Muneeb's Marketing Blog

AI is something that has become a part of our daily lives in some shape or form. The easiest place we can see AI is within our smartphones. Siri or Google Assistant are, at some levels, AI that allow the user to speak specific commands and have the phone do it for them. However, Kelsey poses an interesting regarding this: Who is in control? You or your smartphone? (Kelsey, pg. 78, 2018) This crippling question is a very easy answer for most of society today: The smartphone is in control, no matter what one may believe. To combat this, it is important to create and set habits that will not only limit the usage, but also develop ones that will use AI to one’s benefit.  In a simple habit, one can organize their notes to breakdown grocery lists, to-do items, future actions, important notes, etc. in a way that will improve productivity. Using your smartphone, one can use AI by asking it to add anything to these notes or to their calendar without needing to touch their phone. I, personal...

For a marketing plan to be effective and reach not only the targeted audience, but create profitability, it is important that the direction of the marketing should be clear. Levinson shares that it is important to start with a plan and to commit to it. (Levinson, pg.36, 2007) Creating a plan that is more personable can be more effective as it creates a stronger connection with the consumer. Many big corporations can pour money into marketing plans but can have a tough time getting proper connection to their consumer. As a guerilla marketer, it becomes important to identify a strong position that can appeal to the consumer and show them that an average person needs this product/service. For effective targeting, it is important to choose ads that target older people, women, ethnic groups, and small businesses. (Levinson, p. 38, 2007) Each of these target audiences hold a certain grasp to the market and offer an incentive of easy access as well as a strong customer base for your product/s...

As the founder of a new company, one can feel lost at times as to what direction they should be moving. Success comes initially to reward you for starting an idea and making it tangible enough that others see interest in using it. However, once that initial success has disappeared, it becomes difficult to identify what the goal is and where the company is going. Yu shares her experience of reaching the mountain’s base camp and how she had lost the understanding as to how she had gotten here and where she was to go. (Yu, pg. 79-80, 2021) In a similar fashion, a company can behave similarly as it is trying to understand its next level purpose and what direction is to go.  When the company reaches this stage, it becomes a great time to understand the value of the customer and begin to engage them in a different manner. Scaling the company based on demand the change in customers can help direct the company as to where it should go. An increase in customers shows that the company has es...

AI is a very real thing. AI’s presence is being felt more in advanced technologies today and the growing need of AI assisting in certain actions. Kelsey shares that it is important to be serious about AI, no matter if you are optimistic, pessimistic, or a realist. (Kelsey, pg. 53-54, 2018) Data is important to gather to understand what direction the world is taking from AI.  AI is taking shape within various sectors of the business world, and it is important to take control of it before it takes control.  Society must learn to adopt and adapt to AI as it becomes fluid with all parts of technology and life. The transformation that society is going through is moving rapidly as business is finding more needs from AI to shape their products/services. It becomes imperative that businesses should embrace AI, albeit carefully, and monitor each level that AI is needed for their business. A computer-generated program with its own method of thinking can be beneficial to develop the next...

Imagine this: the beautiful idea that was once existed as a thought is now a viable product and can serve a purpose in making its user’s life a little easier. However, a new issue arises: how will customers find out about my product? It’s time to develop some level of marketing to get the product noticed! As Yu shares in chapter three of her book, moving a product to a marketing camp can arise new and unexpected challenges that can create walls in properly developing a successful launch. (Yu, pg.69, 2021) Entrepreneurs are looking to pass these walls and find a way of controlling the category to reach optimum level of exposure and usage of their product. However, that can be difficult, and in today’s world, it must be a truly unique idea for that to happen. Snapchat, for example, launched as a truly unique idea in that users could send quick pictures with messages to friends and family without needing to take a full photo and wait on the speed of their connection to fully send it as a ...

What secrets of guerrilla marketing work for your business? All of them, of course! Each fundamental secret of guerrilla marketing aims to satisfy a certain part of one’s business and allow it to be successful. It keeps the business processes moving forward and allows the business to grow over time and become even more profitable. Businesses take time to grow and need commitment from not only its founders, but also those employed in the early days. Take Apple, for example, the founders stuck through it since day one and launched one of the most successful companies in the world. Although some early partners left, majority were along for the ride as the company gained traction and grew.  Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Facebook, Twitter, etc. follow these secrets to a certain degree to deliver a product and/or service to their customers. Using the secrets of guerrilla marketing, entrepreneurs can develop a product that not only amazes the customer, but also show them that it...

Chapter 2 of Guerrilla Marketing unveiled an interesting discussion on the importance of guerrilla marketing and why it is needed.  Mastering guerrilla marketing can offer one skill that are not only desirable by larger corporations, but also can make one’s own business successful. Guerilla marketing is an important skill to learn as an entrepreneur as it offers a method to compete against large corporation’s marketing. It provides an opportunity to make a small entry into the market and develop a stream of customers that will purchase the product or service. The internet is the best free method of marketing as it has unlimited channels where one can promote their company. From social media to ads within Google, it is easy to promote the product and drive sales. Harder to master, online advertisements must be developed in a manner that is appealing to customers and not seen as a nuisance. While budgets are greater for large corporations, entrepreneurs can better stretch their marke...

 In Chapter 2 of Surfing the Tsunami, Kelsey explores a very relevant and important part of society today; how AI has evolved and is starting to intertwine with society. One of the first cars that was able to make self-driving cars more functional and reliable is Tesla. With a simple over-the-air (OTA) upgrade, a Tesla owner can purchase the self-driving software and install it to their car’s computer. Once this is done, the car can be self-drive on everyday routes, albeit that the driver is still behind the wheel in case of emergency. However, the innovation by Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, proves that AI is beginning to take shape in different technologies and is becoming more advanced at a quicker rate.  Software is the key to AI as it allows it to learn over time processes and how tasks are completed. Software is constantly evolving to better fit technological devices and allow AI to better learn how to handle easy tasks along with learning user patterns. The hardware, ...

Chapter two of Ascend Your Start-Up initiates an interesting discussion in recognizing the “desire to abandon camp” and let go of the product because things are starting to become difficult. (Yu, pg, 60, 2021) As an entrepreneur, it is healthy to hit blockades and walls along the path of developing a product or service as that initiates the answer for a tough question. It gives purpose to your product or service and shows why it is important to the customer. By developing a minimal viable product (MVP) allows the entrepreneur to allow their product to enter the market as quickly as possible and begin to pique the interest of customers. An MVP can be altered over time and adjusted to better fit the customer’s needs. For example, Dyson’s handheld vacuum has multiple versions, but the first offered the basic functions a customer needs. As Dyson created interest in the market and captured many customers, they can develop newer versions of their product with minimal but needed changes. As o...

There is no doubt that TikTok is the biggest social media platform in the world right now. It has created careers for millions of people who did not have to take the traditional, educational route and work through an office or big company. However, social media is never a perfectly wholesome and positive platform for every user. It can turn in an instant and lead to false images and behaviors that can convince one of what is good but is bad and negative for society.  Ezra Klein from The New York Times shares great insight of how important ethics plays into social media. While it is a great media channel to share news and important information across the world, governments may have too much freedom in being able to control what their citizens are shown as well as influencing citizens from other countries. The “data espionage problem” that exists within social media, specifically, TikTok, shows immense danger that too much choreographed information is being shared that can skew one’s...

TikTok is one of the biggest, if not the reigning king, of social media. TikTok is a platform that allows creators share videos that can be from 15 seconds to 1 minute long. TikTok takes over for its successor Vine, where individuals are able to create videos whenever they would like and share their experiences, knowledge, and moments with others. At times, it can be random content that will catch the audience’s eye. Other times, it is carefully planned videos that allow content creators to generate fans and a general following allowing them to earn popularity and a source of income. TikTok is divided between educational content and “turn off your brain and laugh” content that allow the audience to immerse themselves in a different world.  As a potential advertiser on TikTok, my personal view would first and foremost begin with understanding who the content creator is, what type of content they produce, will it benefit or harm my brand, and who they are as overall human beings. Sho...

 Automation is becoming the new norm of today's society. Artificial intelligence is finding its way into many sectors that allow less human force and more technical work that can provide very minute percentages of errors. Automation and artificial intelligence go hand in hand as they utilize a physical product along with the software needed to learn the work and complete it at a high success rate. Automation and artificial intelligence can be found in some of the biggest companies, such as, Amazon, that allow them to provide services and products to customers with the highest rate of satisfaction.  In Surfing the Tsunami , it becomes apparent very quickly just how rapidly AI has been growing within the business world. AI risks the chance of many human jobs being replaced that can create disruption within society. Because machines are able to process data quicker and more efficiently, at times, than humans, humans risk the chance of being replaced if their job is not evolved in...

 Developing a new business and product to go with it is not an easy task. This can countless hours, resources, and energy that will become extremely draining and stressful. In a world that has some of the most advance and accessible methods to create a new business, it is becoming extremely cutthroat to develop something different and useful. Those that carry the passion and drive with revolutionary ideas are facing a race against time and the "invisible person" who may exist that has the same idea and is steps ahead.  In Helen Yu's Ascend Your Startup , she describes that a founder must start their ascent somewhere which is an excellent point in today's entrepreneurial world. (Yu, pg 34, 2021) It is important to move somewhat slow and look at each stage as one moves forward rather than the end goal. As she shares, the map will be rough and will be very fluid as the business needs change. It is important to adapt and allow the business to be molded and better fit cust...

 Marketing is an important part of businesses, especially today, in a world that thrives on social media and collaboration with influencers. For many businesses, marketing offers an opportunity to extend their reach to all corners of society and develop an interest with their audience and create an interaction. As stated by Jay Levinson in Guerilla Marketing, "Marketing is the art of getting people to change their minds --or to maintain their mindsets if they're already inclined to do business with you." (Levinson, pg. 3, 2007) Older businesses may have a tough time adapting to today's society as the world switches from offline to online more and more. a 24/7 world, the internet and social media offer the widest and strongest range of interaction with individuals all over the world. This can create new business but requires proper marketing techniques to convince one that the product advertised is a must have.  According to Levinson, guerilla marketing does not necess...

 Hello Everyone! My name is Muneeb Jaffry and I am born and bred in Chicago. I recently moved to Streamwood, IL, a suburb near Schaumburg and Barrington. I completed my undergraduate in Healthcare Management and Policy at Saint Louis University. I have enjoyed working in the business side of healthcare and experience traveling for conferences and things.  I enrolled into the MPH/MBA dual program through Benedictine where I have completed most of my MPH and am finishing the remaining MBA classes. My goal is to continue working in healthcare business, but more with specific healthcare groups, such as, Amita, Advocate, etc. In addition to this, I am constantly exploring my interests and developing side businesses that can fill my time quite a bit. When I am not working or focusing on classes, I like to spend time with my wife and son and try different restaurants! I am also a big fitness person and so I make sure to workout at least 5x a week and keep up with my health. I am look...