In response to Bruce Wichland's Post...

"What did you take away from this class that will help you in the future?"

I have taken away many valuable lessons from this course that have the potential to help me in the future. Not only did I learn many concepts that may help me as a consumer looking to purchase products but I also learned many things that could help me as an owner of a business. I learned that it is important for a marketer to have a target market in which they aim their marketing efforts toward. The marketing mix is made up of four different variables: price, place (distribution), promotion, and product. Marketing managers decide how much of each variable to use in order to meet the needs of their consumers. It is important for marketers to have a target market and marketing mix to ensure their company will be successful when launching new products. Therefore, before creating the marketing mix, marketers must collect in-depth, up-to-date information regarding consumer needs.

Target market and the marketing mix are just a few of the many concepts I will take away from this course. I have learned many important factors regarding price and how to determine and maintain a price that will generate profit yet keep up with the competition. I learned that electronic marketing may be cheaper than direct mail but does not necessarily have more benefits. One of the most valuable tools a company should use in evaluating their company is the SWOT analysis. It is important for companies to be able to locate their threats and turn them into opportunities and use their strengths to their advantage against their competition.

Moving away from marketing concepts that will help me in the future, I also learned about different social networking sites that companies use to communicate with their consumers. Websites such as facebook, skype, twitter, wikia, blogger etc, are all utilized by different companies who want to get their products known. These websites also provide a place for consumers to talk about the products, what they like, what they didn't like and allows for feedback from the company. Some of the websites even offered different promotions. For example, Starbucks offered a promotion on Twitter, "bring in your own to-go cup and get it filled for free." This promotion was promoted to support their environmental awareness. It is important for companies to keep up with today's technology because it is an excellent way to communicate with your consumers and promote your products.

What is the most important concept you are taking away from this intro to marketing course?

Why Do Customers Tattoo their Bodies with the Brands They Love?

An article in which I recently read, Why Do Customers Tattoo their Bodies with the Brands They Love, talks about customers who take brand loyalty to the next level. Brand loyalty is a customer's favorable attitude toward a specific brand. Most consumers have at least one brand they consistently buy either a the grocery store or on a shopping trip to the mall. However, this article deals with consumers who take brand loyalty far beyond just buying the brand. These consumers actually went as far as getting the brand logo tattoo on their bodies. Most people would think, who would actually do that? Well, it is actually occurring more than you think. Companies such as Harley Davidson, Nike, Playboy, Coca-Cola, VW and Apple are doing something to drive the customers wild, because more and more consumers are getting their logos permanently placed on their bodies.

As the article puts it, "people branded themselves with tattoos to mark themselves as different and to challenge the status quo." It is ironic that people are branding themselves with brand logos. By consumers completing this act, its meaning is "branded into the soul." The article lists three psychological reasons consumers brand themselves with tattoos of companies they love: 1) Membership into social groups. By doing this it helps customers find a common interest in a social group. 2) Finding meaningful associations. By having a branded tattoo it reminds the customer of their personal values. 3) Connecting with ideals. Branded tattoos are reminders of the customers ideal life.

If you are just as shocked as me, read the article. There really are people like this out there that do take brand loyalty this seriously. What do you think? Do you know someone with a brand logo tattoo? Would you, yourself ever consider getting one?

http://www.marketingpower2.com/blog/marketingnews/2010/04/why_do_customers_tattoo_themselves_with_the_brands_they_love.html#more

In response to Chris' post...

"Do you think price is always an important role? Or does it sometimes not matter? How important is it for a company to scout out competitor's prices and adjust as needed?

I believe price is a very important component to a company. It tends to be the main driver to the overall success of a company. Many consumers, especially in today's economy are looking for the lowest prices with any product they purchase. For example, if a consumer sees that Hannaford's is selling a jar of peanut butter for $4, but is a loyal customer at Shaw's where the peanut butter is $5.50, the consumer may begin to think that products at Shaw's may be overpriced. Therefore, it is important for a company to check out the competitor's prices, that way they can either match the competitors or lower their prices. I personally always look for the lowest prices, especially when it comes to products in the grocery store. Price is something that affects any consumer, therefore it should be one of their main concerns when purchasing a product. When buying a product of more value, such as a car, the consumer is most likely going to shop around and learn about the features being offered for a variety of cars. People want the most for their money, because money is such a scarce asset these days.

Do you think companies such as Shaw's and Hannaford's should put into effect the "matching" rule, where they match the competitor's prices? Or do you believe that will have a negative effect on the overall profit?

"Can't Buy my Love"

Currently I am reading a book named, Can't Buy my Love, by Jean Kilbourne, and it is about how advertising changes the way we think and feel. The book talks about thousands of different radio, television, magazine and newspaper ads that have been published in the past few decades. I was astonished to read about the basis behind some of the advertisements.

One of the most surprising categories I read about was automotive sales advertisements. Many ads today represent the car as not only a sex symbol but also a substitute for sex. Some of the ads read as followed; "after Lumina satisfies what you need, it quickly responds to what you want." A Mercedes-Benz ad picture Marilyn Monroe's face with the Mercedes symbol replacing her famous mole above her lip. A Toyota Celica was described as having "vivacious curves, a shimmering body and .. striking good looks." It is amazing that one -third of the land in our cities is devoted to cars and that Americans today are spending more money on driving each year than on health, education or food. Automotive marketers are spending $12.8 billion a year in media. What I found to be even more shocking was that the top three automakers were spending over six billion dollars a year on advertising. Some of the automotive ads go beyond comparing a car to a partner, but compare your child to your car. One ad featured a wallet with a picture on each side when you opened it, one of two children and a dog and another of a car. The caption below the picture reads, "if anybody should ask, go ahead and show them your pride and joy. The Civic 4-Door." At first glance of that ad someone would probably think the ad is referring to the person's children, but in-fact the ad is referring to their car because cars are much less trouble compared to children.

The book does an efficient job of demonstrating how advertising does influence everyone whether they realize it or not. Companies are spending over $200 billion a year on advertising, $250,000 just to produce an "average" commercial, so whether you like it or not these advertising are reaching you, and making you think in a different fashion. Marketers have a strapping set of skills which allow them to draw consumers in without making them feel as though they have been "captured" by media. What do you think? Do you think some advertisements are inappropriate or are they just adding humor to attract more consumers? Do you feel like you personally are affected by advertising?

In response to Bruce Wichland's Post...

"Which major media source do you think is best? If you were a company looking to advertise, which media source would you use?"

According to the business dictionary, advertising is the non-personal communication from an identified sponsor using mass media. Through advertising, companies can get their products and services known to the public. I believe that two of the most useful ways to advertise are through television and direct mail. If my company was brainstorming ways in which they could go about advertising, I would use television and direct-mail as my two advertising techniques.

Television advertising reaches out to a larger audience at one time compared to local radio and newspaper advertising. Also, as Bruce mentioned, television has the advantage of both audio and visual components. By having an advertisement on television shows that your business is willing to spend the money to get your product out there. It makes your product or service look creditable due to the fact that with television you can be as creative as you want and almost create a "personality" for your business. I bet you can think of at least three television advertisements that have clicked in your head, whether or not you have ever purchased that product or service, I am willing to bet you can either recite a number or phrase from the commercial. Television has a unique way of making users remember different things, and repetition may be one of the strongest marketing techniques when it comes to advertising. The more you hear a phrase, the more it becomes engraved in your mind.

Another efficient way to advertise is through direct mail. Direct mail may be one of the oldest techniques and considered to be "out dated" to some consumers, however I believe it is still a very useful tool for advertising. Direct mail has many advantages over other advertising techniques. Direct mail is a personal, targeted way of attracting customers without having to compete with other competitor's ads. Instead of sending e-mails out to every user possible, direct mail makes it easier to send advertisements out to the customers who really have value to your company, giving the customer more of a personalized touch. Another advantage over electronic advertising is that with direct mail, you have more of a chance of the customer opening the physical copy of the advertisement, compared to the electric copy where they can simply press "delete" without even opening the e-mail.

What do you think? Do you think direct mail is out-dated and not useful anymore? Which advertising technique do you find most essential?

Twitter as the newest marketing tool

I recently read an article titled, Twitter debuts Promoted Tweets: Virgin America, Starbucks among the first to use service. The author tells about some companies that are using Twitter as a new way to market their companies. According to Porter Gale, VP of marketing for Virgin America stated "the people who follow us want to fly us and want good deals, so we are rewarding our best customers for following us." The purpose of these companies joining Twitter is so they can "enhance their conversation with existing followers." One ad you can locate under the Virgin America page reads as follows, "Send us Your Best Geek Moment", where various users would then send in pictures of themselves trying to use new technology. This is an opportunity for companies to really interact with their customers on a different level besides through websites and in store interactions.

Starbucks, one of the first companies to sign up for this new Twitter phenomena posted an ad that read "on 4/15 bring a reusable tumbler and we'll fill it with brewed coffee for free. Let's all switch from paper cups." Also, there is a link under the ad that tells about Starbuck's environmental philosophy. I found this to be the most interesting point in the article because after all the research we have done on Panera, it is interesting to see what the competition is doing to promote themselves to the public more.

The article states, "brands have to approach this as an opportunity to create dialogue and value." I believe that Twitter could be an opportunity for many companies to promote their business and get themselves out there more. What do you think? Do you think Twitter will become the new Facebook? Do you think all companies will begin to "Tweet?"

If you are interested in reading the article, here is the link:

http://www.dmnews.com/twitter-debuts-promoted-tweets-virgin-america-starbucks-among-first-to-use-service/article/167885/

In response to Bruce Wichland's Post...

"How do you feel? Do you come to expect certain things from certain brands? Do you prefer and insist on certain brands or are you open to anything?"

I agree with Bruce with the fact that many individuals grow up to appreciate one brand over another, and much of that may be due to the way in which you were raised. This brings up the idea of brand loyalty, a customer's favorable attitude toward a specific brand. Customer satisfaction with a brand is a huge requirement in order for that customer to remain "loyal" to your brand.

I believe that many individuals have preferences on what brands they buy. When shopping for shampoo, I rather purchase Biolage over Herbal Essence. Growing up, my family owned three Toyota vehicles, therefore I am now familiar with their products and would potentially want to shop for one myself someday. I do expect certain things from certain brands because if you are continually purchasing their brands, you expect to get positive attributes back from it. With the recent problems with Toyota, it has made me wonder if I should still remain loyal to their company or not. However, after such a positive track record for the past fifteen years with my family, one problem streak should not affect my perception of the last fifteen years of quality service with Toyota.

If you were in my families position with Toyota after owning three vehicles for the past fifteen years, would your perception of their company change after the recent problems they have been going through?