Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

Marketing has taken drastic turns within the last decade or so. With the incoming of new technologies and with those new more advanced companies, marketing has gone to the next level. From strictly customer relations on a business level to peer-to-peer communications, which we now see a growing trend in. Businesses tend to focus on the internet world in this day and age, social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, of Linkedin to be specific. They are in search of brand ambassadors, people who are current consumers of the brand or particular product.  “Consumers hear about products and brand experiences from others just like themselves—people they trust—rather than from commercial marketing sources” Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation pg  143. They specifically seek these people out. For instance Sony’s new GPS camera had over 2,000 applicants inquiring an ambassador position. Of these 2,000 applicants, only 25 were selected. Despite the general popularity of Facebook, and growth in its use for such activities, the site accounts for a miniscule amount of people hired. “Facebook hires account for less than 1% of the total hires companies are making, according to Jobs2Web, which helps companies track the sources of candidates and hires” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903885604576490763 This however is not a statement that prohibits further growth among Facebook’s use as a recruitment tool nor any other sites for that matter. I personally believe that the industry is on its way to bigger and better things. After all our society has encountered and sparked much change just within the last 5 years, I think there is much more room to grow.

Week 4 EOC: Business to Business Marketing

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

I like many of my fellow bloggers and college students am a Millennial child, more commonly known as Generation Y.  As unfortunate as it is to say I do indeed fit its demographic; that of technologically savvy, family centric, achievement oriented, team oriented, and attention craving individuals. Well it would actually be the exact opposite considering that Millennials make up the largest generation to date, consisting of over eighty million young people.  “It could be out with old meeting rooms and in with new social spaces, as Generation Y is set to transform the way we work in the next 10 years”  (Gargiulo) http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/20/business/generation-y-global-office-culture/index.html.  Our new innovative takes and outlooks on our surroundings have the greatest impact on career paths and work flow procedures in particular. Being that we have come from the age of technology; it’s all we know, and to be honest we don’t know how to live without it. Hence why your reading this on that computer screen in front of you and not on a piece of  paper. It’s the desire to be unique, to stand out, make some noise, and cause a ruckus that seems to be grabbing the world’s attention. The desire we’ve learned to mold it into our passions and from then on our careers. This is why we see numerous successful entrepreneurs emerging from Generation Y such as Mark Zuckerberg and Blake Mycoskie who have created something unheard of which therefore captures the attention of target markets. We have found a new way of generating income, something that is enjoyable to the individual and can last a lifetime, if we play the cards right. So move over Baby boomers and Generation X, cause we are fired up and ready to take the working world by storm!

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

General Mills, the popular food company, has gained their consumers’ trust through the production and distribution of helpful and healthful foods for years. The company is focused on providing excellent service that ultimately results in a satisfied customer. To further their overall success in 1996 the company launched their popular Box Tops for Education coupons; where schools receive ten cents in funding for every coupon returned. Beginning with just children’s cereals to directly interact with the audience they hoped to be assisting, the corporation is now placing coupons on several other product brand names. But it doesn’t stop there, “To further consumer engagement and build awareness, Progresso Soup, Pillsbury® refrigerated baked goods and Totino’s Party Pizza and Pizza Rolls® snacks separately launched dedicated television advertising campaigns this fall to announce that Box Tops coupons can be found on their packaging” (General Mills, 2010) http://www.generalmills.com/Media/NewsReleases/Library/2010/December/box_tops_12_2.aspx?p=1. General Mills has truly made the impact in our school districts nation-wide, “America’s schools have earned more than $340 million through Box Tops for Education since the program started in 1996. Thousands of schools have used that cash to purchase items such as computers, library books, art supplies and playground equipment” (General Mills, 2010). All this has been achieved in such a short amount of time at that, this movement has only been in tact for fifteen years. Without a doubt General Mills has achieved its purpose of the Box Tops for Education coupons which is, “provide schools across the country with easy, every day ways to earn cash for a K-8 school of their choice” (General Mills, 2005).   

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

The Videogame and gaming market is in major decline, thus forcing game and console makers into steep competition. “People are not buying that fourth or fifth game every year, so the pressure is on for game-makers to be in the very top tier” (Boornstin). Apparently despite the strong efforts from larger companies such as Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony profits have decreased in all except Apple Inc. sporting a growth of 8%. Taking these figures into account mobile gaming Apple Inc. gaming specifically is without a doubt the only industry member categorized as STAR. The less popular and frankly unexplored competitors of the Android, Amazon, and other mobile gaming markets are Question Marks. They most certainly have potential, but are they capable of obtaining the success of Apple products?  “The lack of new hardware, as well as new games in general, has hurt the industry. One factor contributing to the softness we have seen in retail content sales so far in 2012 has been the decline in the sheer number of new titles,” says Anita Frazier, an NPD analyst. Being that there is indeed a lack of releases I put nearly all gaming consoles in the DOGS category. They have lost their hype, with nothing new they’ve lost the buyers attention and business. All consoles that is with the exception of Microsoft Corporation’s Xbox 360 with Kinect; still rather new to the market motion gaming still has a little juice in it so I place it in the Cash Cow, barely though. Without the Kinect extension to the system it is completely dead. What may launch Xbox further into this section is the advancements they plan to take with the Kinect adapting it to be compatible with other forms of windows software. “Kinect for Windows offers the potential to transform how people interact with computers and Windows-embedded device,” says the retailer itself, Microsoft.  This new technology may very well impact its market significantly, we’ll just have to keep an eye on it.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

Marketing is essentially the business of customer service or as put by management guru Peter Drucker, “The aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary.”  I personally experienced just that not too long ago at the Apple Store located in Town Square Las Vegas. I went in on a Friday night around six, surely a busy time for the store especially on a Friday night, but despite the crowd of people and slight roar within the building I was immediately greeted upon entering. First things first, we as customers love to be recognized a simple hello makes the world of a difference. I had been experiencing some minor issues with my slightly outdated ipod touch and had just went in to find out what the problem was. I did not want any work done on it for the reason that I know Apple isn’t exactly know for having the cheapest of service. Any who after being acknowledged by the sales associate he then asked the typical “is there anything I can help you with?” line. Of course I explained my situation and immediately he walked me to the help desk at the back of the store to take a quick look at my ipod. Although I was informed that normally you need to make an appointment to have an associate assess any product. Yet he was full and willing to make the exception for me. Turns out that I had some slight water damage which was affecting the home button on my device, the fix would cost about fifty dollars. In the end I did indeed get the button replaced for a fraction of the price that night, the associate was glad to make yet another exception for me by giving a student discount I only ended up paying thirty in total. Needless to say Apple can most definitely be expecting  my business time and time again.