Implementation Evaluation Control

Planning a good marketing strategy is only a start towards successful marketing. If a company fails to implement the marketing strategies properly, things may not go as planned. “Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 57). Marketing implementation addresses  the who, where, when, and how’s. “Many managers think that doing things right is as important as or even more important than doing the right things. The fact is that both are critical to success and companies can gain competitive advantages through effective implementation.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 57). People at all levels of the marketing system must work together to implement your marketing strategy and make your plan work. There must be direct lines of communication to make this happen. Most companies now days are focusing their attention from brand management towards customer management. “They are moving away from managing just product or brand profitability and towards managing customer profitability and customer equity.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 58).  At Clinique we think this is a great way to implement our marketing strategy. We think of ourselves not as managing portfolios of brands but as managing portfolios of customers. Bottom line if you keep your customers happy and keep them coming back for your quality products, this will keep your company going strong.

“Many times surprises occur during the implementation of marketing strategies and plans, marketers must practice constant marketing control. Marketing control is the process of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing strategies and plans and taking corrective actions to ensure that objectives are achieved” (Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing.10^th Edition. Printed page 58).

At Clinique we are setting specific marketing goals, and then are measuring our goals for performance in the marketplace. We will evaluate to see if it causes any differences between the expected goals and actual performances. After all the measuring and evaluations, we will have our management take corrective actions to close any gaps between our goals and performances set forth in our original marketing plans. “The purpose of these controls is to ensure that the company achieves the sales, profits, and other goals set out in the marketing strategy.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 58).

Marketing Mix: Distribution

Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. “A marketing channel or distribution channel is a set of independent organizations that helps make a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 311). Companies many times pay little attention to their distribution channels and sometimes end up with damaging results. “A company must design its distribution channels carefully, and keep an eye on tomorrows market as well as what is going with today’s.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 312). Yesterday the market was only beginning to use online sales, today it is becoming the fastest way to buy products. By tomorrow it may be the only way to purchase an item. So a company of today has to keep a close eye on what is happening in the world today and the upcoming future. Things are rapidly changing as the computer world grows.  It is easy for a company to change the other three elements of the marketing mix (product, price, and promotion) at any time or any day. But when distribution channels decisions are made with a particular firm and contracts set up for a long term commitment, many times they are not easily broken or changed.

At Clinique we are going to use the indirect marketing channel. “An indirect marketing channel contains one or more intermediary channels.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 314). This basically means we sell our products to different places like Sephora, Dillards, Macys and Saks Fifth Avenue.  They will sell our products to their consumers for us and also run marketing ads. On our official Clinique website we will be selling our products using the direct marketing channel. “A direct marketing channel is one that has no intermediary levels.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printing page 314). Consumers will be buying our products straight from our company through the web and we will be distributing it to them ourselves

Marketing Mix: Promotion

“Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 54). Big companies spend millions and millions of dollars each year on US advertising to tell consumers about their company and its many products. Promotion can be better described as communication. “It is the link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing or persuading potential buyers purchasing decisions with promotions.” (Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. Printed page 54). In today’s market people tend to find a product they like and stick with it. If your product is consistently of good quality and is offered at a valuable price for what you are getting, most likely you can keep the customer coming back.

Many times there are incentives included in purchasing a product like discounts of buy one get one free. "Some think this increases the sales of a product, but what it can do is cheapen a brand. It is better to persuade a customer to pay a higher price for your company’s brand and justify it by the greater value they will gain by using your quality product.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. Printed page 275).

Clinique does not discount its products to gain customers. We have a recognizable, quality brand that has gained its name by its quality products.  One thing we do is run a special three times a year in some of the department stores that carry our products. This special includes a free gift with a substantial purchase. The gift includes a small bag bearing our logo and a few small samples of our products. We do this only to introduce any new products we may have or to boost sales on items that may not be selling. It gives our existing customers the chance to try something new and any new customers the chance to try our products for the first time. We do not lose any money because the consumer still has to purchase items to get the sample gift bag. Offering the small sample of our newest products is at a very low cost to our company.  The only other special offer we do is give our customers a free makeover using our products at any of our Clinique cosmetic sales counters.  We gain more customers through these two types of promotions yearly.

As far as any type of advertising, our company includes flyers in the weekly newspapers prior to running our gift with purchase promotion.  We also run monthly ads for our men’s line of facial products in all the men’s magazines like GQ.

This is a new Ad we plan on putting in all the mens magazines we advertize in. This will make the April edition.

 Clinique has ventured out into the social networking sites like Face book, where we have a page of our own and do advertising on there also (http://www.facebook.com/clinique?ref=ts&sk=app_192391640772038#!/clinique?sk=app_10531514314). We pride ourselves on always trying to stay up with the latest trends for advertising today. Our brand is recognizable world wide so we always offer a quality product to keep our customers coming back.

Marketing Mix: Price

“Customers are interested in more than just price; they are interested in the total cost of obtaining, using and disposing of a product.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. !0^th Edition. Printed page 54).

Pricing is the process of determining what a company will receive in exchange for its products. Factors for setting your price include; manufacturing costs, market place, competitors prices, and the quality of your products. “Pricing is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue; all the other elements represent costs.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 275).  Historically, pricing has played the major factor affecting if a buyer chooses to buy your product. “In recent decades, non price factors have gained increasing importance. However, pricing still remains one of the most important elements determining a firm marketing share and profitability.” (Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 275). Clinique tries to keep all of its products at a competitive rate of pricing. We have a quality product and have done much research to price all of our products competitively. The needs of a consumer can be converted into demand if you offer a great product that keeps the consumer wanting more and more. This makes the demand go up no matter what you’re pricing.

Our New Men’s 3-step System is priced as such:

Sold Separately:

The Cleanser: as a Face Soap is $13.00         as a Liquid Wash is $15.00

The Exfoliate is $13.00

The Moisturizer is $21.00

You can purchase the whole 3-Step Kit System for only $40.00, which will save you approximately $10.00.  This is the only discount we offer on our products. We do not cut our prices because we do not want to cheapen our brand, and reducing prices can lead to lose of profits or damaging price wars.  The only other offer we give is through our website(http://www.clinique.com/cms/product/supercat/offers_compship.tmpl). If you purchase our products online we offer Complimentary Standard Shipping or you can save on a shipping upgrade with any purchase over $40.00.

Marketing Mix: Product

Clinique has a very complex product portfolio. “A product portfolio or product mix consists of all the product lines and items that a particular seller offers for sale.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 220). They are mainly known for their lines of women’s cosmetics and facial cleansers. Clinique is expanding their products to now reach the other half of the population. They have come up with the new line of men’s facial products to do just that. “A product line is a group of products that are closely related because they function in a similar manner, are sold to the same customer groups, are marketed through the same types of outlets or fall within given price ranges.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 219). A company can expand its product line in two ways by line filling or by line stretching. Companies do this to reach extra profits, satisfy dealers, use excess capacity or to keep out competitors.

“Marketers see themselves as selling products; customers see themselves as buying value or solutions to their problems.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 54). We recognized that men needed a good quality product line of facial products to handle all their skin care problems. Clinique researched and designed an excellent line of products to satisfy their male cliental. “A product is defined as anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 209).

Our New Men’s Product is the 3-Step System:

Step 1 contains a cleanser that comes in the form of a soap bar or a liquid wash, for whatever you prefer. We have different formulas in this that are for dry, normal, oily or extra oily skin types.

Step 2 is an exfoliate with scruffing lotion. This sweeps off daily build up of dead facial cells and unclogs the pores. This is also great for a man’s bearded areas to help prevent ingrown hairs.

Step 3 is a moisturizer lotion. It helps to soothe the skin and relieves dry skin. It contains an SPF 15 to help block out the unwanted UV rays.

All the products are 100% Fragrance Free and Allergy tested. We have more specifics listed on our official Clinique website ( http://www.clinique.com/cms/product/supercat/mens.tmpl).

Target Market Strategy

“A target market consists of a set of buyers who share common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing.10^th Edition. Printing page 186). To build a successful target marketing strategy it involves “dividing a market into smaller segments of buyers with distinct needs or characteristics, this is market segmentation. Market targeting consists of evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter” (Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. Printed page 175).

Market segmentation includes geographic, demographic, age and life-cycle, gender, and income segmentations. Geographically our company will market to all regions of the United States and Canada. Since our products are now sold internationally, we will market in those international areas also.   For the Gender and demographical segmentations we will market to men ages 20 to 55, in the mid to upper income brackets. Our products tend to be on the higher end of the scale, that is why we will market to men of that income bracket. Most of the men we will target to market to will be of the Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial generations.

Clinique’s target market strategy for this product is basically geared towards all men with any type of skin care problems. The only factor we may use for a bearing on our target marketing group is the income levels. They have to be able to afford to buy our products. Other than that we are using an undifferentiated marketing strategy. “This is where a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and goes after the whole market with one offer.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 187). Clinique wants to concentrate and focus its marketing strategy on the common needs of all male consumers rather than on what is different.  We aim to please all the men in the world and help them with their skin care needs.

Situation or SWOT Analysis

“Marketing analysis provides information and evaluations needed for all the other marketing activities.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition, Printed page 56) The marketer should conduct a SWOT analysis to do this. “A SWOT analysis is an overall evaluation of the company’s strengths (S) weaknesses (W) opportunities (O) and threats (T).”(Armstrong and Kolter page 55).

Clinique was founded by the Estee Lauder Companies in 1968. It was the first dermatologist created, prestige cosmetic brand.(http://www.clinique.com/cms/customer_service/employment.tmpl). We have continued to produce quality products for over 43 years. (http://www.clinique.com/cms/customer_service/employment.tmpl) After performing a complete SWOT analysis for the Clinique company, we can figure out an overall way to attain our strategic objectives.

“Strengths include internal capabilities, resources, positive situational factors that may help the company to serve its customer.” (Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition, Printed page 55). Clinique’s strengths are that this company has been around many years and continues to grow and evolve with the times. We constantly provide and produce the highest quality and most effective products for every skin type. “All our products are meticulously tested and carefully formulated with the latest science.” (http://www.clinique.com/cms/customer_service/employment.tmpl) “All our products are allergy tested and 100% fragrance free.” (http://www.clinique.com/cms/customer_service/employment.tmpl)

“Weaknesses include internal limitations and negative situational factors that may interfere with the company’s performance.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 55).  A few weaknesses we have is that today there are so many facial products on the market to choose from, some cheaper and some more expensive.  Our name is well known but we still have to fight to be recognized. Many of our competitor run so many specials that we almost have to do the same to survive. We do not want to cheapen our brand, so this makes for a difficult situation.

“Opportunities are favorable factors or trends in the external environment that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 55). Clinique has taken the opportunity to jump into the social networking frenzy. We have a facebook page that people can join or you can follow us on twitter. We do sell all our products online through our website in the US and now also internationally. We feel this will give us the opportunity to expand our company even farther.

“Threats are unfavorable external factors or trends that may present challenges to performance.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 55). One of our main threats is that our biggest competitors always run specials like: gift with purchase.  In certain department stores where our products are sold we are almost forced to do something similar. We do not want to cheapen our brand but need to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Objectives

“The broad mission leads to a hierarchy of objectives, including business objectives and marketing objectives.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Marketing An Introduction to Education, 10th Edition, printed page 43)                                                                                                

Clinique’s main goals and business objectives for their products are:

·         To build a profitable customer relationship by developing, selling, and marketing quality facial cleansers and lotions to today’s men.

·         We will develop the men’s line of facial products to capture the essence of the manly man.

·         Our products will not only improve upon the healthy glow of their skin but make it softer to the touch.

·         We will invest in extensive research and design programs to make sure our products are always new and one step above our competition.

·         We will make sure to keep our products simple and easy, so that all men will want to use our products daily.

·         We will continue to create innovative and quality products today and tomorrow.

·         We will not use animals in the research of any of our products.

Clinique’s marketing objectives are:

·         To attract the male population to our products and keep them coming back.

·         One way we will do this is to include a helpful quick and easy guide on how to use our facial products each day. This will explain how to get and maintain healthy touchable skin by way of our great products. Another way is to go to our website and check out our how to videos ( http://www.clinique.com/cms/expert_tips_trends/how_to/video_mens.tmpl).

·         “Profits can be improved by increasing sales or reducing costs,” (Armstrong and Kolter, Marketing An Introduction to Education, 10th Edition, printable page 43). One way we will accomplish this is to draw men in by our masculine packaging. We will make our packaging low cost but appealing to men. It will be done in such a way that men everywhere will feel comfortable buying our products. It will have a manly appearance and manly scent.

·         “Sales can be increased by improving the company’s shares of domestic and international markets.”(Armstrong and Kolter, Marketing An Introduction to Education, 10th Edition, printed page 43). We will expand our products to reach international markets. This will increase productivity and revenue.

·         Our final objective is to market to men by using their sex appeal to the opposite sex. We want our products to make a man not only feel confident in our products but to feel sexy and confident in himself.

EOC: week 10: What Channels are you going to do to get your product noticed?

Few companies sold their products directly to the consumer in the past but now with the use of the internet many companies do use this method, but there are still many companies who still use intermediaries to bring their product to the marketplace. “Marketing channels or distribution channels are a set of independent organizations that help make a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing. 10^th Edition. Printed page 311). There are many different channel levels. “A layer of intermediaries that performs some work in bringing the product and its ownership closer to the final buyer is a channel level.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing.10^th Edition printed page 313).

You have direct marketing channels and indirect marketing channels. “Direct marketing channels have no intermediary levels and indirect marketing channels contain one or more intermediary levels.”(Armstrong and Kolter. Introduction to Marketing.10^th Edition. Printed page 314). Basically, this means you bring your product directly to the consumer or you use other people to go through to get your product to the consumer. To get my product noticed I will use direct and indirect marketing channels. We will use direct channels of marketing through our website. People can go there, browse through our products, pick what they want, buy it and we will send it to them directly. I think this channel will be very effective in marketing our facial products to the male population because they like things simple and easy. Then we will use indirect marketing channels by using major department stores. We will sell our products to them and they will sell our products to their customers for us. Both ways will be very effective and helpful to expand our productivity and profit levels.

EOC Week 9: Three great mission statements

After reading all my classmates mission statements the three that I liked the most were Mike Kononchik’s, Tharindu Wijesekara’s, and Raymond Otero’s. They all did well including the specifics of their company. “A mission statement should be meaningful and specific, yet motivating. They should emphasize the company’s strengths in the market place.”(Armstrong and Kotler, Marketing: An Introduction. 10^th Edition, Printed page 37).

Mike writes that the mission for his product is to sell and market to a specific age group of men. His company wants men to feel comfortable buying his product for themselves and not need women to do this for them. They want to eliminate the embarrassment factor that a man may have buying a facial wash product. His company wants to connect their product and brand with men in the best way they can. “A brand, product or service is more than just a physical thing. Humans that connect with the brand add meaning and value to it,” (Armstrong and Kotler, Marketing: An Introduction. 10^th Edition, Printed page 210). His mission statement was very specific and motivating.

Tharindu’s mission statement states that his company is the ultimate source of taste, health, and strength. He says what his company sells is healthy and it gives you strength. His goal is to make good tasting products that are healthy. He explains in his mission statement that his company stands behind all their products, not just one specific one. He did a great job of explaining what a mission statement is and incorporating it into his own statement.

Raymond’s product was the Febreeze sport scent. His company’s mission is not only to make things smell better, but to change the way men are depicted by the opposite sex. He states and explains how his company is environmentally conscious and strives to maintain that. They are working hard to make things smell good and be safe when doing it. He did a great job listing the strengths of his company in the market place by explaining their environmental efforts, and he listed the specifics of his product. The statement he put in there saying, “Clean smelling air and clear air to breathe is our mission,” sums it up very well. Great job.

Week 8: EOC Disasterous New Products

For class this week we have to come up with 3 new products and explain why they wouldn’t work. “Product development is a strategy for company growth by offering modified or new products to current market segments”(Armstrong and Kolter, Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10^th Edition).

One product I came up with to develop would be a dog brush/ vacuum. You would brush out your dog when it is shedding and it would vacuum up the hair as you brushed it out. You would have no mess of dog hair to clean up when you were done. This product most likely would not work because the dog would be afraid of the vacuum sounds. Most people buy products like this because they make things easier and more convenient. This product would probably take two people to use, one to hold the dog and the other to use the vacuum brush. Making it not easy and convenient at all.

The second product I came up with is a bra with a clap on, clap off closure. This would be amazing and helpful for someone with arthritis and had a hard time with tiny clasps. This most likely would not go over very well because what if you were out in public and someone started clapping by you, your bra would come open. Not a good idea after all.

The third product I came up with is a toothbrush that has a little alarm within it that would go off when it was time to replace your toothbrush. You are only suppose to use your toothbrush for about 3 months, then throw it away and get a new one( http://www.ehow.com/facts_5001793_how-often-should-replace-toothbrush.html ). I see people buying this one time and one time only. The first time this alarm went off and they did not have another one to replace it with. They would throw it away and never buy another one because it was so annoying.

Business Mission Statement

A mission statement is defined as “a statement of the organizations purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment” “A mission statement should be market oriented and defined in terms of satisfying customer needs.” (Armstrong  and Kolter, Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10^th Edition printed page 39).

Our company’s mission statement:  Our business is to sell and market facial cleanser and lotions to the men of today’s society.  We will concentrate on the group of men between the ages of 20-55. Men of this age group tend to be more concerned with having healthy skin and are willing to do a few quick easy steps to take care of it. We will give him the quality products to do this with. Our company will concentrate on making the perfect products for the men of today.  We will market and package our new 3-step system,which contains a cleanser, exfoliate, and moisturizer, in such a way that men will feel manly purchasing it. We will do everything within our power to make men everywhere feel comfortable purchasing our facial products. Our goal is to make the men of today feel sexy and adored by the opposite sex. We will make the everyday man realize that by having fresh clean skin, he will feel happier and more confident

Week 7 EOC : The Pitch

In today’s society how do you get a man to buy something they don’t think they really need? Well to my knowledge sex sells and anyway you can attract the opposite sex will usually sell. Most men out there are all trying to get the attention of the opposite sex. So I feel that if you can convince a man to use your product because it will help make a female want to get closer to him. He will most likely want to buy your product. We already know that women purchase over 50% of all products designated for men."(teacher Frank Pinto class lecture). Most of the commercials and advertising out there is all geared toward the female consumer.  Most of us women buy our men all their good smelling stuff. I did a little research with a bunch of my male friends and 90% of them said that their wives or girlfriends purchase all their facial products. My friend Steve said his wife bought him face cleanser and moisturize for the first time and now he can’t live without it. He said it makes his wife want to get closer by having nice fresh skin. So how do we get the man to go out and purchase these products on their own without a woman? That’s the question here!  Well that takes me back to my original theory that sex sells. Most men want to buy what attracts woman so they can get closer to them. My idea is to make a pitch something like this: “Men don’t usually care about smooth, fresh smelling skin, But the women they want to get close to them, Do…. So men,  it is time to get closer to your woman and give them what they want by using Clinique's new mens 3-step system. It will make them happy and you even happier, when they can’t keep their hands off you.”

Week 6 EOC: 9 Aps

I did a little research in to the iphone and ipad apps.  There are millions of applications out there and many more on the way. There are apps for anything and everything under the sun. Many are to play games, organize your life, monitor your health and fitness, trade stocks and help with your finances or stay in touch through networking on the web.

The top game for iphones or ipads is the crazy game “Angry Birds.” You slingshot the birds to attack the green pigs who stole the bird eggs. It has about 100+ levels and can run as much as $4.99 for this app. I have played this game and it is fun and highly addicting. Another top app. That people are using is the Kindle app. This application allows you to download ebooks to you elibrary and you have them right at your fingertips. No more waiting in line for the new releases or lugging around a heavy book bag. You can shop for a new read at any time or place. Plus the book is lit up so no need for a light to see your pages. This is so convenient and the wave of the future. One favorite that I tried out and also liked was the app. Called “Urbanspoon” This one can help you find a place to eat.  It will show you all the restaurants in your city at the same time. It lets you pick by the type of food you are hungry for say Italian and show you just them. It gives you an idea of the price you may pay too. (http://www.businessinsider.com/best-ipad-apps-2010-12#yelp-for-ipad-is-a-good-way-to-find-restaurants-13).

On the flip side of the coin there are many applications that are worthless and stupid out there too. One of the dumbest is the eShaver app. It shows a picture of a razor and makes noises as you rub it against your face. The developers say it works but we all know rubbing your phone on your face or legs does not shave the actual hair off! You just end up looking like an idiot rubbing your phone on your face. Another stupid one I found is the R U Drunk app.  It gives you a series of five tests to help you determine whether you’re drunk or not. Dah if you have to ask or take a test you probably are drunk!  I honestly think if you need this app. The iFart Mobile, you must be silly. It plays a variety of flatulence sound effects labeled with names like “Burrito Maximo.” I guess if you were ten years old this app. would be the best and completely funny. (http://www.mainstreet.com/slideshow/smart-spending/technology/15-worst-iphone-apps).

After putting some thought in what kind of app. I would develop; it would have to be something that would help me out in my life. Everyone has a wallet full of rewards cards from grocery stores, department stores, hair product stores; you name it there is a card. They should have an app. That allows you to scan in each one of these cards, and then you just open the app, pick which one and scan your card. You wouldn’t have to carry around 20 different cards, making my life easier. Another helpful app. would be an app. That not only just lets you plug in your health information to track it but say actually took your blood pressure. That would maybe save lives. Last but not least I would develop an app that would work just like a baby monitor or nanny cam. It would stream to some type of device like one hide inside a teddy bear that you set up in a room where the baby is and it would stream you live video and sound directly to your phone. You could check in on the baby at any time or place. These may seem like some farfetched ideas but would be great if they were developed and make life safer and easier.

Week 5 EOC: Best and Worst Superbowl Commercials

With more than 100 million people tuning into watch the Super Bowl, mad men working for different companies rolled out all sorts of goodies from rock stars to pooches, all in the attempt to snag us hook, line and sinker. I think the commercials most people were talking about on the days to follow after the big game, were some of the Doritos commercials. Doritos launched a contest called Crash the Super Bowl, which allowed customers to create their own Doritos commercials. This was smart because it got the consumer involved and thinking about your product. The Pug Attack ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpjaOUjUPUc  ) one was hilarious and the Guy Licking the Fingers (  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNnD5kuHUE&NR=1 ) was funny too.  They were both tasteful and made you relate to the product in a great way. Pepsi (who owns Doritos) did the same contest. This is a smart thing to do by involving the customer in your product. The Love Hurts Pepsi Max commercial was funny ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iCryRWyEcc&feature=relmfu ).  Even though the other spots were funny and made you want to watch them again, the Volkswagen commercial starring the young Darth Vader was one of my favorite ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kkyGyZD-D0&feature=fvwkrel ). It seems the public felt the same way because the commercial was leaked before the game and it had over 5 million hits on YouTube and 62,000 likes on face book. I wonder if Volkswagen leaked it on purpose. Hmm? The people who came up with linking Volkswagen to Star Wars were smart. Star Wars is an iconic movie and by making that connection to their product was smart. This spot may turn out to be a classic. Everyone relates to Star Wars in one way or another.  Then there was the commercials you just did not quite get or thought they were completely stupid.  So it makes you wonder if the $3 million dollar price tag for a 30-second spot was worth it for the companies willing to pay that much for air time. The worst commercial of the day was for the web phenomenon Groupon, starring Timothy Hutton (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFT2yjk0A ). Critics called it offensive, tasteless and patronizing by mocking the Tibetan Crisis at such a sensitive time. Many people can’t even believe Timothy Hutton agreed to do the commercial himself. Another one that was ridiculous and a big mistake was the Joan Rivers, GoDaddy.com spot ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQnhFxyikXg ). It was meant to be funny but it left a bad taste in your mouth, which is now associated with their product.  The Bieber/Ozzy spot was plain stupid and what was the company they represented….Oh yeah! Best Buy.  I would think when spending this kind of money on advertising  your product during one of the most watched events on TV, you would want to make sure it made a great impact on the consumer. The marketing department could blow their whole advertising budget and leave the consumer thinking about your product in a bad way.

Week 4 EOC Business to Business VS Consumer Marketing

Business to Business marketing is the practice of individuals or organizations including commercial, government and institutions to resell or use their product.  Consumer marketing is all the individuals that buy and acquire goods and services for personal consumption (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management, Armstrong and Kotler).

GE is a very familiar brand to most of us and you probably have one of their consumer products in your home as we speak, but most consumers would be surprised to find out that GE’s consumer products that range from refrigerators, microwaves, coffee makers and hundreds of other products bearing their name, contributes to less than one-third of the company’s total $183 billion in annual sales. Most of GE’s business comes not from final consumers but from commercial and industrial consumers across a wide range of industries. Beyond light bulbs and electronics, GE sells everything from medical imaging technologies, security solutions, aircraft engines, and diesel locomotives (Pg. 39, Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management, Armstrong and Kotler).

To GE marketing to the general consumer who purchases home goods compared to a big business consumer purchasing a locomotive with a price tag of $2.2 million is quite a bit different. Losing the sale of a washer and dryer is disappointing but compared to losing the sale of the big business consumer could mean the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Another big difference between B2B marketing compared to consumer marketing is the decision making process. A regular consumer may go online and do a little research on what refrigerator to buy and compare prices. Where the big business consumer buying jet engines may have hundreds of decision makers involved in the process at all different levels.

GE works hard to build their relationships with consumers. They feel the real challenge is to win buyer’s business by building day-in, day-out, year-in, year-out partnerships with them, based on superior products and close collaborations(Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management, Armstrong and Kotler). That’s probably why they have stuck around so long and their cash follow has remained strong through these tough economic times.

Week 3 EOC...Making Money for Good

In doing research to find a company that donates part of their proceeds to help out a cause, I found the company called FleasKnees. They sell designer T-shirts with different expressions on them. Their sole purpose is to raise money for animal rescues and no-kill shelters. They are trying to have a voice for our furry friends that do not have a voice for themselves. Their newest line of shirts is imprinted with the phrase, “Puppy Mills Bite,” and for every one of these shirts they sell; FleasKnees will donate $5.00 to the Puppies Aren’t Products campaign. This campaign exposes the link between pet stores and puppy mills, and encourages people to adopt and never stop, for the dogs. This is close to my heart because I bought my English bulldog from a pet store in my neighborhood. My dog got deathly ill from the pet store, which cost me a lot of money in vet bills. After returning to her store many times to complain I realized that many of her dogs were sick and reported her to my vet. I later found out the owner was purchasing dogs from puppy mills. Since then she has been closed down thankfully. Modern Dog magazine writer and creator Mary-Jo Dionne supports this company especially after she wrote an award winning article titled, “Puppy Hell”, which was all about puppy mills (http://network.bestfriends.org/campaigns/puppymills/13698/news.aspx). The t-shirts made by this company are being sold at retailers from Vancouver, Canada to New York.  Animal lovers like Oprah, Jessica Biel, Martha Stewart and many other celebrities support the company FleasKnees and are involved in making it happen. Their goal for the New Year is to sell over 20,000 t-shirts. I personally went on their website to purchase a t-shirt. We all got to help out our furry friends that cannot help themselves.

week 3...EOC..My Demographics

I am a Generation Xer as they call us because for one I was born between 1965 to 1976. I personally was not one of the first latchkey kids, since my mother was a stay at home mom and my father worked. They claim that there is an increased parental divorce rate but, my parents did not divorce. They say, “Generation X seeks success, but is less materialistic: they prize experience, not acquisition.” (Pg.73 Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation).This I feel is very true. I tend to always be thinking of how I can succeed and have always prized the many experiences I have had along the way.  Generation Xers that are now parents think family first, putting children and their parents first and careers second. I personally have never had children but my siblings and parents come first. The book says we are a skeptical bunch when it comes to marketing and tend to research products before we purchase and prefer quality over quantity. This is completely me, I am always researching products first and I always am skeptical of what is being offered. We tend to be more educated which is true. I myself have two degrees and am working on a third. Most of my friends went to college and have continued on to further their educations in some way or another.  Like the baby boomers the Generation X is spending more carefully with the growing economic pressures. What Charles Schwab says about the Generation X being saddled with debt or living on tight budgets is completely true(Pg.73 Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation). At this point saving for retirement seems unimaginable. I think our approach at this time is like what Charles Schwab suggests is by paying down student loans and trying to put our money in high yield accounts. Whatever it may be for Generation X to have a retirement plan is different than that of the baby boomers had and is going to have to be way different from the Millennials Generation Y).

EOC week 2 Boston Consulting Group- Video Games

The video game industry as a whole is down. After doing a BCG growth analysis on the video game market the top three front runners like the Nintendo Wii, the Microsoft Xbox 360, and the Sony Play station 3 all have plummeting sales. According to the NPD Group sales on the Sony Playstation 3 fell 59%(http://venturebeat.com/2009/07/16/video-game-sales-plunge-for-the-fourth-month-in-a-row/). Making it the dog.  The Nintendo Wii sales inflated but is it over(http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10396932-52.html). Making it a big question mark because it could come back. The Xbox 360 is suppost to boost hardware and software sales through the end of the year(http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/peripherals/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227900618). Making it more of a cash cow. But all in all people are buying less games and playing their old ones because of the economy. The major players need to lower their prices of games.

Week 1 EOC....great customer service

My greatest customer service experience just happened. I went to the Apple store to check out the new iPad. I was in the store 15 minutes and no one checked on me and I couldn’t get anyone’s attention because it was so busy. I finally left because they were not concerned with me at all. I know the demand for Apple products is high but they should still care about the consumer. I drove to Best Buy and went in to their iPad display. I wasn’t in there two minute without being approached by a really nice sales associate. He spent a lot of time with me answering my many questions. I have always had this type of experience with them. “Obviously customer value and customer satisfaction are key building blocks for developing and managing customer relationships,” (page 7 Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation). Every time I go to Best Buy I am always treated as a valuable customer and I leave feeling my needs are met. The guy even told me they are working on and marketing to the consumers needs from the moment they walk in the door. Guess what I did not plan on buying the iPad that day and I did!