"Buy the Way…" Insights on Integrated Marketing Communication

Climate change has always been one of those words that we have often seen or heard of, a part of the general severe global issues that humans are supposed to care about. However, people usually pay little attention to it. However, it has all changed with the Millennials.

An article from New York Magazine introduced the imminent “uninhabitable earth” crisis; students all over the world are out on a strike protesting against carbon emissions and chemical waste; teenagers hate huge conglomerates driven by pure material lust. This generation actually pays attention to environment protection.

And this is where Reformation has found its niche. With fast-fashion brands such as Forever 21 and H&M continue to manufacture clothes disregarding the waste they can possibly create, the Los Angeles based brand has managed to reinvent the definition of sustainable fashion. The company’s estimated revenue in 2017 was more than %100 million, attracting huge celebrities and hot influencers to become loyal followers including Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss.

Reformation is a fast-fashion brand first established in 2009 by Yael Aflalo. The company’s branding statement is to “bring sustainable fashion to everyone”. With killer slogans such as “Lower your neckline, not your standards,” “We make killer clothes that don’t kill the environment”, “Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option – we’re #2.”Reformation has shown its effort to combine edgy, sexy femininity together with sustainability. As can be imagined, their target audience of the company are young contemporary females between the age of 27 and 32, looking for chic, sexy outfits that are environmentally ethical—something hardly found in the retail industry.

The company’s success is resulted from several strategic marketing and e-commerce efforts besides the viral and catchy slogans:

• Much effort into making clothing lines eco-friendly, such as “Low Carb Collection” and an eco-friendly denim-jean line called #refjeans. All clothing pieces have their own RefScale on the description page, clearly stating the chemical emissions of each piece. It also started a project called thredUP, in which consumers can earn credit by sending them old, used garments to be recycled.

• The company knows how to empathize with eco-conscious consumers, and are willing to share their progress in environmental effort. will publish its quarterly environmental progress reviews on the homepage, as well as their sustainability report, their factories and photos of worker representatives, their recycling process and instructions on how customers can prolong the life span of clothes. These messages are also communicated throughout their social media and physical stores as well. This is a clear statement toward consumers about their social responsibility awareness, and a smart way of trust building.

• Killer campaigns to raise eco-consciousness. In February 2019, Reformation launched its “Carbon Is Canceled” campaign which use gift cards and discounts to encourage customers to show how they reduced their carbon footprints. The company is also promoting industrywide sustainability by collaborating with Rent the Runway, Patagonia and more.

However, such effort to brand themselves as the fashion brand that really cares about the environment is increasingly in danger of “greenwashing”, which means to “describe companies which grossly overstate the environmental or ethical benefits of their products and services.” There are usually two ways to show brand’s effort in sustainability. First is to reduce emission during fabrication, and the second is to reward customers with credits to encourage their eco-friendly practices. The first way can work, if no cheating is involved; however, according to Dr. Amy Moas, a senior forest campaigner at Greenpeace, the second is a way to “offset a company’s guilt, as opposed to its true environmental footprint”. People can easily fake their way into getting the credit; it is merely a trade-off—once the credit system is stopped, a lot people’s sustainability practices will naturally stop. As Aldyen Donnelly, a former consultant who’s been involved in carbon trading since the early ’90s has said, an inconsistency in carbon offset bookkeeping is full of pitfalls.

In addition, there are concerns about whether such claims are just PR Strategies and marketing gimmicks, urging the transparency of the fashion industry to disclose their policies, practices and impact. Moreover, companies are likely to only show off good practices or fabricate data to exaggerate their effort—you can’t really call that “cheating”, but it is, in some way, jeopardizing the industry’s integrity.

Reformation is probably doing well in general, especially in comparison with other fast-fashion brands that are on the brink of bankruptcy. This is probably a result of their long-term effort to show their transparency and build trust with their customers, precious insights into target consumer needs and the successful usage of ecommerce. Yet the concern of greenwashing will continue to exist; brands need to pay extra attention to show their sincerity.

Sources:

https://www.businessinsider.com/reformation-sustainable-fashion-vs-fast-fashion-hm-2019-6#reformations-packaging-is-made-from-100-recycled-paper-products-and-compostable-bio-based-materials-so-itll-disintegrate-and-completely-return-to-the-earth-just-like-organic-waste-leaving-no-toxic-chemicals-behind-talbot-said-7

https://fashionista.com/2019/09/carbon-neutral-fashion-brands-greenwashing

https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/wjmkmz/the-activists-going-on-birth-strike-to-protest-climate-change

Fast fashion originated from Europe in the middle of the last century, which was quick feedback or imitation of fashion show design. Nowadays, fast fashion has evolved into a sales mode that enterprises produce products closely following the latest and simple fashion trend. These products will flow into stores at low prices and focus on mainstream consumers. The most representative brands in “fast fashion” mainly include ZARA, H&M, Uniqlo, GAP, etc. Although these brands have their own characteristics, their marketing strategies are very similar.

Accurate brand positioning

Fast fashion brands are characterized by “fast”. “Fast”, on the one hand, means that the price is affordable. People can quickly own and enjoy the product. On the other hand, it represents the convenience of dressing and getting out of the street soon. By advertising this feature, clothing brands can succeed in consistency and impress people. Uniqlo, for example, emphasizes the comfort and functionality of clothing and the freedom to wear it. The brand maintains a consistent style from product development to promotion. Its products are divided into several types such as casual wear, work clothes, suits, sportswear, and home wear. For clothing, their emphasis on function, material, comfort, and design all contain the same attributes: basic style, easy to match and good-looking. In marketing, its advertisement also always appears in a minimalist form. Models with different skin tones stand in front of a solid color background wearing the product without any accessories.

The launch of special events

As most of the clothes are partial to the basic style, how to stimulate the enthusiasm of customers continuously became a key to fast fashion. The average age of the GAP customer is 39. While shoppers are middle-aged, their purchasing power hasn’t gone away, and they just need to be inspired. GAP has conducted a series of activities to review the people, things and design concepts that are in the early stage of establishment, aiming to deepen consumers’ feelings towards the brand. In 2011, Seth Farbman launched “1969: L.A. and Beyond” on the stage, which recalled the people and things that created the denim fashion at that time and touched people’s hearts. In addition, cooperation with different brands, especially crossover cooperation, can bring freshness to consumers. Uniqlo’s UT collection works with various cartoon and comic brands every few months, like sailor moon and Pokemon. H&M chooses to launch co-branded products with luxury brands each year, such as Moschino and Balmain.

Influencer marketing on social media

With the development of the Internet, increasing people start to use social media, and people spend increasing time using social media. According to the data from Facebook, more than 2.1 billion people use Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messenger every day, with an average of 2 hours and 23 minutes spent per day. Social media is a cheap, widespread marketing tool for fast fashion. Influencer marketing is one of the most frequently used marketing methods among social media. Fast fashion brands sponsor fashion bloggers who have a significant influence. These bloggers will post their one-day outfits to attract their followers to buy the same items. Some bloggers also post their fitting room outfits with specific product numbers. Even ZARA this year launched a new Instagram account called @livingzara, which shows wearing style from different fashionable girls every week.

Sources Below:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gaps-fall-campaign-tells-unexpected-story-by-introducing-los-angeles-design-team-and-casting-real-people-126498283.html

https://www.whowhatwear.com/living-zara-instagram

Over 25% of high school kids use vaping products according to a recent Center for Disease Control report. With nearly 20 vaping-related deaths reported, use of e-cigarettes by America’s youth is quickly becoming a public health crisis. 

Campaigns such as the Truth Initiative are attempting to mitigate the effects of vaping marketing targeted at young adults. The Truth campaign helped reduce teen cigarette use by almost 20% since 2000; however, the rise of Juul and other e-cigarette brands have partially stunted their progress. By marketing e-cigarettes as the cool and fashionable alternative to traditional cigarettes, Juul has hooked the same demographic the Truth campaign fought so hard to protect. With the same tactics used for traditional cigarette marketing, Truth attempts to reveal the true malicious motives of e-cigarette brands targeting young people. E-cigarette companies hook kids in increasingly insidious ways. The Truth campaign explains that companies offer scholarships to young people, create a cult following on social media, sponsor music festivals, and use candy-like flavors to ensure kids are hooked. While e-cigarette companies cannot legally say they want to recruit teen vape users, the use of television ads, social media marketing, and festival sponsorships make Juul advertisements accessible and influential to teens. 

Juul advertising and the public health crisis amongst teens demands the question of whether e-cigarette companies should advertise even if they’re following legal guidelines. Cigarette companies were banned from using these tactics in 1971, which means e-cigarette brands are coming up with new ways to legally get kids addicted to nicotine through marketing communication tactics. The onus is then on lawmakers and advocacy groups such as the Truth Initiative to regulate the ethics of e-cigarette marketing and advertising. Juul has since shut down its social media pages after spending $1 million on social media marketing after coming under suspicion that they target youth despite claiming to target “adult smokers.” Since Juul does not fall under the same 1971 regulation banning traditional cigarette ads, it now began a $10 million TV ad campaign titled “Make the Switch,” which claims Juul is a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes for adults. There is a huge discrepancy in Juul’s advertising and actual usage since over 25% of high schoolers use e-cigarettes whereas 3% of adults said they use e-cigarettes. Since the ads will be on TV, they still have the potential to reach and hook more young teens to e-cigarettes. 

Sources Below:

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/oSWO/juul-roy

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/08/20/752553108/cigarettes-cant-be-advertised-on-tv-should-juul-ads-be-permitted

https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-industry-marketing/4-marketing-tactics-e-cigarette-companies-use-target

https://www.vox.com/2019/1/25/18194953/vape-juul-e-cigarette-marketing

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/cdc-says-teen-vaping-surges-to-more-than-1-in-4-high-school-students.html

Officially entering the Chinese market in 2011, Forever 21 was once viewed as a fashionable while cheap brand for Chinese consumers. I grew up in a small developing city in China. Before I went to Beijing to study, I’ve never seen a Forever 21 store. When I first went shopping at F21 in Sanlitun, the most famous commercial district in Beijing, I was beyond happy. Five years ago the jacket I bought at F21 seemed nice and cheap for me. But that was also my last purchase at F21. With the rapid growth of Taobao and other Chinese e-commerce platforms, I never bought another item from F21. On April 29th, 2019, Forever 21 formally claimed to quit the Chinese market.  So from 2011 to 2019, what did F21 do resulting in their failure in China? Or to say, what did F21 not do to succeed?

To analyze this question, first, we need to find the quality and marketing strategy F21 used in China. On the one hand, many people in China complained about their poor quality and a bad fit for Asians. When I was browsing in F21 before, I was sometimes attracted by its fashion design, however the moment I entered the fitting room, it was a nightmare. Not only did its material feel uncomfortable, but the fit was also weird: Either the sleeves were too long for Asians, or the v-shaped collars were too broad. As we can tell from their design and brand name, their target is the young who want to chase the fashion, but the changeability of young people is much higher than adults. It’s easy for teenagers to change their style during their growth. For example, when I was nineteen, I insanely fell in love with BigBang, the Korean hip-hop band, and I started to love Korean fashion style so much. But now I don’t love that kind of style anymore. So it’s too limited for them to focus on the young.

On the other hand, during its development in China, F21 severely lacked a localization strategy. Before 2010, the e-commerce platform in China had not developed so much, however, nine years later, I can tell almost everyone in China can’t live without Taobao, the most important e-commerce platform in China. Every year since 2009 on November 11th, Taobao has the greatest promotions for consumers. The “11.11” has developed into a whole system rather than a single promotion day. People start to prepare for “11.11” a month before. Many traditional fast fashion brands like Zara, H&M, F21, etc. initially refused to enter this system. They kept their traditional marketing strategy with their own promotions and they had confidence in their lower price. However, when they make a further awareness of Taobao and other Chinese e-commerce platforms, they found almost no advantage of their traditional marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at the price comparison between F21 and Taobao. (Since the official website of F21 China no longer exists, I can only find the price on F21 America website and convert dollars into RMB.)

As shown above, there is just one choice at F21 when you want to buy a blazer. But when you search it on Taobao, there are so many different choices for you with different colors, styles, sizes, etc. The price of F21 is $32, in RMB around 224, so there is no price advantage of F21 when comparing to Taobao, and you can even find much cheaper one if you set a price range on Taobao. On the F21 America website, when you spend more than $30 the delivery is free. But on Taobao or other Chinese e-commerce platforms, a product of RMB 10 can include free shipping.

In summary, the localization and customization of F21 were too limited for Chinese, and this phenomenon could not only be found in F21 but also exists in many other fast brands such as Zara, H&M, Pull&Bear, etc. With the development of e-commerce in China, these brands seem to lose many customers. Does it mean the failure or the downward trend of fast fashion brands? And how can they survive in this condition?

A tip: why can UNIQLO gain so much applause in China or even in America? What is the specialty of UNIQLO that makes it so successful?

References:

https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-forever-21/

https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-forever-21/

https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-forever-21/

On September 29 2019, Forever 21, the fashion company that helped with the popularity of fast fashion, said it would file for bankruptcy. The company will close around 178 stores in the US. The company is going out of business due to the shift of foot traffic from physical stores to online stores and young people’s lack of interest in cheap shopping malls.

Fast fashion companies, like Zara and HM, enjoyed popularity for its fast change of clothes. However, this has also resulted in many problems that force fast fashion companies to change.

Too much damage to the earth

Sustainability is a serious problem in the fashion industry.

Fast changes in clothing means quick response to the market change and consumer demands. However, this also lead to the problem of environment, both to nature and to human being. According to Wicker, almost 85% of the American clothing ends in landfills, creating environmental hazards. Moreover.

The production process also has serious impact on health since most of the clothing is made with cotton or polyester.

This problem has caused several protests worldwide. For example, in 2019, a catwalk show in London was performed to protest fast fashion industry because of its impact on climate change.

This has forced fashion industry to change. One of the brands famous for its sustainability is Reformation. This company recycles about 75% of its garbage and releases annual sustainability report since 2016 to show its sustainable practice. This is a good direction for fast fashion brands since it could help build brand image.

Too many stores

Another thing that made the fast fashion company struggle is the shift from physical stores to online stores.

Forever 21 expanded its stores to 40 countries. This huge number of stores require too much costed while Forever 21 failed to compete with other fast fashion companies online like Zara or ASOS. These brands have paid a lot of attention to the marketing of online stores while Forever 21 focused too much on physical stores. Understanding the shopping habits of the consumers is vital to the survival of fast fashion.

References:

[1]Wicker, A. Fast Fashion Is Creating an Environmental Crisis. Newsweek. September 1, 2016; Available from: https://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/09/old-clothes-fashion-waste-crisis-494824.html.
[2]BCS NEWS: 3 reasons Forever 21 went bankrupt.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/forever-21-bankruptcy-3-reasons-it-went-bust/
[3] official website of Reformation: https://www.thereformation.com/
[4] Maheshwari, S. (2019). Forever 21 bankruptcy signals a shift in consumer tastes.

              Nowadays, more and more brands are switching from traditional marketing to digital marketing, and among all digital media, marketers especially prefer social media apps. According to a research conducted by RBC, about 95% of advertisers promote on social media platforms, and most of them claim that they spend more than 20% of their marketing budget on social media platforms. However, not all platforms are equally popular. Unlike Instagram and Facebook whose advertising business are growing exponentially, Snapchat is not having a good time. In the same survey, RBC revealed that among all marketing professionals, only less than 25% have conducted advertisements of any form on Snapchat.

              I think there are several reasons behind it. Firstly, there’s no ‘like’ function on Snapchat. Since “the average American does not exist in current marketing world”, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube use ‘like’ to determine what a user is likely to be interested in. According what the users like, they can use algorism to display advertisements that they believe will be more likely to attract attention of the specific users. Thus, advertisements on these media could yield a higher click through rate, and therefore, higher return on investment. Since Snapchat does not possesses such a feature, advertisements are shown randomly to users. Therefore, the ads are surely not as effective.

              Besides, Snapchat’s userbase is too narrow comparing with other media. Despite the fact that there are more than 173 million daily users on Snapchat, about 90% of Snapchat users are between 13-24 years old, according to Ominocore Agency. The consequence of this is that only brands targeted to teenagers or younger consumers will be likely to pay to advertise on Snapchat. Also, consumers under 24 years old have much weaker purchasing power comparing with those who already work, which further limit the scope of products that should advertise on Snapchat.

              In addition, because of the feature of Snapchat, video advertisements on Snapchat have time limit, and users are not able to go back to the advertisements when the videos are done playing. Brands are concerned whether enough awareness can be generated from Snapchat. In contrast, Instagram makes the advertisements like it’s posts from account that users follow, and therefore when users find the ads interesting, they can click into the brands’ official page and learn more.

              To address the issue, I think one thing that Snapchat could do is to promote more heavily on its face tracking filters and lenses. This feature is what makes Snapchat stand out from other social media platforms. Actually, a lot of users only use the lenses to take a selfie, but not other functions of Snapchat. Therefore, Snapchat could partner up with brands and come up with lens of the brands. This has proved to be effective. In 2016, Snapchat came up with a lens for Taco Bell on Cinco de Mayo. As a result, this single lens had more than 220 million views in one day.

Please share what are reasons why advertisers prefer other social media over Snapchat, and how should Snapchat solve this problem. Thank you.

Sources:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/snapchat-must-hit-more-angles-with-advertisers-11568893398?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=5

https://www.adweek.com/digital/taco-bells-cinco-de-mayo-snapchat-lens-was-viewed-224-million-times-171390/

How many of you still remember the last album Rihanna released? It is hard to recall it as the album Nothing Is Promisedwas released three years ago. However, Rihanna has never faded away.

Last month, I went to Fenty Beauty and tried its Diamond highlighter. The moment I applied it on my cheek, I become the follower of the Fenty Empire. It is interesting to study how Rihanna trades her cultural capital to commercial success. Before studying how Rihanna builds up her empire, Let’s reflect on the pivotal moments of the Fenty Impact.

2011: Rihanna releases her first fragrance

2011: Rihanna becomes the face of Armani

2013: Rihanna launches her first collaboration with MAC Cosmetics

2014: Rihanna wins CFDA Fashion Icon Award

2015: Rihanna launches beauty and style agency Fr8me

2016: Fenty PUMA debuts at New York Fashion Week and Rihanna wins Shoe of the Year

2017: Fenty Beauty launches, catering to women of all colors

2018: Savage x Fenty lingerie line arrives

2019: LVMH makes Fenty a luxury house

It is fair to say that the success of Rihanna in the fashion industry is not a coincidence. What can we learn from Rihanna’s huge success as a marketing venture?

1. Collaboration

When started stepping on the fashion stage, Rihanna chose to work with other brands like PUMA, MAC. Celebrities like Rihanna indeed have great potential marketing power. However, the costumers still fail to connect the cultural capital of celebrities with the products they designed. In that case, working with companies who have already had solid customer bases and financial support is a good start. The success of celebrity collaboration can benefit both the brand and the celebrity. Take myself as an example, the only sneakers I bought from PUMA are the Fenty PUMA sneakers due to their iconic design and wearability. Impressed by the design of Fenty sneakers, I would like to purchase them considering PUMA produces high-quality sneakers.

2. Listen to ALL customers

After being recognized by the market about her fashion talents, Rihanna is destined to start her empire. One thing important in Rihanna’s success is how she bridges with the market’s demands. Fenty Beauty is famous for its 40 shades of foundation. It is the first time that a brand covers almost every skin tone in its foundation line which shows Fenty Beauty’s great respect for all customers. Rihanna is successful in adopting inclusive marketing strategies. Instead of focusing on particular target audiences, Fenty is trying to attract every single customer by providing them with the products they want and build an emotional connection. The inclusivity sounds inefficient, but the huge success of Fenty Beauty proves that it is profitable as it maintains the conversation between the brand and the costumers.

3. Facts speak louder than ads

In the era of social media, taking good advantage of media platforms is essential to brands. When I was about to buy the highlighter, I searched online and found positive reviews on it. These real and authentic product reviews are essential in pushing me to buy this product. Fenty Beauty has realized the great power of customer engagement. On the official page of Fenty Beauty, they used the pictures and words from ordinary customers rather than influencers. As a result, Fenty Beauty makes full use of words of mouths.

Rihanna has successfully positioned herself as an influential empire rather than a fashion icon or a singer. Her great success is always an interesting topic for people to think about. 

References

Snowden, H. (2019, June 25). Rihanna’s Fashion Career – a Full Timeline: From Firsts to Fenty. Retrieved from https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/rihanna-fashion-timeline/

Recently, Japan Airlines announced that they will use a child “icon” to remind passengers that children under two years are taking the same trip with them. For people who are always bothered by annoying children, this is definitely a good news, since they can make preparations for cries and screams, avoiding being disturbed during a wonderful trip. In fact, this is a problem which has existed for a very long time, but no airlines have come up with a perfect solution. Though the plan of Japan Airlines will not solve the problem intrinsically, at least, it owns the function as a reminder, which would attract lots of passengers to choose Japan Airlines.

Personally speaking, this is a successful marketing strategy though the outcome still remains ambiguous. What Japan Airlines focus is the need of customers, and they try to provide service to let customers feel that they are seriously taken into consideration. At present, all customers hold the awareness that they are premier but not all brands could have the same view indeed. There is no wonder that customers will give priority to the choice of Japan Airlines, at least for me.

In addition, the feature introduced has trigger a heated discussion, as some commentators on Twitter think that passengers could wear earphones to be tolerant. In this case, Japan Airlines has gained attention from customers and the whole industry, and this is the first step to occupy more market shares.

If you are the passenger, what is your opinion towards Japan Airlines?

Resource: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49836599

In  recent class discussions about ethics in marketing, we have looked at how “diversity” branding initiatives have had adverse effects with companies like Starbucks; how “ethical” or environmentally friendly brands can suffer due to their corporate alliances and partnerships; and how these missteps negatively affect brand identity and association. Recent news with the clothing company, H&M, provides another example where ethics in marketing is an important discussion. 

This past week, the photo below went viral with a storm of backlash and criticism against the retail giant for their neglect of and tone deafness towards Black models and the Black community. 

This picture sparked controversy for the company and debates within the Black community about positive and negative representation. H&M publicly responded to this outcry with a statement claiming that their aim was to portray a natural look for the children models as most of them had just come from school. However, many social media users condemned the company’s lack of styling of the young Black model. Debates also arose within the Black community about internal racism and the standardization of western beauty standards (ie. why are the White child models’ hair are viewed as messy but cute, but the Black child model’s hair is viewed as unkempt). Despite whatever personal opinion one may have about the child’s actual hairstyle in the photo, this incident does raise questions about diversity in corporate settings and who makes these marketing decisions. Many of those criticizing believe that if there had been a Black hair stylist or Black person included in these types of decision making processes, that person would better understand how these decisions affect Black models, Black representation, and most importantly Black customers of the brand. Additionally, this is not the first issue H&M has had with Black child models and tone deaf marketing (see this NY Times article).  Other brands, such as Burberry, have also faced backlash due to the controversial styling of their models.

Therefore, while some may not consider this situation with H&M a matter of ethics, this present problem with many brands demonstrates a corporate-wide misunderstanding of not only the brands’ customers, but also the social justice climate in which their brand, marketing, and products must ultimately survive. Personal opinions aside, companies must take into consideration how these marketing decisions affect their overall brand image. Diversity for diversity’s sake is no longer enough.

Resources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/janicegassam/2019/09/23/hm-ad-sparks-black-hair-backlash-learning-lessons-for-companies/#377a64f85ff8

I have rarely visited McDonald’s in the last two years since changing my eating preferences. So when I pulled up to one on an early afternoon for a very quick lunch break, I took one look at the double drive through and dreaded the line inside. I figured paarking would have to be quicker than sitting in 100 degree weather outside, so I ran in. To my surprise, there was no line. Only a few people waiting on the other side for their orders. Instead, I was met with two very large, very modern, two-sided touch screens asking me for my order! The simplicity of the design allowed me to order and pay for my meal with just a touch of a few buttons.

I remember growing up, we used to watch The Jetsons while fantasizing about cars flying in the air, and technology that took the place of people. With every advancement of techonology and science, it seems that robots truly are making their way into the workforce. But at what cost? After leaving with my order, to which I only had to speak to the associate to say, “thank you,” I had questions. How has the world been disrupted by……technology?

Airbnbs………alternatives to hotels
Rideshares (uber, lyft)………alternatives to traditional taxis
Food delivery services (uber eats, grub hub, etc.)………..alternatives to traditional pizza/chinese delivery
Grammarly…….alternative to any grammar book/manual
Social media…….alternative to letters, phone calls, house visits
Cloud photo storage…….alternative to physical photo albums

The advancement of science and integration of communication and technology surely have its benefits. Yet, there needs to be balance. We cannot expect children, or people with disabilities to improve communication skills if they rarely have the opportunity to verbally interact with others. In the highschool setting, teachers take students with autism to their local McDonalds to practice speaking to people in a social setting, and ordering food. Yes, there are assistive technology devices that can speak for them, but to help strengthen their independence, they are taught how to use their own words. What happens when a student goes there and there is not a physical body to speak to? What will happen with the next generations’ ability to cope, or engage socially with others? Their abilities to have a formal or informal conversation?

While I appreciate the added benefits of technology, and its convenience, I also urge myself and others to never forget the basics.

Disruptive technology can also be seen in more complex forms, such as the cars we drive, advanced prosthetics, and 3d printing.

For further reading, please click the links below:
https://richtopia.com/emerging-technologies/artificial-intelligence-future
https://richtopia.com/emerging-technologies/11-disruptive-technology-examples