Author Archives: Faten Gondal

The Joneses- Week H Assignment

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Yes, I would categorize the way Jones family lives as personal selling. It is because they are personally having conversations and interactions with their neighbors and friends about those products. Not only that, they are also selling visually and through demonstrations.

Brands nowadays, are often using social media influencers and celebrities to advertise their products. Examples include L’Oreal, Zara, Dior as well as many other brands we are new to. Sometimes they don’t mention or tell us they are wearing or using that product for the purpose of advertising or that they are being paid for it. When people see their favorite celebrities wearing those products, they instantly feel a want to buy them, because if you like someone, you would also like their choice and what they use and also if you want to be like them or idealize them.

I do not think the way the Jones family markets is ethical. They are deceiving people by lying to them and not telling them their true motives. The movie itself portrays how damaging and unethical it is. Their neighbor Larry, takes his life due to his inability to pay the mortgage, as he was buying what Jones was selling to him. Getting jealous and insecure of Jones’ luxury, he overspent because he couldn’t afford it all.

If I was friends with the Jones family, i certainly would have been influenced to some degree like anyone could have been. We unconsciously do get influenced if someone we know appreciates or promotes a product. I myself get attracted towards a product if my loved ones or someone I know recommends it from their own mouth rather than a company’s advertisement. It is because it feels more real. However if I found out their secret, I would feel fooled and would instantly distance myself from them and warn other people of their reality.

Week G Assignment

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Faten Gondal                                                                              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/11/2022
Zara Inc.,
(+34) 933-567-9323
Faten@zara.com

A New Store: Zara Plaza De Espana
Zara Presents It’s Most Advanced Store In Madrid

Madrid, ESP: Today, Zara Inc., a Spanish multinational retail clothing chain that specializes in fast fashion and sells clothing, accessories, shoes and beauty products, opens its new store in Madrid. In this store, located in Plaza de Espana, customers will find innovative technology such as Pay&Go, which they can use to purchase garments by scanning them with their mobile phones, fitting room reservation service, and automatic online returns. In addition, the building is certified as sustainable by the BREEAM seal, the European certificate for sustainable construction. It also includes an environmental eco-efficient system.

Pablo Isa, the chairman of Inditex, the parent company of Zara, aspires to create a business model that will become “a world reference for the concept of integration between the physical shop and online”. He says, “ This is a very precise summary of our strategy. A maximum quality of space complemented by the incorporation of the most efficient technological tools to provide the best quality of service in an emblematic environment of maximum sustainability.”

The new store:
◾ Has more than 7,700 m2 of floor space, and 3,815 m2 of retail space
◾ Displays collections of women’s, men’s, and kid’s fashion collections on four floors
◾ Has specific areas for the brand’s most recent product launches, such as the Lingerie collection, the
Zara Beauty cosmetic line, and a Footwear and Accessories area in all three sections
◾ Has self checkout points

About Zara Inc,: Zara Inc was founded in 1975, by Amancio Ortega and Rosalia Mera. It strives to create responsible passion for fashion among a diverse range of consumers, specifically women. It is one of the world’s most successful fast-fashion retail brands. Zara was listed #44 in the World’s Most Valuable Brands (2020) by Forbes List.

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Sources:

www.zara.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zara_(retailer)

Week F Assignment

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My favorite pitch was Plufi, the human dog bed. It resonated with me because I am a person who requires at least 8 to 9 hours of sleep everyday to function. Due to college and other activities you don’t always get to have your sweet 8 hours of sleep. For me it’s perfect because I can sleep in my college or work because I find it incredibly hard to sleep outside. I also love how the bed is so comfy, comes with a blanket and has room inside to slide in your arms and even feet. A bed is something that has always been reserved for the home but who thought that a bed can be portable? It’s definitely a newer and interesting idea that I had never heard before.

Noah and Yuki are college graduates seeking $200,000 in exchange for 10% of their company, Plufi. Plufi is literally a “dog bed for humans”. This is the main description they provide. It is made with the softest material and texture, plush faux fur and high-grade orthopedic memory foam, to give people a break from stress and exhaustion, allowing them to nap anywhere. Also helpful for people struggling with anxiety and sleep issues as well as disabled or individuals with chronic pain. I personally believe it will be a need and a great relief for people suffering with pain. For instance,if they suffer from pain in their whole body, chairs and seats everywhere have really hard materials, Plufi would be relieving for them as it is very soft. The sharks themselves testified to it when they tried it out. They also come up with interesting marketing statements like “if you work like a dog, why not sleep like one” and “to bring joy and comfort to people’s lives”.

This product fills the gap by fulfilling people’s needs, that they want to lie down in a comfy surface and take a short nap at work just to get recharged, which is also essential for productivity. Most of us nowadays are not able to get enough sleep due to our hectic day-to-day lives. I feel this is a ‘need’ people have but are not aware of because they have never heard or thought about this concept before. And not to forget it may be a need for people with anxiety, stress, sleep issues and disabilities.

This product makes the process easier by catching up on your missed sleep or simply lying down when you feel tired or sick.

This product can be made more successful by incorporating some strategies. For example, they should sell the product in different sizes. It’s really hard to make a one-size-fits-all product, it can lead to more returns. Instead they should target different categories of customers, like an extra-small size for babies, small size for kids, the regular size that they already present, and an additional extra large size for people, specifically men, who are taller than six feet. As I saw in the episode, it was harder for some sharks to fit in their feet comfortably.

Week D Assignment

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Imagining I moved to Salt lake city, the capital and most populous city of Utah and I want to order Italian takeout, I will start by doing research on the internet, my most used and preferred way to do research and specially searching for restaurants or food near me. The first restaurant I found was Caffe Molise. From reviewing the images, it looks spacious and expensive-looking, but it’s on the expensive side and has less varieties.The other restaurant was Stone Ground Italian kitchen. Although it has good reviews, the food did not look appetizing to me. The Italian food I’m looking for is mostly pasta, which I already like, and something in the middle of casual and fancy. I don’t really like to pick up food. I prefer cash on delivery because you don’t have to go outside and can order in the comfort of sitting at home, which is more convenient for me. My threshold is below 30$ because I’m trying a new restaurant and do not want to waste money if I don’t like the food.

Going through the motions of the first three stages, I was successfully able to recognize and define my problem, which was simply that I wanted to try Italian food from an Italian restaurant. My information search process happened through searching from the internet, and looking for the top restaurants and comparing different attributes of the restaurants i liked and didn’t like. Then, in the selecting decision, I finally chose the restaurant Osteria Amore. The reason for me choosing the restaurant was that the images from the customers I looked at on the internet of the food looked very appetizing to me. I loved the architecture of its building and the interior decor, this is usually my first impression of a restaurant and something that attracts me towards it. And it has 4.5/5 reviews, which is a bonus point.
As a consumer who had no knowledge of the area and restaurants, my honest opinion is that just searching restaurants on the internet and reading reviews cannot be enough for me to be satisfied by my decision of the restaurant i’m going to. I also prefer if my family or friends have been to the restaurant and tried the food. As a friend who has the same taste in food as me it can be really helpful if she has a positive or negative review. The popularity of the restaurant also affects my decision. If I’ve heard about it and seen an ad, I would be more likely to visit it, on the other hand, if I’ve never heard of the restaurant before, it can make me a little reluctant to try the food.

I was able to gather knowledge and information before just randomly going to any restaurant. I now know the information about the popular restaurants in my area, which is a benefit to me as a customer. After reading chapter 5 and knowing the process and stages involved in making consumer decisions, I became more aware and mindful of the process I was going through, because I knew the steps that I went through.

My preferences compared to the other consumers might be different because every individual has different perceptions and likes and dislikes. I believe other consumers, with an example of my friends that I have, prefer other sources of information like family or relative’s reviews and their personal knowledge before selecting a restaurant. Also some consumers are willing to take risks and try different restaurants, without gathering much information about them and are willing to spend a considerable amount of money.

Ethics and Social Responsibility

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A company that I interact with often and love purchasing clothes from, is H&M. Yes H&M is a fast fashion brand and has been under fire for underpaying their workers, but it has been taking several measures for the environment lately, and is improving in regards to its ethical practices.
Surprisingly, It has been named one of the most ethical companies in the world, eight times, by Ethisphere, a for-profit company that defines and measures corporate ethical standards. H&M has taken some positive steps towards reducing its impact on the environment over the years. It uses renewable energy for part of its supply chain and has a policy to prevent deforestation of endangered forests. The brand offers a recycling program where you can return clothes from any brand in-store. H&M also uses some eco-friendly materials like organic cotton and recycled polyester in some products. The brand was also among the first to stock a “Conscious” sustainable fashion collection in its stores and online. I personally like to buy clothes from this collection because they are more sustainable and wear for a long time.

H&M has also made some improvements in its labor policies in recent years, given the concern of its labor conditions and wages in countries like Bangladesh and India. H&M topped the Fashion Transparency Index in 2020, scoring 71-805 in the first place. While many brands hide the details of its working conditions, H&M publishes a clear and detailed list of suppliers in the final stage of production, as well as information about its supplier policies, audits, remediation processes and its policies on forced labor, gender equality and freedom of association. With the pandemic going on since 2020, H&M has also disclosed some policies to protect its workers from the impact of COVID-19, although its not sure if they have been fully implemented yet.
H&M also has some policies for animal welfare. It has a formal animal welfare policy aligned with Five Freedoms and traces some animal products to the first stage of production. It also uses wool from non-mulesed sheep, as well as banned the use of fur, angora and exotic animal skins in its products.

Although, given the above mentioned measures H&M is taking, it is still far from perfect in ethics and social responsibility. There are several measures H&M can take to be more ethical and sustainable. As it is a fast fashion brand, it can produce a new line of clothing which is 100% sustainable, unlike “Conscious” which is 50% sustainable. It has a lot of consumers worldwide, this way environmentally conscious people can prefer to buy those clothes. It should meet the modern labor standards in its factories in developing countries, by insuring and taking measures for worker health and safety, providing standard living wages and labor rights. Although they don’t use many animal products, as mentioned earlier, they still use leather and exotic animal hair. They should abstain from using them and instead use alternatives, like Polyurethane, which is a synthetic material used as a leather substitute. It is cruelty-free and less damaging to the environment. They can also use more eco-friendly materials, like natural linen, tencel and organic cotton in their products.

Faten Gondal

Hello! My name is Faten Gondal. I am 22 years old and this is my first semester in college. My major is Business Administration. I have always been interested in the field of business. I am looking forward to learning different aspects of it! My BMCC email is: FATEN.GONDAL001@stu.bmcc.cuny.edu