Swine Flu outbreak

With the recent outbreak of the pandemic of swine flu, Mexico's economy must be taking a huge hit. Since Mexico is the sight of the first confirmed cases of swine flu, and students in New York City who had vacationed over spring break in Cancun, Mexico are also infected, many airlines are considering cancelling and refunding flight tickets to prevent people from going to Mexico. Most airlines stocks have fallen dramatically and people are reconsidering their travel plans to Mexico. In Mexico many businesses and restaurants have shut down or altered their menues to ensure consumers that they won't get sick.
I think it will be interesting to see how the tourism industry boosts itself back up after this latest setback. Mexico, especially, has seen a lot of bad press lately because of the drug wars and now the swine flu. THeir tourism industry will most likely take a hit because it is all coming at prime tourism time.

http://blogs.wsj.com/independentstreet/2009/04/29/swine-flu-fears-worry-restaurants-hog-farmers/

This article talks about the impact the swine flu has had on the restaurant and the domestic pork industry. It mentions one business owner who has advertised his pork as safe because he wants to keep his consumers informed and make sure they feel safe and that they can continue to buy from him.

I think this all relates to marketing because it deals with keeping direct lines of communication open with the customer, which obviously is one of the most important aspects of business.

Funny commercial

This commercial for Jimmy Dean is hilarious. I love when it comes on TV and I laugh everytime!

More marketing from The Office!

On last night's episode of The Office, Michael's new paper company has been essentially taking part in predatory pricing. They set their costs of paper so low that they are taking the clients of all the other paper distributors, including Dunder Mifflin. When Micheal went to talk to their financial advisor, he told them they should be using a variable cost pricing model, not a fixed cost pricing model, or they would go out of business.

Viral Marketing

YouTube has become one of the biggest places to find viral marketing. People post their videos and get millions of hits and everyone tells their friends and they tell their friends and soon enough it is on national television.
One of my favorite viral videos lately started out on TV but I can't stop watching it. On Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory on MTV, Carl's Jr. had Rob create two viral videos to promote their restaurant and in turn they would fund his construction of a new skatepark in LA. The video featuring Happy Star is one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. Rob puts on the Happy Star costume (Carls Jr.'s mascot) and skateboards around doing all the crazy things Rob is known for then he falls off of the zipline and hits his head. They zoom in when he is taking off the costume and says "Happy Star saved my life". It is very smart of Carl's Jr. to seek the help of Rob Dyrdek because he is very popular in a different target market than what Carl's Jr. probably has catered to before and Rob can reach out to a large amount of people through his national televison show.

Quality services

Since the opening of Dupus Boomers in the CUB, I have been to the restaurant probably four or five times. While the restaurant would score well in the SERVQUAL scale with tangibles, all the other dimensions are definitely lacking. The service is always questionable with dinner sometimes taking two or more hours. Their ability to accommodate large parties is practically non-existent. It is quite unfortunate because it is a great atmosphere and satisfies Pullman's need for a hip, fun restaurant.

The Office

On the TV show The Office tonight, Michael wants to start a new paper company. He is trying to recruit salespeople, but many of them are skeptical of his company. Oscar asks him if he has a business plan and a number of other things referencing marketing, including a business plan, funding request, market research and financials. He mentions that new business' profit margins are very thin and most new businesses don't make a profit for at least two years.

Twitter

Honestly, I don't really get it. I get the idea of it and everything, but I don't know why people feel it is necessary to update people on your every move.

However, I do think that since the number of users has increased by 900% (according to Mike Blaney's blog - http://themarketingguy.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/marketing-with-twitter/) in the last year the potential for using twitter as a citizen news source or for marketing is huge. In some of my communications classes we have discussed the use of twitter for citizen news reporting and people can give details about breaking news as they are experiencing it. Many online newspapers have their reporters and average citizens giving up to minute details through the use of twitter.

As for marketing, word of mouth marketing and creating buzz about a brand could reach millions of people through the use of twitter. Plus the amount of celebrities now using twitter and being read on twitter creates another way for marketers to ensure that their brand's name gets out there in the public eye. Sean "Diddy" Combs is a perfect example of incessant advertising of his own brands and publicity of the bands on his record label.

Seattle Sounders marketing

When I was home for spring break I got to attend the Sounders FC home opener. Having been a soccer player all my life, and lived in Seattle all my life, I have to say that the kind of support Seattle showed to soccer was long awaited. I read this article about the marketing tactics the Sounders management has used to increase support and ticket sales for the brand new MLS team. My dad and I also discussed their approach to bringing "The World's game to Seattle" and how they have done a great job with making the Sounders name known to the community.



http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sounders/2008876913_sounders18.html

Grocery Store Product Placement

Today while grocery shopping at Safeway, I noticed the product placement of specific products next to others. For example, limes and lemons convieniently had a small display next to the beer aisle since they commonly can go with beers like Corona. Another product that was placed to aid in the convienince of the shopper's experience is the tortillas are located at the end of the aisle with the salsa and other spanish types of foods.

Nike advertisements

This is one of my favorite advertisements that Nike has done. The target market is obviously athletically built women and since I am an athlete I can appreciate this ad. We're used to seeing skinny women in advertisements but this ad goes the opposite direction, which makes sense since Nike is an athletics company.

These commercials suck!

THese commercials for Tostitos chips and dip are so weird! I am not left wanting to buy chips or dip because I am left still thinking about what the commercial was for. Whenever I see this commercial I spend the whole time watching it and wondering what it is going to be about. To me this is not good marketing because you should leave a mark in the consumers brain that makes them constantly think about your product.

Diversification

This is an example of market diversification. Aquafina is a brand of bottled water and they are now selling chap sticks with their name branded on them.

Consumer Behavior

Today in class we began discussing consumer behavior. The idea is that people purchase something for the experience, not just the product. I completely agree with this concept and have found myself going out of my way for a Starbucks coffee, not a coffee from a little coffee stand on the corner, or a McDonalds coffee. This might just be due to the fact that I like the atmosphere, the product, and I feel like the employees are always friendly, but it is also due to brand loyalty. I am indeed a Starbucks "Gold card" member, which means I have money on my Starbucks card to use and I get a small discount on my drinks. Therefore I always want to make a trip to Starbucks because I have money set aside to use there and it is cheaper for me.

Another thing we discussed in class was what types of products are on a low continuum of effort for women. Someone behind me said, Starbucks, and I fully disagreed. There are so many options and so many decisions that you can be faced with at Starbucks that the effort put into making a drink choice can often be overwhelming.

Nike commercial

I LOVEEE this commercial. Nike did a great job of selling Sparq Training. Elite athletes and young kids combine in the commercial to make it appeal to a larger audience.

Market Growth Strategies

This week in class we talked about market growth strategies. This includes market development in which a generic product is offered and tailored specifically to a geographic market or market segment. In Pullman this is found quite often with normal products specifically tailored to Washington State University and the cougar mascot. For example,
Cougar Rain, Talking Rain water

...

Brands before 8 am

During the first week of class we discussed brands. Our daily lives are surrounded by brands and many of them we are very loyal to. For example, in the morning the first thing I do is turn off my cell phone alarm. My cell phone is a Samsung. Then I brush my teeth with my Oral B electronic toothbrush and Colgate toothpaste. More brands I see every morning are Life cereal (a large majority of the time), Covergirl makeup (I buy it religiously), Treseme shampoo and conditioner, Secret deoderant, and on a number of days when I'm having a rough time waking up Starbucks coffee (even if I make coffee at home, it is Starbucks coffee beans!).