Response to Nicoles question on infomercials

I think infomericals are very annoying but I too get sucked into them most times. I find myself watching them and thinking how stupid they are but then I realize that they succeeded in trying to garner my attention. When infomercials come on I usually change the channel because I think they are a waste of time . Although they usually annoy me, sometimes the products they are selling are pretty funny.

What is your favorite or least favorite commercial?Why?

Social Media and Promotion

Promotion is a very important part of selling the product/service. There are many different ways a company can promote its product to the public. I think that social media is the most effective way because it isnt as aggressive as say a survey would be. With todays world being dominated by social media this gives companies an opportunity to connect with many potential customers on a consistent basis. People are constantly on their phones and laptops so this constant reminder of a product or products gives the companies promoting their products through social media a competitive advantage in the market. Contests are also a great way for a company to promote its product and with consumers online all the time this gives companies a chance to combine these two promotional strategies into one. This may not be as successful because for me personally when I see a contest online I ignore it, assuming its spam or some kind of virus.

Although social media is a great way to promote a product, in what ways would it be unsuccessful?

Response to Jonathan Tomachicks question

Do you think Television Stations may go too far in the future in regards to the viewer-voting competition shows, similar to "Survivor", "Big Brother", and the new ones to come?

I think that TV stations have already gone too far with these competition shows such as survivor and big brother because they arent as popular as they once were.  It is hard for us to truly think that these people are really "surviving" the harsh conditions of an island with dozens of cameras all around at almost every angle. For me I think that these shows are more of a nice vacation for people as they get to go to beauitufl islands and "face the wild".It was only the first couple of seasons that were really popular for survivor and it has been struggling for viewers ever since. I think our generation is more likely to watch the viewer-voting competition shows for music such as American Idol, or The Voice which has become really popular in the last year. Just like when survivor became popular, shows like American Idol or The Voice will become more mainstreem.

Why do you think Americans cling to shows that are competition related?

Pricing Strategies

Chapter 19 talks about pricing concepts and strategies. There are many different options for pricing strategies including:
Penetration Pricing- Start off with a product with a low price, and as customer base increases you can jack up the price.
Optional Pricing- A company would sell optional products with a main product to help with sales.
Premium Pricing- A price is set very high in relation to aa luxury product.
Competition Pricing- Setting the price of a product to that of your competitors.
Bundle Pricing- A company bundles together multiple products to sell together at a discounted rate.
Skimming Pricing- A product starts off at a high price and goes down over time to reach a larger market.
Psychological Pricing- The seller decides the price based on what they think a consumer will pay for the product.

Some real life examples of these definitions include:
Penetration pricing- Dish Newtwork will offer a satellite dish to its customer at a low rate, and then once the market increaed for there product, they would increase the price for the cable or satellite channels.
Competitive Pricing- In most retail stores such as Target and WalMart you will see adds about having the lowest price. Some even have little print that says "Compare to Targets price at $X.XX".
Skimming Pricing- When XBOX and Playstation come out with the Xbox 720 and Playstation 4, the prices are going to be very high. But as time passes the product will start to fall in price. For example when the PS3 came out it cost around $500, and today you can purchase a PS3 for around $250.

When thinking about all of the pricing strategies, one jumped out at me. Psychological pricing seems like a companies best way of making a profit. Companies price things different to get the consumer to have a different reaction. A company would market something for $10 but price it a $9.99. For some reason this makes consumers want the product more because it is cheaper, when really it is not. Why do you think psychological pricing is so successful in todays market?

Response to Kaley DeBoer's question about commercials

I think the most rediculous commercials are the state farm commercials with the jingle followed by a wish and it coming true. These commercials are advertising an insurance company and the commercials insinuate that when in a bad spot you can teleport with your insurance agent completely goes beyond the point of trying to convince a consumer to buy your insurance. Another commercial that came to my mind with this question was the toyata commercials that were able to push a car up the mountain or do snowboard tricks, and even help a plane land.

Why do you think a company would make a commercial that completely ignores the product its trying to advertise?

Supply Chain Management

In Chapter 14 the key processes of supply chain management are pinpointed. There are eight critical business processes that are identified which supply chain managers must focus on to obtain success: Customer relationship management, customer service management, demand management, order fulfillment, manufacturing flow management, supplier relationship management, product development and commercialization, and returns management. Supply chain management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.

Which of the eight processes are most important to the supply chain management?

Response to Katie O'Hurley's AT&T question

I think that Budweiser did that a while back with the "Wazzup" commercials. I think that they were a huge hit with consumers and people who watched TV thought it was funny. I dont know if there were any numbers revealed that can back that but I believe its pretty similar to what AT&T is doing but also to a completely different target market. I personally loved the Budweiser commercials and think the new AT&T ones are hilarious.

Why do you think commercials like these are so effective, especially when they dont have anything to do with the product?