In Response to Jonathan Tomachick

Do you find yourself doing the same when you shop? Have you ever had to cut another shopping trip short because of splurging for sale items the week prior?

I definitely find myself doing this when I'm shopping, especially at the grocery store. There are so many deals like the 2/ $5 specials at Market Basket. Even though I don't need twice the amount of food that I'm purchasing at the time, I feel like I need to buy it because of the sale. These specials trick consumers into buying more when they really don't need it.
Another store that does this is Victorias Secret. When I'm shopping online, there are constantly in-site pop ups that offer deals like "Spend over $50 and get a free beach bag!" and other promotions like this. Even though I'm aware of what's going on, I'll consider spending that extra few dollars in order to get the deal.

Do you know any other stores that use the same promotion technique as Victorias Secret does?

In Response to Dan Driscoll

Will our postal services increase productivity and success when and if we peak out of this recession, or is this the beginning of the end of the Postal Service?

Personally, I would love to have Postal Service stay running on Saturdays. Saturday postal service allows that one extra day to get something delivered that you've been waiting for, instead of having to wait for the entire weekend. The internet has rapidly grown within the past 5 years, allowing consumers to purchase different products online instead of physically going to the store. If the postal service were to completely desist, how would online shoppers get their products? 
Although Saturday postal service would be ideal to keep around to many online shoppers, it does make sense to save that $2 billion annually if they stop. I think that we need to keep people working as much as possible through this recession, and Saturday shifts for delivery workers should stay existent.

Do you think that Saturday postal service is beneficial or not?

Apple's Brand Image

As we all know, Apple is an extremely successful company that has taken over the technology market. If you look around in a classroom, the majority of students own a MacBook, even though they're priced at over $1,000 each. Apple has done an outstanding job creating their brand image- sleek, simple, and user friendly. They've taken off with the idea that simplicity is what sells, and their sales have sky rocketed. Every Apple store is sleek, white and simple, allowing all of the attention to fall onto their products.
Because Apple has been so successful within the past 5-10 years, other companies have begun to jump on the band wagon and create the same image as Apple has. For example, Windows has completely updated their look, creating a freakishly close resemblance to Apple's. Simplicity has benefitted Apple tremendously in both advertising and with their products in general.
Do you think that a simple look could work for any company, or can it only work for a select few?

Here's an example of the new Window's store compared to Apple's.

Banner Ads on Google

Today I read an article about Google and the use of banner advertisements that come up on the side of the website. There are two different views on how useful these advertisements are, and if they're really beneficial or not. Some statistics say that banner ads have less than a .01% click through rate, even though some companies pay thousands of dollars for their ad. Another statistic states that the average internet user is bombarded with 1,700 banner ads per month. This made me look back and try to remember any specific ads that I've seen on the side of Google. Every time I use Google for something, I will never click on the banner ads on the side, mainly because they don't apply to me, and because I don't know how reliable they are.
I know that many people are told not to click on any side banners or pop up ads because they're fake, sometimes containing viruses and bugs for your computer. I think banner ads are a complete waste of money for most companies that use them, and they should definitely find another way to advertise their product or service.

Click here to learn more stats about banner ads:
http://blog.hubspot.com/horrifying-display-advertising-stats

In Response to Melissa Moriwaki

How do you think this will effect doughnut customers? Will they still think of Dunkin Donuts when looking to find a doughnut if DD's isn't marketing towards doughnut eaters anymore? How will this effect Dunkin Donuts?

If Dunkin Donuts strays away from marketing and producing doughnuts in the future, I don't think it will dramatically effect the company's success. Personally, I don't know many people who go to DD to specifically purchase doughnuts anymore, although it might just be because of my age. I think that society is strongly encouraging everyone to eat healthier, along with providing children with healthier options as well. Even though DD's breakfast sandwiches aren't the healthiest choice, they aren't full of sugar like doughnuts are. The majority of DD customers are loyal ones who count on the fast food chain to provide them with their morning coffee on their way to work every day.
I think that customers will definitely still think of Dunkin Donuts when they're looking to find a doughnut, even if DD isn't marketing towards them anymore. The chain's name includes the word doughnut, and even in 20 years from now when doughnuts aren't a popular food product anymore, I think people will still assume that they can purchase doughnuts here.

Does anyone think that this will negatively effect the Dunkin Donuts chain? If so, how?

In Response to Brook Callaway

Do you think that K Mart has a clever way of keeping viewers interested in what they are trying to sell?

Personally, I think K Mart is extremely clever in advertising their products this way. The "Ship My Pants" ad campaign catches viewers attention, because clearly most of us are assuming that the people in the commercials are saying something else. Generally, I believe that K Mart has had a downfall in both popularity and customer sales, so this attention is exactly what the company needs. I haven't heard anything about K Mart for the longest time until my roommate showed me this commercial the other day. They're using humor in order to advertise the company, and specific products in general. Although in some cases humor isn't the appropriate path to take in order to promote a business, K Mart successfully pulled it off.

Has anyone seen any other commercials that have used a clever strategy to grab the viewers attention/ did it grab yours? What was it, and why did it do so?

Alex and Ani Bracelets

Recently, there has been a high demand in the New England area for the new Alex and Ani bracelets, a jewelry line that used recycled gold and silver to produce charm bracelets. Since we've been discussing profit in class, I wanted to look further into the Alex and Ani company and it's profits over the past year.
On average, the popular charm bracelet costs $28, although there is a decent size selection of jewelry that can cost up to $58. Within the past year, and Alex and Ani store has started a new location near my hometown in Portsmouth, NH where I have purchased all of my bracelets. It has come to my attention that the gold is easily rusted off whenever they get wet, even in the slightest bit. I finally discussed this with one of my friends the other day, and she told me that her mom works at Alex and Ani, and that each bracelet that runs for $28 each, costs only $3 or less to make. The gold is painted onto each bracelet, and that's why they tend to rust so quickly.
Although this information is becoming more publicly known, the company still has a loyal group of customers that will continue to purchase Alex and Ani products, regardless of the over pricing.

Target & Social Responsibility

In honor of Earth Day, Target stores are giving out free reusable Target bags to all customers that purchase anything from the store. These bags are full of small goods like dish soap, Annie's graham crackers, laundry detergent, Burts Bees moisturizer, and coupon books. Last year these stores did the same thing on Earth Day. They gave out millions of reusable bags that come with a 5 cent discount every time they're used. Target claims that over the past year, 80 million red reusable bags have been used in substitution for plastic bags, and they are estimating that these numbers will continue to grow throughout the next year.

Target took social responsibility by handing out these reusable bags for free. Along with being socially responsible, they've created a self image by implying to its customers and the rest of society that they care about being environmentally friendly.

Are there any other businesses or companies that you know if that are taking an extra step to be environmentally friendly on Earth Day? If so, which ones?

In Response to Matt DaCosta

Do you think it is smart for Corporations to use Twitter or Facebook? What about small local businesses? In what way could a small business, such as Fritz, utilize a Twitter account to maximize business and market its product?

I think that it's extremely smart for corporations to use Twitter and Facebook. Basically any positive way to advertise a business or company will be beneficial, whether it's online or in the public eye. Small, local businesses can benefit from Twitter and Facebook as well, although I think Facebook would be a bit more helpful in certain situations. For example, if someone "likes" Fritz's on Facebook, that information will show up on other friend's newsfeeds. Also, the person who "likes" Fritz on Facebook can be the first to know about any promotions, deals, or events coming up before anyone else does. It's a win-win situation for both the business and the customer.
Twitter, on the other hand is different. I will randomly see "promoted" tweets that come up on my newsfeed from businesses/companies that I don't follow. Companies can go to Twitter and pay them to put their tweet onto every Twitter user's feed. I don't necessarily think that small, local businesses will go to that extent, although twitter can benefit them in smaller ways.

Does anyone who uses Twitter or Facebook follow a local business in Keene? Do you think the business having either account has benefitted them?

Cell Phone Plans & Elasticity of Demand

Today in class, we were discussing the elasticity of demand, and talking about certain products and if they were inelastic or elastic products. It made me think of cell phones and cell phone plans, and how more and more people today have a smart phone. Cell phone carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless have been known to raise their prices for plans, especially data plans. Our society has become extremely dependent on our cell phones and technology in general. Pretty soon it seems like people won't be able to do their day to day activities without their cell phones and expensive data plans.
Although some people are against the new smart phone era, I definitely think that cell phone plans are in elastic demand. Our generation has already witnessed multiple price raises in data plans, no matter what carrier we use.

Does anyone disagree with me about cell phone plans? Do you think that the more data plan prices rise, the fewer people will purchase them?

In Response to Jade Brulotte

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

Personally, I think that online-based companies aren't in any real danger just because they don't have a physical store. The internet is more popular today than it ever has been, and online shopping is convenient and easy for consumers all over the world. If anything, I think that having a physical store on top of an online store could only help the business. Looking at the direction that society is turning, online-based stores/companies will stay successful. 
For example, Etsy is a business that started online, and then decided to expand and start a store in NYC. Etsy is an extremely successful online-based company that started up without a location store.

Are there any other companies/businesses that are online-based that anyone knows of? Are they successful, or do you see them failing in the near future?

In Response to Parker Hayne's Post

Do you think it's wrong that house hold cleaning supplies always feature a women in the advertisements? 

Personally, I don't think it's wrong that many cleaning supply commercials feature women in them. Although some people may look at it as sexist, a lot of the time the women in the house are the ones cleaning and making sure that the house stays nice. Cleaning supply commercials are taking a more old fashioned approach, implying that women are the ones who clean. Society is constantly changing, and old fashion approaches to many different things are starting to go out the window. Within the next ten years, I definitely think we will see more men in cleaning supply commercials. When a company starts to market their product, the first thing they need to do is think of their target group. In this case, women are the smartest target to advertise cleaning products to.

Has anyone seen any commercials that are just targeted towards men, when they could/ should be targeted at both men and women?

AEO Skinny Jeans Commercial

Within the past few weeks, Amercian Eagle Outfitters has launched an ad campaign for their new line of "skinny jeans" showing young adults wearing the jeans, doing every day things. The commercial was a huge hit, receiving millions of YouTube views. This got people talking about the company, until many people started to question if the jeans were actually real or not. American Eagle eventually admitted to the public that the jeans that were being advertised were actually just painted onto the people, and they weren't actually selling them.
This technique was a great way to get people talking about American Eagle. Whether the jeans were real or not, they do sell skinny jeans in general. Thinking back on the past few weeks, I remember seeing this video all over different sources of social media. The ridiculously "skinny jeans" in the commercials caught consumers attention, bringing this company's name back into the public eye again.

Did anyone see this commercial online when it came out? Do you think that AEO made a smart decision by marketing their brand this way?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNF57jHbFc

Advertisements on YouTube Videos

Recently, I've been noticing more and more YouTube videos that require you to watch at least 5 seconds of an advertisement before you can watch the video you wanted. There has been a lot of discussion about how annoying these required commercials are, and how more and more videos on YouTube are starting to have them. Although they are an annoyance to many impatient viewers, like myself, I think it's a very smart way to market your company/organization. Whether it's positive or negative attention, that business is getting a potential consumer to watch their commercial for 5 seconds or longer. There are some occasions when I find myself getting hooked on some of the commercials, like upcoming movie trailers.

Has anyone else been noticing the rapid increase of commercials on most YouTube videos? Have any of them caught your attention for longer than the required 5 seconds?