Dalila Perez
4 Alarm Clocks Smart Enough to Actually Get You Out of Bed
February 26, 2018, 6:44 PM

      In the article "4 Alarm Clocks Smart Enough to Actually Get You Out of Bed", Steven Melendez the author of this article, discusses 4 new refined, innovative and efficient alarm clocks that are designed to actually succeed at getting you out of bed in the morning. As a college student, my world revolves around sleep; whether it be calculating how much sleep I will get if I go to sleep at a certain time, or how long I have to squeeze a nap in, in between classes. As a college student, I am continuously trying to figure out how much sleep I can get or how much sleep I may need all while trying to fit it into my schedule. 

Pavlok Shocking Bracelet

Beddi

      This article contains photos of the products being discussed. 

These photos look professionally taken and portray the products in a vibrant way. It includes intriguing pictures and displays products that are all multifunctional. These products that are being marketed in this article include features such as Bluetooth connectivity, the ability to connect to your coffee machine, control your lights and music, direct links to your Apple Watch or Fitbit and can also connect your Spotify account. These features allow other businesses to adhere to this product. Not only do these products contain features that could help with your everyday life, but they can be used to stop bad habits. An example of this would be the second product presented called the Pavlok Shocking Bracelet.An advanced version of the Pavlok Bracelet can be set to shock you for things like biting your nails, smoking or wasting time online. Continually, the third product presented called the Beddi, does not stop bad habits, however, it can call one of your overnight guests an Uber by connecting to your smartphone app and a wide variety of other apps. These are all great attributes that will widen the target market because do not want to purchase a product that is clunky and takes up too much space. So if there is a small multipurpose product out on the market, people will be more willing to buy it.         

The New Snapchat

The New Snapchat

            For those who don’t know, Snapchat is an image messaging and multimedia mobile application. This app has about 187 million daily users. Snapchat has recently changed their entire app, making many new changes. Many users of the app were not at all satisfied with the new changes, demanding that it be changed back. These users went so far as to sign a petition, trying to make Snapchat change back to its old design. Most of these users probably do not know why Snapchat has decided to make all of these changes. I have taken interest in this topic, because I currently use Snapchat. However, I am still trying to adjust to the new interface. 

            The biggest reason for Snapchat’s change is their competition. Snapchat was the inventor of the story mode where users can post pictures and videos for people to see for 24 hours. Instagram and Facebook liked the idea, so they took it from Snapchat and integrated story mode into the Facebook and Instagram apps. This became a large threat for Snapchat because more people made and watched stories on Instagram. As a result, Snapchat was becoming less popular. Snapchat’s biggest weakness it that it is nothing like a social network. You cannot post on timelines, look down news feeds, or even like and comment on anything. Most people prefer to be able to have all these things, so they tend to migrate towards Instagram or Facebook. Snapchat is trying to become something entirely different, because they can no longer compete with Instagram or Facebook. They are trying to come up with something that their competitors cannot copy. Unfortunately, Snapchat has lost $1.3 billion dollars in market value ever since the latest changes.

WSJ LINK

By: Shawn Pham

Toys ‘R’ Us Plans to Close Another 200 Stores

Toys ‘R’ Us Near You May Be Closing

After closing various stores, Toys 'R' Us plans to close another 200 stores and many employees suffer from unemployment creating financial issues for employees and their families who are laid off

Image ( https://wellroundedny.com/local-toys-r-us-may-closing/) 

By Jose Mendez

Published Feb. 23, 2018 12:50 p.m.

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This summer famous retailer Toys 'R' Us filed for bankruptcy, resulting in an enormous number of store closings, over 200 and still counting, the toy company is trying to turn their luck around.

This number of store closings is affecting approximately 4,500 workers and leaving them unemployed. When the company first filed for bankruptcy back in January of this year, they promised those employees who would be affected with financial assistance but now the company has walked away from this promise and managers were instructed to tell their hourly wage workers that " there are no severance benefits being provided for the store-closing process."

The company has struggled with poor holiday sales in the past few years, during peak seasons when toy retailer's profit the most such as the Christmas holidays. The company currently refuses to disclose the amount of money that was made during the 2017 holidays.

Before I get into detail on how this all fits into our marketing class, I would like to show the history of retail stores and introduce why Toys 'R' Us has had a huge decline in sales.

As you can see in the video, retail first started with the creation of the first mall, now a days we don't think about where and how these stores got started, we just want to spend our paycheck and find the most trendiest things. After the mall came different individual stores that affected the businesses at the mall but did not damage them, until stores like Wal-Mart and Target came around. Customers realized you can find everything under one roof and it was very convenient for them creating a big competition with smaller businesses that later pushes them out of business.

In the world today people can find anything online and have it delivered within a couple of days thanks to online stores like Amazon.com and online shopping. This shows that the customers needs are changing. Not many customers want to leave their house to go shopping, they would prefer not to deal with the long lines, grumpy store associates, traffic and just shop from the convenience of their home.

Amazon is currently leading the market and will continue to do so as time goes by, who knows maybe Amazon will create a new target market for customers and expand its business.
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Link to WSJ Article (https://www.wsj.com/articles/toys-r-us-plans-to-close-another-200-stores-1519254948)

Thoughts and Prayers are Not Enough for the #NeverAgain Millennials

Once again, we are waking up to our country raising its flag to half-staff as we mourn the lives lost to yet another mass shooting. This time in Parkland, Florida, where a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School walked into the school and opened fire with an AR-15 killing 17 students and teachers. It is during this time that our country, already accustomed to the routine of mass shootings, comes together to watch in horror and hope it doesn't happen in our community. Our customary thoughts and prayers are sent to the victims and their families. Then, we half-heartedly demand change for a day and forget about it until the next mass shooting happens. It has been a week since the tragedy and the Stoneman Douglas survivors are determined not to fade into thoughts and prayers and are adamantly keeping their story fresh on the mind of America and its politicians to stop mass shootings once and for all.  

These survivors are the voice of a generation who didn't adapt to the internet, they were born into it. Only a week after the tragedy, these millennials are using their pain and strongest asset on the internet, social media, to ignite a movement to stop mass shootings so that the lives of their peers and teachers are not lost in vain. The Stoneman Douglas survivors took to social media not just after the incident but during as well. Despite the opinions of the older generations, the quick-thinking millennials took to SnapChat while the shooting was happening and documented the horrific situation they were in. It opened the eyes of the viewers and struck a nerve. It is one thing to read about a mass shooting, but to witness it through the eyes of a student is a much more powerful tool to cause awareness. They also took to Twitter and Periscope to share their stories using a simple yet effective hashtag #NeverAgain to connect other gun violence survivors and create a movement to "never again" go through a mass shooting in schools or anywhere else. Within a week, these teenagers have already reached out to senator Marco Rubio in a CNN Townhall meeting and a sit in with President Donald Trump to discuss possible solutions to this problem. 

These internet born millennial teenagers know how easy it is to utilize social media to network with thousands of people and express their thoughts and opinions. They don't shy away from it, instead, they embrace the power of it and use it to their advantage over the older generation. Facebook, Instagram and Snapchap all have the capabilities to live stream footage and post real time commentary. Twitter connects like minded individuals with short and sweet messages using hashtags. These teens have used every form of social media to further their cause and market themselves to anyone and everyone willing to help them. Within a week, they have already made so much advancement in creating a way to work together with politicians to help stop these mass shootings. 

By: Roxanne Cepeda

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-florida-school-shooting-turned-into-a-gun-control-movement-1519416915

Herbal Supplement Has Some New Yorkers Talking, Instead of Coughing

A bottle of Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa

In the midst of flu season, New Yorkers discovered a "secret" new medicine to remedy their coughing symptoms. Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa is a herbal supplement originally produced and developed in China, and sold in New York's local Chinese markets for $7. Supposedly, this medicine heals the cough symptoms in a matter of minutes, and New Yorkers spread the rumors. Pei Pa Koa is currently being sold off-market for around $70, an enormous increase from its original price. 

Applied to marketing concepts, it is important to notice some of the weaknesses and threats if one were to produce a SWOT analysis. This product will have the consistent threat of major drug producers as its competitors. Furthermore, federal and state regulations can compromise the selling of Pei Pa Koa.

Different business can apply the "underground" marketing strategy to their products. Several cultures from Africa, Latin America, and Asia also have different types of herbal supplements, which could introduce a new trend in the medicine industry. 


Vinicius R Ferreira

https://www.wsj.com/articles/herbal-supplement-has-some-new-yorkers-talking-instead-of-coughing-1519316304

Scroll Signs On Publishers for Service That Will Curb Their Ads

Tony Haile, co-founder of Scroll, believes the growing adoption of ad blockers shows that consumers are willing to pay for a better, ad-free news experience.

  A new ad blocking company, Scroll, is launching at the end of this year, and they are attempting to satisfy the wants of the consumers who are fed up with ads blocking their enjoyment of news sites. Scroll is putting a new spin on things, and has concluded that having consumers pay for an ad-free experience is actually more profitable to advertising companies than actually putting the ad on the publishers site. As a consumer (and hater) of news sites that contain these never-ending advertisements, I am happy to see that there may be a possible solution to this problem.

   Scroll is a subscription service that intends to provide ad free experiences for the consumers of the participating news organizations for just $5 a month. This company seems to have started something as networks such as MSNBC, Business Insider, Fusion Media Group, and the Atlantic are among the news organizations that have already signed up to join. Tony Haile, the co-founder of Scroll, based this company's goal off the growing use of ad blockers in 2016 that proved consumers were willing to pay for an ad free experience. The plan for Scroll is that it will share 70% of its subscription revenue with the publishers, and the amount of revenue each publisher gets depends on the amount of revenue that was generated from each of the news organizations.

   Scroll has ultimately determined what some of the wants of their customers. They have analyzed their customers and found that they are annoyed by ads on news sites, but Scroll has found a potential solution for it. A few of the participating news organizations that have already signed up to be a part of Scroll are in the process of experimenting to find out weather its users would be willing to pay for an ad free version of their site. The publishers are working alongside Scroll in order to enhance the overall welfare of each organization, and in hopes that this will increase revenue for both the publishers that are a part of Scroll, advertising companies, and for Scroll themselves. We will see if this will be a success when it launches later this year. 

By: Kelsie Walker

https://www.wsj.com/articles/scroll-signs-on-publishers-for-service-that-will-curb-their-ads-1519315200mod=nwsrl_cmo&cx_refModule=nwsrl#cx_testId=16&cx_testVariant=ctrl&cx_artPos=6

4 Alarm Clocks Smart Enough to Actually Get You Out of Bed

Lately I've taken a strange interest in how much sleep I actually need. In today's world, productivity and efficiency are the pinnacle of our society's culture. Yet with all this "saved" time we have, we are still so exhausted. Luckily for us college students, we're exempt from this stigma... for now. So if you're like me, you probably are in a committed, long term relationship with your snooze button. But that could all change with one of the 4 alarm clocks in this article, leading you to a pretty nasty break up.

The first is the Kello, set at a pricey $149, this "toaster sized" alarm clock is not only cute enough to be on your night stand but it can guide you through breathing exercises when you're trying to fall asleep and it wakes you up earlier and earlier with its sleep training modes using music from your Spotify account. It also limits how many times a week you can hit your snooze button...

If you need something a little more intense, there's the Pavlok. It kind of looks like a fit bit and you wear it on your wrist when you sleep. It vibrates to wake you up and if you don't wake up in time you get ELECTRICALLY ZAPPED BY IT. Talk about traumatic. It links up to a smartphone app and can also use its ~shocking~ features to help you quit smoking, stop biting your nails or even stop wasting time online. You can pay $128 to get negatively reinforced by a watch.

Now the Beddi is a lot less intrusive and a lot more... convenient. With the press of a button, you can start your coffee machine, dim your lights, control your music and even CALL AN UBER. Lets be real though, we all know that uber ride isn't for you. This little wingman sits at $99.

And finally, there's the Ruggie. This is doesn't zap you, call you an uber or guide you through breathing exercises. It is simply a mat, that blares sound between 90 and 120 decibels (comparable to the volume of a blender) and doesn't turn off until you step on it with your full body weight. So punching it with your fist while you're still lying in bed won't work. It does redeem itself afterwards by playing your favorite music from your smartphone. And this one costs $69.

In regards to our class, I think we can focus on the presentation of this article. The pictures, the sort of witty content written to describe the products, the price. Everyone has alarm clocks on their phones so its not a needed good, but someone who might want to start keeping their phone out of the room or someone looking to improve their sleep habits might end up looking at this article. It gives a good variety in functions and how intense of an experience someone is looking to get out of their alarm clock. Also looking at price, they range from $70 to $150. These are the characteristics that set them all apart so it just depends on the buyer's purchase situation.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/4-alarm-clocks-smart-enough-to-actually-get-you-out-of-bed-1519318198?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

by: Elena Karaytcheva