In response to Lia's Starbucks

I can't say I'm a fan of Starbucks or coffee for that matter but I am a fan of the Starbucks approach to marketing. I couldn't agree more with the fact that Starbucks changed it up by not advertising on TV and really relying on their customers to get the Starbucks name out there. They've managed to become a big name business while still being that low key cool spot look and feel. Starbucks has continually been able to come up with ways to keep their patrons coming back whether it be the wi-fi or the atmosphere people definitely seem to love the place. Starbucks has also drawn attention to itself in another way that I think is quite interesting. People love to hate Starbucks! Whether it be the guy writing in public just so people can see, or the stuck up attitude that comes with being a Starbucks customer, people love to point it out. However in doing so they just draw more attention to the company so good job Starbucks you've managed to get yourself out there with out really advertising kudos to you.

Baseball's Epic Beard

Brian Wilson is a closer for the San Francisco Giants known for his beard and personality. Major league baseball has some new ad's out  in honor of opening day. The commercials being aired feature Brian Wilson's beard and it's strange inhabitants. In one commercial there are ninjas fighting in his beard and in another lumberjacks cutting down stalks of hair. The point of the advertisement is to draw attention to MLBalwaysepic.com a site that has just recently come to light. I think the ad's are great, Brian Wilson is quite a character and to have him (and his beard) featured in a commercial adds a nice funny side to baseball a normally fairly serious sport. The reason I chose this ad is because normally I'm not a very big baseball fan, but after seeing the ad's and interviews with Brian Wilson I'd be lying if i said I didn't want to watch more baseball. With that in mind I can't help but think that maybe others around the country are finding a new interest in america's past time. Are these commercials working for you? Do you think this new funnier side of the MLB would help attract some new audience members or maybe repel the older more traditional ones? Just in case you haven't seen the new commercials or interviews with Brian Wilson, i've included some links below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIlyu6ZGWI8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c4R-_0gMEw&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC52rkgkNgU

The Science Behind Labeling

After talking about labeling in class this week I got to thinking about just how important labeling is. I mean obviously it defines one product from another, it tells us what it’s supposed to do, and it’s supposed to appeal to us the consumer. That last part is the thing I decided to focus on, how packaging appeals to us. Companies spend millions on research figuring out what it is exactly that we desire in a product. They’ve gotten so good at it that it’s down to a science; everything about packaging is specifically designed that way. What color it is, the size, the outline, all arranged perfectly to make us want to buy.  I mean why not? If I were a CEO of a giant company I’d do everything I could to try and make that buying process that much easier, that much quicker, that much more pleasant. The problem is do you think there’s a point where they may have gone too far? These companies are beginning to tap into sub-conscious response mechanisms when designing packaging or whatever that we can’t control. During Christmas shopping stores play faster Christmas songs to try and make people un-easy and in a rush, they want you in and out. They want you to pick up that over priced present and to not have a second thought about buying it.  This isn’t the only example there are examples everywhere of companies using tricks like this to make that buying decision easier for us! I guess my point is do you think it’s ethical for companies to do this kind of thing. Is this borderline subliminal messaging? Sure we have free will we can always just say no, but in my opinion the odds are stacked against us. What do you think, should there be some limit, or do you think companies should continue to these kinds of things?

My Favorite Marketing Campaign

When you start an advertising campaign you're sure to make your product look the best. That's how advertisers have done it most of the time however Dos Equis decided to do things a little differently. They introduced the most interesting man in the world, a character who has seem to have done it all. Whether it be climbing mountains hunting treasure, or speaking perfect french in russian. the interesting part about this campaign is what he says at the end of the commercial. He calmly tells the audience that he doesn't always drink beer but when he does he prefers Dos Equis. What advertiser would say to its customers that well if you're thinking about drinking a beer maybe you should try a Dos Equis. When most others make it seem like using there product is the best thing you could do. Nonetheless it worked Dos Equis has seen significant sale increases since the ad aired something along the lines of 32%. Does the ad work for you if you do drink beer or do you think it could have been better? Also have you seen any successful campaigns similar to Dos Equis? If so what.

The My Best Segment Site

I entered my zip code into the site thats supposed to tell me exactly what kind of people live near me and i was surprised at how kind of on it was. I didn't think it would be anything near what the city of Somersworth was like but it was it got it almost spot on. The older Somersworth community with a bit of a rustic feel to it, as I was reading i could picture people i know that fit into those categories.  It's interesting to think that there are sites that can do this sort of thing. My question is how do they do it? Do you they send a crew or take surveys? Whatever they're doing it's working at least it is here.  It's interesting to think about what you could do with information like this, marketers could get there advertising to the people they want to and not those who would disregard it. Tools like this could be extremely useful to someone trying to find a certain group of people or maybe someone just doing research. The site could be better though I think, imagine a site that not only has just some general description of the people that live in an area but a site that has fairly detailed information about the area. Where they shop, when they shop, what they're buying, the type of people that live there, demographics, etc. all information a budding business or a huge corporation could use. Do you think a site like that could ever exist? why or why not.

In response to Jordan

I think they might, Japan is a far more health conscious country then we are clearly. But when all of the sudden these people are exposed to the same kind of crap we eat problems start to rise. In today's culture everyones looking to save money, and once they save that money they want whatever they payed for that instant. It's no longer about quality and craftsmanship it's about how fast can we as a company shove stuff down peoples throat. How can Japan ever hope to have a chance if McDonalds a company known for being unhealthy is suddenly spending millions to try and figure out how to make them eat? I think if not careful then maybe Japan could have obesity issues like we have in the states. Do you think Japan is doomed or do you think they have a chance to not become the next obese country?

Bi-Winning

Some people might think it's more important to have people see them as a shining example of good. Charlie Sheen however is quite content with people seeing him for the way he is a recovering addict. I chose this to blog about because it's a great example of the social networking phenomenon and because it's relevant i think to marketing ones self. Most companies go out of there way to ensure they have a shiny sparkly image that no one could slander. However Sheen is here telling the world that "he bumps seven gram rocks". You would think that this would ruin his career but it's doing the opposite. Sheen has become more popular after this interviewed aired then I think anyone thought he could or would. He recently set the world record for fastest time to reach one million followers on twitter when he did it in 25 hours and 17 minutes. He plans to pitch products on Twitter now because of this which i'm sure he'll get paid for. This approach obviously couldn't work for everyone but it has for him and he's making the best of it. What do you think after seeing this interview are you more of a Sheen fan or less? Just incase you haven't had a chance to see the interview I've included a link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSa4tmVNM