Blog #15

It’s so strange that these are my very last days of the internship. I am so used to coming to the office every morning and I genuinely enjoyed the work that I have done here. My uncle says that we work together so well that he wants to hire me over the summer to continue helping with the business! I couldn’t believe it when he asked me that. My uncle does everything on his own, and he’s the type that likes things done the way he does it. I’m totally the same way, but I guess because we are related we tend to do things similarly! I have learned so much from working with him and even though I have messed up a few times, my uncle never made me feel bad. It was such a great learning environment and I felt so comfortable. The union workers are still chipping away at these boxes, and I think they like me interning here too! So far I have run down to Richdales twice. Once for bags of cookies and then again for a few bottles of Sprite’s.  It’s funny because I feel like when people think about interns they think storing paperclips and folding papers. I love how my uncle really took my experience with him to the limit and didn’t doubt me for a second. I know it may be questionable to work with relatives, but in the right setting I think it is extremely beneficial. 

Blog #14

It was 12:56 when the big union truck rolled in to Manchester. My uncle sprang out of his seat so fast, it was actually funny to see how intense he gets during these shipments! Now to give you all in idea of how many boxes will be loaded today, there are currently 5 workers present and they will be here for roughly an hour. Just when we thought everything was going smooth, the man who works in the office next to us was not a happy camper. My uncle sent out an email to everyone stating what was happening today out of common courtesy. I guess this neighbor did not receive the message and began complaining that he will not be able to efficiently enter and leave his parking spot. Now, there are many parking spots in this lot. Yet he was upset because his spot was not as accessible due to the truck. Right as this was going on, the plumber shows up! Not exactly the best timing. So now we have 5 union guys, a crazy neighbor, and a plumber all together in this tiny office! Yet my uncle was not discouraged and handled everything very graciously. The truck was moved, the neighbor left, and the plumber fixed the toilet in under 10 minutes. Good thing the situation was avoided smoothly, and this shipment can proceed without hassle! 

Blog #13

I must say today is a very intense day at the office. My uncle is getting ready for his big shipment of all his products, and he has to get as many boxes into this one shipment as possible or else he has to pay for any extra boxes. These people say they will come between 1-4, but my uncle was in a total frenzy that he wouldn’t be ready by 1 o'clock. We still were packaging up tons of last minute orders, and I was racing around this morning trying to finalize all the labels. I kept thinking we had plenty of time, because I feel like whenever these union shippers say 1-4, it usually means 4. Yet today was a totally different story, and to top it all off my uncle had ME run down to Jungle in ipswich to pick up his final order that had just arrived. It was 12:15 and he got an email stating they had three more boxes ready for him. It costs $35 for every box that doesn’t make it on this load right now, and so I went on a total mission to get these boxes even though I had no idea what I was doing. I walked in acting like I knew exactly what I was doing, asked for some guy named Dave, and in record time I got those boxes in my little car and was back in Manchester by 12:45! I think I’m starting to get good at this job! 

Blog #12

What I really like about this internship is the creativity aspect and how you really have to know whats in style. When picking out inventory, its extremely important to know what the current style is and to remove of an outdated styles. The other day my uncle was deciding what type of shorts to order for women’s wear. Now of course I had to fold a great deal of the products, and I couldn’t bear to look at the cotton shorts with a big logo across the butt. I immediately told him to hold off on the outdated logo butt shorts, and to go with what all the girls are wearing now! Running shorts by Nike or Under Armor for example are the most versatile shorts ever. They are basically “go to” shorts when you want to go to the gym, when your hanging by the pool, or even going out. Running shorts are extremely comfortable and my friends and I all have at least 4 pairs of these shorts. At first my uncle was a little hesitant about the idea, because basically he has had the same type of shorts for the last couple of years. Yet I sold him on the idea of the running shorts and I can’t wait to see how the outcome is. If a lot of these shorts sell, it will be so cool knowing that I was the one who chose such a great style! I’m really excited to receive feedback on my style choices. 

Blog #11

It’s quite interesting what you learn when working in the real world and experiencing real jobs. The business world is very tricky, and I realized that my uncle has to work to keep so many people satisfied. This world is very competitive and he as to separate himself from any sort of competition to hold his position at these trade shows. I never realized what type of work that was until today. My uncle was sent thousands of these little music tags that go on instruments, and he has to sort them all out into bags of 100. This isn’t stuff that he hires people to do, this is extra work he does after his long day at work in order to show his dedication to these companies. He needs to keep in good graces with these people and he says he doesn’t want any excuse for NAMM or E3 to go ahead and look for someone else. It’s basically him doing something nice despite his 18 years of loyalty. So I sat all day and did exactly what my uncle does. It just goes to show that these type of mindless jobs can exist for anyone, and I think it also shows a lot of great qualities within my uncle that he doesn’t mind doing such tedious work that would usually be for interns or newcomers. Today was an eye opener for me and it just goes to show that work comes in all different forms! 

Blog #10

Today has been a very interesting day at SCORE. I got to help with more decals and designs! My uncle and I were working on a new logo and I am very proud to say that I got to choose the font for this design. I have to say myself, It does look pretty great! The shirts are for the E3 video game trade show coming up, and I chose to put the intricate design on the lower back part of the t-shirt. I chose the colors blue and gray for this shirt. It feels so cool to know that I helped make this design for such a big trade show. I can’t wait to see how many people will buy the shirts! 

I am also organizing labels today. Every box that is shipped has to have the correct labeling so when my uncle arrives at the show, everything will be set into place. Thousands and thousands of products will be shipped out to the store so when my uncle arrives on site the organization is key. I am very tedious with these labels to make sure I don’t mess anything up! The labels are based off my inventory count, which my uncle left all to me, so there is a lot of pressure. If there is a big mistake in the inventory or the labeling this could cause a great deal of havoc. There is enough set up going into the on site stores so if there is a big mix up inventory wise it will only cause more stress. 

Blog #9

So far this week has been filled with lots of inventory and stock managing. Instead of my uncle paying people on site to fulfill all his inventory needs, I am taking care of everything. I enjoy how much responsibly I have and it feels like I am doing such a real job. I have to keep track of everything all shirts, sizes, colors, what he needs and what he doesn’t need. I package them away and organize all of the boxes and labels. I know this type of work sounds a little boring but I love it! It’s a lot more work than it seems and I get to focus more on improving my organization skills because every definitely has to be organized and put together or else the wrong orders could really mess up the store. 

We had to deal with another logo glitch. The women who creates the logos made the ones on the front of the shirts too big, and not going to lie it does look a little awkward. Good thing it was only a batch of about 100 shirts so the problem was able to be avoided in time! My uncle creates the logos the exact sizing on the computer, but if there isn’t proper communication with these artists then situations like these can happen a lot. Sometimes if they don’t receive enough information, even though it seems obvious, the creators just go with what they think is best and now I see how to avoid these types of problems . 

Blog #8

Right now I am currently laughing. I’m sorry if my blogs appear to be repetitive but I can’t deny that my uncle and I laugh a lot! So we got another hilarious email. As if that “Gutsy” brand wasn’t enough, it just keeps getting better. I guess some women created a jacket made solely out of ziplock bags that is used to carry all your snacks easily and conveniently. This item is called the Snack-it. Get it “Snack-it” and “Jacket” haha! Who would wear a jacket with endless ziplock bags? I can’t blame the women for trying though! I respect that. I guess some people have a lot of time on their hands. Maybe thats what stay at home mothers do before they have kids or something. 

Today my uncle and I had to run down to the embroidery shop because the lady was having trouble with the design of the logo. This women is awesome at what she does. I love how tedious she is, because I’m exactly the same way! My uncle said that she has done the same exact logo for the past few years but still always calls with questions. Now that is my type of women. It is really important to make sure the logo is exactly what the company wants because if the design isn’t verbalized clearly enough then usually the embroiders will go ahead and create what they think looks right and sometimes that can lead to problems. It was a fun adventure to see the process today! 

Mackenzie: Blog #7

Today was another day that my uncle had to deal with annoying people. So for the E3 show we picked out this awesome jacket to sell in the merchandise store that looks just like a North Face but its from Charles River. I know for sure the jacket will be popular, every girl in the planet owns a North Face style jacket! So the sample came in and we were very proud of our decision. Yet right as we were about to high-five for our style success, a new email appeared on the computer. The jacket we picked out is apparently “too heavy” and “too warm”. This lady knows nothing! 

So E3 hired this company called IDG to run the trade show. So the merchandise workers from IDG are the ones that can tell my uncle either yes or no. The most annoying part is my uncle has been doing this for 18 years and knows exactly whats going to sell. These ladies keep asking for yoga pants, and they are the only three girls that ever buy them in the whole store. The funny part is, my uncle and I decided to order these jackets anyways! I’m glad he sticks to his guns. If E3 was upset with the merchandise store this year due to these awful ladies, he would be the one getting fired not them. We placed a small order today for the Charles River jackets and I know they are going to be a hit. 

Blog #6

Today is simply another comfortable day at the office. It absolutely beautiful out right now and 66 degrees! Due to this abnormally nice weather, my uncle and I are actually going to get out for a little bit today. We have to run over to the Jungle in ipswich to pick up a couple of orders for E3 and send out some new designs. My uncle has been glued to the computer screen all week while I have been continuing my social media studies. My uncle was telling me how unfortunately the last week before the show involves him confirming all shipments, designs, etc. on the computer. 

Steve just got the funniest email ever. One of his connects is trying to pitch him this new idea called “Gutsy” where singles wear t-shirts with their logo on it. This means that they are “single and approachable” and people can meet in person when they see others wearing the Gutsy logo. The t-shirt will have your specific code on it, and whoever is interested can type in the code they see on your t-shirt to see your online profile. I’m sorry but this idea is pretty creepy to say the least. Its so funny to see the ideas that get sent to my uncle every day. I guess the creator wanted him to brand and create the t-shirts or something of that nature. It seemed like my uncle couldn’t click the reject button fast enough. I see something new every day here! 

Blog #5

After interning with my uncle for the last couple of weeks I realized the frustrations of working with other co-workers. So for the E3 video game show, my uncle has to come up with fun logos or slogans to put on t-shirts or other merchandise items. He came up with a spinoff of “Keep Calm and Carry On” with “Keep Calm and Game On” which I loved because I know how popular all of the “Keep Calm” merchandise is right now. The t-shirt design was amazing and I knew this one would definitely sell. We were both really excited to pitch this idea to E3. So of course our brilliant idea was turned down by the company. Do you know what they want instead? Women’s shorts that say “Gamer” on the butt. You have got to be kidding me. I don’ think I have worn shorts that say something on the butt since third grade. 

I laughed when I saw the design. I’m sorry but these people just need to let my uncle do his job! So many funny sayings and slogans were turned down. My uncle is pretty hip and knows what is selling right now because he is the one actually at the shows. I hope they eventually just let my uncle make these decisions on his own. It was such a bummer to see how hard he worked, how excited we both were, and have some old grandma who doesn’t know anything about merchandise simply say no because she thinks shorts with logos on the butt is in style right now. 

Blog # 4

I never realized how the older generation is so not computer savvy until today. Trying to explain what Instagram and Twitter was to my score advisor was painful. When I checked in on his Facebook pages for his stores, there hasn’t been any updates in over a year! All of the cover photos still said 2011 and the official Company Stuff Marketing page only has 2 likes. I started laughing. I am really excited to start in on this! Luckily I am very savvy with social media and this project is right up my street. I immediately started in and updated all of the descriptions, photos, profile pictures, etc. So for the Anime Expo 2013, my uncle runs the official Anime Expo store. I was scrolling through twitter and I never realized how popular anime was! The anime expo has over 45,000 followers and I know once the store has a twitter site it will also be a big hit. If the Anime Expo simply re-tweets one of our posts, all of the big anime fans will instantly follow our account and this will gain more exposure to the store itself. 

Hootsuit is an amazing way to organize all of our social media profiles. Because my uncle has stores for the NAMM show, Anime Expo, and E3 expo, there are a lot of profiles to manage. Hootsuit creates reports of all the progress, the clicks we receive, etc which will visually demonstrate the effects of social media in my power point! 

Blog #3

Yesterday was a very informative day. My uncle has no idea what Instagram or Tumblr or other various social media sites are. I created a little booklet about the top 10 social media sites in order to keep him up to date with whats current and popular. My research paper is all about the effects of social media in the marketing industry, and I will soon be directing all of the social media for my uncle’s business. He barely has a Facebook page and I’m really excited to see how my new improvements will effect his business or gain new clientele. I plan to make a Twitter account, Facebook page, Instagram account, a LinkedIn account and a Tumblr page. I will manage all of these social media outlets with a program such as Hootsuit which allows timed updates and easy organization for social media in the business word. 

With the next trade show coming up the inventory just keeps rolling in. I enjoy keeping track of all the merchandise. Once we have all of the merchandise prepared I will actually be able to starting helping with the designs of the t-shirts for the next show. I am thrilled to be able to pick out colors, fonts, logos, etc and actually see them on a t-shirt that will be sold to hundreds. I am excited to use my photoshop skills that I have gained over the years with Ms Epp. Of course its also awesome coming home with new jackets and  t-shirts every day! 

Blog # 2

Today I realized some of the serious downfalls of the marketing industry. At the trade shows, some of the most popular merchandise is t-shirts or clothing that has the year of the show on it. For example a t-shirt that says “NAMM 2013” would be a product in high demand. So overall the logo with the corresponding year is what sells at the shows. 

As I walked into my uncles back office, all I saw were boxes and boxes of clothes and t-shirts. As I shuffled through,I noticed that a lot of the clothing was dated back to about 2009. My uncle explained to me how he basically has to throw out all of these boxes of clothes because they contain a logo with a previous year on it. Obviously he can’t sell shirts that say “E3 2009” at the next E3 show. My mouth dropped. This was really high quality merchandise! Why on earth would it need to be thrown out? Well the answer is because I guess companies don’t allow their logos to be put out just anywhere and therefore can’t be donated to salvation army or charity associations. I made my uncle promise to wait before he throws anything away because I’m determined to figure out what to do with this clothing. Theres everything from sweaters, polos, jackets, and it’s just not right at all for these products to be thrown away. There must be an alternative way to handle this situation. 

Blog # 1

Unfortunately for me, I actually had to start my project over April vacation. My uncle Steve was traveling in San Diego for a trade show for the entire first week of score and therefore I had to makeup the lost time over break. I’m really happy about the internship I decided to choose because my uncle really gives me a lot of responsibility and right now I’m currently helping him pack all the merchandise for the “E3” video game trade show out in Los Angeles. Packing and organizing all the inventory is a lot of work and usually my uncle does it all by himself. I couldn’t imagine sorting and folding over 400 t-shirts a day in an office alone.

  So Steve owns his own marketing business called “Company Stuff Marketing” and he creates designs and retrieves merchandise for different cliental and big trade show names. He has his own booth at music trade shows such as “NAMM” and even anime events. The next show is in the first week of June so I have a lot of inventory this week to keep up with! All of the clothing has to be organized and sorted by color, style, and size which is my job. I then have to fit ever order into one box and label all the inventory on the outside fold so when my uncle gets to the show he knows exactly how much he has of each product. I am realizing the hard labor that goes into these shows! I never knew that this type of work was required for a marketing business. 

Lindland Outline

Mackenzie Lindland

                                                            SCORE Outline and Thesis

Thesis: The World Wide Web has effectively shaped and dominated the marketing business in today’s society. Online marketing created a whole new tactic of communicating with customers and therefore revolutionized the entire industry.

P1- Search engines alone have opened up a whole new window in the online marketing industry.

I.            Search engine optimization (SEO) markets businesses online by targeting customers through keywords and search engines which overall markets the right products to the right people.

•   Now marketers can gain more customers by advertising to the right community

•   Ads on social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter are determined by what you type in Google or Bing, etc.

I.           Search engine advertising allows marketers to buy their way to the top

•   Pay per click

•   Increase sales through popularity in the biggest websites/ search engines

                                                 

P2- The internet has increased the efficiency and accessibility of products for the customers.

I.           The internet is one of the fastest research tools and customers can sit down at the convenience of their own home and learn about products.

•   Easy, available, and ready information about products is now expected.

•   Consumers want all information necessary about products (no more 20 second commercials)

•   Customers can locate the best deals now that products are so accessible on the internet (more competition)

                         

I.           Customers have more control over products through personalization and control

•   Now customers can determine the price of their product (online auction), its transportation, and overall services.

•   Customization

•   Customers now expect to have more of a say in the features their product will have

                         

P3- Social media is currently one of the greatest tools used for marketers in todays industry

I.           Social media not only increases exposure, but increases traffic.

•   85 percent of all marketers indicate that their social media efforts have generated more exposure for their business

•   Gains market intelligence for marketers

•   Develops loyal and returning fans/customers

•   Proven results of greater success of marketers who take time to invest in social media

I.           Social media is a way for marketers to connect with their customers-overall benefiting business as a whole and gaining a target audience

•   Business can now conduct surveys about products or services in order to determine the customer’s needs and wants

•   Access codes and promotions can be conducted through social media and  enhance sales/opportunities for customers- brings in a loyal fan base

•   Faster communication between customers for product information and overall assistance- help forums, questionnaires, etc.

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

Works Cited

"Buying Your Way In: Search Engine Advertising Chart." Search Engine Watch. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.

"ETech 7's Managed IT and Internet Marketing Blog." Why Online Marketing Has Become More Vital than Traditional Marketing. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.

Evans, Dave. Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley, 2008. Print.

"How the Internet Has Changed the Face of Marketing." How the Internet Has Changed the Face of Marketing. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.

"Marketing Communications: Integrating Offline and Online with Social Media [Paperback]." Marketing Communications: Integrating Offline and Online with Social Media: Paul Russell Smith: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.

Stelzner, Michael A. How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses. Rep. N.p.: Social Media Examiner, n.d. Print.

Stelzner, Michael A. How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Usinesses. Rep. N.p., n.d. Web.

"What Is Search Engine Marketing?" Search Engine Marketing vs. Search Engine Optimization. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

New Labels

New Labels