My Marketing Blog

A German living in Amsterdam.

[pfaffiii-blog-blog]

Blog #8 Review on Marketing

Over the past two month I blogged about different aspects of Marketing&Sales this will be my last post. 

I will start with a reflection on my perception of marketing. Before I started this blog I perceived marketing to be just about TV commercials and Billboards. But I learned about so many different marketing techniques. Marketing certainly is an interesting and diverse topic but I am still in the opinion that it is not my goal to end up in a marketing department.Though I still think all the knowledge I attained about marketing is going to help me out somehow on the labor market. What I did enjoyed was the Sales part of the course. I always believed that sales is the right thing for me and the lectures and guest lectures confirmed that. All of the traits and characteristics as salesman has to have are applying on me to a certain degree. Furthermore I already have several contacts to salespeople in interesting companies and my internship/thesis will be about sales somehow.

Blogging was fun, some topics were really interesting and it was even fun to read the blogs of my colleagues. Maybe I will continue my blog someday when I have an idea what to write about

[ahecking]

Hey Marvin,

 thank you for your blog post. It was surprising for me as well how broad the topic marketing is and how much you need to know to become successful. You already mentioned that your career goal is to become a salesperson. Would you agree with the statement that in order to become successful every salesperson need to have certain knowledge about marketing ? 

[marshmarketing]

The End..

Over the last 2 months or so I have been blogging about different ideas and concepts relating to Marketing. 

Prior to this course, I knew Marketing was a big deal, I knew the super bowl commercial ad break went for millions of dollars, however I didn’t know there was such a science to it. 

During this blog posting era, I have learnt about very different styles of marketing and how it is adapted specifically in almost every situation, for example at the start of this course we were taught about the local marketing of global brands which is called glocalisation, we looked at the example of Doritos in Korea and the way they adapted the entire product to suit the preferences and tastes of their domestic market. This is very interesting to me and I was able to wright about an example I found by myself, It is an earlier blog post of mine, entitled “Oreos <3″. 

Along with the other marketing techniques and styles I have learnt over the course of this block I feel will be very helpful, although it was very theoretical, I feel I could use the aspects taught a lot in the future, these topics are very relatable to how we make everyday decisions, not only immediate decisions when buying items but how we are subconsciously guided into doing or choosing one thing over another. 

I think this blog posting idea was great, as it is 2015 now and how better to get experience then to be creative and manage your own blog based on marketing topics and ideas!

[ahecking]

Thank  you Jamie for your blog post, 

You last blog post was a really good conclusion of the marketing subject. I totally agree with you that we learned some helpful things we can use in the future. 

Jamie how do you feel about making career in marketing, is it attractive for you ? 

[ahecking]

The last blog.

Am I able to see myself doing a marketing career in the future? That is what I am going to write about in my last marketing blog.

The last weeks displayed how interesting marketing is. Especially the idea of adding value to a product appeals to me. To create campaigns that are displaying the value of the product for the company and the customer sounds really challenging. The various topics of the blogs underlined the huge field of interest regarding marketing and showed how many different jobs are available. This also offers opportunities to explore and to find new ways of marketing. And who knows what is coming after social media. 

After studying and writing about marketing I decided for myself that I want to make a change. By making a change I mean to create campaigns that influence people. My favorite advert is from Nike:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zlX0Sm65zA&spfreload=10

This advert influenced my love for football. Since the day I saw this campaign on television I just wanted to play outside with the ball. I believe making a change can only be accomplished when as many people as possible are involved. That’s why I want to work for a big company if i make a career in marketing. Just think about your favorite campaigns, who made them ? No small companies right ? It is a long way to these positions in a company and you need to put a lot of effort and passion in it. I am not sure if I want to wait that long. But we will see what the future brings.   

[cameeremak-blog]

Everything needs to be sold, a product, a service, an idea, it all comes down on how it’s presented and if you can persuade the potential buyers into actually buying these goods. That’s where sales people come into play. These people need to be able to make a connection with the buyer and between...

[ahecking]

Hey Camee, 

thank you for your nice blog post. 

I totally agree with your opinion that the success of a sales person in highly influenced by their passion and willingness. If you are passionate and put much effort in it you are able to achieve everything. 

[lukasbruder]

In many fields people are arguing if talent or training is more valuable. My teacher of Marketing and Sales Management recently asked me this question related to a salesperson. To answer this question I will first note some examples of skills, qualities and characteristics that a sales person...

[ahecking]

Hey Lukas, 

thank you for your nice blog post. 

I really like your side of connecting soccer stars with the topic born or made. I totally agree with your opinion. Especially your conclusion: “ I additionally do believe though that people with the talent of being a salesperson also tend more to have the willingness to become one, as humans naturally like to do the thinks in which he is good and seeks appreciation. “ appeals to me .

[resweermeijermarketing]

For this weeks blog we got the assignment to write about a bad advertisement. The first commercial that popped into my head was a Dutch commercial that was named to be the most annoying ad of 2014 by Loden Leeuw, in english, “Lead Lion.” A tv program where they rank the most annoying tv...

[ahecking]

Hey Robin, 

I have never seen this annoying commercial before but i can beliefe that i would get very annoyed by it when it comes up  in every break. 

I really like your second example. It clearly shows a total marketing blackout. I can remember how i checked all the comment under the Facebook posts and that i thought how stupid pepsi is. 

[tenhooryacine]

When I wake up early I have the tendency to switch the Tv on and zap between the different channels. After a couple of seconds I end up watching these stupid adverts about ’Before And After transformations’. These adverts are usually related to fitness products or special magical potions that make...

[ahecking]

Yacine i really like your blogpost. You nailed my opinion. These adverts are just so annoying ! And it is so obvious that hey are fake. But would you agree, although the adverts are really bad, that the adverts are successful in order to reach out for their target market ? 

[ahecking]

Nothing is impossible?

Nowadays the career as a salesperson is highly attractive. It is not only offering a wide network but also a big chance to earn some serious money. Many people think that a salesperson is born for it and that you cannot learn it.

To be a successful salesperson you need to show specific traits. The most important once are: to be charismatic,to be confident and have a certain empathy. You need to be charismatic in order to create a relationship with the customer, clients are more likely to trust a person who they like than a person they don’t. A salesperson needs to have empathy to understand the wants and needs of his customer. By understanding the needs they can adapt their offers. Furthermore, as in any job you need to be passionate and motivated to achieve your goals. A successful salesperson also shines with his ability to organize, to stay in contact and to know every detail about his products. Especially the last mentioned habits can be trained.

If somebody decides to become a salesperson he needs to be aware about the traits that are important for the job. I believe that a salesperson who displays all the mentioned traits from the beginning is a natural born salesperson. But can a person who is not as confident or is lacking other traits become successful in this business ? I believe that we should not underestimate passion and motivation. In my opinion it is possible to gain these traits by training. It is going to take longer and you need to put more effort in it but if you have the passion you are able to achieve your goals. My english teacher told me years ago: “ Aaron if you and a Chinese teenager needed to scoop a hole and you would get a excavator and the Chinese a shovel who would finish first ? The Chinese would be finishing first because he is showing more passion and motivation than you do  although you have better abilities.” 

[ahecking]

Well Done Volkswagen you created a bad advert.

Today´s blog post is about bad advertise.

First of all I need to define when an advert is bad. We can speak about a bad advertising when it is not effective. In this case effective means that it is not adequate to accomplish a purpose to produce the intended or expected result. An ad is ineffective when it is sending out an unclear message, when the wrong segment is targeted and when the advertisement in unethical.

 I found a bad advertise from Volkswagen. VW inserted their ad into mirrors in bathrooms of restaurants and adapted the advert to the women´s and men´s bathroom. In order to adapt, they changed the text. Men are reading: If you look like a million bucks in this mirror, imagine what you would look like in these and a picture of the new car. With this adapted version Volkswagen tries to communicate the message that men are confident and powerful. On the other hand the women´s advert is messaging that you can polish your opinion about yourself by driving this car because they say that they would look good in this car even on a bad hair day. This advert assumes that women are not self-confident and only care about their look.

In my opinion this advertisement is a good example for a bad advertisement because Volkswagen uses sexism to promote their car. By using stereotypes of the powerful men and the insecure woman VW tries to reach out to the audience. Both adverts have the same message that this car would make you look cooler. But for men it is added value and for women it is a compensation for the lack of confidence. They could just use the same advert for both genders and still send the same message. I think that the use of old stereotypes in an emancipated world is unethical.

[paulineslagermarketing-blog]

I’m sure most of us have found ourselves guilty of buying electronics, clothes, or accessories in the United States or Asia because it is just so much cheaper there. Well, this is the limit buying in the white market. As long as you buy your products the way the manufacturer has intended, you’re...

[ahecking]

Hey Pauline, 

thank you for your nice blogpost. That is a great and interesting story that tells us how Gray market works. I was just wondering if you would buy these t-shirts from the dealers because i would. And in my opinion it is nothing unethical with this kind of dealing. Since they are paying the price Hilfiger demands. And i think that Hilfiger is well aware about these process. If they would like to stop that they need to rethink their outlet strategy. 

[pfaffiii-blog-blog]

This weeks blog post is about the embodiment of gray markets: Ebay Inc.

When the U.S supreme court decided in 2013 that manufacturers can’t stop imports of their products from other countries it was a huge setback for companies which are producing and selling products abroad.

“Imports of gray...

[ahecking]

Thanks for your blogpost Marvin, 

I share your opinion that the gray market is not really hurting these companies. You are especially mentioning Ebay India. Did you check out the situation with other eBay´s ? Maybe in Germany, America and Russia ? I always thought that they would try to follow the same rules and missions. But it looks like they have huge differences. Would you use Gray market to get electronics cheaper, for example ? 

[marshmarketing]

The Hover Board, something kids have been waiting for, for generations! The prototype has just been created!

The new mega popular fundraising website known as Kickstarter, has enabled to young inventors to raise enough capitol to produce a working prototype!

The idea first captured the attention...

[ahecking]

Hi Jamie, 

thanks for the information about the Hover Board. I hope it get introduced and customized early enough that i am still able use it. If the hover board is coming on the market just imagine how many people would use it ?! Nobody would right a bike anymore. And what would be the next step a Hover car ? I think this product is the first step towards the future we all imagine, flying cars, hover boards and spaceships. 

[pfaffiii-blog-blog]

One of the most competitive and innovation thriving industries is the automotive industry. Since the beginning of the energy revolution all the automotive companies were on a race to be the first one launching an efficient electric car. These electric cars are still something new for us but we...

[ahecking]

Hey Marvin, thank you for another good blogpost. When i saw the Facebook post about the Mercedes driving on its own in San Francisco i was truly amazed. I always  thought that we are not that far yet. But I am sharing the sam opinion with you. It is to much fun to drive on my own ;) 

[ahecking]

Using unauthorized channels.

Today I am going to write about Gray/grey Market. But before I come to my little story I need to explain what Gray market is. Gray market describes an unofficial market where a product is bought and sold outside of the manufacturers authorized trading channels.

Two weeks ago I went out to lunch and got introduced to a man. We started talking about his job. He was working for a perfume and a liquor distributor. But the business is not focusing on the B2C transaction it is concentrated on the B2B market. The company is buying perfumes or liquors in large numbers from the manufacturer or the brand and is selling them to companies who do not have the authority to by these products from first hand. By using the unauthorized channel other companies get the opportunity to offer the same products as their competitors. The business of the person I got introduced to is making money by selling the products for a higher price to the companies who are not in the authorized trading channels.

  To figure all the pros and cons out we need to look on the different players. For the brand in the first place it is good that they get the money for the products they sell but they cannot influence the environment where the products are going to get offered to the customer. The biggest winner of the gray market is the middle company. By buying and selling the product for a higher price they are able to make huge profits. For the business who are buying from the middle company are able to close the competitive advantage of their competitors and are able to get the money back buy demanding a higher price. The consumer is able to buy the products in more stores but there are different prices for the same product. To find the best price the consumer need to consider every offer. 

[paulineslagermarketing-blog]

In order to sell a product or service, a company must knowtheir market. It should try to predict consumer behavior by analyzing its market, including the right target group. This is done through market research. Sometimes, this market research does not turn out the way the company wants it too....

[ahecking]

Hey Pauline, 

I really liked your Blogpost. To be honest i have never heard about the two mistakes you mentioned. I am surprised that such big companies did these massive mistakes. You are displaying the customers loyalty as the biggest factor influencing these failures. Do you have any brands you are that loyal to ? 

Thank you for your Post. 

[pfaffiii-blog-blog]

In my previous blog post I discussed the behavior of consumers. Today I will talk about market research and to be more precise how Facebook gather the information about us they need.

http://daylandoes.com/facebook-and-your-data/

Facebook is probably one of the best market research company in...

[ahecking]

Thanks for the good blog Marvin. I did not know about the service that you can check what they know about you. So I checked it and i am a bit scared now. II could not imagine what kind of Data and information they would collect about me. I mean I am already a person who is careful what he does on Facebook but that was shocking.  

If you’re not paying for a product, then you probably are the product. Thats what I learned through your blog. Thank you.

[ahecking]

The Internet is virgin territory for us all

Angela Merkel

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/06/20/merkel-calls-internet-uncharted-territory-earns-webs-endless-mockery/

During the Obama visit in Berlin in 2013 Angela Merkel mentioned in her speech that the Internet is virgin territory for her and the country and that they need to get used to it. This sounds like the Internet is a completely new innovation for us, but is it though? The Internet has been around for quite a long time now. Since 1991 we are able to use the Internet, after it got published by the National Science Foundation in America. Since 2003 we use Web 2.0, which is more user generated and more interactive.

It is not hard to say that the Internet is the innovation of the last fifty years. Not many innovations influenced society and economy that much. The Internet offers many opportunities and threats. We are able to communicate with people all around the world; buy products with one click and share pictures and videos. And that is why it is still seen as an innovation because many people do not understand the dimension of the Internet and that is threatening especially the older generation. Moreover, the opportunities the Internet offers are not fully exploited and it is unknown what is going to come. 

For me the Internet is indeed virgin territory. To be honest, I do not really have much knowledge about it. As i already mentioned the Internet have been around for quite a long time but only since the introduction of the Web 2.0 society, governments and business are using more of the prospects it offers. This means that we just have started. With its new services all the time and the massive opportunities I believe it can be still seen as an innovation. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/06/20/merkel-calls-internet-uncharted-territory-earns-webs-endless-mockery/