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.