Where did the time go?

I took this Marketing class as my business elective, and I am very glad I did. This was such an interesting class, and I learned a great amount from Professor Walls. I am graduating in two weeks and finishing up my college life with this class has been wonderful. At first, I thought the blogs would be boring, but I have actually enjoyed expressing my thoughts and learning about new marketing concepts. I never realized that marketing is such a big part of my daily life, and I am now aware of my surroundings and correlate it all back to marketing.

In the beginning of the course, Professor Walls lectured about the "Paradox of Choice." Not only is the paradox of choice relevant for buying products at a grocery store, they were extremely relevant in the group project. From the start, Professor Walls allowed each group to choose their own segment. If he just assigned us a segment like he did for the rooms, it would be easy because we would be forced to work with what we got. instead, a group of 5 people had to decide which segment would be easy to work with. Also, we had to choose a segment that we could easily relate to each room. Our group struggled with choosing a segment because there were so many that we brainstormed. We finally narrowed the choices down to two. We went back and forth between teenage girls and expecting parents. We finally chose expecting parents. The funny part is, a couple of weeks later, were were not satisfied with our decision, so we changed it to parents that just had a baby. This goes to show that making decisions are not easy when you have many choices to choose from. Also, it is easy for people to regret a decision and desire a change.

Another topic that I learned was that marketers really have to fully understand the consumer before attempting to sell a product. Looking back at "The Persuaders," I realized that Song Airlines really concentrated on connecting with consumers on a more personal level. They want to benefit the customer in a beneficial and emotional way. Our group tried to understand our target segment in the same way. By performing surveys, we got answers to their wants and needs, as well as an understanding of how they feel. We also got our participants to email us several pictures of their likes and dislikes in the bedroom, which helped us analyze what products would be useful for them. Without any of this research in understanding the consumer, we would have never been able to produce a prototype. Our group produced a baby monitor that text messages the parents when the baby is crying. This is a convenient item that allows the parents to be away from their baby when they need to relax. Many couples like to have their space from the baby, not in a bad way! They just like to have time to themselves when the baby is asleep.

I had a great time working on this project. My teammates were great! They all contributed in their own way and everyone was always on top of things. I thought we were extremely organized and separated the work evenly so that it was fair. I really enjoyed Professor Walls teaching this class. He really helped our group and gave us good ideas that we never even thought about. He was very nice to participate in our research and always took the time to hear our concerns after class. It was a great learning process and I like how we slowly learned more about our target segment each week. Each work day, we got to dive in and really think of new ideas and emotions from our segment and room.

Reading Blogs

I read Jacqueline Nguyen's Blog #7 about Product Placement. I never notice how often products were advertised in movies because I am always captivated by the movie plot that I do not realize that there are products being marketed and advertised throughout the entire movie. Jacqueline gave many examples of movies that portrayed products inside the movie. The products can be anything from a huge part of the movie, like the cars in the movie, Fast and the Furious, or it can even be a cell phone that was used once in the movie.

Another movie Jacqueline mentioned was "He's Just Not That Into You." Drew Barrymore’s character owned a MacBook that had its own scene with MySpace about dating. I watched this movie with a bunch of my girlfriends and I actually recall telling my friend beside me that I would love to own a MacBook. I have had a DELL laptop for over 3 years now, and now the MacBook is the new trend. Everyone is changing to MacBooks so the movie definitely made me crave a new laptop.

I believe that the more the product is exposed in the movie, the more effective it would be for the audience's recall rates. If the product is associated with a main character, verbally mentioned and/or they may play a key role in the storyline, this will be the most effective for consumers. I agreed with Jacqueline when she said that the future of movies is going to have a blur or products in them, where the plot even revolves around the product. I know that many companies are paying for their products to be shown in the movies because it is a great way to market them. Many people like to skip commercials, so the products are not getting much exposure. With huge hit movies, many people are forced to be exposed to seeing the products and the products may be shown in a different light where the consumer relates the product to the movie. This may create a positive emotion about the product.

There is one movie in particular that I remember the product being exposed throughout the movie. In the "Sex and the City" movie, Absolut Vodka was displayed everywhere. In the movie, Samantha is a PR representative that helps her boyfriend appear in a seductive compaigne called "Absolut Hunk." The billboard was placed in Time Square and all of the girls loved him. The Absolut Hunk has now become a real drink and is very popular. Throughout the movie, everyone is sipping on the drink.

Another perspective she had was that big products such as Apple and Coca Cola are being placed in movies so often that other companies can not compete. These big companies have so much money that they can endorse into the movie and smaller companies do not have a chance in being a huge part of the plots. I definitely agree with Jacqueline in this case because it is difficult for small companies to outweigh the big products that are so popular in today's society. Smaller companies should try and find a new medium to get their products exposed to the consumers.

Semi- Extended Outline

As of right now, I do not have any concerns to address. If there are any other key topics I could add to my paper that would make it more interesting, I would love your feedback.

I. Introduction

a. Thesis- My objective for this research is to understand how online marketing creates the customer experience for travelers.

i. Background on my personal experience traveling to Vietnam and how it changed my life. This sparked my desire to travel the world.

ii. There are many tools you must know in order to understand the customer experience

1)Common research techniques
2)Current travel trends
3)Email marketing sector
4)Online businesses targeting online customers in the travel industry
5)Customer databases
6)The online travel industry and the recession
7)Key takeaways

II. The Body

1) Common research techniques

i. Many people type in key words in search engines like Google. Travel blogs came to my attention. People post blogs in detail. It can create an emotion for the reader and gives great advice to travelers going to certain destinations.

ii. The Internet has been the major source that travelers have used when getting information on tourism

iii. I found a blog title: When Places Don't Live Up to Your Expectations- Stories like these help the reader relate and can discourage them from booking a trip to destinations that give them a bad vibe.

2) Current Traveling Trends

i. Understanding the current traveling trends will help marketers understand the consumer. Understanding your consumer is vital if you want to gain a competitive advantage.

ii. One of the consumer trends is that consumers travel in order to discover themselves and seek to change their lives. Traveling is a way to escape into a new way of life and change their outlook on life.

iii. Another trend is that consumers travel to become educated. International tours have become very popular among travelers This is one of the trends I fall into.

iv. Another trend among travelers is that they like to have the option of customizing their vacations and in their own convenience. The goal is to have a user friendly website that would give travelers a good experience while booking their vacations.

v. Another trend is that people are starting to look at environmentally friendly trips. There are even "green hotels" that conserve energy

vi. The last trend is people go on trips to volunteer nowadays. It is a way for people to experience what other countries are facing.

3) Email marketing

i. Travel companies have been using email marketing to promote their products and services to consumers

ii. It is a great way to promote good deals for vacation packages. Customers have a great experience online when they feel like they are finding the best deals and saving money.

iii. Consumers feel more loyal towards companies that use email marketing because they feel that the travel companies want to maintain a strong relationship with them

4) Online Businesses Targeting Consumers

i. Online businesses can target consumers successfully only if they fully understand the consumer and how they think

ii. When consumers are looking at future travel destinations, they do not want to be bombarded with ads

iii. I will talk about the paradox of choice in this section because many websites have an overhwelming amount of choices that create difficult choices for consumers.

5) Customer Databases

i. Many online travel businesses have created customer databases to organize their client data information. This is importnat on categorizing individual customers' wants and needs.

ii. Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas is a great example of a business that has created customer databases in order to organize customer data and categorize customers into different sectors. By having this database, Harrah's has maintained relationships with many of its customers and have differentiated themselves from their competitors.

6) Online Travel Indsutry During the Recession

i. Profits have definitely plummeted since the recession

ii. Businesses have to reduce costs and a lot of businesses have had to offer extremely low prices just to stay in the game.

III. The Conclusion

7) Key Takeaways

i. Understanding the consumer is key to a successful business

ii. Differentiating your business is important to have a competitive adviantage over other businesses

iii. Being up to date with current travel trends is important when marketing to your consumer

iv. Creating a customer database is great for organizing clients into categories. This will help businesses market to individual consumers and fullfil their wants and needs.

v. User friendly websites give consumers a positive experience when booking their vacations

Starbucks Expanding into China

As you know, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world. People don't only go there for the great tasting coffee, but they also come there for the experience. Starbucks does off a great experience for many of its customers and is now hoping to bring the company over to China. I was reading an article the other day on how Starbucks plans to do this. I thought it was strange that Starbucks would think China would be a great place to market their products and services. Chinese people enjoy drinking tea rather than coffee. They grew up on tea, and for generations now, they have stuck to that tradition. It would be difficult to alter their taste and change their preference within months. China does not care about Starbuck's signature product. Their culture has been to drink tea for centuries, so Starbucks definitely has its work cut out for. 

The first step Starbucks has taken was to give out samples to the Chinese customers. This is a very important step for Starbucks because they have to let the product become more well known and make the coffee look like a luxury. The problem Starbucks is facing is whether they should change Starbucks to appeal more towards the China culture, or should they try to change the taste of Chinese consumers. I honestly thought that Starbucks should try to appeal more towards the China culture because it would be more of a gradual change that would get the Chinese people's attention. Starbucks decided to take the other route and want to change the taste of Chinese consumers all together. This is a big risk, seeing as how China's 1.3 billion people do not care for coffee, according to the article I read. 

Companies in the U.S. such as KFC and General Motors have adapted their businesses toward the Chinese culture. This is why these companies have become successful in the past. Now, Starbucks has to compete with Chinese teahouses. Many managers of teahouses do not feel threatened by Starbucks because they believe that the people will never be interested in converting to coffee. It is in the Chinese culture that Chinese people do not like sweet tasting foods and drinks. Coffee contains a high amount of sugar content. Starbucks hoped that the experience of drinking coffee and sitting outside would be enough to convince Chinese consumers to join the bandwagon. The Starbucks in China has not had high sales or profit. They have been struggling to convert the consumers' taste. Not to say that EVERYONE does not like the taste of coffee. Starbucks have gained long term customers that enjoy the taste of coffee and even consider it "addicting." Starbucks hopes that these consumers will spread the world and increase loyalty throughout the country.  

My personal opinion is that Starbucks should try to accommodate China's culture into the company. With taking everything in the U.S. and bringing it overseas, sooner or later, all countries will be just like the Western World. There will be less diversity and a less distinct culture difference.

The Persuaders

Song Airlines is being developed and launched at a time where the airline industry is suffering. This may not be the best time to start this company in hopes for getting a profit. I like how they used a focus group to gather ideas and research. It gave great insight and a deeper understanding of women and other consumers. I like the fact they want to know their target consumers on a more personal level and form a connection with consumers. They want to benefit the consumer in a beneficial and emotional way. The Song Airlines commercials could be their downfall. They are very risky because it will not show anything about the low cost airfares or anything about the travelers. The risk is that you are hoping to get the consumers to understand the message and drive the consumers to buy the product. Song Airlines wants to be different from all the other airlines. I am not sure how well the risky commercials will play out. This could result in a huge loss for the company. One thing I like about Song Airlines is their slogan. "We are not an airline, we are a culture." It creates a bond and an emotional connection with the consumer. I do not like the fact that Song branding is confusing a lot of people. People do not understand that Song is an airline. They are seeing their ads, but not understanding the message.

Consumers are driven by unconscious needs and impulses. People try to make up something that makes sense when buying goods. For instance, he uses the example that people buy Hummers to go shopping in Manhattan, which is very unnecessary, but people do this all the time because they make unconscious decisions when making purchases. His 3 step technique involves past reason, through emotion, to the primal core. Past reason is an introductory phase where he asks simple questions to get the focus group to think. Then for emotion, Rapaille wants the people in the focus group to tell a story based on the word given. This stage confuses the focus group, and this is exactly what Rapaille aims to do. In the 3rd stage, Rapaille wanted everyone to get comfortable and think back to their primal urges. He wants you to return to the first experience with the associated word and he wants you to discuss the experience with him. By using these 3 techniques, Rapaille feels that a lot of valuable information can be found.

One of Rapaille's findings is that "Reptilian" always wins. Once you crack the code, that is when you accomplish yor goal. Dr. Rapaille is trying to crack the code on the word LUXURY for one of the automobile clients. Absorbing the code and understanding the code will help companies become more competitive. With every word, there is a mental connection, an unconscious message in the brain that help people make decisions. Every word has a meaning. Every culture has a different meaning for each word as well. For example, the word "coffee" in France does not have the same meaning as "coffee" in America. Both cultures see that word in an entirely different manner.

Learning More About The Consumer

After reading the “Kenna’s Dilemma” chapter, I was really interested to know more about Kenna’s life. He seems like such a fascinating person that has gone through many ups and downs with his music career. I like the fact that Kenna’s style of music is different, not in a bad way, but just different from other artists.

Market researchers have to find a way to get into the consumers’ minds. This is not an easy process by any means. I have always thought that asking consumers directly would give you all the answers, but after reading this chapter, I definitely think differently. One lesson I have learned is that when people are asked a question directly, that doesn’t necessarily give you factual information and you shouldn’t rely on it 100%. (pg.5)

Market researchers playing a clip of Kenna’s songs over the phone to find out if it was what consumers wanted was probably not the best solution. I thought this was particularly important because it puts the emphasis that people are so quick to judge. They are so quick to like or dislike something without giving it a real chance. I admit that I sometimes fall into this category as well. I am a huge movie freak. I rent movies almost every weekend. A lot of the times, when I put the DVD in, if the first 30 minutes doesn’t interest me because of the slow plot, I immediately turn it off. I judge the movie too quickly just on the first 30 minutes. Recently, I have watched the entire movie, regardless of the slow plot, and it turns out, that these movies are AMAZING. For the past year, I have been missing out on some great films. This relates to the whole Pepsi challenge. In a taste test, people chose Pepsi over Coke. Coke was more of a well-known brand at the time, and because people only had a sip, they did not have the chance to drink an entire glass. By drinking the entire glass, which changed a lot of opinions.

Also through sensation transference, I believe that marketers should study this concept thoroughly in order to gain insight from current or potential customers. This concept is based on the packaging of the product. It has been studied that the way the product is packaged, ultimately makes the product. (pg. 8)

Another lesson I find very helpful for marketers is they should learn to become experts in their specific fields. When I mean expert, I mean know the ins and outs of EVERYTHING that they are researching. I think this will help greatly. (pg. 17). If you are researching whether people would like a certain television show, this takes a lot of expertise. You have to know what sells, why people watch what they watch, what is entertaining, what gets the ratings up, etc. It takes more than just watching the show and saying you like it. There is so much background knowledge that marketers need in order to gain insight from current or potential customers.

At first, I was honestly dreading to read this 22 page chapter, but I surprisingly found it very interesting. It is neat to see that consumers’ minds are so complex and market researchers have to be creative in understanding the way they think.

Online Marketing Experience for Travelers

After brainstorming numerous topics for my 15 page paper, I found that online travel marketing caught my interest. I am fascinated by this topic because I absolutely love to travel and explore other cultures and backgrounds. Travelling is my way to escape from my normal life. I enjoy meeting people from different cultures and learning about their lives. I truly believe that travelling to other countries allows you to broaden your life.

For the past month, I have been researching numerous websites in search of travelling to Europe. The main source I have used has been the Internet. In my paper, I want to understand how online travel marketing creates the consumer experience for travelers. I want to expand on research techniques that people use before they travel abroad. For example, there are tons of blogs that people post online that talk about their whole trips in detail. One of my greatest resources is http://www.travelblog.com/. They give great traveling tips of what to bring, where to eat, where to go out, and the highlights of the city. It can really help someone plan their entire vacation day to day, especially if they have never been there before. Blogs allow people to read true stories that people experience on their trips and help the reader relate to their situations. Also, if there is a memory that the read can relate to, it creates an emotion that the reader can feel.

People that travel to a new country want to get the most out of it. A big trip requires a lot of planning. Travelers like to customize their trips so they can do things that interest them. It is all for the experience. Going on a vacation takes a lot of thought and planning. People go to different places for different reasons. Some people go to visit family, some go to learn about the history and culture, and some even go to volunteer. There are many websites that make it easy for travelers to book their trip by helping them customize it and plan it. With the internet often being their only source of information, businesses should be aware of how marketable their services are within the online world. As I was searching through online travel websites, I found Trip Advisor. It is an online travel guide that offers reviews and recommendations for hotels, vacation packages, and travel guides. Many people share their crazy experiences through Trip Advisor so that other people can read about it. They can read or write reviews about their vacation highlights as well as post videos and pictures of their travels.

Email marketing has emerged in the Internet world. Through Email marketing, consumers can get access to the best offers and discounts. These promotions differ in each local area and helps consumers save money, especially in hard economic times. Successful businesses that target these travelers must study the consumers very carefully. They need to realize that creating a strong relationship with the consumers is vital. Businesses must also understand the most updated travel trends to understand today’s consumer. Having a user friendly website allows the consumer to also have a great experience without being frustrated. Online travel marketing should appeal to consumers and will affect travelers immensely if it is marketed properly.