In response to Greg Mathew's Post: IT Systems

In which other ways can information systems benefit an organization?

Companies benefit a great amount to information systems in the organization. This is technology that is creating easy travel of work that can be sent around the company through the computer system. This helps organize all the data into a small small space unlike on pieces of paper in filing cabinets. I am in a taking a information system class and it shows us how much more beneficial a good IT system is. This systems have taking some of daily activities with just buttons to our fingers tasks can be done. These systems are saving so much time with the task that can be completed  on them and just the overall productivity creates a more economical company. 

What companies do you think have big IT systems?

LOGOS

Picking a companies logo is a very important task. It must take a good amount of time and a ton of people to create a good logo that best fits the company. Logos are the symbols that stand for companies. Having a well known logo is good for the companies because most people know what it is and what the company is. A couple popular company logos that come to mind are the nike, polo, target, and all the car companies logos. I feel we see the most logos on cars. Every car comes with there companies logo on it stating what brand the car is. There is an app called logo quiz that is a game that gives you a bunch of logos and you have to put what company it is. It is pretty amazing actually how many logos we really know.


What logos stand out to you?

In response to Colin Raaberg's Post: Motivation

Do you think that this will help improve creativity and innovation for workers? Is there a better way to inspire and motivate employees to come up with new ideas?


I don't feel that hiring dancers to preform in front of the employees will help them think of new ideas. It seems like it would be more of a distraction then improve creativity. I mean maybe if the product you need to invent has to be artsy then make it would help by the way the dancers move but for the most part I don't see how it can help. Their are better way to inspire and motivate employees to come up with new ideas like giving them some sort of money compensation for coming up with the winning idea or have them do thinking activities.

What other ways can you think of to get employees to think of new ideas?

Customer Service

Customer service is a huge deal to customers. Companies have to put a lot of time into this area of the business. It is crucial that the company has good customer service. If you can achieve good customer service then your customers that you have will always want to stay if they feel that the company is always trying to help them out if they have any problems. Companies need to retain all their customers. Always with having great customer service can lead to new customers by word of mouth with your current customers.


What companies have good customer service and what is a bad company that you felt had bad customer service?

In response to Colin Raaberg's Post: Clothing Industry

Do you believe that the initial price of clothing is established with the belief that the clothing will not be sold at that price so that the store may offer discounts to make the customer believe they are getting a better value? Do you believe, as a customer, that you would be getting as good a value or as good a quality product if they started at the lowest discount price? 

I do think that clothing company's do mark up the price a little bit. Then that company should have sales on some items offend. I do agree with Colin in saying that the customer believes that they are getting a better value. People feel great when they know they are getting a sale on something. If the item was priced a little cheaper and never on sale I feel that the customers won't feel like they are getting as good of a deal. The industry is all a strategy game with how to make the customer feel like they are getting a good deal to keep them coming back.

What company do you feel that increases the price a little bit but puts their cloths on sale a lot?

Promoting

Promotion is a key part of introducing something new. There are a couple different strategies that you can do to promote something. You can have a sale on that product, you can give away samples, and you can advertise that product on tv or radio. The important part of this is pumping up the people and get them to want to try it before it actually is all set to be sold. The first and important step of a products life cycle is the promotion.

What other companies do a good job with promoting?

In response to Sarah Allen's post: Pricing

Pricing is an important part of a companies future. You have to have a good price that makes money and people don't mind spending a certain amount on it. There are many of steps to making a price for a product. You have to see how much it will cost to make the product. Then a company can make surveys to see how many people would purchase the product. This will help them to predict a good price to the specific product. 

What else can a company do to make a price?

Monadnock Food Co-op

The new Monadnock Food Co-op in keene is awesome. They promote and sell local food. At the co-op they have basically all healthy foods and lots of organic foods. This is important for the community to support the co-op. Co-op are great ideas and it fits perfect in Keene. They also make sandwiches that you can order. They have a bunch of good smoothies and they also make fresh juices that they make on the spot. This is an great place to go get great food. Go check it out.

In response to Jade Brulotte's post: Companies Success Online

Do you agree, or think that the company will stay successful because they are so strictly online-based?

I agree with Jade that the a company can be successful as a strictly online company or a physical place that you can go to. I agreed with her statement that online shopping now a days is so convenient for people with busy lifestyles to buy stuff. Our society is being more and more busy that we are having less time to do things so I feel that online shopping will keep growing bigger as our lives get busier. For certain things like grocery shopping is easier to do in person or cloths shopping because it is nice to see things in person than a picture on a screen and it is nice to make sure it fits right. It is a hassle  to have to return something that you order online.

What do you think the pros and cons are to buying items online?

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group's

The Dr. Pepper Snapple Group has many promotions for most of their brand names. The most popular ones like Dr. Pepper and Sunkist have pretty big promotion giveaways. This is all apart of their strategy of marketing. I think this strategy is very successful in selling their products. People will drink these products to collect enough caps to get free stuff or enter a chance to win a promotion giveaway. People like to know that they can win something or get something for free. This is a smart way because something about this strategy gets people really excited which gets the customs purchasing more of the product.

Do you think that Dr. Pepper Snapple Group's promotions help the sales of their products and would you be more willing to buy a product that you have a chance to win something?

In response to Colin Raaberg's Post: Zip Codes

A company asking for a zip code is just another tool they use to better understand and target their customer. Do you believe that companies should be allowed to ask for zip codes or do you think it should be considered personal information and why?  

I don't consider zip codes as being personal information because it is just broad location where you live. A zip code is probably information a company can use to see what areas are buying their products. This might help the company out to maybe set up warehouses in that area to cut down shipping costs. I think it way more personal if they asked you for your address because they can sent you mail there and they know exactly where you live. I agree with Colin in that I never considered my zip code to be personal information.

What do you think about zip codes being personal information?

Snowmobile Brand Loyalty

I feel like most snowmobilers are diehard fans of one brand of snowmobiles. If the family rides they usually tend to stick to one brand of sleds. I think this is awesome that some snowmobilers stay loyal to their brand. These riders sometimes go all out with there gear as well. They dress from their boots to helmets in all their brands gear. They also buy all the accessories to put on the sled to make their sled different than other peoples. I have been riding on ski doo's all my life. I think this is the best sled because I just like the way they look. I as tricked my sled out a little in ski doo's accessories.

What is your favorite brand of snowmobiles and do you stay loyal to that brand?

In response to Sarah Allen's Post: Consumer Involvement

What level do you think relates most to your consumer involvement?

I feel my involvement is in the interest one. I like to be interested to things thats just my personality. The interest one involvement is directly related to consumer interests, as in cars, music, movies, or electronics. I have many different interests in things and hobbies. I am a big car person so I have a big interest in cars. I know a lot about many different cars now all the brands, and even know features of these cars. I also know a lot about jet skis and snowmobiles. I can tell you how much one of them is going for or how much it is worth with a pretty close guess. 

What are you interested in and do u know a lot about that interest?

College Tuition Price

Will college tuition ever stop increasing? College tuition has been on a steady increase since the 80's. It has rose around 450 percent since then. Do you think it is necessary to charge all the money to go to college? Is it even worth going to college right now? College has become so expensive and it is so hard to find jobs out of college when we have to start paying off the loans. Do you think college tuition is going to hit a point were people will just not go to college any longer because it has become so expensive?

Do you think that college tuition will reach a mark that people will just stop going?

In response to Parker Haye's Post: Arizona Ice Teas

How awesome are .99 Cent Arizona Iced teas? 

I totally agree with Parker that Arizona Ice Teas are awesome. The .99 cent price makes them such a good deal. They are also 23.5 ounces which is a pretty large amount considering other products in that category. They also have a ton of different flavors and they are so easy to get because they are located in almost all gas stations. Arizona Ice Teas are awesome drinks and you should try them if you never had one before. This are good drinks to throw into the cooler and have a cookout and just relaxing in the sun.

What other product is a awesome deal for them money and has the price ever changed on the product in the past 10 years?

Pricing Strategies

Pricing strategy is a very important part of a company. The companies come up with these prices with a ton of research to get the right price for a particular product. This part of business is very important to a companies financial being. Companies use things like sale items or a coupon to get you in the door. They figure if you come to the store for a good sale deal or coupon that you are happy and in the mood to keep shopping which might cause you to purchase more things. Maybe they are barely making any money off the sale item but it is a strategy just to get you into the door to hopefully buy something else.

Do you find this happening to you? and do you think this is a successful marketing tacit?

In response to Sarah Allen's post: Branding

Do you believe that one of these purposes are more significant than another when it comes to branding? If so, why do think so?

I think the facilitate new-product sales is the most significant one. I agree with Sarah that facilitate is having a well-known respected company and brand name is extremely useful when introducing new products. I think that this is the most significant because it is most important to a company that customers want to keep coming back and buying new products from them. This will show them that they have loyal customers which is a very good thing. Companies need good customer support to keep making money. This shows that the company probably has a good brand name and logo if you see customers keep coming back and buying your products.

The New Race in Marketing

The big race in marketing right now is with the next generation of gaming consoles. The competition is between the new PS4 and Xbox 720. They are racing to market their products first to get the most attention. The is important to both companies to try to make the better product and know how to market that. It is a good competition between these two rivals to see who is going to sell more consoles. There is a ton of marketing strategy that goes into this.

In this chapter we talked about branding. I feel branding plays a big roll in selling products. Branding is all about the history of the company and the name that you made of it. Both these companies have good names for themselves and they have logos that are well known.

What console do you like better or what one has better overall features?

In response to Joe Littlewood's post: Nike Shoes

Question: What do you think about Nikes strategy back then?  If you were making the decisions would you have made all those risks and put your company in jeopardy?

I think Nike come up with this awesome strategy back then when they signed Michael Jordan to the sneaker contract. This was probably one of the best moves Nike has ever made. The Michael Jordan brand just took off and is still going strong today. Michael Jordan was an icon in basketball. He is known to be one of the best players of the game. It is smart marketing strategy to name a basketball shoe line after one of the best. He is people's hero and many people want to be as good of a player as he was. They figured they should buy the Air Jordans and maybe they can gain good basketball skills. That is the way that Nike made it sound.

What other sports icon has a big brand? How do they market it?

Bud Light Marketing Promotions

Bud light spends a lot of money on promoting its beer. This weekend I went skiing at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. The had a Bud Light representative there promoting the beer. The guy was like a dj playing music and giving away free bud light things. They had a music quiz that you had to guess the song and artist. The people who participated in this won a Bud Light glass. He was also throwing around Bud Light koozies. He was also giving away shirts. I won a shirt by shooting a pong ball into a glass that this girl was holding behind her back. You had three shots to make it in and I got it on the last one. You could also of won a shirt by doing 10 pull ups on the wood rafter. The main prize was a pair of Bud Light twin-tip skies. As this was going on they had Bud Light drink special.

How much money do you that alcohol companies send on marketing? Do you this marketing is affective by giving out free stuff?

In response to Christian Torti's post: Purchasing (RED) products?

The question was: Would you donate to the (RED) cause by purchasing (RED) products? Why or why not?


I don't think I would be purchasing (RED) products. After reading about the campaign I feel it doesn't make to much sense that they only ending up donating 25 million but they spent about 100 million on marketing. It would make more sense to me if they ended up donating the 100 million and spending the 25 million on marketing. If that was the case then I would probably of purchased the (RED) products to help out. I would of skipped purchasing any of the (RED) products and found a way just to donate directly so they could have gotten 100% of the donations.  

(RED) Campaign open-ended questions

1) Yes I think a partnership with Product (RED) can improve Gap’s image.  I feel that it is a sign that they are making a commitment to the corporate social responsibility because they wanted to give 100 % of the sales to the foundation. There seems to be a lot of critics that say the involvement is just an attempt to spit-shine the company’s image. I think Gap did a good thing with taking on this role. It probably made them look really good to most people.

2) The types of technology that have contributed to the (RED) campaign where things like MySpace, making its own website, and sending out a ton of e-mails. They mostly used the technology of the computer to really get this campaign out there especially to the younger generation.

3) I think this has a 50/50 chance to go either way. Some people can make an argument saying that they have 25 million more than they had. I would say this is silly and disappointing. I feel the whole 100 million should be going to the charity not 25% of it. We expect that the charities get almost all the money being donated but most of the times it not. Yes, I feel that this campaign can lose supporters as a result.

In response to Melissa Moriwaki's post: Social Media Marketing

I am responding to Melissa Morivaki's Question: Do you think the best kind of social media to use depends on what industry you are in.

       
        I think it depends greatly on the type of social media you will use depending on what type of industry you are in. Most retail stories use e-mails as a type of media to send out their customers deals or specials. They will also send links to their website and to advertise new products that they carry. Most grocery stores send flyers in the mail usually like the Sunday paper. These flyers consist of specials that will be on all week and competitive pricing. 

        Facebook is a popular way to advertise to more of our age group. A good example of this is Cobblestone in Keene, NH. They post something on Facebook everyday. It usually consists of their food special for the day and drink specials for a game or for happy hour. I think this so such a great way to promote their busy to the college kids. Social media is crucial for the companies survival nowadays. In a bad economy companies need to advertise themselves in multiple of ways.

What other companies use Facebook on a daily basis to promote their business?  

Superbowl 2013 Commercials

     Companies pay tons of money to the T.V. network station to have their commercial played during the Superbowl game. They pay these extreme prices because so many people are watching the game. It cost around 3 million dollars for 30 seconds of advertisement. It is estimated that there are about 95 million viewers watching the game in the Unite States. 
     People that watch the Superbowl also watch it for the commercials. People expect to see the most creative commercials. Companies have to put together a good marketing team to meet this expectations of the viewers. I was pretty disappointing this year for the commercials. Most of the commercials really didn't seem that good or that creative. The best commercials were the Doritos one with the goat and the Taco Bell one with the old people going out all night causing trouble. 

Do you think that it is worth these companies paying all this money for a commercial during the Superbowl? What is your opinions on this year's Superbowl commercials?

This is in response to Will Ferguson's post: Marketing Concept

Q: Would you be willing to pay a little extra to have a more specialized or unique product?


          After reading Will's post we both agreed that more variety is very important in todays market. Having choices is key to customers because they like to have items that are different and can be custom to what they like.  Consumers now a days like to purchase things that come with options that they can choose from. Manufactures can become more successful by mastering the ways of the wants and needs of the customers. 

          I would be willing to pay a little more for a specialized or unique product. I feel that products that are specialized can stand out more than just a ordinary product. It costs more to have something specialized to for personal liking. It is worth more to you because it is something that you can make to what you want. Having a unique custom item stands out and people pay a lot of money to do so. You usually see people specializing their items that are 
their hobbies.

Marketing Concept

I don't think marketing concepts will reach a point of diminishing returns. Consumers love when they can purchase items that are different from one another. It is a way to express yourself and what kind of style you might have. This is why providing more choices are important very important in todays market. You can really never have too many choices. This can satisfy what the customer needs and wants. We see great success in sales with items that have a wide range of options. It is key to provide more customizing items to be a little different than the next persons. People like to have options to choose from.


Do you like variety and options when buying something?