For my final blog report i will go over all the things that my intro to marketing has tough me over the 16 weeks i have been enrolled in the class.  The first objective that was expected of me was "To examine and convey basic and emerging marketing concepts and terminologies".  Some of the basic understandings that I have learned all have to deal with the consumer and how many influences go into the buying decision process. All consumers fit into different markets and different cohorts. These different markets and different cohorts all have different traits and characteristics. These different traits can help lead company's understand the wants and needs to a more specific population. Besides the characteristics of consumers, there are a lot more terms that have been tough in class. such as profits, sales, social media, mission statements, mission objectives, messages, and many more that have to deal with consumers and companies.    
     

     Another objective that is sought is " To study and understand the marketing mix, target markets, consumer behavior, service marketing, social media marketing and the strategic and financial implications of marketing decisions on the other functional areas of business". This objective was completed during the Practice Simulation. In this simulation all of the following was covered and learned. It covered target markets with separating the consumers into different groups such as commuters, college students, children, and trend setters. You were asked to pick a market and go after them. Each had different likes and dislikes and wants and needs. Social media was used in marketing campaigns in the simulation. It showed the importance of making decisions. Income statements and financial statements were also used in this simulation. These were very useful because it is something that real world companies needs to do. Having an understanding of excel and income statements will be very useful in the future.

  

      One object was  "To recognize the importance of the consumer and the vital need for consumer orientation on the part of all employees in all firms and organization". Marketing is not just understanding the consumer markets it is also understanding the company its self. When a company can be self aware in a market, they can succeed because they are able to target their markets they want to.

   One important issue that intro to marketing went over was the ethics of a business. There are going to many times where there will be a choice be a good or bad, morally. For example companies that buy items that are through fair trade are companies who make correct moral choices. Companies such as Patagonian are companies who are environment safe and morally right companies. 

  One of the last goals was to be a team member and work well on projects with other people and work well alone. The Marketing Simulation tough how to take other peoples opinions into a decision process. Individual projects were also important because it tough how projects need to be done and how to use time to your advantage in order to succeed.

  All these main goals were important in intro to marketing and all these goals have been completed in the 16 week period. It has turned the average student into a more conscious buyer and worker. In the business world, understanding markets and consumers help bring in more profits and a better view in the markets. This class has been a big a help in the business world and I feel like I have become a much more educated consumer and worker.    

Wholesalers Secret 

There are 6 levels to the Marketing Channel found in the picture above. Each step of this channel is a different type of dealer, and each has there own way of dealing with consumers. In the past 20 years there has started been a shift in how consumers are purchasing there daily needed supplies. Instead of relaying on distributors, consumers found convenience in shopping at a wholesale store such as a Costco or BJ's.  A wholesaler sell have control over the price of the products and are able to save money on packaging while maintain quality when selling directly to the consumer. It is a smart strategy that allows wholesalers turn a profit as long as inventory is being flipped at a fast rate. 

Companies such as Costco pride themselves on their devote and abundant community pf members. To enter a store such as a Costco you must has a photo idea card that you show at the entrance. The card is something you have to pay a monthly fee on and for Costco it helps keep prices down. To help with membership Costco teamed up with American Express Credit Card company. Now any member of American Express is a member of Costco. The idea behind this was that people who shop at Costco are people with families. Credit card companies know that families spend a lot of money and if the families who shop at Costco use there American Express card at Costco when they shop both companies profit.

Wholesalers like Costco over the past couple of years have grown very popular within the middle class of America. Members of Costco like the exclusiveness and the bulk of products they carry. Even the Costco brand Kirkland has become popular considering they make up about 20% of products in any Costco warehouse. Costco has control over the manufacture and distributor. This allows a greater margin for profit for Costco or any company that uses that model. 

Not all wholesale companies are stores that you can walk in and pick products off a shelve. A company like amazon is a online wholesale store where orders are put in and sent out by and to costumers. Amazon is extremely convenient for customers because it gives the consumer the luxury of shopping and never leaving the house. They have even followed in Costco's membership footsteps, yet Amazon will still allow non-members to place orders. Prime memers of Amazon and benefited with lower shipping and are given the access to tones of movies and shows online to stream of their website. Amazon has evolved to become more than just a wholesaler and has became a company that has many different markets and is worth over 8 billion USD.

The wholesalers are profitable because they have access to such an abundant range of products and they are able to flip the products at such a quick rate. The ability to control the prices and sales on certain items gives the company a upper hand over distributors.

March is finally here, which means college basketball to most American sports fans. The NCAA March Madness Men's College Basketball Tournament is upon us and sport bars across america could not be more crowed. This Basketball tournament has been around since 1939 and since then it has grown to become one of America's most watch television series of all time, just coming short of the super bowl. This tournament is not limited to just one day though. The games will continue for 3 weeks until the National Championship on April 6th. With so many viewers watching these games, companies around the globe pay networks that broadcast the games such as CBS, millions of dollars just for 30 second commercials. It is calculated that just for a 30 second ad to be shown on one of the games it would cost about half a million dollars. For a final four game it would cost about one million dollars and for the national championship it would cost about one and a half million dollars. Over the past two years it is said that advertisement spending has increased 66% in just the past two years. Everything is marketed from the Capital One pre-game show all the down to the Werner latter the winning team uses to cut down the net after winning. 

This year it is estimated that over 1.3 billion dollars will be generated from the advertisements over the course of the 3 week tournament. Companies are willing pay all this money because they see the value in the viewership with these games. On social media alone 1.5 billion conversations include corporate partners that are affiliated with the NCAA tournament throughout the three weeks. Companies such as Capital One and AT&T will create there own social media campaign to drawn in the media posts. They offer numerous prices when using certain hash tags or when you sign up for a credit card and use it at certain restaurants such as Buffalo Wild Wings. Buffalo Wild Wings is the official Bar sponsor of the NCAA tournament and has created a new line of commercials which feature popular comedians just for the 2015 tournament. All companies who have time slots in the tournament create new and appealing commercials to catch the millions of viewers attention.    

Big businesses are not the only ones making deals during March Madness. Small local sport bars all across the nation see a higher amount of customers during the tournament. Many will offer deals with beers, or half off when wearing a college team shirt, and so on and so on. Many bars even go as far as giving away free big screen televisions to people. Sports are becoming the leading area where companies are now spending their money. Americas seem to be easily swayed during sports and companies are taking full advantage with over a billion dollars pumped into this 2015 tournament.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX8BXH3SJn0 

Red bull was founded in 1987  and since then the company has evolved from an Australia energy drink, to a billion dollar company that owns major league sport teams, such as The New York Red Bulls and a British Formula 1 racing team. Red Bull sponsor a variety of athletes who cover a wide range of sports including rock climbing, chess, wind sailing, volleyball, rugby, sailing, snowboarding, skiing, and many others. Red Bull is a globally recognized brand that has markets in over 100 counties. How did a company such as Red Bull become one of the world's most recognizable companies on the planet? The answer is simple, Red Bull created a strong marketing campaign and a solid business model.

"We are dedicated to upholding Red Bull standards, while maintaining the leadership position in the energy drinks category when delivering superior customer service in a highly efficient and profitable manner. We create a culture where employees share best practices dedicated to coaching and developing our organisation as an employer of choice."

Red Bull uses something called "buzz marketing" to sell  their product. Red Bull is one of the best social media companies out in the market. They use the media in all different ways by creating youtube series with famous athletes, and creating documentaries that are critically recognized. Red Bull's most iconic documentary Flight as seen on netflixs, had a budget of two million dollars and  was viewed by millions. On Estimate every 10 seconds of the video the Red Bull logo was shown at least 2 times. Not only does Red Bull have their own extreme sport leagues and documentaries, they also sponsored the highest jump any human has ever made. Felix Baumgartner made a 125 kilometer jump just outside the lower atmosphere. The jump has over 50 million views on youtube and was even broadcaster on new stations across the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHtvDA0W34I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5N7R9Wbe_E

Let us not forget this company was once only sold as energy drink. Now Red Bull's market branches out into many others which include clothing, events, and even lifestyles. Red Bull has became a lifestyle, the once Red Bull gives you wings  slogan has evolved to, Welcome to my world the world of Red Bull. There are no longer any more iconic television commercials where someone drinks a Red Bull and starts to fly away. Advertisements for Red Bull now include extreme sport athletes wearing the brand, showing off the logo and selling their lifestyle. The idea is to bridge a connection with the consumer and ideals who have extraordinary qualities. It is almost amazing how many athletes Red Bull has under them. Any sport that you can think of, Red Bull has a athlete sponsored wearing their logo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh29_SERH0Y

Red Bull takes to social media with many accounts on instagram, facebook and twitter. Each Red Bull account is followed on average by over 15 million people. That gives Red Bull a huge loyal consumer base. They follow in the lifestyle and follow in the product. It is one of the reasons Red Bull has become so successful over the years. It is because of that and also the fact that almost any alcohol mixed with Red Bull taste amazing such as jager.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoSVI7ovEIw- New

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BscxtCS0uMI-Old

Marketing Segmentation 

Marketing segmentation is one of the most important strategy a company can use to sell a product to a group of specific consumers. A book definition of market segmentation is strategy that involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers, businesses, or countries who have common needs and priorities, and then designing and implementing strategies to target them. These segmentations can be broken into more concentrated areas that separate by groups by culture, location, race, gender, age, and so on. The more market research that is conducted on these segmentations, the easier it is to sell to them. Companies big or small all do this. For example McDonald's has many different segmentation such as Asian, Hispanic, Black, White, Young, Mothers, Fathers, Kids, Teens, Elderly, and others. Each segment has a marketing director who is in charge in conducting marketing research and discovering trends in with the group. The better they know their consumers, the easier it is to sell to them. For example, McDonald's found out that the Asian audience prefers more variety and different flavors in their products compared to other groups. Commercials that were targeted towards Asians would have more products with different flavors such as a southwestern salads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcRFBVIvJHw

McDonald's commercials are not the usual commercials. McDonald's always makes an effort to include all race sin their commercials. They will usually have a black male, asia female, and hispanic male all in their early 20s or so. They are targeting young people all over the globe just by that one commercial.

McDonald's does a good job at bringing a younger audience in by having iconic cartoons in their commercials. For example the iconic minun cartoon characters were used in McDonald's  commercials and even given out as toys in their happy meals. By noticing a popularity in these cartoons with young children, McDonald's made a deal with the movie studio and made a contract to both promote the movie and McDonald's  all at the same time. These deals happy all the time with franchise companies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG4-tVdpLas            

Hours and hours of research go into market segmentation. Marketing Campaigns are all based off of the consumers. To understand a consumer one must first target the consumer, categorized one, group interest together and then try to seem appealing. There is so much that can be said just by giving your race, age, gender, and location. Companies take full advantage of these traits when trying to target certain groups. millions can be spent on this process but also millions can be potentially made off this process.

"Share a Coke"

A simple yet genius idea of simply putting a few names on a can or bottle of soda was one of the best market strategies Coca Cola has come with in the past couple of years. In this day and age soda companies like Coca Cola are plateauing due to lack of sales. A shift in trends in the market has hurt the soda business hard. Soda companies are being taken out of schools and restaurants to create a healthier lifestyle. In 2013 sales on soda products have dropped by 3%. It was the 9th consecutive year of decline of sales. Clearly something need to change. In 2014  the Share a Coke marketing campaign was put into action all over the globe. Coke took 250 popular names and put them on individual bottles. It was met with a positive reaction from the consumer base and increased sales by 2%. Consumers got the feeling of a treasure hunt when looking for a bottle with their name on can. The idea behind the campaign was to take one of the world's most recognizable logo and turn it into a personal name that consumers can relate too

"A Coke can or bottle is the most iconic design in the world and the fact you can impact that with your name has a huge curiosity and wow factor,'' said Dean Crutchfield, an independent branding consultant. .  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X8Bd3-G6IU
In total Coke has spent 4.3 billion dollars in advertising in 2014 globally. Coke committed a lot of time and money to the Share a Coke campaign because it was not just limited to the cans. There was a whole social media media side and even has customal name making machines. This Campaign was very successful because it was appealing to everyone and all ages. Young adults and small teens were influence the most though. The young adult and teen audience for soda has been shrinking over the years and this was a perfect way to draw them back. The use of social media  in the campaign was huge success to bring in a younger consumer base. Many kids loved the fact that they are drinking a drink with their name on it. Even Phrases such as friend, family, and wingman we put on the cans. 

Coke has done a good job at adapting to market shifts by investing in other no soda markets to be a lasting a healthy company that can trusted to last. Even though they are in the soda business Coke has made many pledges to help support causes such as diabetes and obesity. The company has made a statement that says in 2025 all Coke drinks will be limited to 250 calories. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2kn9MwicDQ
The soda business is a losing market and Coke knows this. They are doing everything they can do to try and shift with these market trends to stay relevant in the world.

"Jersey" Marketing

There is something different about how sports are played in the United States. Sure players and clubs rack in an absurd amount of money but on the field, court, ring, players wear traditional no logo jerseys. This is only the case in America. Every other national league aboard has affiliations with companies  to sponsor their league and or teams. For example in England the most popular league there is the Barclays Premier League. Barclays is the name of a bank company established in England.

 

 

        Barclays is the sponsor for the whole league. They Pay the League 40 million Pounds a year, or 61 million dollars. In 2016 their contract will be up for renewal and some articles online state that the bank will not continue their contract in 2016.  http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/barclays-will-not-renew-premier-3579182  

Barclays has been under contract with the Premier League since 2004. The teams in the Premier League such as Manchester United and Chelsea are sponsored as well, Manchester United is sponsored by Chevy and Chelsea is sponsored by Samsung. Samsung pays $16 million a year for jersey rights and there are rumors that the company will have to pull out for the next contract because Chelsea wants to double the cost the $32 million a year. Chevy has a 10 year contract with Manchester United that cost $560 million. That is equivalent to $56 million per year. Due to the fact that 60% of Chevrolet's sales were come from overseas, the company knew they would need to build on foreign recognition.    

      

Manchester United is one of the most prestigious and iconic club in the world of futbol. A brand like Chevy will build a strong recognition from foreign consumers.It is true to say that consumers like familiar brands and Chevy will do will European market with this move.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-manchester-united-20140722-story.html

Here in the United States the only teams that are sponsored are part of the MLS (Major League of Soccer),

. Teams in the MLS are sponsored by brands

such as Volkswagen, Bell, Red Bull, Xbox. Herbalife, and many others. Soccer does not have a big following here in the United States compared to football or baseball. The teams in the MLS are not as financially stable compared to the other sports market so companies and teams make agreements in order to market their brand. 

Could there be shift in the American sports market with jersey company contracts? In the NHL and NBA there are talks of these contracts taking place in later season.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/24786757/nhl-coo-john-collins-says-jersey-sponsorship-is-coming

"These contracts could bring in an additional $120 million to the League"  That would be a lot of money for the league, enough to think carefully about the idea. I do not think people will be forgiving to the league and teams if they make that move though. There was a time to make the switch to a sponsored jersey league in the 90's but now I believe the idea will not go over well with the fans.  

It will be interesting to see what League or leagues will make the shift over a sponsored jersey league. As of now it is all talk behind closed doors.

http://reachhispanic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/nike-vs-adidas.jpg

World Cup Marketing Strategy

Adidas Vs Nike

When it comes to soccer or futbol depending where you are from, there is not bigger stage than the World Cup. Major sporting companies such as Nike and Adidas spend up to 100 million dollars on just advertising their brands. The world cup is sponsored by Adidas and Adidas only. this means that Nike or Puma can not use the world cup in their market strategy. If you look closely at Nike's most popular commercial for the 2014 world cup you will see that no where in the commercial was the world cup shown or mentioned. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYOV7NPuyp4

The commercial does do a good job at making it seem like it is representing the world cup but in reality they never once make reference to it.

Adidas has the rights to use the world cup in its commercials but is it really worth the millions of dollars just to publicise a few words and a golden trophy? If Nike can make the feeling of the world cup in their commercials and not have to pay the money Adidas is paying, who really wins? In my opinion I believe Nike won that battle because they still made the audience believe they are watch the world cup even though they are not. 

Even with the rights to the world cup Adidas did not take full advantage to what they had in my opinion, as you can see in this commercials. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu1BFo0ZqUY

Regardless it is a very good commercial. It shows the world cup being played but there is so much that Adidas could have done with the rights.  

The war between companies such as Adidas and Nike is not limited to only commercials, it also carries over to the apparel, countries, and players.

Cristiano Ronaldo gets paid 21 million dollars a year by Nike and all he has to do is wear their brand and participate in ads.

Messi on the other hand gets paid 20 million dollars a year by Adidas to wear their brand and participate in ads.

Nike and Adidas battle for countries to represent. For example Nike supplies USA, England, Brazil, Portugal,Netherlands, France, Australia, and a few others with Jerseys and other clothing. 

Adidas supplies Argentina, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Belgium, Sweden, and a few other.

If the winner of the world cup is wearing a company's jersey the possibilities for ads are endless. 

Germany who was the winner of the world cup in 2014 was sponsored by no other Adidas,seeing that they are in fact a German company.      
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/image.axd?picture=2014%2F7%2Fadidas-germany-560.jpg

As you can see picture Adidas is everywhere in the image and is in fact the first picture on google images if you type in 2014 worldcup. 

To further the Nike/ Adidas world cup battle take a look at this video from Bloomberg.com

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/10931235/World-Cup-2014-Nike-V-Adidas-scores-so-far.html

Shaun Degnan
St. Michael's College
Marketing 
1/25/15

This blog will be dedicated to the discussion on how business marketing influences the consumers and society of the world. Business marketing is an adapting and changing business. There are many different techniques that are used to try and sell an idea, product, or service.  Most of this information will be pulled from Marketing, 11^th Edition by Roger Kerin, Steven Hartley, William Rudelius. McGraw-Hill: New York, 2012. In the first two chapters of the text overview customer relations and developing a successful market strategy for a business. The book gives marketing the definition  of the activity for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offers that benefit the customers, the organization, and shareholders. Almost every business has a marketing department where they are in charge of selling a product or service to customers.  It is the duty of a conscious consumer to know how marketing departments sell their materials. 

An example of a company that had a good marketing strategy is Old Spice. This deodorant company  transformed their image from what my grandfather used into a cool young company with a loyal following.

                                                1950*

2014


One aspect of market that I find very which how a consumer can become almost religious towards a company such as apple or nike. Over the years it has become the norm to wait in line for over 12 hours just to purchase the generation phone or new show edition. How does this happen? Good marketing teams and a good reputation are just some of the reasons for a cult like following. The strategy many companies like Apple and Nike use when going after new customers is not just the selling of their products but the selling of a life style. Having a iPhone gives the imagine of prestigious stature.Walking around in the Nike Air Max is a statement not just a shoe. It is crazy how much influence one brand can have on us. I know for example I will only buy Adidas soccer cleats but I do not know why. I like to product they are selling and I also like that the Adidas brand has more of a fucus around soccer, while Nike has more focus on other sports particularly in the United States.  This concludes the first blog of Marketing. I will continue my writing on the influence marketing has over its consumers and society in the next blog.  

Shaun Degnan
St. Michael's College
Marketing 
1/25/15