In response to Colton 4-17-11

There are certain situations where prices are acceptable no matter what the cost comparison could be. On a recent blog response about quick shopping at smaller store chains like gas stations and other 24 hr stores where prices are usually more money we can argue that it is more convenient. A situation where popcorn can be sold in a package of 6 or more in a grocery store at a low price but at a movie theater the prices are jacked up. This is a situation of whether or not to accept the price increase for the food or neglect it as a waste of cash.

Are situations like this something you think is acceptable or just a waste of money? Will this change the outcome of the event, make it better or worse, for your experience?


Response: In this situation I think it is just a waste of money. I can buy 6 bags at the grocery store for $3, but at the movies have to pay $6 for 1 bag of popcorn.  I could be getting 12 bags from the grocery store for the price of one bag from the movies.  The prices do actually make the experience of going to the movies a lot less enjoyable because I want the popcorn but am strapped for cash because I am a college student that has to pay for EVERYTHING!

Location of Business

One big factor in deciding where a business should be located in a community is their target market.  A hunting store probably would not decide on building a store in the Hampton's  on Long Island, NY because there are no places nearby to go hunting and the population there are generally very wealthy have never gone hunting or even had it cross their mind.  They would probably get much more business if they opened up in Keene, NH rather than in Long Island because there are much more hunters in this area and a lot more places to go hunting.

Are there are businesses you can think of that you believe should really not be in that location because there is not much of a target market for them where they are?

In Response to Dan Sweeney's blog 4/7/11

Fast-Food Promoting Health...

After the movie Super Size Me was released, the fast-food industry has been trying to promote the movement of healthier selections. Burger King, McDonalds, and Wendy's all provide healthier options for children such as providing apples or carrots instead of fries or substituting soda with an apple or orange juice. They also tried to make their regular menus healthier too. McDonalds released a salad line to show they care about the health of their customers, which sounds like a healthy option. However, compared to the the Big Mac with 540 calories and 29 grams of fat. One salad featured on the McDonalds, the Premium Southwest salad with Crispy Chicken contains 430 calories and 20 grams of fat, that does not sound like a healthy salad to me. Recently, Wendy's released a new style of french fries, natural cut sea salt fries. The newer style french fry was suppose to be a healthier option. Although, the original french fries contained less fat and sodium to the newer natural cut sea salted french fries. These restaurants are trying to promote they too are health conscious, but they are providing these "healthier options" that contain the same amount of calories. Should the fast-food industry be able to get away with this?

Response:

I do not believe that the fast-food industry should be able to get away with this.  They are preaching "healthier options" and technically they are, but not by much.  The reason they are able to get away with this is because they have to have the nutritional facts posted in their restaurant and have to give a copy of it to a customer upon request.  I think that it is morally wrong for these fast-food companies to do this, but in the end, they are not responsible for our health.  We are responsible for our own choices in what we choose to eat, they only provide us with options.

Advertising In Sports #2

On a previous blog post, I wrote about how the Reese's sticker on the basketball court made a player slip, turnover the ball, almost hurt himself, and almost lose the game.  The other night I was watching a Red Sox and Blue Jays baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston.  The first baseman on the Blue Jays Adam Linn hit a shot down the right field line and it was heading towards "Pesky Pole," the right field foul pole, and it was ruled a home run, three-run homerun.  After later review, the call was reversed.  There are three yellow foul lines in different positions because of a Scotts lawn care advertisement on the padded wall.

Are companies and/or sport organizations going too far in letting companies advertise in a stadium or coliseum that change the aspects of how the game is played?


Here is a link to an article written on this dilemma.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110415&content_id=17815384&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos

Pricing Strategies

There are many different pricing strategies that marketers and companies use to aide selling their products or services.  Gas stations use the strategy of price lining, where they have the prices of the different types of gas right next to each other.  They also use odd-even with putting the extra $0.009 at the end of the price per gallon.

Is it fair that gas stations do this? Also, should it change so that the price per gallon is on an even amount of cents, not with the $0.009 added onto each gallon purchased to round up?


What pricing strategy do you believe works the best on you and if different, what works best on the U.S. population as a whole?

In response to Chris Kurylo 4/7/11

Microsoft teams with Toyota to power smart cars

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/06/technology/microsoft_toyota/index.htm

On Wednesday Microsoft and Toyota teamed up to create an advanced digital information and communication system. The system will cost up toward 12 Million but unlike competitors (OnStar) Toyota's new system will be unique; The system is for electric and plug-in hybrid cars.The cars will also charge in an eco friendly manner which will be most cost efficient for the user and reduces the need for fossil fuel. Do you feel that more car companies need to focus their attention on hybrid cars?

Also how do you feel Toyota or Microsoft will be effected due to this partnership?

Response:

I do feel that more companies need to focus their attention on hybrid cars so they don't fall behind the rest of the car companies because many of the big car companies are putting tons of money into researching and developing hybrid cars.  Companies also need to focus more attention to building electric vehicles because this is  already on the horizon, Nissan released the first 100% electric car, the "Leaf."

I think that Toyota and Microsoft will benefit immensely from their partnership.  Their stockholders will be happy because it should help raise the price of their stocks.  Also, companies that are "eco-friendly" have been shown to have a lot of success because consumers these days are very environmentally conscious because of the talk of global warming.

In Response to Chris Kurylo 3/28/11

Field of Dreams: Ballpark upgrades

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/03/31/ballparks.unveil.tech.updates.wired/index.html

The article gives quick descriptions of ballpark upgrades but what I would like to focus on is the ten year $285,000,000,000 renovation of 99 year old Fenway Park.

Notice how many new advertisements there are and how much larger they are from 2001 to 2011.

Do you feel this is going to continue going into the future?

Response:

I feel that this is going to continue in the future.  I do not like it at all but I do believe that there are going to be more and more advertisements all over the ballpark in the future.  In the recession we are currently in, organizations are going to get as much money as they can possibly get their hands on.  I wouldn't doubt it in the near future that they will even start using the players' jerseys to advertise on as well as all aspects of the field.  The Red Sox organization needs to cover the amount of money used for the renovations as well as the massive contracts that they are giving all of the players.

Brand vs Trademark

I have always thought that the brand and trademark are words interchangeably used in business, but I was wrong.  A brand is the name, logo, or slogan.  A trademark is something you can do to a brand, if you trademark the brand you own the intellectual property to the brand.

For an example I will use Coca-Cola.

What is the brand? and what have they trademarked?

Sales

I have noticed in many stores that I shop at that they will have a "sale" going on very frequently.  In one particular store they have a different type of sale every time I go in.  I saw a pair of jeans that I wanted that were 50% off the ticketed price which made them $25, I didn't buy them but when I went back to the store two weeks later, they had a "store-wide sale" of 50% off instead of just the specific jeans but when I saw that everything in the store was 50% off I went looking at everything because it seemed like a great deal.  I then talked to my friend who works there and she said that everything is always sold at the same price but they change up the marketing strategy every week to make it seem like every is getting a "steal of a deal" when in reality the price does not change, just the way they try to pull customers into the store.

this quote came from this article
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/IsThatStoresSaleReallyASale.aspx
"The (Federal Trade Commission) has for many years been looking at questionable practices with regard to some retailers and promotional pricing," he says. "It's not an unusual practice for a retailer to buy an item for $100, and the normal markup is to $200. But they mark it up to $300. They know good and well that most people are not going to buy it at that. The store will then run it at 50% off. And you think you're getting it at cost."

My question for everyone is, is a sale really a sale?

In Response to Chris Kurylo 3/21/11

Smart Phone App That Stops Texting & Driving - CNN

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2011/03/30/dnt.id.app.stops.texting.kidk

This quick video is an introduction to an app that a doctor decided to create after frequent E.R. visits from people who were in accidents from cell phone usage while driving. The app turns on when the users phone moves faster then 15 MPH and will then lock out all texts and phone calls. One down fall, works even if you passenger....the app doesn't know that your driving.

How do you feel about this app and where could it be implemented?

Response:

I feel like this app will really be effective in saving lives because there are way too many crashes and fatalities due to driving while on the phone.  I feel like it will not be implemented to the general because passengers will want to be able to use their phones.    I feel like it could get implemented for truck drivers because they are always looking for ways to keep truck drivers safer because they travel large distances and are in control of a very large piece of machinery that can become deadly.

Advertising In Sports

The other week I was watching the men's NCAA Big East basketball tournament that was taking place in New York City at Madison Square Garden.  During the first round, University of South Florida and Villanova were playing each other in a back and fourth intense game.  With 37 seconds left in the game and USF down 3 points, they came down the court with the ball and their point guard that had the ball tried  to do a cross-over and slipped on a big Reese's sticker that was on the court and turned over the ball.  This game would be a big upset if USF beat Villanova.  In the end, USF somehow pulled off the victory.  This advertising almost put an end to the year for USF.

Has marketing gone too far in interfering with the way sport games are played?

here is a link to a blog about this incident
http://texas.247sports.com/Board/21/Court-sticker-slip-and-fall-thread-1359238/1

In Response to Chris Kurylo 3/8/11

Samsung exec: Our tablet is 'inadequate'Samsung exec: Our tablet is 'inadequate'

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/03/04/samsung.tablet.inadequate/index.html

In a refreshingly honest statement, Samsung's mobile division VP Lee Don-Joo admitted that the iPad 2 made some parts of Samsung's 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab look "inadequate," and the iPad 2's pricing might force Samsung to lower the price of its tablet.

This article is showing that other retailors are having trouble keeping up with apple, but all the same time is telling us that we are highly over paying for this technology.

> Regardless of us overpaying for this technology, do you think its smart for a division VP to admit that their product is inadequate compared to the iPad??

Response:

I do not think it is smart for Samsung's mobile division VP to admit that their product is inadequate compared to the iPad.  I don't understand why he publicly admitted it or how he got away with keeping his job after that.  If he wanted to tell the public that they are over paying for the technology in the iPad than he should have come up with a different way to do so without talking bad about his product.  This probably killed the interest in buying stocks of Samsung for quite some time and it probably affected the stock price of Samsung negatively.

B2C vs. B2B Advertisements

B2C=Business to Consumer
B2B=Business to Business

The other day in class we went over the different ways that companies advertise.  Two different ways that they advertise are to consumers or to other businesses.  B2C advertisements are targeted towards the consumer versus B2B advertisements which are targeted towards other businesses.  An example of  a B2C advertisement is a Wheaties ad which targets the individual consumer.  An example of a B2B advertisement would be Michael Scott Paper Company putting out an ad in a magazine about selling paper in bulk because an individual consumer would not buy the paper in bulk but another business would.

Here are some advertisements that I have found that have either B2C or B2B strategies.  Can anyone tell me which add(s) exemplify B2C or B2B strategies?

1) 

2)

3)

4)

In Response to Dan Sweeney's blog 3/5/11

I think that it is a very good and effective way of advertising over the internet to customers.  You bring up many good points of why it is an advantage.  One point is that it is very inexpensive for companies to advertise online. Another is that advertisements online can be traced back and give the company quick information on what site had the most clicks on the ad and other ways of showing how effective they are and if the company needs to they can change their strategy a lot quicker than they were able to in the past because they are gathering all this information instantly instead of waiting overtime to see the results.

Customer Surveys/Questionnaires

Today in the marketing world, there is extensive amounts of research being done on the population, customers, and potential customers.  Companies will try to get as much information as possible so they are able to come up with a marketing strategy.

There are all different ways of getting information. Companies can use surveys or questionnaires that help them form a marketing strategy, but the only thing is how should they do it?  I believe that every company is different and would have a different strategy of trying to get their customers to answer these surveys or questions.  A supermarket might want to place a survey in a bag with the groceries or attach it to the receipt, they also might want to give a discount or some type of incentive to have the customer come back and return it.  Other types of companies might want to distribute their surveys or questionnaires online or through e-mail, I believe it depends on what type of company it is.

There are a few scenarios listed below, try and post how you believe their company should go about distributing and getting back their surveys in the most effective way.

-Keene State College Dining Commons
-Apple, Inc.
-Waste Removal Company

Environmental Responsibility

I have seen many companies, especially within the past few years, that advertise how they are making their company more "green" to help the environment.  There are a few companies that really caught my eye when I heard what they were doing to help the environment.
For instance, in 2008, Dell, the computer company, announced that it planned on cutting its emissions down by 40% by the year 2015.  When I saw this statistic I was baffled and could not understand how they  would be able to do that while their business is still booming and they're getting more and more customers. This made me subconsciously like Dell, Inc. much more because I always thought that they were this big company that didn't care about the environment and would keep doing what they were doing despite the harmful effects it has on the environment.
Has anyone seen any advertisements or anything in the news or on the internet about what companies are doing now to better off the environment? Also, does this change your initial view on the company and maybe make you want to purchase their products or services because you know that the money you spend will be going towards good causes?

In Response to Chris Kurylo 2/18/11

Do you think employees should change who they are just to do well at there place of work?


Personally, I do not believe that a person should change who they are just to do well at their place of work.  However, in today's world you have to.  It is a dog-eat-dog world out there and if you are not willing to change and do something you do not want to or are accustomed to than you will get run over my the bus, someone will just come in and take your spot.  This is what is sad about being in a recession, jobs are hard to come by and if you are not willing to conform to what you need to do to succeed than you will get replaced in an instant.

State of Demands

In marketing, there are 5 different state of demands; increasing, falling, full, overfull, and no demand.
Every company should know what state of demand their product(s) or service(s) have to help control the market.  I will give you examples of every state of demand.

A product that could have an increasing demand during the holidays would be gasoline because people are traveling more than usual so the demand is increasing.

A product that has a falling state of demand that is almost at the point of no demand is portable cd players. Today people are purchasing more mp3 players and not using compact discs as often because they are too big and outdated.

A product that has full demand is the iPod from Apple, inc.  It is the most widely used and purchased mp3 player in the world and even though some people already have an iPod, Apple keeps coming out with newer and "better" versions to keep the flow of business going.

A product that currently has an overfull state of demand is roof snow shovel/remover.  I live on the shore in Connecticut and with all of the snow that we have been getting recently, many roofs are caving in and the closest place for my parents to buy one of the roof snow shovel/removers is actually here in Keene, New Hampshire, so the demand for one of them in Connecticut and Massachusetts is overfull.

A product that has no demand is the 8-track player.  There is no demand because no one uses 8-tracks anymore and they don't put them in cars anymore.

What type of demands do you believe places such as Domino's, Walmart, and Ted's Shoe and Sport (on Maint st in Keene) have?

Competitive Structures

In the world today there are four different types of competitive structures; Monopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic competition, and Pure Competition.  A monopoly is a company that has one or no competitors, it is has many barriers and is very hard to entry the market, and there are almost no substitutes for the product or service they offer.  An oligopoly has only a few competitors with some barriers for entry into the market, but less than a monopoly does.  Monopolistic competition has many competitors in their market, there are few barriers which makes it easier to enter the market, and there is some differentiation between the competitors products.  Pure competition has an unlimited number of competitors, no barriers to enter the market, and homogenous products, so the products will be the same.

Can anyone think of any companies other than electric or water companies for this area that would be considered a monopoly?

In Response to Chris Kurylo 2/3/11

Should we be spending billions to promote bad life style choices or should revenue from large sporting events be focused more on the local community or our country as a whole?

I believe that all the billions of dollars that these companies spend on Super Bowl commercials should be focused more on the local communities and country as a whole because it is just wasted money that could be spent to better off our environment, economy, and communities giving our youth a better education and facilities to learn and grow up in!

Strategic Windows

This week in class we mentioned "strategic windows," they are defined as temporary periods of optimal fit between the key requirements of a market and the particular capabilities of a firm competing in the market.  Within the past year I can only think of a couple examples of when this has happened.


This past year when Toyota had all of those recalls on their vehicles because of the brake failures and other flaws in the design, the other big car company's such as Ford and GM had a strategic window to take a major share of the market by stealing Toyota's customers.  However, even though these companies did prosper well, I don't believe that they took the strategic window as much as they could.  I believe if they wanted to, they could have put Toyota under for good.


Can anyone think of any other companies within the past couple years that have had a strategic window against their competition to prosper in their market?

In Response to Jake Thomas's Blog

Jake, I agree with you on all that you have said. I have never thought of all three of these subjects in this light before. You make some good points in differing advertising and marketing in that marketing does have to do with a lot of research on who to try to sell it to, such as what channel or what time of day should they place a car add for an Oldsmobile. My guess is that it would be better to put the add in the middle of the day when most people that are retired are at home watching the Price is Right or something rather than at midnight when there is a rap concert going on. The people that would be watching the rap concert would probably rather get a newer flashier looking car such as a Cadillac Escalade rather than an elderly person's type car like an Oldsmobile.

The Kids That Everyone Wants to Be Like

Lately on television I have seen many advertisements where there are children that are portrayed as having the perfect life, nice clothes, functional families, and everyone wants to be friends with them.

I believe that this is some type of advertising trick used to make mainly children but even some adults believe that when they purchase their product they will be just like them, in the kid's case.  For the adults I believe it makes them subconsciously think that if they purchase whatever product it is, their children will turn out the same way.  I have seen these methods recently in McDonald's  and Disney World ads recently.

Has anyone else recently noticed any other advertisements that have been using the same or similar strategies to pull more consumers into purchases whatever product or service they are providing?