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?