tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48168441426193480332024-03-05T15:50:02.799-05:00THE FUNNELWelcome to THE BLOG FUNNEL!
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12509707760736425473noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816844142619348033.post-56733103100106114642014-09-11T23:38:00.000-04:002014-09-11T23:54:23.778-04:00Ask Those Stupid Questions<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zb5K1mYFfi7v7fuYRAzo9tunHJ9r2pDTjZEdPMU4gHnkllcrovRoqi6l7Jv0Ch4GJPHcLnEnYmnwFkHkvCjCoGbq2I4GW01Sc9kV4B1CDPJGLtyjBQJEBlvw3F9vISWFSuXJDcbB08AB/s1600/F_AskTheStupidQuestion2_CreditOrinZebestFlickr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zb5K1mYFfi7v7fuYRAzo9tunHJ9r2pDTjZEdPMU4gHnkllcrovRoqi6l7Jv0Ch4GJPHcLnEnYmnwFkHkvCjCoGbq2I4GW01Sc9kV4B1CDPJGLtyjBQJEBlvw3F9vISWFSuXJDcbB08AB/s1600/F_AskTheStupidQuestion2_CreditOrinZebestFlickr.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Whether it was from school or from parents, we
have heard the following phrase before. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“There is no such thing as a stupid question.” Right?
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Unfortunately, most people don’t take heed to
that phrase. Often times, people do not ask questions because they truly feel
it may sound silly or pointless. Which isn't an issue most of the time as one
can live perfectly fine without asking questions they assume will sound stupid.
However, when it comes to your professional career, not asking those questions
can adversely affect your learning curves, advancement, and professional growth
throughout your career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Faster Learning Curves<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">When learning a new product, a newly implemented
system, or new software, ask all the questions you can. This is especially important
when starting a new position within an organization. You will get a better
understanding on how things work, what to do, and how to do it a lot quicker.
You will still learn without asking, just not as quickly. So ask questions to learn faster!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Professional Growth<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Truth is, people tend to stay very focused in
their positions, doing the same thing for years at a time. While this ok, you
will not grow as much professionally.
Asking “stupid” questions can change this. Next time you’re in the office,
ask your manager or director to tell you about something you don’t know. You
will get an understanding of something new that you will most likely remember for
the rest of your professional career. Regardless of if you were doing the same
thing for years at a time, you will have grown within that time if you asked the questions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Advancement<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">It doesn't matter if you’re starting your first
job out of college or further in your career with several more years of
experience, asking questions will allow managers, directors, vice president, etc. to see
how interested you are about the organization. True leaders within that
organization will see your genuine interest and eagerness to grow and learn. They will
not only answer your questions, but support you in your advancement. If you don’t ask those “stupid” questions, it
may be harder for them to realize how interested and invested you truly are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Long story short, if you have a genuine
professional question, it's answer will help you gain new insight. Essentially,
you will get educated on something you did not know about. You will quickly gain knowledge. You will get
noticed. You will advance your career.
The more questions, the better.
So ask those “stupid” questions!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Can you follow this Blog?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Can you comment Below?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">You see? </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It’s
easy!</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Photo Credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/orinrobertjohn/" target="_blank">Orin Zebest</a>, Flickr</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12509707760736425473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4816844142619348033.post-18925548421854111862014-08-24T22:43:00.000-04:002014-08-28T16:30:20.105-04:00Is GEICO Risking Brand Confusion?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3_fdOAD3qMvBve3qOVuGP1z8a5aGOC74NYZK-qGWGvTiwS0aj5ixrZ49iYa_C_7MfnqHblboD2ecir0S_AMSSY7iSzr30MOzKPFol29xU89wPxT_j5_8VSI7j6FQ9yBjD48DTYDsbIr0/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij3_fdOAD3qMvBve3qOVuGP1z8a5aGOC74NYZK-qGWGvTiwS0aj5ixrZ49iYa_C_7MfnqHblboD2ecir0S_AMSSY7iSzr30MOzKPFol29xU89wPxT_j5_8VSI7j6FQ9yBjD48DTYDsbIr0/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion1.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">GEICO is a well-known organization within the
insurance industry. In fact, it’s the 3<sup>rd</sup> largest private auto
insurance company in the nation. Every company brands their self in a certain
way. Often times, an animal or character is used to represent their brand identity. It's something identifiable to the public other than a logo. Most companies only have one brand identity. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">For example, Aflac uses a duck. Frosted Flakes uses a tiger.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> In essence, it's their mascots. However when it comes
to GEICO, do they have one or several? Several of
their commercials with different "mascots" probably popped up in your head. Right? Brand
confusion anybody? or No?</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s the Gecko<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Need I elaborate on the gecko? If you have never
seen the gecko, you've either never watched television or seen </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">a
GEICO billboard. The gecko has been used in their marketing tactics for
many years if not decades. Everyone knows about the gecko.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s the Caveman<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DksnYa0E_OoNWsaDxRfmEvbONDCsfjdjd_GTVnlklOFC_mSsFtGK2T46GI30KftDNU4vc3Q3whIT_C21ETE09sBo5oHae8WnKuwiNWd7hI_ZTdIOXdWiWRlNxWyv5-A_U3VnsIKNiT71/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DksnYa0E_OoNWsaDxRfmEvbONDCsfjdjd_GTVnlklOFC_mSsFtGK2T46GI30KftDNU4vc3Q3whIT_C21ETE09sBo5oHae8WnKuwiNWd7hI_ZTdIOXdWiWRlNxWyv5-A_U3VnsIKNiT71/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion3.jpg" height="200" width="163" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The caveman was a great marketing choice. “It’s
so easy switching to GEICO that even a caveman could do it.” How can we
forget that statement or this character? Just as every
other GEICO commercial, the humor appeal was used. Every commercial that
included the caveman was successful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRicjM2_OaPGH06VukQ4GHIol06jRWf5UDt3gEDRrcnBmymXOEHCF6Z9mg0aZzAOFvxI-tT_yt4guTcNpM33dJp7Sdj7yRwQN5PRg_-x6J-jgrDLLGN2Bd9NOXx1cZ6iOhAvpNevU0Eqhm/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRicjM2_OaPGH06VukQ4GHIol06jRWf5UDt3gEDRrcnBmymXOEHCF6Z9mg0aZzAOFvxI-tT_yt4guTcNpM33dJp7Sdj7yRwQN5PRg_-x6J-jgrDLLGN2Bd9NOXx1cZ6iOhAvpNevU0Eqhm/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion2.jpg" height="142" width="200" /></a><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s the Talking
Stack of Money</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The stack of money has done its job. Essentially,
it is supposed to be the money that you would save by switching. You know!
The infamous “15 percent in 15 minutes”. GEICO ran with the idea that if you see what
you can save, you will be more likely to switch. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> There’s the Pig<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EbfOqM7Vvm0WTx0ClGyXive8ZrWDrAZdFwBrLEdprjXHeYGlCURyPFsdEpdlmvgBi3a-pQ6jTpanlpQrVAud2RAVEDHXgdFCDR5_klxsjCekRMMNsgzdcdJKcamI25xkUe8GueMFqvep/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EbfOqM7Vvm0WTx0ClGyXive8ZrWDrAZdFwBrLEdprjXHeYGlCURyPFsdEpdlmvgBi3a-pQ6jTpanlpQrVAud2RAVEDHXgdFCDR5_klxsjCekRMMNsgzdcdJKcamI25xkUe8GueMFqvep/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion4.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The pig was actually a shock to me because
Bottom Dollar Food uses a pig as well. However, Bottom Dollar Food is neither a
competitor or as large in regard to its reach (its only located NJ, OH, and PA).
Using the pig is probably more of an issue for Bottom Dollar Food than it is
for GEICO. In other words, Bottom Dollar Food may not be running any of its pig
campaigns until GEICO stops using theirs. At least I haven’t seen any recently.
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">There’s the Camel<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Last but not least, the camel. This has been
another one of their recent choices. The camel has become very popular on
social networking too. I’m pretty sure you've seen someone post an image of
it on a Wednesday at least one time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZQM1cGUrR9MEUZEH8yaNa86_UrGZ63UqfhlUtHVNQ3Zqi2cVobxCs86Ea0vQl_7Ke34Pi0B67n-RTyxT5TNjOFKEBz7vF5YgN8tQApggS_RWOaMPM041pYi58LmHaJjvOrKR2Qw8DRlG/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZQM1cGUrR9MEUZEH8yaNa86_UrGZ63UqfhlUtHVNQ3Zqi2cVobxCs86Ea0vQl_7Ke34Pi0B67n-RTyxT5TNjOFKEBz7vF5YgN8tQApggS_RWOaMPM041pYi58LmHaJjvOrKR2Qw8DRlG/s1600/F_GeicoBrandConfusion5.jpg" height="200" width="161" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are probably more "mascots" but I think you
get what I’m trying to say here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Surprisingly, GEICO has been able to
successfully advertise with all these "mascots" over the past (months) years. Yet they still
have been able to keep their superstar gecko at the front-line as their
official brand identity. It's genius! But it's also risky. I've asked many people “what’s the GEICO mascot?” and they
always say “the gecko right?” with hesitation as if they know but they are not
too sure. This is where it gets risky. Consumers should be able to easily understand an organization's branded character and brand identity with confidence. As GEICO creates so many branded characters, consumers can become confused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">In all actuality, the gecko is the ONLY "mascot" for this organization. The others (thought to be brand identities) are simply marketing
campaigns that temporarily run for about 3 months or so. You will probably never
see the caveman, stack of money, or others (once their campaigns are over) more
than you see the gecko. Running those campaigns just once or twice is enough
time to bring in something fresh and regain consumer attention. However,
running a campaign too many times will definitely cause brand confusion and pretty soon no
one will be able to know for sure what the GEICO "mascot" really is. Once or twice is just enough to grab your attention. Then back to
the all-star, the gecko.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Which is your favorite GEICO “mascot” or
commercial? I think the Camel has become a bit of star, almost as popular as
the gecko. “Guess what time it is? Hump day!!!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">What do you think? Risky or Genius?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Let me know your thoughts and comment below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Don’t for get to follow/subscribe to my blog!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12509707760736425473noreply@blogger.com0