Week 10 EOC: Benefits VS. Features

There are many products out in our world. Some are products that you need, others are products that we want. From the business perspective, one must solve the problem of introducing the product into the consumers hands, whether they fall in the 'wants' or 'needs' category. Food, we need food to survive, obviously it will be purchased because our well being depends on it, but ice cream? We do not need that, we want that. "Product concept

The idea that consumers will favor products that offer the most quality, performance, and features and that the organization should therefore devote its energy to making continuous product improvements."  Marketing: An Intro, Amrstrong/Kotler, page 10. The definition of product concept to seems very directional towards an item of 'want'. We must further improve our product if we want to continue to sell. 

"Selling concept,The idea that consumers will not buy enough of the firm’s products unless it undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion effort." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 11. Both concepts I believe go hand-in-hand. The concepts keep the emphasis on continuing to further improve our product through features, eye- catching features. In my opinion, regardless of your product, you must tie in the customers relationship to the product to something that will benefit them by using the product."Marketing myopia

The mistake of paying more attention to the specific products a company offers than to the benefits and experiences produced by these products." Marketing: An Intro. Amrstrong/Kotler, page 7.

With our ice cream, we will have to implement that feeling the emotion one gets when that delicious blend of flavors gets to you, we are selling enjoyment, not just mere ice cream. 

Week 9 EOC: Three Great Mission Statements

Out of all the classes mission statements, I chose the following three students that I believed to have the best mission statements. Will Rowley, Javier Garcia, Rom Alon
Javier's Mission statement is clear and to the point. I think anyone can read the mission statement and clearly see who they are trying to get their product out to. It was simple, and many consumers appreciate simplicity.
Will's statement was extremely detailed. He tells you exactly what he is doing, what his goal is and how he will achieve it. He explained both oriented, and market-oriented definitions in his description, and not many other people described their mission statement quite like Will did.
Rom's mission statement worked very well with his quotes he chose to integrate. The flow of his statement matched perfectly with the quotes and he also gives the consumer a small insight on the roots of how his company is ran. People enjoy seeing companies that include everyones opinion, and I think Rom is definitely on the correct path with his mission statement. In the text, Armstrong and Kotler say, “A mission statement is a statement of the organization’s purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment. A clear mission statement acts as an “invisible hand” that guides people in the organization. “Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation. 10. According to the text, I believe that the three students listed above demonstrate exactly what a strong business mission statement should be.

Week 8 EOC: Creative Content

            I will present my product with a radio ad. 30 seconds of airtime should be sufficient to present the new product (Choco-Nachos) and explain a little about it as well. The Radio commercial will consist of a voice over done by myself and the 'theme' of the ad will revolve around the very last line of the voice over, 'Waint until you try it.' We have obtained the license to play the Nu Shooz song, "I Can't Wait" in the background as the voiceover is playing. The artist will also be a spokesman and have already projected tv ads with the artists after the first quarter. "Testimonial evidence or endorsement: This style features a highly believable or likable source endorsing the product. It could be ordinary people saying how much they like a given product." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 393.  This radio ad will be simple and cost effective. It will not require as much time to build upon therefore allowing us to distribute our product faster to the consumer. "Advertising can be very costly. Although some advertising forms, such as newspaper and radio advertising, can be done on smaller budgets, other forms, such as network TV advertising, require very large budgets. " Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler, Page 383.

Final Project: Implementation Evaluation Control

Throughout our whole business plan, we have presented many ideas. However, we can not just present the ideas and sit back and wait for them to develop on  their own. We have talked a lot about marketing, but not a whole lot about management. Marketing and Management go hand in hand. "Managing the marketing process requires the four marketing management functions —analysis, planning,implementation, and control. The company first develops companywide strategic plans and then translates them into marketing and other plans for each division, product, and brand." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 55. We have to first lay out the business plan and then of course follow through with it and execute. After the plan has  been executed, we will review the results and see where we can can advance or where we can improve. " Control consists of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing activities and taking corrective action where needed." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 55. Control is very important, if we are not able to analyze our results, and or improve our areas of opportunities, we will be unable to grow our business. If our goals and or business plan is not going the way we initially saw it, changes must be made to further grow the company. " Finally, management takes corrective action to close the gaps between its goals and its performance. This may require changing the action programs or even changing the goals." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 58.

Final Project: Price

Our product will come in an assortment of options for our consumers. Our in store Ben & Jerry's serving size and price will be established by Ben & Jerry, and the in grocery store price will be in turn decided by us. We will have two different options at the local grocery stores and natural food stores.  A base price of $5.95 will be set for a single serving 'make it yourself' kit  and there will also be a family size, 3-pack 'make it yourself' kit, base priced at $13.95. When people think of Ben & Jerry Ice Cream, they think about quality. Good tasting, naturally flavored quality ice cream, so their pricing and our pricing is of course going to reflect that. "Psychological pricing

Pricing that considers the psychology of prices and not simply the economics; the price is used to say something about the product." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 291. Besides using that specific type of price, we will also implement 'Market Penetration' pricing. As I have stated earlier, in our first week of product introduction, 108 Ben & Jerry locations will offer our new product at no charge, in an attempt to grab a firm hold of potential consumers. 

"Rather than setting a high initial price to skim off small but profitable market segments, some companies use market penetration pricing. They set a low initial price in order to penetrate the market quickly and deeply—to attract a large number of buyers quickly and win a large market share." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 286.

Final Project: Promotion

Promotional sales can and have to be looked at in every different way. We are not in the business of losing money but sometimes you have to just get your product out there. Regardless if you are selling music or food, if the product is good, the customers will come. If you own a restaurant in a city of 1 million people, and you have one location, as long as your food is great, and your service is exceptional, people will come, regardless of where you are located.
In the beginning, there will be 108 Ben & Jerry's store carrying our product nationally. As our promotional offer the first week of introduction, Ben & Jerry will offer 1 free serving of our product per person. "Several factors have contributed to the rapid growth of sales promotion, particularly in consumer markets. First, inside the company, product managers face greater pressures to increase their current sales, and promotion is viewed as an effective short-run sales tool." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 432. This promotion will only last for the first week to get the word out. The people that try the product will of course tell their family and friends, "Hey, this was great! Try it." or  "Hey, I don't think it's that great." But then again, America loves Ben & Jerry Ice cream and I personally do not think there is one flavor on their line of products that I would not devour in a second. People love Ben & Jerry Ice Cream so much that simply having our product in their stores tells customers, "This is Ben & Jerry, it has to be good." "In most co-branding situations, one company licenses another company’s well-known brand to use in combination with its own. Co-branding offers many advantages. Because each brand dominates in a different category, the combined brands create broader consumer appeal and greater brand equity. Co-branding also allows a company to expand its existing brand into a category it might otherwise have difficulty entering alone." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 234.

Final Project: Distribution

Distribution is a key component in any business plan. Of course in the beginning we plan on solely distributing through our partnership with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Co. but once our 3 year contract is over, it is just as possible that we will re sign with them or not sign. It depends on how our company stands at the current time. Like any company, we of course want to be profitable, and licensing our product to other companies is a great way to market our product on a global level. We will initially have Ben & Jerry exclusively with a joint-venture contract. "Joint venturing

Entering foreign markets by joining with foreign companies to produce or market a product or service." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 492.

              There are always other larger companies around the world that can help distribute and share your product to the world as well. We plan on licensing our product on a global level eventually. "Licensing is a simple way for a manufacturer to enter international marketing. The company enters into an agreement with a licensee in the foreign market. For a fee or royalty, the licensee buys the right to use the company’s manufacturing process, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other item of value. The company thus gains entry into the market at little risk; the licensee gains production expertise or a well-known product or name without having to start from scratch." Marketing: An Intro, Armstrong/Kotler, page 492.