Hallmark Created the Holidays!

In terms of a very successful market development strategy model, Hallmark is one to follow. There is a holiday for everything: see below for a complete list of holidays created by Hallmark to sell more cards. I'm not sure I need to say more after you review the list. It speaks for itself!


List of Hallmark holidays
The following holidays are often identified as Hallmark holidays:
Administrative Professionals' Day (previously known as Secretary's Day), an unofficial American secular holiday observed on the last Wednesday of April to recognize the work of clerical employees such as administrative assistants, receptionists, paralegals, etc.
Boss's Day, a United States secular holiday celebrated on October 16 that has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their superiors for being kind and fair throughout the year.
Children's Day, a holiday in many countries around the world to honor children.
Father's Day, a primarily secular holiday inaugurated in the early 20th century in the USA to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and parenting by males.
International Friendship Day, an international annual holiday inaugurated in the USA to celebrate friendship.
National Grandparents' Day, a United States secular holiday celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day that has traditionally been used to honor both grandparents and their relationships with their grandchildren.
Mother's Day, a holiday honoring mothers, celebrated (on various days) in many places around the world.
Sweetest Day, an American holiday involving giving small presents such as greeting cards, candy, and flowers to loved ones.
Valentine's Day, the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, often anonymously.
White Day, a festival that was created by a concentrated marketing effort in Japan, and is celebrated one month after Valentine's Day.

Who Am I?... (On the Diffusion Curve)

As I think about who I am in regards to the adoption of new products, I reflect on the iPhone. I have always been, or I should say always WAS, a Mac fan. Long ago I was trained at UCLA as a graphic designer, long before most people knew what a graphic designer was. This is when I was first hooked on the Mac brand. Over the years, as my career progressed, I moved more into true marketing, as a marketing product manager, and out of the purely creative element. My employers used primarily PCs, my personal Mac became obsolete and I then too, morphed into a solely PC-user. During this journey, I was routinely ridiculed by my family and friends for defending Macs so strongly. After fifteen years, I finally folded.

But then...

...iPhone came out! Now, Macs are "cool", well, at least to the masses and not just to the artists and graphic designers. So, as I ramble on, I'll try and go back to topic. Who am I? I think I fit into the "short-term extremely loyal early majority".

Exam Notes

Chapter1/Week 1 Lecture
Know reasons for studying marketing (PowerPoint) - 1) Part of everyday life – Marketing is everywhere, happens all around us, and can’t be avoided. By understanding what is being marketed to us, we can make better decisions. 2) Key economic process – Marketing impacts the economy, ~50% of retail sales expenditures, and healthy marketing systems support economic advances. 3) Marketing management is essential to organizational success by delivering value – Value for profit organizations include consumers, shareholders & other stakeholders (buyers, sellers, investors, community residents, and citizens of the nation where goods and services are sold or made) and Value for non-profit organizations include target constituencies & society at large. 4) Marketing can contribute to societal well-being. For example, marketing can address environmental concerns by “going green”, health concerns (pharmaceutical companies communicate safety & risk concerns for using their drugs as well as the benefits), education, and safety 5) Marketing is about people (consumers) and it’s fun!

Percentage of new product failure rate (PowerPoint) - 80 – 90% of new businesses & products fail!

Types of offerings (goods - tangible, services – an experience provided by the application of human or mechanical skill, ideas – most intangible of all ex. political marketing, bits – binary data 1/0 ex. video, software, MP3s, people – you can be marketed ex. your resume, your image)

What are digital “bits” and can they be marketed? binary data 1/0 ex. video, software, MP3s, Yes they can be marketed

Product – tangible good, service, idea or combination that satisfies consumer or business customer needs through the exchange process; a bundle of attributes including features, functions, benefits, and uses.

Price – the assignment of value, or the amount the consumer must exchange to receive the offering.

Place (Distribution) – The availability of the product to the consumer at the desired time and location.

Promotion – the coordination of a marketer’s marketing communications efforts to influence attitudes or behavior; the coordination of efforts by a marketer to inform or persuade consumers or organization about goods, services, or ideas.

What is a “segment”? – a distinct group of customers within a larger market who are similar to one another in some way and whose needs differ from other customers in the larger market.

Stakeholders-Know stakeholder types - buyers, sellers, investors, community residents, and citizens of the nation where goods and services are sold or made

Need – the recognition of any difference between a consumer’s actual state and some ideal or desired state.

Want (desire to satisfy need) – the desire to satisfy needs in specific ways that are culturally and socially influenced.

Benefit – the outcome sought by a customer that motivates buying behavior – that satisfies a need or want.

Demand – customers’ desire for products coupled with the resources to obtain them.

Know utilities (4). Create examples in your mind. 1) Form utility is the benefit marketing provides by transforming raw materials into finished products, as when a dress manufacturer combines silk, thread, and zippers to create a bridesmaid’s gown. 2) Place utility is the benefit marketing provides by making products available where customers want them. For example, the most sophisticated evening gown sewn by New York’s garment district is of little use to a bridesmaid in Kansas City if it isn’t shipped to her in time. 3) Time utility is the benefit marketing provides by storing products until they are needed. Some women rent their wedding dresses instead of buying them and wearing them only once. 4) Possession utility is the benefit marketing provides by allowing the consumer to own, use, and enjoy the product. The bridal store provides access to a range of styles and colors that would not be available to a woman outfitting a bridal party on her own.

Exchange – the process by which some transfer of value occurs between a buyer and a seller.

Does economic activity occur in “virtual” realms? (Second Life) – Yes, as when players of online games like Second Life “buy” property using currency the game maker issues!

How can “virtual” reality foster the “darkside” of consumer behavior? Virtual reality can foster the darkside of consumer behavior with 1) addictive consumption, 2) exploiting people, 3) illegal activities, 4) theft (shrinkage)

What is the production orientation? – A management philosophy that emphasizes the most efficient ways to produce and distribute products.

When differentiation (variations of offerings to different segments) rises, is the production orientation viable? No, because the consumer has more choices. For example, the Ford model T was only available in black. When other colors were offered from competitors, customers wanted to be able to choose the color of their car and would no longer settle for the model T being available in only black.

When might a selling orientation be used? When product availability exceeds demand in a buyer’s market, businesses engage in selling orientation (a managerial view of marketing as a sales function, or a way to move products out of warehouses to reduce inventory).

Consumer orientation – A management philosophy that focuses on ways to satisfy customers’ needs and wants.

ROI – Return on investment – the direct financial impact of a firm’s expenditure of a resource such as time or money.

Know the societal marketing concept (a management philosophy that marketers must satisfy customers’ needs in ways that also benefit society-and also are profitable for the firm) &

New Era orientation marketing (a management philosophy in which marketing means a devotion to excellence in designing and producing products that benefit the customer plus the firm’s employees, shareholders, and communities).

Sustainability – A product design focus that seeks to create products that meet present consumer needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Popular culture – The movies, music, sports, books, celebrities, and other forms of entertainment consumed by the mass market.

Myths – Stories containing symbolic elements that express the shared emotions and ideas of a culture.

e-commerce – The buying or selling of goods and services electronically, usually over the internet.

not-fot-profit marketing – Organizations with charitable, educational, community, and other public service goals that buy goods and services to support their functions and to attract and serve their members.

Target market – The market segments on which an organization focuses its marketing plan and toward which it directs its marketing efforts.

Value – The benefits a customer receives from buying a good or service.

Value proposition – A marketplace offering that fairly and accurately sums up the value that will be realized if the good or service is purchased.

Lifetime value of a customer – How much profit companies expect to make from a particular customer, including each and every purchase he or she will make from them now and in the future. To calculate lifetime value, companies estimate the amount the person will spend and then subtract what it will cost the company to maintain this relationship.

Competitive advantage – The ability of a firm to outperform the competition, thereby providing customers with a benefit the competition can’t.

Define distinctive competency – A superior capability of a firm in comparison to its direct competitors.
Differential benefit – Properties of products that set them apart from competitors’ products by providing unique benefits.

Know value chain (iPod Example in book, p. 23) – Inbound logistics (planer lithium battery, hard drive, MP3 decoder, etc.), Operations (consumer research, new-product-development team, engineering and production), Outbound logistics (trucking companies, wholesalers, retailers), Marketing and Sales (advertising, sales force), Service (computer technicians)

Dark side of marketing – Consumer behavior: terrorism, addictive consumption, exploited people, illegal activities, shrinkage, anticonsumption. Marketing behavior: Illegal activities such as “bait and switch”, products that encourage antisocial behavior.

Consumer addiction – A philosophical or psychological dependency on goods or services (i.e., cigarettes).

Marketing plan – a document that describes the marketing environment, outlines the marketing objectives and strategy, and identifies who will be responsible for carrying out each part of the marketing strategy.

Mass Market – All possible customers in a market, regardless of the differences in their specific needs and wants.

Market segment – A distinct group of customers within a larger market who are similar to one another in some way and whose needs differ from other customers in the larger market.

Market position – The way in which the target market perceives the product in comparison to competitors’ brands.

Marketing mix – A combination of the product itself, the price of the product, the place where it is made available, and the activities that introduce it to consumers that creates a desired response among a set of predefined consumers.

The Merchants of Cool
Video link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/

In your own words, what is “cool hunting”? – using journalism techniques to understand youth culture

What did Sprite do to revitalize their brand? – linked in with hip-hop and became a part of hip-hop’s culture

How are “mooks” and “midriffs” created? What’s the process? Media outlets like MTV create youth archetypes like the “mook” and the “midriff”

Does cool stay the same or does it change? (recall: “The Life and Death of Bling-Bling”) – no it changes after the masses have deemed it “cool”

How does the McCracken model explain how cool is born and dies? – The Meaning Transfer Model from McCracken explains how cool is born and dies by a continuous loop that contains feedback from market research and opinion leaders, then firms and media creating advertisement and fashion statements defined by the opinion leaders as to what cool is. This explains the “birth” of cool. Then “cool” dies once it hits mainstream through branded goods & services and is widely adopted.

Is big media consolidating or concentrating? yes, there are like 5 or 6 big media giants: Viacom, Disney, AOL Time Warner, News Corp, and Sony (the site also mentions Vivendi Universal & Bertelsmann)

Know that merger activity usually means industry concentration and oligopoly

How do promotions (e.g., Sprite) work in big media: Coca-Cola/Sprite, MTV TV shows, hip-hop, concerts, paid youth audiences, etc. – Promotions work in big media by not letting your marketing show, reposition brands to fit into culture and following the “life cycle of cool”

Chapter 2/Week 2 Lecture

Strategic planning – A managerial decision process that matches an organization’s resources and capabilities to its market opportunities for long-term growth and survival.

Functional planning – A decision process that concentrates on developing plans for strategies and tactics for the short term that support an organization’s long-term strategic plan.

Operational planning – A decision process that focuses on developing detailed plans for day-to-day activities that carry out an organization’s functional plans.

SBU (Strategic Business Unit) – Individual units within the firm that operate like separate businesses, with each having its own mission, business objectives, resources, managers, and competitors.

Mission statement – A formal statement in an organization’s strategic plan that describes the overall purpose of the organization and what it tends to achieve in terms of its customers, products, and resources.

Situational analysis – An assessment of a firm’s internal and external environments.

Strategic planning steps – 1) Define the mission, 2) Evaluate the Internal and External environment, 3) Set Organizational or SBU Objectives, 4) Establish the Business Portfolio, 5) Develop Growth Strategies

Functional planning steps – 1) Perform a situation analysis, 2) Set marketing objectives, 3) Develop marketing strategies, 4) Implement marketing strategies, 5) Monitor and control marketing strategies

Internal Environment – The controllable elements inside an organization, including its people, its facilities, and how it does things that influence the operations of the organization.

External Environment – The uncontrollable elements outside an organization that may affect its performance either positively or negatively.

Economic Environment

Business portfolio – The group of different products or brands owned by an organization and characterized by different income-generating and growth capabilities.

Competitive Environment - Use SWOT analysis to assess

Market penetration (increase sales of existing products) – Growth strategies designed to increase sales of existing products to current customers, nonusers, and users of competitive brands in served markets.

Market development (existing products to new markets) – Growth strategies that introduce existing products to new markets.

Product development (new products in served markets) – Growth strategies that focus on selling new products in served markets.

Diversification (new products in new markets) – Growth strategies that emphasize both new products and new markets.

Steps in marketing planning – 1) Perform a situation analysis (SWOT), 2) Set marketing objectives, 3)Develop detailed marketing strategies to achieve marketing objectives (marketing mix strategies), 4) Implement & control the marketing plan (marketing metrics-ROMI).

ROMI – Return on Marketing Investment – Quantifying just how an investment in marketing has an impact on the firm’s success, financially and otherwise.

Action plan – Individual support plans included in a marketing plan that provide the guidance for implementation and control of the various marketing strategies within the plan. Action plans are sometimes referred to as “marketing programs”.

Operation plan - Plans that focus on the day-to-day execution of the marketing plan. Operational plans include detailed directions for the specific activities to be carried out, who will be responsible for them, and time lines for accomplishing the tasks. Steps include – 1) Develop action plans to implement the marketing plan, 2) Use marketing metrics to monitor how the plan is working

Corporate Culture – The set of values, norms, and beliefs that influence the behavior of everyone in the organization.

Know “Meaning Transfer Model” People get meaning from brands through consuming “rituals.” Marketing research taps into these and this creates a feedback loop with the fashion (what the trends are-ideals) & advertising (intensified meanings of things) systems.

Marketing and exchange relationships – The process by which some transfer of value occurs between a buyer and a seller.

Relationships are critical-dimensions - There has been a shift towards relationship marketing and relationships are becoming more critical (satisfaction, loyalty, price insensitivity, recommendations (word-of-mouth) & trust.

What is an “information asymmetry”? – Selling concept sometimes uses these, one party has more information/knowledge than the other, in marketing it is illegal to make false claims (except in political ads), In finance it is called insider trading.

The Other Drug War
Video link: http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=37150

How much do research pharmaceuticals spend on R&D versus marketing? - Pharmaceutical spend – 16% marketing; 13% R&D

Does the US pay more/less for prescription branded drugs versus the rest of the world? - Outside the US, price controls are in place, and US pays higher to make up costs

Maine’s approach? – price control (set the price)

Oregon’s approach? – uninsured & poor are eating-up the Medicaid budget; drug bill based on maximizing value for money; create a “consumer reports” for drugs (most value for the money) for MDs – “preferred” drug list comparing safety & efficacy; Do Not Substitute (DNS) written on the prescription as the appeal process; when drugs were equivalent, price was the determining factor

Which one do you think is more consistent with capitalism in the United States? – Oregon, because it doesn’t interfere with free enterprise by determining a set price. Maine wants to have a set price and institute price controls which goes against what capitalism stands for.

Are there similarities between many of the branded blockbuster drugs? - Yes, many similarities. The example given was like a music CD copied. There are millions of dollars spend on the original, but copies/generics can be duplicated for pennies.

When drugs are viewed as the same (perfect substitutes), what is the main criterion for choice? - Quality and price, marketing is huge with similar drugs, reports and clinical information

What does the pharmaceutical industry threaten if their profits are threatened? - Less money on R & D and will no longer be able to produce drugs – new cures for cancer and Alzheimer’s are at risk and innovation dries up

Additional Notes took during the class

Merchants of Cool (video)
Lots of spending cash
Focus groups, market research, analyzing the kids
Kids were influencing the fashion system
Media & marketing companies (like Dede) take pictures of “cool” kids and then sell to companies via website
Entography (sp?) mook and midriff
Lessons from Sprite – Sprite became part of the culture of hip-hop (immersed in culture) versus Sprite just being associating with hip-hop
Life & death of Bling-Bling – after becoming commercialized it is no longer “cool”

Buzz Agents (article)
Word of mouth advertising
Trust the source the message is coming from
Buzz Agents are motivated because they feel like an “insider”
Hierarchy of Buzz Agents; some perform better than others
Interpersonal interaction selling, 1:1, face-to-face proximity to garner trust
Buzz Agents are effective ways in increase sales

The Other Drug War (video)
Oligopoly industry
Outside the US, price controls are in place, and US pays higher to make up costs
Maine Rx – price control (set the price)
Richard Evans (Bearns analyst)
Oregon – uninsured & poor are eating-up the Medicaid budget; drug bill based on maximizing value for money; create a “consumer reports” for drugs (most value for the money) for MDs – “preferred” drug list comparing safety & efficacy; Do Not Substitute (DNS) written on the prescription as the appeal process; when drugs were equivalent, price was the determining factor
Fraser Paper, Inc. – health benefits were comprising their jobs, they gave their pay raised to health insurance premiums, employees went to generic drugs
Pharmaceutical spend – 16% marketing; 13% R&D

I Love Target!

I think Target has done a succeful job of marketing to the 30+ women demographic.

Prices are right! I always feel I am getting a bargain (even if I'm not!). It could be their pricing strategy of using odd prices like $3.88. The perception is that you are getting the item on sale!

Products are attractive! They offer name brands like Mossimo, Nike, etc.

• Promotional ads are creative yet maintain consistent branding over the years. 96% of people recognize the Target Bullseye, even nudging out Apple and the Nike swoosh.

Placement... they almost always have stock of their items, and if not, I can order them online. In-store items are always organized and easy to find. And now our local Target offers a variety of groceries so that I can get most of my shopping done in one place.

Black Friday?!?!

So... yesterday was Black Friday, which means that this is the day that retail stores turn a profit: They go from red to black on the books. Well, in 2008 with all that has occured in the economy, let's hope it's Black Friday! But I have to question the "sales" that are being claimed at the stores that are going bankrupt. For example, Mervyn's is going out of business and has been declaring 60% off for months. I have been shopping at Mervyn's for years, probably a decade now. And Mervyn's has always been known for low prices. So... I decided to check out the "going-out-of-business" sale. $29.99 for a pair of jeans after 60% off of retail??? That, to me, looks like the regular price. Next, Circuit City announces they are going out of business. My conclusion after visiting these stores is that they jack-up their prices when they say they are going out-of-business and then discount the prices to the original prices prior to going-out-of-business. Is this a marketing “pricing” tactic or are they just trying to ripe-off the public???