right information about sex has seen teen pregnancy rates go through the roof.

If people are properly informed about how everything works then they are INFORMED and can make their own decisions. At the end of they day they are going to make their own decisions regardless. Why not deliver people the information to make this decision more informed?

So my strategy is to inform people about drugs, with a neutral standpoint. Let people know/see how drugs are made. Let them know what the effects are on a person. Let them see statistics about what happens when you take drugs. Let them understand how much it will cost…

Hopefully people presented with the right information will be smart enough to not choose drugs.

My ramble…

Do expensive items taste better than cheaper ones?

Whilst eating an energy bar this week I stopped to wonder if what I was eating was actually worth the price I paid for it. I enjoy a lot of different bars, of different price ranges and tastes, so I decided to create a little experiment. The experiment involved me trying 3 different bars, pictured below with their price.

$2.20 (40 grams)

$1.25 (68 grams)

$0.25 (40 grams)

 The idea behind the experiment is to see if the more expensive bars taste better? There is obviously really complicated and detailed ways to go about this…so I opted for the simplest one. Try each bar and write a little but about it, and then come up with a conclusion. So…

The “247” bar:

This bar was delicious, and only available in Australia so I appreciate it so much more that I would if it was regularly available. The flavor was salted caramel and banana with quinoa. Honestly, I was expecting more from the flavor. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but it wasn’t AMAZING, which is what the price and list of ingredient screamed to me. This bar made me feel like I was eating healthy.

The “cliff” bar:

I always enjoy the cliff bars. They are more filling than most, and they always have interesting flavors. The bar itself is not that attractive looking…it actually looks like something that you may find on the bottom of your shoe, but hey, it tastes good so I don’t care. I can also have one of these bars and feel satisfied; I don’t need two of them like I do with many other bars.

The ‘Nature Valley’ bar:

This bar is a staple, sure its not the most lavish but it gets the job done. Its simple and cheap so you don’t feel too bad having two.

What it all means; price sure does make a difference in taste, at least when it comes to bars. Sure it may not be as big of a difference as the price itself, but there is a difference!

Obviously I tried different flavors, but this just adds to the argument. There is no way that you can find a bar that has ‘salted caramel and banana with quinoa’ for $0.25. The variety of flavors increases as the price increases. You just need to know what you like and how much you are willing to spend in order to get more flavors.

Call me a Viking?

I am originally from Australia, so this weeks assignment was somewhat interesting…not that they all aren’t.

This week we looked selected a country that we think would be interesting to live in, I chose Iceland! I mean how could you not want to live in a place where it is dark for three months of the year, the speak their own language (which is supposedly the hardest to learn), and they are direct descendants from VIKINGS!!! We were to analyze their cultural norms and compare the to our own. Although I have lived in the U.S for the last 4 years I chose to contrast Iceland with Australia, my home country.

So…in order to compare Iceland and Australia I was instructed to look at both countries CSV scores; “Geert Hofstede developed a theory to describe differences in cultural values. This theory is based on five key dimensions, with each dimension representing a core societal value. Core societal values (CSV), or cultural values, represent a commonly agreed upon consensus about the most preferable ways of living within a society.”

The comparison is pictured below:

Instead of just talking about where the differences are, let’s talk about how these scores might affect my lifestyle!

To be frank, they probably wouldn’t affect my lifestyle at all! Other than the blaring difference in how the Icelandic people care more about others and quality of life than Australians, there isn’t much difference between the two. It is said that a country with a low masculinity score ‘works to live’. This idea doesn’t really phase me as that is what I am currently doing. I guess that I do have some long-term goals of investing in property that are not a norm in Iceland and could prove to be an adjustment. My desire to invest in property is so that I will have something to fall back on after I stop earning income. I am not sure what the protocol is for retirees in Iceland, perhaps the government has a system in place to ensure they are well looked after. It would require some more research on my part.

I think that living in Iceland would be relatively easy in terms of cultural norms, however the language barrier could be another story!

 

Group Fun

This week (the week before spring break) in marketing 402 I was absent, I missed both of our regular classes. Before all you readers jump to the conclusion that I just stated my spring break a week early, hold up… I was at the Pac 12 Men’s Swimming Championships, in Seattle, WA. This is the perfect segue into this weeks topic though, groups that I belong too, both formal and informal.

ASU Swim team

Churchie Old Boys

Health enthusiast

Student Athlete

Student at ASU

Australian abroad

Sun Devil Media Relations

I could probably think of more if given more time but this will do for now. You may remember last week, I used the ATO model to determine my favorite type of sports watch… Well today I am going to use the ATO model to determine the groups that I hold most important.

**Please click on ATO model to see clear picture.**

As you can see the ones that are most important to me are, ASU Swim Team, Health enthusiasts and student athlete.

I am honestly not sure that I agree with the results of the ATO model completely. It is quite possibly due to the 3 areas I chose to evaluate the groups, time spent, level of commitment and enjoyment. Perhaps these are not painting an accurate picture of how I feel about these groups.

The ATO was accurate in placing the ASU Swim Team as my first priority! I have been a part of this group for 4 years now, but will be invested in the team for a long time to come. It has been such a huge part of my life so far; it is hard to ignore it.

As far as joining the ASU Swim Team the selection criteria are actually quite rigorous. You must be able to swim at a state, most likely national level, you have to be welcomed by the coaches and current team members and you have to be admitted to Arizona State University.

Does your watch tell the time?

As my college swimming career is coming to an end, it is important to me to stay in shape…rather, it’s important that I don’t get FAT.

My plan for after swimming involves some running, weightlifting and recreational sports. I would very much like to see my progress with my new activities. This has sparked my interest in the sports watch/activity tracker market. I am in the market for a device that has heart-rate capabilities, has a good battery life and is affordable. There are obviously other capabilities that come with these types of watches, but these are the intangibles for me. I have narrowed it down to 3 watches, the Fitbit charge HR, the Polar M400, and the Garmin Forerunner 410 all pictured below.

Fitbit Charge HR

Polar M400

Garmin Forerunner 410

I am somewhat stuck as to where to go from here, so I decided to use an ATO model…or maybe I had to use it for class, but it was helpful. ATO: Attitude-toward-the-product, it is basically how you feel the product scored in areas that you place value on. Mine is pictured below.

My results were not really surprising as my desire for a heart rate monitor is very high. The Fitbit offers a heart rate feature on the watch itself, the other two require attritional equipment. This is really where Fitbit won the battle. Other than this feature I was pretty indifferent about the watches.

Now I just need to start saving my pennie$.