@samara-grossel
Active 2 days, 13 hours ago-
Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 4 days, 9 hours ago
Hi Arpana,
Thanks for sharing! This is definitely a stunning commercial and I also had to take a double take that this was real footage. I do have a fear of heights and was so nervous watching her standing there, so glad they took the necessary safety protocols. A commercial like this is memorable and makes me better understand why Emirates has…[Read more]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, R.I.P. to Uber Rewards, on the site Social Media Innovation MIS 5603 Fall 2022 1 week, 2 days ago
As someone living in the city without a car, I use Uber a lot when somewhere is inconvenient via public transit or it’s late at night (for safety reasons). I accumulated a lot of Uber rewards over time, and I’ll […]
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Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 week, 4 days ago
Hi Jason,
Strategic Marketing + Communications member here who is not offended! I personally have never experimented with pencil AI, but think it’s a unique concept that will have implications for the creative marketing industry moving forward. I’m curious to see once this grows in popularity how it might change processes within my department…[Read more]
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Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 week, 4 days ago
Hey Hannah,
Great post! I used to be an avid Starbucks drinker and used their rewards all the time. Now, I actually go to my local coffee shop down the street and use points applied to my credit card. No app is even necessary, the discount is automatically available when I pay for something (if I have one) and I have the option to use it or…[Read more]
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Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 week, 4 days ago
Hi Janice,
I completely know the feeling. I was at Whole Foods yesterday scrambling to pull up my Amazon discount code and panicked in the self checkout line that I needed to download the separate Whole Foods app. This is a very interesting topic, as we all have so many apps on our phones and are constantly downloading more. I remember when I…[Read more]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, Gen z, social media, and the 2022 midterm election, on the site Samara Grossel 2 weeks, 5 days ago
The 2022 midterm elections have been dominating the news. Regardless of your personal political opinion, the prediction of what many analysts were calling a “red wave” fell short once all of the election results […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, Is Netflix just another cable company?, on the site Samara Grossel 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Regardless of your personal opinion on Netflix, the company has achieved a lot in terms of shaking up the cable industry. What started as a small rentable DVD company in 1997 turned into one one of the world’s […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, Is location sharing now the norm?, on the site Samara Grossel 2 months, 2 weeks ago
For the past decade or so, location sharing has been a hot topic of discussion. I remember when I first saw Snapchat maps, I was shocked at the ability to easily see my friend’s locations on the map. I freaked out […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, Agile and higher ed, on the site Samara Grossel 4 months, 1 week ago
As someone who works in higher education, I am constantly looking at cycles. My primary scope of work is Temple University’s undergraduate enrollment cycle, where I work closely with members of my team to recruit […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, Introducing a new project management system, on the site Samara Grossel 4 months, 1 week ago
Over the past two years, I’ve used my fair share of project management systems. At my first job out of college I used Asana, which I found super user-friendly and easy to keep track of my projects. I loved how I […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, When UI gets ignored, on the site Samara Grossel 4 months, 2 weeks ago
When it comes to UX and UI, something that boggles my mind is how often this component gets ignored. The first week of the semester, we collectively took a look at Zara’s website and went over how poor the user […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, Are you ready for the metaverse?, on the site Samara Grossel 7 months, 2 weeks ago
In my original blog post, I wrote about Heineken’s publicity stunt in the metaverse and how the brand launched a virtual beer to bring the community together. After reading about this publicity stunt, I decided to […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, When censoring customer reviews backfires, on the site Samara Grossel 9 months, 3 weeks ago
In the age of online shopping (and instant gratification), something that I always find interesting is reading individual customer reviews relating to specific products or services. Reviews are more important than […]
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Samara Grossel wrote a new post, QR codes: Should they stay or should they go?, on the site Samara Grossel 1 year ago
Love them or hate them, QR codes are nothing new. In fact, they’ve been around since 1994 and were on the rapid decline—until the pandemic shook things up. They used to be a lot harder to use, too, before we cou […]
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Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 year ago
Hi Chelle,
Thank you for bringing this up! I always find myself stressed out from too much screen time…and then watch three hours of Netflix to “unwind” and spend even more time in front of a screen. I’ve tried meditation on and off, but haven’t been able to get into the habit of doing it regularly. It’s hard to resist the urge to constantly…[Read more]
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Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 year ago
Hey Brianna,
This is such a fascinating find! As someone that loves the experience of live music, I love this idea. The vibrations of music can definitely have an uplifting effect on people, but I would have never thought to turn it into a wearable clothing item. I could see these shirts being used in a variety of settings from being studied in…[Read more]
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Gabby Gutierrez and
Samara Grossel are now friends 1 year ago -
Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 year, 1 month ago
Hi Kate,
We discussed this during our group project, and I love this idea so much! There’s a new community fridge that they just put in my neighborhood and I haven’t seen anyone use it (either to donate or take food). My roommates and I actually had some extra food a few weeks ago and decided to check it out. The fridge had been basically…[Read more]
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Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 year, 1 month ago
Hi Brianna,
This is such a hot button issue at the moment and has been gaining traction on social media. Last week, I saw so many of my followers post graphics depicting how the U.S. is the only country that doesn’t offer parental leave. Other countries offer this benefit to both parents with the promise of returning to their previous job…[Read more]
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Samara Grossel posted a new activity comment 1 year, 1 month ago
Hi Megan,
This is so interesting! I had no idea something like this existed, but I think it makes a lot of sense and would appeal to a lot of consumers. You mentioned how COVID-19 has changed customer shopping habits, and the rise in popularity of this particular type of technology is the perfect example of it. I would much rather have my face…[Read more]
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I for one have a love/hate relationship with Uber. I prefer to use the ridesharing app way more than others, but I hate how shady it is so this is no surprise that they have eradicated their points system. I was not aware of this transition, nor did I even know how many points I racked up. Ultimately, I believe this was a good decision for Uber because I’m sure there was nothing to gain by giving customers points to use in leu of monetary transactions. However, it seems as if it has already angered their consumer base, something that might make some chose lyft the next time they need a ride. I for one swear by Philadelphia’s public transit system and would rather walk then pay 20 dollars for an 8 minute ride!
Hi Samara,
Thank you for sharing this because I didn’t even notice that I no longer have Uber rewards on my Uber account. Once I read this post, I went straight to my phone and checked on it and noticed that the rewards tab is now gone. I have the Uber one program, but I always ignored it. I had over 30,000 points so I am kind of upset about this! If I knew it was going away, I would of used those points! I am in a similar living situation as you. I use uber anywhere between 5-10 times a week. I am sure many other customers that are city living are also outraged by this news! Uber one seems like Uber’s way to still get us to get discounts (even though its $10 a month, so it is really discounted?”. I am interested to see how they will handle this backlash. I can see this decision hurting them in the future. Many people, myself included, used those rewards to cheapen our rides. Now if I want a discount, I have to pay $10 a month? That is a no from this customer.
I haven’t lived in the city since college, so I haven’t used Uber as frequently as I used to, so I wasn’t aware at all of this switch. I don’t like the subscription roads that so many companies and apps are taking. It actually makes me not want to use the app at all and just switch to Lyft. I was not aware of the shift, but I’m sure Uber handled the change well, but I just don’t think that people are taking the news well, and neither am I. I definitely think that the social media backlash is going to create some issues for Uber because when I am looking something up about a company I tend to turn to social media to learn about them, so I’m assuming that others do the same too. I think this subscription addition will ultimately hurt Uber, and drive users to other apps instead of Uber.
Interesting read, Samara! While not an avid UBER ride, I wasn’t aware of this (and, admittedly, have no clue how many points I have!). From your perspective, I would be frustrated. Instead of wiping those points, I think they should have at least allowed you to use what you’ve banked first. I’m also not fond of the paying for points model. Previously, you had an incentive to use UBER over other ride sharing app (you pay for your ride or order delivery through UBER Eats and, in turn, you earn points). Having to pay for this subscription on top of the transaction doesn’t appear fruitful for the customer.
Hey Samara, Great read.
I use uber a lot when I go on business trips but I was not aware of this change. I can imagine many users are upset and angry that they made changes. They handles their shift in business model poorly as they should had notified their consumers better. I do not think this change will affect them financial as I can assume they own the majority of market share but it is a bad example for smaller companies to follow.
Hi Samara, I hadn’t heard that they were getting rid of their rewards program either. I wouldn’t be surprised if they purposely didn’t market this as well as they could. Definitely would have been a down quarter had everyone used all their rewards.