Andrew Buttrey

 At the center of Universal Studios branding is the iconic globe with "UNIVERSAL" across the middle. The globe symbol can mean countless different things.  For instance, it can represent Universal as a global brand with a global presence.  It also represents inclusivity that people from all over the world are welcomed within the brand, represented in movies, and will have a great experience at the theme parks. The globe is found in everything Universal from theme parks, movies, merchandise, social media, billboards and even airport signage. The globe at the entrance to a Universal theme park: The globe can also be seen at the beginning of every film that originated from the Universal Studios film division.   

Since my family and I are leaving the cornfields of central Illinois on July 20th for the sunshine, beaches, and theme parks of Florida, I decided it would be appropriate to use Universal Studios as my final project topic. The main reason for the move is I took a new job requiring me to work out of the Pensacola area. However, I would be lying if the proximity to Universal Studios didn't play a factor. My wife is a huge Universal nut and she has sucked my kids and I into the madness over the last 4 years. I would say we average 4-5 trips to the various Universal parks every year. In February 2020, Universal launched a new marketing campaign entitled "Let Yourself Whoa". Alice Norsworthy EVP and Chief Marketing Officer said of the campaign "We’ve evolved so much in recent years and have worked very hard to continuously bring incredibly-popular ‘Woah’ moments to life". These whoa moments include the launch of 2 new coasters over the last couple years. Fir...

 In chapter 8, Dr. Kelsey discusses with us what to do next to continue our journey as students of AI.  Just like any other subject to stay on top of the game and not fall behind we must continually track the news, developments, and breakthroughs associated with AI.   There are many different ways to stay on top of AI.  We can read some of the recommended books, search the web, join a cohort, take courses, or even continue to reread Surfing The Tsunami.  To keep our skills sharp we may even want to consider practice.  This practice can include coding, developing algorithms, or even doing work for non-profit organizations. One thing remains clear.  If we aren't students of AI we will soon fall off the wave.

 This week we looked back at our climb through to the summit.  In chapter 8, the author gave us a reflection of the important steps we have taken along the journey.  We learned that turning an idea into a product shouldn't be rushed.  This a continuous process with the first step being develop a minimum viable product (MVP).  This is followed by revamping and repeating once the product is launched. Moving the product to market is the next step after establishing the MVP.  At this point, the leader should have in place or quickly put together the minimum viable team that will be responsible for sheparding the product along it's sales journey. From product to market the team must scale to continue growth. To do this, the team must build repeatable processes and acclimate to the voice of customer.  The customer will tell you what to do, it is important to know them inside and out.   Once there is a consistent feedback loop to and from the custom...

 This week we learned about research and how it is the starting point of every guerrilla marketing campaign.  Research can be conducted on your own or purchased.  A company in its infancy stages of marketing will often rely on its own research since it is cheap and can be solicited through existing customers by asking the right questions.  If the right questions are asked, customers will tell you what they want and don't want to see with your product or strategic direction.  Listening to the customers can then lead to achieving the companies goals and increased profitability. Research that is purchased is often worth more than the initial investment itself.  Part of researching is to test the marketing strategy to insure it will be effective once launched.  This helps save the company from committing marketing funds to a campaign that will not help it become more profitable, reach the right audience, or hit strategic objectives.

 In week 7, Dr. Kelsey taught us about the topping of getting to know AI people and perspectives.  We were introduced to some of the leaders and people of note in the AI community.  First we were introduced to Andrew NG who is the co-founder of Coursera and who has courses from Stanford University on machine learning that are open to anyone.  Next Geoffrey Hinton introduced us to artificial neural networking which is basically machine learning through algorithms with the capability to mimic a human brain.  When asked why he is continually evolving the topic he stated he wanted to learn about the human brain so decided to build one.  Later we are introduced to Irving Wladawsky-Bergerwho is a professor at MIT and an expert in emerging technology.  Dr. Kelsey conducted an interview with Irving where he spoke to the research being conducted at MIT in a symposium proposing that AI may actually create more jobs than it eliminates.  My key takeaways from...