In Repsonse to Christine's Blog Post: "Red Bull Commercial"

"Do you think this ad is the best way to market an energy drink?"

Yes, I think this is the best way for Red Bull to market their energy drink. They have taken their slogan and ran with it, using it in every way possible. I think the ads about “Red Bull giving you wings” are better than the “anything is possible” ads but as long as they continue to use both, I think they will continue to be successful. I like that they are changing things up by moving on to an inspirational commercial instead of humorous ones. I think the commercial that Christine posted is moving and encourages you to believe that you could be the athlete you’ve always wanted to be by drinking Red Bull. What other marketing strategies could Red Bull use to promote their energy drinks?

How Diet Companies Utilize New Year's Revolutions to Gain Members

Each year when New Year’s Eve rolls around, you know you are bound to be asked what your resolution will be for the upcoming year. Most answers you’ll hear are losing weight, quit smoking, and eat healthier. Many dieting companies take advantage of this time to promote their weight loss programs. So far just this year, over $124,000,000 has been spent on weight loss programs in the United States alone. And even more is spent on advertising for these companies to market their plan. But, on average, these New Year’s resolutions to lose weight don’t last more than a few months. This is why most diet companies will increase the promotion of their weight loss program again around February/March (spring break time). And again before the summer begins, hoping that everyone is captured by the idea of getting the “beach body” they’ve always dreamed of. What was your New Year’s resolution? And have you stuck to it?

In Response to Christine's Post: "Superbowl Ads"

“Do you think showing the ads before the game was a good marketing strategy or not?”

Many of the companies that created special Superbowl commercials released them on the internet before the game started this year. I think this wasn’t the best idea on marketers’ part. Many people who tune in to the big game don’t even care about football, the watch for the good food, half time show, and commercials. In fact, about half of the people who attended the superbowl party I went to admitted they were most excited for the commercials. It’s possible that with those especially funny commercials available ahead of time, viewers may have been lost from the game; therefore viewers missing other commercials put on by the same advertisers. If the commercials for the superbowl were just every-day commercials, do you think less people would tune in to see the game?

T-Mobile Valentine's Deal

This new commercial by T-Mobile follows the same idea as the others, the beautiful girl in pink with the short dress telling you about deals that the phone company is having. T-Mobile’s most recent commercial is for Valentine ’s Day, promoting a phone sale for February 11^th. The commercial starts out with a man dressed as cupid saying that he wanted to surprise his girlfriend, but the T-Mobile Girl suggests he give her a smart phone from T-Mobile because they are on sale for the holiday. And then the narrator continues saying that all phones are FREE including smart phones. But if you look really close and you pause the video, you’ll read that the phone is only free with a purchase of a 2-year contract. Is this false advertising or just really good marketing? Because technically the actual phone will be free on that day but you have to pay at least $100 for the two year contract.

In Response to Christine's Post: "Importance of Surveys"

At the end of Christine's post she proposed the questions, "What type of surveys do you take? How do you think marketers can get more responses from customers?"

Christine mentioned in her post that she doesn't enjoy taking surveys and only really takes them after ordering a product online. I actually love taking surveys. Absolutely love it! Almost every time I order a product online I will fill out the customer survey about the product in order to help others decide to buy it or not. And on the other side of the survey, I often read customer reviews before buying an expensive product because I find them useful. So I understand how this information can be useful for marketers to know how to improve their product if necessary. I agree with Christine that having an incentive would help marketers get more people to take surveys. I may not go as far as to say a gift certificate but I think a discount would work sufficiently. I think a lot more people would be willing to take a customer appreciation survey or stay on the line for telephone surveys if they were guaranteed a 10% off coupon. Do you think customer surveys are affective or a waste of time for the company?

"Say Yes to the Dress" But At What Price?

I watch the show Say Yes to the Dress frequently with my mom when I am home from school. Like many women, I enjoy the show because I like to dream about my future wedding dress. But does the show portray the wrong image about wedding dress prices? On the show, the bride meets with a consultant to discuss budget and the type of dress they are looking for. Research has shown that the average price tag on a wedding gown from Kleinfeld’s is $4500; quadruple the amount that the typical New York woman spends on her dress. Whereas, the average wedding dress price at David’s Bridal is only $550 (which is still expensive for one day!).  So why is it that women feel the need to spend so much money on one dress? Moreover, why are women so willing to fall for the wedding industry’s marketing schemes that weddings need to be extravagant and expensive? I think part of it is relationship marketing: establishing a long-term, mutually satisfying buyer/seller relationship. When a bride goes to Kleinfeld’s to buy her wedding dress, the consultants do everything in their power to make that bride look as beautiful as possible. They build up the relationship to help encourage the bride to purchase the ‘dress of their dream’. When in reality, that bride could probably find a similar dress for half the price somewhere else. I think Kleinfeld’s is a successful company because they have a centralized organization and they focus on finding that dream dress for the bride. They establish performance standards and actually match up to those standards by doing whatever they can to make the bride happy. This definitely helps encourage brides to spend those extra thousand-or-so dollars to find the perfect dress. Can you think of another company that is so successful because they are good at what they do?

In Response to Nicole’s Post: "Why a Course in Marketing?"

At the end of Nicole’s blog post, she asked the question “What do you think is the most important reason why one may take a class that does not have to specifically do with their career path?”

I think it is very important for students to take courses outside of their major, like ISP courses at Keene State. By taking courses outside of your interest, you broaden your horizon of knowledge. If anyone has ever said that they learned absolutely nothing after completing a semester in a course, I don’t believe them. Whether you enjoy the subject or not, the professor or the reading materials in the class are going to teach you something you don’t know and it will most likely be something you can take with you for the rest of your life. For example, last semester I took an environmental studies course on food and health. I didn’t think I would learn much in the class and besides, what did that have to do with management and accounting? Absolutely nothing, but I learned so much on healthy food intake and the importance of choosing the right foods.

I think the same goes for a marketing course. I think students who are not management majors or minors could benefit from taking a marketing course. No matter what your career path may be, you will always need to sell yourself to a prospective employer. You will always need to prove that you are worth having as an employee.

What are some courses you have taken outside of your major? And did you learn anything worth while?