Spending 5 weeks working closely with each member, our team finally finished the project and presented the video on vista. Although this was not my first time having a video project, it was the experience that I would always cherish. Unlike the traditional presentation project in front of the audience, the video assignment actually allowed us to learn more during the production of the clip.

A video project may not be accepted by other subjects, but it is unquestionably a perfect match with marketing. The video project provided much steeper learning curve compared to the traditional PowerPoint presentation project. Based on past experience, conducting a PowerPoint presentation project requires much less original thoughts as a lot of similar materials are available online. The video project, however, required students to do much more tailored researches, including the outdoor shooting, instead of solely searching online. In the last 5 weeks of production, our team had gone through all kinds of related materials, such as lecture notes and text book, in order to present a smooth and informative video to the audience. The academic materials I learned was much more than I could have done in other assignments.

Team work, as it is essential in any kind of project, was critically crucial in assignment 3. Our video could not be done without the effort of every single member. In each meeting, every team member could always voice proactively and provide constructive suggestions on the project. No one in our team was ever alienated or left behind. Not only we were efficient on the assignment, but we were also close like family. I can still recall the day that we worked until late night and cooked dinner together after we finished the project. Creating a friendly environment and harmony could sometimes be vital to success.

In general, our project was considered a huge success. It was not because we would receive the highest mark, but due to the fact that the project brought us together and allowed us to have a deeper understanding of the marketing materials.

Is it getting increasingly more complex to get a job nowadays? Indeed. As Kevin mentioned in his blog, you’d better watch out for each tiny step you take. Every detail of your life is available through the internet. Reading his blog reminded me the things I have written through the social media, and I will be absolutely more cautious from now on.

With today’s well developed technology, it is almost impossible to hide something you have done or said in the past. If someone intends to do some researches on you, he can find dozens of ways to do so. As asserted by Kevin, even though social media helps you expand your network, it also makes your life an open book to anyone who’s interested in you. Many people may concern this negative side of social media as it more or less blocks our path towards our dream careers, but is it really? A lot of people tend to behave differently in an interview from who they really are in the daily lives, and this is the main reason why people perceive it as the dark side of social media. They are trying to hide their true identities from the employers.

However, no matter what kind of situation you are in, hiding is never the solution. As I mentioned in my second blog, the most effective way of branding yourself is to embrace who you are, but not forcing yourself to become someone else. Social media may reveal something you may not want others to see. Then so be it. Everyone has his history. Everyone has done or said bad things, but that does not make you a bad person. We should not be afraid of social media tearing down our career path, but instead, we should accept it as chance to understand ourselves and find jobs that actually fit us. As I mentioned in my second blog, never force yourself to fit the job, but let the job fit you.

Companies nowadays are more and more customer-oriented. Under today’s macroeconomic conditions, associating with the latest technologies can no longer satisfy consumers’ needs. The key factor of succeeding is now how to quickly adapt to the customer buying dynamics. The businesses have shifted from technology-oriented to customer-focused.

Many companies can easily adapt to the new technologies, like smart phones and Internet commerce, but they fail to catch up with the changes in the buying and social behavior of consumers. To fully understand the consumers’ behaviors, one has to have a clear concept of how consumers make decisions. The factors that the article summarized are fairly consistent with the concepts we learned in class. For instance, the Social Proof, Authority, and Liking section in the paragraph are also covered in the text book. Basically every customer’s decision is made based on or is involved with the social factors. The desire for social proof usually influences our decisions of purchasing items, such as outfits and decorations, as we want to be admired and accepted by the crowd around us. Even when we are indecisive on purchasing, we will often turn to the people we know, as known as the reference group, summarized under the Liking section in the article. From time to time, we will make purchases based on the desire of becoming the persons we admire, who are as well part of the reference group. It is claimed that almost 50% of shoppers surveyed admitted to making at least one purchase based on a social media friend recommendation. The Authorities, on the other hand, explains how consumers conduct information searches.

Besides the sections mentioned above, the Reciprocity, Scarcity, and Consistency also explain a certain level of significant consumer behaviors. “Repaying favors”, “less is more”, and “being loyal to certain brands” are three large social habits that influences the consumers’ behaviors. Only companies paying attention to these have a larger chance of surviving in the business world.