In Response To Rebecca's Post...

Do you think an experiment like this could happen in the US?

I personally think this is a hilarious commercial put on by TNT. The advertisement is very unique and I have never seen a commercial like it. In that sense it is very eye catching and grabs one’s attention right away. The commercial completely captures TNT’s slogan “We Know Drama” in a very creative way. I think it would be great to see an experiment in the U.S. yet honestly I don’t think it would be able to happen. With all of the laws and regulations set by our government I feel like something like this would end in multiple law suits or an idea for a commercial like this would get turned down right away. However, I do think it would be neat to see commercials in the U.S get more creative like this.

In what way do you think a company could make a creative commercial like this?

In Response to Joe's post...

Do you think it's a good idea for marketers to use product placement?

I think product placement in movies is a great way for companies to market their products. Like Joe had mentioned in his post, most people today don’t like to watch commercials and previews, where most product advertisements occur. People like to get right to the movie or TV show they are watching and with the technology today, people can do this. Many people like to watch their TV shows online and sometimes there may be 30 seconds worth of advertisements, if any. Also today we have things like Netflix where people can go right on their TVs or laptops and select a movie and it starts right away with no previews. DVDs also have a feature that lets you skip previews and get right to the main menu where you can start playing a movie and I along with many other people I am sure do this. However, if the product is places right in the movie or TV show there is no way the consumer can avoid seeing it. It’s right there. Also if people see their favorite actors or actresses using a certain product like Coca Cola for example, then those viewers may want to start drinking Coke. 

Can you think of a product you saw in a movie or TV show multiple times and then went and bought the product?

Using Fragrances as a Marketing Tool...

Have you ever walked by a store and smelt a pleasant ambient scent that drew you in? Many stores, retail in particular, are using this marketing technique to influence consumers buying decisions. Multiple experiments have revealed that a pleasant fragrance positively influences consumers’ affective reactions, evaluations, and intentions to revisit the store. The only downfall of this marketing tactic is that scents in the store may not be desirable for all consumer types, especially if a company has a broadened target market. For example, I am attracted to the scent that comes from the Abercrombie store yet my mother is not. When she goes into the store to purchase an item for me as a gift her shopping time in the store is shortened due to the smell. On the other hand, as a younger consumer who is drawn to the scent my shopping time when I am in the store is prolonged because I do enjoy the scent and it doesn’t bother me; the scent motivates me to keep shopping. Strategically manipulating the store environment via ambient scents is an inexpensive yet effective way to positively influence consumer behavior; however, the decision to diffuse a scent should be based on the target audience.

Can you think of a store that has drawn you in because of a pleasant ambient scent? What do you think the target market of that store consists of?

In Response to Joe's Post...

Do you think Billboard Marketing should be a top choice for marketers to use?

I think billboard marketing should be a choice for marketers to use depending on the target market. People who see billboards are mostly driving on the highways, through major cities in cars. For the most part they are going to have middle to upper income levels since they will need to own a car, so it wouldn’t make sense for a company with a target market consisting of consumers with lower class incomes to use billboards for advertising their product or service. Also, if a company’s target market consists of younger children whom don’t have the ability to drive, then the company should probably consider using a different form of marketing that could actually reach their target market, rather than a Billboard that may not be seen by younger children. However, I think billboard marketing should definitely be a top choice for marketers to use if they know their target markets will see the billboards because it is very cost effective and efficient.

Can you think of a Billboard that you saw once that really caught your eye? What about the Billboard made it appealing to you?

Odd-Even Pricing...

Have you ever had more of a desire to buy a product priced at $19.99 rather than $20.00 thinking that you were getting a good deal? Or what about when deciding between two brands of the same product you bought the $20.00 one rather than the $19.99 one thinking the $20.00 one was of better quality? This is a popular psychological pricing method known as odd-even pricing based on the belief that certain prices are more appealing to buyers. This method involves setting a price in odd numbers, just under round even numbers, to make people think they are getting a better deal. Or if a company is looking to present an image of high quality for their product they may decide to price the product at even levels, which is also known as prestige pricing. Prestige pricing is another psychological pricing method that involves setting a higher price to ensure higher quality compared to a lower priced product. An example of this would be a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses is usually priced around $150.00 as opposed to a cheaper pair that one may find at Walmart priced at $9.99. Ray Ban prices their sunglasses at a higher price ending in even numbers to promote high quality and Walmart prices the sunglasses at $9.99 to promote a bargain.

Can you think of a product you recently bought because it was priced in odd numbers? When buying it did you think the price was lower than it really was?

In Response to Rebecca's Post...

If this trend continues, what kinds of things will you do in order to cut back on the money you spend weekly on gas? Do you think that people will change their lifestyles to save money? 

The increase we have seen in gas prices already is astonishing. Yesterday when I went for a walk in the morning I saw the price of gas to be $3.99/gallon and when I walked by the same gas station just 3 hours later it had already gone up to $4.02/gallon! As Rebecca stated in her post, gas has an inelastic demand for it since people need to purchase it no matter what happens to the price. I do feel however that even though the demand for gas is inelastic, people will try to cut back on consuming it by carpooling and taking other means of transportation. Recently I took the Amtrak train to Burlington, VT from Brattleboro, VT and the price of a ticket each way was only $12 making the roundtrip to be $24. When I drove to Burlington from Keene about a month ago I spent about $50 in gas total. Taking the train is clearly much cheaper than driving a car and I will now try to take the train whenever I can in order to cut back on the money I would be spending on gas. I definitely think other people will start trying to change the way they go about their daily lives in order to conserve gas.

What is another major product you can think of with an inelastic demand? If the price of this item increases do you think consumers will find ways to conserve their overall use of the product?

Top Brand In The World

As of the start of 2012, Apple Inc. became the top brand of the world putting Google in second place. The value of the enterprise is at $350,257 million and Apple's brand value is worth over $70,605 million, up about $40,000 million from 2011. Apple sells everything from smart phones to digital music and is best known for its Macintosh computers and iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Apple is the most valuable technology company, surpassing Microsoft. Microsoft dominated the business world providing goods and services that satisfied the needs of businesses, yet Apple's focus is on satisfying consumers wants and needs and this clearly generates the largest revenue. There are four distinct components of brand value which include reputation value, relationship value, experiential value, and symbolic value. Apple has become the most successful brand because they possess great value within these four components. Apple is always improving it's products and coming out with new versions of products that sell well. This helps create a great brand loyalty which Apple has with each of its consumers and has given Apple a good reputation value. People rarely complain with their Apple products and people have such a good experience with their Apple products that when a new version is released, they demand it and this has given the brand a good experiential value. Consumers find the Apple brand to be very reliable, and Apple provides good value for the money that is exchanged for their products which has helped establish a good relationship value with its consumers. And lastly, the Apple brand has a symbolic value which consists of being "the best of the best". When people see the Apple symbol on products they know that the product is   an Apple product and is of high quality and is worth a good amount of money.

When you see the Apple symbol/logo what do you think of? What are your first thoughts that come to mind about the brand or product?

In Response to Rebecca's Post..

What are some of the reasons that you think Domino’s is so much more successful than Pizza Hut?

In my opinion Domino’s is much more successful than Pizza Hut for many reasons. Domino’s seems to offer more deals and promotions like the 5-5-5 deal and they advertise their promotions much more frequently, especially on T.V. in commercials. Domino’s is open later hours than Pizza Hut which makes their food more convenient for customers such as college students. As for the Domino’s in Keene, college students are the majority of their consumers and being open til 1 am during the week and 3 am on the weekends brings in more sales because late nights are the times students want to order pizza. Pizza Hut on the other hand is only open until 10 pm and this does not meet college student’s needs. Also, Pizza Hut and Domino’s offer online ordering, yet Domino’s website provides an online tracking system where you can watch the process of your order and see when it’s done cooking. Domino’s also has won “Chain of the Year” two consecutive years and this I’m sure has helped their reputation. In December of 2009 Domino’s also came out with a new pizza recipe and they had a corresponding advertising campaign featuring real customers and employees talking about their great experiences with the new recipe which helped boost sales.

What marketing tactics do you think Pizza Hut could take on in order to be more successful than Domino's?

Starbucks: Premium Quality Coffee

Starbucks is one of the first companies that come to mind when I think of successful product positioning. For those of you who don’t know, product positioning is a marketing technique which involves creating a unique, consistent, and recognized customer perception about a firm’s offering and image. In other words, it involves creating and maintaining a certain concept of a product in the customer’s eyes. However, before creating the product position the company must determine the market segment they want to target their product or service to. In this case, Starbucks decided to mainly target office workers with middle to high incomes and in turn the company provides premium products with a place people can go between work and home and relax gather and socialize. Within the walls of Starbucks you can find comfortable furniture and tables and they serve multiple different coffee drinks and pastries that are associated with a high price to show their high quality. This is how Starbucks wanted its products and services to be perceived. Starbucks maintains a premium quality image by carefully monitoring each and every step of coffee production. They buy dark-roast whole bean coffee from countries like Costa Rica, Sumatra, and Kenya and then roast the coffee beans in their own plants and sell them only through company-owned stores. Starbucks also provides excellent service and they are always making sure customers are more than satisfied. 

What is the first company that comes to mind when you think of product positioning? How does the company create a unique and consistent customer perception of their product or service?

In Response to Danielle’s Post

What do you think of brands advertising on campus, through student ambassadors or sponsored activities? Should colleges allow this sort of thing, or should campuses be kept as ad-free as possible?

In my opinion what American Eagle and Target did at the University of North Carolina was a very smart marketing tactic. I think all companies whose target market consists of college students should consider implementing this type of advertising into their marketing plan. I agree with Danielle that college students don’t want to be advertised to and when it comes to seeing ads their focus is mainly on whether the advertisement is “cool” or not. However, I think through student ambassadors and sponsored activities, companies can reach their target market of students in the most effective way. Many college students try to keep up with the latest trends and they influence each other’s styles so they are more likely going to listen to their peers rather than adult marketers. I think colleges should allow this type of marketing and I don’t see any harm in these marketing practices. However, I do think that colleges need to put a limit on how many companies can use their campuses for advertising their brands because it could become very distracting for students if their campus becomes a huge marketing central. 

What other on campus tactics so you think companies could use to market their products effectively towards college students?

Marketing in a Consumer Market vs. Business Market

Markets fall into two categories: consumer markets and business markets. A consumer market consists of purchasers and household members who intend to consume or benefit from the purchased products and they do not buy products to make profits. Business markets consist of individuals or groups that purchase a specific kind of product for resale, direct use in producing other products, or use in general daily operations. One can imagine the marketing strategies for these two markets have to be different since the needs, wants and buying procedures are different for the markets. Generally business markets are more likely to be price driven and consumer markets are more brand driven. Therefore, a company selling to another business may want to focus more on promoting why what they have to offer is worth the price, and have the price be the focus of their advertising. Whereas a company selling to a consumer may want to focus more on promoting their brand name, making it the focus of their advertisements. Also, for consumer markets the customer is usually very distant from the manufacturer/company making the product therefore businesses in consumer markets need to use mass communication and distribution tools to market their products/services. In business markets on the other hand, the customer is much closer and the manufacturer has a lot more knowledge of the customer and may market through personal selling techniques rather than mass communication. 

Do you think companies in a consumer market spend more money on marketing than companies in a business market?

Best Cities For Marketing Jobs...

            Have you ever thought about where the best places in the United States are to find a marketing job? Recently I was thinking about if I were to get a job in marketing, where should I go? According to an article found on Forbes.com, New York City seems to offer the most marketing positions for unemployed marketing professionals. Employers in the New York metro area are looking to fill 2,478 marketing positions across a range of industries. New York is a major hot spot for the media and advertising industries which have been experiencing a major increase in marketing opportunities in media and digital marketing. Employers throughout New York especially want marketers who possess new skills in search engine marketing and emerging media and these marketers will have greater opportunities. Also, the west coast is providing many marketing opportunities as well. San Jose employers are looking to fill 1,278 marketing positions, putting this city in the No. 2 spot and trailing right behind is San Francisco, with 1,266 job openings.

Would you like to have a career in marketing one day? If so, where do you think you will move in order to obtain a marketing position?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2011/07/13/the-best-cities-for-marketing-jobs/

In response to Kathleen Johnson...

Should John smith sell the names? (Be sure to answer the poll to the left of this post.) Also, Does the AMA Statement of Ethics address this issue? Go to the AMA website (American Marketing Association) and look at their Statement of Ethics. What in the Statement relates to John Smith's dilemma?

According to the AMA's Statement of Ethics on their website, under "fairness" it states, "Avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest. Seek to protect the private information of customers, employees and partners." If John Smith were to sell the names and phone numbers of people saying they would likely buy a new car then he would be going against the AMA's statement of ethics. This action would be unethical and it could hurt his companies reputation if he were to go through with it. If John Smith's marketing research firm is already on the verge of going bankrupt, I think performing an action like this would just end up hurting the company even more and they would be even more likely to go bankrupt since no one would want to hire them knowing they are an unethical company and they would lose all business.

Can you think of a company that has gone through with an unethical action and later ended up bankrupt?

Have you heard of LinkedIn?

Recently I was introduced to a social networking website called LinkedIn and I think it is very important for anyone working in the business field to know about it. LinkedIn has become one of the fastest growing social networking sites in the world. It is not as big as its competitors Facebook and Twitter are; however, it has an advantage by being unique and catering to business professionals. LinkedIn is basically the Facebook of business. LinkedIn is a site where you can keep a professional profile of yourself and you can stay in touch with past and present colleagues and classmates by having the ability to find them quickly. On LinkedIn you can look for career opportunities, win new clients, and even build your professional reputation. The site connects you to jobs, sales leads and ideal business partners. In 2010 the number of people searches on LinkedIn was 2 billion and the site has over 120 million members and counting. This goes to show you that many people in the business world are using it. LinkedIn is a great place to market yourself and if you don't have a LinkedIn account already, you should consider creating one.

Do you have a LinkedIn account? If you do, what opportunities have you gained from it? If you do not have a LinkedIn account, are you going to consider getting one and what do you hope to gain from it?

http://learn.linkedin.com/what-is-linkedin/

In response to Rebecca...

What companies can you think of that need to improve their ethical standards?

Few people may know that behind the smiles of Ronald McDonald and Happy Meals, lays a company with many unethical practices. Not only does McDonalds sell products that contribute to heart disease and the high obesity rate, but a typical fast food hamburger patty can contain meat from more than 1000 different cattle. McDonalds has a negative impact on the environment because this corporation is destroying natural rainforests by purchasing meat from privatized farms that raise these cattle on land that was once a rainforest. Not only does McDonalds treat the environment poorly, but they also treat their employees poorly. McDonald’s employees are underpaid for the amount of time they work and this goes into illegal amounts of labor hours. Many employees also have to work in unsanitary conditions. Also in 2006, 15 McDonalds across Japan had an apple pie recall due to the use of an illegal food coloring agent and in June the same year a woman in Southlake, Texas found a rat in her salad and McDonald’s didn’t even apologize! Clearly McDonald’s has many problems with their ethical standards and these need to be improved if McDonald’s wants a better reputation.

Can you think of a company that has gone out of business due to unethical practices?

Flash Mobs: A Great Marketing Technique

When I first saw this video of what is known as a “flash mob” for the T mobile cell phone company I was stunned. I had never seen one of these flash mobs before and I immediately thought to myself how it is such a good marketing technique. A flash mob consists of a large group of people who suddenly assemble in a public place and perform an unusual act for a brief time and then disperse. In this video an abundant amount of people get together in the middle of the Liverpool Street Station and start dancing for a couple of minutes. At the end of their performance they shout “Go T Mobile” and then everyone disperses and goes back to doing whatever is it that they were doing. This is a great marketing strategy because it captivates an unsuspecting audience by capturing consumers’ attention and holding it by entertaining the consumers. Flash mobs also reach fragmented audiences because in a highly populated place like this train station for example, people of all ages are going to be walking by and all segments of a target market can be reached through a performance like this. I think more companies should use flash mobs as a way of marketing, and I hope to see one with my own eyes one day.

Flash mobs have become less popular today, why do you think that is? Do you think a flash mob is a good marketing technique?