Impersonating Morgan Freeman, then “mixing up the market with the 4P” and breaking down what Abercrombie and Fitch does wrong in a rap, not your typical marketing presentation, of course you never expected for a bunch of guys to take on A&F as their company of choice. Overall it was a very good experience, my group had amazing chemistry and we really did learn a lot.

In terms of chemistry, we used to do long meetings and actually get a lot of work done. I mean we would start the meeting with “this needs to get done”, then divide the work and work in smaller subteams. This worked during the first two assignments, but in the third one, we found that everyone had to become a bit more specialized. In a way this proved what we had learned in OB about the speed specializing has.

Furthermore, I realized that what normally happens in team projects,where one person, normally in charge of the project, starts to complain about everyone else’s work and acts like they know what they are doing is NOT EFFECTIVE. Rather, a better approach to take is to completely get rid of anyone acting as that person and instead have everyone do their part then come together to give feedback. I have found that strategy to work very well, because everyone is good at something, but there could be a mismatch between the job and the person’s skills, therefore having everyone look at the work, means that there will be consensus as to what is good and what is bad. Lastly, there is much less risk taking in this strategy, as opposed to the one person taking charge.

This group project is going to be a memorable experience and I plan to use what I have learned doing this for future group projects.

According to Eric Wittlake’s blog the ability to change marketing strategies is very important. I find this interesting, because we always talk about how effective marketing strategies, but we do not talk about the importance of changing and adapting marketing strategies.

For example VIsa, before the recession VIsa used to advertise with people buying expensive, somewhat luxurious goods, like in this VIsa ad where James Bond gives a young man his Visa card to repair a broken cart. The man ends up using the card to buy a motorcycle for his cart. This is showing that VIsa wanted their card to be used for more expensive goods. On the other hand, after recession hit and more people were using credit cards for everyday purchases visa released this Super Bowl Ad. It starts with the narrator pointing out that the customer is using his visa card for an everyday purchase.

Changes in strategy are not always successful, JC Penney recently tried to repositino itself to a more “everyday low prices” brand, but was not successful because consumer’s were unable to understand some of the new concepts Penney had introduced to sustain this new position. Unfortunately, Penney was forced to change strategy again after their strategy was proven to not be effective or increase sales.

This post shows what Wittlake had originally said in that being able to change marketing strategy is one of the most important aspects for a company.

In Elyssa Heng’s blog, she talks about the rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, but there is no better example of their rivalry than when Pepsi created Pepsi crystal and coke killed it.

Back in 1992 Pepsi decided to try and create a clear pepsi to try and compete with non-cola drinks, such as Sprite and Fanta. In taste tests this drink seemed to be very popular and consumers liked it. To these consumers, the clear color meant wellness, which Pepsi tried to reinforce by making the drink caffeine-free. Pepsi was also looking to launch on superbowl, which is known as one of the best times to advertise.

Then one day, Coke came and introduced “Tab Clear”, a drink similar to “Crystal Pepsi”, but diet. This subtle change ended up taking advantage of the confusion consumers had in thinking of “Pepsi Crystal” as a wellness drink, with the same great taste as Pepsi without caffeine and repositioned Pepsi Crystal as a medicinal drink. Within six months, both “Tab Clear” and “Crystal Pepsi” were taken off the market. This is one of my favorite stories of the adversity between Pepsi and Coke, because it shows the affect both have on each other and has an amazing strategy.