I can't believe the semester is almost over. I'm excited and sad. I've gotten used to my classes. This week we covered chapter 18, "Setting the Right Price." Price is the last of the four p's, Product, Price, Position, Promotion, that we will be covering. This is actually the last week of class. The final is on the 5th of May. I'm sorry I'm so late writing and posting this.
In class we reviewed or went over a few things for the final next week. I like this quote that I wrote down in class "best price usually falls between "expensive" and "prohibitively expensive." Our video discussion was on Acid-All and the case study was on Cable Television pricing. I'm not sure whether I like the idea of customizing what channels we pay for or not. There are positives and negatives to both sides of having customized plans/channels or not.
The process for setting a price is really more complex than I thought. There "is a four-step process: 1. Establish pricing goals. 2. Estimate demand, cost, and profits. 3. Choose a price strategy to help determine a base price. 4. Fine-tune the base price with pricing tactics." There are a lot of definitions in this chapter. One of which confused me. I learned this week that I need to be more flexible with my understanding of definitions. It's hard because sometimes things can seem so specific and other times they are not. I found the example of Chanel destroying their unsold merchandise inventory to be surprising. It seems to me to be such a waste, yet it fits their price strategy of price skimming. "Price Skimming a pricing policy whereby a firm charges a high introductory price, often coupled with heavy promotion." So they destroy the merchandise so they can keep prices high.
The chapter also discussed the legality and ethics of price strategy. It seems to me that some of these unfair trade practices are still being used even though they shouldn't, or at least I'm remembering seeing them or hearing of them before. The chapter also mentions "tactics for fine-tuning the base price." Base price is the definition I got confused on and I feel bad about it.... I think I've seen some good examples of price-bundling. "Price bundling [is] marketing two or more products in a single package for a special price." Microsoft recently did this in bundling it's Kinect for the Xbox with a couple of game codes. My Dad and I actually went to Walmart on Black Friday for the deal, it was a mad house and not worth it. I had called Walmart a few hours previously to find out how many they had and they wouldn't tell me. Even though when I got there they had only had like ten, all of which were sold out to people lining up before like nine o' clock. We ended up getting the same bundle deal online when we got home, it would have been cheaper to look online at Newegg in the first place. I think one of the keys to bundling is to look at the price of the individual parts of the bundle, that might help with knowing whether you are getting a good deal or not. But pricing is definitely trickier than I thought it was. Pricing can also change "during difficult economic times." I found the picture of a dollar bill covered with bandages to be funny.
Overall, I think this was a pretty good chapter and an interesting class. I learned a lot more than I thought I would. Having had this class I think I will look at advertising, marketing, prices, etc. more closely. If I ever do start my own business, I think I now have some basic knowledge that I could use to market my business. In the least I could probably marketing my self, through such tools as personal selling when looking for a job.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Week 13 - April 18, 2012
Before Class:
Tonight we are covering chapter 16, Sales Promotion and Personal Selling.
I can't believe it. I'm caught up on my blog posting. It feels good. I'm sorry I've been behind. I hope I have some good stories to post after class tonight. So far, I like how the case study article was partially mentioned, if only in topic, in the chapter. That was a nice change and helped me tie things together.
Class:
We watched a video on YouTube called "Social Media Revolution". I've seen videos like that in at least one of my other classes before. We talked a bit about the final and what is going on with that as it is coming up. We watched a clip from the family man to help us understand and recognize personal selling. We watched another video clip about Vans and our case discussion was about Ron Popeil. I'm kind of surprised, I know some of the key advertising terms he used such as "But wait there's more," but I don't really remember him. Maybe I was too little or something. I thought of Billy Mays and some of those commercials when we were discussing the case.
I like my response to the class involvement quiz that covered this week of class. Granted I answered it on the 25th, but I like it. It is based on a question about personal selling being headed for extinction:
Tonight we are covering chapter 16, Sales Promotion and Personal Selling.
I can't believe it. I'm caught up on my blog posting. It feels good. I'm sorry I've been behind. I hope I have some good stories to post after class tonight. So far, I like how the case study article was partially mentioned, if only in topic, in the chapter. That was a nice change and helped me tie things together.
Class:
We watched a video on YouTube called "Social Media Revolution". I've seen videos like that in at least one of my other classes before. We talked a bit about the final and what is going on with that as it is coming up. We watched a clip from the family man to help us understand and recognize personal selling. We watched another video clip about Vans and our case discussion was about Ron Popeil. I'm kind of surprised, I know some of the key advertising terms he used such as "But wait there's more," but I don't really remember him. Maybe I was too little or something. I thought of Billy Mays and some of those commercials when we were discussing the case.
I like my response to the class involvement quiz that covered this week of class. Granted I answered it on the 25th, but I like it. It is based on a question about personal selling being headed for extinction:
No I don't
think personal selling is headed for extinction. It's important. What
caused me to choose the digital camera I chose, granted this is at least
a little over a year ago now, was the sales person telling me his
experience. I probably would have paid the more expensive price at that
store if they had had it in. I ended up buying the camera he recommended
from another store and I still love it. It is great for taking pictures
and even the low quality video isn't too bad, it's better than nothing.
Also, personal selling can be applied to other aspects. Such as selling yourself to a company, boss, new product ideas etc. We like to be involved and there are so many different products out there. How do you think those cute kids doing fundraisers manage to sell you a bit more than were originally planning to?(I used to do well at school fundraisers). They probably do a bit of personal selling with small talk and being cute...showing their personality etc. No I don't think personal selling is headed for extinction. In fact it is probably growing with how competitive things can be.
This was an interesting chapter. When it talked about the fact that manufacturers like rebates, according to the text"because the purchaser must mail in a rebate form and usually some proof of purchase, the reward is not as immediate" and later says, "The Federal Trade Commission estimates that only half of consumers eligible for rebates collect them." This has had me thinking about some of the things I could have done for rebates. For example the rebate we could have used when we bought my graphing calculator, but never got to using it. I think some of that could also apply to sweepstakes and contests, also "tools for consumer sales promotion". I've gotten receipts back with a URL to go take a quiz and enter for a chance to win a gift card, one that I really wanted to do recently had the contest/sweepstakes end before I could or remember to get to it. It makes me wonder how many people actually enter those contests. I also found it interesting that a Happy Meal toy is a premium "an extra item offered to the consumer, usually in exchange for some proof that the promoted products has been purchased." Yet it also makes sense. How many times did I beg my parents to buy an extra Happy Meal so I could get another Beanie Baby? Or an extra Burger King Kids Meal so I could get another Pokemon Toy. There are other examples of this too. Point is, premiums really can work. As do others tools for consumer and trade sales promotion.
I guess I had more to say than I thought I did.
Also, personal selling can be applied to other aspects. Such as selling yourself to a company, boss, new product ideas etc. We like to be involved and there are so many different products out there. How do you think those cute kids doing fundraisers manage to sell you a bit more than were originally planning to?(I used to do well at school fundraisers). They probably do a bit of personal selling with small talk and being cute...showing their personality etc. No I don't think personal selling is headed for extinction. In fact it is probably growing with how competitive things can be.
This was an interesting chapter. When it talked about the fact that manufacturers like rebates, according to the text"because the purchaser must mail in a rebate form and usually some proof of purchase, the reward is not as immediate" and later says, "The Federal Trade Commission estimates that only half of consumers eligible for rebates collect them." This has had me thinking about some of the things I could have done for rebates. For example the rebate we could have used when we bought my graphing calculator, but never got to using it. I think some of that could also apply to sweepstakes and contests, also "tools for consumer sales promotion". I've gotten receipts back with a URL to go take a quiz and enter for a chance to win a gift card, one that I really wanted to do recently had the contest/sweepstakes end before I could or remember to get to it. It makes me wonder how many people actually enter those contests. I also found it interesting that a Happy Meal toy is a premium "an extra item offered to the consumer, usually in exchange for some proof that the promoted products has been purchased." Yet it also makes sense. How many times did I beg my parents to buy an extra Happy Meal so I could get another Beanie Baby? Or an extra Burger King Kids Meal so I could get another Pokemon Toy. There are other examples of this too. Point is, premiums really can work. As do others tools for consumer and trade sales promotion.
I guess I had more to say than I thought I did.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Week 12 - April 11, 2012
Last week was Entrepreneur Week. I feel a little bad about not going to it, but I enjoyed my Wednesday with no class. I got to celebrate my Birthday. :)
So this week is chapter 15. Sounds interesting right? Well, it actually kind of is. It builds on what we learned two weeks ago. Some of that stuff just feels like forever ago. But this chapter had some nice points of review as well as some new information. The full title of the chapter is Advertising and Public Relations. It's interesting that the now famous Tour De France began as a publicity stunt. I couldn't believe it when I read that in the chapter.
The professor provided an overview of Entrepreneur Week and showed some of the videos/websites that were shown during presentations. I took a few notes on this and that helped me understand what happens at Entrepreneur Week a little better.
There have been some questions about the class blog assignment so the professor talked about that a bit. One thing he said was that some of the questions he has been asking us as part of our class involvement quizzes could probably be copied and pasted into our blog posts. I think I might do a little of this. There was one answer that I typed that I really liked and wanted to include in my blog. So I'm considering it, but I'm pretty sure I probably will include some of my write out answers.
The topics that we reviewed from the last class were really quite useful. I like the diagrams my professor drew, so I wrote them in my notes. If I can later I will scan in part of my notes and post the picture as an edit to this post.
From a question in the quiz:
I really enjoyed the class. I feel bad because I feel like I can't remember much. Well public relations and advertising are much more than I thought they were. Advertising is really what I thought of at the beginning of this class as 'marketing'. I'm glad I've gained some new perspectives and insight from this class. I guess one way of putting it is that advertising is a process, but it can happen slowly or quickly. The process is generally the same, but different in type, variation, and speed for different products, services, target markets, and companies/organizations. I guess I remember more than I thought.
I'm not sure how accurate my analysis is but that is what I thought of while taking the quiz and looking at the text to try and help me remember what we learned/talked about last week.
The class discussion on MySpace was difficult. I determined one thing though, I'm glad I never joined MySpace. I do not like the fact that they really did not have any rules about content. That is an issue that I think companies might have struggled with when the were deciding whether or not they should join MySpace.
I did my presentation last week too. I say last week because of when I am writing this. It went pretty well. I wish I had not had such a hard time making the video. I learned a lot though and I hope the video has helped some people out there, as I posted it on YouTube, with signing up for and using Facebook.
If I can I will embed my video below:
So this week is chapter 15. Sounds interesting right? Well, it actually kind of is. It builds on what we learned two weeks ago. Some of that stuff just feels like forever ago. But this chapter had some nice points of review as well as some new information. The full title of the chapter is Advertising and Public Relations. It's interesting that the now famous Tour De France began as a publicity stunt. I couldn't believe it when I read that in the chapter.
The professor provided an overview of Entrepreneur Week and showed some of the videos/websites that were shown during presentations. I took a few notes on this and that helped me understand what happens at Entrepreneur Week a little better.
There have been some questions about the class blog assignment so the professor talked about that a bit. One thing he said was that some of the questions he has been asking us as part of our class involvement quizzes could probably be copied and pasted into our blog posts. I think I might do a little of this. There was one answer that I typed that I really liked and wanted to include in my blog. So I'm considering it, but I'm pretty sure I probably will include some of my write out answers.
The topics that we reviewed from the last class were really quite useful. I like the diagrams my professor drew, so I wrote them in my notes. If I can later I will scan in part of my notes and post the picture as an edit to this post.
From a question in the quiz:
I really enjoyed the class. I feel bad because I feel like I can't remember much. Well public relations and advertising are much more than I thought they were. Advertising is really what I thought of at the beginning of this class as 'marketing'. I'm glad I've gained some new perspectives and insight from this class. I guess one way of putting it is that advertising is a process, but it can happen slowly or quickly. The process is generally the same, but different in type, variation, and speed for different products, services, target markets, and companies/organizations. I guess I remember more than I thought.
I'm not sure how accurate my analysis is but that is what I thought of while taking the quiz and looking at the text to try and help me remember what we learned/talked about last week.
The class discussion on MySpace was difficult. I determined one thing though, I'm glad I never joined MySpace. I do not like the fact that they really did not have any rules about content. That is an issue that I think companies might have struggled with when the were deciding whether or not they should join MySpace.
I did my presentation last week too. I say last week because of when I am writing this. It went pretty well. I wish I had not had such a hard time making the video. I learned a lot though and I hope the video has helped some people out there, as I posted it on YouTube, with signing up for and using Facebook.
If I can I will embed my video below:
Week 11 - March 28, 2012
Today we covered chapter 14. This chapter is about Promotion, though that is not the official title of the chapter. The official title is Integrated Marketing Communications. It was an interesting chapter. Like the chapter we covered last week, so many of the definitions are similar. Thus, it is easy to get confused.
I also volunteered to do a presentation on Facebook. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm looking forward to it.
One important thing in this chapter is the "promotional mix the combination of promotional tools-including advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion-used to reach the target market and fulfill the organization's overall goals." The chapter also discusses communication. This includes the communication process. It was nice reading/learning about this again as I took Interpersonal Communications a few semesters ago. So I guess in some ways it was a review and in some ways not as it is understanding communications from a business/marketing perspective. It really is interested how my classes seem to overlap.
The chapter also talks about "the goals and tasks of promotion" and "promotional goals and the AIDA concept". There are also sections about "factors affecting the promotional mix" and "integrated marketing communications". The chapter really covers a lot.
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. As I've moved through the following chapters things are starting to make more sense, but I still feel a little bit confused.
Our case discussion was about Wicked and there was a question about it on the Class Involvement Quiz. I mean no offense to those who allowed me to be a part of their group that night, it was just different. A different dynamic.
My response to the question:
I didn't possibly understand the material as well as I thought I did. Also, I appreciate the group I usually discuss with. It was very different and I'm not sure how to compare the productivity, working with a different group. That push is more "aggressive", AIDA is important, there is a lot more to promotion than I thought. Having a good understanding of the terms is very important.
As I mentioned understanding the terms is important, as are the principles and other concepts. I'm going to try and find some time to review before the final exam. It's not easy managing my time as a college student, but I am learning.
I also volunteered to do a presentation on Facebook. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm looking forward to it.
One important thing in this chapter is the "promotional mix the combination of promotional tools-including advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion-used to reach the target market and fulfill the organization's overall goals." The chapter also discusses communication. This includes the communication process. It was nice reading/learning about this again as I took Interpersonal Communications a few semesters ago. So I guess in some ways it was a review and in some ways not as it is understanding communications from a business/marketing perspective. It really is interested how my classes seem to overlap.
The chapter also talks about "the goals and tasks of promotion" and "promotional goals and the AIDA concept". There are also sections about "factors affecting the promotional mix" and "integrated marketing communications". The chapter really covers a lot.
AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. As I've moved through the following chapters things are starting to make more sense, but I still feel a little bit confused.
Our case discussion was about Wicked and there was a question about it on the Class Involvement Quiz. I mean no offense to those who allowed me to be a part of their group that night, it was just different. A different dynamic.
My response to the question:
I didn't possibly understand the material as well as I thought I did. Also, I appreciate the group I usually discuss with. It was very different and I'm not sure how to compare the productivity, working with a different group. That push is more "aggressive", AIDA is important, there is a lot more to promotion than I thought. Having a good understanding of the terms is very important.
As I mentioned understanding the terms is important, as are the principles and other concepts. I'm going to try and find some time to review before the final exam. It's not easy managing my time as a college student, but I am learning.
Week 10 - March 21, 2012
Last week was spring break. I enjoyed my break, but wish I hadn't gotten sick during it. I'm still not feeling the greatest, but I just have to do what I can to get my homework done.
Week before last I had thought of something I liked while reading the chapter and almost started writing my blog post, but I decided to wait. Well today I have learned my lesson, as I am about to start reading shortly, I am going to have my browser open to write this post. Better I get it on here now, before I forget about it later.
This week we are studying "Marketing Channels and Supply Chain Management", chapter 12 in the text. I've only read a few pages, so far, but I'm enjoying it. I didn't realize how much is involved in making it so I can go buy several items or see several brands at one place, this chapter is illuminating that. For example the difference between marketing channels also known as channels of distribution and supply chains. They are different things.
I actually got a bit confused on some of my definitions in class. I am still not feeling well, so that is a factor. I enjoyed the discussion about Dell and the video discussion about Sephora. Dell's use of JIT(Just In Time) seems pretty common now. I wonder if they are still manufacturing in India. The video quiz was nice. There are so many different types of distribution. I think I might need to review them. I actually made some notes about things I was unsure of. Being the first class after Spring Break, I think it was OK. I need to get back into the studying habit, which will be easier as I feel better.
I found out I don't have to do posts when we have an exam, but I think I will anyway. It's a nice way to sum up and remember what I have learned so far. Reviewing definitions is a good study tip. One that I think I will try and follow before class next week.
Week before last I had thought of something I liked while reading the chapter and almost started writing my blog post, but I decided to wait. Well today I have learned my lesson, as I am about to start reading shortly, I am going to have my browser open to write this post. Better I get it on here now, before I forget about it later.
This week we are studying "Marketing Channels and Supply Chain Management", chapter 12 in the text. I've only read a few pages, so far, but I'm enjoying it. I didn't realize how much is involved in making it so I can go buy several items or see several brands at one place, this chapter is illuminating that. For example the difference between marketing channels also known as channels of distribution and supply chains. They are different things.
I actually got a bit confused on some of my definitions in class. I am still not feeling well, so that is a factor. I enjoyed the discussion about Dell and the video discussion about Sephora. Dell's use of JIT(Just In Time) seems pretty common now. I wonder if they are still manufacturing in India. The video quiz was nice. There are so many different types of distribution. I think I might need to review them. I actually made some notes about things I was unsure of. Being the first class after Spring Break, I think it was OK. I need to get back into the studying habit, which will be easier as I feel better.
I found out I don't have to do posts when we have an exam, but I think I will anyway. It's a nice way to sum up and remember what I have learned so far. Reviewing definitions is a good study tip. One that I think I will try and follow before class next week.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Week 9 - March 7, 2012
Chapter 10 was about Products. As my Professor mentioned in class one of the 4 p's or the marketing mix. According to the text there are 6 different types of new products: New-to-the-world products, new product lines, additions to existing product, improvements or revisions of existing products, repositioned products, and lower-priced products. There are also 7 steps in the New-Product Development Process.
They are:
Overall this was an interesting chapter. I enjoyed reading it. Though I do get a bit confused in spots. For example: The five categories of adopters are a bit confusing. (An adopter is "a consumer who was happy enough with his or her trial experience with a product to use it again".) The categories are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. It makes sense that products have a life cycle, but it is not easy seeing where one ends and one begins. Practice will probably help with this. Then when you combine the adopters with the life cycle it's easy to get confused, but I think the lecture and the PowerPoint helped things make a bit clearer. It was definitely different having the professor broadcasting from a different site than he normally does. Overall an interesting chapter, that I enjoyed.
They are:
- New-Product Strategy
- Idea Generation
- Idea Screening
- Business Analysis
- Devlopment
- Test Marketing
- Commercialization
Overall this was an interesting chapter. I enjoyed reading it. Though I do get a bit confused in spots. For example: The five categories of adopters are a bit confusing. (An adopter is "a consumer who was happy enough with his or her trial experience with a product to use it again".) The categories are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. It makes sense that products have a life cycle, but it is not easy seeing where one ends and one begins. Practice will probably help with this. Then when you combine the adopters with the life cycle it's easy to get confused, but I think the lecture and the PowerPoint helped things make a bit clearer. It was definitely different having the professor broadcasting from a different site than he normally does. Overall an interesting chapter, that I enjoyed.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Week 8 - February 29, 2012
So tonight was the midterm. It was take at home online during class time and open book. I was reminded of the different things we has studied so far. I think something important I learned or was reminded of, was to study. Studying for things appropriately before hand is a lot better than getting stressed while taking the test. I'm glad I had read the chapters but I wonder if I would have had less stress had I studied and prepared more, for example re-reading the chapters. I'm glad we have the reading quizzes as looking over those did help me prepare for the exam. Marketing is a lot more complex than you might think it would be. There are so many different aspects. I wonder what could have happened to the TV show Tower Prep had the marketing been done differently. Or if marketing could get the show back.
Well next week we cover chapter 10 in the text. I look forward to reading chapter 10.
Well next week we cover chapter 10 in the text. I look forward to reading chapter 10.
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