Fundementals of Marketing Quotes

1. A strategic error can threaten a firm's survival. (Page 14)

2. A product development strategy entails the creation of new products for present markets. (Page 16)

3. By specifying objectives and defining the actions required to attain them, you can provide in a marketing plan the basis by which actual and expected performance can be compared. (Page 20)

4. A new-product strategy links the new-product development process with the objectives of the marketing department, the business unit, and the corporation. (Page 193)

5. The Internet is a useful tool for implementing simultaneous product development. (Page 197)

6. Despite the amount of time and money spent on developing and testing new products, a large proportion of new product introductions fail. (Page 199)

7. A relative product failure results when the product returns a profit but fails to achieve sales, profit, or market share goals. (Page 199)

8. An innovation is a product perceived as new by a potential adopter. (Page 200)

9.  Retailing affects all people directly or indirectly. (Page 258)

10. First, marketers must realize that they often do not control the content on social media sites. (Page 336)

11. Customer-centric companies continually learn ways to enhance their product and service offerings. (Page 321)

12. Initial groundwork must precede communication between the potential buyer and the salesperson. (Page 322)

13. Price plays two roles in the evaluation of product alternatives: as a measure of sacrifice and as an information cue. To some degree, these are two opposing effects. (Page 357)

14. The price they set for each product depends mostly on two factors: the demand for the good or service and the cost to the seller for that good or service. (Page 361)

15. Relationship selling, or consultative selling, is a multistage process that emphasizes personalization and empathy as key ingredients in identifying prospects and developing them as long-term, satisfied customers. (Page 319)

16.

EOC Week 9: Social Media Promotion

    So the promotion of this product though social media will be through a series of adds posted to Facebook and Youtube. They will be tagged in any other social media we posses as well. The campaign in order to be successful will have to appeal to our middle aged woman demographic. According to our text book: "Today, Coca-Cola offers more than a dozen different products to market segments based on diverse consumer preferences for flavors, calorie, and caffeine content.". This supports that the consumer would like variety in these different markets. Starting out we won't reach all of them but as we grow we will need new content advertising for all of these markets. "Members of Generation X are at a life stage where they are often stuck between supporting their aging parents and young children". This is our initial target market so, being the smallest of the demographics, it also has the most spending money. But they spend that money on their kids to support them so it would be wise to pander this barbecue sauce as a family product with a little humor for the children. These video adds would hopefully become very popular and help us reach all the other markets for future developement.

Week 8 EOC - Creative Content

I have the thought of using my skills in audio production to make a scripted commercial for the creative content. The commercial itself I have two ideas for. The first being a conversation between two people discussing the product and promoting it at the same time. The other would be a deep voiced man advertising the product to women to bring home this chocolate barbecue sauce to their husbands. I'm leaning more towards that. The music involved would be made by me in Garage Band or Pro Tools. They have extensive synthesizers to work with. I have a few voice actors I know who wouldn't mind lending their voice to the project either. It'll have a 30 sec timeframe to fit into radio standards. 5 seconds intro, 20 second commercial content, 5 second outro.

Business Mission Statement : Final Project

Our companies mission is to provide a brand new kind of experience at your next family gathering. With products that will be unique and satisfying enough to warrant another visit from your relatives. And lastly to strengthen such relationships and events through our product.

Objectives

"Retailing affects all people directly or indirectly. (Page 258)". This quote from our textbook provides the direction in which our companies objectives will go. The goal for the company is to bring families together. Our product will the the catalyst that makes people want to come together. "Customer-centric companies continually learn ways to enhance their product and service offerings. (Page 321)", and this (from the book as well) is why. By helping our customers and tailoring to the needs of them by giving barbecue sauces and other products, we help the company itself grow.

Situation or SWOT Analysis

The clear strengths of our company are its unique concept, wide market, easily accessible market, and its fairly low competition. Though there are a few large name brand barbecue sauces, they do not offer the flavor of ours. Our weaknesses are that we are brand new. As stated in the book "Despite the amount of time and money spent on developing and testing new products, a large proportion of new product introductions fail. (Page 199)", meaning our biggest weakness is our lack of exposure to the public. Our opportunities lie in the grocery store development. We have the potential to cover barbecue sauces, wing sauces, hot sauces, most other condiments, organic, as well as our own frozen-premade chicken. Only minor adjustments would be made to make all of these new products. "An innovation is a product perceived as new by a potential adopter. (Page 200)". These new products are opportunities to grow once we develop our initial buyers. Obvious threats include our direct and indirect competitors (i.e. A1 Steak Sauce). Another could be ourselves if we aren't careful. As the book says, "A relative product failure results when the product returns a profit but fails to achieve sales, profit, or market share goals. (Page 199)".

Target Market Strategy

Our target demographic is 25-50. Why is it this range and not any other? Because we want to target families. Mothers and fathers who want to invite friends or family over for a barbecue. Any older and they don't do this themselves. Same as any younger. The middle class family in their thirties has the time and money to want a product such as this. To reach them I have a few ideas. Firstly is social media. While they do not spend the most time, the do spend quite alot of it on social media at this age. And as the book says "The Internet is a useful tool for implementing simultaneous product development. (Page 197)". Radio and T.V. adds are crucial as well for such a product to develop.

Product

Our product will be both distinct and consistent. Leaving out the sweetness of chocolate and focusing more on its bitter qualities. We might have to use bold flavors to go with it like chili just to keep it from tasting like a chocolate bar since one of the main ingredients in barbecue sauces is sugar or corn syrup.

Distribution

"Initial groundwork must precede communication between the potential buyer and the salesperson. (Page 322)". This is where distribution comes in. I feel like at first we will make the product in small batches by hand but as it grows we will expand to larger methods. "Relationship selling, or consultative selling, is a multistage process that emphasizes personalization and empathy as key ingredients in identifying prospects and developing them as long-term, satisfied customers. (Page 319)". During the distribution phase is where we reach our customers. Our ultimate goal is to be a supermarket standard as well as at restaurants as well.

Promotion

"First, marketers must realize that they often do not control the content on social media sites. (Page 336)". The first place to start is simutainiously the easiest as well as the hardest to spread the word on. The easy part is anyone can do it. The hard part is everyone is doing it. The next goals would be T.V. commercials then the Radio commercials. We wouldn't advertise all the time, only when new products come out and when initially establishing our target market.

Price

The Price of this product will be reflective of both its manufacturing cost as well as its competitors. It will fluctuate depending on the size of the bottle, flavor, ect. But it is safe to say we will match our competitors prices with the goal of customers choosing our quality over theirs. "The price they set for each product depends mostly on two factors: the demand for the good or service and the cost to the seller for that good or service. (Page 361)" With this in mind matching our competitors will display our quality as equal to theirs encouraging people to buy it and enjoy their purchase as if it was the other brand." Price plays two roles in the evaluation of product alternatives: as a measure of sacrifice and as an information cue. To some degree, these are two opposing effects. (Page 357).

Implementation

" A strategic error can threaten a firm's survival. (Page 14)" To implement this product into the market it is key not to make any errors. A slight marketing miscalculation could send the whole company into bankruptcy. "A product development strategy entails the creation of new products for present markets." (Page 16). The new products will have to be successful for the early stages of development. Which is part of implementing this product."By specifying objectives and defining the actions required to attain them, you can provide in a marketing plan the basis by which actual and expected performance can be compared. (Page 20)" This states that with meeting goals we can define a level of expectation which we can compare our further performances to. And lastly "A new-product strategy links the new-product development process with the objectives of the marketing department, the business unit, and the corporation. (Page 193)" Meaning that down to the individual employee, we must make sure that the timing, pricing, promotion, and distribution are all in place to ensure a successful future for the company.

Week 7 EOC Chocolate Pitch

My pitch will be based around the concept of a chocolate barbecue sauce. This is more of a general term when I say 'barbecue' because the sauce would be used for several things. Things such as dips for mostly red meats, marinades, and possibly for chicken as well but I feel as though the chocolate may be a little too strong for the otherwise flavorless white meats. The hardest part would be to make the sauce savory instead of sweet as the main ingredient in most barbecue sauces is corn syrup. So It may have to resemble more of a wing sauce where the main ingredients are just vinegar, salt, and tomatoes/chilis (in this case it would be chocolate). The flavor would rely more on the savory side as well as the bitterness of the chocolate and would resemble more of a dark chocolate theme to it. The target audience would be middle aged men and/or their wives. These are the most likely to buy meats and use a product like this. I say for the women because most men have their sauce they like and use it exclusively. But women love chocolate and would be more likely to try a new product such as this. So we have to make it somewhat gender neutral and eye catching at the same time. Advertisement space would be fairly good on radio and on certain channels on T.V. since this demographic typically has more money and their leisure time is on these mediums.

Week 6 EOC Me X 3

So to list three specific things that would define me and my character in general would be fairly hard to narrow down. Like most people, a few objects that I am very fond of come to mind, but thinking more on it I think some of them do not really say much about me theyre just things I buy to have something to do. My first object would be my computer first and foremost. I spend most of my day on it and invest a lot of time and money into improving and utilizing it. I need it for both entertainment values as well as professionally. It holds my software and networking as well. The second object would be my guitar. I have two but I use my electric, light blue, Godman guitar which is a fender mimic brand. It's what motivated me to pursue a career in audio. (I would list the specs for my computer but I built it myself and it is comprised of many brands, non of which I have any particular loyalty to.) And my last object would be my toothpaste. It sounds weird, but I do not like Colgate toothpaste. I prefer the Crest Prohealth type brand and it's because of how good it makes me feel for using it. It feels the most effective and I go out of my way just to obtain it over other brands. Sure there are more practical things I use in my house like the TV or Bluetooth speakers and other high tech gadgets, but I don't know any by brand and the actual company means nothing to me in particular other than those three. Godman isn't particularly good, but it was my first, my computer is mostly NVidia and Intel based which are companies I've always used, and Crest is a brand I do use and seek out on my own.

Week 4 EOC: New App

The app I would like to see developed would be an app that records the sounds from the guitar or other instruments and transposes the sound into a music sheet as well as tablature. That would make it easy for musicians to play freely and look back at the pieces they made in case they wanted to save it for a later date. The market for an app like this would be fairly small, but there are still quite a few people who want to learn an instrument but might not have the tools necessary and an app like this would encourage it much like the "GuitarSmith" program for consoles.

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

     As far as charitable companies go, there are a lot of them out there to choose from because it is a common thing for big companies to give back in order to receive good press and some nice tax breaks. That being said, I chose to highlight one in particular that I am familiar with because I have worked for them for over a year now. I speak of Kroger, which Is a parent company to several grocery stores across the U.S. They donate over $219 million in goods as well as cash to local charities. Millennials do have a lot of purchasing power within this market because a very large portion of their products market themselves to this age group. According to the book, "Millennials have formidable purchasing power, but they distrust advertising and are more likely to listen to their peers regarding product decisions.". This means that the items they are purchasing are most likely ones they are either familiar with or ones that their friends or relatives are familiar with. Their parents often make choices based on their input as supported by the book, "Many of them are parents, and they make purchasing decisions with thought for and input from their families.". This means that according to this information, Millennials make up for an even bigger spending power than most generations. Millennials are also more likely to buy a product or from a company that is charitable. "Brands like TOMS Shoes and Warby Parker appeal to this group because they offer social value and align their brands with a higher purpose. These brands also invite participation and co-creation, both of which appeal to Millennials.". So knowing this makes companies like Kroger, Wal-Mart, PepsiCo, and more donate some of their proceeds in order to appeal to this generation. It's a well thought out marketing plan to say the least. One that benefits everyone, but it does some more than others.