Link:http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2011/11/how-did-your-black-friday-behavior-compare.html

“Black Friday” is a typical example of sales promotion, which gives an incentive to customer to purchase the product- a push strategy. According to this blog entry, it attracted more male customers than female customers which is a surprise me. I think this indicates that retailers can launch more such sale promotions that specifically target males. It is worth to mention that the study proves 69 percent of customers think internet is believable which proves that Internet is the most important marketing medium not only because people are always online, but also internet is more believable. Personally, I believe it is because it is easy to find information online and not only from sellers but also from pervious users which increases the accuracy of the information.

Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/janienguyen/2011/10/24/its-free-but-whats-the-catch/

I think “freebies” is a really interesting topic because we all know that companies are not charity and they want profit. The reason that why companies give free products away is, for a new product, is a fairly good strategy since people do not give a new product a chance. After people try it, if it is good, then people will purchase it and tell their friends (good word of mouth). Even if it is bad, the company will get the feedback from people who get the free product so the company can stop further production and avoid cost. The disadvantage of giving free things away, as you mentioned, is that it might attract many unprofitable customers.

Link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/simonchow/2011/10/24/location-location-location/#content

I cannot agree more that Location (distribution) is an extremely important factor in the overall marketing mix.
Especially when considering the lunch options in UBC, I think it is the best evidence to support this argument. I do not know how to describe the food in UBC in a nice way; however, it does not change the fact that I still need to pay ridicule prices for them. However because of the good location of those businesses (while other elements of the marketing mix are so weak), they can still be profitable. Choosing a right location is the answer!

For my last blog entry, I would like to talk about the iPhone. Recently, Samsung has beaten Apple and took the lead in the smart-phone market because Samsung has successfully launched the Samsung galaxy S2. On the other hand, Apple’s iPhone 4S is not doing as well. I think the reason iPhone lost the lead in the smart phone market is because many iPhone lovers were expecting iPhone 5. Personally, I own an iPhone 4 which I think offers not much difference compared to the iPhone 4S, and according to rumors, the iPhone 5 will be launched in next March. I am confused about the marketing strategy that Apple is using. What is the reason that Apple updates its iPhone so frequently? On average, an iPhone costs 600 dollars, and if you want to get an iPhone by signing contract, the contract would be 3 years with at least 50 dollars monthly plan. How many people can afford to change to phone just to follow up apple’s updates? Yes, there are crazy Apple fans that are willing to spend that much money, but I still think Apple should focus on innovating new product rather than just taking advantage of its brand name (reputation) because if it will run out eventually without providing superior value consistently. In addition, I think Samsung is doing a good job with its new phone. I have tried it, user experience is definitely better than the current iPhone, and many of my other friends are considering changing their phone to Samsung. Good word of mouth is such a powerful marketing weapon.