Marketing Insights @carlijnoffereins - Tumblr Blog

Imagine this: A woman gives birth to her child and asks the doctor if it´s girl or a boy. The doctor raises his head and replies:”It´s a salesman”.

Jokes aside, but seriously this is what I think of when people argue that top salesmen are born and not trained. As you might noticed I do not think...

Nice joke David! But yes I agree with you in this, people are inclined to put a stemp on everyone, and put it in a certain catogory. Salesman- no salesman. But what if you really want to be a salesman, but you are a bit shy and no one has ever discoverd your charismatic skills? you’re rejected? Hmm don’t think so, it’s about motivation and persistence. And if you are disposed of these characteristics, it will brings you a lot in life

mayathu

Sales skills: can it be taught or is it by nature?

This weeks blog is about the skills a salesperson have whether they are given or learned. In general, I think that anything can be learned; for some it just takes longer and for some it comes natural. However, to make your strength or weaknesses to a profession requires determination and dedication. Of course, if you are born as natural salesperson, meaning it comes easy to you to talk to people, understand them and convincing them about the product you want to sell, it is way more convenient to become a salesperson. On the other hand, if you really want to work in sales, nothing can stop you. And most of the times, people turn out to be better at something that weren’t natural to them because that takes more effort and passion to achieve it. People are capable of a lot of things and if you do it with passion, you can only be good at it. No matter how much time you need to get there. It’s about the challenge in life and to proof yourself that you can be whoever you want to be and do whatever you want to do. So to conclude, everything is possible. It’s your own choice how far you get in life and how far you want go to be the best of yourself.

carlijnoffereins

I agree with you Maya, interesting conclusion! You couldn’t say that someone can’t do something, simply because he or she isn’t borned with the right skills. It’s about determination, and motivation. I once read an article which says that if you want to be very very talented in something, it will require 10.000 hours of practice! Could you imagine, 10.000hours of sales practising? Wow, no maybe not for this haha!

nikkivanb-blog

When I was in elementary school, I was in the same class as my niece (that’s what happens when you live in a small town). At an early age my niece was detected with a severe form of dyslexia. Of course her parents (my uncle and aunt) wanted to do everything to help her, which is why they bought...

carlijnoffereins

Haha Nikki, I like your own comments in your story (’That’s wat happens when you live in a small town’) It makes the post fun to read, and besides it makes it personal! Good job, and wow what happens with simple products like a pen? Never knew that it can have a function like this, and that it even will help for dyslexia, wonderfull.. I’m curious about what te future will brings us, if even a simple pen can be so useful!

jariroomer-blog

Today I will talk about a commercial from a company which normally produces high quality advertisements, but this time failed do so. It’s the so called Heineken ‘suicide commercial’ (I know, the name doesn’t imply anything good) The commercial shows a grown man trying hang himself and...

carlijnoffereins

Wow, heavy topic to link on your product! it’s indeed shocking, to use suicide for your advertisements, I’m wondering what the idea is behind this campaign. Personnaly I would like Heineken, and beer in general, to parties, fun and free-time, and definitely not to a dark topic like this.. It’s a pity I think, because I always like the commercials of Heineken, but this one certainly falls out of track..

dahintenfabian

product innovations

The ability to think and create differentiates us humans from all other living creatures on mother earth. There have been life changing innovations like the car, plane, telephone, lightbulb, smartphone.. you name them. But for today`s blog post I’ve chosen 3 rather funny and less important innovations, which nervertheless can be quite helpful in everydays life.

1. The Pizza-Scissors

(Source: http://www.funtoxin.com/2011/08/07/15-creative-and-innovative-products)

Not much to explain I think. Great tool which will definitely makes your life easier.

2. Message-Toaster

(Source: http://www.designswan.com/archives/10-creative-and-innovative-product-design.html#p5)

Wonna leave a message for your kids or your partner in the morning, but don’t wonna waste paper or ink? Easy: toast it! This innovation definitely get’s a space for next christmas’ wich list.

3. Luggage-Scooter

(Source: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004IU0OZY/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=desswa-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B004IU0OZY&adid=0Y2YKR33GE0M458YRAPA&)

This long, never ending corridors on airports. You waste so much time to get to your terminal! Or even worse: you have to get a connection flight, but you have too little time. This gadget helps out. From Heathrow terminal 1 to 5 even quicker than the tube. Awesome!

carlijnoffereins

Nice examples of innovative products, never heard ot them before! I think companies need te create and develop their creative minds, in order to bring such products in the market. People are getting bored easily, they want to try new things and with these kind of products they can certainly do!

elicerna

This weeks topic is about bad advertisements and since there are so many, I decided to randomly choose one. Everybody surely knows that some are just over the top, either because it shows something sexual or something violent. Both of these examples should definitely not be published and seen by children who then learn that such behaviour is natural and acceptable. Even though many of such commercials are banned, they are still very easy to find on internet.

This particular ad that I found is trying to sell soap by saying that it is the best one to use to wash off blood after a murder. Honestly, this is ridiculously stupid and I cannot even imagine how can someone think that this type of humor is actually funny. It feels like nowadays, people have just no boundaries and what is socially acceptable is considered boring. Marketers are trying to be interesting by shocking people without thinking about the consequences concerning the young generation. Growing up in such environment it is obvious, that violence will soon become much more frequent and youngsters will have no moral principles. The question is: How do we stop this? How do we prevent our children from growing up in this ad-world? I, personally, think that there is actually no way out of this and it actually makes me feel quite intimidated..

carlijnoffereins

Iewl, this advertisement is indeed really bad! Normally you want to feel clean and hygienic after using soap, but after seeing this advertisement I have a whole different idea when I think of Dettol. They certainly misplaced their message here..

mcampman

I recently visited my brother and relatives in Japan. This was a great experience, but one that again, almost turned out to be much more expensive than it should have been.

Here’s me and some of the fam in Matsumoto~ almost looks like it’s my birthday~

Of course, after my regular...

carlijnoffereins

No worries about writing about Apple (again), because it was really interesting! I never knew that buying (the newest) iPhone could be cheaper in Japan than in the US! These days prices really matter, and although it might cause disadvantages for the companies, Apple, customers are simply attracted by the lowest prices, for the newest gadgets. And in terms of gadgets, Japan is the greatest example!

fabiandekruijf-deactivated20201

My own market research

carlijnoffereins

Good example Fabian! It is always an advantage if you have experienced this in real life, since you have a better understanding of the whole process behind it. As you said, in doing research of the market more aspects are involded then you primarly may think of. Interesting!

mennobranger-blog

Two weeks ago, Super BowlSunday has brought us the usual barrage of clever soda, beer, and car adsfeaturing everyone from former Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston promotinghealth insurance to the cute lost dog from Budweiser (love the music, btw). It might be ‘too late’ to use this as a subject for...

carlijnoffereins

Good idea to use an example of the Superbowl advertisements. I think you have a point here, sometimes advertisements are so distracting, that at the end you don’t even get the real message of the advertisement. It’s indeed about the balance; grab attention of the public and the same time deliver the message which is most important

jamesagilbert-deactivated201604

As this is my last official post for the marketing and sales management course i would like to reflect on the last 8 weeks. As i had previously taken a marketing course before i knew what to expect from this course and had some prior knowledge.

For me, marketing is an interesting topic and an...

carlijnoffereins

Couldn't agree with you more! It is interesting to have better insights in marketing, and the whole process behind it for companies. Besides, we're confronted with marketing everyday, and writing the blogs was a good way to write about this. Btw, you sais you’re not a very good blogger, but I enjoyed reading your blogs every week :)

Advertising is powerful

If I think of marketing, the first thing what pops up in my mind is advertising. After following marketing classes for several weeks, I sill think advertising is the most powerful tool of marketing. It could be shocking, misleading, mind-changing and inspiring and it reaches everyone!

When watching TV, you are overloaded with commercials. If you’re not watching TV, those commercials will pop up on your computerscreen. When no computer,you’ll hear it on the radio. Never listen to the radio? Then you’ll most likely see the advertisements on billboards on the street and so forth... Well, my point here is that you can’t ignore advertisements. They’re everywhere. For everyone.

Although I have to say I’m quite irritated by all those advertisements, because it’s mainly about making profit, I want to highlight a different kind of advertisements, namely; charitity advertisements.

The purpose of the ads of charities is different. It has nothing to do with making profits, but it is meant to make people aware of a serious issue. They want to attract attention to their cause and raise money by creating emotive appeals. Research has shown that people are easily touched by seeing emotional advertisement, either positive and negative. And that’s exactly why advertising is so powerful for charities. Because without people’s support and donations, they have no chance of achievement.

Take for example Greenpeace. I think their advertisements are always very affecting and they certainly have an impact on the watchers. The video below shows a campaign for saving rainforest against Dove. The fact that they have used a little sad girl, makes it even more touching I think.

source: Youtube

So what do you think about these kinds of advertisments? Do you get annoyed by seeing these, or do you think these are really powerful and of great importance?

source: http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2013/sep/02/effective-emotive-appeals

Sales people, born or made?

Today’s blog is going to be about the skills and talent of a salesperson. The question is here; is a salesperson born or trained? On the internet I found a short, inspirational story about selling:

A young Salesperson had lost an important sale. He was very upset.

When speaking about this with his Sales Manager, the young sales person shrugged. “I guess,” he said “it just proves that you can lead a horse to the water, but you can not make him drink.”

“Son,” said the Sales Manager, “let me give you a piece of advice: your job is not to make him drink. It’s to make him thirsty.”

According to the Sales Manager in this story, it is very important that we know the purpose of our work in order to be successful in everything we want to do. This is a useful lesson for life in general, but also specifically for salespersons. It doesn’t really matter if you are highly talented nor have the right skills, if you don’t have even the faintest idea of the purpose behind it, you will fail anyway. Without any knowledge of the outcomes or the goals of anything we do, we will always experience poor results.

Oftentimes it is said that ‘great sales person can sell anything to anyone’. But what makes a salesperson actually great and successful? The most important factor, as earlier mentioned, is the true and deep belief in the product or service you want to sell. Besides, you have to be concerned of the needs and wants of your potential customers, instead of only being focused on making profits.

I don’t think it’s a matter for succesfull salespeople to be born or made. It takes time to develop certain skills and you will learn over time by past experiences. For one person this process will take more time than for another, but for now I’ll listen to the advice of the Sales manager in the story!

Source: http://www.alenmajer.com/2012/03/are-sales-people-born-or-made/

Hi-Tech products in the grey market

We know the definition of the blackmarket (illegal trading) and the white market, but what exactly is the grey market? The grey market involves the sale of goods through means other than what was intended or approved by the original manufacturer of a product. This can be done by a private person or a business which purchases the good at retail or a discounted price, and resell it legally at a higher price. This market just exists everywhere, especially for electronics.

However, there are a few disadvantages related to this market. First of all, the grey market drains billions of dollars of revenue from technology businesses worldwide. Besides that, people are not always aware of the risks they are running. When purchasing grey market goods, significantly greater downtime might occur — either due to the failure of products that would not otherwise fail, or longer lead times and expense on repairs.

Despite of the disadvantages for certain parties, grey market trading is an increasingly competitive marketplace. But if we especially focus on the technology sector which continuously brings high-advanced products in the market, grey market trading will probably decrease over time. Nowadays more and more people want to have the newest Hi-Tech gadgets. And the early birds will buy their newest gadget directly from the manufacturer, in order to be the first one to show it around. so in this case, buying those products via the grey market will cost too much time and effort for people. Furthermore, some manufactures are trying to design their products in a way that consumers are forced to buy the newest version every time. And only via the direct channel (from the manufacturer), consumers are sure that the products include valid warranties and the provided service. At the end this, coupled with the advances in technology, make the most popular, technological goods difficult to resell.

source: http://www.shippingsolutions.com/blog/gray-marketing-taming-the-beast

Innovative product; The Kitchen Safe!

Chocolate, candy, alcoholics, cigarettes, or maybe your secret guiltypleasure; these are all examples of tempting products. Of course these examples are subjective, one person could be very tempted by his PlayStation (controller), and the next person finds his or her pleasure in food. Some people are disciplined and keep one’s hands off these temptations, but for other people this is harder. When we were children, our parents tried to teach us to modestly consume certain products. One candy a day, 30 minutes watching TV and typically for now, 20 minutes playtime on the iPad. Well, it’s not always easy for parents to stick to these rules.

But recently I found a product which is the perfect solution to this; the Kitchen Safe! The Kitchen Safe is a tool which helps you to prevent you from following bad habits. At moments where you for instance can’t help but reach into the cookie jar a few too many times. Before you know it, all you're left with a couple of crumbs and a bad feeling that you ate too much. The safe is equipped with a lock and a timer. The box can’t be opened until the timer hits zero, which you can set for 1 minute up to ten days.

The effectiveness of this tool is backed by research. Research has shown that precommitment is the ultimate way to beat temptation. Precommitment means committing to a smart choice early, when you know you will be tempted by bad choices later. The Kitchen Safe is a tool that enables us to precommit to smart choices.

In my opinion this could be a very helpful and powerful tool. Think of a situation when you really want to stick to your diet, but you’re not the most disciplined person. Put the maximum amount of cookies in the safe and it will help you controlling your portions. Nice, innovative product, isn’t it?!

Sources: http://www.thekitchensafe.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/kitchen-safe-lock-box_n_6423908.html

Online shopping; is this really incognito?

Nowadays people maynot be fully aware of the fact that everything we do online is measured and observed with specific software. When we are surfing on the web, several advertisements and suggestions pop up at your screen. These advertisements will probably grab your attention, because they are selected to your consumer profile. This consumer profile is a way of describing a consumer categorically so that they can be grouped for marketing and advertising purposes. And that’s exactly what companies need to have to provide an optimal customer experience.

Personally, I’m a big fan of online shopping. The advantage of buying new products behind your computer, while you’re sitting on the couch, avoiding the crowds and waiting lines, makes it very convenient to me. Apparently I’m not the only one, since nowadays hundreds of billion dollars are spent in online shopping. However, if you prefer to shop anonymously and incognito, you’re not at the right address online.

As earlier mentioned, web analytics are used to create a certain personal, consumer profile from your online behaviour. In this way, companies can influence your shopping behaviour by promoting products which fits to your interests and preferences, obtained from your shopping history. I think at this point the question needs to be asked to what extent we have the possibility and the rights to surf on shopping sites without being manipulated by any companies. For example, if you’re looking at a certain product online, oftentimes there is an advertisement which says ‘others also bought’, or ‘style with’, and interesting products are displayed. In this way, people are seduced to buy more than then originally tend to do. And research has shown that this way is very effective and profitable for companies.

Different experience of Coco-Cola throughout our world

I’m sure nearly everyone in our world has ever heard from, and perhaps also consumed, the famous soft drink Coco-Cola. This recognized drink is popular in many countries throughout the world. The company that produces the soft drink has an interesting way of distributing it around the world, which many of us may not realize. You don’t get exactly the same Coke in India that you do in the US, because bottling of the drink is franchised. However, Coco-Cola is easily recognized because the same packaging and colours are used in the different countries.

What occurs is the following: the company produces a concentrate with the (secret) formula for Coca-Cola. This formula remains the same in every country. The concentrate is then sold to companies who have purchased franchises to bottle Coca-Cola in their area. Each bottling company adds water and sweeteners used for that specific type of coke. It proves that the concentrate is adjusted to fit the local population’s taste and preference, which results in different versions of Coco-Cola in other countries.

The United States has seen, especially in countries close to Mexico, a rise in the amount of Mexican Coca-Cola imported into the US.This is because there are differences between south of the border and American produced versions of the drink. Most Mexican bottlers add cane sugar instead of corn syrup, which many people prefer. In India for example you buy Coca-Cola which has a more diluted bitter taste.

This is a good example of the influence of cultural and demographic factors on consumer behaviour. For a brand, it is really important to understand and take into account the cultural factors and different preferences related to each market in order to adapt its product. Although you first might thought that Coco-Cola sells exactly the same product in each country, it turned out that people around the world experience Coco-Cola differently than you do.

Valentine’s day: About true love or just a successful marketing stunt?

Some people arealready counting down the days until the 14th of February; the day we areshowing people we love them, we call it Valentine’s day. However, businesses only think of (new) marketing strategies to generate very high profits. The shops are overloaded with adorable presents to give to your beloveds and restaurants are fully booked with tables for two. Even fast-food company MacDonald’s comes up with a new marketing stunt especially designed for Valentine’s day. Some McDonald's customers will have the opportunity to pay for their meals by performing various 'acts of love'. For example, instead of paying for a Big Mac, you may be asked to hug someone you like.

The marketing stunts around Valentine’s day could be an example of questionable marketing ethics. It suggests that if you spend enough money, you can ‘buy’ love. People might feel obliged to buy a present for their beloveds to meet up their expectations. And businesses play along with these expectations and take advantage of people’s believes and hopes. But overall, we can’t buy happiness, right?

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