Our life as of now

It has been so very long since we have posted anything. The last couple of posts were for jasons class 2 semesters ago... Anyways last November 19, 2010 we found out we were expecting. 9 months passed and July 10,2011 we welcomed our precious baby tanner! He came 2 weeks early and he was as healthy as can be! We can't express how much we love the little guy. We were only at the hospital 4 hours till he was born and it couldn't of gone more smoothly. We r so very thankful for that. Jason is also glad he didn't have to wait at the hospital with me for 16 hours to lol :) tanner is growing way to fast. He is 5 months old now and has the sweetest personality. We r so excited to spend his first holidays together as a family.

Final blog update for marketing principles!!

4/21 class

For this class we covered sales promotion and everything that sales promotion entails. Sales promotion is any marketing communication activities other than advertising, personal selling and public relations in which a short term motivation influences a consumer to make a purchase. There are two categories of sales promotion. First, consumer sales promotion is entirely aimed at all types of consumers. The other is trade sales promotion which is aimed at the different parts of the distribution channel. Consumer sales promotion has multiple tools at it's disposal. These tools include coupons,rebates, premiums, loyalty membership programs, frequent buyer programs, contests/sweepstakes, sampling "which is one of the most effective of all", point of purchase promotion, and lastly online sales promotion. Trade sales promotion often times uses trade allowances and push money. Personal selling is typically used for high value products in which there is high risk for cognitive dissonance, and most often times is a tailored presentation to it's prospects. Companies also utilize relationship selling which is a sales practice that involves building, maintaining and enhancing interactions with customers to develop long term satisfaction through mutually beneficial partnerships. The steps to the selling process are 1. Generate leads 2. Qualifying leads, recognize leads and their buying power/receptivity and accessibility 3. Needs assessment 4. Handle objections 5. Closing the sale 6. Following up. While closing the deal it's important to look for signals from the customer, keep an open mind, negotiate and tailor to each market.

4/28 class

This class was devoted to choosing a price strategy. Most companies and firms are able to estimate the approximate price that they anticipate to sell their products at this is called a base price. Once you have determined your base price you are able to fine tune and adjust you price using a few different pricing strategies. On strategy that many companies use for high class and high value products new to the market is price skimming. A price skimming policy usually has a high introductory price then followed by a gradual reduction over the rest of it's product life cycle. Another attic commonly used is called penetration pricing, which offers a low introductory price to capture a large market share and to attain economies of scale. The third is called status quo pricing, this is commonly used in markets such as car dealerships, sales of appliances, tire stores, and grocery stores. These all use status quo pricing which strives to match or beat competitors prices. This can be beneficial or detrimental to companies because if a firm has a good distribution channel then they can afford to offer the lower price and still make a profit because they are able to ship the goods at a lower cost to the company. Where as some other companies are not as organized with their distribution channels so for them to match some competitors price can essentially reduce the profit margin so much that it could potentially drive the company out of business. Another strategy is value based pricing, this entails setting the price at a level that seems to the customer to be a good value as opposed to other options from competing companies. Many companies now days are trying to implement value based pricing, the reason for this is because consumers are all looking to get the best product for the lowest price possible so by creating a deal that appeals to the consumer as being a good value you will gain a greater market share. These are all tools used my marketers to fine tune the prices of their products, they can use any one of these of a combination of more than one.

Marketing update 3/31-4/14

Marketing principles update for 3/31 and 4/14 no class on 4/7 for E-Week

For class on 3/31 we covered the elements of promotion. There are 4 elements to promotion. The first is advertising, which is impersonal one-way mass marketing paid for by a marketer in which the name of the company or organization that is paying for the advertisement is identified. The next part of promotion is public relations, this a marketing function that evaluates the publics attitude toward the company and identifies areas within the company that the public may be interested in, they also try to contain any media crisis where the company is receiving bad publicity. The third element of promotion is Sales promotion which is somewhat a catchall for promotion, it is anything besides advertising, public relations and personal selling that is used to stimulate consumer buying. This can include coupons, rebates, point of purchase displays, sampling, premiums, loyalty reward cards and much more. We also covered what communication is, it is the process by which we exchange or share meanings through a common set of symbols, sounds and words. An interesting concept the we also covered is the A.I.D.A. Concept model which is an acronym for Attention Interest Desire and Action which is most often the steps that consumers follow when making a decision to make a purchase. This model also outlines the process for achieving promotional goals.

4/14
During this class we focused on advertising and the desired results for why companies use advertising. Advertising is most often used to create a value proposition which is primarily focused on Price and Value of a good or service. New brands with a smaller market share spend more proportionally than do larger companies with greater market share. Advertising can also change a negative attitude or perception to a positive one. There are three different types of product advertising. Pioneering advertising is used to create a new demand for a product which is usually during the introductory stage. Then competitive advertising is used in the growth stage and generally is used to influence demand. Lastly comparative advertising in when you compare two or more products and you compare the the differences and weakness of your competitions products to your own product. An advertising campaign is a series of advertisements focusing on a common theme, slogan and set of advertising appeal.  A method we use to set and measure advertising goals is by using DAGMAR "defining advertising goals for measured advertising results" we do this by defining target audiences, defining a desired percentage change and a period of time to achieve the results. When we advertise we need to sell the benefits not the attributes, benefits should answer the question "Whats in it for me?" when we do advertising we need a unique selling proposition which is a desirable,exclusive and believable advertising appeal selected as the theme for the campaign. The steps for creating an advertising campaign are to determine your objectives, sell the benefits, develop the appeal, execute the message and the last is to evaluate the results. We went over the purpose of public relations which is to evaluate public attitudes, identify issues of public concerns and execute programs to gain public understanding and acceptance. Some of public relation tools are new product publicity, press relations, corporate communication, public affairs, lobbying, employee/investor relations and crisis management. Crisis management is a coordinated effort to handle all the effects of unfavorable publicity or of an unfavorable event.

Marketing update for 3/4-3/24

So for class on 3/4 we had our mid-term exam which covered all material up to that point, I did much better than I had expected and got a 98% only missing one question! There after we covered new product design and development. There are six types of new products New-to-the-World, New Product Lines, Product Line Addition, Improvements or Revisions, Repositioned Products, Lower-priced Products.  New product success factors are long term commitment, company specific approach, Capitalize on experience, and establish an environment.  The new product development process is as follows,coming up with a new product strategy, idea generation, idea screening, Business analysis, developing, test marketing,commercialization, and you have the new product. Idea generation for new products can come from a variety of places, like customers,Employees, distributors, Competitors, vendors, research and development, and/or consultant. Tips for New Product Development are... Disperse R & D around the globe, keep teams small and empower employees, flatten hierarchy, encourage generation of crazy new ideas, and to welcome mistakes. A lot of times we can use brainstorming which is The process of getting a group to think of unlimited ways to vary a product or solve a problem.

For class on 3/17 we ended up having class cancelled so we did a discussion about a study case online instead of class. The discussion was about the novelty candy market and a company called Kandy Kastle. We also talked about the product called Spin Pop and had to determine which category of new product we feel it would fit under. I decided that since there was nothing else like it on the market that I would say it's a new to the world product, although some classmates felt it would be more of a product revision or improvement since it's still a sucker but I feel that since the product is not only a sucker but a device that spins and rotates the sucker and nothing similar to it was around that it was a new to the world product. We also discussed how Kandy Kastle is integrating Hello Kitty into their products and why that is an important product line. For example, it is a well established trademark that creates instant recognition and that is very popular with children and little girls so it is a huge part of their product line.

Then my last class on 3/24 we covered marketing channels and channels of distribution. Channels for consumer products, producer, agent or brokers, wholesaler, retailers, consumers. Channels for business products: producer, agent or broker, industrial distributor and consumer. A marketing channel is a set of interdependent organizations that ease the transfer of ownership as products move from point of origin to the consumer. One aspect of a marketing channel Is specialization and division of labor which creates greater efficiency, provides lower costs, achieves economies of scale, this process aids producers who lack the resources to market directly, and it builds good relationships with customers. Marketers also have to overcome discrepancies. There are four different types of discrepancies, the first is a discrepancy of quantity. Which is the difference between the amount of a product produced and the amount that the end user wants to buy. Then there is a discrepancy of assortment which is the lack of all the items a customer needs to receive full satisfaction of a product. Temporal discrepancies are situations that occur when a product is produced but the customer is not ready to buy it, a good example of this is seasonal holiday products for christmas or Halloween. Spatial discrepancy is the difference between location of the producer and the location of a widely scattered market. An example of alternative channel arrangements are multiple channels which is the use of two or more channels to distribute the same product to the target markets. There are 3 different levels of distribution intensity, the first is intensive which is aimed at having the product available in every outlet possible then there is selective which is achieved by screening dealers to eliminate all but a few stores within a given area. Lastly exclusive distribution establishes one or a few dealers in a given area. The logistical components of the supply chain are product scheduling, order processing, inventory control, warehousing, and transportation. The trends of supply chain management are advanced computer technology, outsourcing of logistical functions, and finally electronic distribution.

Marketing principles update..

Week of 2/24

During this class we covered product concepts, branding and trademarking. A product is the starting point Of a marketing mix. There are two types of products, business products and consumer products. There are four different types of consumer products. 1. Convenience products- these are inexpensive items which require little shopping effort. 2. Shopping products- these items require comparison shopping and are more expensive. 3. Specialty products- see are particular items that consumers search for extensively and are reluctant to accept substitutes. 4. Unsought products- these are products unknown to the potential buyer or a known product that the buyer doesn't actively seek. Product items are specific versions of a product. The product line is closely related items. A product mix is all products the company offers. The benefits of a product line include simplified marketing since the products are related, package uniformity, and standardized components. The functions of product packaging are to contain and protect the product, promote the item, storage, use and convenience, and to facilitate recycling/reduce environmental damage. Branding/brand name is a term, symbol, or design that designates or specifies the product. Brand mark is a visual image of the brand. Brand equity is the value of the brand. Trademark, is the exclusive right to use the brand. Many parts of the brand and associated symbols qualify for trademark protection and trademark rights comes from use rather than registration. The mark has to be continuously protected, and the rights continue as long as the mark is being used. The final piece we covered was product warranties. A warranty is a confirmation of the quality or performance of the good or service. An expressed warranty is a written guarantee, and an implied warranty is an unwritten guarantee that the product is fit for the purpose which it was sold for.

Marketing principles update...

Week of 2/17

For this class we covered the uses of marketing research, and the types of marketing research. The purpose of marketing research is to improve the quality of decision making, trace a problem, to focus on keeping existing customers, and to understand the market place. The marketing research process is 1. Define the problem 2. Create a plan design/collect primary data 3. Specify sampling procedure 4. Collect data 5. Analyze data 6. Prepare and present the report 7. Follow up. Primary data answers a specific question. The primary data is current and the source of it is know, unlike secondary data. The disadvantages of primary data is that it is expensive to collect, and piggybacking although convenient may confuse respondents. Study research is the most popular technique of acquiring primary data. Other types are observation research which is watching what people do, and ethnographic research which is the study of human behavior in it's natural context. Another form is Internet surveys, which has many advantages, there has been rapid development in this area and also makes real-time reporting available, it allows reduced costs, and personalized questions and data. Not only that but it also allows consumers to do the surveys on there own time when it's convenient for them. Online focus groups is another example, it has fast speed, reduced costs, broad geo-graphic scope, and people tend to be more open and honest when they are in their own environment. The final part is scanner based research. There are two types of scanner research, BehaviorScan- which is panel information from a specific groups of people, and InfoScan- which is information on all products sold. Another are of research is Competitive Intelligenge, which is an intel system that helps managers assess their competition and vendors in order to become more efficient and effective over their competitors.

Marketing principles, class on 2/3 & 2/10

On 2/3 we cover consumer behavior, which is pretty much how people come about making a purchase. There are about 5 steps to the decision process, first is need recognition, then information search or research on the product, after information search we evaluate our alternatives, then we make the purchase, and the final part is post-purchase behavior, whether we show post-purchase remorse or we are satisfied with the purchase. In the first step with Need Recognition, marketing helps consumers recognize an imbalance between their present status and their preferred status. The job of marketers is to convince consumers that when they reach their preferred status, that they aren't actually at their preferred status, we need to always make sure that consumers are wanting more. When we do the information search we use both internal information,which we recall from memory, and external information which we seek from the outside Environment. We also covered how consumer involvement and the decision making process is influenced by social factors. Social influences can be reference groups, like family or friends we go to for advice about a purchase. Individual factors that influence purchase decisions are age, gender, life cycle stage, race, personality, self-concept,pyshological factors, faith, and perception. With perception, part of that is selective exposure, which is when consumers notice certain stimuli and ignores others. Another part of perception is selective distortion, when the consumer changes or distorts info that conflicts with feelings or beliefs. Selective retention is when the consumer remembers only that info that supports personal beliefs. Marketers try to change attitudes or beliefs or add new beliefs to the consumer.

Week of 2/10. We covered marketing segmentation, which gives us a more precise definition of wants and needs of our target market. A market is a group of people or organizations that have needs or wants, and the ability and willingness to buy a product or service. The criteria for segmentation is 1. Sustainability 2. Identifiability and measurability 3. Accessability 4. Responsiveness. We also talked about how the price of a product or service only accounts for 10% of marketing. When we do segmenting we use bases, which are characteristics or variables. The steps to segmenting are first, select a market to study,chose bases for segmentation, select descriptors, profile and analyze segments, select target markets, and lastly is to design, implement and maintain marketing mix. The three types of marketing are undifferentiated, concentrated, and one-to-one marketing. Undifferentiated is a sort of mass marketing, were you just try to sell to the entire population which is typically ineffective. Concentrated focuses on a few different groups but with the same approach, an example of this is selecting a niche, or one segment of a market for target marketing efforts. One-to-one marketing is more individualized and more information intensive, one size fits all marketing is no longer effective. Direct and personal marketing will grow to meet the needs of busy consumers, and consumers will be loyal to companies that have earned and reinforced their loyalty. On top of that, mass media approaches will decline as technology allows better customer tracking.