What is a Monopoly?

Monopoly is an economics term. It exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it.

Tis the season to market to Children

Many advertisers have been busy aiming their products any which way they can toward children. Why? Because they have come to realize that most purchases made within a home is somehow linked to a child. The influence that children have their on parents purchasing power has become ridiculously embarrassing. I watched grown people fight over an Xbox at a store, on a news station. I'm sure it was just to please a tantrum throwing, wanna fit in, child. Then I'm sure they may have felt embarrassed to view themselves in such hoggish behavior.

Marketers at Mercedes Benz are getting in on the action of marketing to children. Mercedes is offering the Bobby Benz SLK AMG push-cart for children to ride. Also they have slapped their logo on a few clothing items for children to wear.

Unethical Pricing Practices

1. Price fixing - an agreement between business competitors to sell the same product or service at the same price.
2. Price skimming - a pricing strategy in which a marketer sets a relatively high price for a product or service at first, then lowers the price over time. It allows the firm to recover its sunk costs quickly before competition steps in and lowers the market price.
3. Price discrimination - exists when sales of identical goods or services are transacted at different prices from the same provider.
4. Bid rigging - an agreement between two or more competitors. It is a form of collusion, which is illegal in most countries. It is a form of price fixing and market allocation, and it involves an agreement in which one party of a group of bidders will be designated to win the bid. It is often practised where contracts are determined by a call for bids, for example in the case of government construction contracts.
5. Price war - is a term used in business to indicate a state of intense competitive rivalry accompanied by a multi-lateral series of price reductions. One competitor will lower its price, then others will lower their prices to match. If one of the reactors reduces their price below the original price cut, then a new round of reductions is initiated. In the short-term, price wars are good for consumers who are able to take advantage of lower prices. Typically they are not good for the companies involved. The lower prices reduce profit margins and can threaten survival. etc....

Even before Black Friday, Retailers Offer Big Discounts...

Diamond earrings at Macy’s were chopped to $249 from $700. A Marc Jacobs bag at Saks, originally $995, fell to $248.45. And for men, a Ted Baker suit at Lord & Taylor was selling not for the usual $895, but for $399.99....
Laden with excess inventory, hungry for sales and worried because of five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, the nation’s retailers went into a price-cutting frenzy long before the day after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. For weeks, they have been trying to outdo one another to capture the attention of consumers who have become numb to run-of-the-mill discounts. As the latest T. J. Maxx slogan goes: “Every day is Black Friday....”
The Toys “R” Us chain is planning the deepest discounts in its history on Friday, with 50 percent more doorbusters than last year. Other retailers are promising that their deals will be even more striking than the sales they have already unveiled — with Wal-Mart, for instance, promising large flat-panel televisions for less than $400....
Consumers have been resisting the stores’ entreaties. In the first two weeks of November, retail categories like apparel, luxury goods and electronics and appliances all had double-digit sales declines, according to SpendingPulse sales reports from MasterCard. Grocers are just about the only stores doing well in this economy, as people hole up and eat at home instead of going to restaurants.... It was about time people started doing this; eating at home.

On-Line shopping vs In-Store shopping

Within the past few years, online users have become more comfortable with using the internet to do their shopping. Internet sales in 2005 increased by whooping 25%, to $23.2 billion, during the holiday season. The percentage of holiday sales made online grew by 20 percent from 2006 to 2007. Experts are predicting continued growth of the online channel spurred on by the cost of gas and online price comparison tools. This could be a big year for e-mail marketers to reach customers seeking to pinch pennies at the pump and at check out with holiday e-mail promotions.

Even with a tight economy, retailers who tune up their marketing efforts have a lot to gain. Consumers spent US$475 billion (National Retail Association) during the 2007 holiday season, and with e-mail marketing ROI at $48 for every dollar spent (Direct Marketing Association, 2007), small businesses have the opportunity to get an early leg up on the competition -- against big box stores and smaller competitors on Main Street.

Why should marketers be aware of Competiton?

All corporations are in some kind of competition with one another. That is why they need to gain knowledge about what is happening in the environment. This really is where their future lies, in the hands of the customers. Consumers are the ones who let the marketers know what's in the NOW, and what's so GONE. Marketers need to always know what their next investment is going to be like. And will their strategies and/ objectives be the right ones. So it is always wise to keep set on the competition that they are facing out there. So improvement could be made when and if it's needed.

Tiger and GM - No More

Due to their financial crisis, and in an attempt to save some cash, General Motors is pulling the plug on their 9yr endorsement deal with golfer, Tiger Woods. It is said that at the end of this year there would no Tiger running along with GM. Also the world's No.1 golfer would like some time off since he is expecting his second child. I guess the end of the deal couldn't have come at a better time for Tiger.

Holiday Advertising - Food "YUM YUM YUM!!!"

Bring on the high seller foods of the season; turkey, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, cream of mushroom soup, and pumpkin pie amongst others. As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, more and more consumers are going online to get recipes needed. Smart advertisers would take advantage of this by putting their ads online, so that consumers could be aware of their brands. Clearly, advertisers should have been doing this four weeks prior to the holiday. If the had not gotten the chance to do so, it's not too late because Christmas is right around the corner. For all advertisers from food companies should know that this is the time when a large percentage is made to boost up their annual profits.

21st Century Innovation Timeline

"Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless" - Thomas ALva Edison


21st Century Innovation Timeline
YEAR - 2000
INVENTION - JD Batball
INVENTOR - Jacob Dunnack

YEAR - 2001
INVENTION - iPodSegwayHT
INVENTOR - Tony FadellDean Kamen

YEAR - 2002
INVENTION - ROOMBA robotic vacuum
INVENTOR - Helen Greiner

YEAR - 2005
INVENTION - Magic Sponge Blocks
INVENTOR - Taylor Hernandez

YEAR - 2006
INVENTION - Multiplication Madness
INVENTOR - Jennifer Tuttle

"You gotta spend money to make money"

To be a successful person we all know that we have to spend a little to make a lot. So why do companies pretend they don't need to advertise to get customers? Well that is certainly not for the majority. I guess that is more for the home-based companies.
I read about a lady named Margie Christman, who is the owner, designer and creator of a purse company called "Texas Bag Lady." She serves as a great example as to why advertising a little can help your company a lot. When Margie started out, she promoted her business by including a pen displaying her company name with each purchase. Her husband discouraged her from ordering the pens, saying she couldn’t afford to spend money when she was just starting out.Within no time, a customer called, proving the husband wrong. The woman told Margie that people kept asking where she got her purse. Though the customer forgot the phone number, she had it on the pen and shared it with everyone she spoke to. That purse paired with an inexpensive advertising item, helped Margie sell eight more purses.
What could you do with a small increase in your marketing budget? It just might mean the difference between growing slowly or quickly!

Pricing a Product

I have always wondered how one can make the "right" price for a product. I would think it is one of the toughest jobs to do in the industry. Many times I'm sure consumers would question whether a certain product is worth the price it is given. Or, how can you tell what a product is worth when it comes to pricing? But we need to stop watching just the view on the outside of the product and realize the tight spot marketers are in when it comes to the strategy of pricing a product.

Four(4) basic steps followed when setting price:
1. Costs. Focus on your current and future, not historical, costs to determine the cost basis for your pricing strategy .
2. Price Sensitivity. The price sensitivities of buyers shift based on a number of factors and your pricing strategy must shift with them.
3. Competition. Pay attention to them, but don't copy them . . . when it comes to pricing strategy they may have no idea what they're doing.
4. Product Lifecycle. How you price, and what value you provide for that price, will change as you move through the product lifecycle.

Strategic pricing is the effective, proactive use of product pricing to drive sales and profits, and to help establish the parameters for product development. Used wisely it is a clearly powerful tool for successful marketing strategies.

Interbrand | Best Global Brands List | 2008

The top 3 Best Global Brands for 2008, and they were also the top 3 for 2007 are; Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft...

Interbrand Best Global Brands List 2008

Importance of Product Safety

China's top dairies battle to regain public's trust.

Executives from Mengniu Dairy Group Co. and Yili Industrial Group Co., led a media tour so they can regain public's trust after their products were found tainted with a chemical that killed four infants and sickened tens of thousands. Both companies promised the public that stepped up testing and new procedures would ensure that similar contamination won't happen again....

... Authorities blame middlemen at milk collecting stations for the food safety scandal that began last month, saying they added melamine to watered-down milk to fool quality control tests and make the product appear rich in protein.
Nitrogen-rich melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, can cause kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate it and, in extreme cases, lead to life-threatening kidney failure. Infants are particularly susceptible.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27226142/

click above link to read more on the matter.

Brand Extensions

It is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. This strategy is used to increase and leverage brand equity. Some brand extensions might work well while others just seem outright ridiculous.

Example of a good brand extension - Jello-gelatin creating Jello pudding pops.

Example of a brand extension gone bad - Everlast Cologne

Packaging

Yesterday, I went to Century 21 to purchase a present for a friend who turned 21. I went into the perfume section, and it's just overwhelming the great deals you could find. Many great perfumes on sale, some if purchased you get a free item, or you can purchase another item for a lesser value. But what really caught my eyes while shopping around was the packaging of the products. And despite the many deals that were there, I couldn't resist the beautiful gold and white box, with a ribbon tied to it, looking all sparkly. It was a Dior fragrance packaged in such a luxurious way. And no matter what I saw after or before, I just needed to have that one. Still walked out the store without it...lol...lmao. Yes, I resisted the marketer's effort to tempt me to buy it's product. Maybe if it was for me I'd get it. :)

Brand Licensing encourages Consumer Advocate

Brand Marketer - Licensed Product - Primary Consumers - Secondary Audience

Since, by their very nature, many licensed products bear the brand’s trademarks in ways that are visible when they are being used, they turn consumers of licensed products into active advocates for thebrand. Not only will a consumer wearing a branded t-shirt deepen his or her own bond with the brand, but that consumer will become a human “billboard” for the brand. This form of marketing is especially powerful because it carries the implied endorsement of the purchaser of the licensed product bringing a higher degree of relevance to the message as it is viewed by the secondary audience (the purchaser’s peers, family, and community).

Ford Edison Firestone

Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone - The fathers of modernity. Photo: Ft.Myers, Florida, February 11th, 1929

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the American founder of the Ford Motor Co. and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford

Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires and an important contributor to North American economic growth in the 20th century.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Firestone

click links to read more...

Appropriate Packaging

"That is when the package should adequately represent the value of the product."

Appropriate Packaging Award
Stylish and compact “new package” for small-footprint personal computer

NEC Personal Products, Ltd.

CHUOH PACK INDUSTRY CO., LTD.

The new cushioning material will feature sufficient protection for precision equipment such as computer. Smooth packaging on an assembly line and end-user's not only easy but also safe opening of the product were taken into consideration. The package was made to be compact to match the product image.

Examples of Trade Dress

Trade dress refers to characteristics of a visual appearance of a product or its packaging that may be registered and protected from being used by competitors in the manner of a trademark. These charateristics can include; graphic design, color, three-dimensinal shape, or even the smell of a product or its packaging.

Shape of a Coca-Cola bottle

Shape of a classic Ferrari sports car

Front grill on the Rolls-Royce automobile

Brand Loyalty

In class tonight the discussion was on brands and its association within the marketing industry. Among the list, brand loyalty was discussed. And I sat there thinking, to myself, that culture plays a part in what brands some people stick with. The brand they are going to insist on buying. For instance, I've had family members and friends visit NY and they always compare and complain about the brands in food products we purchase. They insist that the brand of tuna, macaroni, whatever else, in america, is not better than that of the island we are from. But I guess when in Rome you act like the Romans...

Real or Fake

An issue of the fur that Kate Winslet has around her. Just thought I'd post the pic which led to "Business Miscommunication." Turns out she's an animal lover.

Update: GM backs out

Though we were asked not to blog about GM anymore, I thought of giving a little update on the situation of the merger between Chrysler and GM.

Much as Chrysler needs a saviour, few are disappointed that the Detroit carmaker’s rescuer will not be General Motors.
A takeover by GM “would have meant huge job losses for the workers and dealer closures”, said Andy Palmen, a Chrysler dealer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, expressing relief at GM’s decision to walk away from talks to acquire its smaller rival.
url:http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bb482cfc-ae81-11dd-b621-000077b07658.html

Glengarry Glen Ross

"Coffee is for closer's only"

The Importance of Product Lines

Some companies produce products which are related, rather than one individual product to increase their importance in the market. The marketers in those companies could be perceived as creative marketers. To take one product and then share it's qualities is pretty much the thinking of a genius, if I should say so. This type of marketing has the customers on edge, always looking for the next new thing in the product line. And then this is a way to keep the life cycle of the product in the market a bit longer. Examples of those are IPods, Sidekicks and Sneakers.

Specialty (luxury) Cars in the Market

There are some automobliles in the market that no substitutes would replace. Buyers, no matter the cost, would gurantee that they possess the real thing. Specialty cars are also known as luxury cars. Evoking style and sophistication, luxury cars are often the flagship vehicles of an automaker's model line. Priced above $34,000, luxury cars represent an ideal of comfort, security, prestige a nd elegance. Luxury cars are classified in the categories; entry luxury cars, luxury cars and ultra luxury cars. Therefore, the ultra luxury car would be the most special of all. It is usually priced at a high of $100,000 or more. Based on the economic those cars are out of reach for most consumers. An example: The Bentley Flying Spur, the latest luxury sedan from the prestigious marque, employing a powerful 550-horsepower engine and all-wheel drive.

Products

Marketers have to make it their duty to ensure the satisfaction of consumers when it comes to a product in the market. Many times customers purchase a product and the result differentiates from what they were told to expected. When an issue like this is being faced in the marketing business, marketers have to continuosly introduce new features to their product, making it still attractive and wanted by consumers. People have a tendency to retire of a product as soon as the next best thing like it comes out. So marketers have to make it part of their strategy to keep their products upgraded for as long as they want their business to succeed.

A HISTORIC ELECTION

TODAY, NOVEMBER 4TH, 2008, THE 44TH PRESIDENT WAS ELECTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS PRESIDENT CAMPAIGNED FOR A CHANGE, HE MARKETED HIMSELF AS A CHANGE FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. THE CHANGE IS NOW IN PLACE. THE PRESIDENT FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS WILL BE THE FIRST EVER AFRICAN-AMERICAN PRESIDENT -- BARACK OBAMA!!! MAY THE CHANGE CONTINUE TO BE IN PROGRESS AND THE RESULT TO BE REWARDING.

Event marketing: Starbucks

Looks like Starbucks is using the event of the elections to market their coffee. Giving out free coffee is something that surely doesn't happen on a regular. But to the millions of people out there, Starbucks is willing to give all those who vote a free cup of coffee. Well, vote well America, and toast to Starbucks for keeping you "awake" in making the right decision. My guess will be that the consumers/voters will be happy especially if they're used to buying coffee every morning. Buying coffee is like the behavior of most americans.

Michele Bachman:"Not all cultures are equal, not all values are equal."

Bachmann is apparently known to make many controversial statements without elaborating on them.
This statement made by Bachmann, came about when she was prompted to answer a question about the riot that's going on in France. Though she applauds the efforts of multi-cultural diversity, Michele still has her view stating that,"not all cultures are equal..."
What is multicultralism? It states that "immigrants and their should be allowed and be encouraged to maintain and celebrate their own culture apart fromt he national culture."
Multiculturalism is based on the lie that all cultures are morally equal. In practice, that soon degenerates to: All cultures are morally equal, except ours, which is worse. But all cultures are not equal in respecting representative government, guaranteed liberties and the rule of law. And those things arose not simultaneously and in all cultures, but in certain specific times and places – mostly in Britain and America, but also in various parts of Europe.
site:http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050814/news_mz1e14barone.html

6 Behaviors shown by consumers who shop at Walmart

The fact that 9/10 of Americans shop at Walmart, at least once a year, the retailer has seen first hand their shopping behavior.

1. Cash-strapped consumers are buying baby formula at the beginning of the month, when they have more money.

2. A double digit decline in the use of credit cards in the second quarter.

3. 80% of consumers surveyed by walmart say "personal financial security" is their top concern.Formerly it was the price of gasoline.

4. Purchases of generics have doubled.

5. Shoppers are changing how often they visit the store. Some come less often to save gas.

6. Walmart now sees a 2.5% sales increase int the middle of the month, when paychecks are handed out.