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

Social Media, magazine advertisements and TV commercials!!

Week 9 EOC: 3 Great Mission Statements

Marketing: An Introduction states “A mission statement is a statement of the organization’s purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment”.  (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong & Kolter, Pg. 39) In a marketing sense, a mission statement defines a goal, whether it be for the company or the product it intends to put on the market. Our End of Class (EOC) assignment was to read through our classmates’ mission statements and pick 3 that were the best. After reading through all the mission statements posted, I found three that stood out among the others.

Mike Kononchik is promoting Clean and Clear Facial Wash. His statement is "We are going to use the power that woman have over men to show them that by washing their face woman will attract to them more than a man with a dirty face.  A dirty face will become a thing of the past for men. Women will be a lot happier that they can share their facial wash with their man". In his statement, he states that with his product, a dirty face is a thing of the past and that using this project will attract women more.

Raymond Otero, whose product is Pitch Air Freshener, says, “The product represents a change in the way men are depicted by the opposite sex as well as each other. The product is concerned with a global consciousness of men being taken more seriously with their concern of the environment around them. The product is not an aerosol item that could hurt our environment, and strives to be safe and effective it its use. Our hope is to create a pleasant immediate environment for the user in his home, office, automobile, or any other place that requires the air to be freshened, while still maintaining an environmentally friendly way to achieve this.”

This statement says that not only will it change the way men are looked at, but it is also friendly to our environment.

Tharindu Wijesekara, whose product is Yoplait Greek Yogurt says, "We are the ultimate source of  taste, health, and strength". While it's short, it's to the point!

Week 8 EOC: 3 Products That Won't Hit the Shelves

There are just some products that shouldn’t be made, especially by certain companies. Ketchup made by Welch’s , the same makers of Jams and Jellies just wouldn’t fly with the public. Is it because their branding is too strong? More than likely. People jus t tend to associate the brand with what they are familiar with. Here are some ideas I thought of when it comes to brand names trying to get different products out on the market

• A compact car made by Humvee. When you think of Humvee, you think of the big half-ton gas guzzlers. A compact car made by the same people who brought you that would bring one big question to mind: would this car actually save gas? It might be stylish like the Hummer and have some great features, but with the high gas prices and terrible economy, I don’t see this car getting many looks.
•  Toothpaste by the same guys who made Preparation H. Now when you think of toothpaste, you think of clean teeth and fresh breath and when you think of Preparation H, you think of something that’s supposed to help give you relief to your underside. Now trying to think of these two together just wouldn’t leave someone with a pleasant thought.
• Facial Cream by Tiger Balm. Facial creams are made to help moisturize the skin and with skin care while tiger Balm is a medicated heat rub used to help with muscular pains, nasal congestion, heart burn and other ailments. When rubbed on skin, tiger balm heats up, and depending on the type of balm you use, it can feel extremely hot. Thinking about a facial cream with heat properties might sound painful, especially if it gets in your eyes or mouth.

Week 4 EOC: Business to Business vs. Consumer Marketing

General Electric is a supplier of many products and services to both the consumer and businesses, but as much as advertising as one might see in the various forms of media we see every day, consumer sales only account for less than a third of the company’s profits.  What is the difference?  It could be summed up in one quote:

 “Whereas it might be disappointing when a refrigerator buyer chooses a competing brand, losing a single sale to a large business customer can mean the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in business.”(Pg. 39, Marketing an Introduction, Armstrong and Kolter )

The company known that started out bringing light to almost every household in the world has opened itself to bigger markets, from entertainment to creating companies such as Boeing the means to transport both people and cargo from point A to point B. While a decision to buy a refrigerator might way on how big it is or how much food it might hold, or even the look or style, companies that buy GE made engines might have to look at things like environmental impact, fuel consumption, reliability, and serviceability. While a buying a GE made microwave, dishwasher, washer and dryer, and refrigerator might seem like a lot of money for us to spend, contracts for Boeing to buy 20 engines to fit on 5 747’s would be worth more money than we could even imagine having.

Why does GE do really well in its business sales? It’s because GE develops a working relationship with its customers. While there are many consumer products that might fall in to our needs, GE works with the business customer to make sure their products will fit their special needs, like working around international economics and politics in its deal with Kazakhstan National Railway to supply them with 310 Evolution Locomotives.  In working with it customers, in both the business and consumer arenas, it’s no wonder GE has become a household name all over the world.

Week 3: EOC 2 - Making Money for Good

Many big companies and corporations make it a point to donate money or proceeds to charities and other organizations and Target is no exception. Since 1965, Target has prided itself on its community outreach, volunteering, helping with social services and helping out schools and funding for education. In viewing the company website, there is a big section dedicated to programs they do to help give back to the community that supports their stores. Some of the programs they take part in are:

• Volunteerism – Team members donate hundreds of hours to various community projects across the country.
• Arts & Culture – Targets provides free or discounted admission tickets to arts and cultural events to support education.
• Social Services – Target provides funding to support the basic needs of families and help in disaster relief efforts.
• Crisis Relief – Target provides relief kids, products and monetary donation to areas that have suffered an outset of crisis.
• Grants – Target supports arts and social programs.
• Military and Veteran Support – Target has donated funds and volunteers to national veteran and military organizations with the focus on education, social services and the arts.
• Reading & Education – Target believes education is important and helps support schools in need of funding.They support this so much that they ask parents to make a pledge to read with their children or those in their lives and also donate a percentage of purchases made with the Target card to support education.

Currently, Target is giving 5% of it income to support communities but now on their website, they’ve announced a pledge to give “$500 million by the end of 2015 to support education and help kids learn to read.“ ( https://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-005171). This addition would bring the total amount of funding given to $1 billion just for education alone. For more information, visit the Target website.

Week 3: EOC 1 - My Demographics

Being born in 1972, I feel like I have many of the traits that would define me as being part of “Generation X”.  Although I want to be part of the web design field and I like to keep up and have new technology and possessions, I do feel that  I’m a guy who is very much defined much by my experiences and the experiences of others I come in contact with. While I might not fit all of the definition, there are parts that I can closely relate to.

As it was said in Marketing An Introduction, “many of the Gen Xers that are parents, family comes first—both children and their aging parents—and career second.¹⁴ From a marketing standpoint, the Gen Xers are a more skeptical bunch” (Marketing An Introduction, Pg. 73) and I feel this is a trait of being a Gen -Xer that I fits me. Being Asian, I value family and it has always been a priority in my life and although I don’t have kids, whenever I’ve had girlfriends who’ve had kids, I’ve always put them first and treated them like they were my own. My parents have also been a priority in my life and seeing them happy means a lot to me and can have an impact on how I live my life.  Now I don’t necessarily follow everything they say and live my life according to how they want, but since I was raised by them, I feel the need to give back to them. Growing up, they worked hard to raise my sister and I and were away from the house most of the time to where My sister and I had to take care of ourselves while they tried to make ends meet. I feel that now that I am able to, I’ll do my best to pay them back.

WEEK 2: EOC - Is the video game industry facing a recession?

Is the video game market facing a recession? With big titles that came out strong in 2010, one would think not. But in an article found in The Independent that was posted on January 19, 2011 called “US videogame sales flat in 2010:NPD”, the NPD’s, or National Purchase Diary, estimate on video game spending was from “$15.4 billion to $15.6 billion and factored in used games, downloaded content, and money spent on social network play as well as real-world store sales” which seemed to stay around the level with sales in 2009. (US Videogame Sales Flat in 2010:NPD) Even with titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops hitting and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty hitting record numbers in sales, it wasn’t enough to catapult numbers to show the industry rising up.

                

 Video games used to target the hardcore masses, those that play video games as a hobby, which is why games like Halo:Reach and other big named games are created. However, because of games that come out on social networks , both console and PC hardware and title sales haven’t been as fruitful in years past. While there are still hardcore gaming enthusiasts out there, more sales are emerging from casual gamers. In an article that Ian Sherr wrote for the Wall Street Journal, he states:

Sales of new hardware consoles were hit hard in 2010, falling 13% to $6.29 billion from $7.19 billion a year ago. NPD said the only console to grow in sales was Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Xbox 360. (Videogame Industry Sales Were Roughly Flat in 2010)

Consumers have been holding on to their money tighter because of the current state of the economy. On a brighter note, not all sales can be gauged by how many “physical product” has sold off the shelves. Dematerialized, or downloaded, products, such as games and game components that can be bought off the internet, have also attributed to much of the video games sales. In an article written by Sandeep for Pisqa, the author, in interviewing Georges Fornay, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment France, Fornay says, “If we limit ourselves to the physical market, there is a decrease of 5.7% over 2009, due mainly to the drop in the price of consoles,” however after adding  downloaded games into the mix, Fornay says, “it is likely that this decline in overall value is much less important.” (The video game market, down slightly in 2010, put on laptops in 2011)

While video game sales might seem like it is declining, manufacturers have to find a way to reinvent themselves in order to makes sales for their company happen. With the market and the target audience changing, it might be the only way for the video games companies to keep up.

Week 1: EOC

I've had this for a few days, but I just figured out how to use labels.

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The online shoe company, Zappos, believes that  great customer service is  essential to their success. That’s why the one of the fastest growing web retailers has got as big as it did. While other companies pour money into advertising, trying to get new customers to shop from them, Zappos puts the  money that could be used for commercials or magazine ads back into the customer experience. Tony Hiesh, CEO of Zappos,  says that “It’s a lot cheaper to get existing customers to buy from you than it is to try to convince someone [new]. “ (Pg. 1)

Zappos isn’t doesn’t carry special shoes or merchandise that’s exclusive to their company, it’s just that people keep coming back because of the customer experience. If they don’t have an item, they’ll find it with another store even if it means they will lose the sale. The company culture revolves around 10 core values including “Build open and honest relationships  with communication” and “Deliever WOW through service!” (Pg. 4) But this doesn’t only keep the customers coming back, but the employees as well. New hires were given the opportunity to take $2000 to quit the company during their 4 week customer service training but only a few were willing to take the money  and leave.  In our class book, it was said that “Hsieh says that originally the incentive was $100, but the amount keeps rising because not enough people take it.” (Pg.4) . Employees are told to “check their competitiveness and egos at the door” and by doing this they’re able to provide a good experience for everyone involved.

Building better customer relations mean everything to the Zappos. Keeping touch through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, Hsieh and other employees are able to guage how they rate with their customers and gather any feedback they might have. They share the good and bad and keep the customers aware of what’s going on within the company.  

The business model adopted by Zappos should be adopted by more companies during this economic downturn. By keeping your employees happy, they’ll in turn keep the customers happy. By doing this, they’ll keep them coming back and word will spread about how this company is.

References

Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing