So what I question is whether or not having a twitter account or a Facebook page for a company is actually beneficial? Do you believe social media marketing is beneficial, or do you think it hasn't quite reached it's maturity enough to be successful?
I believe that if done correctly, social media marketing can be extremely beneficial. The problem is that most companies don't know how to use social media marketing to its full potential, or even correctly. If businesses would like to have their own social media pages, they need to first study the process and make sure they know how to use it correctly and professionally. They should be hiring a professional in this field to keep tabs on and control their social media sites.
Harvard Business School posted the following article with statistics showing us just how little business actually know about using social media correctly, http://hbr.org/web/slideshows/social-media-what-most-companies-dont-know/5-slide.
Were you surprised by any of the statistics HBS provided us with? Why or why not?
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Internet and Marketing Research
With improvements over the years in technology, it is no surprise that marketing research would also be affected. Market researchers can now use the Internet to conduct online surveys, focus groups, panels, research, etc.
Web Survey Systems allow researchers to create and conduct surveys online. Unfortunately, they will not provide you with a sample to survey, but they will give you the tools to conduct your survey. One specific website on which you can do this is http://www.surveymonkey.com/. This website will help you design, collect, and analyze data.
It is important to remember when conducting any survey that you should ask the correct questions when surveying a sample. On their Youtube channel, SurveyMonkey provides us with a video entitled "5 Questions to Ask for Survey Success." The five questions they believe we should ask are "How?" "Where?" "Who?" "When?" and "What?"
Web Survey Systems allow researchers to create and conduct surveys online. Unfortunately, they will not provide you with a sample to survey, but they will give you the tools to conduct your survey. One specific website on which you can do this is http://www.surveymonkey.com/. This website will help you design, collect, and analyze data.
It is important to remember when conducting any survey that you should ask the correct questions when surveying a sample. On their Youtube channel, SurveyMonkey provides us with a video entitled "5 Questions to Ask for Survey Success." The five questions they believe we should ask are "How?" "Where?" "Who?" "When?" and "What?"
After viewing this video, do you agree with their rational? Why or why not?
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
In Response to Kaley Deboer
Do you think the cleverness of this commercial is a beneficial way for a company to advertise, or do you think the commercial puts too much emphasize on the other product over the one it is actually trying to promote?
I think that the cleverness of this commercial could be beneficial for a company, but I think that mostly it puts too much emphasis on the other product. Because the majority of this commercial was focused on the Pillsbury Dough Boy, most of the time I spent thinking about the Pillsbury products that I could be eating. GIECO only brought the focus onto themselves for a short time at the end. This advertising might work if the major company chose to use a less iconic symbol, but because the Dough Boy is so iconic all the viewer can focus on is Pillsbury products.
What other commercials can you find where this type of advertising was used? Do you believe that these commercials were successful or unsuccessful? Why or why not?
I think that the cleverness of this commercial could be beneficial for a company, but I think that mostly it puts too much emphasis on the other product. Because the majority of this commercial was focused on the Pillsbury Dough Boy, most of the time I spent thinking about the Pillsbury products that I could be eating. GIECO only brought the focus onto themselves for a short time at the end. This advertising might work if the major company chose to use a less iconic symbol, but because the Dough Boy is so iconic all the viewer can focus on is Pillsbury products.
What other commercials can you find where this type of advertising was used? Do you believe that these commercials were successful or unsuccessful? Why or why not?
Sampling
Primary data collection is data that is collected directly by a specific researcher for a specific problem that they would like to solve. One popular type of primary data collection is sampling. Sampling occurs when the researcher gathers information from the subset of a population to make inferences. It is important to remember when sampling to randomize who you gather data from or you have the possibility of gathering false results.
The most famous case of false information gathered from sampling was the Literary Digest Poll in the election of 1936. The Literary Digest send out a poll to 10 million subscribers. They received approximately 2.3 responses back. These responses predicted that the Republican candidate, Alf Landon, would win by a landslide, when in reality Franklin Roosevelt ended up taking home the win. So why was the Literary Digest incorrect? They gathered information from a similar, select group of people. This group of people was mostly upper class, and so it can be assumed that they would probably vote for the Republican candidate. Had the Literary Digest send out their poll to a randomized group of people they probably would have gotten a more accurate result and avoided the embarrassment that this poll caused them. You can read more about this famous incident here - http://www.jstor.org/stable/2749114.
When sampling there are two types of error that can occur, a sampling error and a non-sampling error. A sampling error occurs in the difference between the truth of the target population and its sample estimate where as the non-sampling error is a measurement error - which are mistakes made by the researcher such as recording the information incorrectly, gathering it incorrectly etc. For more information about sampling error visit this article - http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/sampling-error-means/story?id=5984818#.UXf8iLWG2c5.
What are some other famous incidents with sampling and non-sampling errors in history?
The most famous case of false information gathered from sampling was the Literary Digest Poll in the election of 1936. The Literary Digest send out a poll to 10 million subscribers. They received approximately 2.3 responses back. These responses predicted that the Republican candidate, Alf Landon, would win by a landslide, when in reality Franklin Roosevelt ended up taking home the win. So why was the Literary Digest incorrect? They gathered information from a similar, select group of people. This group of people was mostly upper class, and so it can be assumed that they would probably vote for the Republican candidate. Had the Literary Digest send out their poll to a randomized group of people they probably would have gotten a more accurate result and avoided the embarrassment that this poll caused them. You can read more about this famous incident here - http://www.jstor.org/stable/2749114.
When sampling there are two types of error that can occur, a sampling error and a non-sampling error. A sampling error occurs in the difference between the truth of the target population and its sample estimate where as the non-sampling error is a measurement error - which are mistakes made by the researcher such as recording the information incorrectly, gathering it incorrectly etc. For more information about sampling error visit this article - http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/sampling-error-means/story?id=5984818#.UXf8iLWG2c5.
What are some other famous incidents with sampling and non-sampling errors in history?
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
In Response to Melissa Moriwaki
How do you think this will effect doughnut customers? Will they still think of Dunkin Donuts when looking to find a doughnut if DD's isn't marketing towards doughnut eaters anymore? How will this effect Dunkin Donuts?
I agree with the CEO of Dunkin Donuts when he says that "beverages are the holy grail of profitability." For most people, a trip to Dunkin Donuts means picking up their morning coffee or tea. We, as consumers, can see the shift in Dunkin Donuts marketing to that of beverages just in their "America Runs on Dunkins" commercials. These are focused on beverages rather than on donuts. Although Dunkin Donuts is switching their marketing focus to beverages, I believe Doughnut eaters will still look towards Dunkins to get their doughnuts (at least in New England). The company is automatically advertising doughnuts just in their name.
New Englanders look to Dunkin Donuts for not only their coffee but for many of their breakfast needs on their commute to work. There aren't many other well-known doughnut shops in the region and where customers are already loyal to Dunkins and their coffee I don't believe that Dunkins needs to advertise their doughnuts to bring in customers. They will come no matter what, considering the reputation and legacy of Dunkin Donuts in New England.
I think that the only effect that not marketing doughnuts anymore will have on Dunkins is that they will actually be more profitable. They will be able to spend more money advertising their coffee, sandwiches, and new products that will bring customers in, and those customers may end up buying doughnuts anyways.
Do you believe that outside of New England Dunkin Donuts will be effected by this advertising choice? Also, do you believe that the doughnut market will ever actually become obsolete?
I agree with the CEO of Dunkin Donuts when he says that "beverages are the holy grail of profitability." For most people, a trip to Dunkin Donuts means picking up their morning coffee or tea. We, as consumers, can see the shift in Dunkin Donuts marketing to that of beverages just in their "America Runs on Dunkins" commercials. These are focused on beverages rather than on donuts. Although Dunkin Donuts is switching their marketing focus to beverages, I believe Doughnut eaters will still look towards Dunkins to get their doughnuts (at least in New England). The company is automatically advertising doughnuts just in their name.
New Englanders look to Dunkin Donuts for not only their coffee but for many of their breakfast needs on their commute to work. There aren't many other well-known doughnut shops in the region and where customers are already loyal to Dunkins and their coffee I don't believe that Dunkins needs to advertise their doughnuts to bring in customers. They will come no matter what, considering the reputation and legacy of Dunkin Donuts in New England.
I think that the only effect that not marketing doughnuts anymore will have on Dunkins is that they will actually be more profitable. They will be able to spend more money advertising their coffee, sandwiches, and new products that will bring customers in, and those customers may end up buying doughnuts anyways.
Promotion
Promotion is defined by our textbook as "communication by marketers that informs, persuades, and reminds potential buyers of a product in order to influence an opinion or elicit a response." There are eight objectives of promotion which are as follows:
1. create awareness
2. stimulate demand
3. encourage product trial
4. identify prospects
5. retain loyal customers
6. facilitate re-seller support
7. combat competitive promotional efforts
8. reduce sale fluctuations.
There are several different parts that make up the promotional mix. They are advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and social media. The promotional mix is used to meet the needs of the target market and fulfill the organization's overall goals. Organizations may use just one part of the promotional mix to reach their target market or they may use a combination of parts.
Advertising is "any form of impersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by a marketer."
Public Relations is "the marketing function that evaluates public attitudes, identifies areas within the organization the public may be interested in, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance."
Sales Promotion is "marketing activities that stimulate consumer buying and dealer effectiveness."
Personal Selling is "a purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other."
Social Media are "promotion tools used to facilitate conversations among people online."
I personally believe that companies that will succeed the most at promotion are those that utilize a combination of the parts of the marketing mix. With different industries though, there becomes the need to be more active in one part than another. For instance, in the auto sales industry personal selling would be the tool that should be utilized the most by marketers, but the other tools are also important to bring in customers. Therefore, they may focus more energy on personal selling than the other tools, but they must not forget about the others.
Do you also believe that a combination of multiple tools in the promotional mix is the best way for marketers to reach their target market or do you believe that there is one tool that is the most important no matter what the industry? Can you find an organization that has utilized just one of these tools in the promotional mix that has been successful?
1. create awareness
2. stimulate demand
3. encourage product trial
4. identify prospects
5. retain loyal customers
6. facilitate re-seller support
7. combat competitive promotional efforts
8. reduce sale fluctuations.
There are several different parts that make up the promotional mix. They are advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and social media. The promotional mix is used to meet the needs of the target market and fulfill the organization's overall goals. Organizations may use just one part of the promotional mix to reach their target market or they may use a combination of parts.
Advertising is "any form of impersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by a marketer."
Public Relations is "the marketing function that evaluates public attitudes, identifies areas within the organization the public may be interested in, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance."
Sales Promotion is "marketing activities that stimulate consumer buying and dealer effectiveness."
Personal Selling is "a purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other."
Social Media are "promotion tools used to facilitate conversations among people online."
I personally believe that companies that will succeed the most at promotion are those that utilize a combination of the parts of the marketing mix. With different industries though, there becomes the need to be more active in one part than another. For instance, in the auto sales industry personal selling would be the tool that should be utilized the most by marketers, but the other tools are also important to bring in customers. Therefore, they may focus more energy on personal selling than the other tools, but they must not forget about the others.
Do you also believe that a combination of multiple tools in the promotional mix is the best way for marketers to reach their target market or do you believe that there is one tool that is the most important no matter what the industry? Can you find an organization that has utilized just one of these tools in the promotional mix that has been successful?
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
In Response to Sarah Allen
How do you think marketing managers choose the appropriate price for a product? What factors do they take into consideration when setting a price?
I believe that the first step in choosing a price is figuring out the minimum price the product must be sold at to make a profit. Therefore, the managers must take into account the price that it costs to product each product, as well as figuring out what the break-even point is. They must then take into account the external environmental factors and find out what customers are willing to pay for similar products. I believe that they also must take into account how much profit they are looking to make. After all of these factors are taken into account, they may then be able to distinguish an appropriate price for the product.
If it product is priced too highly then the product won't sell. On the other hand, if the product is priced too low than there won't be much of a profit, it any, made of the product. Therefore, the price must be set appropriately.
What are some products that have failed because of an inappropriate price point?
I believe that the first step in choosing a price is figuring out the minimum price the product must be sold at to make a profit. Therefore, the managers must take into account the price that it costs to product each product, as well as figuring out what the break-even point is. They must then take into account the external environmental factors and find out what customers are willing to pay for similar products. I believe that they also must take into account how much profit they are looking to make. After all of these factors are taken into account, they may then be able to distinguish an appropriate price for the product.
If it product is priced too highly then the product won't sell. On the other hand, if the product is priced too low than there won't be much of a profit, it any, made of the product. Therefore, the price must be set appropriately.
What are some products that have failed because of an inappropriate price point?
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