BA 223 Topic 1 and 2

Week 1 Topic 1: About Me

I enrolled in this course to learn to market myself for jobs and to potentially teach business courses at high school.  I have taken a year off from teaching high school math to explore what I want to do as my career for the next 10 years.  I started LBCC last term by taking one accounting course.  I have degrees in statistics and am not interested in a degree, but I am taking accounting technology courses.

I know very little about marketing.  I want to learn how to best market my talents for prospective employers.  I want to learn more about social media.

I am passionate about my children.  We recently became empty-nesters, so I am looking for new hobbies or rediscover old ones.  I enjoy watching live musical theater.  Animated films are a favorite of mine as two of my 3 children are video game artists.  I plan to return to tap dancing after a 4 year hiatus.  I like to swim for exercise.

Week 1 Topic 2: Marketing in the News

"Peeing on this ad may change your life," is the caption at the top of the ad that shows an IKEA crib.  In IKEA’s latest magazine ad campaign in Sweden, the ad has a built-in strip similar to a pregnancy test that pregnant women can pee on and take to the Ikea store to receive a discount on an IKEA crib.  This ad supports IKEA’s value proposition of doing it a different way to create a better everyday life for people, but I’d hate to be the clerk who has to accept the “coupon” for purchasing the crib!  Even though this ad is only in Sweden in the Amelia magazine, it is remarkable as it is being talked about worldwide.

IKEA is a worldwide retailer of ready-to-assemble furniture and home furnishings, founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad in Sweden.  IKEA’s vision is to create a better everyday life for many people.  They offer home furnishings with good design and function at low prices so that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.  

This crib ad is consistent with IKEA’s marketing campaign called “Where Life Happens,” created by Åkestam Holst in Stockholm.  The campaign uses emotional storytelling to show IKEA as part of our everyday lives that include divorce, adoption, raising teenagers, etc.  It was interesting to watch the videos associated with this marketing campaign.  I was surprised to learn that divorce is a taboo for advertisers which is surprising to me since 40-50% of U.S. married couples divorce (American Psychological Association, apa.org).  Upon reflection, I realize that I haven’t seen ads that show divorce.  After divorce, children live in two homes.  In this ad, the father has duplicated his son’s bedroom using the same IKEA products used in his former spouse’s home.  Having been through divorce, I found this ad to be authentic in helping a child transition to this new living situation.