Culture

    From scrolling down your twitter feed to a stroll through the mall, it’s easy to see that this year’s Pride is in full swing. The month-long LGBT+ celebration is a beautiful conglomeration of activism, history, parties, and even marketing? Brands promoting gay pride publicly was unheard 50 years ago (Which is when the historic Stonewall Riots occurred, leading the way for the modern gay pride movement.) However, now in our more socially-minded society, consumers care a lot more how a large brand impacts the world and it’s culture.  With an increase in brands riding the inclusivity wave, it calls into question, does featuring and celebrating LGBT+ Pride positively or negatively impact consumer demand?

    Inclusivity Marketing is creating content that truly reflects the diverse communities that your company serves.  We have seen this in various movements from the #bodypositivity movement to #aeriereal campaign. Which shows models of all shapes and sizes flourishing in underwear ads. Brands are realizing marketing to every kind of person may be the way to attract new customers. Creating campaigns that showcase real people not just photoshopped models. Which allows more marginalized groups a chance to really connect with that brand, creating brand loyalty. An even simpler reason, is  targeting a wider range of people equates to plainly, more eyes on your products. This more inclusive marketing trend combined with the Pride celebration’s continued growth. Means the month of June is the perfect showcase for large-scale inclusivity marketing. A mix of companies using their platform for good and some wanting to make money off of marginalized groups leaves a mixed-bag of interesting campaigns that are worth analyzing. 

2019 Pride Content Examples

1. Adidas – Released a Pride collection entitled “Pride pack”.  Though not tied to product sales, Adidas will be supporting The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for the youth of the community.

2. Absolut Vodka  – Using a myriad of LGBT+ influencers, Absolut Vodka  is kicking off a campaign with multiple channels, including commercials, branded events during Pride weekend, and in addition to bringing back its iconic rainbow bottle, Absolut has launched a multi-year partnership supporting GLAAD’s work accelerating acceptance for the LGBT community.

3. Victoria Secret- Their brand Pink, tweeted their support for Pride month where they state that they will donate 100K to a LGBTQ+ Organization, the brand is still facing scrutiny over anti-trans comments made earlier this year.
4. Gap –  Launched its “Love all ways” campaign highlighting what family means today and will donate 15% of proceeds to the U.N. Free and Equal Foundation.

5. American Express – Is celebrating Pride with a performance by Singer Lizzo. All proceeds will go to the Stonewall Community Foundation, an organization that bears part of its historic name to honor the 1969 uprising that started in New York and the spirit of freedom, resilience, and resolve that abides today. American Express is also displaying an array of Pride-themed ads over New York with messages of Pride and acceptance. 

These are just some of the examples of what companies do during the month of June. What Makes them successful or scrutinized all depends on context. 

How These Campaigns Were Received

    Campaigns run by Absolut Vodka, Gap, and American Express have three things in common, that made their Pride campaigns successful. First, their brands support the LGBT+ Community throughout the year, not just in June. They do this with continued donations (American Express) and inclusive marketing (Gap and Absolut Vodka). Two, they specifically call out where they are donating their money, instead of just vaguely stating they are supporting the community. This makes the campaign seem more genuine. Lastly the pride/rainbow items they are selling are completely or in-part not for profit. The transparency demonstrated by these brands isn’t just a new fad. 

    Regan Clarke, Brand Director of Absolut Vodka, USA knows exactly where his brand belongs in all of this and is proud of it. Stating “Supporting the LGBTQ community back in 1981 was a risky decision for mainstream brands, when taking a stand for equality meant going against conventional culture.” Absolut’s 30+ year commitment to Pride is a great example of how inclusive marketing, can work and has worked. Demonstrating how powerful, socially aware marketing really can be when trying to further your brands position and satisfy younger consumers. These brands are creating an image for themselves as a positive presence in the world. Brand directors  like Regan Clarke, show how putting time and effort into a pride campaign can really yield positive returns. 

    On the opposite spectrum is Victoria Secret. Earlier this year they had a major scandal involving their CMO Ed Razek. When he claimed transgender people don’t belong in the “coveted” Victoria Secret fashion show, because they don’t represent fantasy. “Dear Victoria’s Secret, you said trans women can’t sell the “fantasy” so here I am as a TRANS WOMAN selling the FANTASY! ماهي لعبة الروليت ” wrote trans makeup mogul, Nikita Dragun on her Twitter account in the weeks following the 2018 fashion show disaster. Fans were quick to bring Dragun’s tweet up again when Victoria’s Secret attempted to voice support for the LGBTQ+ community during pride month (The Tweet above). Showing how consumers are quick to call out inconsistency and injustice within a brand. The brand has not fully recovered from Ed Razek’s comments. كيف تلعب القمار This tweet sent out for Pride makes the company look even more out of touch. Only helping in bringing up past scandals and driving even more consumers away.

    Adidas similarly has a bad reputation when it comes to supporting the LGBT+ community year round. The company is a huge sponsor for the Olympics, which took place in Russia in 2014. قواعد لعب البوكر Russia’s anti-gay policies are well documented and many LGBT+ Individuals from all over the world run the risk of these harsh policies by traveling to and participating in the games. Many consumers called them out, saying the company is not truly LGBT+ supportive when they are helping fund the Olympics in such a dangerous place for the community. Many calling their  “Pride Pack” a cash grab because of LGBT+ consumers’ desire for rainbow everything during Pride. The “Pride Pack” seems disingenuous because the money made from, those shoes specifically, all goes into Adidas’ pocket.

    The donations they are giving to the Trevor foundation are appreciated and valid, but many consumers seem to be unhappy with the broad claims of supporting the Trevor Project because isn’t being transparent about the actual amount or percentage of product sales that they are donating. Vox writer Alex Abad-Santos summarizes what Adidas is doing perfectly stating that “Brands promoting gay pride and the LGBTQ community may not always be consistent in actually supporting the LGBTQ community, but they still capitalize on the help that people want to give that community.” With their continued support of an event that isn’t LGBT+ friendly like the 2020 Olympics consumers are smart enough to realize that this brand doesn’t really have the LGBT+ communities best interest at heart year-round, only when it might seem convenient. 

Is Marketing During Pride Worth The Risk?

    A good Pride campaign can break boundaries, start meaningful conversations and position your brand favorably with a growing audience. On the flip-side, brands whose campaigns seem like lazy cash grabs will dig their company into a very big hole both on social media and with the general public mindset. Consumers are savvier than they have ever been and can tell when a brand is being genuine in their marketing.  Companies like Gap and American Express clearly state where the money raised from their Pride campaigns is going and it is that transparency that draws in the modern consumer. In today’s age consumers vote with their dollars, many choose not to support brands that don’t align with their views. It’s up to brands to decide where they will fall politically and socially because it might affect their bottom line. 

Help For Our Heroes

Darren Seys with Commander Ryan Ley

Darren Seys, founder, and CEO of Peak Seven was quoted in the Miami Herald’s article There’s still lots of time to help others for Thanksgiving, this week. As a board member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization South Florida (EO), Darren indicated that troops in their early 20s needed guidance on “starting a business, joining a company or just integrating back into the civilian community,” and that EO was going to give these troops any mentoring they needed to get readjusted to civilian life.

“One of EO’s core values is to ‘Make a Mark’ like serving our community,” Seys said. “It’s extra special to do this for these young South Florida men and women who bravely serve our country in the air and on the ground. بينجو اون لاين ”

Thank you to the Miami Herald for writing such an uplifting and thoughtful article. We hope Darren’s words helped to inspire some more good acts in our community this holiday season. كيف تفوز في روليت You can find their interview with Darren in the second section of the article. رهان الخيل

To read the full Miami Herald article, click here.

To learn more about EO, click here.

Today, The Federal Communications Commision, led by Chairman Ajit Pai, decided to remove Obama-era consumer protections and regulations on the internet.  You may have heard on the news in recent months that Net Neutrality was going to be repealed. مواقع رهان Let’s discuss what exactly Net Neutrality was, what it did, and what it going away means for you and your business’ website.

What is (was) Net Neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the basic principle that prohibits internet service providers like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from speeding up, slowing down or blocking any content, applications or websites you want to use.

In 2015, millions of activists pressured the Federal Communications Commission to adopt historic Net Neutrality rules that keep the internet free and open — allowing people to share and access information of their choosing without interference.

These rules were put in place in late 2015 as a way to prevent the internet companies from slowing down or blocking access to sites that can’t pay them a fee. As a response to consumers “cutting the cord” and getting access to content like Netflix rather than through cable, ISPs were losing billions.

So now with Net Neutrality knocking on Death’s door, all of the internet providers now have the power to charge the consumer AND the websites more money to access the necessary websites they need for work and entertainment. Those that do not comply, might be lost on the web unable to access those sites without paying massive fees and charges.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

Let’s say you are selling a product and that product needs to be advertised online. شرح 1xbet Your options are fairly limitless right now, you can run pre-roll ads on YouTube, banner ads on Facebook or search ads on Google. Without Net Neutrality, the access that consumers have to view those websites might be severely impacted and thus lower the eyes on your ads.

If you run a website for your business, Comcast might send you a letter saying that you are going to be charged to keep your website on the “preferred” internet package, otherwise it will be blocked. You get the same letter from Verizon, AT&T etc… Eventually it becomes too much of a hassle to run your website because it costs more to operate than you get in return from online purchases and enquiries.

It’s thanks to Net Neutrality that small businesses and entrepreneurs have been able to thrive online. سباق الحصان Without Net Neutrality, internet companies will exploit their gatekeeper position and destroy the internet’s fair and level playing field.

Now What?

The future of Net Neutrality now falls on the hands of Congress and the courts, make sure your voice is heard:

• https://act.freepress.net/sign/internet_fcc_overturn_rod/
• https://www.battleforthenet.com/breaktheinternet/
• https://act.eff.org/action/congress-don-t-sell-the-internet-out

In our first installment, you got a peek of sleep’s benefits to boost creativity. Check out how sleep can help you with your next successful campaign and creative!

Log Happy Hours: Sleep makes us happier people

Although not a direct creativity booster, a boost in happiness levels generally makes people more creative in that it motivates creative self-expression. And as it turns out, you needn’t look further from your pillow to find the silver bullet, or happy pill, of happiness. The effect of sleep on happiness is even greater than that of money!

In The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working: The Four Forgotten Needs that Energize Great Performance, President and CEO of The Energy Project, Tony Schwartz, dedicates an entire chapter to the importance of sleep and happiness. One of the studies the book highlights, done at the University of Michigan, found that sleep had a more significant effect on a person’s state of mind than earning more money. Yet another study published in the professional journal Science supported this finding. betfinal عربي The Science study’s authors concluded, “Large increases of real income in the developed world over the past 50 years have yielded no change in reported life satisfaction. [On the other hand,] differences in reported sleep quality are associated with a very large difference in reported enjoyment.”

More than Just a Rat in a Cage: Sleep and memory

Did you know that lab mice dream about mazes? You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this? (Pun intended.) Well, it turns out that only after a good night’s sleep can lab mice actually figure out how to get around obstacles in a maze. It turns out it’s the same with people. I guess the Smashing Pumpkins were right after all…about the “rat in a cage” part. العاب وجوائز مالية حقيقية But save the angst, this is good news – sleep improves memory and learning.

Author Tony Schwartz notes that learning actually takes place during sleep. He notes, “Although the acquisition of knowledge occurs only during waking life, there is evidence that we process, consolidate and stabilize memory during sleep…[During sleep,] we appear to process and consolidate fact-based information, such as a new language or the capital of a state.”

If you don’t think memory is important in creativity, just consider that, as noted by author Vera John-Steiner in her book Notebooks of the Mind Explorations of Thinking, some of history’s best-known creatives such as Mozart, claimed to turn to memory to create their many Magnum opi. Mozart called his muse his “bag of memories” – a collection of experiences from which he gleaned inspiration for his musical pieces. Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman equaled the creative flow state to “plunging into the deepest roots down into the world of childhood memories.”

In fact, John-Steiner emphasizes the importance of sleep in helping creatives craft ideas from seemingly unrelated things, what she calls combinatorial creativity. She writes (quite creatively, by the way):

Among the invisible tools of creative individuals is their ability to hold on to the specific texture of their past. Their skill is akin to that of a rural family who lives through the winter on food stored in their root cellar… The creative use of one’s past, however, requires a memory that is both powerful and selective.

 Don’t be 40% Less Smart: Sleep helps us learn better

In the creative field, we are constantly learning what works, and what doesn’t, and staying abreast of the latest trends in marketing and branding to create more effective campaigns. Whether you’re learning from the past, learning from your mistakes or learning from the pros, if you’d just learn to turn in earlier for some z’s, you’d be a whole lot smarter.

According to the National Institute of Health, sleep is key to boosting our smarts. لعبة سباق الخيل Dr. Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, says, “We’ve learned that sleep before learning not only helps you prepare your brain for initial formation of memories, but that sleep is essential to help save and cement that new information into the architecture of the brain, meaning that you’re less likely to forget it.”

Dr. Walker explains, “While you snooze, your brain cycles through different phases of sleep, including light sleep, deep sleep, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when dreaming often occurs. The cycles repeat about every 90 minutes. The non-REM stages of sleep seem to prime the brain for good learning the next day. If you haven’t slept, your ability to learn new things could drop by up to 40%.”

It may seem counterintuitive in a culture that’s driven by coffee-fueled long hours to suggest logging in some downtime, but as we’ve learned, sleep isn’t downtime. It’s when we get smarter, happier, and more creative. So next time you’re struck by writer’s block, artist block, or whatever you choose to call your creativity drought, spend some time under the sheets. Your clients will thank you for it!

Many people spend more time in their office than their living room. Whether you work in a cubicle or at a spacious home office, you can design your workspace so that it encourages productivity and peace of mind.

Here at Peak Seven, we’ve just renovated our offices to increase the flow of ideas and create a more appealing environment. We’ve knocked a hole to connect our two offices into one, so that everyone can share the same brain space. We’re also adding a foosball table for a little fun and levity – taking breaks now and then is an essential component of progress.

You can also use the art of design to enhance your creative flow. It’s not necessary to spend a fortune on a major overhaul; just a few small changes can really make a difference.

1. Use color correctly. Certain colors influence people universally – just think of the woman in the red dress. العب وربح Color psychologists have determined that blue stimulates the brain, red affects your body, yellow makes you more creative, and green has a calming effect. The intensity of the hue also matters: pastels are more relaxing, while bright tones are stimulating. Painting your entire office neon yellow is probably not the best idea to stimulate creativity – instead, choose a pop of color with accent pieces.

2. Bring the outdoors inside. Studies have shown that simply having a potted plant on your desk can improve cognitive attention and increase productivity. Plants also filter the air, removing mold and bacteria and generating oxygen. Try some lucky bamboo, a pot of succulents, or a sweet smelling peppermint plant.

3. Adjust your ergonomics. Sitting all day while you work has been linked to a higher risk of disease and even mental health problems. But for many office workers, it can be hard to avoid. الرهان على مباريات كرة القدم Start by improving your workspace ergonomics. Consider the height of your computer monitor, desk and chair. With your hands at the keyboard, your upper arms should be perpendicular to the floor and your wrists should be almost straight. Your thighs should be parallel to the floor, and all of your most-used supplies should be within easy reach. You should be looking neither up or down at your monitor, but straight ahead.

4. Create space to walk around. Being attached to your desk can make you feel sluggish and stuck. Take a regular 20-minute walk to un-stick your brain during the early afternoon energy slump, instead of the usual sugary snack. Have an alternate workspace that you can use to shake things up, like a kitchen table, coffee shop, or chair by the window for brainstorming sessions.

5. Declutter your junk. Being organized with your digital life as well as your physical surroundings helps reduce anxiety. Knowing where things are will save you time and frustration in the long run. Use a filing system that works for you, including an inbox that you sort through frequently.

6. Make it fun with office supplies that you love. Whether you want an Office Space-style Swingline Stapler or a cup full of colored gel pens, using supplies that make you smile is an easy way to enhance your workday. What school supplies did you love as a child? Use pretty highlighters, colored folders, and striped paperclips to add some levity to your workday. قوانين لعبة بلاك جاك