Braille Retail is a student-led effort to promote awareness and inclusivity for visually impaired and blind individuals through legible braille designs on fabric. Our mission is to bring awareness to the visually impaired and blind community and increase braille literacy. We plan to reach our mission by placing legible braille and its translation on our sweatshirts.

SnackHax specializes in creating customized snack packages tailored to the needs of college students. Our packages include a variety of high-quality snacks designed to boost energy, support cognitive function, and promote overall wellness. With a focus on quality, affordability, and convenience, SnackHax aims to become the go-to source for students seeking nutritious and convenient snack packages. SnackHax is also looking to expand its product offerings to increase customer acquisition. SnackHax is dedicated to empowering college students to feel their best and fueling their success in their personal and professional life through a tailored set of affordable, convenient, and nutritious snack packages.

SnackHax is a Founder's Lab venture that specializes in creating customized snack packages tailored to the needs of college students. Our packages include a variety of high-quality snacks designed to boost energy, support cognitive function, and promote overall wellness. With a focus on quality, affordability, and convenience, SnackHax aims to become the go-to source for students seeking nutritious and convenient snack packages. SnackHax is also looking to expand its product offerings to increase customer acquisition as well as expanding into other markets. Our thesis comprised of conducting market research and customer development to determine SnackHax's market fit and target customer. This was done through several tabling sessions on the Polytechnic and Tempe campuses where the team collected valuable data through the form of surveys, detailed observations, and Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). During the second semester, SnackHax finalized the products and began to offer them at the tabling events starting in the middle of February. Additionally, SnackHax made it into the New Venture Challenge course, led by Scott Wald, which helped further solidify the business and gain additional traction in the form of interest from investors. SnackHax finished the semester with 23 sales and a total revenue of $311.78.

Influencer marketing continues to be a tool that companies utilize to add value to their brands. This thesis explores the impact that influencer marketing has within the alcohol industry. This was done by conducting secondary research that highlights the size of the alcohol industry, the rules and regulations that apply to alcohol marketing, the power of social media and consumer behavior, and the effectiveness of influencer marketing. From this research, I compile a set of industry best practices and offer a series of recommendations for smaller brands to take into consideration when using influencer marketing. I believe that my research-based recommendations of partnering with local influencers to create genuine connections with niche audiences, creating branded hashtags for marketing purposes, and capitalizing on current social media market trends allows for niche alcohol brands to implement influencer marketing in a way that best fits the brand and the people it serves.

For my creative project, I challenged myself to host my first ever photo gallery. After three years of documenting artists at music festivals and building an impressive portfolio, I felt inspired to display my work in a proper gallery setting. I partnered with another local music photographer and together, we hosted a collaborative pop-up photo gallery at Shady Park in Tempe. Research and analysis of the modernization and widespread success of the recent pop-up phenomenon suggests that hosting a photo gallery in this format is an effective way of appealing to a predominantly millennial audience. This notion was proven valid by the large volume of interest we received during marketing pushes, the high attendance at the gallery itself, and significant social media engagement and reactions received during and after the event. Although no prints were sold, the gallery was considered a success because it served its intended purpose of providing two young artists with a space to showcase work, open themselves to critique, and make new fans.

Arizona State University has prided itself on the mission to become a global leader in innovation, sustainability, and inclusion for students of all backgrounds. To provide the most meaningful experiences and promote student growth both personally and professionally, the university offers over 800 students organizations for involvement and leadership on campus. With a heavy reliance on paper and print materials, large-scale engagement events such as Passport to ASU and Panhellenic Formal Recruitment have become wasteful and inefficient, straying from the goals established by university president, Michael M. Crow. The processes involved within these two events are outdated and limit accessibility for many students, minimizing the opportunity to get involved and connect with their peers. Engage is a company founded by an Arizona State University student, hoping to find feasible solutions to meet the needs and improve the overall student engagement experience. By designing two separate mobile applications for Passport to ASU and Panhellenic Formal Recruitment, Engage has eliminated the need for paper and print materials while simplifying the event processes for incoming students and the organizations. These apps will similarly improve accessibility for all students, allowing users to get involved and connect with peers without limitations such as transportation or time. Innovation is a key focus of Arizona State University, and to stay competitive they must find new ways to improve the student experience and modernize current offerings. Getting involved is often considered one of the defining parts of collegiate life, and the university must work to maximize opportunities and make the transition as effortless and enjoyable as possible. By implementing these two mobile apps, student engagement will reach new heights and realign with the missions Arizona State University was founded upon.

This paper looks at the growth of influencer marketing in application and how it has shifted the relationship between brands and consumers. Barriers to enter the space and methods of practice are discussed and analyzed to project the accessibility of obtaining influencer status. Best practices for brands and influencers are outlined based on research, and key findings are analyzed from interviewed participants that play an active role in the field. Another component of the paper includes the discussion of the significance of platform dependence regarding influencers and brands using social media channels to reach consumers. The dynamic of the relationship that exists between consumers, brands and platforms is demonstrated through a model to demonstrate the interdependence of the relationship. The final component of the paper involves the exploration of the field as an active participant through an experiment that was conducted by the researcher on behalf of the question: can anyone be an influencer? The answer to this question is explored through personal accounts on the journey during an eight month process of testing content creation and promotion to build awareness and increase engagement. The barriers to enter the space as an influencer and to collaborate with brands is addressed through the process of testing tactics and strategies on social channels, along with travel expeditions across Arizona to contribute to content creation purposed into blog articles. The findings throughout the paper are conclusive that the value of influencer marketing is increasing as more brands validate and utilize this method in their marketing efforts.

The consumer decision making process is becoming less complicated, as consumers are turning more and more to social media and peers for reviews and suggestions of new products to purchase. Changes in purchasing trends, along with other external factors, have created a perfect environment for influencer marketing to become more effective for brands than traditional marketing strategies (including television, print, email and radio advertising)—by reaching the right target market with easier ways to track conversion rates and other returns on investment. This thesis looks at the factors that go in to influencer marketing, including why brands utilize this strategy—in terms of budget, returns on investment and best practices for finding the perfect influencers. It also looks at influencer marketing from the view of the influencers themselves. This thesis looks at the spectrum of influence and the motivation and goals of each level—from macro-influencers to micro-influencers and brand advocates. To better understand the research presented in this thesis, a case study of a successful brand, analysis of influencers and a creative project are all presented.

I Am Not A Millennial is an honors thesis project that combines research with a creative application to determine the best practices for companies and advertising agencies. The thesis consists of three main sections: an overview of what a millennial is, bursting the millennial hype bubble, and discussion of whether new targeting techniques, new ideas for content, or new ways of advertising are necessary to engage the Millennial consumer. The thesis will first look at the Millennial Generation to answer the question of "Who are they?" with the emphasis on removing the negative stereotypes from the Millennial generation. This section will be supported by the following section which will discuss the lack of statistical information that truly separates the Millennial generation from its predecessors. Finally, by presenting information on my experiences leading a student-run advertising non profit, case studies, and working within an account management department of an advertising agency, this thesis will present conclusions that advertising agencies and businesses need to develop targeting and content practices that focus in on consumers' interests and tell the story of "why" in order to connect with Millennials.