Blog 10

An important concept I perceived to be the most effective in the course throughout the semester were the four P’s of marketing. Without understanding how to utilize product, price, place, and promotion your business will struggle to be successful.

• Product is defined as an item that will satisfy a consumer. There are many things that come with a product. The package, brand, and physical product itself. The package needs to be safe, preserving, and convenient. The brand is what your product represents. Branding leads to customer loyalty and separates a company from the competition.

• Promotion is the technique a firm uses to communicate information about a product. Promotions creates the image of what the company wants their product to portray. You can market a product to many channel such as social media, television, radio and many others. In the promotion stage you are able to present your brand to the consumers. A promotion can change a persons behavior and emotions and can be very influential in the purchase decision.

• Place is where and who the product or service is going to be sold to. There are many channels businesses can distribute their product to such as, online, retail, wholesale, and direct to consumer. The goal is to get your product into the right market, at the correct price, and at the right time compared to your competitors. It's critical to make sure a business markets and distributes their products in the most efficient locations. For example, expensive car dealerships are located in wealthy towns, because a person living in the suburbs would never be able to afford that product.

• Finally price can be the most influential out of all the four P’s in the marketing mix. A products price determines where it will be placed in the market. Prices are determined from competitors in the the market. There are many ways for a product to be priced to enter a market. Predominantly the two price methods used are price skimming and penetration pricing. Price skimming is the pricing strategy where businesses will set a high initial price for a product and then lower it over time. In contrast penetration pricing, which is when a product is priced low initially in order to attract customers away from competitors.

Using the marketing mix is the best approach while conducting our class practice marketing simulation. Our teams goal in the simulation was to design a cool desired pack that is environmentally friendly for college students to buy. After a few turns we were able to analyze the market and see what demographic the most units were being sold to, and in which markets. It was clear that the Urban commuters purchased the most backpacks in the market. Using the data, we decided to change our product and reposition it into the urban commuters market. We strategically used the marketing mix to change the product, distribution, target market, and price in order to gain share in the market. Without knowledge of how the four P’s work in marketing, we would never have decided to change the product. The end result of the repositioning was a huge success bringing our team into second place and skyrocketing our profit margins.

Amazon Dash button is no joke

Welcome back viewers

Today I want to talk about Amazon’s announcement of their new product called the Dash button. The button is a controller sized and has individual brands logos on them. The concept gives the consumer a tangible button to push, and consequentially a product from brand arrives at your front door. Amazon plans to have over a dozen brands compatible with the button. The company envisions that the consumer will place the buttons around their home, in the pantry, and on washing machine. This way, when you run out of the product next to the dash button, you will be able to push it, and have the product delivered directly to your door. Amazon prime members will be able to receive the product in two days with free shipping, not a bad deal. 

This concept of immediate purchasing seems like it would cause a lot of problems. Amazon, being the tech giant that it is, designed the button strategically so that all problem areas are covered. The buttons connect with the Amazon mobile shopping app and your home Wi-Fi network. Consumers assign specific products quantities each button via Amazon mobile. When the button is clicked, your smartphone gets a notification, then you have the option to cancel that order within a half hour. Also, if someone in your house pushes, for example, the Gatorade button 15 times, amazon made sure that you won't 15 orders. Only one of your assigned quantity, and if there is a order already on its way, it will automatically cancel.

Amazon tells the Wall Street Journal, “Our goal with the Dash Button is to learn as much as possible about what customers think about this,” Pearsall said, “whether people will want to stick tiny, Wi-Fi connected product logos around their homes remains to be seen.”

Amazon is not sure what is to come with the dash button, but they see the product as another way to add to the convenience of the consumer. Amazon is a company that started as an online bookstore, and has evolved into the largest online retailer. The company was able to do this by diversifying their website and adding MP3’s, video streaming, and everything else you would ever need. It will be interesting to see if the dash button takes away from any of the smaller brand companies. The button forces the consumer to be brand loyal. Without the consumer ever having the option to chose the smaller brand it could dissolve them from the market entirely.

Video: (https://youtu.be/NMacTuHPWFI)

Source:(http://blogs.wsj.com/personal-technology/2015/03/31/amazons-dash-button-is-not-a-hoax-its-phase-one/?KEYWORDS=amazon+button)

Coca-Cola Headlines the Final Four with new innovations

Welcome back to this weeks edition of the marketing blog

Coca-Cola is always at the top when it comes to new and innovative marketing campaigns. Recently, in preparation for the NCAA basketball final four tournament in Indianapolis, Coca-Cola released drinkable billboards. This is the first time this type of billboard has ever been created. The billboards are 26-by-36-ft placed in the White River State Park. This is the site of Coke Zero Countdown Concert for the final four. The billboards will magically dispense cold Coke Zero from a massive Coca-Cola bottle. The soda travels through 4,500 feet of tubing that spells out, “Taste It” then the soda is moved into free sampling station.  Also, while waiting in line, fans can play basketball-themed games for the chance to win prizes from Coke.

Video: (https://youtu.be/pTaP63EGkNA)

Danielle Henry, group director of Integrated Marketing Communications states, “It’s an engineering marvel when you factor in the tubing, lights, liquid, CO2 and everything else that went into this,” “Pulling this off in a short timeframe was no small feat.”

In addition to the “drinkable” billboard Coke plans to have a “drinkable” commercial that will encourage viewers at home to use the Shazam app in order to watch a glass on their mobile device fill up with Coke Zero as it’s poured from a bottle on TV. When the glass fills up, the app will give you a mobile coupon for a free 20-oz. bottle of Coke Zero, “at a participating retailer.” The commercial aired on Saturday night during the Kentucky v.s. Wisconsin game on TBS, and again Monday night during the national championship game on CBS.

Coke wasn’t done either, there were other drinkable elements all over Indianapolis that included interactive kiosks and flyers that turn into straws, all of which generate coupons. There were more than 150,000 free servings of Coke Zero were distributed in Indianapolis alone.

Danielle Henry, group director of Integrated Marketing Communications at Coke states, “We collaborated with our agency partners to create media vehicles that are actually drinkable – something we’ve never done before at Coca-Cola,” Henry said. “We wanted every ad to lead directly to an opportunity to try Coke Zero. Everything we’re doing results in an actual sample or a coupon.”

According to Henry, 60 percent of consumers who taste Coke Zero return to purchase it again. “We know we’ll be successful if we can get drinks in hand,” she added, “because once people try Coke Zero, they come back for more.”

Drinkable Ad Video: (https://youtu.be/cqlETDvgVwY)

The 2015 National Championship game attendance of 71,149 at Lucas Oil Stadium, which was the highest of any of the seven national championship games that Indianapolis has hosted. Also, it was the fourth largest crowd in NCAA Championship history. The game is a national event that watched by hundreds of thousands all over the U.S. Coke took full advantage of marketing opportunities to make sure that their soda headlined the event. This marketing strategy not only helps Coke in the short term through product sales, but it also means that Coke is related to the Final four forever. This innovation is the reason why Coca-Cola is one of the most recognizable brands in the world.

Source:(http://www.coca-colacompany.com/innovation/a-sign-of-great-taste-coke-zero-unveils-drinkable-billboards-and-more-in-indy)

Apple Watch Market Segmentation

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Blog,

I know you are all on the edge of your seat in anticipation for the release of the newest Apple product, the Apple watch. The Apple watch is the latest edition to Apple’s fleet of tech products. Apple watch is sought to be the most high tech watch in the market, come its release in April 24. The iWatch comes with many new age features that separates itself from the competition, putting the iWatch into a league of it’s own. From health features such as heart rate monitoring to picture messaging, the iWatch can do it all.

Apple plans to release this revolutionary product in three segments, watch, watch sport and watch special edition. Also within these three segments apple is breaking them into sub-segments, with multiple designs for each segment. This makes sense for Apple to get the product into as many hands as possible, and as early as possible. The segmentation also give the consumer a diverse portfolio of options to purchase from. Apples price segmentation offers different product versions and prices attached to each version up front. In contrast to price skimming by using a single product with an initial high price. 

While the Apple watch is a new and innovative piece of technology, I don’t believe there's a big enough market for the watch to be successful. The product is a sub-segment in the smartwatch market because without an iPhone you cannot access the full potential of the watch. You have to first be a consumer of an iPhone to access the full potential of the watch. In order to fully enjoy the Apple watch you need to invest yourself into the brand. This is where Apple will see the bulk of their success, selling mostly to their brand loyal consumers

As far as competitors in the smartwatch market, Apple faces up against their usual rival, Samsung and their GEAR watch, as well as several other smartwatches making up the market. Although the GEAR watch is priced at $325, which is $200 dollars lower than the Apple watch price point, the GEAR is still a sub-segment of a market and only concerns Samsung Galaxy phone owners. The watch will be most popular with consumers who are brand loyal to apple and the techno geek demographic.

Is Green Coke Just a Marketing Gimmick?

Welcome Back Bloggers,

Today I am going to talk about Coca-Cola's recently new launch of Coke Life. Coca-Cola Life launched in the summer of 2014 in the United States and Europe. The company claims that the new product line offers a healthy alternative to regular Coca-Cola. Coke life is marketed as a lower calorie version of coke that contains zero artificial sweeteners and 60% of the calories that classic Coke has. The product is an initiative from Coca-Cola pushing to stop the global obesity epidemic. The soda is sold in green cans or in a recyclable plastic bottle. Critics have said although the company has marketed the soda to be, “healthy” the product is not conducive to the health of the consumer and is a marketing gimmick for the company.  

• As far as the nutrition value for Coke life, the 330ml can of soda contains 89 calories and is made with 22 grams of stevia leaf extract as a form of sugar

• Compared to a regular can of Coca- Cola which has 139 calories and 35 regular grams of sugar.

• Also Coca-Cola Life still contains colouring, caffeine, phosphoric acid and 19% of our recommended daily sugar intake.

Critics believe that the healthy green packaging of Coca-Cola life is misleading the consumer into thinking the beverage is healthy for you. So what is it that makes this soda, “healthy” in the mind of the consumer? The cans green color associates in our brain as “Go”, in contrast to Coke’s original red can, that our brain associates as, “Stop”. When the colors are next to each other the consumer is much more likely to choose the green healthy option rather than the red original product.

        

Coca-Cola’s life marketing campaign is a chance for the company to reach out to a different healthy demographic of soda drinkers. While the actual product itself itself shows no signs of ingredients that are beneficial to your health, the packaging makes to consumer believe that their are.

Elizabeth Haynes, president of Haynes & Co, which has done market research for major retailers and large hedge funds. She tells USA TODAY, "We haven't seen a product in the beverage space hitting on all cycles like this for years," Haynes & Co also reached out to several hundred consumers who remembered seeing Coca-Cola Life. After surveying the consumers their grades and reactions to Coke life were very high.

Get ready to start seeing a new color in the Coca-Cola product line because Coke Life is a huge hit.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/11/04/coca-cola-soft-drinks-coca-cola-life-coke-life-pepsi-true/18477965/

Patagonia promises "weed"?

Welcome Back Bloggers,

Everyone who is familiar with the company Patagonia, will know that the business is at the top of all socially responsible companies. Patagonia was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973. The company manufactures high-end outdoor clothing and is strongly involved in many environmental movements. In the end of 2014 Patagonia released their new and in some minds, questionable marketing campaign for their new wetsuits. The campaign was based to get surfers’ attention through the promise of weed.

In a new print ad Patagonia declares, “We have the best weed in town (and we’re giving it away)”:

It's not the weed that is currently being legalized in many states in the U.S. that is being made with Patagonia's new wetsuits, but rather a desert shrub, native to the Southwestern U.S. Luxuriously priced between $529 and $549, the company’s hardly giving these wetsuits away. The company is introducing a new way to make a wetsuit using renewable materials that are safer to the earths oceans. Patagonia based their brand around the idea of openly sourcing a rubber made from greener alternatives that will give the surf industry a break from the non-biodegradable, resource-intensive neoprene that wetsuits are currently made of.

Patagonia tells The New York Times, “It is one way Patagonia is trying to nudge along a sport that has not always been environmentally conscious despite its roots in the natural world. Patagonia executives are also convinced that the many years of development and testing they have supported have resulted in a revolutionary material that will wind up not only in wet suits but also in everyday items like sneakers and yoga mats.”

While Patagonia shows no indication that this "weed" has any mind-altering properties, the allusion is placed in the consumers head and is certainly an attention grabber. Currently, Patagonia makes their wetsuits from 60 percent “weed” or guayule and 40 percent neoprene. The company hopes that if their new biorubber catches on it will drive the costs down as they work towards cutting the neoprene out of their wetsuit entirely.

Patagonia tells The New York Times that, "When volume goes up, price goes down, and more surfers can choose to purchase less harmful suits. It’s good, smart business."

Patagonia has realized that surfers wetsuits are actually harmful to the environment. Surfing is a sport whose followers are extremely in touch and aware of their affect on the environment. Patagonia has discovered a niche in a market and intends to change the way that wetsuits are made entirely.

Success of Shred

Hello bloggers,

What are the keys to creating and marketing a successful business in the ski industry, in our current economy? Shred Optics is a great example of a company, who has been able to thrive in the competitive industry. Shred was founded by it’s owner, Ted Ligety in 2006. Ted is an American alpine ski racer, who has been the top skier and face of the U.S ski team for some time now. Ted’s rise to the top of ski world was a rough one to say the least. He never saw success in skiing until he was eighteen, which is late compared to athletes around him. Once he made it to the U.S ski team he won the olympic slalom in his first olympics ever. Ted currently has three olympic medals, six world championship medals, and 26 world cup wins since his debut in 2003.

Ted was always known as the racer who brings the most style to ski racing. Before starting Shred Optics Ted noticed that snowboarding and free riding had stolen some of what he called “the cool factor” from traditional skiing. Ted told The New York Times, “There was a big disconnect, and skiers were seen as old school,” Ligety said. “I knew that didn’t apply to me, so I wanted to show that we could merge the two worlds. I wanted kids to know that it’s cool to be in a ski race in the morning and to go play in the terrain park in the afternoon. It’s not one or the other.”
                                                        

Ligety started to wear brightly colored outfits and ended his races with a signature trick moves in the snow to bring more style into the sport. Ted’s radical style and oddly colored cloths were starting to gain attention quickly. Ted discovered a niche in the market and capitalized on it. With a European business partner, he started Shred in 2006 and aggressively marketed what were in then, radically designed helmets, goggles and other goods in florescent pink and orange. From then on Shred has flourished, and with the help of the free skiing and twin-tip movement, ski participation has made a comeback as the percentage of snowboarders on the slopes has declined.

Through Ted’s success as a rising star on the World Cup, he has only taken his company up with him. He's marketing his company every time he is on the slopes or in a race. Even with the pressure of competing on the top level in the World Cup Ted stays involved with all of Shreds operations. Ligety tells The New York Times, “I did it to make money, too,” he said with a chortle. “I’m very involved in Shred, constantly checking in on something. It takes a lot of time. But it has let me leverage who I am as an athlete into a product.”

Ted is an innovator in the ski industry and has taken his company Shred to new levels by doing radical things everyday.

Kelly Slater Buys Firewire Surfboards?

Kelly Slater Buys Firewire Surfboards

Howdy blog readers,

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with the surf industry, word just got out that Kelly Slater plans on purchasing a serious stake in the surfboard company, Firewire. At 42 Kelly Slater has been crowned ASP World Tour Champion for a record 11 times. He's been on the world tour since 1990, and is still competing at the highest level. Kelly has already placed himself in surfing history and is a true legend of the sport. His plan is to turn Firewire into an eco-friendly surfboard company, bringing together best shapers in the world. Although, because Kelly bought a majority share, there’s no payday for current shareholders and their shares are now diluted.

In an interview with Stab Mag Kelly was asked about his recent purchase where he stated,

“It’s nothing definite until it’s finished and it’s a work in progress. But surfboards are a tricky business. There’s a certain irony to all of our environmental talk and chemical walk. That’s not to point fingers at anyone but myself. I just think it’s time to do something about my residue that’s built up.”

Producing the best quality boards will only make up a part of the legacy he aims to leave on surfing. Kelly plans on reducing the company's carbon footprint, while still producing the best surfboards in the world. Another drastic change is to change the logo.

Kelly was one of the first and early ambassadors of the action camera GoPro. He was one of the driving forces that helped the brand achieve such great success. Historically in the surfing world, everything that Kelly Slater has endorsed, has become a huge success. When you sign up Kelly, your signing up for the best marketing figure in the sport. This is also newsworthy because Kelly doesn’t just sign with any company. He's always been much more than just a surfer. Kelly’s focus on changing the surf industry to be more sustainable is getting clearer every day. He wants to leave a new mark on surfing for the greater good.

           

Kelly tells Stab Mag, ““Work wise… I’d love to create an impact on the industry in a positive direction”.

Watch as Kelly makes history everyday: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d_E1Xx4_Ko)

GoPro's stock in trouble after Apple's new patent

What's up internet,

Today I’ve decided to talk about a recent problem that the company GoPro is facing. For those of you who are not familiar with the company, GoPro produces action cameras that are compact, lightweight, rugged, and easily mountable on any surface. GoPro has changed the world of action sports and the way people are able to view them. The camera gives the viewer a POV (point of view) angle through a wide angle lens where the viewer can be in the riders shoes. The company was started by Nick Woodman in 2002 following a surf trip to Australia. Nicks vision for a action POV camera quickly advanced into the HD GoPro cameras that we see today. On June 25, 2014, GoPro’s IPO sold 17.8 million shares to initial investors at $24 per share, totaling $427.2 million. GoPro’s stock is currently trading at $47.12.

For a while now GoPro has owned the action POV camera industry. GoPro has built their brand up to a point that whenever an action POV video appears on the internet you immediately associate it with GoPro. Just like when you have a cut, you reach for a Band-Aid not a bandage, and when you need to blow your nose, you ask for Kleenex not tissue. GoPro was able to achieve this because they were the innovators of the action camera. Things were going great for GoPro until Apple released a new patent relating to a camera system that could be mounted to various objects while being controlled using a phone or watch. According to Patently Apple, Apple's invention could directly move into GoPro's realm as the patent specifically mentions the weaknesses of the GoPro devices.

(Video on backround of patent) “http://www.cbsnews.com/news/apple-camera-patent-gives-gopro-stock-jitters/”

So, will GoPro be affected by Apple’s plan to create a action camera? My answer is yes. Already GoPro has seen a 13% decline in their stock, just from the announcement of Apple's patent. If GoPro’s stock can go down just from the patent just imagine what will happen when Apple releases the product. Apple is a super company that can and will swallow anything that is in it’s path. It wouldn’t be the first time that Apple has taken over a companies product market. A prime example Apples takeover is the Flip pocket camcorder. Flip was recently dumped by CISCO after being purchased for $590 million. Recently after Apple came out with their smart phone that did the exact same thing as the flip video camera. You can imagine who won that battle. As seen in history, Apple is near impossible to compete with. If Apple comes out with a action camera I predict that they will be able to take a sizeable amount of share in the market.

Blog 1

Hello Internet,

     My name is, Shane Love, I am a sophomore at Saint Michael's college on the Alpine ski team.  My personal goals this semester are to expand my knowledge of marketing and utilize my creativity to come up with a successful product and marketing campaign. So, how am I going to do this? I have been skiing more whole life, my world revolves around skiing and winters. In my local town of North Conway, New Hampshire, my dad owns a ski and bike outlet store. Growing up as a skier have seen so much that skiing has to offer. The ski industry uses some of the most creativity marketing campaigns in business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ykv2i_VyKU

     The most important technique that ski companies use to market their brand is placement. When a skier is flying down a trail or through the air it is almost impossible to recognize and distinguish different brands. Ski companies utilize big, bold, and bright colors in order to make their particular logo pop on the slopes. It’s nothing new seeing jackets, poles, and mittens in bright green and pink fluorescent colors. Companies use these colors because they stick out like a sore thumb behind a white ski slope. Just like most successful companies the ski industry utilizes professional athletes as walking marketing campaigns.

As seen in the GoPro ad above, professional freeskier Bobby Brown is performing a double cork 1080. Thanks to GoPro’s wonderfully genius compact action camera design the consumer is able to see the maneuver close up and slowed down from a first person point of view. Right as Bobby Comes into the screen we notice that Red Bull and Under Armour popping out from his helmet and shirt. These Brands stick out the most in the commercial because of their placement. Under Armour uses a double color contrast scheme by having Bobby wear a red shirt, making him standing out in behind the white snow, with a large white UA logo. Under Armour uses these colors to make sure that their brand stands out from the others on the slope.