Through the use of Arizona State University’s Founders Lab, our group of four Barrett, the Honors College Students completed a research thesis regarding the interest of college students in a sleep light technology product. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) pioneered a sleep light technology with the ability to regulate melatonin production and circadian rhythm, resulting in an improvement of sleep quality. The technology was originally invented for astronauts to improve their sleep while in space on a spacecraft. Utilizing this technology, our group performed extensive market research with the intention of determining if college students would be interested in purchasing a consumer product incorporating the sleep light technology. We created a brand called Rhythm Illumination and began by building a website and brand guide. Next, we utilized Google Forms to generate responses to a variety of questions regarding current sleep habits, current sleep problems, and whether or not there was interest in a product like this. After determining that college students have room for sleep quality improvement and there is interest in this kind of product, we worked towards our goal of gaining traction for the product. We decided to utilize both Google Analytics results and a Zoom event’s attendance as proof of interest in our product. Google Analytics revealed over one hundred unique users on our Rhythm Illumination website. We also had eleven event attendees. Between these two tools, our team was able to conclude that there is interest among college students for a consumer product utilizing NASA’s sleep light technology.

This thesis analyzes the evolution of social media and video marketing, as well as offers advice on how local restaurants can capitalize their marketing efforts on social media platforms using video. Due to the ever-changing social media trends and algorithms, it is vital for a local restaurant to understand the channels in which consumers are getting information, the influencing factors of the varying algorithms for each social media platform, and the topics consumers would like to hear about in order to market effectively. In order to test the research I have collected, I have produced four high-quality videos, which can be found in Appendix A, of menu items from the local restaurant Ingo’s Tasty Food and posted them on the restaurant’s Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok accounts. These videos range from 15 seconds to one minute and have been posted on different days of the week. My findings determined that the quality and length of a video does not have consistent effects on the engagement received on these three platforms, nor does the day of the week in which these videos are posted. Based on these results, I recommend that a restaurant focus on the content of its videos, rather than the quality, length, and day of the week posted.

The movie industry is an uncertain business, and films often fail to make money, so the movie promotions and marketing decisions studios make are vital in determining success. With movie promotions, people from different cultures can perceive films and their advertising efforts differently because of their backgrounds, so movie marketers must recognize these differences to be able to succeed in international markets. This thesis is intended to help provide information for filmmakers and their respective film advertisers on how different cultures may perceive promotional movie poster factors, and how they can be more successful in their pursuit. Specifically, we are focusing on the influence of stars and review sources featured on such posters and how they might play into someone’s response to a film. To do so, we will be comparing viewers relative to their Hofstede cultural dimensions (of individualism and collectivism and power distance) to understand what factors might influence a society more and why. We first dive into our preliminary research, then make predictions and test them through a 2x2 study to determine what movie promotion elements are most influential to different viewers. Next we will conclude with the managerial implications and limitations and future research of our study. Overall, our research and data findings offer insights to filmmakers on how they might enhance and tailor their movie promotions when marketing to different cultures.

Living in the Phoenix Valley, many have heard stories of people getting lost in the mountains whether it be on a hike, camping trip, or backpacking adventure. Secure Point Location Services believes that this area is a prime location to begin the development and sale of our real-time location tracking system to be licensed by NASA technologies. Over the last 9 months, Secure Point has made steps to identify a target market, reach out to potential partners, develop a website, create a marketing strategy, and generate traction with the help of the Founder’s Lab at Arizona State University as well as the highly-experienced business catalysts who have provided guidance along the way. The following report will go into detail to cover our entrepreneurial journey to validate an idea and generate traction.

This project analyzes aspects of ESports and gaming in relation to college/university students and college/university campuses. The specific focus of the project was establishing that there was an interest in additional Esports and gaming engagement on campus and then determining what manner of engagement was most desired by students. In order to discover the most popular form of Esports and gaming engagement for students, we held two events: a recreational ESports Competition and tutorials to teach students how to mod video games. After carrying out these events we established that an Esports Competition was a more popular form of engagement. However, we also established that both forms of engagement would be successful with proper marketing and execution.

This thesis will analyze the current position of the medical-grade skincare company Omni Bioceutical Innovations using the four frames discussed in Bolman and Deal’s Reframing Organizations. In reflecting upon the company through the structural, human resource, symbolic and political frame lens, a multi-frame marketing strategy is developed to address Omni’s current obstacles and future goals. The paper begins with a history of Omni Bioceutical Innovations and an analysis of the current marketing and skincare trends. Research on business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) strategies will also be shared to help provide context to Omni's obstacles when switching its marketing focus from B2B to B2C. The paper will then focus on Omni’s past digital strategy setbacks and present opportunities for how the company can move forward using Bolman and Deal’s frames and research on the skincare market and current digital marketing tactics. The resolutions presented will include insight into how to target the B2C market effectively through specific social platforms and offer suggestions of which elements should be incorporated into their new website. Through examining Omni’s past internal battles using the organizational frames, it helps clarify the needs of the company and reinforces the changes that must be made to help the company become even more successful.

For this study, I visited twenty Sprouts Farmers Market locations across the Phoenix-metro area to determine the company’s in-store strategy to make their locations a destination that customers pleasantly anticipate visiting. As a business student myself and a Sprouts employee, I have familiarity with the company and desired to learn more about why Sprouts stores are so appealing and fun to visit. My method was to determine a representative sample of stores in the “Valley” to visit. At each location, I requested to speak with a manager and asked him or her four questions about that particular store. I also spent approximately forty minutes examining each location and observing details about each store according to a precomposed list of things to particularly notice but with room to add details regarding each store’s unique elements and commonalities with the other locations. The results of this study were rewarding, as at nineteen of the twenty stores I was able to speak with a manager who graciously answered my questions. I collected much data from these interviews and from my own observations. The most significant conclusion I reached was that Sprouts Farmers Market promotes health, natural-eating, freshness, and friendliness in every area. From pleasant employees to natural lighting to unique brands, Sprouts endeavors to carry products that meet the special dietary needs of each customer no matter how general or specific they may be. Another key discovery I made is that the entire company and each individual store revolves around the produce department. Because this is the core of the business, extra measures are taken to promote it, such as frequent produce deliveries to ensure fresh products are on the shelf, extra lighting in that part of the store, and frequent stocking and sweeping to keep the area full and clean. Additionally, the produce department has ample signage denoting organic and local products and information signs about how to consume various produce items, including information to learn about the farmers who grew the goods. Beyond these key elements of Sprouts Farmers Market, an intangible element exists which sets Sprouts apart from its competitors, and that is the personal touch. Sprouts’ employees are friendly, welcoming, and helpful. They are encouraged to ask customers if they need assistance and to inquire how their day is going. The employees are also educated on the products they sell as well as various dietary trends so that they can help shoppers find products that fit their needs. This warmth, helpfulness, and friendliness trickles down from the top management at each store and is communicated to the customers through their interactions with the employees. This personal touch is so important to Sprouts Farmers Market that the company even has a program to encourage employee helpfulness. It is called the “Yes” Program, and essentially empowers employees and managers to authorize price adjustments, exchanges, returns, and the like to assist and serve shoppers with exceptional customer service and provide whatever is necessary to make the customers happy and desirous to become repeat shoppers at Sprouts Farmers Market.