Yummy yummy ;)

Ok, for once I have a perfectly great reason for neglecting blogging. And that reason is...

really cute boys that play instruments!

For your viewing pleasure:











Okay, so this is only FIVE of the NINE bands that I've been organizing for the past...two months. CCCRadio, my college's radio station, just threw our fifth annual Battle of the Bands. And, I was in charge of it.

Which means... I was in charge of roughly fifty-five guys with instruments. Frankly, I can't complain. It was a lot of work though, and a LOT of fun. So, again, please excuse the lack of blogging, I was trying to not drool... and also not lose my mind.

Please imagine trying to wrangle nine bands. So much fun.

Tinseltown update coming Thursday!!
XOXOX

Where's Lindsay?

Have I lost my mind, or is Lindsay Lohan slowly disappearing? Check her out in her latest 80's- porn inspired video:



Seriously, we're wayyyyyyy obsessed with weight. How the heck did she manage to shrink and we're putting her in commercials rather than completely criticizing her? Jessica Simpson would be in critical condition if she went down to Lindsay's size... people would be talking about her non-stop!

I just don't get it. Eat a cheeseburger, doll. Lay of the druggies.

Loves, I've been neglecting your celebrity

I'm sorry that I've been neglecting your celebrity! I've taken a much needed two week break from my column! To make it up to you with some interesting reads, here is a piece that I wrote notsolongago:

Every 15 seconds a woman is beaten by her husband or boyfriend. (FBI Uniform Crime Reports,
1991).

Time it out. In the time that it takes you to read this entire article, roughly twenty women will have been beaten by an abusive husband or boyfriend. Does it make you sick? It does me.

I know that when I’m writing my column, “Tinseltown”, I tend to be lighthearted and, at times, slightly inappropriate when it comes to celebrity gossip. But reading up on the news about Chris Brown and Rihanna over these past couple weeks, I am left feeling absolutely ill.

In case you’ve missed it, on February 8, 2009, both Chris Brown and Rihanna missed their Grammy appearances. Allegedly, Chris Brown received a text message for a “booty call” from an unknown woman, which sparked an altercation between the two, allegedly resulting in Brown kicking, punching and biting Rihanna, leaving serious bruising, swelling, a split lip and a bloody nose on the “Disturbia” singer’s face.

According to thesuperficial.com , “According to the police report, she ordered him to drive her home and ‘faked a call’ to someone, saying things like, ‘He's dropping me off. Make sure the cops are there.’

Rihanna told cops the fake call enraged Brown. He said something to the effect of ‘You are really fucked up now. I'm going to kill you.”

Due to all of this, many gossip website are alleging that Brown will be serving many years in jail. However, one website, mediatakeout.com, begs to differ. “MediaTakeOut.com suspects that Chris Brown will likely serve less than a year in prison for the assault against Rihanna – and he may get off completely!! Many people in the media are speculating that Chris Brown will be brought up on felony domestic battery charge –but HE WON’T!!

MediaTakeOut.com discovered that, under California law, Chris Brown CANNOT be charged with domestic battery. That’s because the domestic battery law only applies to ‘a spouse, former spouse, cohabitant, former co-habitant, or the mother or father of his or her child.’ Since Chris and Rihanna don’t live together (Chris has continuously maintained his own apartment), aren’t married, and don’t have a child together – the law doesn’t apply.”

Going back to thesuperficial, “Now we're down to simple assault, which carries a six month sentence. Brown is a first time offender, and the defense will argue Rihanna instigated the fight, making this tough for a DA to prosecute.”

So, let me get this straight. It is Rihanna’s own fault that Brown assaulted her? Oh! It all makes sense now!

Actually, it doesn’t. Now, I did get this information from a fairly in-credible gossip website, so it may or may not be true. However, just seeing it there in print online, in a source that many find credible is enough to disgust me.

Which then brings me to what fans are saying in comment posts regarding this incident. On thesuperficial’s site, user “Tito’s Abdomen” says, “Imagine you’re a law enforcement officer…and you have to deal with this pile of horseshit. You’d actually have to TALK to Chris Brown and Rihanna and try to get a statement. What an insult to your professional career.”

So, apparently, it’s insulting to law enforcement officers to have to take down the allegations of those women that are actually willing to come forward and say that they’ve been abused. That’s good to know.

According to clarkprosecuter.org, “Police report that between 40 percent and 60 percent of the calls they receive, especially on the night shift, are domestic violence disputes.” That’s an average of half of the calls that are coming in per day.

Other fans are blaming Rihannafor this incident. According to MTV News comments, user “Nika2hot” says, “I don’t think Chris would hit a girl like that. She had to do something or say something out of the way for him to really hurt her.”

“Jb&weezyfan” says, “Chris' career may be ruined forever ... just like Michael [Jackson]'s ... sooo sad. I love all his songs. Well I'm still gonna support him. I just don't believe it ... until he says it..... cause Rihanna is a ***** .. wellshe looks like one anyways."

Basically, Rihanna is being completely blamed by fans for this.

I’m not okay with this, and I’m hoping that you aren’t either.

Being a high-profile celebrity couple, we obviously hear about them a lot. As media consumers, we are feeding off of celebrity relationships and modeling our own lives off of these relationships.
So, in seeing this happen, and then hearing that Chris Brown maypotentially get off scot-free, we are then learning that it’s okay to follow in Brown’s footsteps.

Men are reading these reports and seeing that nothing will happen if they beat their girlfriends. And women are learning that nothing will be done if they choose to step up, come forward and say I WAS ABUSED.

It is absolutely time to end this. Billboard.com cites that “Several top 40 stations have stopped playing Brown’s music including WKST Pittsburgh; KWNZ Reno, Nev.; and CHUM-FM Toronto. After polling listeners, Clear Channel's top 40 WAKS (96.5 Kiss FM) Cleveland decided to temporarily ban his music.”

This isn’t enough. We as women in this wonderful institution need to stand up and say that THIS IS NOT OKAY. It is time for a complete movement against domestic violence. We need to support each other for being brave enough to speak out against domestic violence. Because it is very real, happening every day, and we are not immune to it.

I give complete kudos to Rihanna, who is reportedly being completely cooperative with police as they investigate her “ongoing abusive relationship.” And I hope that she stays the hell away from Chris Brown and doesn’t wander back to him.

And I hope that you too realize what a big thing domestic violence is and how it affects all of us.
And I urge you to please speak out and say that this is not okay.

By the way, it took me an hour and a half to research and write this article. That’s ninety minutes. You do the math as to how many women have potentially been abused.

This is not okay.

climate walk? huh?

Okay, so we all need a little more awareness in our lives, because trust me, as a blonde, I spend many of my days unaware. And, since this blog is completely celeb-y and trendy, allow me to introduce you to an incredible woman who definitely deserves some celeb status.

Greta Browne was my professor for one semester and was absolutely AWFUL from a professor standpoint. However, she knows her shiz when it comes to environmental things.

Oh, and get this. She's Greta Browne, her husband is Guy Gray and they are members of the Green party. Amazing.

Anyway, she's WALKING from Louisiana to Canada, no joke. She's trying to get some awareness for global warming. And, dude, I could never take that walk, but kudos to her.

So, ladies and gents, I present to you your very own celeb, Greta Browne. Check out her website for full details as to why she's doing what she's doing, check if she's walking by you, and make a donation: http://climatewalk.homestead.com/index.html

And track her progress right here: http://www.forallthegrandchildren.blogspot.com/

MRK 240 Take Two

Here we go agaaaainnnnnn!

Select one of the following companies in order to answer questions 1 through 4:a. Ralph Lauren b. Rolex c. Hollister d. Coach e. Mercedes-Benz
1. Explain how the company you selected uses each element of the marketing communications mix to promote its products. (Hint: Explore the company’s website and conduct a web search using the company name along with terms like marketing, advertising, sales, and public relations. Also investigate popular magazines and TV programs where you think you might find mention of the company. )
2. Identify areas where this company is not using a specific element of the marketing communications mix and suggest ways it can improve.
3. Describe this company’s position and contrast it to the position of its major competitors.
4. List the specific media, groups, and individuals that can be considered connectors for this company.

In completing this assignment and keeping up with betsyskotchblogs.blogspot.com, I had to choose Coach as the company to examine.

By the way, from coach.com:

…and from my own personal collection:

(Just because I’m completely in love with it.)

Doing this was actually a lot more difficult than I had thought that it would be. Companies are actually pretty good in disguising their marketing mix with things such as a Mission Statement, or company policies or whatever else. It was really only after getting in depth with some of these things that I was really able to see the real mix.

First of all, since this blog is read by some non-marketing people, I looked up an easy definition of the marketing communication mix, just so that there’d be some background to go on, and then worked from that. So, without further ado:

(Borrowed from http://www.davedolak.com/)

The Marketing Communications Mix is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives.

Definitions:
Advertising - Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
Personal selling - Personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships.
Sales promotion - Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
Public relations - Building good relationships with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good "corporate image", and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.
Direct marketing - Direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships.

In looking at Coach, I found their spring ad campaign, which is as follows:

(from Nitrolicious.com)

Basically, these ads, as well as the rest, which can be found on my blog, are promoting Coach’s spring collection, with the centerpieces being the purse, jewelry and clothing. They are not directed at any one person, but are the spring highlighted pieces.

Personal selling for Coach can be seen in-store. Sales associates will greet you as soon as you walk into the store, and be sure that if you are looking for something in particular, such as a particular item that you saw online, that they will help you find it. They will also suggest items, and let you know if anything new has come in, or if they are expecting any new products coming in.

The website, though, also has what can be argued as person selling. There are options to click on, such as “Try this bag on,” which you can click, tell the program your height, and it will show you a simulation of what that particular bag and its dimensions would look like on your particular dimensions, which I think is a really neat idea.

The website also has some other personal options, such as signing up for Coach’s email list, and searching for items by price, how to wear it, color, size, and type of bag.

Sales promotions are interesting with Coach. The website doesn’t exactly showcase sale items or boast a “bug a large bag, get a matching clutch half off!” deal. But, in thinking about it, I found that it was staring me in the face…

(Coach.com home page)

Right now, they are promoting their spring collection through their ads. The hottest looks for spring are coming out RIGHT NOW, so you better hop on them, or be left in the dust with this winter’s looks.

The Public Relations for Coach were really fun to look into. In the customer service tab at the bottom of their website, I clicked on “Investor Relations” which lead to the company’s mission statement, company profile and global business integrity program.

Coach’s mission statement is as follows:

Coach seeks to be the leading brand of quality lifestyle accessories offering classic, modern American styling.
The Coach brand represents a unique synthesis of magic and logic that stands for quality, authenticity, value and a truly aspirational, distinctive American style. Everything we make, advocate or engage in reflects the attributes of the brand.
Our responsibility to our internal and external customers calls for impeccable service to ensure that their needs are always met. By treating customers like guests in our own home, we seek to establish long-term relationships based on trust and satisfaction.
Our success is rooted in uncompromising devotion to honesty and fairness where our people, our business and our community are concerned. We stand behind our products, staking our name and reputation on everything that we make.
We constantly challenge ourselves to be the very best we can in every aspect of our business. We strive to be a nimble and flexible organization committed to increasing consumer and shareholder value.
Our brand flourishes through our people. Coach brings together strong, collaborative people in a dynamic culture of mutual respect, support and passion for our brand and product. Our team bands together in the face of adversity and celebrates our victories.
In stating all of the values, and using words such as customer satisfaction, integrity, innovation and collaboration, they are building themselves up in the eyes of their customers and potential investors.

Some other gems come from the company profile:

Coach was founded in 1941 as a family-run workshop. In a Manhattan loft, six artisans handcrafted a collection of leather goods using skills handed down from generation to generation. Discerning consumers soon began to seek out the quality and unique nature of Coach craftsmanship.

This opening of the profile shows that Coach is “family-run” with hard-working people, another statement which builds up the company in the eyes of the consumer.

And, finally, by even having a global business integrity program, Coach is once again building up their image in good public relations with their customers.

Direct Marketing was the hardest thing to identify with Coach. There is the email signup, and the catalogue request, both of which come directly to interested customers. And, I’m willing to bet that if you are a big enough customer, as in celebrity status, Coach is willing to bend to your every whim. So, you really could say that personalized clothing for these people are a result of direct marketing.

Coach, in my eyes, struggle in the sales promotion and direct marketing areas of the marketing communications mix. Really, with the name Coach, though, they don’t NEED to hold specific sales promotions, or hold direct marketing. The name is really strong.

However, promoting the sales of a certain bag or a certain bag designer would help to boost sales of Coach. Offering a promotion like the aforementioned “buy a large bag, get a matching clutch half off!” or even say, 10% off would get people into the stores. The clutches are usually priced at about $90, so even with 10% off, they are still making a great deal of money.

Direct marketing would be so easy for Coach with technology. If I were to purchase a bag online, and then purchase another one later by the same designer, they might implement something like amazon.com does with their email list. An email saying, “Hey Betsy Skotch, we saw that you like the Zoe bags, and a new one is coming out,” is perfect for me, and gets me thinking that Coach actually cares about little old me.

Even keeping track of sizes or shapes of the bags that I buy and then suggesting new ones to me would be great. And also suggesting matching or coordinating accessories would help with Coach’s direct marketing.

According to icmrindia.com, Coach’s positioning is rare. “From its inception, Coach's product strategy was to produce timeless, classic pieces which would not be subject to the vagaries of fashion. In keeping with this strategy, Coach generally did not change its designs to suit the trend of the moment. Because of this, Coach's leather goods were identified with classic and elegant designs, rather than being known as fashionable.

However, despite staying away from fashion trends, what set Coach apart from its competitors was that it offered durable and functional handbags in superior quality leather. It was said that the average life of Coach handbags was around 15 years, and when maintained well, they could last well up to 40 years. Coach also offered lifetime service to its customers. The company offered repair services and also replaced some parts of Coach products for free, with the customer bearing only the shipping cost.”

Coach is dedicated to their products and stands by them. They also focus mainly on their handbags, as opposed to clothing and accessories.

Some of Coach’s competitors, such as Dooney & Bourke, Kate Spade, and Michael Kors have similar positioning, but have some distinctions.

Dooney & Bourke bags seem to be popular with the younger crowd, such as high school students, or young celebrities such as Miley Cyrus or Hayden Panettiere, whereas Coach seems to be aimed at the college-aged to late 30’s crowd with money to spend.

Kate Spade on the other hand seems to be aimed at the crowd that is older than both the Dooney & Bourke lovers and Coach fiends due to the simplicity of Spade’s designs.Finally, Michael Kors is on the way high end, and does everything from bags to glasses to footware in the high fashion industry, wheras it could be argued that while Coach is high end, that they do not cater solely to the stars and the insanely wealthy.

If you are wearing Coach, just like many other brands, you are a walking advertisement for their company. The more people that Coach has buying their products, the more brand awareness there will be. You will rarely see me without my Coach purse or even my Coach wristlet, which is common for many women my age when you see them out shopping or at bars or wherever.
Specific media that can definitely be used by Coach are definitely print ads in magazines such as Vogue, Marie Claire and Glamour, and possibly even in Cosmopolitan.

A really interesting outlet that would by a great connector for Coach is the idea of Reality television. Shows such as “America’s Next Top Model” would be a great way for Coach to get more advertisements made, as well as be the center of a television show. Even reality shows such as the Real World/Road Rules challenges on MTV where the winners of a certain event get prizes, getting a Coach prize would be a wonderful opportunity to get the Coach name out.

Yes, please.

Where do I sign up?

Ever Heard of those Halo Headsets?

So, last night, I made the trek from Allentown home to beautiful (notsomuch) Jamestown, NY. It's roughly a 5 and a half hour drive when you aren't driving 90 on 80.

Anyway, when Halo first came out, did you ever see those kids with the Halo Headsets, and they'd talk to each other and be like, "better watch out, I'm gonna kill you?" Yeah, those hot things?

I wish that I had one of those Halo Headsets for when I was driving home last night. Because, let me tell you, the number of times that I was passed on the right and then cut in front of, I could've really used one of those. I'd have been like, "Hey, fuck you buddy, I'm gonna kill you!" Or, more accurately, "You're gonna kill ME!"

Ugggghhh. I'm not the best driver in the world, but sometimes I just wanna plow my car into other cars and be like, "You are a BAD, BAD DRIVER!"

MRK 240?

Okay dolls, by now you've realized that I am in fact a student. In fact, I'm a student with a marketing minor! And, I'm currently taking a class that encourages us to submit assignments via blog! Lo and behold.... I HAVE A BLOG!

I'll try to make these assignments fun for my general public to read... so enjoy them, gain some of my knowlege and insight, and sit tight through these fourteen posts that will be showing up in upcoming weeks!

XOXO!

MRK Assignment One:
1. Find an issue or a story that is currently getting a lot of media attention. Identify as many media sources as you can, ranging from a short clip in a local newspaper to feature segments on TV news shows to blog entries on the Internet, that refer to this topic. 2. Discuss how the messages differ between media sources and identify any common threads that you may see.
3. As an extra challenge try to document the originator of this media buzz by finding a press release or some other type of press announcement issued by a PR agency or some other stakeholder in this issue.
4. Find advertisements about the subject of this issue, if they exist, and compare them to the media coverage both in content and the media in which they appear.


Being a self-proclaimed gossip-queenie, I of course had to relate this assignment to the world of celebrity. And what could be bigger in the Celebrity World right now, other than Chris Brown and Rihanna.
In case you’ve been living under a rock and have missed it, the short version of this story is this, as written in the February 19 issue of Cedar Crest College’s student newspaper, The Crestiad, story written by me, “on February 8, 2009, both Chris Brown and Rihanna missed their Grammy appearances. Allegedly, Chris Brown received a text message for a “booty call” from an unknown woman, which sparked an altercation between the two, allegedly resulting in Brown kicking, punching and biting Rihanna, leaving serious bruising, swelling, a split lip and a bloody nose on the “Disturbia” singer’s face.

According to thesuperficial.com , “According to the police report, she ordered him to drive her home and ‘faked a call’ to someone, saying things like, ‘He's dropping me off. Make sure the cops are there.’ Rihanna told cops the fake call enraged Brown. He said something to the effect of ‘You are really fucked up now. I'm going to kill you.’”

Already on this topic, cited are two different sources, The Crestiad and www.thesuperficial.com. However, a number of different sources have been covering this story.

Blogs for this include my own, (betsyskotchblogs.blogspot.com), thesuperficial.com, perezhilton.com, wwtdd.com, mediatakeout.com, TMZ and a ton more.

Magazines such as People, Star, US Weekly, OK!, In Touch Weekly and more have covered this story. MTVNews and MTVnews.com have covered it. Entertainment Tonight, The Daily 10, The Soup and E! News have all talked about Chris Brown and Rihanna. And, this issue has even caught the attention of CNN, FOXNews, CBS News, The Insider, The New York Times, and even TIME. You literally cannot intake any source of media without hearing something about Chris Brown’s assault on Rihanna, whether or not he will be facing jail time, his actual sentencing, and anything else that people can choose to talk about.

Overall, the similarities between all of these sources are overwhelming. Each of them discusses the details of what Rihanna looked like after the attack, why the attacked occurred, and each speculate on what will happen next for the two. Many of the blogs and news articles have the same exact quotations, cited from the same places.

For example, an article in People states: “According to a search warrant in the case, Rihanna, 21, read a three-page text message from a woman on Brown's phone, which led to an argument. Brown – who was charged with two felonies Thursday – allegedly tried to force his girlfriend out of the Lamborghini, and hit her head against the passenger window. Rihanna then ‘turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand,’ says the paperwork. ‘He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand.’”

Similarly, on thesuperficial: “A FOX affiliate has acquired police notes from the scene that detail the attack which was initiated after Rihanna read "a three-page text message from another woman" on Chris' phone. TMZ reports: Brown then allegedly shoved Rihanna's head against the passenger window. When Rihanna turned to face him, Brown punched her, then continued punching her while driving, according to the detective's notes.”
Currently, there is a press release out from the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, as to what Chris Brown has been charged with. That release can be found at: http://da.lacounty.gov/mr/030509a.htm.

WiredPRNews.com also has a release alleging to the outcome of Chris Brown’s charges at: http://www.wiredprnews.com/2009/03/05/chris-brown-may-get-plea-deal_200903052633.html

And, yet another Press Release, this time on Rihanna, can be found at: http://www.rushprnews.com/2009/02/21/rihanna-brakes-her-silence-about-alleged-beating/

I honestly believe that the picture of Rihanna after the incident is it’s own form of advertisement against domestic violence. (Picture seen at: http://assets.gearlive.com/celebrities/blogimages/rihanna_bruises.jpg)

However, there are many advertisements that speak out against Domestic Violence, including http://www.adrants.com/images/womens_aid.jpg, http://womenshealthnews.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/cityofhopearm.jpg, and http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs8/i/2005/335/0/1/Domestic_Violence_Ad_2_by_Quezzi.png.

Something that I found interesting about these advertisements are that they are all showing a female being abused by what is presumed to be a male, which I found interesting because of the fact that it could go either way, or there could be abuse in a homosexual relationship.

However, it is interesting especially to compare the first advertisement to the photo that TMZ posted of Rihanna after her attack. The two are virtually identical.

It’s hard to compare these domestic violence advertisements with the actual story of Chris Brown and Rihanna. Sadly, there are more reports of the Chris Brown and Rihanna story than there seem to be of visible print advertisements against the subject in the media. It’s rare that people are speaking out about Domestic Violence, and more rare, it seems, to find an advertisement showing that people are there to help against Domestic Violence.

Tiny Tragedies

It's 1:47 on a Friday afternoon here at Cedar Crest College.

Spring Break has officially begun.

And, am I on my way to fabulous Bermuda, or to the Eiffel Tower in France to find my French Prince? (Okay, in all fairness, I have a prince here in Allentown, and he's just fine.) But no, I am not.

I am at work. Making place settings for a party that I'm not invited to.

What a tragic life I live.

If it shimers, it's Tinseltown

So, I’m scrolling through this week’s gossip, paging through the pages of this week’s tabloids, and
suddenly it dawns on me. Jennifer Aniston is still talking about her rivalry with Angelina Jolie, and her breakup with Brad Pitt. FOUR. YEARS. LATER.
Seriously, I’m about to break out the Betsy Skotch advice once again. If your best friend is still talking about the one that got away four years later, take her over to a Lehigh frat house or something, because, really, this has gone on for far too long.
Jennifer, darling. Get over it. Brad’s got Santa Angelina now. You have about the appeal of a dead puppy right now. It’s time to cut it out because really, your public can’t take it anymore.
In case you were wondering where the Kardashian sisters were vacationing recently, as I’m sure you all were since I personally was dying to know, they spent last weekend in Miami in bikinis by the pool.
Is Keeping up with the Kardashian’s even on E! anymore? Because, I’ve recently been feeling pretty out of the loop with what exactly has been going on with the Kardashian clan. I mean, have they been hanging out at Joe Francis’s mansion? Has anyone else broken a cell phone by throwing it at a family member as if late?
I’m just feeling like the Kardashian’s aren’t getting the attention that they deserve recently, and I know that you agree with me. E! should be advertising more or something.
Time for an update on one of the best fallen stars: Lindsay Lohan is apparently converting to Judaism to prove her love for Samantha Ronson. Apparently, before this, Lindsay has dabbled in scientology and kabbalah, but religion IS the hottest trend in Hollywood, so I completely support this. I mean, people change their religions all the time for those they love. And, Lindsay and Sam have been together for way over a year now, so this is totally legit. I approve.
And, in a final train of thought to make your head explode, I’ll just leave you with the words of Pete Wentz to let you sort out on your own. Take them for what they’re worth.
According to the Daily Mail, “I refuse to answer my front door because I'm convinced someone is going to murder me. I used to think that some day I'd end up murdering a close friend or relative. Now it's reversed and I'm convinced it's going to happen to me.” Yeah, okay psycho- boy.