Product Life Cycle

The product life cycle is a concept that provides a way to trace stages of a products acceptance, from its birth to death. Applying this cycle to the Apple iPhone. Its introduction stage was in 2007 with the 1st generation. This is when people started first hearing about it. It is a full scale launch of a new product into the market stage. The first impression is always the most important, and considering since that date they have had 5 generations, I would say they did a good job. This phone introduced itself 128 MB memory, and since then it has grown progressively to hold 1GB. Throughout the different generations the iPhone went to the growth stage. This is when the sales are typically growing at an increasing rate, many competitors enter the market, large companies start to acquire small pioneering firms, and the profits are healthy. The maturity stage is next which is a period during which sales increase at a decreasing rate. In my opinion this is where the apple iPhone is right now in its product life cycle because everyone knows what they are all about, jumped on the band-wagon or not, and now there are lots and lots of other options in the market now and its not the only one of its kind. The decline stage is where there is a long-run drop in sales. This is where Apple would start to see other competitors increasing in sales and they would be decreasing. Prices are getting to be imperative for a company to survive. If they see after the maturity stage that sales are dropping they should seriously consider changes to their product whether it is cost, quality, looks, or capabilities.

Can you take the product life cycle and apply it to a different product or service?

In response to Will

Question: Do you think gender specific marketing is sexist? 

Gender specific marketing does exist. I agree with will when he says gender specific marketing is targeted to its potential customers. Every product on the market is not for everyone, so companies market their product to the consumers using it. As a marketer you want to market your product as specifically you can to your target market, in whatever way they feel would be most appealing to them. 

Bieber Backs a Debit Card for Teenagers, From Parents

Reading an article about Justin Bieber saying he has made videos with SpendSmart Payments Company, which offers a prepaid debit card for teenagers, the singer talks about his modest upbringing. Coming from a not wealthy background, he learned how to save the money he did have. The SpendSmart card has a number of features intended to teach teenagers financial literacy while enabling parents to monitor them. 

The company used Justin Bieber as a face for this card which is a great marketing tactic on their part. They want this to be used by teenagers to teach them about money, and what better way than to show that even JB has used something like this to get them interested in the product. 

What other companies have promoted products using a celebrity face to attract a specific target market?

In response to Mia

Do you think that this company will be successful if it continues to stay as a strictly online-based company?

By the sounds of this company, I dont think it will be successful. Even though the commercial was a well made clear clip, showing what their product truly was, I have not heard of many companies being successful with just that being their way of marketing the product. Word of mouth from customer to customer telling their experience first hand, but organizations can not rely on that solely. It is a positive thing that the commercial does appeal to a large demographic group and is not narrowed down to the typical athletic looking young adult. A negative aspect of this commercial is the motto. Being an athlete myself, I do not believe that, "Behind every great athlete is a private coach." I think this company needs a new inspirational motto, and more ways of marketing. They should put themselves in the consumers shoes and see in what ways would make their company more appealing to people who are looking for a personal coach or might be in that target market.

Infomercials

Infomercials are always trying to sell you more. They have a 30 second window to completely sell their product to you in a limited amount of time. Trying to keep their product appealing and adding even more products to go along with it. In class we watched an infomercial about a knife that can apparently cut smoothly through a loaf of bread as well as it slices a tin can. This is hard to believe but by showing footage of the knife doing that is what gets consumers to fall for it. Along with the footage, they add the "Wait, theres more" line, selling you related products making you feel like you are getting more for your money, making the product purchase worth it.

AsSeenOnTV.com is a site showing all the informercials and competing products that do relatively the same thing. This site shows you the ratings, prices, and original prices, making it look like you have received a deal on this purchase. 

What are other ways infomercials try to create an image of a good quality, affordable product that is so attractive to consumers?

In response to Will's post

Do you think the idea of spring break is marketed to students?

I think the idea of spring break is marketed to students more than adults because of their college, partying scene, which makes places like Miami, FL, Cancun, Mexico, places like that to attractive to students looking to spend their money and time in resorts during their spring break week. It is also more marketed to students in my opinion, because adults dont typically get "spring breaks" like college students do. 
Resorts and airlines use this time to their advantage by hiking the prices of flights, food, drink, and room stay. They try to make all inclusive packages look more attractive and affordable than they really are, making the students think they received a deal when they really have not. These organizations market their products in ways that seem so attractive to a college student looking to get out of the cold, to a place where they can lay in the sun, tan, drink, and hang out with friends, and they do it really well.

Revitalizing ailing brainds

Every company goes through stages where their products are becoming less popular and less attractive to consumers. Consultants have taught CEOs how to tweak products and target them to a different market where they would be more attractive. An article in the book called A life in the day of the Customer by Martin Lindstrom. He explains that the key to making product sales soar is to live with your customers. What he means by this is going out to research and evaluate the needs and wants of consumers and what they are looking for specifically. He says when he is hired by a company, he goes and lives with its target audience- eats, sleeps, and plays with them to take in all their preferences within different products. Up close and personal market research gives marketers a true and in depth look into how their customers live and helps companies give them exactly what they need. I think this is a good way companies can increase sales within products that have been out on the market for a while and need to be revitalized and fresh for them to become more attractive to consumers again.

Can you think of any products out on the market that have been out there for a while and have been renovated to become a more efficient, popular item to consumers?

Cultural Influences on Consumer Buying Decisions

The iPhone was one of the biggest products I can think of that had the most influential buying factors in its favor. All of the factors that affect consumer decision making, cultural factors, exert the broadest and deepest influence. If all of my friends have something that makes me want it even more. This is a very important thing for marketers to understand is that if its in people culture and society and its accompanying values, as well as their subculture and social class, all influences their buying behavior.
If a company understands this it gives them an advantage to how they can get products to appeal to consumers and for it to be the "must-have" product.
Other organizations that can take advantage of the influential factors is clothing stores, electronics, music, and restaurants. If all these things are well known in societies, people have more knowledge about the product or service, which creates a bigger target market.

What are the biggest influences on consumer buying decisions in your opinion?

In Response to Joe Littlewood

What do you think about Nikes strategy back then?  If you were making the decisions would you have made all those risks and put your company in jeopardy?

Nike's strategy back then took a huge risk. In my opinion, I think taking risks is what a company needs to succeed. Some risks organizations take dont always end up in such success as this one, but thats what makes certain companies so much more successful than others, they were willing to take huge risks with a creative idea and run with it, in hopes to have a good turn out.
If I were making the decision, had valid facts, useful information, and a solid projection or business plan for this situation I would go for it. I dont think Nike expected to have such huge success from this decision, but if it was never made in the first place who knows where that company would be today!

Technology, Marketing, & Social Networking

The evolution in technology has created many new and different opportunities for the marketing aspects of organizations. This was before I knew what technology really was, but the fax machine is what had once been the greatest inventions for the workplace ever. They are still used in the workplace today, but then soon after came e-mail. Email changed the workplace completely from sending letter through the post office or physically having to meet up. This was alot cheaper option than both of those. Technology has been changing so quickly it makes you wonder what the next big thing it will be. In my opinion it will be holographs. They are used in companies today, but arent something you see in our everyday life as students or even small businesses. But what we do see alot in our everyday life is all the different social networking services that have opened up opportunites for people to use for marketing. We use everything from Facebook, to Twitter, to even more business -focused networks like LinkedIn. 

Marketing is everywhere, whether we notice the little ads on the sides of each website we use, or we are looking into the marketing aspect of business for a career, even viewing companies on LinkedIn that are trying to get you know more information about their organization.  

In Response to Nick Vita

Do you think that humor is the best way to advertise on TV these days, or does it make a company look less serious than it should?

In Nick's blog he talked about commercials and the different ways producers and companies try to get your attention. I have seen the Geiko commercial he is talking about and I think it is a great way to get everyones attention. I too realize and remember that commercial from only seeing it a time or too. They used the strategy of bringing in a well known athlete, catching the viewers attention, then throwing comedy into it keeping their interest in the commercial and keep watching. Having such a well known company bring in those two factors created a very effective result.
I think that humor is a very good way to advertise on TV because it catches the audiences attention. It doesnt make the company look less serious because viewers already have their opinion and knowledge about the company Geiko to begin with, so by creating a humorous commercial, in my opinion worked well. Although there are many different types including appealing to vanity, bandwagon, celebrity endorsement, and parodies. Some work better in different situations depending on the product or service they are trying to present to viewers. 

Self Regulation vs Government Regulation

I believe that self regulation and government regulatory agencies need each other to work efficiently. Self regulation is defined as control by oneself or itself, as in an economy, business organization,etc., especially such control as exercised independently of governmental supervision or laws. Government regulatory agencies do their job by making sure the business environment is fair, allowing room for companies to have their own morals, rules, and ways of running themselves. If we did not have government regulatory agencies there would not be a nation or world wide set of ground rules everyone is expected to follow. If we did not have self regulation, it would not allow organizations to be different from one another or have the freedom they need to succeed. 

Does anyone know of an organization that relies on strictly government regulatory agencies?

In response to Katie O'Hurley

In Katie's post she talked about the amount if money that was spent on the marketing campaign which was 3/4 the amount that was given to the charity.
In my opinion if they had advertised that amount going to the charity they should have been honest with the amount. I know they turned down the 100% of profits Gap requested to be going to the charity, but the product (RED) wanted to keep a long term campaign going and by taking that request they wouldn't have been able to keep the campaign going for the long term they had intended to have.
I agree with Katie when she says that both the campaign and Gap could lose supporters and loyal customers due to the rumors or inaccurate proceed amounts.

Cause-Relatied Marketing

Over Christmas break I was offered an internship at a private brokerage company, where I was the relationships, event planning, marketing intern. I touched upon all those subjects while being there which gave me a great background for the field I want to be apart of once I graduate. Today in class we talked about cause-related marketing. Cause-related marketing is when an organization joins forces with a non profit organization, or a foundation to help both companies gain more revenue. 
One of my jobs was to research non profit organizations or an act of helping the environment that we could do as each person registered for the conference we were setting up. I had reached out to certain companies inquiring more information about where the money goes, how it is used, and if we would see results from our donations.
We decided to pick a Go-Green company that would plant a tree every time someone registered for this conference. There were about 500 prospects coming to this event so it brought in a good amount of attention to the company and was a good way to get people to actually register because they knew they were doing something good for the economy.

Has anyone had to research certain companies to do this type of thing? If so, did they get good results from it?

In response to NVita7

            I agree somewhat with Nick when he says that he does not believe that satisfaction can occur with low customer value because if someone doesn't feel like the product is worth their money, they wouldn't be interested in buying it. If they think that the company is not offering products that have high performance, the customer is not going to be satisfied. If the prices of the product the customer is looking for, is too high or at an unreasonable rate, they will not spend their money on it unless it is something they need.  On the other hand, I think that customers do not always know if the company is going to provide after sales support, or if they have the organization wide commitment to them, or if the company makes the. Going along with relationship marketing which is when a company is trying to develop customer relationships and keeping them happy. Organizations should be asking what customers need and want, how can they benefit society providing the best service, quality products,  and deliver superior customer value.

Customer Satisfaction & Customer Value

Are customer satisfaction and customer value interdependent or mutually exclusive? Can satisfaction occur simultaneously with low customer value?


Customer value requires one to earn trust so the customer feels safe with the business they are doing with the seller. Avoiding unrealistic pricing ensures that the customer feels like they are not being taken advantage of. Offering products that have high performance, and have a good history with their product will keep customers coming back and will show them that the company really cares about the customers needs and wants. Giving the buyer facts up front helps them feel more comfortable doing business with that company. Offering organization-wide commitment in service for the customer, and continued after the sale has been made.
Customer satisfaction is the customers evaluation of a good or service in terms of whether it has met their needs and expectations.
I believe customer satisfaction can occur simultaneously with low customer value. Customers do not always know the company inside and out to know if their product is made with the full intentions of it being a genuine product with lasting quality. A customer can be satisfied with the way they had been treated by the seller, but they might not feel like the company had realistic prices, or is willing to provide after sales support, whether its necessary or not. Depending on the company and the type of service provided can define better if customer satisfaction can occur simultaneously with low customer value.