Discussion 1: IKEA and Sustainable Supply Chain Management
Companies such as IKEA are taking the lead in developing a sustainable supply chain. Watch the video, Let's Go All-In on Selling Sustainability, then read both the content on the home page of the Sustainable Supply Chain Foundation and the Business Week article, IKEA's Challenge to the Wooden Shipping Pallet on one IKEA sustainable supply chain initiative, and then in your discussion post, explain the importance of developing a sustainable supply chain. In addition, describe three initiatives that IKEA is doing to make its supply chain sustainable.
Discussion 2
Case Study: Consultant to Cases for Social Media
Building on our previous course content, the required readings, and articles provided on the Facebook page, you will now apply your knowledge to the business side of social media in the form of social media marketing. Read Section of Case Studies (POSTED BELOW) and select one of the cases for use in this discussion.
Imagine that you are a new social media marketing consultant and have agreed to help your case-study client with their social media marketing needs. Review the case descriptions for details to address in your discussion post. You may need further information to better address the needs of your client. You might ask your DA "Social media marketing for bloggers" or "Social media marketing for local businesses" to retrieve further support depending on which case study you choose. When you have the resources to represent your client well, complete your initial discussion post.
Present this initial discussion post as though it were a proposal document to your client. Maintain a professional tone without being overly formal in your presentation.
• Briefly describe the client you are representing in this case study and their goals for social media marketing.
• Describe the recommendations you are making for your client to achieve their goals.
o Post your action step recommendations in the order you would implement them.
o Be explicit about the reasons for recommending these action steps. Tie the action steps in to the details of the case study so the recommendations are personalized for this client and not just general recommendations.
o Be sure to include relevant psychological principles to the social media marketing action steps. You want to demonstrate your background in psychology as a basis for your recommendations.
o Include in-text citations to your supportive research to demonstrate that your recommendations are not just your opinions but have scholarly or reliable Web-based support for use by your client. Refer to the APA Example Sheet or APA Style and Format (linked in Resources) if necessary.
CASE STUDY
SAM
Sam is a 28 year old male who is employed as a blue-collar worker in the construction industry. Sam attended some college but never completed his liberal arts education. He has always been intrigued with writing fiction and would like to pursue his writing through social media. He wants to start off small because he has limited financial resources, and wants to take incremental steps in the use of social media. He is very much a one-step-at-a-time kind of guy. His long-range goal is to have a strong following on social media so when he ultimately publishes his books, he will have the beginning of a market for his works and be able to ask some of his followers to write book reviews to promote his work.
SALLY
Sally is a 35 year old female who works as a licensed paralegal in a large law firm in Ontario, Canada. She enjoys her profession but after working at her current position for 7 years she is ready to move out on her own. She cannot afford to leave the law firm yet so her entrepreneurial activities will have to be done in her spare time. Her plan is to educate the social media public about the many services that licensed paralegals can perform in Ontario and provide some basic advice to a general audience. As she builds her following on social media, she would then do some private consultations for fees to begin her revenue stream. She also has a desire to write a popular non-fiction book on how licensed paralegals can help those who do not require the services of an attorney. Because most paralegals in the U.S. and Canada cannot work independently of an attorney, her market is limited to Ontario.
DOMINIC
Dominic owns a local pizza shop located in a large city and does well with people who live nearby. Dominic is ambitious and would like to build a much larger clientele. He has tried some simple forms of marketing with flyers and ads in the local newspaper, but those efforts have not been very successful. He is now ready to try social media marketing but besides having a Facebook account for personal use, he knows little about SMM. He is a quick learner and is open to anything that may help, but he does not have a large budget for his SMM efforts. His writing skills are limited to creating menus and basic flyers. He wants to distinguish his pizzeria not only for the quality food he prepares, but also as a business that is progressive enough to include SMM.
DOMINIQUE
Dominique works as a teller in a local bank in a small town. She enjoys the work but longs to pursue her love of cosmetology, especially doing women's fingernails. She maintains her own nails in a clean professional manner for work, but hungers to help others develop their nails into something exceptional and very attractive. To Dominique, doing nails is pure artistry, and she would love to develop her interest into a part-time consultation or practice. Living in a small town, she knows she will need to do some form of SMM that extends her professional reach well beyond the city limits. At this point she cannot envision anything beyond a part-time venture, but she has a little cash reserve to enhance her computer hardware and software to begin to create a social media presence.
WALTER
Walter owns a well-established hardware store that has been in the family for many years. He now finds himself competing with major hardware stores in adjoining cities and competition from the Internet. He has heard a lot of talk about social media marketing but knows very little about this specialized form of marketing. He can provide a decent budget for hardware, software, and even hire someone to manage the social media marketing efforts on a part-time basis. First he would like consultation to inform him about his SMM options and realistic expectations from those efforts. If a viable plan is presented, he would then make the investment to fund the effort and maintain ongoing consultation for guidance.
Discussion 3: Neuromarketing in Social Media
Consumer neuroscience, or neuromarketing, is a new field that attempts to better understand the role of the brain in consumer decision-making and how advertising and marketing strategies affect the brain. Neuromarketing principles are increasingly being applied to social media as businesses migrate their advertising and marketing strategies to social media platforms. This field combines psychology, neuroscience, and economics to increase the effectiveness of marketing efforts.
Researchers in neuromarketing study such things as the importance of facial cues in gaining viewer attention, enabling viewers to "feel" an experience or tap into their memories to make an emotional connection to further engage them, keeping the message simple and concrete, and providing giveaways to engage the reciprocity effect: the social rule that we give back in some way when we have received from another (such as "like" for "like," follow for follow).
After completing your required unit readings and articles on the course Facebook page, you may want to ask your DA "Neuromarketing in social media" for the latest articles available on this topic.
In your initial discussion post in the courseroom:
• Describe three important neuromarketing principles that are commonly employed in social media marketing. Include APA-formatted citations to your supporting evidence from course readings and other reliable sources.
• Provide examples from social media that demonstrate the application of these principles. Provide hyperlinks so your peers can easily click the link to view the examples you are describing.
• Discuss a personal experience you had while using social media that demonstrates the use of neuromarketing principles. How were you affected by the neuromarketing efforts?
Discussion 4:
Identify a toy that is appropriate for this age group and share a picture or link.
o How does this toy help a child's development?
o Can you share a situation where you have observed this?
o What theory explains how this toy helps a child's development?
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.