Distribution

The distribution process is extremely important in the marketing process. Where you distribute, how you distribute, how many channels, are all important factors in determining the success of your product. The following video shows a marketing warehouse for Netflix, where the producers of the DVDs send them to the Netflix warehouse, are process at the Netflix warehouse, and then are shipped via Netflix to individual stores etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8HROe4t8S4

Pricing

Prestige Pricing is one of the major pricing techniques in marketing. Prestige pricing is "Setting higher-than-average prices to suggest status and prestige to the consumer." Buying an item that has been priced prestigiously suggests that what you are  really getting, besides the product itself, is a sense of luxury and status. Although the product probably has great attributes, it is usually priced extremely high for what is being offered. An example of this is in this pair of shoes priced at $3,000,000 for purchase. What makes them so special? Is it the satin? Is it the diamonds? The saphire? The rubies? Nope. Although these materials are expensive, they're not worth 3 MILLION dollars. These shoes were designed around a pair of earrings that has been incorporated on top of the shoes. The earrings were worn by movie legend Rita Hayworth. The prestige of wearing such shoes is put in the price. The shoes were worn by celebrity Kathleen York to the Oscars. It created such a flurry over the price of the shoes, that imitation versions were soon spotted everywhere.

Marketing Services

Sometimes marketing deals with marketing something completely intangible, not a product, but a service. Services can be anything from a haircut, oil change, airlight flight, concert experience, massage, cooking classes, to a vacation getaway. Here I have included a video for a destination get away to Las Vegas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_TW2YG6Wc&feature=channel

The marketing for Las Vegas is effective in this video because it exemplifies everything Vegas is by showing the complete opposites, bland, dull, boring places. This opposite marketing technique effectively shows exactly how "what happens here, stays here" in Vegas. This phrase is well-known to most TV-watching individuals. The phrase has been around for a while. This commercial has no need to explain itself by showing the things that could happen there and then stay there. Instead, it leaves it all to the imagination! The Las Vegas commercial is a perfect example of marketing an intangible object. The vacation getaway to Las Vegas isn't a specific product. No specific restaurants, clothing stores, or destination are mentioned within the Las Vegas Commercial. The intangible service is the fact that Las Vegas will benefit as a whole with more tourism there.

Managing Product Lines

Managing product lines in any business of products or services requires a great deal of time, effort, thought, and expenses. Realizing which products to include, how to extend the product line, which items to erase, etc. are all very important factors of managing product lines. Sometimes, when dealing with product lines, you have to deal with product lines that were projected to be a success, and were not. Here I will discuss a specific product line that failed:

• 
  
  Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen: known for their role in Full House as children and eventually in many other roles in straight-to-movie videos as children, have made quite the name for themselves. As most celebrities have done admist fame and fortune, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen have tried to extend their name into product lines outside of their own knowledge. The twins have created product lines of make-up, hair products, teen clothing, and have now moved onto room decor for teens.
  
  
  
• 
  
  It is clear that their make-up line has done poorly from their original projection. The intent was to make the line popular to high end retailers, though the product ended up in the hands of Wal-Mart with the title "Mary-Kate and Ashley: real fashion for real girls". The products, so difficult to even find online, are not high end and have reported poor sales.
  
  
  
• 
  
  In this instance, what should be done is remove the product line completely. Although, Mary-Kate and Ashley have decided to keep the product line in Wal-Mart stores and directed attention to a new product line of high-end fashion (prestigious product lines) called "The Row". The high end pricing is definately not "real fashion for real girls" but instead "upscale fashion to upscale women". This product line has reported great sales. The prestigious pricing has caught consumer attention and actually brought in revenue for the pair.
  
  
  

Creating New Innovative Products

Innovative products are products that are new, previously unthought of, and bring a new benefit to consumers.
While searching for an example of an innovative product on the market, I came across this creative idea for consumers to allow their pets a view of their neighbors' yards, the street around them, or just beyond what they've ever been able to see in their own backyard before.

This product is a window to be put in a fence. I will analyze some of the primary factors of this product:
Core Product: View for your pet
Emobenefits: Better protection in your neighborhood as your pet can ward off introders faster, being an innovating member of the neighborhood
Actual Product: Window in a fence
Augmented Product: delivery and installment
Classification: Specialty product (provides unique benefit to buyer), Innovation (new product), Continous innovation (add window to fence, does not require great strides of new learning)

Target Marketing at its Best!

Target markets are the market segments on which an organization focuses its marketing plan and toward which it directs its marketing efforts. To exemplify this definition, I have found a perfect example of target marketing of a product. There is a specific energy drink called "Go Girl" which I found about a year ago on a Safeway shelf. I immediately was drawn to the energy drink based on the bright pink color. After grabbing the drink, I began my information search. I read the product details only to find out that there were only 5 calories, no sugar, super- citramax (a mild herbal appetite suppresant), and part of the proceeds are donated to breast cancer research. Even the flavor of the drink was named "Beautiful Energy". Everything about this drink is targeted towards women! And more specifically, it is targeted towards women looking to maintain their health, not add extra calories, and promote the health of other women worldwide (by part of the proceeds being donated to breast cancer research).

I have also included the website which includes two other flavors, lots of promotional strategies targeted towards women, and the full detailed nutritional facts of the product. Target marketing at its best: Go Girl Energy Drink. http://www.gogirlenergy.com/

Business to Business Marketing

Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Business- to- business marketing is more specifically the marketing techniques used to promote products and services from one business to another for sale of large quantities of the product or service.

http://www.b2bcomp.com/

The above website is an example of business to business commerce, and business to business marketing. The website is devoted to selling computers and computer supplies to other businesses. They generally sell their products in bulk to accomodate for large business needs. The website is actually set up specifically for registered business entities. Once registered, the user is allowed to surf the website and determine the best deals and products of computers and computer supplies for their own bnusiness needs.

Consumer Behavior

The consumer decision making process is greatly affected by consumer behavior. The following video has the specific parts of the consumer decision making process:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpIOWaIzu7Q&feature=fvsr

The primary steps are :
1. Need recognition
2. Information Search
3. Evaluation of Alternatives
4. Purchase
5. Postpurchase Behavior

Each of these steps in making a consumer decision is greatly affected by the general consumer behavior. These behavioral identities may include age, gender, predisposition, lifestyle, culture, friends, etc. Based on past experiences with a product or similar product, what a consumer's friends, family, or peers have to say about a product, or lifestyle factors such as age, culture, or gender, a consumer will change their manner of searching for information, evaluation alternatives, purchase choice, and postpurchase behavior.

"Fabulous Promotional Vehicles" from msn.com

• msn.com had a link to this great marketing slideshow of the most fabulous promotional vehicles. Promotional vehicles likely came out during the Selling Era, though have been a prime part of every marketing era thereafter. My favorite is PEP-O-MINT lifesavers vehicle.

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=1086814#1

Check it out!

4 Marketing Eras

• Production Era- This era literally created the products and consumers bought them, as they were the only products available.

Ivory Bar Soap... the original... and only bar soap available!

• Selling Era- The beginning of product differentiation. Companies sold what they thought the consumers needed at the time.

More competition was introduced and products were made to solve

problems in which the companies thought were evident to consumers.

• Consumer Era - Companies began trying to convey they care for their customers by creating relationships.

This ad shows a happy family incorporating Zest into their daily lives - a happy relationship amongst family and product.

• New Era- This newest form of marketing has companies "selling solutions rather than products". This type of marketing makes you think.

This Axe shower gel commercial shows th product selling more than just cleanliness, but also selling sex appeal, attractiveness, and a somewhat ironic "dirtiness".

Chapter 1- Principles of Marketing

• Our first project in class was to define "Marketing". Easy enough right? WRONG.
• I thought marketing was a tool of advertising to get consumers interested and willing to buy a product. My answer was partially correct, though marketing entails so much more than that.
• Marketing is defined as, "figuring out others unmet needs or problems, then telling them how you can fix it. Marketing makes people aware of useful products/services." It is also, "identifying needs, developing a product/service to meet that need, and making people aware of the branded product/service, in the place and manner where they can easily consume it, at a price that is acceptable". All the while I thought marketing was just getting consumers interested in your product, but really, it's meeting the needs of consumers and creating products that fit those needs, as well.
• General Mills created a new product, Fiber One Yogurt, to fit consumer's needs. There hadn't been a low calorie yogurt which also contained beneficial fiber until General Mills created it. To market the product, the company created a successful ad campaign. Here's their commercial!