Tag Archives: Communication

by | Friday, December 6, 2024 · 7:29 am

Holiday Shopping: Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2024

Are you ready for the holidays? Yes, it’s that time of year again as Black Friday has become a big shopping extravaganza for consumers. It also seems to get longer. This year, Black Friday sales started weeks earlier and the deals continued on for weeks afterward.  

Spending is still leaning more towards online shopping increase. In-store sales saw only a small uptick in visitors and shopping. Online shopping doubled from 2017 (when sales were just over $5 billion).

What did people buy? Well, consumers bought a lot of toys, jewelry, appliances, clothing, and appliances. Some of the most popular toys were Harry Potter LEGO sets, lots of “Wicked” toys and game, Disney Princess toys, and gaming consoles were also big winners.

Some shopping highlights:

  • Total number of shoppers grew by 17 million from 2021 to more than 196.7 million consumers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
  • On Thanksgiving day, consumers spent a record $6.1 billion online, up 9% from last year.
  • Black Friday spending online was $10.8 billion.
  • This amount is up 15% compared to in-stores sales.
  • In-store sales increased less than 1% though.
  • More than half of all online sales on Black Friday were placed on mobile screens.
  • Cyber Monday shopping was more than $13 billion, up 6% from last year.
  • Average consumer spending was $325.44 on holiday-related purchases.

No matter what is happening with the economy, people still like to shop and give gifts. Consumers also like to indulge themselves with an increase in self-care product categories.

What did you buy?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss spending over the Thanksgiving weekend. Show video: https://youtu.be/m7jY0yAq2RY?si=boh64UoWVMMJjJ7o
  2. View National Retail Federation statistics and charts: https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/record-1967-million-consumers-shop-over-thanksgiving-holiday-weekend
  3. Poll students about their shopping over Thanksgiving Week – Cyber Monday.
  4. Where did they spend? How much?
  5. Divide students into teams.
  6. In teams, have students tally how much they spent, which products were sought after, etc. See which teams are the biggest spenders.
  7. Have each team design a holiday sales promotion for a company of their choosing.

Source: Hadero, H., and Grantham-Philips, W. (2 December 2024). Cyber Monday shoppers expected to set a record on the year’s biggest day for online shopping. Associated Press; Moore, J. (30 November 2024). Black Friday shoppers spent a record $10.8 billion online: What did people buy? ABC News; other news sources.

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by | Tuesday, July 23, 2024 · 7:26 am

A Different Type of Phone – The Light Phone III

Want to kick your social media addiction? Then try The Light Phone III with its minimalist design and approach. And when we say ‘minimal’ that’s what we mean. This phone does not have access to social media, the Internet, or email.

If this sounds opposite of other smart phones such as Apple and Google, you are right. Instead of building more technology into a phone, Light is subtracting apps from its phone and packs a lot into a small footprint. It’s about the width of an iPhone, but shorter – like a BlackBerry.

This is the third generation Light Phone which originally started as a Kickstarter campaign; the company has sold more than 100,000 phones to date.

Lest you think the Light Phone is devoid of all usability, it does have maps, music, texting, notes, a calendar, timer, alarm, calculator, and a flashlight. It also has a large OLED display, plus a camera and an NFC chip for future payment tools. What is doesn’t have is pesky social media apps, clickbait news, and Internet browsing. In other words, it’s a ‘non-smartphone’ that gets users back to the basics of communication without a lot of distractions.

Call me.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: How do they use their smartphones?
  2. What could they live without? Would they be interested in a simpler phone?
  3. Show video about The Light Phone: https://youtu.be/RnltPjVK9wk?si=9dVZytMj7x3OvT2h
  4. Show The Light Phone website: https://www.thelightphone.com/
  5. Divide students into teams. Have each team define a target market, including psychographics, demographics, lifestyle, etc.
  6. Have teams identify how to reach this target market.
  7. What promotions should be used?

Source:  Karcz, A. (18 June 2024). Light Phone III challenges what is means to have a smartphone. Forbes; Perez, S. (11 June 2024). Light introduces its latest minimalist phone, now with an OLED screen but still no addictive apps. TechCrunch;  Pierce. D. (11 June 2024). The Light Phone 3 is a little less light – but a lot more useful. The Verge.

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by | Saturday, May 25, 2024 · 10:21 am

Apple’s New iPad Ad – “Crush”

Apple has long been a master of creative advertising videos. Its first Super Bowl commercial aired in 1984 was aptly titled “1984” and illustrated how Apple wanted its users to break free of dogma and routine by having an actor throw a sledgehammer through a screen – analogous to a threat from the “Big Brother” threat in the book “1984”. This in turn led to the “Think Different” campaign and the “Get a Mac” commercials comparing the creative Macs with the corporate PCs.

But now, the newest Apple ad for its latest iPad Pro has met with controversy. The ad shows a mechanical compressor crushing various creative tools, and lifting to show a thinner iPad – intended to support the creative process. But rather than being viewed as supportive of creative folks, it’s been seen as a metaphor for how creative work gets crushed by big technology companies. Ouch.

The timing of the ad is seen as wrong as many people today fear having their work replaced by technologies such as artificial intelligence, robots, and other tech advances. While Apple’s intention was to show how multiple tools can be replaced by its iPad, viewers have not seen it that way.

Sales of iPad dropped 17% last year and Apple is trying to revive demand and increase sales. The iPad tablets account for only 6% of the company’s sales.

Since the ad’s debut, Apple’s head of advertising has apologized to customers and will no longer air the ad on TV. Quite a turnaround.

What do you think?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: What is their general opinion of Apple and its advertising?
  2. Show the current “Crush” ad: https://youtu.be/ntjkwIXWtrc?si=r1O4eehes-qZseR–
  3. What are the students’ reactions?
  4. Show news reactions to the ads: https://youtu.be/cKYaxnx5Vrw?si=dNs60CTWsyJ0cMLs
  5. Divide students into teams.
  6. Have teams research previous Apple ad campaigns online.
  7. Have teams create a storyboard for an alternative new campaign for the iPad Pro.
  8. What are its key messages?

Source: Grantham-Philips, W. (10 May 2024). Critics crush new Apple ad. Associated Press; Kieffer, B. (9 May 2024). After liberating creativity in ‘1984,’ Apple is crushing it, and the Internet hates it. Ad Week; Mickle, T. (8 May 2024). Apple’s new iPad ad leaves its creative audience feeling… flat. New York Times.

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