mass marketing?

         In this weeks blog post entry the idea was given whether or not we should segment our marketing or attempt to target everyone. After watching the videos and reading  the chapter in the book. I definitely see that targeting a specific audience is the way to go. I think when trying to mass market to all consumers it is very difficult, and more often than not unsuccessful. I actually read that mass marketing is not long term and they have a 2%  response rate and are on the decline. 
       In our upcoming elevator pitch, my business idea and elevator pitch is geared towards a segmented consumer. When trying to come up with ideas I could not find a way to pitch my idea towards a mass audience. I am excited for my elevator pitch and proposing my business idea.

Changes, changes, changes?

            Earlier this week Facebook announced that it would 'finally' release the unlike button. Facebook was excited for this announcement. I personally feel like it is the biggest mistake ever! I think it will lead to even more internet bullying. First Facebook needs to get 'real users' numbers in I do not know anyone in my age group who still has a Facebook account. According to researchers younger users use Snapchat, Instagram, and other social sites. Then if Facebook acknowledges that some users have several pages,or they have pages for their pets, or even fake pages (for whatever reason). But Facebook truly got down to the actual active users the world would be shocked. I personally think that they know but they don't want to say so they wont lose sponsors, endorsers,  and stock prices wont drop. I know when I did have a Facebook account one of the reasons I left was because it seemed everyday they changed something it it was becoming hard to navigate. They didn't care because they were on top of the world so thy ignored consumers complaints about the frequent changes. Also when inappropriate photos or things would float across my timeline and I would report it to Facebook they would always say the picture was okay and didn't violate any policies. 
          
           In the world of internet bullying and people being able to hide behind a computer this dislike button is bad news. It will make bullying that much easier. Maybe a teenager post a photo and class mates hit the dislike button, so the photo has more dislikes than likes. I would think that teenager would just delete their page. The same goes for businesses big or small. I would think a small business would be more inclined to just leave Facebook because of the negative publicity. So I think the dislike button will make a lot of users leave Facebook, either in anticipation of button or once they see the negativity of the new feature. Whomever at Facebook who came up with this concept is crazy. Although Facebook is marketing it as a way to show support like when someone dies or when someone post something sad. We all know it will quickly be misused. I will just sit back and watch, say no to the Facebook thumbs down icon.

Inventions ahead of there time

            In our instructions for this weeks blog post we were given several ideas. The one that grabbed my attention was inventions that were ahead of there time and how Apple many years before had the idea for the Ipad tablet. As I researched this, some reports say that apple had invented an Ipad prototype some 10 years before the Ipad first hit the market! Its hard to say when the right time is to release a product. I know there is research, study groups, and surveys that can be conducted. But how does one fully know when is the right time? I think if you have a great marketing team and flood the market with the product it could be successful. I can relate this to the idea of Tide Pods. Tide was the first company to invent the pods. They marketed it to not only women but men. Their slogan was "take the guess work out of laundry". They successfully convinced audiences that anyone could do laundry just add one tricolor pod and it had all the detergent, the pre-treater, and the stain remover in one and add it to  the laundry. I remember when they first hit the market we even received a small 5 pack sample in the mail to try along with a coupon for $4 or $5 off. (Of course now it would be unheard of to find a coupon for $5 off. But Tide hung in their and had great sales. I think partly due to the fact that the target audience was male and female. After some time of being the only pods on the market. Now when I walk down the laundry isle nearly every brand has pods. Nearly each brand offers a liquid, a powder form, and the new pod forms of their detergent brand. Five years ago who would have ever guessed that we would simply throw a small pod into a load of laundry and walk away? But Tide's research and development team did. Then they had a great marketing strategy.  Even now I still see the Tide pods advertised everywhere. This invention followed our new busy lives. The washing machine and dryer have become one touch and energy efficient and the laundry detergent has become one drop. Now if we could just get someone to market a way to fold the clothes! (which is my least favorite part of laundry) 

 

        We were asked in this chapters assignment do we keep a log of good ideas somewhere. I do I keep them on my laptop but i can also access it from my phone or tablet. Most are ideas for websites names or business ideas. When it comes to the business ideas I try to find a business concept that I could improve on or I look at what is around me within the medical field and write down ideas on how to improve it. 
      
       With this weeks blog post I wanted to point out something that I actually find great advertising. My sons school has an issue with fundraisers such as selling gift wrap or selling cooking or candles. Mainly it doesn't generate enough revenue. Chances are most kids have siblings within the same school which presents as a problem. They discourage door to door sales for safety reasons, which even if they did it would be redundant because the neighbors have kids, which are also selling the same items. So his school which has a lot of students but the community is relativity small has teamed up with pretty much all our local restaurants and 20% of all sales from a particular night of the week (usually Tuesday's) goes to our schools, they even keep a jar by the cash register for extra money that customers would like to donate. And the turn out is always great. From a marketing standpoint even if customers do not go to the restaurant for this purpose the money from each sale still goes to the school. It is genius! Then as a neighborhood they spread the word to local churches and business and often times church groups show up after church. Or businesses will order everyone dinner for their offices to support our schools. Both the restaurant and the school wins, as it brings more patrons into the restaurant and the revenue to our school. Because of the success of that idea different departments within the school have branched out with creative ideas. The band has teamed up with a store within our local outlet mall and the band receives 10% of the proceeds. Again genius cause even if customers are just shopping and have no idea about the school, the band still benefits. By the band advertising for the store it is a win-win situation. The school sends out the emails and texts and a prerecorded message to every number that you have provided them with for your child. Between the two different schools my son has been in and the schools that other family and friends attend this is the only one that has these types of fundraisers.