WSU vs UW

My favorite WSU advertisement! This picture depicts what it means to be a coug and reaches people on an emotional level. GO COUGS!

Word of Mouth Marketing

This is a picture of my boss and myself after my first summer selling boats. It was at this point that I learned the importance of Word of Mouth Marketing. At the beginning of that summer we introduced a new incentive program. It was called Cash Rewards (www.cashrewardsinc.com) and if a customer bought a boat from us, they were able to get a cash reward depending on the boat they purchased. We offered this program because in the boat industry, word of mouth is often more important than the product you are selling. Cash Rewards helped with this because customers would tell their friends that not only did they get a great boat/customer service from Cope and McPhetres Marine, they also got $10,000 back in their pocket! Word of mouth was huge in our industry.

Clothing and Paint?

The clothing manufacture Ralph Lauren provides a prime example of an unsuccessful brand extension. I do agree that Ralph Lauren has been very successful and has established a quility brand name. However, I will never know what prompted them to enter into the paint industry. It is so far from what Ralph Lauren is known for. It really makes little to no sense right why they ventured into the paint industry. Not only are retail sales down, construction as well as paint sales have seen drastic declines. Probably wasn't the smartes brand extension move Ralph...

Companies Team Up For Common Good

Capri Sun along with Ritz have teamed up with TerraCycle Inc, a company that is making efforts to improve the recycling process food packaging items. If you donate your CapriSun pouches or Ritz Toasted Chip's bags to select retailers, TerraCycle will turn them into unique fashion bags, tote bags, and pencil cases for adults and kids. I feel this is great marketing strategy for CapriSun and Ritz. It shows that they care what type of impact their product has on the environment. It also is a win-win for TerraCycle because they are preserving the environment while producing a product available for purchase.

Gender Based Marketing?

I've been a wakeboard magazing subscriber for 7 years now. One thing I can count on in each months magazine is a picture of an attractive female in a thong bikini on page 2-3. It is always a Reef advertisement. I just wonder why their marketing advertisements always display women with little to no clothing on. You would think this strategy may not attract the women they are trying to sell clothing and shoes to.

Co-Branding

Nike and Apple have teamed up to not only strengthen both brands but provide a product to enhance peoples every day lives. The introduction of the Nike+ has allowed exercise conscious people across the world an easy way to track how many miles they walk per day, week, and year. This example of co-branding involves the combination of two successful brands into a single service. It works well for both companies because a customer needs to purchase both products in order to experience the features and benefits and the mile tracker. Not only do you have to buy the ipod and the Nike+ shoes, a customer must buy the +tracker which costs about $30.00. Both companies were also smart by making the product only available for specific ipods, and the Nike+ shoes. Therefore, even if someone already has a pair of Nike's or an ipod they most likely have to buy new shoes, a new pod, and the sensor in order to reap the benefits of the new product.

Apple Knows How to Market

Being a college student here at WSU, specifially a marketing major, I have recently been noticing one of Apple's advertising trends. When the have a commercial for the iPhone or iTouch they select a specific age group in which they market to. The one that has been catching my eye is the commercial that shows how easy the iPhone makes it to access Facebook, AIM, and Fandango.com. These are all resources college students use on a regular basis and by actually demonstrating how easy these are to access, Apple has successfully marketed to a younger generation. They also have commercials in which they target a older age group. This commercial displays the applications useful to a person in their middle ages (i.e. calorie counter, financial planner, ect). Cheers to Apple!

Arm Fat?

I find this anti-Mcdonald's advertisement to be very interesting. They use Mcdonalds slogan "I'm lovin' it" and famous golden arches to market against the fast food restaurant. The picture was posted to display the negative affects (obesity) of eating food from the restaurant. Doesn't this image really make you think twice about eating that double cheeseburger?

The Kid's Back!

In recent days, the Seattle Mariners have re-acquired on of the most famous names to wear a Mariner's uniform. The acquisition of Ken Griffey Jr. to Seattle has to be one of the most profitable moves the organization has made in recent years. Depending on his overall performance it may not bring the M's the wins they so desperately need on the field. He is getting up there in age and has struggled to stay healthy in recent years. However, the Mariners will sell more game tickets and apparel with Griffey is on the team. More profit will allow the club to acquire better players and hopefully produce a winning ball club. It was a very good marketing move by the Mariners marketing staff. They will now be able to market the Griffey brand alongside the Mariner's organization.

I wan't to appologize for my last post. I thought that the add from Mastercraft of Seattle was viewable. However, I came across an article today in the Seattle Times. Chief executive for Amazon, Jeff Bezos is holding a new product that I think in time will be a huge seller. He's holding an electronic book where customers can download novels in less than one minute. The device has internet available through the 3G network and is commonly related to the ipod touch. The product is called the Kindle 2.0. I think this could gain emense popularity once it hits shelves February 24th.

Correct Target Market?

After seeing this advertisement for a local boat dealership, I wondered how this ad appeals to thier target market. Mastercraft's target market is older (25-60), where the video game Rock Band seems to have a younger target market (12-30). Young people use Mastercraft's, however, it is typically thier parents that purchase the boats. I do understand the importance of building customer loyalty and hosting an event for a younger market could increase future boat sales. Agree/Disagree?