What Channels are you going to do to get your product noticed?

There are many channels that companies take to get there products noticed. They may take surveys from the individuals they are going to sell the product too, may have taste tests or have individuals wear or try there item for a trial period. Either way a company chooses they must research the individual that they are going to sell their product too.  I’m going to do the same thing. I plan on talking to men to see what it is that would make them buy facial wash. I also plan on using a few gimmicks to make my product appeal to men. One of my main gimmicks is going to be sex. I think that sex sells if it is used tastefully. I’m going to show a man that by using facial wash that more women will be attracted to them than ever before.  I’m also thinking about using some manly gimmicks to get them to buy facial wash. A thought I had was that if you buy a facial wash you can get coupons for beer or to some sort of manly event like sports or a tool show. I haven’t quite ironed out that idea as of yet but it is definitely a work in progress. That is one of the ideas that I’m going to bring up in my research with men about my facial wash. I feel that if I can convince at least one man that facial wash is the new wave that he will spread it to his friend, who will then spread it to his friend, who will then spread it to his friend. I think you get the idea. I’m want to correlate the use of facial wash to something a man does in his everyday life. I think that by doing this, men will want to buy facial wash every time they shop.

Three Great Mission Statements

Three of my classmates Mission Statements that really stood out were Holly Burke’s, Elizabeth Manning’s and Chris McLaughlin’s. I believe that they stood out the most because they are trying to reach out to a new brand of customer. They follow the quote   “A brand, product, or service is more than just a physical thing. Humans that connect with the brand add meaning and value to it” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10^th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing) According to Holly Burke, the mission is to introduce Fabreeze to a new section of customers. This will take this trusted product to almost universal acceptance as THE must have household necessity. Fabreeze is on the cutting edge of innovation in its category. Men will impressed by the many benefits they find in our products. The new sales will propel our company into place prominence in the coming decade and our market share will increase 46% by the next financial year. Our brand is projected to acquire a new cache, and with it even better opportunities to reach out to other brands who want to partner with Proctor and Gamble. She is trying to connect this product to men so that they can expand sales and their customer base. According to, Elizabeth Manning and her mission statement for Burt’s Beeswax, Why does this company exist? Women say they want that man with those long lasting, kissable lips. Is there something that can give that to men, without them feeling like a girl, for going to buy the product? There is, it is Burt’s Beeswax. “The lips that will leave someone breathless.” This all-natural, soothing chap stick is not a normal product; it is meant to bring the real men up to the challenge. Have those lips that are soft and give that breathe a little extra goodness. Men have the crackled lips and can be embarrassed to kiss the girl with them, or maybe be denied of a kiss, because of those prickly lips. Well that is not an issue, the Burt’s are a chap stick men can take and wear with pride and not feel girly. She is also following the theory that the Burt’s Beeswax can be connected to men. According to Chris McLaughlin and the mission statement for his kitchen tools, the point of my Kitchen Tools product will be to get men into the kitchen to enjoy cooking with their tools. This will be done with utensils that they will have fun using. These will simulate real garage type tools but will be solely meant for kitchen use due to being actual utensils. Not only will men have fun using these products to cook with, but they will be impressing the ladies with the ability to handle the tools so well. This will be due to the fact that their already familiar with them from such places as the garage or construction work. We here at Kitchen Tools Inc. find it very important that men know how to cook well, and with the amount of research put into our product we have found one of the downfalls has been utensil design. We’re not guaranteeing you will cook better, because we can’t promise those sort of things, but if you buy our wonderful product you will learn proper technique and you will go on from there to learn how to cook impressively. His mission statement is trying to connect men with kitchen utensils by turning them into tools. Men will associate better to cooking if they are using utensil that is shaped as a manly tool that they are familiar with. All these statements allow men to connect with the brand and add value to the product.

Disasterous New Products

New product development focuses on finding new ways to solve customer problems and create more customer-satisfying experiences. If this is the case then do all new products that hit the market place actually solve a problem or do they sometimes make problems worse? What if they were to come out with clothes that were made out of meat? Most of us already know that Lady Gaga pulled this off at an award show but was it really a pleasing experience for her? Think about if you had to wear meat all day long the things that would happen? 1. You would smell all day long. 2. You would probably get chased by dogs and possibly attacked. 3. You would probably be surrounded by bugs all day long. I think we have established that clothes made of meat aren’t a solution rather a problem. A second product would be garlic scented cologne or perfume. I don’t think this would work. The idea of perfume and cologne is for us to smell good and to attract us to other individuals. You may argue that the garlic flavoring might attract a man to a woman because she might smell like a pizza.  Although that may be true for some men, I doubt all men like the smell of garlic. Isn’t garlic meant for us to ward off vampires anyway? The last product I don’t think would work would be non disposable toilet paper. I know you are thinking “man” this would be a great idea to help the environment. You may be right in this aspect but think of all the problems it would create. 1. Where would you wash it? 2.  It is really possible that another unit would need to be built so it could be individually washed and would increase cost. The last thing about this product is how would we handle the scent? Sometimes developing new products isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.

Implementation Evaluation Control

The last thing we will have to focus on is implementation, evaluation and control.Through implementation we are going to put our marketing analysis into action. We are going to implement our plan by providing the best value to our customers while maintaining an excellent customer service policy. We are going to bring an excellent management team to focus on watching over and maintaining our objectives. To maintain control we will need to adapt to changes that are happening in the marketing world. Many managers think that "doing things right" (implementation) is as important as, or even more than, "doing the right thing" (strategy). (Armstrong and Kotler (2011) Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 57) Implementing our plan will be the key to our success. We will have to keep close evaluations on our sales force. We will evaluate them on their ability to "plan their work and work their plan". (Armstrong & Kotler (2011) Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 426) By implementing, evaluating and controlling our plan we will be successful in selling our face wash to a new type of buyer. In our case it will be men.

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix consists of product, price, promotion and distribution. The product we will be selling is face wash. The price point we will need to follow is going to be competitive. We are going to promote it by selling sex and distribute it where we can catch the eye of men. Because of the economy, "consumers are talking about reassessing their favorite brands... if they think they can get a better value with the same price, " says a marketing consultant. (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 221). We will promote through the web "A 30 second ad is a story we pull together for consumers on TV. Digital is an extension of that storytelling in a typically longer format"(Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, page 377) We want our brand to stick out from the rest. “Nike’s latest masterstroke is social networking, online and off” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, page 43) In order for us to maintain a competitive edge we will need to get online socially.  We are going to have to prove to our customer that the value of our product is worth the price. We want to be able to say the same thing that a Trader Joe's captains says "People get hooked on something and they keep coming back for it. That's how it starts". (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, page 274). That will be the key to our facial wash to get men hooked onto washing their faces with our brand of face wash. We will need to take a similar approach to buying as Trader Joe's does, "We buy in huge quantities straight from our distributors, which cuts out the middle man and lets us offer the lowest possible prices" (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 274). Our approach will be to find the cheapest ingredients to make our product as well as the cheapest way to distribute them. I feel to get our product started we can set a buy one get one free offer to men only. This may even encourage men to buy our face wash for their wives at the same time. I think our price point will be competitive at $4.99 for an 8oz bottle. We can blow competition such as Proactive away if we effectively show our customer that by washing your face on a daily basis with Clean & Clear face wash that they will never have a dirty face.

Target Market Strategy

All companies should have a marketing strategy and the marketing strategy should include a target market strategy. Our facial wash will be targeting men ages 18-45. Our marketing strategy will be achieved by creating value for our target customers. We will do this by using the concept of segmentation, targeting, differentiation and positioning. We will use segmentation to divide the total market into smaller segments. We will use targeting to select the segment or segments to enter. We will use differentiation to differentiate the market offering to create superior customer value. We will use positioning to position the market offering in the minds of target customers. We will evaluate the needs and behaviors our clients value. We will make our product attractive to men. We will differentiate our customer service from the service of our competitors and we will locate our product strategically. We will start  local by listening to analysts that say "By all means go global, but the first thing you have to do is win on the ground. You have to go local". (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 495). We will also listen to another analyst that says "You need to respect local culture and become a part of it". (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 495) A global brand must "engage with consumers in a way that feels local to them". (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 495). According to this advice we will go local before we even think about going global.  Our strategy to target men is using sex to show that face wash is appealing. I think that we can try to position some facial wash as a cross sell at automotive stores right next to the hand wash. A lot of mechanics faces get dirty when they're working on cars and I feel that if marketed with the right signage this could be effective. I have attached an idea of what this may look like.

 

Targeting is not only about who we are serving but how we will serve them. the Ritz Carlton shares the idea of “The Ritz-Carlton Experience”—one that “enlivens the senses, instills a sense of well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 193) It is going to be our job to provide a similar idea in that we want our customer to have the sense that if they use our product they will have a clean fresh face. Targeting also has to do with how a product is positioned. We want to place our product in our customers minds relative to our competing products. “Products are created in the factory, but brands are created in the mind,” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 193) We are going to place our product in our male customers minds by using the slogan "Because she won't kiss anything that isn't Clean & Clear. This slogan will give our target customer something catchy that will be embedded in their minds.

SWOT Analysis

Our company will need to complete a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis analyzes a companies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths are internal capabilities that may help a company reach its objectives. Weaknesses are internal limitations that may interfere with a company's ability to achieve its objectives. Opportunities are external factors that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage. Threats are current and emerging external factors that may challenge the company's performance. Some of our companies strengths will be that everyone needs to wash there face. Some of our companies weaknesses will be the challenge of getting a man to purchase the product on their own as opposed to a woman purchasing it for them. Our opportunities are that by gearing the sale of this product towards men we will be increasing our consumers buying power. We will now be catering to more than one type of individual. One of our threats will be our competition but I think our biggest threat will be ourselves. We are going to have to plan correctly in order for us to sell our product effectively. I think that internally we will need to focus our goal of having excellent customer service. To obtain this goal we will need to build a great repoire between ownership, mangers an employees. I think we should follow a customer service model as the model followed by Lexus “treat each customer as we would a guest in our own home” and “go to any lengths to serve them better.” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 218)  We should not only go to any lengths to serve our customers but our employees as well. I think we should follow a service plan like the one followed by HP. It promises “HP Total Care—expert help for every stage of your computer’s life. From choosing it, to configuring it, to protecting it, to tuning it up—all the way to recycling it.” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 219) I think we should provide our client with a service that allows them to learn proper facial care techniques and also allows them to provide feedback for what they want from Clean and Clear facial wash.

Objectives

Every company has objectives. An objective is an end that can be reasonably achieved within an expected time frame and with available resources. An objective usually includes many individual goals and are basic tools that underlie all planning and strategic activities. The main objective of our facial wash is to sell it to men between the ages of 18-45. Our objective is to have men want to think about our product when they are out shopping. Our advertising objective is going to be to prove that by washing your face woman will be more attracted to you. We are going to use the advertising objective that sex sells. Our challenge is how we can sell facial wash to men. We are going to achieve this challenge by setting research objectives. We will use exploratory, descriptive and causal research. Exploratory research is marketing research that gathers preliminary information that will help define problems and suggest hypotheses. Descriptive research is marketing research that better describes marketing problems, situations, or markets, such as the market potential for a product or the demographic and attitudes of consumers. Causal research is marketing research to test hypotheses about cause and effect relationships. We will try to set a high research objective like the objectives set by the company Kohler who claim to develop products that embrace the "essence of gracious living". (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 43)   The next objective we will set will be an advertising objective.An advertising objective is designed to persuade, inform or remind. We will set an advertising goal such as the one used by Dunkin Donuts "In a recent national blind taste test," proclaimed the ads, "more Americans preferred the taste of Dunkin donuts coffee over Starbucks. It's just more proof it's all about the coffee(not the couches or music)." (Armstrong & Kotler (2011)Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, pg 387) Our objective will be to create a catch phrase that will stick with men. We can create a catchy jingle that will stick in our target markets head so they will be thinking about the product when they are shopping.

Business Mission Statement

The mission for our product facial wash is to sell to men between the ages of 18-45.  We want to be able to sell our product to men. We want men to be able to go to the store and want to buy this product for themselves without being embarrassed. They will no longer need their woman to buy it for them. The market for facial wash right now is just geared towards woman. In fact woman are the individuals that most products are geared too because they are the individuals that shop the most. “A brand, product, or service is more than just a physical thing. Humans that connect with the brand add meaning and value to it.”  (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10^th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing pg,118) We are going to try and connect with men the best we can to prove that facial wash is not just a woman’s product. We are going to use the power that woman have over men to show them that by washing their face woman will attract to them more than a man with a dirty face. We will take a similar path that Nike took. There goal was to "to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world." (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10^th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing pg, 43) Our goal will be to bring a clean face to every person in the world. A dirty face will become a thing of the past for men. Women will be a lot happier that they can share their facial wash with their man.  “Successfully managing the customer experience is the ultimate goal,” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10^th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing pg,47). Our statement will be "Because She Won't Kiss Anything that is not Clean and Clear." I think in the end our ultimate goal is the same as Cold Stone Creamery “to make people happy around the world by selling the highest quality, most creative experience with passion, excellence, and innovation.” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10^th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing pg,47). After all isn't this what it is really about? To make the customer happy by providing them with high quality and offering the most creative buying experience with passion, excellence and innovation.

Develop Pitch

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&biw=1680&bih=857&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=clena+nd+clear+facial+wash&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

The product I have chosen to develop and gear towards men is facial wash. This product is considered to be a very feminine product and is geared towards the sale of woman. Most manly men will just use a bar of soap to wash their face. They may also just use water if soap is not available. If the option for them was in the shower to use woman’s facial wash or nothing at all then they would choose nothing at all. What I intend to do is to market this product so men will want to go out and buy it for themselves. I think it is time for men to go out into the world with a cleaner face.  I think that their cleaner face will attract them more to woman. It will also eliminate the amount of pimples that men will get because they will be exfoliating their pores. The marketing of this product is going to revolutionize the way men buy facial wash. I feel that my ideas to market facial wash will increase sales largely to men. I’m going to create a commercial that will show men that the facial wash will attract them to woman. I’m going to use a dream sequence where a man is sleeping and he has something on his face but has no idea that he does.  The dream will be a nightmare. The man will be walking down the street or somewhere in public past multiple beautiful women. When he walks passed these woman they will point and chuckle and run away. In the dream he will look in a mirror and realize he has a lot of pimples on his face. He will suddenly wake up and run over to his sink to wash his face. He will do this in a hurry. The last scene will be him and a couple of beautiful woman by his side. He will have a huge smile and the woman will be caressing his face.

EOC WEEK 6: 9 APS

There are many different applications offered for smart phones. There are good applications, bad applications and some good applications that can be even greater. I think that three of the best applications for the smart phone are the weather application, the game applications and the voice command application. The weather application is fantastic. It gives me quick access to weather anywhere in the world. It is an excellent source for when I’m traveling. Game applications are fantastic. Having games at my finger tips allows me to expand my mind, pass time and have fun all in one sitting. The voice command applications are exciting. I can talk to my phone and it just does the work for me without me even having to press a button. Three of the worst smart phone applications are the application that allows you to pee on your phone to see if you have an STD, the noisemaker applications and it can be argued that any application is bad. The application that allows you to pee on your smart phone to check and see if you have an STD is ridiculous. Why the hell would I want my phone to smell like urine? The noisemaker applications are a waste. Do we really need our phones to make ridiculous noises for us? Can we not be creative and make our own noises. The last argument I have is that phone applications in general are bad because they are making Americans even lazier than they already are. They are also a great way for criminals to access or phones. Three smart applications that I would think are a good idea are a remote control application, an application that turns on your lights and an application that starts your car. Now I know I just said that applications make people lazier but wouldn’t it be cool to change the channels from your phone, start your car and use it to turn your lights on and off when you come into the house? Here are some interesting quotes I found from people regarding smart phone applications "People nowadays want everything to be at their fingertips, and if companies are not finding ways to provide these tools [they] will soon see drop-off from their customers," says Jennifer Shaheen, a small business technology consultant in White Plains, N.Y. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125071635069144197.html)" People dump all kinds of apps onto their smart phones". (http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/technology/10-things-app-developers-wont-tell-you/?page=2) “The FBI’s Cyber Division recently began working on a number of cases based on tips about malicious programs in app stores. The cases involve apps designed to compromise banking on cell phones, as well as mobile “malware” used for espionage by foreign nations. To protect its own operations, the FBI bars its employees from downloading apps on FBI-issued smart phones.” (http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/security/smartphone-apps-they-may-not-be-what-they-claim/4027) You can see from this blog that smart phone applications have advantages and disadvantages too.

WEEK 5 EOC: BEST AND WORST SUPERBOWL COMMERCIALS

What did you think of the Superbowl commercials this year? I frankly thought they were horrible. The Superbowl is the biggest stage for advertising but this year the advertising felt flat. In past years I typically would wait for the game to come back on before taking a bathroom break. This year though, I found myself taking a break during the actual commercials. I’m thinking the pressure of presenting the best commercial idea to a record number of viewers is really getting to the advertisers. The worst commercial I saw this year was the commercial for Doritos where the dog was running towards the Dorito. I’m not sure what Doritos were trying to accomplish here? The Doritos ad was part of the Doritos Crash the Superbowl contest. This contest picks the top commercial submissions from amateur filmmakers. As a filmmaker myself I was a little embarrassed it was picked. I see where they were coming from to be funny but it just didn’t make me laugh. They could have come up with a more original idea than the guy taunting the dog with a chip. How long could it have taken for this individual to come up with this concept? Maybe I’m just looking at it from a filmmaker’s perspective. I think I should partially be sensitive to the fact that it may have reached out to children, but then again do they want to buy the Doritos or the dog? The one commercial that did stand out was the Darth Vader Volkswagen commercial. This commercial was excellent. I felt they did a great job because the commercial was geared towards everyone. It reached out to kids and adults. They did a great job building up the suspense of what the advertisement was going to be. The idea of using the kid dressed up as Darth Vader failing at using the force and then having the child succeed really pulls on people’s heart strings. The effectiveness of pulling on the heart strings allows Volkswagen to build an emotional bond with their customers.

WEEK 4 EOC:B2B VS CONSUMER MARKETING

How does business to business marketing compare to consumer marketing? Buyer’s decisions are more complex then the decisions of consumers. It is much more complex for a business buyer to buy a large amount of jet engines then it is for a consumer to buy a refrigerator. A consumer spends much less time than a business buyer when it comes to purchasing things. When it comes to buying that engine there is a much longer process involved then just looking at ads and comparing prices. The same goes for GE when it sells its locomotives. Buyers look for more than just the price. They take into account factors such as cost, fuel efficiency and reliability. When it comes to business buying it goes even deeper than that. There are international economics and political factors that come in to play as well. “We love the challenge of a customer’s problem,” says the company on its GE Transportation Web site. “Why? It’s an opportunity for a true collaborative partnership. We enjoy the exchange of ideas, whether we’re developing a brand new technology or applying existing technologies in innovative new ways. [We] go to great lengths to help our customers succeed.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition) GE does anything it can to help its partners succeed. The evidence here proves that there is a lot more that goes into business buying. Think now about a consumer purchase. Do we wonder about politics or the international economics involved? Of course not! I can’t remember the last time I was looking to buy something and I said hmmm, I wonder the politics that were involved with the production of this product. In this argument business definitely has the edge when it comes to making a mor complex decision in buying a product.

WEEK 3 EOC:MAKING MONEY FOR GOOD

There are some companies in the world that are just not in the market to make money for themselves. Some companies put efforts in selling product to make good for others. One of these companies is Yoplait. Yoplait runs a campaign called Save Lids to Save Lives. Save Lids to Save Lives is a donation drive for breast cancer. How it works is that during a certain time of year they place special pink lids on the tops of their yogurt. Pink symbolizes breast cancer awareness. Yoplait donates 10 cents for every lid sent back to them toward The Susan G. Komen for the cure cancer organization. Through these efforts Yoplait has already contributed 25 million dollars towards cancer research over the last 12 years. The money goes to research and community outreach across the country. For more information on how you can help go to www.yoplait.com. Another company that uses their product for good is the NFL. The way they do it is through the NFL Play 60. Their mission is to make the next generation of youth the most active and healthy. NFL Play 60 is a campaign started in 2007 that focuses on increasing the wellness of young fans by encouraging them to be active for at least 60 minutes a day. It really focuses on the problem of childhood obesity. The NFL has dedicated over 200 million dollars to youth health and wellness. The NFL uses many different events to promote the movement. It is especially apparent during the Super bowl, Pro bowl, draft, kickoff and Thanksgiving. One of the many events the NFL has to promote this, is take and NFL player to school day. This year some lucky kids got to take and NFL player to school during week 10 of the football season. "We are taking a leadership role in the movement to get youngsters fit. Our players know the importance of staying healthy and it's important that young fans also understand the value of exercise," said COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL. "Play 60 is an important tool in ensuring children get their necessary daily physical activity as recommended by health and fitness experts." http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d80316e42&template=with-video&confirm=true. For more information about the NFL Play 60 go to http://www.nfl.com/.

I feel that the efforts made by Yoplait and the NFL are extraordinary. I believe all companies should contribute some of there money towards a good cause.
www.yoplait.com

www.nfl.com/play60

WEEK 3 EOC:MY DEMOGRAPHICS

Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics. A change in demographics means a change in markets. My demographic is the Generation X demographic. We are considered to be a generation born between 1965 and 1976. The characteristics of the Generation X population are they are less materialistic, they prize experience not acquisition, they tend to research a product before they buy it, they prefer quality over quantity and they tend to be less receptive to marketing pitches. Generation Xers are the most educated to date and possess hefty annual purchase power. Most are behind in saving for retirement and they worry about it.

I myself fit perfectly into this demographic. I’m definitely not materialistic. I don’t judge a person just because of the car they drive or the type of clothes they wear. I do however like to possess the latest technology but only because it will help me in my future with film. I really love to gain as much experience as possible in the field that I’m working in at the time. I’m always researching before I buy. I’m constantly looking on the internet and at the Sunday ads for the best deals for what I’m looking for. I want to have a quality product that will last a long time rather than having to buy multiple of the same item. I’m definitely less receptive to marketing pitches and I do not like to hear a salesman yapping in my ear when I’m trying to buy a product. I feel I’m well educated and I’m really stressed about having enough money for retirement. I actually always feel like I didn’t start saving for retirement soon enough. I think that the description of the demographic of Generation X fits me perfectly.  The quote below explains Generation Xers:
"Century 21 found that Realtors were answering e-mail inquiries about homes within an average of 24 hours. Buyers from Generation X won't wait that long. They want immediate replies."

~ Kay Schlosser http://www.quotesea.com/quotes/with/generation-x

WEEK 2 EOC:BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP-VIDEO GAMES

What is a Boston Consulting Group analysis? A BCG analysis is a chart that was created by Bruce Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group to help organizations with analyzing their business and product lines. This helps companies allocate resources. In a 2009 article in the Wall Street Journal titled Video Game Makers Can't Dodge the Recession the video game industry has fallen victim to the recession. How does this affect their BCG? Video games which were once considered to be stars in the industry are now turning into cash cows. The biggest video game markets for Christmas 2010 were Microsoft's Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move. Were the two industry leading giants able to break free from having the cash cow tag removed and were they able to move back to the star level on the BCG scale? It appears that they may have done so. Kinect sold 2.5 million sensors within the first month of release. According to the President of Microsoft Don Mattick " We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible and to keep up with demand" (http://www.investorguide.com/article/7377/microsoft-msft-connects-to-consumers-with-kinect-but-can-it-connect-to-shareholders/) According to gameculture.com "November sales represent the best November on record in terms of new physical retail sales,"says NPD video game analyst Anita Frazier. "It bests November 2008 by roughly $30 million, and that time frame was at the height of the music-dance genre sales." (http://www.gameculture.com/2010/12/20/holidays-should-boost-game-sales) From another quote from itworld.com "We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with the demand." (itworld.com) It appears that the industry has made a come back. I guess now the question is can the video game industry continue increased sales after the holiday season. In my opinion if the consoles sold at a rapid pace then there will be a large demand for the games that are played on these consoles. In spite of the Internet and free downloads of video games I think the industry may be back. At least for now!

WEEK 1 EOC:MY VOICE

I started my career as a Mortgage Loan Processor. I have worked in the field for over 10 years but, have always had a strong passion to make TV shows and films. This may sound a bit crazy but my career in loan processing actually inspired me to pursue my career in film. What I thought to be so inspirational was all of the stories that I have heard over the years from my clients. Recently I have decided to pursue my career in the Filmmaking Industry. I’m currently in the process of obtaining my degree in Film from the Art Institute of Las Vegas. While obtaining my degree I have started my own production company called Kononchik Productions. Kononchik Productions has been in business for a little over a year now. In that time we have produced several commercials, shorts and movie trailers. We are currently looking for individuals who are interested in developing an independent film. Scripts can be submitted to Kononchik Productions PO Box 1234 Las Vegas, NV 89129.

WEEK 1 EOC: GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

What is great customer service? To find out we must look at the definition of customer service. Customer service is defined as the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.

What then is a great customer service experience? To me a great customer service experience is a feeling of satisfaction. I want to walk away from my buying experience feeling happy. I want to tell the world about the great experience I encountered.

To demonstrate my feeling of great customer service I’m going to tell you all a story about a great customer service experience I had and compare it to a bad one. Oddly enough both experiences were with the same company at two different locations. The culprit of my experience was Guitar Center. The experience I had at the Guitar Center located at 8621 W Charleston Blvd in Summerlin Las Vegas was a bad one. I walked in the store and asked where I could find a portable recorder. The first representative could not help me and said that I needed to go to another section of the store but did not point me in the right direction. After, looking for that section on my own for a couple of minutes I was finally approached by a sales representative. He appeared really friendly. He asked me what I was looking for and I gave him a description of what was needed. He took me to the counter and continued to ask me additional questions to narrow down the exact item I was looking for. I was looking for a portable audio recorder. He proceeded to bring me software that I didn’t need. I said to him that I did not need that item and would like to see the recorders. He then proceeded to tell me for the next 5 minutes that I would be better off with the software and did everything he could to talk me into buying that product. I told him I understood where he was coming from but would still like to see the recorders. He then proceeded to tell me about how qualified he was and that the item he was showing me was what I needed. I proceeded to tell him that I appreciated his help but that I would no longer need to purchase anything from him at this time and walked out of the store.

The experience I had at the Guitar Center located at Town Square in Las Vegas was a great one. It was really simple. I walked into the store and was greeted by the individual at the door. They asked me what I was looking for and directed me toward the section I needed to go to find the item. When I approached the counter the sales associate was very friendly. I let the associate know that I was looking for a Shure SM58 microphone. He brought out the microphone I was looking for and gave me a description off it along with the price. He also brought me out other alternatives that were cheaper. The associate did not push me into the product and gave me a few minutes to make my decision. Once my decision was made he let me know about the warranty and rung up my sale with a smile.

I feel that all companies should maintain great customer service. The customer service should remain consistent and should apply to all customers good or bad. I pulled this quote from the CEO of Zappos Tony Hsieh “Our whole goal at Zappos is for the Zappos brand to be about the very best customer service and customer service experience". (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition) I think that all companies should live by this quote. I will never return to the Guitar Center store at Summerlin and have also made it known to family and friends that this is not the place to shop.