Response to Eriks's Stumble Upon Post

Mastering the ability to use Stumble Upon is a very valuable tool for Marketers. Check it out. Do you agree?

I definitely agree that being able to use Stumble Upon is a good tool for marketers because it seems to be a ultimate search engine that still has not came close to reach its peak yet. I actually just signed up for my Stumble Upon account a few weeks ago and i'm not going to lie its addicting. Its very easy and interesting the random sites they bring you on based on your interests. I interests i chose were sports, music, nature along with others. Most of the time the sites they bring you to are something that would be pretty difficult to just find on the web or wouldn't think of searching for it which makes it unique.It is very fast and if you don't like what they brought you to then you simply just push the stumble button and it instantly brings you somewhere else. I feel that once stumble upon starts getting bigger and more recognized as it is starting to anyways we will see more advertisements because marketers will see it as a great opportunity for promotion. Stumble Upon if used correctly will be very valuable for marketers.

Taco Bell Uses Humor to dig itself

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/01/25/wheres-beef-taco-bell-sued-ingredients/Last week, an Alabama law firm filed a class action lawsuit against Taco Bell, claiming the restaurant chain misleads its customers about what's actually in its tacos. The lawsuit stems from a former employee who stated that Taco Bell has been advertising its meat as "seasoned beef," but claims evidence in the form of lab results shows that Taco Bell is including oat products as a seasoning. The problem is that  is that oats is not a seasoning and cannot be used as seasoning in "seasoned beef," and further that Taco Bell has been purposefully mislabeling its product, and ultimately tricking their customers. Since the story broke, Taco Bell has been active in dispelling consumer concern over one of its main ingredients, almost instantly going on both the defensive as well as the offensive. For example, Taco Bell's corporate home page is 100% dedicated to addressing the controversy sharing its beef ingredients, print ads and direct links to media relations. Furthermore it has been actively using the hashtags beef in addition to TacoBell in all tweets related to the suit. One look at Taco Bell's tweets and you'll find both a serious tone addressing the suit in the form of embedded video starring the president of Taco Bell, as well as links to humorous musings on the Colbert Report's take on "tacogate."

Since the allegations Taco Bell has put on a paid media effort with a full page ad that is titled "Thank you for suing us," which attempts to disprove the acusations of the seasoned beef in proactive fashion that is guarenteed  to get consumers attention and possible draw more people in their restaurant. So from a media perspective Taco Bell is doing the right thing and is being proactive with their marketing to try and turn around the publics opinion and is total focusing there business on their marketing efforts.They are going out of their way to show the recipe of its product to anyone who will listen and rationally explaining that oats in their beef recipe is the equivalent to beans in chili. In any other industry we'd consider this a successful attempt at utilizing social media with paid and owned media to position the brand against its detractors and share its brand story with its consumers. In my opinion it is clear that Taco Bell is not being honest about their product. It shouldn't take something like this to start posting what is in your food they should have done it from the start. By the owners saying that there are no fillers clearly is not true and is not promoting customer loyalty. This is not the first time this has happened either I remember a few years ago Ecoli was in Taco Bells meat so there is something going on in that business that the public doesn't know about. Even with all the marketing Taco Bell is doing to try to prove there meat is up to the regulations of the USDA would you still eat their products?

Green Marketing

I recently read a article called "3 keys to Green Marketing Campaigns" which discussed the 3 ways to effectively promote environmentally friendly lifestyles. Green marketing has grown exponentially in the past few years as people especially college students and late teenagers have become more aware problems in the environment, the use of fossil fuels, and global warming which seems to be on the rise. According to the article in order for Green Marketing to be effective you have to do 3 things; be Genuine, Educate Your Customers, and give them a Opportunity To Participate. Being genuine means exactly what was talked about in class the other day and that is to believe in what your selling and do what you claim to be doing especially when it comes to such a sensitive topic like "going green." A example of not doing this would be Al Gore with his Inconvient Truth movie where he was talking about the rise of global warming and what needs to be done to reduce it but at the same time he flies around in his private jet all over the world and lives in a mansion that uses up a lot of resources and makes a significant carbon footprint.

The Second way to effectively promote Green Marketing is to Educate Your Customers. Green marketing only goes so far when you just let people know what do to protect the environment in order to actually have  an impact you must educate them on why it is so important to change the way we do things and how it has such a problem for the future and today. Like the use of plastic bags, most people don't know that one plastic bag used at the grocery store will take 1,000 years to decompose.

The third and arguably the most important way is to Giving Your Customers a Opportunity to Participate. This means personalizing your the benefits of your environmentally friendly actions, normally through letting the customer take part in positive environmentally action. In my opinion this is one the key flaws today in green marketing. A lot of people talk about what people should do and what there going to do to help the environment but words mean nothing if they are not put into action. To many people think that they individually will not make a difference by changing the small things like recycling, using less water/ electricity, and not using so much plastic so they don't do it. It all starts with one person to promote a more efficient and "green" lifestyle to spread to another and then its a domino affect. I think green marketing is extremely important today and for the future. Do you think that the three keys ( Being Genuine, Educating Your Customers, and Giving Your Customers an opportunity to participate) are all that Green Marketing needs to be successful?

Nintendo Wii Successor on the way

Nintendo announced on Monday that it will launch a successor to its best-selling Wii game machine and that it will "offer a new way of playing games. The system will launch sometime in 2012, Nintendo announced at a news conference in Japan early last week, but they have not reveled what it will feature. Over the years the Wii was a very popular gaming system because it was unique from the Xbox or Playstation due to its motion control sensors. Since X box has come out with a controller-less way of playing the Wii has seen less sales and are forced to come out with a new generation of gaming. Rumors had recently begun circulating that Nintendo would reveal a successor to the Wii. And according to leaks from multiple anonymous sources, the Wii 2 will feature controllers with touchscreens and will be capable of running games in HD resolutions and will be more powerful than the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The machine is also reportedly will be capable of streaming games to each controller, will be around the same size as the first-generation Xbox 360 and could cost between $350 and $400. Certainly the company must be hoping repeat the success it had with the Wii. The machine not only sold at an outstanding rate, it brought legions of non-gamers and lapsed gamers into the gaming fold. It seems gaming is getting more and more high tech every year and is getting to the point where i am wondering how much further can gaming companies go with their systems. Pretty soon everything is going to be in 3-d. I kinda miss the old days of the old nintendo where you played duck hunter and Mario. If all the rumors are true about the new Wii would you invest your money into buying it?

Response to Brittany's post on Wendy's New Fries

What do you think about the new fries? Will they be successful or not?  Why the change of having unhealthier fries? Will this be bad for Wendy’s look?

Brittany's post talks about Wendy's recently adding new fries to there menu for the first time in 41 years to "natural cut fries with sea salt."Although i have not personally tried the fries i know people that have and like the difference. There seems to be more flavor and  a different taste then before. The taste is different but it also increased calories and sodium then before which wont help with our health and obesity problems are country is facing. I think that the new fries will be successful because customers like change and when people drive by and see a new product at a successful chain like Wendy's they want to stop and try it especially when it is getting positive reviews. The name of the fries having the word "natural" will definitely trick customers into thinking that it is healthier but it is actually not. This happens a lot with marketing but people need to take the time to actually look into what they are eating to reveal the true facts about the food. Do you think other fast food restaurants will follow Wendy's lead and start changing there menu around?

Subways $5 Footlong

Stuart Frankel's story about how he transformed Subway from two small stores in Miami to 32,000 outlets worldwide is very interesting and based upon the famous $5 foot long. This could very well be the idea for a chain restaurant in a long time. The $5 foot long has been around for several years now and it doesn't seem to be any need to change anything because it still appeals to consumers based on the statistics. Just from the $5 foot long alone Subway rakes in $3.8 billion in sales every year. Frankel thought this was just going to be a short term gimmick until lines were continuously out the door and turned into a national phenomenon. American's seem to just like the whole number 5 for a 12 inch sub. The idea was based upon a healthy alternatives for other fast food chains and you could eat one half of the sub and save the other for later or share with someone else which is something you cannot do with other popular items like the Big Mac. What surprised me the most was that Frankel's profit margins never declines. You would think that with all the production and food cost that are necessary to produce a mass amount of sandwich's that some profits would be lost at first, but that never happened because of the high demand right from the start. He never lost any money on a $5 dollar foot long. Everything seemed to fall right into place with how Subway's business was run as far as marketing and the company as a whole. It started up when the need for a fast healthier alternative was rising and a Subway customer Jared lost 250 pound by eating Subways subs everyday and he eventually became the face of the franchise. People saw how much weight he lost and jumped on the bandwagon. The catchy $5 dollar foot long song also made it popular because it stuck into people's head and often times the people in the commercials were athletes making people think that they got into shape by eating there favorite sandwich. Some people think that Subway is "riding the pony" on the $5 foot long to long, but why would they change something that has about $4 billion in sales every year? What other ideas do you think subway could come up with that would be successful?

In Response to Kayle's post

If we start sticking puppies and lions on Kashi and bran, will our younger generation catch on to a healthier lifestyle?
 Kayle has a very interesting post about a recent study that was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania's Anneburg School of Communication. They gave 80 four to six year olds 4 different boxes of cereal. Two of the boxes were called "Healthy Bits" with one of them having no picture on them and the other having  animated characters. The other two boxes were called "Sugar Bits" with the same scenario, one with no picture and the other having one. The study showed that more kids today chose "Healthy bits" over the less healthy sugar favored bran and this could be due to the fact that over the past couple years more and more food industries are shifting there marketing strategy to promote healthier products because more people are watching what they eat compared to how people had no idea what they were eating. Kids have always been attracted to pictures on certain products because it catches there eye when there at the grocery store with there parents and most the time they are able to convince there parents to buy them especially at the age of 4 or 6. I believe that if healthier bran names like Kashi or Bran change there product to have animated pictures in them it will help kids buy the healthier foods and catch on to a healthier lifestyle at a early age unlike most generations. If this occurs it could potentially reduce obesity rates and lead to a healthier lifestyle for future generations.

Pizza Patron keeping up with demographics

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204204004576049952412468360.html#printMode

Im writing this post on the above article

A Dallas based restaurant chain called Pizza Patron sets a great example of what a successful business does to increase profits by adjusting there marketing strategy. Pizza  Patron is a 100-unit restaurant chain that has catered to Spanish speaking customers since the beginning of there business, but due to changes in demographics and demand by the English speaking population they are now setting there focus on English speaking clientele. Pizza Patron first opened in 1986 without the intention to target Hispanics but most of his customers were and placed orders in Spanish. This made Pizza Patron very unique in the way they marketed there products especially being in America, they began re-arranging there menu to offer more Spanish based foods and as the Hispanic population grew so did there Revenue.Just this year alone they expect to make over $40 million in revenues.  It came to a point in 2007 that they begin accepeting Mexican pesos as payment. Typically, Pizza Patron opened Pizzerias in locations where more then half the population was hispanic and nearly all the ads were on Spanish-language media outlets.

 

Pizza Patron has proved to be a successful business for over two decades they once again are adjusting to there demographics by focusing on more English speaking cultures. Today most young Hispanics  are bicultural and are very adopting to American culture without letting go of there Spanish roots so Pizza Patron is re- allocating its advertising budget, changing commericals, and opening new restaurant in new areas. Next years plans inclide completely flip flopping its marketing mix by allocating 70% of its advertising budget to English language television and radio stations and the remaining 30% to Spanish media outlets. This is a risky change because they have never focused on another culture more then there traditional Spanish based customers so this could potentially loose some devoted customers.To try and eliminate this potential problem Pizza Patron is adding more Latin- themed specialty pizzas and are planning on posting in-store graphics honoring hispanic holidays, such as Day of the Three Kings. Although it is risky for a business to completely change the way they do business when there has been success I believe it is a good idea because the up and coming teenage population is often bilingual and bicultural and most of there customers now do speak English. It just makes sense to attract a broader demographic because statistics show that virtually every ethnic group has largely integrated into American culture by second and third generation. From a business perspective you have to adjust to where the demand is even though you may loose some customers. Do you think it was a smart choice for Pizza Patron to completely change there Marketing Strategy?

In response to Sylvie's Post.....

Do you think that with all the pressure that the president is under and trying to revive the economy that he should be disturbed by such inconsiderate idiots?

I have always thought that politics and sports should not intervene with each other because there is obviously more important things for the president, congress, and senate to worry about. This is not the first time that this has happened, a few years ago when all the steroid allegations were happening in baseball congress jumped in and i thought that was just unnecessary and should not have been handled that way. Former senator George Mitchell was assigned to investigate for 20 long months possible steroid allegations on over 80 different players, a lot of them being star players. I believe that people should know the truth about what was going on during that point in time but i didn't think it had to go to congress on national television when there are far worse things going on in our country then proving or not proving steroid use among million dollar athletes. The same goes for football. There is no reason for the President of the U.S. to have to intervene because owners and players can't work out a deal because of selfish greed. These players are already making millions this shouldn't be a ongoing issue. Do you feel that there is any reason for the politics and sports to have anything to do with each other?

America's Happiest Careers are Not About The Money

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41890356/ns/business-careers/
I recently read a article about a survey that was conducted revealing America's top ten happiest careers based on a variety of different questions that were asked to over 200,000 independent employee reviews from over 70,000 jobs all over the country to collect 1.6 million data points on nine different factors of workplace happiness.These included the employee's relationship with their boss and co-workers, their work environment, job resources, compensation, growth opportunities, company culture, company reputation, daily tasks and job control over the work that they do on a daily basis. These numbers were collected and averaged out to come up with a employee happiness rating for each job site. The results were very clear that even in tough economic times like were are in today happiness on the job does not just come from a big paycheck or even up there in the top three of what people find to make them happy while working. The top three things employees are looking for on the job are....

1.The specific tasks a job entails on a day-to-day basis.
2.How much control the employee has over his or her daily tasks.
3.Relationships with co-workers and customers, including supervisors and colleagues.

How much money a job offers obviously is a important factor when deciding on a job but it is clear that even with a big paycheck it is not enough to consistently satisfy workers. Careers in biotechnology were ranked number one followed by customer services and education employees. "In biotech, the people that they work with, and more specifically the person that they work for, tends to rank higher in terms of importance, and employees are overwhelmingly happy with those conditions," says Heidi Golledge the CEO of CareerBliss. Biotechnology offers a lot of control over what they do while on the job which is also an important factor. I was pretty surprised with customer service being number 2 on the list as the happiest jobs. To me that line of work tends to be more stressful and doesn't pay that well but being able to talk to people everyday and valuing co workers more then other industries led to that ranking.  Education was another occupation that  caught me off guard in contrast to biotech in education employee boss relationships were not important. Teachers value the work they do, the way they work, and the people they were with. The final 7 jobs that closed out the top ten were  administrative, purchasing, accounting, finance, nonprofit, health care and law. A lot of these types of jobs surprised me a lot because i thought most of these were high stress low paying jobs, but i guess that shows to prove that money isn't the only thing people look for in a job. What are your most important factors when looking for a job? Is money on the top of the list?            

In Response to Chris Hill

Are you happy with this change in business or do you prefer to go out and do your shopping, banking, or socializing? 

 The way business, shopping, and socializing is done this day and age is being able to do it as fast and efficiently possible. It seems that every year a new product or service comes out that is somehow faster and operates differently then before. I like and dislike the way things are becoming with technology and relying on computers in order to operate. It is much more convenient to be able to get everything you need done just at home and not going through a hassle, but at the same time i miss the days where not everyone was attached to there computers or cell phones. Today if your without a phone or computer you are completely out of the loop and it makes it almost impossible to be able to contact anyone. It is pretty crazy to think about how much we have developed technologically in just ten years. In 2001 the i pod just came out now we are developing into a world where the internet operates through everything and the expansion of 3d tv's and video games has exploded. When I saw a computer competing on Jeopardy the other day I really thought about how times have changed and what the future holds for us. Its scary to be relying on something that could crash one day so heavily, but I don't see technology slowing down anytime soon. Is technology moving in the right direction?

Money and Happiness

There have been many arguments and studies about whether money can buy happiness or not but there still has not been a set conclusion. This article http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2016291,00.html talked about a resent analysis that was done about the subject. The results of 450,000 participants being asked questions about there overall happiness and there income showed that $75,000 a year was the benchmark of enjoyment for there lives. I don't necessarily agree with this because there are plenty of people out there that do not make that much money and still go about there lives happily because of other factors that have a bigger impact then income like being healthy, having a family, or just being lucky enough to have a roof over there head everyday. Our society in America definitely has become one of class and because of that people feel they are always in a position to try and out perform others. This is a problem that some other countries do not deal with and that is part of the reason why studies have shown that were not the happiest country in the world. We may be the most powerful and one of the most prosperous, but that doesn't account for being healthy and other key essentials to living a happy life. I believe that money can buy happiness in the short term but when it comes to long term overall happiness money can only take you so far. The reasons that higher income can bring short term enjoyment is because you will have enough expendable cash to do what makes them feel good instead of dwelling on what is upsetting them. Money can make you feel really good and powerful, but cannot supply a person with what emotionally makes people happy in the long term like family, friends, and less stress. I have noticed that sometimes the wealthiest people are the most stressed because of not having the basic necessities to be happy. It is easy to hide how you really feel behind a lot of money but when it comes down to it there are more important things to worry about besides trying to get to that $75,000 a year. Do you think that money and happiness relate to each other?

In Response to Chris Cheevers Post "Mobile Marketing"

Mobile marketing is definitely on the rise due to technology in phones, computers, i pods etc. If marketers begin to increase advertising through text messages and other mobile ways of communicating I too will find it very annoying. I can see it happening in the near future though because  phones is where the people are. Everyone I know has a phone and receives text messages on a daily basis. In order for mobile marketing to take place though there should be restrictions on what advertisements are being sent out and who receives them, but that will be hard to monitor because once its out in the mobile world who actually knows who will see it.

Do you think mobile marketing will be more common in the near future?

Global Management

Managing in a global work environment definitely requires a unique set of skills to adapt to various cultures besides the one your comfortable with. Globalization has increased dramatically in the last couple years as markets get bigger and companies expand to different parts of the world. IBM for example has been sending executives to Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East to get to know more about the decision makers in those markets and how IBM can adjust to better there future. IBM is trying to get ahead of the game to learn about emerging markets because they know if they want to continue to be successful they will have to win more contracts from small and medium sized businesses overseas, not just the large ones. Today's global business environment makes the job of the manager more complex and difficult. Few businesses are immune from globalization's influence as they expand into new markets, outsource across borders and encounter foreign competitors. The most difficult skill that managers must develop is different communication styles for each culture, that is extremely important because what one country thinks is the appropriate way of doing something could be very different from another. For example in Latin America most of the time business transactions are done over time, based on trust. As a manager you won't be able to just fly down there say what you need to say and expect immediate results, patience will be needed. In China the concept of micromanagement is the applied. Generally speaking, direct reports expect to receive specific directions and detailed explanations from their managers, not broad goals.  It is very important as a manager to learn about the different cultures you will be around or else it will only lead to jumping to the wrong conclusion causing failure. You need to get to know the people you are going to be working with just as you would anywhere else. Managing within a different culture is really only an extension of what managers do every day, and that's working with differences.
What do you feel is the most important quality a manager must have when working globally?

McDonald's Getting Bigger

Not surprisingly McDonald's is getting bigger in other countries in the world, but this time they are going to Japan a place where a healthy eating and lifestyle are a way of culture. Japan has a strong reputation of having one the healthiest countries in the world by staying away from fast food and focusing on smaller portion sizes and other options like rice and fish, but not this time. McDonald's Holdings CO is Japans top restaurant chain by number of stores rolled out its Big America 2 campaign last week, featuring four burgers named after U.S. locales. All four of the burgers are over 550 calories and not a typical meal you would expect on a Japanese plate but it is becoming very popular and I expect Japans obesity rate to increase within the next couple years. In tough economic times people go for the cheap food like McDonald's because you get more for your dollar even in a traditional country like Japan. As many flaws there are with McDonald's they have always had a very strong marketing campaign which is why they operate in over 100 countries and 6 different continents worldwide and have been very successful doing it. Every time I see a advertisement for McDonald's either on TV or somewhere else the people always look like there having a great time and the food looks really good. It makes people want to go there just because of the enjoyment of eating a big burger is perceived to be. There are a lot of social irresponsibility when it comes to the fast food industry in ethics and the environment. Factory farming is a huge issue that is not often recognized because people don't take the time to go behind the scenes and question what is in the food there about to eat. A lot of the time all that is cared about is how fast they will get the food and how good it tastes. The way McDonald's operates is not changing because not enough people are demanding that there should be change and more healthier options available so there just making a smart business decision and staying with what is working and operating the cheapest and most efficient way possible. I don't see Japan being anywhere near the U.S in obesity rates but it is hard not to predict a increase when more fast food chains are available and people are going to them regularly. If more and more fast food chains keep opening up worldwide there could be some dark days approaching for both the health of the people and the environment. Do you think Japans obesity rates will ever be close to the U.S?

response to Eric Bergstroms "super" marketing

I completely agree with your main point that marketing owns the Super Bowl. Advertisors spend 3 million dollars for a 30 second commercial on Super Bowl sunday because they know that it could potentialy make or break there company. This is a event that marketers would be crazy not to put forth there best effort to promote the right way because over 100 million people tune in for the super bowl almost as if it were a holiday. Studies have shown that about 25% of people that watch are doing so just for the commercials alone. Throughtout the years the underline strategy of how Super Bowl marketing was done is to keep the commercials under rap until the game to keep people wondering, but in 2011 the strategy seemed to switch due to social media like facebook and twitter. For the first time some campaigns were aired before the super bowl and will continue to be aired weeks after as well. There are crowd-sourcing campaigns that draft fans into contributing to the broadcast ads, Facebook efforts, and Twitter-based stunts to build bonds with consumers. The Volkswagon Darth Vador commericial generated 6 million views 2 days before the Super Bowl and will continue to be watched after. The marketing strategy in 2011 may have changed the way marketers expand there campaigns in the future. Do you think that is a better idea to get your advertisement out there before Super Bowl or keep it under raps till the game?

In response to Erics All State post

"Do you think it is helpful to add comical material into advertisements"?

I agree with Eric that advertising commercials in a comical way helps a lot to grab the attention of the target market especially when it is about subject that is not very interesting to begin with like insurance. He specifically talked about All State insurance and how they market to middle aged adults by being funny and creative. All State claims that they are taking a stand in behalf of there consumers by delivering a simple message that highlights the benefits of having All State. It seems that being comical is the most effective way for insurance companies to market. AllState is not the only one i have seen Geico do it for years along with Statefarm and Aflac. Geico and Aflac both use their well known Duck and Geico to grab the attention of customers and Statefarm just used creative humor. All in all i believe that being comical in your advertisements is effective and helps promote a product by making people laugh. Do you think more and more businesses will start going towards this approach?

Applying the Marketing Mix to the job market

A substantial part of finding a job is coming up with the right questions and finding the answers about your own personal ambitions along with what your future employer wants as well. Using the marketing mix is a great way to come up with the important questions before your job search starts so finding the right fit becomes simpler. Just as marketing executives use the marketing mix to promote products and services, job seekers can apply these four elements to there job search. The marketing mix is made of the "four P's" which are Product, Place, Promotion, and Price.

Product- The product in this instance is you, your skills, knowledge, and abilities that you are trying to sell to potential employers. It is arguably the most important of the 4 P's because without yourself it obviously would not be possible to apply price, promotion, and place. It is very important to ask yourself what your strengths and weaknesses are because  those questions will come up in the job interview and also can be used when looking for a job that will fit well. Finding characteristics that make you unique among competition for a job is very important so you will stand out like listing prior jobs, education, leadership skills, and accomplishments.

Place- There are several questions you need to ask when talking about the Place that you work. First you need to figure out a location that will make you happy. Do you want to be New England? Out West? Down South? At is also important to realize what type of job that you want. Would it be better for you to always be on the go? Or would a more traditional office job be more appropriate? When I have looked for jobs in the past how far it was away from my house was one of the most important aspects because of how expensive gas was. If my job was more then a hour or so away it would make it very difficult to accept the job.

Promotion- Figuring out how to market yourself well will increase your chances of getting the job and help you realize if the occupation is the right place for you. Promotion is done after you figure out the questions about yourself so you can then market what you have to offer that will be beneficial to your possible future employers. It is all about convincing them that you are the best fit for the job. Promoting should take a lot time and thought to efficiently sell yourself. Expressing your strengths and weaknesses will help the employer know if it is you that he wants because he is basing his decision on what you bring to the table.

Price- The price is basically finding out how much you want to charge for your knowledge, skills, and ability. It is not entirely in your control because a job that pays less then what you expect still pays more then no job at all. Especially in the times of this economy people are willing to accept less money for work and employers know that. It is important to figure out your opportunities for the future as well the present. Is there a chance of a pay raise? What do I have to do to increase my salary? If there is commission on selling a product that will motivate your that much more to work harder and achieve your peak performance.You cant over price yourself, but you need to know a reasonable price of what your worth for your work.

The marketing mix is a great way to help yourself figure out what you want from a job and how to express that to potential future employers. It involves the controllable factors in which you need to find a job. Product, Price, Promotion, and Place are factors that will put in on the right path to find a job.

Which of the 4 P's do you feel is the most important when putting yourself in the job market?

The difference between marketing, advertising, and propaganda

A lot of the time people will get confused with marketing, advertising, and propaganda when running there business but there are some significant differences that if recognized along with doing market research can put a a company on the path of substantial growth. All three definitions go hand in hand with one another because they all have a away of getting information out to people but how that information is presented makes the distinct difference.

Advertising is the paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers.











Marketing is the systematic planning, implementation and control of a mix of business activities intended to bring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchange or transfer of products.
 


Propaganda is  the use of information that only supports one idea or cause.

 

To simplify things advertising is a single component of a marketing process and most of the time is the most expense aspect of marketing. It involves getting the word out to the people about a product or service usually by TV ads, billboards, newspaper clippings, and the internet. Advertising is considered the most important part of marketing but without a good marketing strategy advertising will only go so far. Advertising occurs when the product has already been made and now needs to convince a market target that it is worth there money. Most of the time advertising occurs when a company knows they will be reaching a large audience like the World Cup, Super Bowl, or a very busy highway. Marketing is considered a campaign that is designed to create awareness of products, services, and brands. Marketing believes in building strong customer satisfaction. Marketing has many aspects besides advertising like sales, distribution, pricing, media relations, customer support, etc. All of these elements must not only work independently but they also must work together towards the bigger goal. Marketing is a process that takes time and can involve hours of research for a marketing plan to be effective. Think of marketing as everything that an organization does to facilitate an exchange between company and consumer. Propaganda is a form of communication or advertising that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community towards some cause of position. Propaganda always has a very noticable opinion in its approach to convince a target. Unlike regular advertisements that promote a direct product propaganda aims to sway views usually in a negative way. Most of the time propaganda is used in politics because peoples views and opinions in a political sense are always changing due to propaganda. Propaganda really started to take off in the World War 2 era. The main difference propaganda has over marketing and advertising is that its mainly opinion based and can use false statements to change peoples minds.

Marketing, avertising, and propaganda all relate to each other because they deal with people and promoting products, but marketing is the big picture while advertising and propaganda are just aspects of it. Advertising is way to get a product noticed usually with something that a lot of people will see and hopefully will be interested in. Propaganda is a way of advertising usually to change a persons opinion and can sometimes not be totally true. Marketing is the process of creating, distributing, promoting, and pricing of goods or services.

Do you feel that propaganda is ethically right in some ways or do you think it should not be allowed when marketing?