In Response to Sam's Post

Who is your favorite artist sponsored by?
Are you more likely to buy that product?

I don't think I even know who my favorite artists are sponsored by. I guess that means either I don't pay enough attention, or it isn't extremely noticeable to me. However, with few that I can think of, it doesn't really make me want to buy their items. It's just something I notice and move on from. 

Email Promotions

At most businesses, especially retail businesses, we are often asked to give our email address for coupons and other promotional information. It's a good idea as far as marketing goes. The more coupons or sale information a customer gets, the more likely they are to shop at the business. But how often do we really read these emails? I myself have signed up for a few business email lists, but when I get these emails I usually just delete them before I read them. Part of me thinks that it's great they're having a sale, but I'm sure I'll get another email next week with information about a different sale. These emails usually end up in the deleted folder pretty quickly, so how affective are they really?

Do you pay more attention to the emails you receive from companies? How affective do you think email promotions are?

In Response to Roland's Post

This has probably generated a lot of traffic to their web site and perhaps even some purchases of products that are “in stock”, which is their intent. But is this type of ad fair to consumers? Does it cross any ethical or legal boundaries?

I think it's bad marketing for the company. Situations like that have happened to me, and it always bothers me. Why promote something that you can't keep a good inventory on? It shows bad business skills and will more likely than not keep customers from coming back to shop with American Eagle. 

Target Markets

Target markets are an important part of selling a product or service. It's important to understand your target market in order to be able to sell a product. Much like packaging, you need to really know what will catch that person's eye. Marketers pay really close attention to things like this, and if you pay really close attention yourself, you'll be able to see what kinds of tactics they use to reach the target market they're aiming to reach.

 It's interesting to watch commercials on different T.V channels. You never really think about how tailored they are the you as a viewer, but the companies paying for those commercials put a lot of thought into which channel they will advertise on. If you're watching a channel like TLC, you're not going to see a lot of commercials for Nike's new running shoe for men, or the latest sports gear for sale at Sport's Authority. It would be more likely that you would see commercials for make up, skin care products or products for young families.  While if you were watching the SyFy channel, you most likely wouldn't see those types of commercials.

Advertisements on television are extremely catered to the target market of the channel. The ones that air not only have to be made in a way that will catch the target market of the product itself, but also in a way that will catch the eye of the other viewers watching, so it does not seem too out of place.

Which target market do you see things advertised to most often?  Have you ever though a commercial seemed out of place compared to the channel you were watching?

Packaging

Packaging can be one of a product's most powerful factors. Price, obviously, is important. If something is too much money than no one is going to buy it. But packaging has the ability to draw a customer in and convince them whether or not to buy the product. Packaging designers have to think about not only how to best protect the product inside, but also the flashiest way to present it. Packaging involves a great deal of understanding people. Once you pick a target market, you have to know what will draw that targeted group of people in. If the target market is seven year old girls, would you expect that dark, muted colors to draw them in, or bright, fun colors? Do you use mature language to describe it or a more basic vocabulary  Questions like that might seem pretty obvious, but the decisions made about packaging are a key role in whether or not the product will sell. We're always taught to not judge a book by its cover, but in reality almost everybody judges things by how they look, even if it's just a subconscious decision.

What do you think is the most important part in designing a product? Why?

In Response to Kerri's Post

I too am a huge fan of Naked juice smoothies. The Rainforest Alliance, I think, is a great way to market a product. Much like Kerri said, it's not always a factor in people's decisions to buying a product, but similar fads like Fair Trade and Equal Exchange are really starting to take off with today's society, and products that use methods like this as a marketing tool I believe will help in future sales. Not only are these methods better for the environment and the economy, but they're a way to reach a growing number of people who are extremely interested in the environment.

Gap: The Water Quality Program

After looking into the Gap for the Marketing paper due this week, I got really into the idea of how different companies use their business to help the environment. Gap, for example, has a lot of different ways they help the environment, including steadily conserving energy and keeping water clean.

One of the biggest parts of the research involving their environmental responsibility was their Water Conservation Project. In 2012 Gap was named one of the most ethical companies in the world. This is a huge deal considering the problems some global, factory-based companies have with ignoring human rights and the environment. The Water Quality Program is the Gap's way of ensuring they they don't just build a factory in a foreign country and leave all of their waste behind. According to their website, making jeans requires washing with a lot of chemicals and dyes. These chemicals can seep into the water in the areas around their factories, and the Gap makes it their mission to make sure that doesn't happen. 100% of their factories participate in this program. They all send their used water through treatment so that they don't pollute the waterways.

Have you heard of any other companies forming or participating in programs like this? If so, who?

For more info on the program, click here.