Final Marketing Post

This has been a fun class. I had a really good group for our project, and it looks like everyone in the class did a great job with their IMCs. I'm still considering majoring in marketing, but all that is still up in the air. At least, if scheduling permits, I'll likely take another marketing class sometime before I graduate. Have a great rest of the summer, and those of you who are taking classes this next half too, good luck!

Here's a really interesting paper about the relation between money, consuming, and happiness.

http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~dtg/DUNN%20GILBERT%20&%20WILSON%20%282011%29.pdf

It's 12 pages long, but quite informative in my opinion. It's also neat comparing the concepts in this picture to marketing.

Working on this IMC project has really made me appreciate the research that goes into marketing. I have found this research to be enjoyable though. Statistics are fun when you're only reading them and not trying to create them. I wonder if any of my classmates have unexpectedly really enjoyed this project as I have.

I was surprised to read that there's a whole section of promotions dealing with reminding people that they chose the right product. To me, that just seems to be an extra step towards brainwashing, or perhaps sheer desperation to keep and retain customers. Maybe that's just the paranoia talking...

It's funny hearing about translation errors, but what's not funny is how much of a mess they cause for the company. An example from the book: KFC's "Finger lickin' good" translated to Chinese as "Eat your fingers off." The poor consumers in China are perplexed by this American company's message to them. ;) Translation discrepancies must be expensive because the product or service doesn't want to be purchased, and when the company finds out what happened, they have to fix everything, spending more time and money to re-market the product. It just seems like something that should use a little extra time to be done right the first time.

It's really interesting seeing what people come up with for products that are generally considered "boring" but actually have a lot of design behind them. 

This is a fun concept to think about. Not just products that were designed on purpose, but ones designed on accident too. Also, what thought processes must have occurred "to put two and two together." 

A product that always baffles me is chopsticks. Essentially, using two sticks to hold all kinds of food, it just doesn't seem as intuitive as forks and spoons (shovel food into your mouth), yet they're not that hard to use after you get the hang of them, and I bet for the most part they're cheaper to make than American utensils.

Product really is a fun P. This must be where a lot of creativity in marketing goes. It might be fun to develop a new product with a team of various creative thinkers and engineers. 

At my old school, there was a product design major. I wonder if any graduates with that degree are involved in designing a cool new product.

After reading about consumer buying, it really is amazing how much research goes into marketing. It's not just what people buy, but why people buy.

It's also interesting that low-class consumers tend to impulse buy the most. It reminds me of an article I read based on one person's experience living poorly. Poor families impulse buy when they have a little extra money because otherwise it will all be gone soon on things like bills. 

About half of my childhood and all of my teen years were spent living with my single mom and 2 brothers in upper-low class circumstances. It's true; when the tax return came around, or any amount of extra cash, we'd spend it on some form of entertainment, otherwise it would all be gone. 

This is obviously a bad habit that living poorly tends to instill in people, and can cause things like negligence towards healthcare spending and saving money.

"The Persuaders" mentioned a pivotal aspect of consumer behavior: community. People want to belong, even those emo kids. Why do emo kids shop at Hot Topic? Because they are emo kids. 

However, why do non-emo kids shop at Hot Topic? Because they like the style. Imagine those aggravated women from Maury, "You don't know me. You don't know how it is."

What if marketers tried a more submissive approach, putting the consumers in charge. Something like, "No, we don't know you, but we'd like to." This sounds familiar to existing ads, but where exactly from, I forget. Beep boop.

When I was reading about all of the forces that affect marketing strategies, it got me thinking about how many more forces affect the consumers! Relating to economics, each person has a different marginal willingness to pay for a certain product. For example, one person might have no issue buying a $80 pair of jeans, and someone else may think spending more than $25 on jeans would be an absolute rip off. It's interesting how much variation business have to consider when trying to promote their product. All the more reason why target markets are key. They get rid of some of that variation.

Hello marketing class companions. This is a blog I used in my senior year of my BFA degree. The below posts are bird paintings I did as part of my diploma works project. Feel free to look at them, if you'd like. Courier New is a fun font, because it makes me feel like a robot.