BluePrints

Changing Education Paradigms

I’m ADD. What that actually means in 2011? I’m not sure. After four years of higher education, I’ve given a lot of thought to the structure of education in the US. The new generation has been so over stimulated it isn’t hard to see why so many are  diagnosed with short attention spans.

After hearing this Ted Talks on the paradigms of learning and student driven education, I feel relieved.  Major long term changes are necessary to the foundation of education.

Drug the children to fit in the school, or build a school that fits the children? This seems obvious to me, but it felt good hearing it come from other learned individuals. 

Students today are not going into the job market of the past. We no longer need the same skill set or training, nor do we learn in the same way. Take a minute to watch this insightful view of education in the 21st century. Below you will also find other resources such as the Khan Academy and this amazing note to the tooth fairy from a kid that just needs cash… Love it. 

xx

Willow

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Ted Talks , learning paradigms:

http://www.good.is/post/big-ideas-from-ted-2011-letting-students-drive-their-education/

This Shit is Bananas

Dear Del Monte, please don’t create solutions for problems that don’t exist. 

Sincerely, Everyone. 

Why didn’t their strategist stop them? Or for that matter, their secretary,intern, or even janitor? Media seems to be framing this product launch as if it is only “environmentalists” that are up in arms. I would argue that it insults not only the environment but also the consumer intellect in general. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you shouldn’t waste time, money and resources creating “solutions” to problems that don’t exist. In the end they created more problems than they started with.

I for one, would have loved to sit in on that meeting;

“All right everyone, this week we’re launching a new product, it’s going to be a container…for a banana..” (dramatic pause while the staff looks around to see who starts laughing first)

Unfortunately, no one’s getting punked. Del Monte just launched the “new ” snack for people on the go. The new product is extremely wasteful, and increasing the companies carbon footprint with each “snack” sold. I personally don’t plan on buying Del Monte fruit anymore based on its blatant disregard for the environment (which it gets its product from, talk about pissing where you drink)  not to mention, the brand development and long term strategy behind this product is embarrassing.

Vote with your words, vote with your wallets, we are not robots, and should not be treated as such. The Chiquita banana lady has never looked so good. 

xx

Willow 

Enviromedia’s Kevin Tuerff : Lessons on Connecting Research to Results

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a lecture from Kevin Tuerff , founder of  Enviromedia.  And yes, his passion for the cause was contagious. Enviromedia is a social marketing company that fuses creative research, media planning and PR to create meaningful cultural campaigns, not just ads.  Their aim is to help eliminate environmental issues (such as green washing, climate change, etc.)  through a selective client process. That means taking on campaigns that “drive real change.”

Notably among their campaigns and clients are; Don’t Mess With Texas, Green Mountain Energy and Dell, just to name a few.

Their creative strategy is a clear component to their success. All campaigns begin the same: RESEARCH. Asking the right questions to the right people helps determine the guidelines and define the challenge before them. For example: In one research phase,

 Enviromedia found that people often distrusted or disregarded government green labels due to inconsistency. There are over 150 government standards for what is energy efficient, which can be a lot for consumers to take in.

What stuck with me most about Tuerff’s talk aside from cultural research was his emphasis on “connecting the dots.” Doing good research and carrying out a great campaign won’t mean a thing if you fail to go back and connect your research to results. In business terms this means turning information to capital consistently is key when building client trust. You can preach to a client all day about the benefits of sustainable, green business practice but without relating those practices to the long term bottom line benefits, they won’t keep coming back. I believe that Enviromedia’s success this far is just the beginning.  We are on the brink of a new era in branding, and transparency is the name of the game. We’re going to see a lot more firms popping up with environmental and cultural change at the forefront of business and branding strategy. 

xx

Willow