In Response to Aislynn's Post...

Why is it that just because some wealthy people can afford a lifestyle comfortably that the middle and lower income classes feel they need to live that way too? What are other ways to feel rich that doesn't relate to money?


The way I see it, society has corrupt itself on ambition. People these days don't always have an effective grasp on what comfortable living is.Society has influenced people to be brought up so materialistically, and everyone is just a product of their environment. As the in-class video mentioned, "keeping up with the Jones'" is no longer the social norm. People have been brainwashed into believing that material possessions will bring them happiness from what society has told them instead of from their own personal experiences. There are plenty of other ways to feel rich besides money and they mainly reside with your friends and family. Why do you think "keeping up with the Jones'" was so acceptable? Its because family values actually mattered to people. That's why middle class was okay. People were able to provide and spend time with their families.  

Digital Marketing

Being interested in the expanding concept of digital marketing, I read and article online that talked about the direction of technology's involvement with digital marketing. Direct Marketing News took a select group of senior marketing officials and put in a room together to discuss this topic. The main digital styles of marketing are social, mobile, and video. One particular official talked about the rise in time spent on social media as opposed to the rapid decline of time spent on email. Another official talked about a major goal in digital marketing to be brand awareness.

After reading through this, the previously stated points caught my attention. First of all, of course social media is taking over for email. Email is inefficient. As I've mentioned in an earlier blog post, society is looking for efficiency whether it be in the product or the advertising. Digital marketing's future is in social media because of its growing popularity and the fact that it is instant. Its not like email where you have to send out an email to bunch of people and wait for them to read it. Social media advertising can be put right in front of someone's face.

An official at this meeting also mentioned a major goal of digital marketing being brand awareness. This caught my attention because it made sense, but I had never actually thought about it. Through my experiences, brand awareness is everything when someone is learning about a product on line. No ones going to purchase a product they've never heard of before, especially if it has to be bought online. Brand awareness is everything to companies that sell online so people can be comfortable with their brand. But is brand awareness everything when it comes to digital marketing or is there another factor that has a major part to play?

Here is the article I read:

http://www.dmnews.com/data-technology-crucial-to-digital-marketing/article/233832/

In response to Georgianne's Post...

Was it just timing or was it the unwavering persistence in promoting the Kind Bars?


After reading this post on the KIND bars, I can't help but see it as a little bit of both. The creator of the KIND bars believed in his bars and was more persistent than most people can be with a new product. His unwavering persistence definitely had a part to play in finally being offered a chance to sell his product in Starbucks, but I believe it was timing that ultimately had the final say in whether his product would get its chance. Business markets are ever changing and inconsistent. I personally see this as Starbucks trying to increase sales with a new type of product. Being the large company of chain coffee shops that Starbucks is, they are always striving to be competitive in the market. This played a major role in the KIND bars getting their chance, but if the creator had not remained persistent, his product may have not still been around to get that chance.

Personal Computers Declining

I recently saw an article on direct marketing news that talked about the decline of PCs in the market. Personal computers are becoming outdated due to the the rise in mobile technology. It all began this past Thanksgiving when Black Friday show a massive increase in mobile sales and a rapid decline of PC sales. Experts are beginning to see the fall of the personal computer and this past Black Friday it became obvious. Personal computers are becoming too inefficient for society.

After reading this article, what I see is a market changing. At first, PCs were the main type of computer that everyone had. Now society wants to be mobile. The personal computer has adapted into a more compact version of itself. Smart-phones nowadays are equaling and even exceeding the computing power of the average PC. Why would people want to sit down and look at a PC when people can be so busy nowadays.

It comes down to that. PCs are inefficient and the market is adapting to the demand of society. The way I see it the traditional PC is on its way down, but is there any way that producers could possibly innovate the PC to make it more desirable to consumers?

Here is the Direct Marketing News article:

http://www.dmnews.com/will-mobile-drive-more-e-commerce-revenue-than-pcs-readers-respond/article/233732/

In Response to Ethan Gage's Post...

How important is having a well known face for an organization?


Personally, I believe that having a well-known face on your organization is vital to marketing and advertising. It is essential to the branding process of commercial goods in services. Various organizations use distinct figures to help benefit their good or service's reputation. For example, the athletic company Nike uses a wide array of professional athletes to promote their sportswear. Nike has used sports icons such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Lance Armstrong. Using these professional athletes entices the target market of Nike because it shows sports figures that many people look up to as inspiration and motivation. Well-known faces are vital in attracting customers and establishing a brand.

Advertisements in Schools

I recently was watching a video on over-consumption in American society. It talked about several aspects of advertising and marketing. One specific marketing trend caught my eye. It was the extent of advertising in public schools. School is supposed to be a place where children gain knowledge for their future. It shouldn't be crowded with the outside interests of corporations.

Children are young and impressionable. We should be giving them the wrong idea in any sense. For example, in the video there was a school taking advertisements from various candy and soda vendors. I am very against this type of marketing because it is one of the main reasons we have such high rates of obesity in America. We shouldn't be putting the idea in a child's head that its okay to eat junk food like that.

But there is a gray area in all of this. The school that was taking these advertisements was doing so for funding. The city it was a part of was not providing an adequate budget for the public school. Was it acceptable for this school to accept the funding from these advertisements? Should advertisements that send children the wrong message even be allowed in schools in the first place?

In Response to Aislynn's Post...

Do you see Wal-Mart approaching a declining stage? Is it fair to say that Amazon is a direct competitor of Wal-Mart? 


Personally, I am not sure if I see Wal-Mart in a declining stage at this point in time, but I am sure of one thing. Wal-Mart's way of doing business is harming this economy. I do think Amazon is a competitor of Wal-Mart for one main reason. Amazon offers prices that can be very competitive to Wal-Mart's, and they do in a more sustainable way. Amazon allows people to sell their own things over the internet as well as the selling of Amazon's retail products. I believe this is a more dominant strategy, but it pales in comparison to Wal-Mart's established big business strategy.