Responce to Melissa Moriwaki's question

Question:
How do you think this will effect doughnut customers? Will they still think of Dunkin Donuts when looking to find a doughnut if DD's isn't marketing towards doughnut eaters anymore? How will this affect Dunkin Donuts?

I think DD is definitely moving away from the doughnuts aspect of their business and moving into other areas of business. I think the movement of American society is away from the junk foods and towards a healthier diet that does not include doughnuts. I honestly cannot remember the last time I purchased a doughnut from Dunkin. Most of the times when I go there I get a coffee and either a bagel or breakfast sandwich so I really don’t mind this shift.

I don’t believe that they will completely abandon their line of doughnuts but they will start to shift the focus to other products. This is a normal business decision and an easy one to make when thinking about profitability.

Will this shift affect the way you shop from Dunkin’?

John Smith dilemma

No, I do not think that John Smith should sell the names of the "likely" buyers to the car dealership. This reverts back to a post I made in the past regarding the moral issue of sites like Facebook selling our personal information to advertising agencies. I don't believe that it is morally right for a company to sell information that was given under the idea of anonymity to a dealership who is going to use it for targeted ads.

While John is in a difficult situation and needs to come up with some fast cash, that is not an excuse to resort to morally questionable practices. John needs to figure out how he can meet payroll without selling peoples personal information.

Should John lay off some workers or cut wages to help keep the company alive?

My responce to Michael Piekielek's question

Question: Should outside sources be able to access personal computers to advertise to individuals?

No, there is no reason that an advertising company should be able to access my personal information to cater ads specifically to me. If I have to watch an ad, it might as well be about something I care about but if ad agencies are accessing my personal information to create those ads, I want nothing to do with them. I already watch too many ads in a day and I sure don’t need any more targeted specifically to me. I believe that site like Facebook that sell personal information to ad agency’s need to be stopped. My personal information is not a product to be bought and sold and should not be treated as such.

Do you feel that you may need to increase your cyber security in the coming years?

Wal-Mart going to the Supreme Court

Article: 
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2013/04/17/julie-heimeshoff-walmart-supreme-court/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl41%7Csec1_lnk1%26pLid%3D299940

"Wal-Mart won a landmark case in the Supreme Court in 2011, defeating the largest civil class action in history. But attorneys for the world's largest retailer will be heading back to the country's highest court. This time, there is just one plaintiff, a woman who claims she was denied disability benefits after nearly 20 years at the company." Claire Gordon

Wal-Mart will be again heading to this nation’s highest court to defend itself against a claim of denial of benefits for a woman who could not work fulltime any more. This is not the first time the retail giant has been accused of skimping out on their employees. Wal-Mart is well known for offering low prices to consumers but this is because they source all of their products from Chinese manufacturers. This is well documented and Wal-Mart admits it. They are not the only company doing this but they are the most well-known.  

On top of this, Wal-Mart is infamous for penny pinching when it comes to their employees as well. Union crushing and inequality in the work place have are just two rampant issues that keep coming up at Wal-Mart and they have done nothing to stop it. Wal-Mart is a company that’s only objective is the increase the bottom line and I hope this women wins her case and can help others do the same.

Do you think Wal-Mart is a fair company to its workers?

My response to Daniel Driscoll's question

Question:  will our postal services increase productivity and success when and if we peak out of this recession, or is this the beginning of the end of the Postal Service?

I believe that this is the beginning of the end for the postal service. With the economy the way it is now, I don’t see the Postal Service being able to pull themself out of this one. The application of modern technology has made it faster and more efficient to communicate and purchases our goods from the internet and ships them around the world. Private companies like UPS and FedEx have simply out-competed their federal counterpart and are going to come out on top in this situation. With ever shrinking budgets and cuts having to be made everywhere, I think its only a matter of time before The United States Postal Service gets axed.

What other federal organizations are slowly being shutdowns?

Interactive TV

I recently read an article that talked about how the Syfy network was making an aggressive push to bring a whole new level of interactivity to their network through the use of smartphone apps.

Article: http://adage.com/article/special-report-tv-upfront/syfy-bets-social-tv-suite-interactive-shows/240820/

The article speaks about two upcoming how’s that will air on the Syfy network in the coming months. The first is called "Helix," which the article says is "a sci-fi thriller from "Battlestar Galactica" creator Ronald D. Moore, focuses on a team of scientists investigating a possible disease outbreak in an Arctic research facility and trying to protect the world from annihilation." The show will have a app that accompanies it that viewers can download and use to explore the world the characters live in and can find clues as to what’s going on in the show.

The second show is a reality series called ”Opposite Worlds," "where 20 people are broken into two opposing teams -- one to live in a simulation of the past, the other in an imagined future. The future in this series is a utopia where every wish can be granted with a push of a button; the past is a constant struggle for survival. Each week, players compete in a series of challenges to determine who lives in which period."  The interaction aspect comes into play with the addition of "gifts" that viewers can send the people on the show in an attempt to affect the outcome. It has been likened it to a real-life "Hunger Games". I think that these new levels of interaction will be very cool but I’m not sure if it will take off.

Do you think interactive TV is going to be the next big thing for entertainment?

My response to Suzanne Koval's question.

Question: Do you buy products that are slightly more expensive at a store rather than cheaper at another for more convenience?

I know for a fact that personally I have definitely purchased a product at a certain location that I know for a fact that I could have gotten elsewhere for cheaper. Most of the time when this happens to me, I am in some kind of a rush to get the product or get somewhere with the product and I really just don’t have the time to travel to the other location or go scout for a better deal at a different store. But most of the time when this happens, the product I need is relatively inexpensive and the potential savings from traveling to another store would be negligible. That being said, there is definitely a point at which the potential cost savings outweigh the aspect of convenience and I will go looking for a better price.

What is your favorite convenience product and why?

Tesla Motors to post its first profit

I am a big fan of all cars and car brands in general but the one company that I have been following very closely is Tesla Motors Inc. For those who may not know, Tesla is a California based car company which produces 100% electric vehicles for sale to the general public to buy and recently they came out with some big news. Tesla announced their first ever profit for the first quarter of 2013.

Here is the link to the article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-autos-tesla-profit-20130402,0,1962678.story

I think that this is great news. Tesla is an up-and-coming company with a truly revolutionary product that has started to gain traction and grow. After their Tesla model S won the Motor Trend Car of the Year for 2012, the company has seen great increase in demand for their cars. I think this is could be the start to a big shift in the automotive market in years to come. But there are still many issues that need to be addressed first. Things like battery life, range and cost are just three but there are others that could hinder to the growth of the electric car.

What are some issues that could slow the popularity of electric cars?

My response to Sarah Allen's question

Question: What level do you think relates most to your consumer involvement?

If I had to put myself into one of these groups, I would say that I belong to the "Interest" group. I am not a big shopper, which is to say that I don’t walk around in a store looking for things that I like to buy them. I tend to be very particular about what products I buy and therefore I tend to be very cautious about what product I choose. Most of the time will only buy things that pertain to my interests. I very rarely will buy a product on a whim. I like to go into depth in researching a product online in forums and reviews by other customers before I make my decision as to what company and product I chose to buy from. I feel this is the safest way to shop.

What is the highest cost you are willing to pay for something on a whim?

Sexism vs. Marketing

This is something that I have wanted to write about for a while but just haven’t gotten to it until now. Some of my female friends and I Have had arguments in the past about the way a product is advertised and whether some of the images or slogans etc. that is used are sexist or just a specific kind of marketing/advertising. For instance, if there was a new energy drink introduced to the market that was aimed at women and the can was pink with the words "low carb" on it, would you consider it sexist or is that just an advertising ploy to attract more female customers? I believe it is the latter. Gender specific ads have been around for a while and have targeted both man and women with different strategies designed to get them to notice the product. I see a great example of this in the magazine rack in the convenience store. You can clearly see what magazines are targeted to what gender based on what’s on the cover. I don't see this as sexism rather just trying to grab attention from a potential consumer.

Do you think gender specific marketing is sexist?

Response to Mia Gauthier's question

Question: Do you think that this company will be successful if it continues to stay as a strictly online-based company?

This is an interesting company with a very unique purpose and I have never seen anything like it. When I first read Mia's post, I though that all the coaching was done online and you would have to check in online to get feedback from your coach which seemed like a stupid thing to do but after I checked out the site, I saw that it was nothing like that. The site asks for your location, sport, price and distance then it automatically matches you up with coaches that meet your specifications that you can then hire and work with. I think this is a great idea and could turn into something very big if more people begin to use it. This is a great way to find and meet a personal coach and I see this company doing very well for itself if the site continues to grow.

What do you think are the similarities and differences in leadership between and professional coach and a corporate CEO?

Smart Phones

This past week over break, my father called me and said that his cell phone contract was almost up and he was thinking about getting a new smart phone with his new contract. He then asked me what smart phone he should get and I thought about it and I didn’t know what to tell him. There are so many different brands out there but they all have fairly similar levels of performance so it really comes down to the style and appearance of the phone itself.

This got me thinking about the different kinds of marketing strategies that smart phone manufacturers use to appeal to different kinds of people.

It seems to me that all the different companies use different brand images in an attempt to attract different consumer base. Some are presented as more high performance than the competition while others are presented as a trendier and cool product. All these different phones are presenting themselves as a certain product and try to appeal to specific groups of people.

What smart phone do you like based simply on the brand image and why?

The Marketing of spring break

With spring break next week I thought I would make a post about the idea of marketing spring break as almost a "product" to people. There are definitely places or locations that have built their entire economy based on tourism. Look at Las Vegas. That place has built itself around making money off of people who come to visit. This is why I was wondering if the idea of spring break is marketed to students to try and stimulate spending amongst college students.

The idea of the "typical" spring break of going to somewhere warm and partying has been stressed though movies and other forms of media. I believe that the concept of spring break is almost treated like another holiday by corporations and others groups looking to cash in on college students on their break.

Do you think the idea of spring break is marketed to students?

 

My response to Joe Littlewood's question

Question: What do you think product placements role is in television?

I think that product placement in TV is a necessary evil in a sense depending on how you look at it. First off, I want to say that I don't like product placement or shameless plugs for a product in a TV show or series. Whenever I see an obvious plug for something in my favorite show, I feel it can be distracting and even take away from the story of the show.

Take for instance the show "The Walking Dead".

This show is immensely popular right now and everyone is watching including myself but I find that the blatant product placements in the show draw away from the realism. It’s supposed to be a post-zombie apocalypse word where the main characters can scarcely find food, water or ammo and they are driving around in a sparkling new Hyundai SUV? Then you have the camera angels where the Hyundai badge on the car is framed to be right in the center of the screen? It seems a little ridiculous to me and reminds me that I am not part of this dramatic story but just some guy sitting on his couch watching a TV show that is trying to sell him a car. This kind of advertising can ruin the stories realism and the connection with the audience.

But on the other hand, these product plugs help the show in the financial sense.

The amount of money that Hyundai must be paying AMC to have the characters ride around in their new car must be huge sum of money which can be spent on improving the theatrical aspects of the show such as costumes, scenery or special effects. All these things help to improve the experience of the view and make the show more fun to watch. So while the product placements can take away from the show, they can also add to it in an indirect fashion. 

Are there any aspects or entertainment that isn’t affected by advertising? 

Marketing of Music

With all the different genres of music out there, it can be difficult to have a favorite genera that you like to listen to but that got me thinking as to what kind of marketing goes into the types of music that we like and listen to. Is music written to appeal to a specific group of individuals while it is being written of is music all-encompassing of age, race and gender.

I think that Music gets written with a specific group in mind and is written for those people. 

Music is one of those things that gets marketed the same as any other product out there that you can buy. Certain types of music can be seen as being associated with specific "styles" or groups of people. Having your favorite band shirt on can be seen as an accessory or a statement of what kind of person you are and how you want to be perceived by others.


 Do you think music gets marketing to consumers the same way products do?

My repsonce to Kaley DeBoer's question:

Question: What are your thoughts on the effectiveness of this commercial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGUshQPL8r4

I think that this commercial is not only funny but a very effective commercial.

I believe that the main goal of a commercial is to get you to remember the brand or product so that you will think of it the next time you are at the store and be influenced into buying it. I see this a lot in the form of slogans or catchy jingles that are played in commercials and get stuck in your head. These things create brand recognition. When you hear the jingle or slogan and you repeat it, you remember the brand or product and therefore are that much more likely to be influenced into purchasing it the next time you are in the store.

This kind of marketing isn’t limited to just songs but can also be affiliated with mascots.

When I think of a brand mascot, I first think of all the different characters you see on the front of the box when you walk down the cereal aisle. It seems like almost every different cereal has a character associated with it and I think that is what Jack Link's beef jerky is doing here. I have seen so many commercials featuring that sasquatch and all the crazy things that he does that now if I see his face, I instantly think of the their beef jerky. So in that sense, I do think that the commercial is very effective.

Who is your favorite brand mascot and why?

Personalized Advertisements

There has been a lot in the news over keeping personal information secret especially the information that makes it onto the Internet. With all the controversy over sites like Facebook taking your personal information and selling it to advertising agencies so that they can formulate personalized ads, i figured I would make a post about it.

Many people say that using their personal information in order to specify ads toward them, is an invasion of privacy and should not be allowed. This does seem a little bit "big brother" if you ask me and I initially thought it to be weird the idea of personalized ads but after a while, I changed my mind on the subject.

The way I see it, there is no way we can escape the effects of advertising. You can’t walk into a single store or watch a single episode of your favorite TV show without being bombarded with different ads. This idea applies even more to the internet in my opinion. I think the internet has the highest volume of ads seen compared to the amount of time you spend on it compared to any other form of media. So if I am going to have to sit through all these ads, they might as well be something I am interested in.

I would rather see an ad for tickets to my favorite band because I "liked" them on Facebook rather than an ad trying to sell me something couldn't care less about. Some ads might be useful and let me know about a sale my favorite clothing store is having right now that I would never have known about and I would rather have to see those kinds of ads completely random ones. 

Do you think personalized ads are good or bad? Why?       

   

My responce to Suzanne Koval's question

Question: Do you feel companies insistent advertising are to get your initially buy, and not for the quality of their product? 

 

I like this question mainly because it is one that I have asked myself many times after watching and hearing many different commercials. I think that the answer to this question depends greatly on the product being advertised in the first place. I know for myself personally, I will look for different things in an ad depending on what is being sold.

 

If the product being advertised is something like the new item being served at Taco Bell, I'm really only looking for a few things in the ad. These things are mainly what the product looks like and how much the product costs. Other than that, I'm not too concerned with the product because it is inexpensive and will be used quickly so for that reason I would say yes, the company is simply advertising for the initial buy.

 

But if I were looking to buy something else, my though process would be much different.

 

If I were looking to buy a new car, I would be wanting and expecting a much more quality focused advertisement. I am much more demanding of a product like a car because the cost of a new car is so great. If I were to see that a specific car had won the Motor Trend Car of the Year award (an award based on quality and value) then I would be much more inclined to buy that car verses its competitors based on the quality factor. So for this situation I would say that advertisers focus more on the quality of the product.

 

I think that the whole initial buy vs. quality question comes down to a matter of price and how much people are willing to pay for their "quality".

 

What are some products that you want to pay more for to achieve that sense of "quality"?

 

 

Super Bowl Commercials

I know I am a couple of weeks late on this post but I haven't gotten a chance to post about this due to having to post about other things for class. I wanted to talk about the amount of marketing and advertising that goes on during the super bowl. Everybody always likes to watch the commercials because they are often times very entertaining and fun to watch with their big budgets and often times a great amount of humor.

I have never been a big fan of football in general but I do like to watch the games when they are on and I feel almost obligated to watch the super bowl because its the biggest game of the year and everyone else is going to be talking about it so i might as well watch. This year was no different that any other year (other than the power outage) and this included the amount of adds I watched over the course of the 4+ hour game. It was almost comical how many there were.

I don't think I went more that 5 minutes without seeing a Bud Light add.

Most of the commercials I saw I thought were pretty stupid and were trying to make me laugh way too hard and mostly failed except for a few. This got me thinking about what commercials appeal to what people and for what reasons and i though this would be a good place to ask.

This was my favorite commercial: http://youtu.be/QGoU3VH7He4

This was my favorite commercial because it was one of the very few that got me to laugh and one of the few commercials that I actually remember after the fact. It was because of this commercial that the other day when i went to the store, i looked to buy the body wash but I couldn't find it. i figured if the commercial got me to laugh that hard, i might as well try it.

So what was your favorite commercial and why?

In response to Jade Brulotte's question:

Do you think a portion of the proceeds going to a Global Fund is acceptable?  Or should all proceeds be given to the fund? (Especially is Oprah and Bono are promoting it)


This is an interesting question to answer because there are so many ways to look at it. on the one hand, a true 100% non-profit charity would take all of the money that they would take in and give it straight to the cause they are trying to support. While this is the optimal way for an organisation to provided support to a cause, its effects are very limited. After the initial fundraising push, the donations and incoming money tends to fade away and eventually the charity stops collecting money and dies off.

The way that the (RED) cause is structured is more like a business partnership than a charity.

The (RED) campaign is structured in such a way that all parties involved(RED, GAP, Apple ect.) will benefit from one another. This flips the conventional charitable structure, of one party donating to another, on its head. With this new business-like structure, all parties benefit in hope to prolong the life of the charities ability to collect money. This is a new concept on charity that I have never heard before but it is very intriguing.

This new model for charity carries much more incentives for businesses to become more involved and stay involved for longer than a traditional charitable structure which in turn leads to more money generated for the cause of choice. While this is great, it means that not all the money being made is not making it to the people that need it and it is this point that causes so much controversy.

Do you think it is morally sound to turn a charity into a business partnership with the hope of more money being donated or rather leave it to be just a charity with a theoretically shorter lifespan?


http://mo-blog-kjohnson.blogspot.com/

Product (RED)

Question:   Do you think a partnership with Product (RED) can improve Gap’s image? Is it a sign that they are making a commitment to corporate social responsibility or do you agree with critics who say their involvement is an attempt to spit-shine the company’s image while continuing to do business as usual?

I do believe that the partnership with (RED) is an attempt for Gap to try and reinvent their image. Many companies, much like Gap, have been caught in business practices that reflect poorly on the company and have tried to redeem their image through charitable or philanthropic causes such as this.This can be a great opportunity for any company to make amends with the consumer and show that they have changed for the better. But in order to reinvent your image you must first address the issue which resulted in the tarnished image in the first place.

It does not appear to me that Gap has addressed this at all.

While the (RED) product campaign is an honest one with admirable intentions, It sounds to me like Gap sees it as more of a public  distraction from some of the companies real issues rather than a charitable opportunity. If Gap really wanted to make a difference, they would start internally by fighting for better working conditions for the people who make all their products rather than searching externally for problems. With Gap's production factories failing inspection in 2005 (this article being posted in 06'), I believe that their are much more important issues to be dealt with, but because they are much more financially costly, they get sidelined and replace with the charitable event that deals with the current issue of the companies failing image.

The (RED) campaign is structured in such a way that it is less charity based and more business based with (RED) only taking 50% of proceeds in an attempt to keep businesses more involved in the long run and extend the life of the campaign. I believe that Gap is waiting for this campaign with run its course and hopefully by the end of it, the public will have forgotten all about the sweat shop issue.

Do you think it is the norm for most companies to try and cover up their problems or address them immediately upon discovering them? 

My responce to:    Jonathan tomachick  Customer Satisfaction and Value

Are customer satisfaction and customer value interdependent or mutually exclusive? Can satisfaction occur simultaneously with low customer value?

After reading your post, I would say that i agree with most of what you have to say. I think that most of the time we as consumers take the idea of satisfaction and value and we get them intertwined with one another when actually they can be met separately.

That begin said, I do think that the instances where one of the conditions is meet and not the other are few and far in between.

I believe that often times, a product will initially meet one of the specifications and then the second will be meet as a result of the first one. Take the example of purchasing music. When you first purchase a new CD or buy a song online, you are instantly satisfied that now you can listen to your favorite bands newest song but that music really has no value. But the more you listen to a song, the more you connect with it and relate to what the song is about or maybe you develop a favorite memory that you associate with that song and, through this you develop a sense of value associated with the music.

Do you think the emotional/sentimental value can be as important as real world practicality value?


#no filter

Can the marketing concept reach a point of diminishing returns?

Question:  Can the marketing concept reach a point of diminishing returns? That is, is there a point at which marketers can offer too much choice to too many consumers (try to satisfy too many needs/wants), or is the proliferation of product choices indicative of successful implementation of the marketing concept?

I think this is a very interesting concept to explore but I think that a persons opinion on this is going to vary based on from where they see it from be it consumer or producer.

From a consumers stand point, I don't think there can be such a thing as too much choice or different options available to me in the marketplace. The more variety and competition there is out there, the better things are going to be for me. I'm going to have more choices at lower prices which means that the products available to me are going to be closer and closer to what I really want at prices I can afford.

All this sounds great to me but, I don't think the manufacturers would agree.

Manufacturers try and do implement a variety of choices on what they can provide in their products but this variety has a limit. The more and more options a manufacturer provides to a consumer, the thinner and thinner the resources of the company get stretched. If a manufacturer chased every single want and need from 100 customers, they would end up producing 100 different versions of the same product which would be financially impossible.  Manufacturers have financial limits on what they can produce and try to push them as far as they can but at some point, they will start to lose money.

I think that manufacturers try and get a general consensus on what the market wants and makes that product with a few options or extras to try and appeal to a larger portion of the population but that is it.

Would you be willing to pay a little extra to have a more specialized or unique product?