Marketing Campaign to Attract Tourists to The USA

There is a new marketing plan being launched which is designed to make people want to visit the Unites States. The commercial is 60 seconds long and features city such as San Francisco, New Orleans, New York and Miami. It also shows beaches and forests. They use well known actors to depict the multicultural communities and play the song "land of dreams" in the background. Their goal is to "rekindle the love the world used to have for the United States." They want people all over the world to feel welcomed to visit. The campaign will air in the UK and Canada first and then spread through to world.

I think it is a good idea to reach out to other countries and be welcoming, but I also think the ad may make people in impoverished places jealous of all that Americans have. They show all the beautiful places, and people in America, and this may come off as "bragging" about how great we are. Hopefully the world takes it the right way, the way it was meant to be taken. But there is always a chance that it could fail.

What do you think? Will the add make people want to visit America? Or will it be a turn off to those people who possibly cannot afford to visit and do the opposite of what the ad intended?

In Response to Nicholes post...

How different do you think buying a new car compared to a used car is? Would you rather buy a used or new car? Why?

I believe the process of buy a car is a daunting one to most people. There are so many different things that could go wrong and so many details that need to be worked out. I believe that buying a car from a car dealership is much safer and more reliable than buying a car from a private owner or off of Craigslist. If you buy from a dealer they can assist you in making sure the car will pass inspection and give you deals that a single person could not. When buying a new car it is often more expensive, but it is more reassuring because you can be sure there is nothing wrong with it, and they usually come with warranties. Buying a used car is often more stressful because although it may be less expensive it could have problems that the buyer is not aware of. If I was in the market for a new car I would buy one that is two years old. That way it is relatively new with low miles, but it is not quite as expensive as a brand new car. 


Would you feel more comfortable buying a car from a dealership or a individual selling the car in the paper? Do you think dealerships are trustworthy?

T-Mobile Trying to Make a Comeback

T-mobile is trying to kick start their brand again with a new spokes person, they are "setting the record straight" and have a new "tough" advertisement. They say they are done playing "Mr. nice girl" Their spokes woman us wearing biker leather, and the ad suggests that consumers take the new 4G network for a "test drive." They are competing with the biggest wireless brands such as AT&T and Version to make it back into the network and be a household name for wireless customers. They are no longer playing "nice" and they believe this will help their company reach new heights.

Do you think T-Mobiles new marketing technique will succeed? Why or why not?

In Response to Joseph...

What do you think is the most important factor when trying to market to different cultures?

 Joseph listed these five factors as important when marketing to different cultures:

1. Wealth 2. Consumer Habits 3. Age 4. Language 5. Personality 

 

 I believe the most important factor is wealth. Wealth is a determining fact when consumers think about buying a product. Consumers who live in a culture that is not affluent, may not have the money to spend on products or services that are not necessary. Consumers who do not have money to "play" with may ask themselves, "do I need this?" If the answer is no, they probably are not willing to spend extra money they don't have on it. In America people are known for having many things they do not need, and spending money frivolously. However in other cultures people only spend money on what they really need, and they value the money they do have more. If you were marking a product or service in a another country, I would  absolutely make sure that the consumers would either need the product, or be willing to spend their money on it.

Do you think wealth is the most important? Or do you think another factor is more important?

In Response to Todd's Post...

How do you guys feel about advertisers using temporary tattoos? Would you wear one?

My first thought after reading Todd's post about temporary tattoos used for advertising, I thought it would not work. However, after further thought I came to the decision that I do believe the idea would work if the right companies used it and created a tattoo that consumers would want to wear. They would have to market to specific people, younger children tend to like temporary tattoos more than middle aged people. Children s products could easily be marketed this way. The example Todd gave was Yellow Tail wine, I think that alcoholic beverages could be marketed this way to college aged students, however people who have real jobs probably do not want to go to work and show off a temporaty tattoo of an alcoholic beverage, it may send the wrong message. This is an innovative new idea that could definitely catch on if it is used with the right products and the right target market. 


How do you feel about people getting brands or logos permanently tattooed on them?

In Response to Lyndzi's Post....

When you see the Apple symbol/logo what do you think of? What are your first thoughts that come to mind about the brand or product?

When I see the Apple symbol the first thing that comes to mind is the price. The price of Apple products is higher than other electronic companies, but with higher price you also get better quality. The higher price is well worth it because Apple products are some of the highest quality in the world, and will last longer and run better than most. When you purchase an Apple product you are making an investment, you are purchasing a higher priced item, but you know it will last longer than any other. Apple has created an amazing name for themselves, Lyndzi was right when she stated that Apple has created "great brand loyalty." Once a consumer buys an Apple product they want to continue to purchase from Apple because they realize how reliable and consumer friendly their products are. I am an example of this, I own a Apple MacBook, iPod Touch, and iPhone. I have never had a problem with any of them, and when one of them does finally stop working, I will buy another Apple product to replace it. I have strong brand loyalty to Apple, and will continue to trust their products because of the experience I have had with the ones I currently own.

Do you have brand loyalty to any other brand besides Apple?

Social Campaign

The new way to market online is  a "social campaign" on a social media site such as Facebook. It is fairly simple, but it does require you to use a third party application to install a tab on your Facebook page. After you install the tab, you can publish an offer that may get your "fans" to want to do something. For example, they may want to buy your product or use your service.

There is also the option that you can offer an incentive, for example if someone "likes" your page, they get a free download. This way whenever someone "likes" the page, it shows up on their page, and all of their friends can see it. This way you a building a list of consumers who like your product or service, and you are also leading consumers to an incentive or a reason to buy your product or service. You can lead consumers to a coupon, or a sale through this method.

Social media campaigns used to be only available to big companies who had a lot of money to support the campaign, however now the more low-cost software is available and companies can launch these campaigns on their own for much less money.

Do you think paying for a social campaign on Facebook is beneficial to companies? Do you pay attention when a "friend" likes a certain company?

In Response to Allison...

Which of the 10 rules do you think is the most important? If you could make any ad what would it be for and how would you go about creating the advertisement?

Allison Listed these as the 10 rules for more effective advertising: 
1. Does the ad tell a simple story, not just convey information?

2. Does the ad make the desired call to action a part of the story?

3. Does the ad use basic emotional appeals?

4. Does the ad use easy arguments?

5. Does the ad show, and not tell?

6. Does the ad use symbolic language and images that relate to the senses?

7. Does the ad match what viewers see with what they hear?

8. Does the ad stay with a scene long enough for impact?

9. Does the ad let powerful video speak for itself?

10. Does the ad use identifiable music?

In My opinion, the most important rule is number 7. "Does the ad match what viewers see with what they hear" I think this is the most important because if consumers are confused by an ad, it will make the product less appealing. Consumers want to be informed in a clear way about products, if they see an ad that does not match up or make sense, they will not spend the time to consider the product because they are unsure of what the product is supposed to be. If you are sending mixed messages to consumers, you are insinuating that you are not clear about what your own product "is." First and foremost marketers should be clear about what they are selling. 

In your opinion are any of these rules unnecessary? Or are they all important to make a marketing campaign succeed?

JC Penny's Makeover

JC Penny's latest undertaking is transforming their "aging" department store into a store of the future. They have recently started carrying new designer brands, began using simpler pricing, and updated the stores design. Penny's sales have been lagging, and they knew they had to make a change or the 110 year old brand would struggle. They were competing With stores such as Walmart, Khols, and Traget occupying the lower market, and Macy's and Nordstrom the higher, Penny's was stuck somewhere in the middle with a reported loss of $87 Million Dollars.

Their new plan includes different pricing. They decided instead of constantly having sales, they would just keep their prices as low as they could all the time. This way they avoid having to change sale signs and confuse customers with certain percentages off, instead all of their prices are at their lowest, at all times.

Do you think that JC Penny's new marketing plan if going to help them succeed in the current competitive market?

Neuromarketing

There are always new ways surfacing to try and figure out what the consumer wants. But In this case the newest way is neuromarketing. "It's easy for businesses to keep track of what we buy, but harder to figure out why. Enter a nascent field called neuromarketing, which uses the tools of neuroscience to determine why we prefer some products over others." says Carmen Nobel, Author of the article "What Neuroscience Tells Us About Consumer Desire." This method falls under the category of Decision Neuroscience, they are trying to figure out what makes consumers what a certain product over another.Large companies such as Frito-Lay have hired a neuromarketing firm to look into how consumers respond to Cheetos. So using EEG technology on a group of willing subjects, they discovered that consumers respond highly to the fact that their fingers turn orange with the cheese dust. They say that they consumers enjoy the "messiness" of the product.

There are concerns surrounding this new marketing idea, some firms market that they offer neuromarketing analysis, but in fact they do not have the correct expertise of technology to give proficient feedback. Like any new idea, this has its flaws and its critics.

Do you think the idea of neuromarketing is a good one? If you owned a company would you hire a neuromarketing firm to test how consumers respond to your products?

In Response to Christine...

If you were a business owner would you use Google's Customer Survey Tool to find out more about your consumers needs?  

If I was a business owner I would definitely consider using the new Google Customer Survey tool. I Think the tool would be very beneficial to business owner to know what their consumers really want. I would however limit my use of the tool, maybe only put it on one web page, or only use it on certain days of the week so that customers would not become annoyed by constantly being asked to answer questions when they visit the site. Their feedback would cost me very little, and it would give my company a head start to any competitors who may decide to not use this new tool. I know that many people have very little patience when they are searching the internet for ad's and other "pop-up's" but I think if we kept the use of the tool limited, it would not harm the customers view of the site or the company.


Would you become annoyed by the pop-up's asking you questions? or would you be willing to take a few minutes to answer?

Marketing for Non Profit Organizations

Marketing is a huge part of an any organization. But when it comes to non profit organizations, it becomes sometimes even more challenging. Non Profits often have a smaller budget for marketing and therefore they have to focus and be accurate when reaching their target audience. There is not room for error when trying to be people interested in non profit organizations. No matter what the organization has to offer, it is important to fist identify the target market. Then you can proceed to figure out how best to market to the audience. Many times fund raising can be done to increase the budget for the non profit, and the find raising itself can often bring awareness to the community about the organization.

Do you think it is more difficult for non profit organizations or for profit organizations to market?

Logos

A logo has always been an important part of any company. It helps people recognize their products, so if they like the products they know which company it is from. the Nike logo is a commonly known logo that everyone would be able to recognize. They have now developed a saying that goes along with their logo, "Just do it." The logo is on all of their products, but on some it is bigger than others. Some of their t-shirts, have the logo splashed across the entire front, and some have it only the size of a quarter on the side of the chest. It all comes down to the consumers preference. I think logos can be positive and negative. If the product is something that is popular and something everyone wants, it may be a positive thing to put a large logo on it. However if it is a store or a brand that is not "in" at the moment or something that is not commonly desired by others, they should refrain from putting a large logo on their products, because it is going to make consumers shy away from buying them. For example Aeropostals logo is on everything in their store, that is a brand that was "cute"but now is a little "young" and "outdated" although some of the clothing is still perfectly acceptable to wear. If they did not splash their logo on all of their clothing, people wouldn't feel like they were advertising a "child's" brand of clothing, and they would reach a larger target market.

Does the size of the logo make a difference to you when you're purchasing an item?

Marketing Surverys

Recently I have noticed and increasing number of marketing surveys. It seems as though whenever I shop online I am asked to complete a survey about how I liked shopping on their website, and how I felt about my purchases. I can understand why these are beneficial to companies, but I believe that they are seen more as an annoyance to customers. I know that I usually don't want to complete a survey after I have already spent all that time shopping and filling out my payment information. The last thing I usually want to do is answer more questions. I also wonder about how often companies really take these surveys into consideration. Do they really take any of the information we give them and make changes?

In Response to Professor Johnson...

Should John smith sell the names? Also, What in the Statement relates to John Smith's dilemma?

After reading the John Smith case I believe that he should NOT sell the names to the car company. At first I thought it may be a good idea because it would avoid making him lay off some of his employees. but after further thought I believe that he could come up with other ways of making money in order to keep his employees and still maintain good ethics. Selling those names to the car company is no honest, he would be breaking the trust of all those customers who gave their names, therefore creating a bad image for himself and his company. 

At the store I work at in the summer called Sundance Clothing Company in Chatham, MA we are always asking customers for their name and email addresses to send them coupons and advertisements. Every time we ask for their name we promise to not sell their email addresses to any other companies and to not abuse the privilege. If we were to turn around and sell those names, that would be a breach of trust, and our customers would not be able to rely on us as trust worthy people. A strong customer base is a huge part of the store, there are many returning customers who wont shop anywhere else, if we were to break their trust, they wouldn't trust the company, but they also wouldn't trust our opinions when trying to sell them clothing either. Trust is such an important part of of a businesses relation with its customers.

In the Statement of Ethics of the American Marketing Associations website, "Avoid knowing participation in conflicts of interest. Seek to protect the private information of customers, employees and partners." This is what applies to John Smiths dilemma. This falls under the category of fairness. It is unfair to customers to sell their private information to a company so they have the upper hand in selling them their new car. 

If you owned a company would you buy names and personal information of customers from a marketing agency so that you would have the upper hand in the market of a certain product? 

Marketing Will Not Persuade People to Buy a Product That is Not Selling

There are a few myths about marketing, one is that if you market a product that is not selling, it will not make it sell. Marketing is a good technique for products that is actually going to sell. However if a product is not something that consumers want to buy, it is not going to sell even with the best marketing strategies. Yes marketing could potentially boost sales of a product a small amount, but it will not make consumers buy something they do not really want or need. Marketing can be the most influential aspect of selling a product, but only if they product is something the consumer would need. If you invent a product with no use to consumers, even the best marketing will not help it sell. Marketing costs a lot of money, and if you are not marketing a profit from the product, and still buying advertising, your product or company will not succeed. The products or service has to be useful to the consumer before a marketing team can successfully market it to increase sales.

Do you agree with this marketing myth? Or do you believe that marketing can sell even the most useless product or service?

In Response to Christine's Post...

Do you think showing the ad's before the game was a good marketing strategy or not?  

I personally do not think that showing the ad's before the game was a good marketing approach. I think that many people wants the Superbowl for the soul reason of seeing the ad's, and being entertained by new commercials they have never seen before. Showing them before the game took away that element of surprise, and gave viewers the opportunity to see them before they normally would have been able to. Superbowl commercials are supposed to be the "best" of the year because people spend so much money to have them played during the Superbowl, however since they showed them before the Superbowl I think they paid all of that money and lost the novelty of the marketing scheme. Superbowl commercials are "rare" and have high standards to live up to, the fact that they played the commercials before the Superbowl changes the way viewers see them, they are no long Superbowl commercials, they are just average commercials. 


Do you think the commercials on this years Superbowl lived up o the expectations?

In Response to Nichole's Post...

Nichole asked: What other strategies do you think are most affective within marketing campaigns?

I never notices how successful using animals in commercials was until Nichole pointed it out. Now I realize that every time a commercial with an animal on it comes on the television, at least one person in the room comments on how "cute" the animal is, drawing everyone's attention. This is a very strategic tactic for marketers to use, it draws in customer attention and therefore they remember the product.

I think that children have always been used in this way to bring in business as well. I have seen commercials for some car dealerships where the owner will have their son or daughter on the commercial with them explaining how great the service is. It is hard to believe that a small child really knows about the service of their families dealership compared to others, but it is still a good marketing gimmick. The innocence of the child makes it seem like more reliable information because we would like to believe that parents would not make their child lie to market a product.

Another strategy that I think has been affective in marketing campaigns is, using the ideal body type to market diet products and certain food. They make it seem like if consumers buy this product, they will look like the people in the advertisement do. However with air brushing these people probably don't really look the way they are portrayed on television or on a billboard. These people do not have average body types, they are making people think that they can look that way just by buying a diet pill or a reduced calorie diet shake. This however is false. It would be more difficult for most people to lose weight and look like the people on billboards than simply taking a pill, but those are the things they do not tell you in the advertisements.

Do you think having models and celebrities with "the perfect bodies" selling diet pills is false advertising?

Suggestive Marketing

I am curious about the affect suggestive marketing is having on today's economy. Have you ever noticed that when you search for something online, the internet recognizes it and adds relating to your search continue to pop up. They are trying to narrow down your interests, buy taking notice to what you are searching for and therefore show you adds that they hope will interest you. For example, I recently bought a pair of shoes from an online shoe store, and for days afterwards I was noticing that advertisements for women's shoes continuously appeared on the sides of Facebook, and other websites I was on. They were even similar websites, with similar looking shoes on them, they caught my eye, and I actually did look at a few of the sites that came up. The internet is narrowing down our interests and figuring out what kind of person you are by recognizing the websites you visit. Shopping online has caused my computer to give me adds for mostly clothing stores. However someone who is into video games or electronics may get a lot of adds for those. This is becoming known as part of our "electronic footprint" its going beyond what we put on Facebook and Twitter, now the internet is recognizing the sites we go on beyond just social media. These days most people have their own laptops, but I'm sure some families still use desktop computers, the problem arises when the whole family had different interests and the children are getting adds for whatever mom and dad are doing on the computer. This could potentially become a privacy concern. The internet is marking its users as children, teenagers, young adults, parents, senior citizens, and so on. They are marketing toys to the users who are on websites playing games, and clothes to teenagers shopping online.

This is potentially a very large advancement in marketing, but do you think this is crossing the line between simply marketing a product and an invasion of privacy? How do you think this new form of marketing could affect the way people use the internet?

In Response to Lyndzi Gray

Lyndzi posed the question, Since so much useful information can be learned in a marketing course then do you think it should be a required class to take? 

I believe that Marketing should be a required class for all majors. Although it does relate to Business majors  more than some others, all students could benefit from a course like Marketing. Marketing helps people learn how to navigate in a world full of competition. The point of Marketing is to publicize a products better than the competitor, therefore making more of a profit. But the competition does not end there, people need to know how to correctly market themselves in a job interview,  where they will be competing with other candidates for a position. They need to market the skills they have in a positive way, therefore making themselves look more capable than their competition. Marketing is really about competing to see which product, service, or person is the best fit for the consumers or companies needs. Competition is a huge part of life, and it is only growing because of the increasing access to computers, internet, social media, and other resources that make marketing a large part of everyday life. In order to find job, you have to know how to market yourself, no matter what the job is. I believe there is improvement that would be brought to any company of job, if everyone had a class in marketing, every student would learn how to plan improvements, make suggestions and make changes in whatever carer they chose. A background in Marketing is a positive advantage for anybody looking for a job. 

Do you think knoledge in marketing would be a positive addition to any job today?

Social Media's Impact on Marketing

Social Media is everywhere these days. Evey one has a Facebook, Myspace, Twitter or Linksys and use them daily for communication. These sites make money off of the advertisements they display on the sides or the webpage. But these sites also provide both positive and negative feedback about products or services that their patrons have used. For example, when may people post a status or write a comment about the same thing, they are grouped together on Facebook so everyone knows what a popular topic their friends are posting about. If these posts have to do with a product or service they revived from a company, whether the comments are positive or negative, they are published so all of their friends can see what their opinion was. This can be helpful or hurtful for a company, depending upon the feedback the Facebook users are giving. Many times I have found that if somebody is not pleased with a certain product or service, they will tweet or post a status about it complaining. This may just be "complaining" or "venting" to them, but for the company they are writing about this is negative publicity and can hurt their business. However the other side of this argument, is that when people are pleased with a product or service, they also write about that, and the good experience they had. I personally find that people take to Facebook and Twitter more often when they are disappointing in a company than when they are happy with a service they received. Probably because they are hoping for some sympathy from their friends, or to hear about a similar experience from another person. These posts to social media sites are simple things that people do everyday, and don't think much about. But when you think about the affect that your opinion is having on a business you can understand it from a marketing standpoint. Marketing executives spend hundreds of hours brainstorming how to advertise a product or service, and thousands of dollars to put their idea in motion. But with one sentence and s click of a button, all eight hundred of you your Facebook friends now know your opinion about a product or service. Do you think social media has affected Marketing is a more positive or negative way?

In Response to Christine Sullivan...

Do you think too much of consumers money is spent on marketing?

Yes. I do believe that too much of consumers money is spent on marketing. I believe that if less was spent on marketing the product or service, it could be less expensive, and therefore attract consumers on it own. The concept of marketing is very important, products and services need to be known so that people will want them. But I think that marketing on a smaller scale would be a way to compromise, then companies can get their product or service out there, but they will save money so they can charge less and therefore attract even more customers. It only takes a dollar to make a CD, but they cost around $20 a piece. The reason they are so outrageously expensive is because of marketing costs. The artists needs to be marketed in order to have people want to buy their music. If marketing costs were cut on items such as CD's consumers would be more willing to buy a CD because it wouldn't be so expensive. As Christine said, 50-60% of consumers dollars go to marketing costs. Which means that if marketing was scaled down, consumers would save money, prompting them to buy more products, because they saved that extra money. Marketing is absolutely an important concept, however it is too costly to consumers and should be downsized to some extent.

If you owned a business would you rather spend a lot of money on marketing, or cut the cost of your product or service so that it is more appealing to the consumer?

Marketing in Everyday Life

Marketing is something that we all use in our everyday life. Weather we are trying to get our friends to go out to eat at a certain restaurant by telling them all the positive points about it, or if we are telling someone about the new shampoo we just bought that makes your hair perfect. These are all examples of marketing, when we don't even realize we are do it. When we believe something is good, there is always a reason for it. For example, someone may like a restaurant because it has good service, good food, good atmosphere. So when we are telling people about why we like it so much we are marketing this restaurant, we just don't think of it that way. When people like a product they are going to share that with their friends. This depends upon how good the product is though, if the product is not that great, then its not worth it to tell your friends about it. We market in our everyday lives. However if you don't think about it, you don't notice it. Can you think of the last product or service you really enjoyed and may have told your friends about? Do you think marketing by word of mouth has a big impact on sales?

Applying Finding a Job to Marketing a Product or Service

I believe that when you are in search for a job, it is very important to know how to market yourself in a positive way. On a resume, you must write all of your qualifications and experience. This is proving that you have the background needed to excel at the position you are applying for. This is similar to when a company creates a flyer to promote a product or service. They also put all of positive aspects of their product or service that they are trying to sell you. Both a resume and a flyer try to "sell" something. The difference is that the resume trying to prove to an employer or company that you would be competent at a specific job, and an flyer is to make a consumer want to use a product or service that the company is offering to you.

The next step in finding a job would possibly be a job application. On the job applications you have to sell yourself to the employer.  The questions they ask are there for a reason, they want to know you have the knowledge and skills that are required for the job. Just like companies will embellish on their flyers, commercials, or billboards to sell you their product, you must "embellish" on a job application and be sure to put on the things you are proud of and apply to the job, and possibly leave out something that is not quite as impressive. There are ways to twist words on applications to make it seem as though you may have more experience and knowledge that you do, to make yourself seem more marketable. Marketing people use this tactic as well, they tell consumers all the positive aspects about their product or service, but you will never hear a commercial say that something has history of breaking, or not always working. They make it seem like every consumer needs this cretin product or service, and should not be able to live with out it. That is what you are trying to do on the application, make the employer think they need you as a part of their team.

The same goes for an interview. In an interview be confident, just like the people on commercials are when they are selling a product or service. Tell them all the wonderful things about yourself, you are supposed to brag at an interview. That what they are for, the employer wants to know why they should hire you. You need to give them reason to want to hire you. Just like companies give you reasons to want their products. All of these aspects of finding a job relate to marketing in many ways. In marketing we focus on the positive aspects to every product and service, and in finding a job and marketing yourself, you want to sell the best aspects of yourself to the employer.

Do you think that it is appropriate to "embellish" on a resume, application or in an interview in order to make yourself seem marketable, and an asset to the employer?

Marketing, Advertising and Propoganda

What is the difference between marketing, advertising, and propaganda?

In my opinion, the difference between marketing, advertising, and propaganda is, marketing is when you market a product towards a specific audience. For example, creating a marketing campaign for a children’s toy, and putting a commercial for that specific toy on channels that show children’s shows. That way they target audience, the children, see the toy and then ask their parents for it. The difference with advertising is that in advertising you are putting your product out their and trying to sell it to the greater public, basically anyone who would want it, and you advertise how great your product or service is. You are trying to sell how high the quality is for that specific product or service. Then when it comes to propaganda, may or may not be true. These could be rumors, or ideas spread by the general public about a product or service. This cannot always be believed, and is often times not produced by the company itself, but instead spread around by its patrons, or people who do not like the product or service. Propaganda should not always be trusted.