Response to Roland Rumrill's "America For Sale"

Is buying your way into America a process that all its citizens should know about? I’m curious to know how this program is marketed, if at all, to other countries. What do you think?

Roland brings up a new immigration path in his blog in which immigrant can pay a large sum of money, about $500,000, in order to expedite there rate to citizenship.  besides the obvious discrimination this path holds. Enabling wealthier immigrants to cut to the front of the line, while those who are actually seeking the refuge and opportunity of the untied states are left to wait, which in itself is sickening.  it goes against everything america stands for.  the whole idea of our country, as i see it is the act of working hard to achieve a goal.  this system rewards those who have already attained a large amount of capital and in most cases probably do not need the opportunity presented.  This method will obviously be geared towards the richest to the immigrant attempting entry to the country and i would be willing to bet kept a secret from those who do not have the income.  This idea goes against the principles of this country  and i hope it never comes into action. 

The John Smith Dilemma

Demonstrated in Professors Johnsons blog is a scenario in which a manger is faced with an ethical decision.  John Smith has the option to sell the information of the people he has research on for 8000 dollars,  as mentioned there is no legal issue and the individuals involved never signed anything retaining their information.  this leaves us with the issue of ethics, should smith sell or not.  the problem is if smith does not sell it is very likely the firm will address someone else with the same offer and overall receive the same information.  Because there is no legal dilemma Smith should take the opportunity and receive the money.  After which he can address the ethical issue with his employees for any future scenario that may be similar to this one. 

Do you believe that if John Smith does not take this deal someone else will.  What do you think the ethical ramifications, if any, would be if the individuals found out about the sale?

Response to Kerri Hinkle's "Marketing through Mission"

What do you think about the ethical implications of using a mission to win customers?
Is it a smart idea? Why or why not?

Organizations are constantly claiming CSR yet time and time again we witness that their claims are at best exaggerated.  However i do believe that the mission statement of the company is the best goal the company can seek out, not necessarily the one they have achieved.  even if a company is lacking in CSR at least a responsible mission statement proves they are aware of the issues that may be plaguing society.  as to whether this is a scheme to win over customers i truly do not know.  it is always a smart idea to have a socailly responsible mission statement, it is the responsibility of the consumer to question the company and  find out how legitimate the claims in that statement may be. 

Importance of Proper Research

This week in class we hit upon the importance of research to a marketing firm.  A firm must know everything about their product, how customers react to it, and what demographics it will sell best to.  they even consider the social ramifications their ads and test samples of consumers before releasing them. however, as was evident when we watched the banned ad on youtube, sometimes this research fails.  Whether it be the managers fail to see the customer reaction to their product or the social implications it may have, there are instances when the research proves wrong.

What do you think are the main reasons marketing research can fail.   How would you address these issues as a manager?

Response to Heather Young's "Dove Ad"

What other ads have you seen that are using this emotional connection to a specific company to advertise rather than the actual product itself? Was it more or less effective?

Time and time again i see advertisements that tug at the heart strings of consumers rather then promoting the product itself.  This is a commercial for an SUV that says nothing about the SUV but instead shows its detector stopping the driver from hitting a child behind the car.  No doubt this is a practical addition to the car that should be advertised, however to exploit the emotion involved in a potential child's death to promote a product seems nothing less then immoral.  these ads have only one effect on more, a negative feeling towards the advertiser.

Privatization at KSC

As was mentioned in this class and other management courses more and more companies are beginning to privatize parts of their corporations.  Keene State is a perfect example of an organization acting on this trend.  in the recent year KSC has outsourced a large part of their business, in theory allowing them to focus more on education.  The DC, Bookstore, and waste management branches have all been outsourced to outside companies.  This allows keene to save money on activities such as these, however at what cost to customer relations.

How do you feel the outsourcing of KSC facilities has affected you throughout your school career.  Was the outcome a good or bad one?

Response to Ariana Barones "Biebers Debit Card for Teens"

Do you having Justin Bieber backing this project was a savvy business move?

As anyone in the management industry has noticed, people spend without thinking.  I believe having a well known pop star, who is influential in children and young teens lives, promotion responsible budgeting is one of the best acts of CSR in recent history.  not only will Biebers move help an array of teens better manage their budget, I'm sure it will get him the gratification of those teens parents.  all in all Biebers debit card initiative was a very savvy business move.

Facial Recognition Software-Advertisement

Almost like something out of star trek or minority report more and more advertisers are attempting to use facial recognition software to see who they are advertising to and how it affects them.  Introduced earlier this year were plans for Samsung's new galaxy phone to utilize recognition software to track where users eyes were looking enabling to scroll the page without using their hands.  Shortly after speculation that this technology will be revolutionary to advertisers allowing them to see who is looking at their ads, and eventually letting them generate ads geared towards individual customers.

What impact do you think Facial recognition Technology with have with marketers.  How do you feel about advertisers gearing ads based on your individual references.

Response to Drew Farrar's "Brand Marketing"

Have you ever purchased a product just for the status it may have?

Although I understand the reason people make brand purchases i do not see the relation they attribute to product and status. the only instance i can see where a purchase has determined status was when i was looking at colleges.  the choice of where to go to school had long lasting implications both socially and economically. Perhaps its because the purchases made as a college student are not as drastic as those made in middle age.  it is possible that some day when I'm purchasing an expensive i will allow its perceived status to influence my decision, to a degree.

Social Responsibility as a Customer Relations Bid

It seems that everyday more and more companies are claiming to be socially responsible.  From the famous Ronald McDonald Charity, to Gaps Project Red, to BPs rebuild to gulf project.  However i cant help but wonder how much of this is actually because companies feel the need to give back to the community as opposed to a scheme to increase customer faith in the company.  Many consumers mention how they think companies should be socially responsible and it makes one wonder about the sincerity behind the companies motives.

Do you think Companies are actually acting responsible or simply appearing to do so to gain customers.  How important is a companies social responsibility to to you?

Response to Colin Raaberg's "Pizza Hut Crazy Cheesy Crust"

How and to who should Pizza Hut market this new pizza to, and what techniques should they implement?

Pizza Hut tends to be geared towards lower income families and individuals such as college students.  I believe that they should market their product in college communities and regions that feature large families perhaps lower middle class.  They should keep the price down and perhaps do weekend promotions to give consumers a reason to choose their pizza over a competitors.  As long as they promote and price their new pizza correctly it should do well in the mentioned markets.

Pricing and Promotion

Marketing is the essential link between companies and consumers.  There are many aspects considered by a marketing department however the two most widely noticed are a products price and its promotion.  Many Companies take a tactic that involves intense promotion such as Bud Light or Verizon  with their infinite commercials.  others such as Walmart attempt to reach consumers through offering low prices that "cant be beat at other stores".  In many cases promotions are geared around the pricing of products in the store in an effort to reach the most customers.

When buying a product do you seek out the lowest price or wait for a promotion, or simply purchase it. Why do you believe the correlation between promotion is so important to marketers.

Response to Allison Rays "Music on Clothing Commercials"

Do commercials with catchy songs tend to have a greater, longer lasting effect on you? Does it make you picture the product in the commercial every time you hear the song? For me, it leaves a long lasting impression in my head of the product when it is correlated to a song I like, does it do this for you?

Commercials with catchy tunes to tend to get my attention more, for better or worse.  Whether or not i actually care about the product being displayed ill tend to remember the commercial. However,  I don't believe its ever had an impact on my purchases.  I don't tend to picture the product in my head however i do tend to remeber the general theme but it does not leave a lasting impression.

Personal Product Promotion

The more I look around the more I see people with huge brands over their bodies.  Girls walk around with pink or coach written everywhere.  Guys have large Nike swoops or or Under Armor Signs plastered on their clothes.  I'm all for supporting something you enjoy or a school you go to, but why purchase something that simply acts as a billboard for a company that has no interest in you.  its gotten to the point that its almost hard to find apparel that isn't littered with brands and slogans.

What do you think about the brands on apparel?  What impact do you think it has on the people that see the brands?

Response to Roland Rumrills "Product Placement"

 Does product placement make a difference for you?

As mentioned in the blog above it seems that you cant watch 5 minutes of television without seeing a famous item placed in the shot, and by no means is that coincidence.  As to whether or not product placement matters to me, it truly depends.  In cases when it is corny and thrust in my face no, such as when characters mentioned there craving a certain type of fast food chain or drink.  However sometimes mores subtle placement can work.  Mac computers for instance are constantly seen on television programs an movies.  These computers however are rarely mentioned, you just see you favorite character using the product in their everyday routine.  this particular type of placement does seem to make a difference to me whether i notice it to or not.

New Jersey Opening "E-Book" Libraries

Certain Districts in New Jersey have begun to allow students access to E-Book Libraries.  an E Book is the term commonly used to describe books viewed on computers or tablets such as the IPad or Kindle.  Students in The Thompson School district will be allowed to rent certain text online from the school libraries, enabling them to view them on their tablets.  Other libraries such as The Middletown public library are allowing members access to e books on their website.  Universities and colleges often make much of their library content available online to students as well.

Do you think that E-books will become more popular are perhaps eventually eliminate the need for books or physical libraries at all?

How do you think this will impact the way companies market their Books in the the future.

Response to Allison Rays Web Products Free Shipping

Have you ever gone to buy something online, and once you see the shipping price decide not to buy it anymore? Are you more likely to search for a product offered on a website with free shipping site wide, rather than a website not offering free shipping site wide?

I often shop online especially for clothing or school books.  Most of the time i do get free shipping but there are many occasions when i get a product and see the shipping price and decides its jsut not worth it.  I would definitely be more likely to buy something if i knew it came with free shipping.  I would even settle for a deal like spend more then $25 and shipping is free.  However a website that does charge for shipping would not stop me from visiting or purchasing from the website.  I do believe that shipping costs do influence customer purchases overall and should be studies by marketers.

Branding in America

As we have discussed in class brands play a huge role in how consumers act. this is evident when we hear things like Q-tips and Bandaids.  these products true names are cotton swabs and adhesive bandages but more people know them by their brand name.  Brands as mentioned in the Huffington post article have now taken a role in politics.  People are willing to pay much more for products with brand recognition.  so why not apply this theory to politics.  Simply by advertising Obama as the young persons candidate, and dubbing the slogan "Change" Obama was able to build of massive support.  the idea of Obama is not only that of a individual president but a simple of change and "moving forward".  The Obama brand will most likely carry far past his presidency and be remembered more of as an idea then an individual.

Do you think that Brand recognition comes only from advertising, or do the products also meet the standards the customer wishes better then available substitutes?

Response to Kendra Copithorne Globalization Relative to Businesses

What do you think is the biggest risk of becoming an international business? Do you think the benefits out weigh the risks of becoming an international business? 

As Kendra pointed out there are an infinite amount of variables that can affect a company going international all of which can cause it to fail.  I believe the biggest risk of a company going overseas is failing to understand the culture differences from country to country.  For instance as mentioned earlier in class when Disney tried to open a park in Paris, EuroDisney, they failed to realize a few cultural differences.  Mainly they failed to realize how frugal the french people are.  they also failed to serve alcohol in the park which had a huge cultural impact on the french.  this can easily happen to any other company.  Any food company opening in india must understand that pigs are sacred and are not eaten, well someone marketing in a predominately muslim country must know that muslim disapprove of alcohol.  Although all these cultural factors will affect the way a company does business i strongly believe companies should make an effort to expand overseas.  Just the sheer size of the market should allow them to find a way to be profitable.  the benefits will far outweigh the risks, if marketers can understand the culture and advertise appropriately.

Global Marketing- China and India

As the book mentions China and India have had an explosion in their spending power, especially in the young and upper class.  I believe in years to come their part in the global market will only become greater.  Also mentioned in the book in these classes wants for luxury products especially those america has to offer like Starbucks.  This is a huge market opening for marketers to take advantage of.  I believe organizations should start considering the best way to produce and market products in these developing countries. there were undoubtedly be many variables for marketers to consider the biggest of which being culture and the political structure.  However I believe that with such a young grow of consumers marketers will be very successful in marketing products in these areas.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges companies face in entering these new markets? Why?

Response to Colin Raaberg Regulations

 Government Regulations have only existed and been implemented in a relatively short amount of time. Since then many companies have become more environmentally, socially, and ethically conscious. Do you think there will ever be a time when we won't need government regulations? Why?

Colin brings up many good points.  companies do have the ability to asses themselves a regulate themselves better then the government.  there are also many companies like Halliburton that refuse to obey regulations even when faced with penalties.  However as colin pointed out since government regulation acts have taken place we have seen an increase in CSR in all areas. government regulation cannot truly force everyone to comply, however even if they only stop a few companies form hurting the environment, or taking advantage of consumers they are doing some good.  as far as to whether or not there will be a time where nor government regulation is needed I'm not sure it will come.  many people can be trusted to do the right thing, however there as those, that as long as it is profitable, will take advantage and break the rules.  unless we can all corruption and greed government regulatory agencies will be needed.

Government Regulation

Do you believe self regulation is more or less effective than governmental regulatory agencies?  Why?

No i believe that government agencies are necessary when dealing with regulating large financial structures.  almost everyone is familiar with the housing crisis in 2008 which was in a way caused by unregulated mortgages and securities.  However there are many cases currently that show that government intervention is needed.  The case of banking giant HSBC and money laundering comes to mind. The international bank has admitted to laundering money for mexican drug cartels, organized crime, and others.  The bank has been forced to pay a fine of almost $2 billion and a few managers have been fired.  Although the government does have regulation on banks many time that regulation fails to be effective.  when this happens and people, like those at HSBC, are left to self regulate and often an outcome like this is the case.  although not everyone is going to take advantage or break the rules when no ones looking, there are those who will and for that reason the government needs to regulate some organizations.

Do you think the fine on HSBC and more government regulation will stop something like this from happening again?

Response to Maxim Senews Project Red

Why do you think Bono and Shriver wouldn't accept the 100% of profits from the campaign to go directly to the cause? Or even anything more than 50%?

I agree with Maxs point that the fact the the "charity" was making so much profit while the fund itself say little donations warrants looking into.  However in response to why Bono and Shriver wouldn't accept 100% of the profits i can only guess the answer.  i assume the reason is that both bono and shriver understand that they will need more then just a few companies to keep the project running.  If they accepted 100% of the profits from the project other companies might be less likely to join in.  I believe they were hoping that 50% of the profits would end up being much more as more and more companies joined in the project.

Project Red Critisicm

    A year after Product (RED)’s launch, Ad Age reported that although $100 million had been spent on marketing the campaign, only about $25 million had gone to the charity itself. Industry observers speculated that this could trigger a backlash against the campaign. Do you believe the criticism is justified? Do you think the campaign could lose supporters as a result?

The critics of project red do bring up many fair points.  I'm sure that the companies are excited about the sales benefit they receive by such a program. I will even concede that there are some companies joining the project simply to increase sales.  and it makes perfect sense. that if the consumer of project red products instead sent there money straight to the global fund the fund would receive more donations.  however even if there is 4 times as much money spent on marketing then goes to the actual fund, and even if only a portion of sales reach the fund itself.  the global fund is still receiving constant contributions.  we cannot rely on people being willing to just donate to the fund. although it may give them some satisfaction, more then likely the cost of donating and receiving no tangible good will decrease the value they receive from donating.  project red has gotten many people, in many social classes more aware of aids and how to donate to the cause.  in short the fact that some companies may be taking advantage of the project is outweighed by the fact that all the companies involved actually do contribute.

Do you agree with my statement that the companies willingness to donate outweighs the possibility that they many be donating only to increase public image, not necessarily because they care about the issue?

Response to Sam Hoyes Customer Satisfaction

What products do you feel deliver customer satisfaction as well as a a great customer value?

There are many products available that have both great customer satisfaction and value.  as sam described products that meet customer wants as well as give them a feeling that they have netted a good deal give customers both good satisfaction and a feeling of value in the product.  toyota for instance offers many cars meet the customers needs, such as a comfortable, long lasting, fuel efficient cares. well give the customer a good value.  many of the cars are affordable and do not require much consumer care (durable).  toyota has meet all consumer needs and demands and gone above those needs and demands.  I know that when i bought my Camry i felt that i had gotten something worth much more then the money i put into it and was, and still am, very satisfied with the product.

MGT 331-Diminshing Returns on Marketing

Are marketers giving consumers to many choices?

 It seems now that every time i enter the store i go in wanting one thing and leaving with something completely different, if anything at all.  stores now offer such an array of choices that its almost impossible to make up your mind on which is the best.  i remember one instance in particular when i was at best buy trying to buy a camera.  I went in there thinking i want a small camera with a long battery and a good zoom.  i figured this would be enough information to quickly narrow down my search and find just a few cameras that fit my profile.  When i asked a sales associate about a camera with these specifications was when it got confusing.  He mentioned that some cameras can zoom more then others but do not take as good a quality photos as others.  he then mentioned how i could get a filter to change the picture quality on the camera, or a lens to increase the others zoom capability.  he then mentioned that i would need to choose a camera that could switch lenses, as not all can.  When it came to battery life it was a matter of what screen size i wanted or how many settings the camera had.  my simple search had turned into an hour of questions and research.  given so many options i left feeling like perhaps i had made the wrong choice and was not as satisfied with my camera as i had hoped.