The Red, White, and Blue is Going Green!
By now everyone who is keeping up with the latest news on the Olympics is sure to know that team USA’s clothing isn’t very American. News broke recently that the clothing was actually manufactured in China. This deeply upset many Americans due to the fact that the textile industry in the United States continues to struggle, and the Olympic clothing line would have been a great boost to the economy and morale. Ralph Lauren, designer of the uniforms, quickly issued a statement late last week saying that the clothing for the opening and closing ceremonies for the next Olympics, the winter games taking place in Sochi, Russia, will indeed be made in the United States. While it might be too little too late to fix the situation in the mind of Americans, Team USA sponsors are looking for every available opportunity to promote the United States in a positive light.
Regardless of the Olympians casual clothing, there is good news when it comes to the athletic uniforms they will be sporting in the 2012 summer games. With recent advances in technology and the growing desire for everything we produce to be environmentally friendly in some way, the athletic gear for Olympians has undergone revolutionary changes since games past. Nike, designer of the athletic uniforms for many countries in the games, is one sponsor that has especially taken this to heart. In order to boost both Team USA and the United States with positive publicity, they have come up with extremely innovative ways to make sure that the uniforms worn during the games are environmentally friendly in order to distinguish us essentially as our own brand.
Among some of the cool new features Nike has planned for the Olympic athletes is a ground-breaking cleat that promises to deliver lightweight performance and high-speed control for soccer players in game situations. The Nike GS (short for Green Speed) is what Nike is calling its lightest, fastest, and greenest cleat ever. Every single element of the shoe was purposefully designed to reduce weight and waste, making it the lightest shoe Nike has ever created; only 160 grams for a size nine. The shoe features mostly recycled and renewable materials. For example, the sock lining is made of 100% recycled castor beans. “When you can deliver a boot that combines high end performance and a low environmental footprint that’s a winning proposition for players and planet” said Andy Caine, global design director for Nike Soccer. You’ll be able to catch a glimpse of these amazing cleats in action during the Olympics when they will be worn by Nike sponsored athletes from around the world.
The soccer pitch isn’t the only place you’ll be able to spot state-of-the-art equipment however. The United States Men’s basketball team will be wearing uniforms that were specially crafted by Nike to be some of the most revolutionary basketball uniforms ever. Each white jersey is made with 96% recycled polyester and an average of 22 recycled bottles, making it 58% lighter than the basketball uniforms worn in the Beijing Olympics and the lightest national team uniform ever. The difference in weight from past uniforms adds up to roughly a full can of soda! According to Nike, the shoes for the basketball players will also be innovative, being equipped with special new features. The shoes will feature sensors that can measure how high the players jump and transmit the results right to the player’s smart phone. Nike also designed FuelBand, a bracelet designed for all Olympians that measures their different daily activities, including how many steps they take to how many calories they burn each day. It will be interesting to see if all of this new and improved gear will help our Olympians perform better.
While the above mentioned efforts by Nike prove to be extremely fascinating and fun to learn about, it’s easy to forget that the Olympics are not just about finding ways to ensure that our athletes perform better than those from other countries. As one of the biggest events in the world, each country essentially becomes a brand of its own and how they promote it is entirely up to them. Our own country’s image in the Olympics comes down to much more than the clothes and uniforms. Supporting Team USA is about national pride and what we as a country believe is important. By incorporating eco-friendly and technologically advanced themes in many aspects of this year’s games we are showing the rest of the world that being sustainable and green is something that is important to us and is a value that we stand behind collectively as a country. It gives viewers around the world a more personal look into what it means to be American and in turn will make it easier for them to relate to our country as a brand. Environmental enthusiasts and Olympic fans everywhere are sure to agree that green looks good, but that the meaning behind it is what's most important.
Contributed by Nicole Juliano
The Future of Shopping: Coming Soon to a Store Near You
What would your ideal features be in a personal shopping assistant? Would smart, mobile, and informative be at the top of your list? Then you’re in luck, because last week IBM Research announced its plans to release a new mobile shopping application. It is currently being developed by research scientists at IBM’s lab in Haifa, Israel and plans on changing the way we shop in stores. The new mobile app will give consumers the same type of information they search for online when researching or comparing products but instead it will be delivered on their mobile devices while they shop inside stores.
Picture yourself standing in the cereal aisle of your local grocery store. You can’t quite decide which box of cereal to buy, but you know that you’re looking for something that is low in sugar, on sale, and has good reviews. This could be overwhelming, right? That is where IBM’s innovative shopping app will come in handy. Shoppers will be able to pull out their smart phone or tablets and use the camera to pan over products on the shelf, and the application will instantly display certain products based on shopper’s specific criteria. Upon downloading the app users will be able to create a profile of preferences that are important to them in potential products, including just about anything from price, quality, sodium content, biodegradable packaging, reviews, discounts, ingredients they wish to avoid, among many others. The app will then sort and recommend products based on the users profile. Consumers who download the app will also be able to opt-in to include information from their social networks, such as reviews or comments written by their friends about potential products.
To develop this new technology, IBM selected a team of research scientists with image processing expertise. The team developed algorithms to combine techniques used in facial recognition, color and shape matching, and associations with surrounding products for use in the app. Researchers are also taking into account the device’s camera angle and distance from a shelf when being used to help distinguish between products successfully. The research scientists even went so far as to create a mock supermarket in order to recognize various approaches and challenges involved when users go to use the app, including overcoming issues such as lighting, shadows, and reflections.
IBM Research also believes that the app will help retailers with their marketing strategy by giving them insight into consumer trends and what consumers are actively searching for on their trips in their stores. This in turn would allow retailers to offer shoppers product information, coupons, and suggested products that would be welcome by customers and keep them returning to their store. The application could also assist in helping retailers keep tabs on what is or isn’t on their shelves, organize their stores more efficiently, and manage what is on sale. The app is win-win for IBM who is hoping to strengthen their relationship with retailers.
"The idea of standing in an aisle in the supermarket and having your mobile device point out the gluten-free cookies you need can be a real time saver. This has the potential to completely change the shopping experience from one of hunting, reading, and searching to simply picking up those products you prefer." said Amnon Ribak, project leader for the application. IBM’s goal is to release the application by the end of this year. Until then you’ll just have to settle for shopping the old-fashioned way.
Contributed by Nicole Juliano
Be a Light to the Village
For our December Helping Hands event, AW chose to sponsor the Christmas Village Toy Store at the request of one of our visual designers. It is a suggestion that many AW employees embraced, as the excitement of children at Christmas far outweighs our own as adults.
The inspiration came in 2006 for The Christmas Village Toy Store, a collaborative effort among several area churches that is designed to empower and develop at-risk urban communities in Charlotte. The store itself preserves and promotes joy and dignity at Christmas by engaging a free market system, allowing shoppers to pay a discounted price for desired items rather than be forced to accept “charity.”
Both those who donate toys or volunteer their time and shoppers who purchase toys contribute to store profits that are reinvested into the local community through educational grants and scholarships. Because of this, even the shoppers at the Toy Store are “paying it forward” into their own communities.
Addison Whitney was able to donate several boxes and bags full of toys for children ranging in age from infant to teenager. There were dolls, mp3 players, blocks, books, bath accessories and much more. In addition to donating toys, several employees, along with their friends or spouses, volunteered their time to helping the Toy Store prepare and run the shopping events. We were represented as toy pricers and parking lot attendants.
We would like to say thank you to Warehouse 242 and the other Charlotte-area churches who are part of the Christmas Village Toy Store for allowing us the opportunity to give to such an amazing organization. We look forward to being part of the initiative in the future, whether as individuals or as a company.
A Fresh Start
Sarah is a Charlotte-area junior who has been a Girl Scout for ten years.
She is now in the final stage of earning her Gold Award.
Much like the Eagle Award is to the Boy Scouts of America, the Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA. Only about 5% of eligible Scouts successfully earn the prestigious award. The Scout must complete 30 hours of leadership work, 40 hours of career exploration, and the 4Bs Challenge during which the scout identifies key needs in her community. After those steps have been taken, she must complete a service project. This service project must extend beyond GSUSA and provide a lasting benefit. It requires a minimum of 65 hours of work.
Sarah says that the homelessness crisis in Charlotte has been a passion of hers for many years, primarily due to her mother’s involvement with the Urban Ministry Center for almost half of Sarah’s life. Because of this, it was an easy decision for Sarah to determine her Gold Award project, as she has grown up working with homeless people.
For her project, called “A Fresh Start,” she is compiling 85 laundry baskets full of basic household items, including dish detergent, washcloths, hangers and sponges, to be donated to the upcoming residents of Charlotte’s newly constructed Moore Place, a housing facility built by the Urban Ministry Center. Moore Place will be Charlotte’s first permanent supportive home built to give a roof to chronically homeless men and women. Sarah’s aim is to provide these baskets as a house warming gift and starter pack.
As a Helping Hands event for November, Addison Whitney collected enough goods to fill two laundry baskets with the household items. These items will benefit two new residents of Moore Place and will make a dramatic impact in getting these new residents settled in their new homes.
Sarah plans to help the residents move in and hopes to continue working with them long after their first bottle of laundry detergent runs out.
If you’d like to put together a basket for Sarah’s project, please visit her website.
You can read more about Moore Place here.
What's with April 15th?
Today marks the one blemish in April’s usually blooming record: Tax Return Day. Eh, well, April is also the beginning of tornado season, but I digress. A post office’s nightmare and a CPA’s dream, tax season gives a whole new light to mathematics and itemization. People find themselves scrambling through old shoeboxes for missing receipts and trying to mentally calculate volunteer work and “charitable” donations they can claim in hopes of squeezing every penny out of their return.
But why April 15th? Who chose this day to make people sweat an audit and pile themselves in papers? So I decided to dig around a little bit, and by a little bit, I went straight to Wikipedia. C’mon, everyone uses it, but no one wants to admit to.
According to the highly distinguished website, Congress was the one to put “tax day” on the calendar. When we, “America”, ratified the 16th Amendment in 1913, which allowed Congress to institute an income tax, they chose March 1st of the following year as the deadline for filing returns. However, with the Revenue Act of 1918, which I probably need to pick up a text book to see what that was about, they up and moved the date to March 15th. It wasn’t until 1955 though, that Congress finally settled on the April 15th deadline. I think it was because April is prettier, but apparently it was to spread out the workload for the IRS. It’s also rumored that the growing middle class was filing more and more returns and the government wanted a little more time to hold on to the money. Sneaky.
Although fulfilled with this great public encyclopedia knowledge about something that I still get my dad to do for me every year (yes, I’m 25), I also don’t want to spread lies. Therefore, I decided I needed to verify this information. After some intense Google searching, I stumbled across an article on CNN from April 15, 2002, which basically laid out the same information verbatim. And everyone trusts CNN.
So there you have it. That’s why April 15th is, well the day it is. So put the remote down, turn your laptop on and get to filling.
Contributed by: Keri Lynch
A New aloft Hotel
Charlotte locals may have noticed a new building perched atop Ballantyne Corporate Place. aloft (always spelled with a lowercase a) is a mid-size business boutique hotel created by Starwood Hotels & Resorts that promises swanky accommodations, high-tech conveniences, and a vibrant social atmosphere at affordable nightly rates.
The Charlotte location is just one of nearly 40 openings planned for the end of this year. The chain even has a presence in the virtual world, opening a 'Second Life' location in 2008.
So what's so special about another hotel populating the crowded Ballantyne skyline? While any brand expanding so rapidly during a recession deserves a closer look, aloft is particularly intriguing because it is employing several brand strategies to capture the hearts and wallets of today's savvy travelers.
First, the aloft brand has been introduced as 'a vision of W Hotels'. The high-end W chain, of course, is known for its urban-inspired luxury and social atmosphere. In using W as an endorsement rather than as part of the brand itself, aloft can borrow some of the equity of its upscale relative without tying itself so closely to the brand that it can't eventually stand on its own. This also protects the W brand from the need to compete with aloft's competitive pricing. The endorsement serves its purpose as a simple and immediate way to reassure new customers that the accommodations will be, as the website suggests, 'style at a steal.'
Additionally, aloft hotels have chosen to brand several of their amenities. Each establishment features a W XYZ® bar, a Re:charge® fitness center, and a Re:fuel® food and beverage area. These individual brands within the establishment not only serve to accommodate customers, but have the potential to gain their own equity at each location. Customers can rely on a consistent experience every time. By building strong amenity brands within the hotel, aloft is using every angle of the customer experience to drive loyalty and ultimately, repeat business.
Last, but certainly not least, the aloft name itself deserves credit, as it retains a high end tone while still coming across as approachable and attainable. In part inspired by the loft-like 9 foot ceilings found in each room, the name also alludes to the hotel being a step-above-the-rest at this price point.
It will be interesting to watch hotels over the next several months to see if other chains attempt to recreate what Starwood has done with aloft. From a brand perspective, they seem to be doing everything right. Combining that with competitive pricing and product that is relevant for this generation's weary travelers may be what helps aloft excel through a tough economic time.
Contributed by: Maghan Cook
Lowe's Says 'No'
Last year, the Concord, NC street that takes hundreds of thousands of racing fans to Lowe's Motor speedway was re-named Bruton C. Smith Boulevard in honor of the Speedway Motorsports Inc. owner. Next year, the track itself will undergo a name change as well. On Thursday, Lowe's announced that it will not renew its naming rights for the Concord speedway.
Lowe's brokered exclusive naming rights with SMI in 1999, making Lowe's Motor speedway the first major naming-rights deal of a NASCAR track. The partnership has been viewed by many as a success, as the fairly young Lowe's brand has enjoyed exposure to millions of NASCAR fans for nearly a decade. But, but as priorities and budgets shift to survive in the recession, so too will the marketing resources of the company.
According to a NASCAR press release, SMI owner Bruton Smith expects the track to work to find a new title sponsor. If a new sponsor can't be found, the track's name will revert to Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Of course, this is not the only corporate sponsorship to dissolve within the past year. Professional sports across the board are having more trouble holding on to their lucrative deals with companies, specifically those in the financial and automobile industry. With this decline, yet another reflection of a downturned economy, might we see the pendulum swing back to a world of stadiums and fields without corporate monikers?
If so, which sports venues would you like to see returned to their original names?
Contributed by: Maghan Cook
Forget the Whales, Save Saturn
Do you remember your first car? I’m sure you remember when you first got it—how liberating it felt to hold the keys to your very own car. My first car arrived as a Christmas present from my generous grandparents. It was the perfect car. Shiny, clean, fast, fun.
It was a 1996 Saturn, and man, it was cool. My friends drove around in brand new 2002 VW’s, Jeeps, and Hondas. But 1996 was a great year for car manufacturers, and my car was better. The windows had to be rolled up manually, this is how major league baseball players used to build arm strength, before steroids. The stereo system sported a state of the art cassette deck. But best of all—it had a rubber bumper. Okay, maybe it was plastic, but if functioned like rubber. I could back into anything from a tree to a public library and just bounce right off. Perfect for new drivers.
Saturn built a brand around experiences like mine. Launched in the late 1980’s by General Motors, Saturn quickly became positioned as a family friendly brand. Their smaller, affordable, comfortable and safe models suited customers of all ages. New car buyers chose Saturn vehicles not only for the car, but for the Saturn experience. The Saturn sales staff quickly became your new family friend, concerned not only about your financial limitations but about your safety, your life, your children, your family. Saturn also cares about the bigger picture. Community involvement is a Saturn standard, they participate not only in sponsoring national causes but also make an effort to contribute to each local community that hosts a dealership.
As General Motors recently filed for bankruptcy protection, executives announced that they have a plan in motion for the company to quickly rebound and maybe even one day turn a profit again. Hummer was sold. Pontiac may dissolve. The future of the Saturn brand has yet to be set in stone. If it is sold, how would it be integrated into a new brand, and would the new ownership change Saturn’s core values, personality and voice? A possible sale to Penske Automotive Group is in the works, some say the pending sale could change the face of the way cars are manufactured and sold in the US. There are rumors of Penske shopping for a foreign manufacturer.
General Motors is proceeding with caution, as they should. The disappearance or tarnish of the Saturn brand would truly be a shame, and not just to Saturn owners. Saturn is an icon for the American family, and a model to branders everywhere for how to build a brand that embodies its core values in every internal and external communication outlet available.
Now, only time will tell what will happen to the Saturn brand. In the mean time, I hope whoever ended up with my old ’96 Saturn is taking care of my favorite car. And anytime they want to trade, I would be glad to have it back.
Contributed by Laine Beyerl
Dating? Try "Going Dutch"
Inspired by a recent discussion on the NYTimes about Dating in a recession I was curious to find out the origins of the term "Going Dutch".
Definition: When every participant in a shared activity pays his or her own way.
Etymology: First of all it appears that Dutch etiquette has always promoted the act of paying separately when going out in groups. However, during the Anglo-Dutch wars in the 17th and 18th centuries (4 in total) the rivalry inspired the English to concoct many phrases referencing the Dutch in a negative manner, "going dutch" being one of them. Other phrases include:Read more
Ballantyne Turnaround
Remember the phrase, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it?”
Not anymore. Just yards away from our Charlotte location you can find yet another example of business responding to Americans' new appreciation of frugality.
The Ballantyne Resort (owned by Bissell Family of Companies, which developed our Charlotte home, the Ballantyne Corporate Park) has changed its name to The Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge. The transition has been taking place over the past two months.
For those not familiar with the area, the Ballantyne neighborhood has become a who's who of Charlotte's corporate and social elite, and the Resort is one of the best places to meet, golf, and stay in the area.
According to an article in the Charlotte Observer, “The luxury meeting place and golf course has officially changed its name to The Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge after hearing from corporate customers who said the term “resort” carried too much of a high-dollar stigma in today's economic and political climate.”
And who can blame them? After public and congressional backlash from recent corporate retreat /Read more