A New Phase

Hey everyone, 

Blue Ocean has just reached a new phase in its time as a business. We have entered into a new office. It is an exciting time for everyone here. Also, we have revamped our ideas here at Blue Ocean. We have begun to think bigger. The Blue Ocean team has  set the ground work for a thriving company to grow in. Blue Ocean is back better than ever and here to stay! 

-Sheel

Win-Win, Developments

Blue Ocean has recently been intending on transitioning to regional, corporate, and maybe national clients. With the fruition of this intention Blue Ocean has been in talks with a major Advertising Agency on opportunities to partner up and facilitate a 'win-win' situation for all parties.

As Rob Slee pointed out, this is the Aggregation Age(There's Information Age(Internet), Conceptual Age(Google), and now Aggregation Age) and "Midas Managers" will need to add value to all concerned parties through aggregation. And in this day and age, you either act as the aggregate or become the 'aggregatee'. What I(or Rob) mean by that is--at this age, all industries have their supply chain, or aka value added chains. And in each industry or value chain, if your value proposition is so compelling, there are black hole niches that customers will come knocking on your door for your service. And true Midas Managers create value propositions that are so compelling, they end up creating value chains that aggregate suppliers of different core competencies.

And hence, these 'value architects', or Midas Managers--as Rob calls it, facilitate deals, win-win situations, and value creation, in such a way that aggregates and leverages every entities' core competencies, thereby creating a whole new market.

Tony

Exciting Virginia Tech Development

To blog readers:

There's an exciting development here at Blue Ocean. Recently Blue Ocean will start to have about 8 students from the Virginia Tech's Strategic Marketing class come in and conduct case studies on Blue Ocean. We can't wait to see what we gain from this very cool experience.

On top of that, Blue Ocean is continuing to expand and transition to corporate and international clients. Its is an exciting time to be at Blue Ocean!

-Tony

Blacksburg Marketing Survey

Today I started on the marketing survey. I am currently going around Blacksburg businesses in order to have further marketing insight on our community. It is pretty difficult because many businesses are busy with incoming freshman orientations. But, its only the first day. The survey has great potential in helping Blue Ocean and the surrounding Blacksburg community. At the end of the survey I hope to put together a final report for each survey participant. 

-Sheel

Blue Ocean – Video Department Blog - Introduction

Let me start by giving myself a little introduction as to how I came to lead the Blue Ocean Video Department. I’ve been video editing for around 6 or 7 years now as a hobby. My main work has been for a computer game, creating high quality trailers to promote the mod. You can find my most recent trailer for it at the YouTube link here.

I’ve always loved doing the work and felt like I had a real handle on what makes an exciting video. It wasn’t until last year, when I met the owner of a young and up and coming marketing company, was I able to turn a passion into a job. Tony and I have now already worked on several projects together including Hokie Spokes and VT Knowledge Works. We quickly realized our skill sets complimented nicely; and with that, we created a Video Department of Blue Ocean to handle the media needs of our clients. The objective being: to deliver more attractive and innovative videos than leading competitors while still charging much less. We have since greatly expanded our production abilities as well as post-production, but I’ll get into more detail later.

The bottom line is that Blue Ocean can create any type of video, for any type of client.

-Jarred

awesomeness--

hey guys,

Blue Ocean is super excited about this campaign we're doing for the sushi place.. and today we just got the signage design back.. its going to look like this..

this sign is going to be laid out strategically throughout the CRC, from the ENTRANCE and EXIT of the CRC.

Blue Ocean - Getting Things Done

Hey Blog Readers!

Blue Ocean has been super busy getting Sake House Website's up and running. Check it here: http://www.sakehouserestaurant.com/ It looks AWESOME doesn't it? If you haven't been there yet to try the food, go there soon! You won't be disappointed, I can promise you that! We are also beginning Wine Down Wednesdays for Sake House - but more on that later (I don't want to give it all away too soon!).

The Blue Ocean Website is under reconstruction, and I am so excited to show you all the new one. It is more hip and sleek, and over all just really really amazing! Its very professional and very blue ocean.

We are off to Sake House! Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/blueoceanmc

-Mindy

Creativity, Innovation, and Passion

Hey Everyone!

This week has been an eventful week for us here at Blue Ocean. We have hired two new interns. One is Sheel Patel, a Sophomore Business Major. He will be working closely with Tony and I as we work on getting new clients and developing Blue Ocean. The other is Sho Ren. He is a Senior Engineer at Virginia Tech, and will be our in-house graphic designer. Check out some work that he did for us for our new website.

Sheel and I are working on our campaign to pitch to apartment buildings and complexes around the area. We think that is a sweet idea for advertising to the local college market and local business. We hope to make a Viral Marketing Campaign something that everyone is talking about!

Thats it for now, its time to take some initiative!

My Experience

Hello Everybody,

My name is Sheel Patel, and I am the new intern for the summer here at Blue Ocean. I have only been here for three days and already I have learned a lot. The culture here is amazing. From day one I had to give a presentation about the research I found on different companies. Yesterday and today I got to go out and meet potential clients. Our CEO puts so much trust in his employees, thus holding us accountable. He sees everyone's hidden talent and gives us every opportunity to help find it. I cannot wait to go shadow him when he is with potential clients. I am excited to learn and to find my hidden talents this summer. I know I will learn more here than in any other class I ever take.

-Sheel

Great Things--Empowerment

Hello everybody!

Here at Blue Ocean, we strive to "Put the right people in the right seats"--as written by Jim Collins, author of Good to Great. I am pleased to share that Blue Ocean continually looks for energetic, passionate individuals to fuel the growth and innovation within our company.

To illustrate a quick example, is when Jarred (our Director of Technology and Media Development) took the initiative to build some camera tracks for better shooting angles, I asked him to present his plan of action and what resources he needs. Then, with an estimated budget he proposed, I said, "Ok, here is X dollars--now go and Make It Happen", "Go out there and get it done!"

This, for example, is how we 'roll'. We believe in people's potential, and everyone has truly untapped potential, the leader/organization just has to ignite that and create opportunities for individuals to discover their exceptional talents.

Just another two cents from the President of Blue Ocean.

Tony

IMS Week Two

Blue Ocean is crazy right now!

There is so much to do, its so hard to keep up with the clients, the ideas, the videos, and the potential.

Here are a few things that is happening at Blue Ocean right now:

• Beginning to raise capital, to better support the business
• Finishing the Blue Ocean Team Pictures and Bios
  
• Working on Videos for the New River Valley - EDA
  
• Changing the Blue Ocean Marketing and Consulting Website - Its going to be AMAZING
• Working with Sake House to finish website and begin the Wasabi Wednesday campaign

On top of all this, we are really working hard to gain information about what it takes to run a successful business. We are meeting with local professionals, entrepreneurs, and professors to gain some more insight on how Blue Ocean can continue to expand. The wealth of knowledge in this area is just unbelievable.

On the IMS (Initiative Measurement System) things are consistent. We have begun to understand that things that are measured should improve (Hawthorne Effect) . Overall, things have stayed the same. We shall see how the IMS, continues to improve this week.

We are continuing to look for my clients and more interns.

Its All About The Initiative

Initiative.

This is the world that I am continually hearing about from Tony Yang, President of Blue Ocean Marketing and Consulting. I think that it is his favorite word, and the word that he lives by.

As he keeps saying it, I begin to question what it means. What does Initiative mean? What does it look like? Can it be measured? Planned?

According to Merrium-Webster Online: Initiative is an introductory step which is independent of outside influence or control--it is also an independent action at one's own discretion

This is my definition of Initiative: Taking steps beyond what is required of you, to ensure greater success through creativity.

I am not sure what Initiative looks like, maybe it has to deal with everyday situations that one finds herself in and using them to push themselves to a new level. Measuring Initiative is hard. If it is an each day thing, then maybe it can't be measured- but just trained for. For example, a person can exploit each opportunity as it comes. That requires an eye, observation, and bold, outright, initiative.

Today is day One: Creating this blog, getting oriented to the Blue Ocean way of life, talking to Arts Initiative, and Sake House about future plans and ideas.

For Today, Initiative is about using what I know, and applying it to find solutions for companies/organizations that need promotion!

-Mindy