Week 10 EOC: Retaining Customer Loyalty

I always end up going to Target before I go to Wal-Mart. I love target. I always seem to get most of what I need plus a few extra things that I really do not but have to have anyway. I suppose, the shopping experience is why I go there. Wal-Mart is like the last resort shopping destination for me. If I cannot absolutely find it at Target or any other store nearby or if I am hard up for cash, then I trudge up the energy and patience and go. Everyone goes to Wal-Mart. I equate the shopping experience with last minute Christmas shopping. It is DREADFUL!!!!! I know I will get old one day, but at the moment I am going through aisles and some older person stops in front of me and they KNOW I am behind them, and then do not move to the side so I can pass, I want to KILL them! What a terrible but honest thing. I have maintained my loyalty to Target because of the relaxed, easy-going, and thrifty shopping experience. I think the quality of their clothes is better than that of Wal-Mart. They carry food products, and the ones I buy at Wal-Mart too. The difference in price may be up to a dollar, but I do not care because I get to keep my sanity. Target has great deals also. I can count on buying my polo shirts from them on clearance every month. I know they will be there. I can never find two items that I’ve wanted to buy at Wal-mart in the same shopping day, because I can never find the size I need. Target saves me money, a headache, and a long wait in line if I have more than 20 items. So long as the experience is great, I will keep shopping there.

Week 7 EOC: My Biggest Challenge

The biggest challenge to developing my marketing plan is the concept. Trying to come up with a product that has not already been done is a challenge. There is an array of brands of vodka and I am pretty sure that they have tried many different concepts. Also making my product unique is also a challenge. Vodka has less than a handful of ingredients and you could add almost anything to make it unique but making it unique and making it all make sense seems to prove a little more tuff than I had originally thought. Finding beneficial reasons why someone would want to buy this brand over an already well established brand is also hard. What kinds of benefits does alcohol have? I think my idea is definitely unique and I think the benefits are worth passing up a bottle of Ciroc or Greygoose.

Week 6 EOC

Omnipresent

Trevor Geene
Paul Seavey
Jasmine Milner
Johnie Wood

Flare Sunglasses

We started out with a product that would revolutionize the web industry by creating a simple engine that rendered websites the same in all browsers that it was viewed in. And the way that we would make money is by offering tutorials that people had to pay to view.

Our second idea was a complete flop; we decide to create a product that was “nothing”. But as you can see we ran into some problems with this idea.

Next, we went to a niche market and suggested the idea of animal shaped coffee cups. Not a bad idea, but we realized that the niche market was so small in this economy that we would make no profit off of it.

Our last idea we came up with before we decided to go the route that we chose was to turn the iPhone into a single glass eye piece that would be operable by a blue tooth motion sensing glove.
Our product is revolutionary in its idea, but it uses existing technology. Our product is a pair of designer sunglasses that uses transition technology to adjust the tint to users preferences. Sunglasses for every person and every place.

Week 5 EOC: What My Classmates Think About Advertising & Marketing

One of my classmates and I share the same view of advertising. She said, "Advertising is impersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by a marketer." ( MKTG, Lamb pg. 212.) http://luckybugproductions.blogspot.com/

I agree. It is about getting the message out there to the masses in the most effective way possible. I liked my example I used last week about men’s body wash and how placing it on a website like ESPN, that a vast number of men commonly frequent, is a great way to reach your target market.

Another classmate elaborated more on the process of marketing and how it relates to advertising. She said, “"Marketing is a process that focuses on delivering value and benefits to customers"(MKTG, McDaniel, Pg. 3). http://minnie-livingbydesign.blogspot.com/

She also went on to say something to the effect that marketing is the tool that advertisers use to get their products out there. The marketing process is what determines who we are marketing to, where is this target market located, and is this product going to do well in this market from a research and study point-of-view. The Ad companies need depend on this information to market effectively and efficiently. I will go back to my example of men’s body wash. Most men are generally only concerned about smelling clean and fresh. The key is the scent, clean and fresh. Men want to smell like men and not like women.

One more classmates had an interesting view on advertising. She said, “Though advertising cannot change consumers’ deeply rooted values and attitudes, advertising may succeed in transforming a person’s negative attitude toward a product into a positive one.” (MKTG, Lamb, pg. 228) http://gamboldeproductions.blogspot.com/

I also agree with her view. Her example is the tobacco companies. The age old question was how so they keep people lighting up every 10 seconds when the detrimental and deathly affects that come along with doing so. They turned a negative into a positive. After being blacklisted by their own medical research, the companies had to change their approach. They used images and attributes of product, like “It’s Toasted,” to revive its market and create a new buzz big enough to kill all the other medically supported ads they used in the past. All though this may not get someone to start smoking, it will keep the people who already started distracted enough to keep buying and lighting up.

Week 4 EOC: The Difference between Marketing and Advertising

“Advertising is any form of impersonal paid communication in which the sponsor or company is identified” (Marketing, Lamb, pg.212). Marketing is the way process of creating the communication between services and products. Advertising is the way that they are seen. For instance, when we watch TV, listen to the radio, browse websites, we are flooded with ads for soap, sex, chocolate, soda, fast-food, any and everything. Advertising is attaching the company to the item. If you want to buy a soda, you buy a brand that you know, like Pepsi. Marketing is what the company sells and who they sell to, and how they are going to sell it. For instance, Axe, a popular body wash, was designed for men who wanted to smell FRESH! They could the same freshness as they did with a bar of regular soap as they could with this body wash. Women use body wash too. Why not bottle the women’s and change the packaging? Do you know a man who wants to smell like honey, lavender, jasmine essence? I certainly do not, not a real one anyway. I know men who want to smell like rain, or musk, or clean. That is marketing. Targeting who you are going to sell to and how you are going to sell to them. So for men’s body wash, it was changing the scent and attaching freshness to the stigma. Men want to smell like men, not like women. Now placing an ad for Axe on ESPN is advertising. ESPN, an internet Mecca for men, is a place where the company can get the word out about AXE in a one delivering, targeting a vast number of men, who can tell their wives, “Honey, can you pick up a bottle of AXE for me at the store?”

Week 3 EOC: How I Buy Stuff

When I shop for products, I tend to shop according to my personality and personal preferences. I am not really concerned with setting trends, buying according to a desired lifestyle, or buying according to an ideal self image. I buy according to myself concept, “… or self perception, is how consumers perceive themselves,” (Marketing, Lamb, pg. 76). I bought a striped, mini- jean vest last spring. I thought it was really cute and the combinations of usage I could get out of this vest seemed almost endless. I wore this jean vest, while out with my family at dinner last week, and my sister told me politely that I was wearing something out of fashion; I was humored because when I bought this vest, she told me it was one of the cutest pieces I had bought that day. So apparently it was cute last year, but since no one thinks it is this year, except for me, I shouldn’t wear it? I told her I did not care what she thought and if Jesus told me he did not like what I was wearing, I would tell him to look the other way. Quite cynical, I am, but the point is, what people like is always changing. I guess some slower than others. I am going to buy what I feel I need and what I like at the moment. If I need a new flat iron to get the waves out of y hair at a lower heat setting, that is what I am going to buy. I want to buy a Gizmo shirt because it reminds of my childhood; I am going to buy it. If what I buy happens to be cool or trendy at the time, I guess I am catching up to all those fashionistas out there. If I want to buy a Coach bag because I feel should have a bag designated for special occasions like funerals, baby showers, and the first day of school, then I am going to buy it!

Week 2 EOC: Me as the Consumer

I am a 21 year old, African American, Female. When it comes to me as a consumer, some of what I buy comes from the characteristics of my demographic, personal preference, and cost perspective. When it comes to personal care, i.e. skin and hair, I am mixed. There are products specifically made for my ethnicity, but I rarely use them because they don’t seem to do as well or are priced in my budget. When it comes to my hair, I use all organic products. Organic does not have to be expensive. Giovanni Organics delivers me the best hair I’ve had in years, and my beautician is amazed at how healthy hair is every time I go get my hair done. She has even started using it. The best part about it is that, it is now available at Walmart. So I no longer have to go to Whole Foods just to get shampoo and conditioner. When it comes to the basic necessities, soap, toothpaste, lotion, I tend to go with personal preference over price, unless the quality is good for the price. I like to shop smart. As far as clothing and apparel, I am a mixed buyer. It really depends on what I am shopping for. When it comes to the everyday casual gear, my favorite stores are target and old navy. The quality stands up better to anything I have owned thus far and is cost effective without looking cheap and without the buyer’s remorse. When it comes specials occasions and night life gear, I usually find myself at Macys. When it comes to accessories, I am kind of all over the place. I own a few expensive handbags, shoes, sunglasses, etc. I also own a lot of not so expensive items to. I guess you could say that I shop with more of a personal preference, but I like to be mindful of my budget. A splurge every now and then is okay. Life is short and then you die right?

Week 1 EOC: A Quality Customer Experience

I ordered $108 worth of clothes off Oldnavy.com about two and weeks ago and because I spent over a $100, the shipping was free. Fast forward to the July 13, 2009, and it has not arrived yet. Granted I ordered close to the weekend, and the shipping was going ground, I still had yet to receive my package of my new jeans and shirts. I had ordered them for an event I was supposed to be attending. The event was two days away and they were yet to be found. I tracked my package through ups and it said that they had been delivered at 4:51 PM that day and left on my door step. Wrong! I had been home all day and not a soul came to my door. So I called ups and they told me I had to call Old Navy so they can track a package that supposedly was delivered. So I did and Old Navy was happy to track the missing package and resend me item, with no cost to me, though the prices had changed, and they required a signature this time, since there was no option for one when I originally placed the order. The representative on the phone was so nice and courteous; I wanted to take her out for cocktails because she made me feel good, even though I still had nothing to wear.