Throughout the semester, I really enjoyed working with my group and researching our company of choice, Mountain Equipment Co-op. Although our team had a few minor issues on the last assignment I thought that we worked really well together overall. Not only did we have strong team moral yet our diligent work ethic insured that all of our assignments were completed efficiently and well before the due dates.

The first assignment taught me the most about marketing, as it was the first assignment where we had to use what we have learned in class and relate it to a specific company. I find in some classes we are taught certain ideas, however, we are never able to connect them to any realistic examples and so this project helped me fully understand the concepts in an outside of the classroom sort of way. The last assignment was beneficial in terms of analyzing the marketing mix to our specific target segment but I feel that the amount of video editing required was a lot. One of the positives that came out of it though is at least I can put “master of video editing” on my resume. 😛

In the beginning of this course, I had a completely different view on marketing but quickly into the semester I realized the complexity and how important marketing really is in order for a company to succeed in the business world today. Even though I do not plan on specializing in marketing later on, I will be able to see business from a side I had not previously considered as substantial of an aspect.

Thank you Professor Tamar for a great marketing class!

Real Time Marketing- A Review of  “The Script Of Improv – What Is (And Isn’t) Real Time Marketing” by Influential Marketing Blog

Before I delve into my thoughts, questions and summary points of this article I am sure some of you are asking the same obvious question I was when I came across this blog: “What is Real Time Marketing anyway?”.

On LinkedIn Real Time Marketing is defined as “Real-time marketing is marketing performed “on-the-fly” to determine an appropriate or optimal approach to a particular customer at a particular time and place.” A definition, however, I do not feel fully captures the essence behind this business “improv” so hopefully an example will be better able to convey this idea. Steve Hall ranked Charmin top spot on “10 Oscar-Worthy Examples of Brands Newsjacking the Academy Awards” for their twitter campaign during the Oscars which read “Good luck to the nominees tonight. Don’t forget to look down before your speech.” And had a picture of a woman in an evening dress with a trail of toilet paper following her on stage.

The Influential marketing blog goes on to discuss two different approaches to real time marketing. This blog was interesting because of its report style layout showing various pros and cons of both styles as well as who should use this tpe of strategy and why it works. The most surprising point I found was how often this type of marketing occurs and how it can be so well written that we can feel as if the brand we are watching update on our computer screen is actually a real person with a real personality. However, if this type of marketing is not handled in the right way, in the right context and targeted to the right audience it can be a major rsik of sending out the wrong message to your audience.

I would highy recommend reading both the Influential Marketing Blog on this subject as well as the article by Steve Hall because I feel this is a type of marketing we have no yet been taught about, yet we are exposed to it almost everyday.

In general, my children refused to eat anything that hadn’t danced on TV.  ~Erma Bombeck

Over the past few decades the amount of solely children targeted marketing campaigns has exploded globally and is an evident part of everyday life in any average North American household. Marketers rely on a few key strategies to connect with kids, and in turn influence the purchasing patterns of parents. One of these strategies is known as “Pester Power” where marketers reach out only to children in the hopes that they will voice their wants and nag at their parents. Research has proven that children are given more and more choice as we move from one generation to the next which makes this type of marketing to children the most appropriate way to reach the one who will ultimately be making the buying decision.  Before marketers are able to get children talking about their products, however, they must find a youth friendly communication channel. A strategy marketers have employed to combat the over stimulated minds of kids is to use what is known as “Buzz or Street Marketing”. Buzz marketing involves connecting with some of the more popular or influential members of a demographic and having them communicate the value of a product. This can be accomplished through kids actually wearing the product or by using the technologically revamped word of mouth technique via the internet. One example of Buzz Marketing is when Hasbro Games created “secret agents” out of numerous elementary aged students and tasked them with playing their games with their peers. I believe this type of marketing is so popular and effective due to one person relating to another instead of being pitched a sale by someone they do not even connect with. Being able to envision themselves wearing, using and most importantly buying the product due to the commonalities between the reference character and themselves creates a sense of confidence that he or she may not have gotten through a scripted commercial.

Read more children oriented marketing techniques at

http://mediasmarts.ca/marketing-consumerism/how-marketers-target-kids

According to Forbes, in comparison to recent history, 2013 is going to be a year filled with atypical marketing strategies. Lately, we as consumers have been bombarded with flashy, over-stimulating and often confusing commercials and constantly haunted by over used social media messaging. However, in their recent article “5 Surprising Marketing Trends for 2013” Forbes is predicting a break from these tactics. Along with simplifying marketing strategies and streamlining social media use, the article also suggests trends of moving away from campaign based marketing, improving mobile marketing strategies, and also working towards evaluating marketing efficiency based on revenue generation. The trend of cutting back on social media presence I believe will be a welcome one from both sides in the buyer and seller relationship. Social media provides a huge platform for marketing, however, for companies it is exhausting trying to keep up with the most popular sites in the ever-changing online world. Also, it is frustrating as a viewer of these internet marketing tactics to see the amount of overlap that is currently going on due to products trying to be everywhere at once online. The idea of progressing more into the mobile marketing sector I found fairly surprising. The popularity and sales of smartphones have grown exponentially over the past few years and according to Forbes marketing teams are just now trying to catch up and fully implement this area of consumer interest into their overall long term strategies. The trend I find not only the most interesting but also the most necessary is the idea of trying to simplify marketing tactics. As the article discusses it is not only important to move towards a more straightforward marketing strategy but also to focus on showing us, as customers, how the products can simplify our individual experiences. A few years ago Google came out with a commercial that I feel utilizes the idea of “less is more” when portraying their message through advertising and provides evidence on how their service can help us navigate through everyday situations. Hopefully, as predicted by Forbes and as seen in the Google Ad I’ve attached, more companies will decide to focus on simplicity in 2013, and promote their products in a way that will not add to the continuous sensory overload that we have been experiencing over the past few years.

(video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS4Lb-ie4Lc

(article)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/01/23/5-surprising-marketing-trends-for-2013/

In the technology drivenworld we live in today, we all question whether or not privacy is still a relevant concern for companies when it comes to the well-being of their consumers. The recent scandal involving Apple’s iPhone tracking system not only brings about questions of if privacy is a priority for businesses anymore, but also how issues like this should be approached and responded to, both by the consumers and the companies involved. Something I feel both aided in causing this privacy breach issue and also allowed it to escalate and perpetuate further was Apple’s secrecy surrounding the data collection and their inability to respond quickly to concerned product owners. It is important for consumers to not only be able to trust the physical product but also the company behind it and Apple has lost some of this trust due to not handling the scandal in a timely fashion. Because privacy is such a sensitive topic when it comes to products such as phones and computers where people expect their personal information to be safe, Apple’s lengthy response time comes off asbeing uncaring. As a consumer, I believe we cannot let companies get away with hiding these types of facts from us. When you think about everything you keep on these devices such as addresses, emails, and even banking related codes and information, it becomes obvious why there has been such a strong reaction to this tracking and data collection issue. Besides those, however, the shear disregard for personal privacy understandably angers the consumers who have committed to supporting Apple through purchasing their products. Going forward Apple must show empathy for the issues that came about due to this location tracking scandal and be more committed in the future about offering clear and prompt explanations to its consumers.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/27/apple-location-response/