In response to Laura's post...

In Laura's recent post, she asked the question: "Do you think marketing to certain segments or marketing to society as a whole is more beneficial (in all senses of the word)? Why?"

I think that both approaches can have positive benefits. When marketing to a specific segment, marketers can get more information on the particular target market. Since they know exactly who they are marketing to, they will be able to do more research and be able to learn more about this specific target market. A downside to this, however, is that when only marketing to a specific target market, a company may miss out on appealing to many more people. Since most of the marketing efforts will be going into a specific target market, those outside this target market may not be marketed to and the company may miss out on sales.

When mass marketing, however, a company can attempt to appeal to everybody all at once. This can be very beneficial since everyone will be exposed to the marketing and such a large audience is being reached. The downside to this approach will be the lack of information, preferences, and overall research about the customers in the market. Since it is very difficult to do research on an entire market, many marketers may have a tough time deciding what kinds of advertising, products, etc. to supply to a market, which can be easier when marketing to a target market. Since preferences in mass marketing can differ greatly, it may be difficult for some companies to market their product as successfully as if they were trying to appeal to a target market.

Overall, I think that each approach can have many positive and negative aspects, and a company should tailor its needs to what it thinks will be better. Do you agree that there may be no clear cut winner?

In response to Michelle's atricle...

Michelle asked the question, "do you find anything interesting in this article?"

My response would be...I find it interesting that she thinks that many people ignore direct forms of mail. In my recent trip to the mailbox, I received a Domino's pizza flyer. I did not ignore this and even if it wasn't something that I am interested in (pizza), I would still give a quick glance to what the piece of mail was. Even if I only gave the flyer a quick glance, I would still have seen the comapny's name, what they are selling, and perhaps something else. So, overall I disagree that people completely ignore direct mail, and although e-marketing may almost completely replace traditional forms of marketing, direct mail can still be a potent form of catching consumers' attention.

E-Marketing- Friend or Foe?

In one article, "From Print, to Phone, to Web And a Sale?" the author describes how many magazine publishers are including bar codes in advertisements so that consumers can simply take a picture of the bar code with their smartphone and they will be directly brought to the website in which this product is being sold. This will be a completely revolutionizing idea that I am sure we will see many people using in the next few years. Although the concept did not work several years ago, the ubiquity of smartphones and internet bases cell phones is making it easier and easier for customers to access these websites.

I think that this is a very good idea and makes it easier for a company to focus on the product variable of the marketing mix (since a customer can view the specs of the product online) and the promotion variable (as the customer is being exposed to the product both online and in print). One potential problem with this system, however, is that not everyone owns a smartphone, and even if they do, they may not have the proper software to take advantage of the bar codes. Another possible concern is the increasing use of the internet for marketing, and the slowly disappearing distribution of print media. Many people no longer buy magazines, newspapers, catalogs, etc. because everything that is published in these print media can be viewed online. Even with the bar code scanning system, the push is to move everyone into an electronic medium.

I am sure that very soon e-marketing will almost completely replace traditional forms of marketing (snail mail, phone calls, etc.). As many marketers focus almost solely on e-marketing, the print ads and traditional forms of marketing will begin to disappear as companies will focus most of their time, energy, and capital in the electronic market. But regardless of how many time and energy is put into e-marketing, snail mail will always be present-and for a good reason. When a consumer receives a letter in the mail or an advertisement, they have no choice but to look at it (even if just for a brief second) and therefore have seen an advertisement. When looking at a webpage, it can become quite easy to completely ignore or not even see some advertisements because you may have to scroll down to see them, or you only focus on the main content of the webpage. Also, in a book I read recently called "Appreciation Marketing," the book describes that many consumers want to have a relationship with a company and that they enjoy a human touch. The more personalized form of phone calls, snail mail, etc. creates more of this personal touch, rather than just a generic banner on a webpage.

So, although we will see a large push towards e-marketing through bar codes, banners on web pages, and the ubiquity of the online marketplace, I doubt that traditional forms of marketing will ever cease to exist. Do you agree that these traditional forms of marketing should be kept in place? What other problems to you think of in the advent of e-marketing? Do you think appreciation marketing really works?

In response to Michelle's post...

Michelle, in her recent blog, posed the question: "do you believe that a good reputation or word of mouth is better?" and "are these good marketing strategies?"

I believe that word of mouth can be a very potent way of getting a company's name out there. Panera (as Michelle brought up) is a perfect example of marketing through word of mouth. But in order for consumers to speak highly of a company, they must have a good reputation first. Through a high quality product, excellent customer service, etc., a business can build a good reputation and as a result, customers will be pleased and spread the good word. I believe that this can be a very effective way of marketing, with no direct marketing costs involved. This strategy is not matched by any fancy jingles or clever slogans, which seem to be stuck in our heads for days, but has proved successful for many companies like Panera Bread. Do you agree that a company should build a good reputation first and then rely on the word of mouth?

The Misunderstood 'P'

The 4 p's of the marketing mix should all be carefully considered when marketing a product and marketers have to carefully decide which of the p's to focus on. Price, promotion, and product are the 3 p's that the customer notices most. Naturally, the customer will want to know the price of the item that they are buying so this may be the most important part of the marketing mix, in the eyes of the consumer. A customer will also want a high quality product, so product is very important also; and naturally the customer will need to hear about the product, so promotion is also very important. But the remaining element of the marketing mix is often overseen by the consumer.
The place variable involves many different elements in itself, including distribution, inventory, etc. The placement of a product in a store often goes unnoticed by a customer, however. For example, in a supermarket next to the checkout there is almost always candy bars, magazines, and other small gadgets that many customers buy subconsciously. I believe that the placement of these prodcuts boosts the sales of the grocery store a lot. This placement variable can be very important for marketers looking to sell their products. Again, in the supermarket, the basic staples (milk, eggs, bread) are almost always in the very back corner of the store, so that when a customer goes to purchase these products they must walk pass every aisle and often times they will buy more than they originally came in the store for. This is why I believe that the place variable of the marketing mix can be one of the most important for marketers to take advantage of. Do you agree that this may be the most important variable for marketers? Do you think any of the other variables go as unnoticed by a customer?

Response to Kelcy's Post

This is in response to Kelcy's question: "If any company markets their product internationally, do you think the company will flourish no matter what?"

I believe that it can be very important for a company to market internationally, if they are ready for it. Marketing internationally involves a lot of time, money, and effort on behalf of the entire company. Certainly marketing to an international audience can be very beneficial in that more customers are reached, more profit can be made, exchange rates can work in your favor, etc. There are many great benefits that can come from international marketing. I don't believe, however, that a company will flourish no matter what if they market their product internationally.

A company can make many mistakes in marketing, as seen in class with Euro Disney. In order for a company to make their product available to international markets, a lot of research must be done. If a company does not study the culture, the people, and even the language, many mistakes can be made and the company may actually offend some people or fail in that given country. This is obviously the opposite effect that the marketers want, and as a result, the company may not succeed. Also, there may be no demand for a product that a company makes in particular countries or regions. For example, there is probably not much demand for North Face jackets in Africa and other hot, dry regions. So, if a company does its research and studies the culture and believes that that there is a market for their product, they may be successful, but they will not indefinitely flourish. Do you agree that a company must take these steps to be successful?

E-marketing

E-marketing is completely revolutionizing the way marketing is being done. With recent advancements in technology and with virtually everyone in the entire country using the internet on a daily basis, e-marketers are finding it easier and easier to get the word out about their products. Out of the 4 P's of the marketing mix, I believe that the place and promotion factors are impacted the most by the advent of e-marketing.

The place factor has been greatly impacted by e-marketing because any and every product is available nearly instantaneously. The distribution factor should have products available at the right time at the right place and in the right quantities. Since the global market is so highly integrated now, customers looking at products will be able to see exactly how much of a product a company has, when it is able to be shipped, when it will arrive at the customers' house, etc. Also, e-marketing has benefited companies with inventory control. Companies such as Wal-Mart have instant inventory systems in which, as soon as a product is sold in a store, the information to order a replacement is already in China and will ship domestically extremely quickly. This allows companies to always have the correct amount of any given product, whenever the customers want it.

Promotion is probably the most affected factor by e-commerce as companies can target market their product(s) on any website that they would like. This allows companies to market to only the customers they believe will buy their product, hence saving thousands of dollars a year and avoiding marketing to customers who are unlikely to buy that product being advertised. Companies are also able to publish information about their products such that customers can do research and find out background information about the company or product, or simply look at the features a product has. Since a customer who visits a firm's website is interested in the products that that company has to offer, the company can highlight the products it wants to sell the most.

I believe that e-marketing is one of the most useful tools that marketers can use, and as a result, they can target market their customers like never before, all while saving thousands, if not millions, of dollars a year. With all these new forms of internet marketing, what do you think we will see in the next few years? What new ways can marketing managers take advantage of e-marketing?