Microsoft has decided to expand their products by creating Xbox Music. This system will be like iTunes in that its users can download songs to own, download music videos, and it has a “cloud storage feature”. It also includes a free radio streaming feature that has advertisements every 20 or so minutes or an ad free version of the same feature that costs only $9.99.

There are, as with everything, costs and benefits of this new service. The benefits include providing a competitive service like iTunes for Microsoft users and expanding their products to take part in the music industry.

There are also costs of this service that include creating the service and marketing it to their consumers.

The company also needs to think about the competition that iTunes provides. Apple is a very large, influential company and it will be hard to enter into a market that they already have a hold of. It will be difficult to convince people to make the switch from iTunes to a new Microsoft service. However, if Microsoft can convince its users that this new Xbox music is different and better than iTunes it could succeed in taking over part of the music market.

Malathi Nayak, Reuters, Financial Post, October 15th, 2012. http://business.financialpost.com/2012/10/15/microsoft-rolling-out-xbox-music-service-to-take-on-apple/

The question of gas being a necessity vs. a luxury has always been a controversy. Some people believe that gas is a necessity and that they can not live without it, but others may argue that there are other possible ways of transit including buses, taxis, biking, or walking.

The government has taxed gas as though it was a luxury as apposed to a necessity even though most people use it as a necessity just like they would heating for a house. The gas companies set the gas prices as if it was a luxury as well which doesn’t seem fair when most people treat it as a necessity.

The article in “The New York Times” talks about how people buy less of other luxuries including clothing and technology but they will continue to buy gas even as the prices rise. Continuous buying as prices rise is a characteristic of a necessity not a luxury. Therefore, gas should be considered a necessity.

The Associated Press, The New York Times, Sept 28, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/business/economy/consumer-spending-jumps-rising-with-gasoline-prices.html?_r=1&ref=consumerbehavior

Mercedes-Benz knows their target market well. It is very important to have this knowledge because, from it, you can figure out how, where, and when to advertise.

Mercedes seems to have used their marketing strategies perfectly by promoting their product at events that their target market attend including, but not limited to, the Ryder Cup (a large golfing event in the United States), New York Fashion Week, and the 2012 Superbowl.

Mercedes recently entered into the football market by buying the naming rights to the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans (a football stadium). This was a great marketing strategy because the finals of the NFL known as the “Super Bowl” will be hosted in this facility. Seeing as 30 second advertisements during the Super Bowl are now selling for as much as $4 million, having your name in association with the Super Bowl is great publicity.

Mercedes seems to have a firm grasp on who their target market is, and is using this to their advantage by advertising in places that these people are most likely to notice.

Picture: http://www.logodesignlove.com/images/evolution/mercedes-benz-logo-design.jpg

Kurt Badenhausen, Mercedes-Benz Uses Football, Fashion and the Ryder Cup To Boost Its Brands, Forbes, September 28, 2012. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/09/28/mercedes-benz-uses-football-fashion-and-the-ryder-cup-to-boost-its-brand/

Deciding which brands are the most influential is a difficult task. Whomever is making the decision about how influential the brand is has to take into account financial performance, the role the brand plays in influencing the choices made by consumers and the brand’s ability to help its parent’s earnings (Stuart Elliott, The New York Times, October 1st, 2012).

The brand consulting company that created this specific list of the top global brands is called Interbrand and is owned by the Omnicom Group. They decided that the top brand was “Coke” with “Apple” coming in a close second. One of the reasons why the results were interesting was because six of the top 10 brands were technology brands. This particular finding is interesting because branding is all about knowing human beings and “It’s irony, a group of technology companies showing the way how to be human”(Jez Frampton, Stuart Elliott, The New York Times, October 1st, 2012)

Another interesting fact found from the study is how much companies can rise and fall in the standings. Some companies rose up to 30 spots and others lost up to that amount in only one year.

Branding is important to a company but it is difficult to determine how well a company brands itself.

top 100 brands

The New York Times, List of Global Brands Keeps Coke on Top, and Apple Jumps Up, Stuart Elliott, October 1st, 2012.

Picture: http://www.squidoo.com/coca-cola-logo