Blog 4: Why do we buy what we buy?

I have a love-hate relationship with shopping. I love getting new clothes and new shoes or anything really, but hate the process and hate spending money. And no matter how much I buy, there is always something else I want or think I need. It's never ending and exhausting.

Marketers outline a consumer buying process that people go through when buying products. Not all products require the entire lengthy process, but the steps are as follows:

1. Recognize a problem or a need
2. Information search – this involves both internal and external searches
3. Alternative evaluation – weighing your options
4. Purchase decision
5. Post-purchase evaluation

For specialty products, more expensive products that we make a special effort to seek out and buy, this whole process is usually necessary. This would be called extended problem solving. But for convenience goods like everyday necessities, we as consumers often recognize a need, use internal information to recall past experiences and then make a purchase. We skip the external information search, which is asking friends or researching different brands and weighing our options and go straight to the purchase. It’s usually quick and easy. In between these two extremes, there is limited problem solving where we may need to converse with a couple friends for their opinion and gather a little bit more information before we make our final decision.

Now, these are the normal routes for consumers, however, I as a consumer am very indecisive. It seems like store and compare brands of granola bars, hair products, cereals, toothbrushes, water bottles, and can never make up my mind. I am almost to the end of my shampoo and conditioner and am going to need to buy more soon. Instead of just going to the store and choosing the same brand I have or making a simple choice, I already starting looking up brands online. I even searched on Google, “the best shampoo for your hair” and looked at many reviews. I tested out some of my friend’s shampoos this week to see if I liked theirs. It’s not even a big purchase, but I still have gone to extensive lengths to gather information and still don’t know what shampoo I want! And my time is winding down.

for everyday items that are normally easy for people to make up their mind about, I struggle to decide on. I stand in the isles of

I’m having so much trouble deciding on shampoo, but last week I impulse bought a very expensive pair of boots. I normally would not do this so it was very out of character. It’s just interesting to think that I saw these boots, quickly decided I wanted them and went for it. Thinking about it, it’s probably hard for marketers to understand consumers when were so unpredictable. It’s interesting how sometimes marketers have to put in all this effort to promote and sometimes deceive people into buying their product and other times it requires no work on their part.

I think what made me buy the boots so quickly was the brand name. I bought them from TJ Maxx, but when I saw they were Lucky Brand, I liked them even more. And I trust that brand to be good and authentic. I associate them with being long lasting and worth the money. I just think its weird how quickly I decided that and didn’t even realize it until I’m analyzing it now. How people view brands has a very large impact on how successful a company is. I think it is very important to have a positive reputation for your brand and good associations with it. I know it definitely influences my purchasing decisions!

References:

https://julieaskewblog.wordpress.com/marketing-principles/competitive-advantage/

https://rugsestudentblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/decisions-decisions/

Blog 3: Working towards a larger purpose

I think a really interesting part of an organization is how they define who they are and why they exist. This entails their core values, mission statement, and organizational culture. Some businesses operate in the sole interest of being profitable, while others work towards attaining a much larger purpose in society. Personally, as a consumer, I find businesses that identify themselves with socially responsible goals much more appealing. The most common example everyone talks about is Ben & Jerry’s. While Ben & Jerry’s is a very socially responsible company, let’s take a lot at a different company that work toward similar goals.

Many people are familiar with the brand TOMS and associate it with their “One for One” program. This program started with shoes, but has expanded to much more. The “One for One” program entails that for every purchase of a pair of shoes, a pair of shoes will be donated to a child in need. Through this program TOMS has given more than 45 million shoes to children. That’s a lot of shoes. However, in addition to shoes, TOMs also provides people with sight, water, safe birth, and kindness. These programs operate on a similar basis. For example, each bag of TOMs Roasting CO. coffee provides 140 liters of water to a person in need. Who even knew TOMs sold coffee?

TOMS goes beyond the “One to One” program by using sustainable and recyclable materials. TOMs also gives back to the community in many more ways. The list goes on and on. I highly suggest visiting the TOMs website and exploring all they do for society as it is very interesting. But the real question to consider here is why? Why does TOMs spend so much time giving back to the community and working towards the advancement of health, education, and economic opportunity? Why do any companies decide to adopt a responsible and social standpoint and others don’t?

For TOMs, the reason goes back to the beginning of the company. The Founder, Blake Mycoski, witnessed children growing up without shoes while traveling in Argentina. That is when he decided to start a company to give a pair of shoes to a child in need with every purchase. The TOMs Company began by establishing its core values, which are fundamental, passionate, and enduring principles that guide a company’s conduct overtime. TOMs’ core values are evident through its dedication to improving people’s lives. TOMs has also established its role in society through its mission statement. Although they don’t directly state what their mission statement is, I believe it may be geared around their focus on the “environmental and social impacts of their products, responsible giving, and employee life”.

 I think the foundation that a business operates on is crucial to the reputation associated with their brand. When I think of TOMs, I think of a responsible, compassionate company. Establishing this type of stigma with your company can lead to consumers’ consistent and favorable attitude toward your company, which is called brand loyalty.  I think of this as marketing your company. Businesses market their products and services in conventional ways, such as advertising and promotion, but marketing goes beyond this. Setting an organizational foundation is the first step in the strategy of visual organizations. I think more companies should focus on this type of establishment and then move on to their products. 

Here's a cute video TOMs has on their website showing their One to One program.

http://www.toms.com/#

References:

http://www.toms.com/corporate-responsibility

http://www.igze.com/corporate-social-responsibility/

http://www.toms.com/

http://antwuanmalone.com/category/candid-christianity/my-musings/

Blog #2: Pumpkin, Pumpkin everywhere!

“Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back!” 

“Try our new pumpkin muffins!” 

These are some examples of seasonal offerings that businesses bring back year after year for the fall season. Every fall businesses take advantage of the change in season to offer a variety of seasonal pumpkin products. From pumpkin bagels to pumpkin coffee to pumpkin cookies, there isn’t a kind of food you can’t get pumpkin flavored. Take a look at these different Pepperidge Farm pumpkin products!

Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks are probably the most well known for their pumpkin lattes and coffee drink offerings.  Both also offer a variety of pumpkin flavored foods to pair with their beverages. The classic image of a “white girl” in the fall is one with a Pumpkin Spice Latte in her hand. Even restaurants, bakeries, and ice cream companies are jumping on the pumpkin flavor train by offering new desserts and delicacies in this popular flavor.

Why do people love pumpkin so much? Pumpkin officially kicks off the beginning of the holiday season. It reminds us of all the things we love about this time of the year, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. When businesses offer pumpkin products they are tapping into the consumer’s nostalgia. Consuming pumpkin products is a fall trend that many people follow. Trends are very influential on consumer's purchasing decisions. People want to follow what everyone else is doing and during the fall the flavor on everyone's mind is pumpkin!

Offering pumpkin products around this time of the year may be part of a business’ marketing plan, which is a plan that incorporates the marketing mix to provide a product or service to buyers. Let's use Starbucks for an example. 

The first of the marketing mix elements is product strategy. Starbucks’ product for this example is the Pumpkin Spice Latte. They may decide to target it towards two types of market segments: teenagers and college students and an older group of maybe 30-40-year-olds. The price would be standard for both groups and for Starbucks is $3.75 for a “tall” (which is a small at Starbucks) latte. As for place, the pumpkin spice latte is available for purchase at any Starbucks location. Also, you can purchase a blend of Starbucks Instant Pumpkin Spice Latte online at store.starbucks.com. By offering it online, they are making it more available and convenient for their customers. This would particularly appeal to people who don’t live near a Starbucks. They can quickly make their own coffee in the morning and save money, too.  Now for the last part: the promotion. Starbucks displays many posters and banners in the store windows that announce the return of the latte. I found an interesting article that announced a new ingredient in Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte. To my surprise, that new ingredient is real pumpkin! The article talks about how Starbucks is getting rid of the caramel coloring and using real pumpkin. This is a very big promotional strategy, as it will appeal to health-conscious people. I think it was a very good decision on Starbucks' part to make this switch as more and more people care about staying away from artificial flavors. 

Overall, a business' use of seasonal changes to offer specialty products can be very beneficial. Last fall, Starbucks reported a 10% sales increase in the fiscal fourth quarter, the time where the demand for the Pumpkin Spice Latte is very high. As a result, Starbucks offered the Pumpkin Spice Latte earlier this year starting in September. 

Lastly, here's a list of some very outrageous pumpkin                  flavored products. 

1. Pumpkin pie spice potato               chips

2. Pumpkin marshmallows

3. Pumpkin soy milk

4. Pumpkin spice fettuccini 

5. Pumpkin spice hummus

6. Pumpkin spice yogurt

7. Pumpkin spice gum

8. Pumpkin spice butter

9. Pumpkin spice Burnett's

10. Pumpkin spice fourLoko

             Final question: Would you eat any of these?

This is the link to the article announcing the use of real pumpkin. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte-made-actual-pumpkin-year/story?id=33140320

Sources:

http://hambycatering.com/blog/its-fall-yall/

http://www.foodbeast.com/news/pepperidge-unveils-new-pumpkin-products-at-the-eleventh-hour/

http://fortune.com/2014/10/30/starbucks-pumpkin-latte-sales/

http://totalsororitymove.com/the-29-most-ridiculous-pumpkin-spice-products-weve-seen-this-year/
https://www.pinterest.com/shuallen/e-card-laugh-hard/

Blog 1. Using apps to target consumers

The invention of the iPhone has enhanced the lives of many through its many helpful resources. It combined the functions of a music player, computer, and phone into one portable device. The reason for the iPhone’s widespread satisfaction for people of all ages is largely attributed to one key component. Apps.

The definition of an app is “a self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose”. As far as I’m concerned apps fulfill just about any purpose, want, or need imaginable. The abundance of information that apps provide us with is endless. I’m doubtful that many people have run into the problem of not being able to find an app to fulfill a particular function. There’s an app for everything.

The popularity of iPhones and the use of apps has created a wonderful marketing tool for many businesses. Since we are constantly on our phones using apps, businesses use them to target potential consumers.

One of my favorite apps that I use many times a day is Spotify. Spotify is a music app that offers every genre of music with playlists for any time of the day.  I recently “splurged” and am paying $.99 cents a month (only for the first three months) for Spotify Premium, which allows you to listen to any song, anywhere you want at any time. You can make your own playlists of favorite songs and utilize Spotify’s mood playlists as well. For me, the most noteworthy difference between the free version of Spotify and Premium is the advertisements.

Before I entered the wonderful world of Spotify Premium, my Spotify experience was bombarded with ads. Many of you who don’t have Premium probably know that familiar voice that says “watch this short video for thirty minutes of ad free music”, followed by a catchy tune and a couple of advertisements. I don’t know how many times I’ve been running on the treadmill when my music stops and is interrupted for an ad. It makes it pretty hard to have the motivation to keep running when I can hear my panting as I wait for the advertisements to finish.

Although it is an impediment to myself as well as many others, advertisements on Spotify can be a successful marketing tool for many businesses. Take, for example, graze.com, a start-up company that offers snacks by mail. They promote “a new way to snack” through healthy, low-calorie snacks sent right to your door. Graze uses Spotify to appeal to tech-savvy people with healthy lifestyles. They used a campaign based on audio messages and featured a banner offering a discount for new customers.  Graze exhibited two of the four P’s of the marketing mix; product and promotion. Their product is a box of nutritious snacks available for purchase online and they offered a promotion of a free snack box for new customers. Spotify ended up being the most cost efficient form of advertising for Graze and they continue to use it to gain more customers.

Example of the promotional banner Graze used to promote their new product.

Businesses with ads on Spotify can use different marketing techniques to reach their target market. Content targeting is used to feature ads to listeners with particular interests and tastes by tracking favorite genres and playlists. There is also demographic targeting, which targets specific locations, genders, or ages. Businesses can also choose specific times of the day to feature their ads. 

Although I prefer to listen to my music without the annoyance of interrupting ads, if I was in charge of promoting a particular product or service I’m pretty certain I would use Spotify to do so.

Sources:

https://www.spotify.com/us/brands/gallery/graze-new-way-to-snack/

http://racepacejess.com/running-app-round-up-our-running-buddies-share-what-apps-they-love-why/