Market Mix: Promotion

"Considered by many to be the next big thing in social marketing, location sites like Foursquare and Loopt should be on every marketer's radar. Essentially, location-based social networking sites combine the fun of social networking with the utility of location-based GPS technology. (Lamb 349-350)" As such we would start out promoting our product on sights such as these and work towards getting our product name out there.

Because "Individuals tend to trust other people's opinions when it comes to purchasing. According to Nielsen Media Research, more than seventy percent of consumers said that they trusted online consumer opinions.  (Lamb 350)"  we would want to ensure our customers not only feel like they are getting a quality product for the price point that we want to receive.

Week 10 EOC: What are the benefits vs. the features

For many people when they think of chocolate, they think of cavities, acne educing, weight gaining, sweet tasting treat. What a lot of people don't know is that there are a lot of healthful benefits to chocolate. 

Here are ten scientifically established health benefits of good chocolate.

1. It's good for the heart and circulation

A recent study found that dark chocolate helps restore flexibility to arteries while also preventing white blood cells from sticking to the walls of blood vessels - both common causes of artery clogging.

2. It reduces risk of stroke

Researchers in Finland have found that chocolate consumption lowers the risk of suffering a stroke - by a staggering 17 per cent average in the group of men they tested.

3. It's mineral rich

Dark chocolate is packed with beneficial minerals such as potassium, zinc and selenium, and a 100g bar of dark (70 per cent or more) choc provides 67 per cent of the RDA of iron.

4. It reduces cholesterol

Consumption of cocoa has been shown to reduce levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and raise levels of “good” cholesterol, potentially lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease.

5. It's good for your skin

The flavonols in dark chocolate can protect the skin against sun damage (though you'd probably better still slap on some sun cream).

6. It can help you lose weight

Chocolate can help you lose weight. Really. Neuroscientist Will Clower says a small square of good choc melted on the tongue 20 minutes before a meal triggers the hormones in the brain that say “I’m full”, cutting the amount of food you subsequently consume. Finishing a meal with the same small trigger could reduce subsequent snacking.

7. It's good for mothers and babies

A Finnish study found that chocolate reduced stress in expectant mothers, and that the babies of such mothers smiled more often than the offspring of non-chocolate-eating parents.

8. It may prevent diabetes

It sounds mad, but cocoa has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity. So dark chocolate - in moderation - might delay or prevent the onset of diabetes.

9. Chocolate is good for the brain

Flavanols are thought to reduce memory loss in older people, and the anti-inflamatory qualities of dark chocolate have been found beneficial in treating brain injuries such as concussion.

10. Chocolate makes you feel better

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which is the same chemical that your brain creates when you feel like you’re falling in love. PEA encourages your brain to release feel-good endorphins.

Week 9 EOC: My Creative Marketing

In 1513, the great explorer Ponce De Leon look for the fountain of youth, 500 years later, WE FOUND IT! Not only did we find it, but the best part is, it's CHOCOLATE!

Introducing "Fountain of Youth" Face cream!

The bio-active compounds in dark chocolate is great for your skin. Use those compounds for a smoother, softer, younger complexion. Chocolate has several ingredients which can potentially affect your skin. Cocoa beans, of which chocolate is made, are high in antioxidant phenolic phytochemicals (polyphenols), including flavonoids, procyanidin, and resveratrol.

It's also eco-friendly. Not only does it help you look younger but it helps you take care of the environment.

Try additional formulas: Cranberry Chocolate, Honey, and Avacodo.

Implementation, Evaluation, Control

The implementation we would use would be to have our product placed in a beauty shops and salons and we want our customers to associate their beauty being enhanced by the use of our product.

"Implementation is the process that turns a marketing plan into action assignments and ensures that these assignments are executed in a way that accomplishes the plan's objectives" (Lamb 28)
to do that we would price our product at a competitive rate and package it with testimonials from people that have used our product and love it.

"Implementing a plan has another dimension: gaining acceptance. New plans mean change, and change creates resistance. One reason people resist change is that they fear they will lose something". (Lamb 29) we would keep our product pure so those that have come to trust it and live by it will never be surprised at anything that might change in our recipe

Marketing Mix: Price

Keeping a price in mind that customers will not only see value but also quality in and since I am not a person that typically buys this type of item I am outside of my comfort zone. One thing I do understand though, as a guy, is quality over quantity. As the book states "Price is a component of value (a $4,000 handbag is perceived as being more luxurious and of higher quality than one selling for $100), but low price is not the same as good value. Instead, customers value goods and services that are of the quality they expect and that are sold at prices they are willing to pay." (Lamb 7)

Because "Lower-income consumers are price sensitive, but they will pay for products if they deliver a benefit that is worth the money"(Lamb 7) I plan on keeping the cost fairly low. The cost of face cream ranges from $30.00 up to $300.00, so I was planning on keeping the cost to around $40.00  

I am hoping that at this price it will develop a loyal base and after selling 100, 000 units we can re-evaluate how quickly the product sold and get customer feedback on the effectiveness of the face cream.

Marketing Mix: Distribution

Distribution wise I see this product starting out at only specialized stores such as Ulta or even Sally's Beauty Supply. The people that shop these type of stores are the ones that i would want to target for the simple fact that the people that shop there are typically the one that know quality and expect it.
"Place, or distribution, strategies are concerned with making products available when and where customers want them."  (Lamb 28)  I would also sell the product in spa's and even some women's hair salons because they don't just only do hair in these places anymore.

Once we have a stable clientele we would start investing back into the our product line and improve the formula as well as offer some additional "flavors."

Wanting to keep to the idea of "The best marketing tactic is to protect existing market share by reinvesting earnings in product improvement, better distribution, more promotion, and production efficiency. Management must capture new users as they enter the market." (Lamb 18) we would ask our first time users for informational feedback. 

Marketing Mix: Product

Using the chocolate made with bulk cocoa, and including other ingredients that are also in other typical face mask such as avocado and honey, the face mask I would be marketing would be surprisingly cheap and easy to make. Even at the cost of  ~$1.50/lb and keeping in mind that "About half of every dollar you spend pays for marketing costs, such as marketing research, product development, packaging, transportation, storage, advertising, and sales expenses." (Lamb 13)
That still leaves plenty of room for a nice profit. 

In comparison to the cost of a face tuck, using a face mask to enhance your skin is proven.The flavonols in dark chocolate can protect the skin against sun damage (though you'd probably better still slap on some sun cream)

Keeping in mind also that "The materials supplied determine the quality of the product produced and create a cost floor, which helps determine the retail price." (Lamb 41) if i spend more on the quality of the chocolate then i can also charge more on the overall product.

When you consider the options of more expensive part of chocolate can be up to sixty dollars a pound then if i wanted to market it to a higher end store such as Nostrums or Dillard's then i could. 

• Bulk cocoa (unprocessed, other than fermentation and drying): ~$1.50/lb
• Ultra fine cocoa (unprocessed, other than fermentation and drying): up to $6/lb
• Decent backing chocolate: $8-15/lb
• A nice bar of chocolate made with bulk cocoa (better than Hershey's): ~$15/lb
• High end baking chocolate (Valrhona): $20-25/lb
• A nice bar of chocolate made with ultra fine cocoa: ~$50-60/lb

"Studies reporting consumers' attitudes toward, and intentions to buy, environmentally friendly products show widely varying results. A Nielsen study found that while eighty-three percent of consumers worldwide believe companies should have environmental programs, only twenty-two percent would pay more for an Eco-friendly product."

 (Lamb 6) While it is a smaller market, our face cream is a natural product that can also be sold in stores like "Natural Grocers" that only sell environment friendly products.

Target Marketing

My target marketing group would be to the females aged 16 - 40 group. These are the group of women that are the most appearance driven, conscious group that really try to focus on staying young and looking good. 

The target market strategy identifies the market segment or segments on which to focus. This process begins with a market opportunity analysis (MOA)—the description and estimation of the size and sales potential of market segments that are of interest to the firm and the assessment of key competitors in these market segments. After the firm describes the market segments, it may target one or more of them. There are three general strategies for selecting target markets. (Lamb 27)"

Keeping in mind that the majority of this age group also use social media we would set up a Facebook page and twitter page in order to get the honest feed back that we want. 

"At the basic level, consumers of social media want to exchange information, collaborate with others, and have conversations. Social media are designed for people to socialize with each other. They have changed how and where conversations take place, even globalizing human interaction through rapidly evolving technology. (Lamb 338)"

The Situation Analysis, SWOT

"Performing a SWOT analysis allows firms to identify their competitive advantage. A competitive advantage is a set of unique features of a company and its products that are perceived by the target market as significant and superior to those of the competition. It is the factor or factors that cause customers to patronize a firm and not the competition."

We will perform a weekly SWOT analysis in order for us to keep track of the progression toward our goals.

Reviewing our internal strengths (S) and weaknesses (W) and also examine external opportunities (O) and threats (T) constantly is going to help our company grow and succeed. 

Business Objective

As with any business, our business objective is to stay in business. We will accomplish this first by providing a product that is not only cheap to provide but also allows for a large profit margin.  To do this I would not only use the highest quality of chocolate but also provide a quality product that will provide the user that results expected from a product that we have provided. 

"...an organization exists not only to satisfy customer wants and needs and to meet organizational objectives but also to preserve or enhance individuals' and society's long-term best interests (Lamb 6)"

Objectives must be consistent with and indicate the priorities of the organization. Specifically, objectives flow from the business mission statement to the rest of the marketing plan. (Lamb 2)"

Business Mission Statement

Our Business Mission Statement is to provide a Eco-friendly quality product that provides our customers with the results they are looking for. We want our customers to not hesitate on the price and pick our product over anything else because it's affordable and effective.
"A mission statement should focus on the market or markets the organization is attempting to serve rather than on the good or service offered" hopefully the message that we also what to ensure a beautiful future for the next generation is transparent.

"The way a firm defines its business mission profoundly affects the firm's long-run resource allocation, profitability, and survival. The mission statement is based on a careful analysis of benefits sought by present and potential customers and an analysis of existing and anticipated environmental conditions"
We hope that it becomes clear that we not only want to protect our world resources, but also our customers vibrant beauty

Week 7 EOC: The Pitch

The Pitch

https://www.franchisehelp.com/industry-reports/chocolate-industry-report/

Health Benefits

Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, which are believed to prevent or delay certain types of diseases, including cardiac disease. These perceived health benefits have been driving strong growth for products with the heavier cocoa weighting.

Instead of being something to avoid or consider a special treat, consumers are finding out that many diets and even doctors are recommending regular consumption of dark chocolate. According to Dr. Oz, dark chocolate “keeps you looking and feeling younger because it helps you control your blood pressure, avoid wrinkles, keep your skin younger and stay slimmer.” A sweet treat that you can feel good about!

I want to focus on the one thing every person is looking for, and that is to look and feel younger.

A dark chocolate face mask is going to help your skin avoid unsightly wrinkles, keep your skin looking younger as well as help you feel younger. The rich antioxidants will help oxygenate the skin giving you a soft youthful glow.  Ponce de Leon was looking for the fountain of youth, and it was no further then his own Easter basket.   

EOC Week 5: Why this is important to me

Why this is important to me

8 Things They Don’t Tell You When Becoming A Web Designer https://surefirewebservices.com/8-things-they-dont-tell-you-when-becoming-a-web-designer/ via @surefirewebserv

This was my second Tweet. Why was this important to me? One thing my military career taught me was that life is never what it seems. There is always someone trying to screw you over so they can make themselves look better and get that next rank. This article was a real-life depiction of what a person can expect in my career field. I always appreciate it when a straight shooter tells me I have messed up or did well on something, and I wouldn’t expect a client to hold their tongue to save my feelings or ego. Anyone that cannot take criticism will never make it far in life.

Skills required to be a game tester http://www.undercovertester.com/skills-required-to-be-a-game-tester

This was tweet number 11. Why was this important to me? Well, when I was thinking long and hard on what I wanted to go back to school for, nothing came to mind. I knew I wanted to find a career that I would enjoy doing day in and day out. I had this terrible habit of not being able to shut my brain off when I am out doing things or even trying to relax. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to accomplish everything. When you put me in front on my TV, however, with a game controller in my hand, my mind shuts off and no longer worries about anything other than how to kill the boss on this level or figuring out the puzzle in this scene to progress in the game. That’s what made me decide that I wanted to do that for a living. Having a degree for it will also open doors that were otherwise unavailable before.

“The Future Is Near: 13 Design Predictions for 2017” by @ChaseBuckleyUX https://medium.com/digital-age/the-future-is-near-13-design-predictions-for-2017-654761f12c45#.pqgyaxxz6

This is my 26^th post. There is a lot of good information that may or may not make a difference in my future career. It is always nice to be up on current trends and be informed in order to best suit your client’s needs.  

Week 4: There is an app for that!

With the holiday season soon upon us and the driving need we all have to get the best possible stuff for the cheapest amount of cash possible, one thing that is for sure: people will be running short on is patience. When you have been shopping all day and had to drag a screaming, tired child from one store to the next, it is actually very easy to get turned around and think you parked your car on one side of the store when you may have actually parked it elsewhere. My idea for an app, keeping track of where you parked your car. While it may seem like something a person wouldn’t forget, there are many things that could actually happen that make this app seem not so foolish. Do you know your license plate number? Unless you have a vanity plate odds are that you probably don’t. You are driving a brand new white Honda civic? Congrats. So are maybe a thousand other people in the city. Wonder why your doors aren’t unlocking even though you have pressed the unlock button a number of times? Take a look genius, that isn’t your car.

                Especially here in Vegas where you have multiple levels of parking structures, perhaps you might think that is your white Chevy Impala on the second floor, but yours is actually 2 floors up. What if you are just visiting a city? Perhaps you aren’t familiar with the street names or even the district that you are parked in (i.e. Financial district, the Art district). No problem. Tell the app to connect to the GPS system on your smart phone and mark the place where you are currently standing as the location of your parking spot and shop away!

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

I am a Gen Xer. According to the textbook, there are many distinguishing attributes of my generation. Some of these may be true in my case, others might be more accurate for other members of Generation X. I can definitely agree that the statement “It was the first generation of latchkey children—products of dual-career households” as both my parents did eventually end up working full time jobs.  My brother, also a fellow member of the Gen X community, and I often spent many days “…without adult support and guidance than any other age cohort” While this did make me more independent and more adaptable, I don’t know if growing up without my parents watching my every move made me more cautious or skeptical, because I feel like I did the same stupid teenage stuff that anyone else in “Generation X” did.

            I do think that as a result of us being the “first generation of the latchkey kids” we are the “generation…” that “primary target for marketers promoting family-oriented products and services” because we want to provide for our own family what we might feel like we were missing in our own lives and want make sure that we can ensure our own kids will not feel left out. 

One thing that I do know for sure as was quoted “As one Gen Xer noted, “I don't know anyone in my age group who's ‘where they want to be’ from a financial perspective.” I think a lot of Gen Xers feel like we are doing everything we have been taught to do growing up, but still are getting ahead on life.  My generation is still struggling to make ends meet and to also try and save for our futures.

Week 3 EOC: Making money for good

Walgreen’s is on the corner of Happy and Healthy, and are apparently working to make that street corner in every city known to man. It’s a really simple concept, for every shot you get at a walgreens pharmaceutical store, they will donate a portion of the cost of that shot to the united nations to cover the cost of what could be a life-saving shot to a person in a country where it might not be as developed.

Flu (Fluvirin) ages 4+

$31.99 per dose2

This screen shot from the Walgreen’s website shows you just how much an average flu shot cost for an individual, with senior citizens forking over 20 bucks more for a higher dosage.

I think it is great that they are so willing to help but the (*) shows just how willing they are to do so. There is also apparently a “cap” on how willing they want to be, because they are a business after all, and doing the right thing is great, but not when it cuts into a company’s net profits.

So thanks walgreens for your kind service of providing us a cheaper place to kindly and nicely get poked… but at $31.99, and only a donation of $0.22, I think there is enough profit margin there to donate just a little bit more.

Information taken from https://www.walgreens.com/pharmacy/immunization/shot_at_life.jsp

Immunizations are one of the world's biggest public health success stories. But not all communities have the same access to vaccines. Get a Shot. Give a Shot.® helps provide lifesaving vaccines to families in developing countries through the United Nations Foundation's Shot@Life campaign.

*From September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2017, for every immunization administered, Walgreens will donate $0.22 to the United Nations Foundation, up to a maximum donation of $2,000,000. For more information, go to Walgreens.com/GetaShot. Vaccines subject to availability. State-, age- and health-related restrictions may apply.

EOC Week 2: The Boston Consulting Group Model

• Chuck Cruser
  EOC Week 2
  The Boston Consulting Group Model
  
  
  The video game industry has been pretty strong since the 1980’s, but no industry is impervious to hard economical times.
  
  
  •  Stars: To say that there is a star in the video game industry is hard. The stars of the show have been doing daily appearances with two showings on Saturday. At this point the only stars that either system has going for it are the ones on the horizon… meaning the new games that are usually coming out for the holiday season.
  • ▸ Cash cows: Both Xbox and PlayStation are in this phase. Either console has been around long enough to have quite the collection of games backing them, but one thing PlayStation is doing that is making their cash cow more profitable is reformatting their biggest sellers on the PlayStation 2 and re-marketing them to give them on last little bit of profit
  • ▸ Problem children: The problem child, as I see it, is the new virtual helmet that PlayStation is bringing forth. This is either going to be a really big hit or shrivel up and die in less than a year.
  • ▸ Dogs: The Dog of the video game world are the hand held consoles and the WII. Most of these no longer have new games coming out or the product support to keep these consoles in the category of children’s Christmas must-haves. 

Week 1 EOC: Great customer service

A great customer service experience I had was actually a little over a year ago. My wife and I had just sold our house in West Valley, UT in order to relocate down to here for her newly acquired job. We had made a trip down here previously in order to find an apartment for us to stay in, and luckily for us my sister works for company as a property manager in Arizona. The company she works for also owns and operates some properties here in Vegas, and with neither wife nor I having lived down here before, we had no idea where to start looking. My sister was able to give us a couple of suggestions on where to start looking. When we finally decided on a place, it wasn’t going to be available for a month. Well, it turned out another apartment became available a week after we first moved down here. We were staying at my wife’s step-mom’s house out near Lake Mead, and while we were grateful for a place to lay our heads, it was mid- August when we made the move down here. Being as the place we were staying in didn’t have running water and very little air conditioning, when given the opportunity to move in sooner than expected, we quickly jumped at the chance. There was some paper work required that we got filled out and turned in, and a deposit was required the day we got the keys. When the day finally came to move in I had my dad in town helping me load up our furniture and bring it to our new place from the house at Lake Mead. It took us longer than expected to pack everything up and were running late.  Not only that, we had issues with the trailer we were pulling and lost a vital piece mid-haul. By the time we were able to get ourselves to the property the office would be closed and, seeing that it was a Friday, wouldn’t be open again until late the following morning. The assistant Manager worked with me in arranging to have the keys waiting for me, and met my wife—who rushed home from work early—in order to allow us to move in.  He was not only kind enough to allow us to have the keys while the office was technically closed, he also arranged for us to begin moving in so we had a place to sleep that night though he didn’t yet have our security deposit. I had the check book, and was still 30 minutes away. This assistant manager didn’t have to help us. In fact, he could have lost his job if we had turned out to be dishonest people, but his willingness to do so is exactly why it wasn’t just great customer service, it was AMAZING.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

In my opinion, a web designer isn't just a person who designs a web page, a web designer is an interpreter of ideas, an interpreter of dreams, an interpreter of vision. When a person has a vision of what they want or expect things to be, it is up to a web designer to interpret that vision and make the idea, dream, or vision into a reality.  As a web designer I look forward to helping my customers bring life to what it is they envision, modifying where needed and ultimately creating a masterpiece of which any artist could be proud. I look forward to combining my creative expertise in web design with what people envision and I hope to not only meet their expectations, but exceed them as well. If the military taught me anything it is the ability to adapt and overcome. This is definitely a quality that I am sure I will be using quite frequently throughout my career.