EOC: Week 7 Biggest Challenge in Marketing

The Biggest Challenge in my Marketing Plan to me is whether some one has made the product before. Especially nowadays people are inventing things that are just variations of other products because there is s much out there, mainly because technology is so advanced. Seldom does anyone come with an original product anymore. So since so many people come up with variations, you think to yourself, "What's the difference between this product and another product?" Basically you have to pitch it differently. But that is easier said than done. Most of the time you just have to use a gimmick or something catchy to attract people to it, because it's not that much different than what the next person has done before you.
The other difficult challenge I think will be pricing the product. There are two ways how that could be difficult. The first way is if you have managed to make an original product, is it a type of product that benefits everybody, selfish product, etc. Then on top of that, if it is original is it something you only want the super rich to buy, because they have the luxury of being able to spend money without blinking an eye and also love to have the new hottest thing. On the other hand is it something you want everyone to be able to buy? Then you gotta think about the economics of it. Will the supply meet the demand if you do make it affordable for everyone.
The Second way pricing could be difficult, is if your product is a variation of another product, then you have to think about the prices of your competition. Are you gonna make it cheaper, more expensive, the same. You have to think about how you want people to spend their money on your product.

EOC Week 7 3's About Me

Create this as a blog post. Build in Word - include the questions. Post it in the first ten minutes of today’s class (it’s time stamped, you know!). Use Three as the tag.

Three Names I have been called: A Genius, Highly Intelligent, Good Friend

Three Jobs I have had in my life (include unpaid if you have to): MArket Research Assoiciate, Technical Support Specialist, Cashier

Three Places I Have Lived: Zimbabwe, Bay Area, Las Vegas

Three TV Shows that I watch: Numb3rs, Law & Order Criminal Intent, Martin



Three places I have been: Jamaica, South Africa, Mexico



People that e-mail me regularly. Elise, My cousin, Shanna Johnson



Three of my favorite foods: Rice, Chicken,



Three cars I have driven: 98 Mustang GT, 85 Buick LeSabre, 96 Nissan Maxima



Three things I am looking forward to: Graduating from School

EOC Week 6: Specialty But Not Specialty Product

Our company AAP, (All Around Products), just came with a new innovative product called the AAH702’s. They’re new top of the line headphone that everyone can use and love. You love music? You love internet? You love TV well now you can get a product that can give you all that and more! The AAH702s are new noise canceling head phones that give the top of the line sound quality. Which is great for the music you love best. But not only that, but these head phones have its own mini screen that slides out and you can watch TV and you can get on the internet. Why use an I-pod to download your music when you can do it right off of your head phones. These headphones are very convenient especially for the people who love always listening to their head phones.
The AAP Company came up with the idea of all around head phones. Our slogan is “Keep Doin What You Doin.” It’s nice, catchy, and straight to the point. They are made with heavy duty plastic with adjustable ear pieces for different size ears, and you can pick whether you want to wear them on your head like traditional headphones or behind your head.

E.O.C. Week 5 What my Classmates think about Advertising vs. Marketing

One of the students in my class states “If a product is marketed well enough then advertising it is done without even having to pay for it.” Basically, she was saying that if enough people go to a certain place all the time, then more people will likely catch on and start going there also. I totally agree, because a big part of advertising a certain product or service is done by word of mouth. For instance, I’m not a big coffee drinker. If I drink coffee, it’s because I need to stay up, not because it tastes good. But then at the job I’m working at, in the morning I catch a lot of people that I work with having Starbuck’s cups or talking about going to Starbucks because they need to stay up. So obviously my curiosity is going to kick in and want to try out their coffee to see if it will keep me up. And how it effects me will determine if I would tell other people about it and so forth. That to me says a lot about advertising.
“When you Market something you will often do a lot of research before you create/release a product, and advertising is just one way of using that research.” I totally agree with that statement, because a company will make a bunch of products under their name, but then sometimes they are not satisfied or they want to encourage more people to but their brand. So they do research and hire maybe a famous person to do a commercial for them to advertise their product to make more people but it. For example, Reebok’s have always been second or third to Nike’s but when Allen Iverson became popular and was endorsing his shoe with Reebok, their sales rocketed, because Iverson was one of the most popular basketball mogul’s at the time.
This next student uses fragrances to exemplify marketing and advertising. She talked about body sprays and deodorants and how men and women want to smell differently, so that makes the advertisements broadcast their products in the medium that would get the maximized profitization for that gender. An example of that, she talks about having a lot of Axe commercials on ESPN because that’s what a lot of men spend their time watching. She states ” Marketing is what the company sells and who they sell to, and how they are going to sell it.” That statement goes with what she is saying. Now I’m not saying I disagree with the statement, but I have a question of my own. When it comes to cologne and perfume, there are different varieties for both genders. Now what is the marketing strategy about women’s perfume with the same name as the men’s cologne? For example, there is a Cool Water for both men and women, Curve, Stetson, and Eternity just to name a few. Now not that I want there to be men’s version’s of women’s perfume, but why aren’t there any?

E.O.C. Week 4: What is the difference between Marketing and Advertising

Advertising is more of a public service by advertisement. Marketing concentrates more on the customer values and can sometimes focus all their energy on a certain demographic or age group. On the other hand, Advertising might affect different age groups differently depending on the type of ad and/or who’s doing the advertising. For example, Levi’s have a new cut of jeans that have been out for say 6 months, but it wasn’t selling very much. So they paid a high profile music artist like Kanye West to be the spokesperson to advertise and wear that cut of Jeans. They have him do a lot of commercials on television and whenever he’s at awards shows he mentions the type of jeans he’s wearing. Most likely people in their teens up to the late 20’s will probably start wearing their jeans just because it’s Kanye West who’s wearing them. “Many products and services that are integral parts of Americans’ lives today get their initial boost from opinion leaders.” (MKTG, Lamb, pg. 73). In this case, Kanye West is considered a Opinion leader. And in the next few months they become the current trend amongst that age group. Now the other age groups around that, or people who don’t know or care who Kanye West is probably will not really think about buying those type of jeans. Levi’s now have a certain type of customer that buys their product, but only by chance. They couldn’t predict who will start buying their jeans, they just wanted to promote it to get someone to buy it.
Marketing would take a more extensive approach. They would probably do a focus group or come up with surveys on people who have bought the jeans and ask them questions, like are they comfortable compared to other jeans, does it go well with your style of dress, etc. Then off of those answers they would come up with a marketing plan to implement what they are already doing, or a way to improve the product so more people would buy it.

EOC: Week 3: How I buy Stuff

What influences my purchasing decisions is a combination of my personality, my age, and ideal self image. But all of that combined describes my lifestyle and characteristics. I strive to be very individualistic so that I’m perceived as different to everyone else, but not stand out too much that I receive negative attention. On the decision of what clothes to wear, that is probably the one thing most determined by my age and my personality. I like to buy clothes that really catch my eye and also show a grown man’s image. Simultaneously, I try and find items that everyone else is not going to be wearing. Usually when everybody likes a certain thing, instead of attracting me to it, it makes me like it less. Especially these days when everyone likes a certain thing it becomes oversaturated and takes away the quality from the original creation or idea. Then people start to copy and claim the idea as theirs. As a consumer, I like to “protect my identity as an individual, the products I buy and the stores I patronize supports my self image.” (MKTG, Lamb, pg 76).
Earlier I said one of the major decisions about the clothes I wear is based on my age. What I mean by that is, a lot of the trends that people are following or copying, (depends on how you look at it), they are more for the younger people in their late teens to early twenties. For example, a lot of people wear what they call skinny jeans and a small t-shirt, and then they sag their pants. I look at is as I’m too old to be dressing like that, so therefore I’m not going to be looking for those kinds of items when I shop for clothes. I am more of a button up t-shirt kind of guy who wears slim cut pants or some nice and creased dockers.

Week 2 EOC - Me As A Consumer

My demographic that I fall under is African, not African American. My family and I, the exception is my sister, was born in Zimbabwe, Africa. I can’t really speak for other African’s or African American’s, but I take a more of a practical approach to my purchases. I look for the most practical item at the lowest price but get the best results for me. For example, a lot of people have probably watched or heard of shows like MTv Cribs, which showcase famous people’s lifestyle’s and what they own in their homes and often tell you how much they paid for it. Some famous people would show you their cars and say that they paid over 80,000 dollars on their car stero system. How I look at it is, why did you pay that much. Usually you pay that much for power or how loud and powerful you want your system to sound. But then you can’t even use the maximum power that it puts out without getting in trouble by the law. I can pay at the most 4,000 dollars for a system that sounds excellent and I won’t get in trouble by the law.

Another example is in clothing. A lot of people would pay 75 – 100 dollars for their shirt. Basically they are paying for the brand. But the brand is pretty much covered up by another article of clothing that they are wearing. So people won’t even know that you are wearing a name brand unless you tell them and show them that it is whatever brand it is. Me, I’ll get a similar short that looks just as god, pretty much the same quality, but paid 50% less than they did, and look good doing it. That is just a short example of my practical approach to my consumption of products and services.