Year 2...............?!?!?

So this is the first week back and are we getting eased in to being taught new things? No way!!! its been good to get back into it but i think people were under false pretences about what was going to happen my advice to those in the first year when or in some cases if, you come back for the second prepare yourself and read up about currrent events in all aspects of business dont just think what Ruthy and the other great lectureers have taught you is enough it is but only so much can be depended upon,what they teach you is the core of what you need to know, just because you are a marketing student dont think that things going on in the business sheets of the paper wont affect you cos it will....... and that works both ways dont be lazy and get to know the subject properly and remember second years have done what you have so just ask one of them if you are not sure about anything!!!! dont be scared!!!

The World... Has It Gone Mad!?!?!?!?

The title of this may not be what you expect to see from a marketing student but it has now reached a pinnacle that my "favourite" celebrity Kerry Katona might of just single handedly ruined my favourite frozen store EVER!!!!!

Can it be that these so called celebrities can have such a massive influence over the public and their choices? for example look at Morrisons, they use people like Richard Hammond and Alan Hanson only to name a few of their celebrities, celebrities that the public can feel confident about you can see they have some form of morals (Hanson: Ex Liverpool Fc and Scottish International) shows that he is a good clean cut celebrity even though he might be ZZ LIST!! Can you imagine what kind of image this new Mammoth in grocery shopping would get if one of their celebrities were to do a line of Coke whilst on Holiday?!?!?!?!?!? Exactly it would go to "POT" pardon the pun.

I believe that these companies which used disgraced celebrities such as Kate Moss and Kerry Katona deserve all they get whether that be closing down or the fact they lose money!! They are quick to say they are happy to use these celebs but the second they put a foot wrong they are even quicker to say we dont want anything to do with them or even go so far as to say "we were not aware of their problem" Iceland decided to even get Kerry someone that could lend here a twenty pound note by deciding to bring Jason Donovan on board as well i mean with a biography titled "BETWEEN THE LINES: MY STORY" did the executives at Iceland not see the "Cracks" before they actually appeared? (( I must stop using those little punch lines)) ..... i am sure that was not icing sugar in their latest Christmas add together.....

The thing that grinds my gears more than anything is that people still seem to want to know about her either that or the news must just be very slow!!!!

Finished...........1st year.........

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So this post is just for fun now, although this is the end of the first years work its not all over yet, i aim on keeping my blog up to date through the next three years of study to see if it has a possible impact on my work so follow me through the crazy journey of university studying via my blog.............. so set up an RSS feed for my blog and see of this really does work as a tool to use for higher education..... The next quote is a thinkers quote enjoy thinking about it and see you next year HAPPY FREAKING SUMMER .... Darwin 

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

The Big Bad World Of Business.......

A great man called Frank Sinatra once sang a famous line "And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain."

Unfortunately for me and for you this is it the final posting,the end, the long goodbye (OK enough milking it now) even if this is the last one ever, there is something to be learnt it was never going to be me just rambling on and on about a subject i don't really know about or is it......? i don't know you tell me.

This week is all about business to business.... This is ever so complex well i think it is anyway, so if i lose you at any point i apologise, but if you got an issue you can take it up with my lecturer Ruth.... 

Are you ready for a bit of a shock...? Yes? Well here is an interesting fact for you the The volume of Business to Business (B2B) transactions is much higher than the volume of Business to Consumer (B2C) transactions.

Here is what every body's favourite search site has to say on the matter of B2B and that would be Wikidpedia "Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer."

Today's lecture was about the above clearly Business to Business, we were asked to work in groups and as it was Easter the class was (RAMMED) hope you can feel the sarcasm in that? There was all of about 8 people who decided to come so thanks to them for coming. I had to work with Lois and Sally and that was interesting as they tried to prove that i was wrong about everything.....so anyway back to the lecture we were set a task to look at three different organisations. Those companies were Coca Cola, A Financial Services software House and an MRI Scanner Manufacturer, on the right hand side of the blog is the first page of what we had to complete to give a rough idea of exactly what we had to do its entitled "Business 2 Business"

As we progressed through the sheets it slowly became clear that business buying decisions are consumer buying decisions just on massive scale not only involving one person but quite possibly 20 plus in some cases,for example a question was "How many people get involved in the decision to buy?" the answers are as follows;

• Coca Cola - ONE
• Financial Services - Accounts Department & Purchasing (4 - 6)
• MRI Scanner - Board of Directors & Community (100's - 1000's)

When reading on through the task there was a question about FTPEPS if you would like to know about the subject of (FTPEPS) then (click here)

You may or may not be interested to know that Coke uses none of them,the financial services use 4 of them and the MRI scanner uses all of them. Here is the FTPEPS list for the MRI scanner :

•F - £825,000 of restricted budgets

•T – possibly years

•P – if it malfunctions it could kill by misdiagnosis

•E – high risk for post holder

•P – it could kill

•S – think of PR publics – local community may have helped to raise funds – many interested publics

One thing to remember through this and that is The Businesses are the customer not the people, for example consider the companies which purchase some software they could range from Banks, Mortgage lenders, Loan companies and Building societies, it is not just one person that makes that decision for that specific piece of software it involves loads of people from the finance department to the purchasing department NOT JUST A SINGLE PERSON, can you work out the purchasing chain......? But in the case of an MRI scanner the idea of purchasing is not that difficult and it becomes "a case of needing it not wanting it"Michael Fontanoz 2009 where as a can of coke is wanting!

The relationships between the suppliers are at completely different ends of the spectrum by this i mean if you take the suppliers of Coke they will not know you they do not come to where you work,study or play to see if everything is OK with your can or bottle of coke, where as the relationship between the manufacturer of an MRI scanner and the organisations they have supplied will be on name terms and will have to build a relationship why is this i can hear you ask.... well here are a few points that can be taken into consideration; 

•Because there are fewer clients you cannot afford to lose any

•Because there is a lot of money and risk at stake you need to be able to build TRUST

on the right is an image showing Kotlers marketing mix but notice how the boxes have the same information

 but in a completely different order.

The main method of a business marketing to another is through personal selling, often taking the form of a sales person pitching the relevant information to the other business. This method is used less in consumer marketing as it would mean only reaching a limited amount of people when, in comparison, advertising could reach a much wider audience.

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Culture....We're All Apart Of It......!!

We have reached our penultimate topic this week, and also quite possibly one the most varied topics to cover as Ruth 2009 says "We could talk about this forever" but i am not going to that,from the previous blog about children we can begin to understand just small concepts that can be picked up in marketing, after all cultures are often set by their generation by this i mean for example here in the UK at the beginning of this century it was about the Chav and now as we move on almost a decade the Emo has risen. Take a look at the list below;

• People’s perceptions of what is right and wrong
  
• Family values
  
• Society’s values and attitudes
  
• Community learning Communal or collective memory
  

These are all areas that we have covered over the last few months and you can now see how everything is starting to intertwine and come to an end result if you haven't already that is.

A great man once said "No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive" Mahatma Gandhi, which if you look at the world today people have learnt to accept new cultures and in some cases even becoming part of them by marrying into a different culture or having children with a person from a different culture some people are even going out of their way to learn about and understand different cultures.
One thing i have noticed is that all cultures have something in common with another culture, whether that be from the colours of the robes worn by Hindu Priests and the colour of the Shaolin Monk dress wear.

There are millions of examples,from music right through to religion but to write them all out would be CRAZY! I have written about cultural similarities but there are also some massive cultural differences please watch the videos below to see just a few of them;

RUDE

POLITE?

THE GERMANS

The last Video brings me on to stereotyping which can be summed up in a few sentences this was found by Ruth and written by Daniel B.Holeman

" Heaven is where the police are British, the chefs are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers Italian and it is all organised by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the chefs are British, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss and it is all organised by the Italians."

Understandably with thousands of cultures across the globe i am sure i can be forgiven for writing about them all? I have put some links below to sites that would help to explain certain aspects of different cultures.,

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/cultures.htm

http://www.cultures.com/ on this site click on the LINKS

http://www.freewebs.com/worldcultures/

The last site is probably the best one it allows you to see how the same nationalities seem to adapt differently to they're cultural surroundings depending on where they are on the planet take a look its very interesting,it also shows what is on offer from each culture in that specific country from Construction companies to Dance troops.

It would appear that there would be two main culture types in the UK that i can see High Culture and Pop Culture...... Both of these were taken from Wikidpedia.......

Popular culture (pop culture) ideas, perspectives and attitudes that are more easily accepted or if you like preferred within a given culture. Which have been heavily influenced by mass media (at least from the early 20th century on) although pop culture was recognised decades ago it has now become more mainstream than ever with the use of television,magazines and music, this collection of ideas affects the everyday lives of the society. Pop culture is often seen as being "dumbed-down" in order to accepted by society.

High culture is a term, now used in a number of different ways in academic discourse, whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture. Matthew Arnold defined culture as "the disinterested endeavour after man's perfection".

Does culture take us back to the weeks of where we spoke about class? What do you think? Post a comment and let me know,i hope this was a good read and before i go watch these videos if you have the time........You will learn more than going on Facebook.......

Can "Great Literature" be Poorly reviewed?

Futurism or Modernism?

Culture

Childish Marketing.........It Works........!!

Child : "a human being between the stages of birth and puberty" this according to Wikidpedia
But to Marketers and Advertisers and to Dr Alan Grant from Jurassic Park "A Child is a Small Adult"

Who knew that the key to the world of marketing could be so easily handled and easy to break through............ how i here you say? Children have slowly become the gateway for adult consumers to part with their hard earnt cash.... Just by putting the right product in front of children they instantly want it..... UNBELIEVABLE!!
Piaget "conepts formed are crude and irreverible" he further goes on to say "perceptions dominate judgement" baring mind that these comments were made at the age group between 4 and 7 they are critical ages as this is when children according to reasearch are at their most influencial.

Children represent three different markets. In addition to the direct money that children spend and the money they influence, children also represent a third major market and perhaps the most significant and that is the future market. Advertisers and Mareters recognise that brand loyalties have formed,whilst children are young and vulnerable these brands will be carried through to adulthood,althought deep down inside everyone is just a big kid.

Retailers and manufacturers have two sources of new customers, those who they can persuade to change from their competitors (THE ADULTS) and those who have not yet entered the market yet (THE CHILDREN). Those who switch are less likely to be loyal than those who are catered for from childhood, according to the CEO of Prism Communications M. McNeal "they aren't children so much as what I like to call `evolving consumers'." The following definitions of age were made by McNeal about the evolution satges of cild consumers.

From age 1: Accompanying Parents and Observing. Children are taken with their parents to supermarkets and shops where all sorts of goodies are displayed.
By the time a child can sit erect, he or she is placed in his or her culturally defined observation post high atop a shopping cart. From this vantage point the child stays safety in proximity to parents but can see for the first time the wonderland of marketing.

From age 2: Accompanying Parents and Requesting. Children begin to ask for things that they see and make connections between television advertising and store contents. They pay more attention to those ads and the list of things they want increases.
At the same time, the youngster is learning how to get parents to respond to his or her wishes and wants. This may take the form of a grunt, whine, scream, or gesture--indeed some tears may be necessary--but eventually almost all children are able on a regular basis to persuade Mom or Dad to buy something for them.

From age 3: Accompanying Parents and Selecting with Permission. Children are able to come down from the shopping trolley and make their own choices. They are able to recognise brands and locate goods in the store.
At this point the child has completed many connections, from advertisements to wants, to stores, to displays, to packages, to retrieval of want-satisfying products. For many parents this is a pleasing experience. Ditto for the marketers, for it signals the beginning of the child's understanding of the want-satisfaction process in a market-driven society.

From age 4: Accompanying Parents and Making Independent Purchases. The final step in their development as a consumer is learning to pay for their purchases at the check-out counter.

From age 5: Going to the Store Alone and Making Independent Purchases.
According to Direct Marketing magazine, by the age of eight children make most of their own buying decisions.

Modern children can often recognise brands and status items by the age of 3 or 4, before they can even read. One study found that 52 percent of 3 year olds and 73% of 4 year olds "often or almost always" asked their parents for specific brands. Advertisers recognise that brand loyalties and consumer habits formed when children are young and vulnerable will be carried through to adulthood. Kids `R' Us president, Mike Searles, says "If you own this child at an early age... you can own this child for years to come."



Have a look at what is being marketed to kids now.....



JUNK



TOYS



CARS?!?!?



Cars i can hear you shouting now!! Yes cars look at how the children are used to be like adults,they are the ones unpacking the cars,they are the watching the children sorry "Adults" playing. The use of this is so clever it works on so many different levels,one of them is showing how the children apparently made the decision for their parents to buy the Car how funny does that happen in real life? I believe it does, i believe that when buying a car fr your familt it has to be an all rounder,remember the "KIDS COME FIRST" on that decision,so sub conciously they are making the decision to buy the car. maybe there are too many points to write about now,but i hope you can see what i am trying to get at by showing that advert.....? Tom McGee and Kevin Heubusch did studies into this specific area "one study estimated that children influenced $9 billion worth of car sales in 1994. One car dealer explains: "Sometimes, the child literally is our customer. I have watched the child pick out the car."



Below is a chart that is taken from Laurie Klein this study was done in 1997 there is also a link to a story in a Newspaper about pocket






Paper

I have reached the conlusion that Children have to much POWER Adults need to start learning to say NO!!

Please have a look at my previous blog entitled My Family......... and click the link "Children Rule The Roost" enjoy

Luxurious Upper Class.................?!?!?!?

http://quizfarm.com/quizzes/Style/gonewiththegale/what-social-status-are-you/

Before we get into this weeks lecture please have a look at the above link and take the test you could be surprised...... God knows i was.......

So this week is about social class and what it actually means, Sociologists define social class as the grouping of people by occupations. Doctors and lawyers and university teachers are given more status than unskilled labourers. The different positions represent different levels of power, influence and money.

The British society is often considered to be divided into three main groups of classes:

• The upper Class



• The Middle Class



• The Lower/Working Class

(this is taken from Wikidpedia) Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. Usually individuals are grouped into classes based on their economic positions and similar political and economic interests within the stratification system.

Is there still a need of this so called class system? Or is it just a want?

Social class is a division of society made up of persons possessing certain common social characteristics which are taken to qualify them for intimate, equal status relations with one another, and which restrict their interaction with members of other social classes
(Krech, Crutchfield & Ballachey in Dubois 2000)

I have put a few videos for you to watch about class and there are a few videos on how class is used by marketers.....enjoy them and then please continue reading my blog.....

LESSON ( This Link Is Puuka)

UNDERSTANDING

BREAK DOWN

HUMOROUS

IF YOU DONT WATCH ANY OF THE OTHERS WATCH THIS ONE CLICK ON ME!!

George Orwell once wrote "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" this sentence helps to proclaim the absolute equality of a goverments citizens but give power and privileges to a small elite.Looking at the class system in depth there is always a group from society taht want to aspire to becoming the Luxurious Upper Class, just because a person is in a certain group and is percieved by his or her peers can they not become apart of the elitist lifestyle? can they not shop in the luxury places? can they not take holidays in the south of France? can they not enjoya cheeky tipple of champagne on a Friday afternoon? the answer is yes they can!! Just because people are poked at and percievd by others to be some thing it does not mean they are " just because i am B and i do a C1 job the way i see my self is A" (Ruthy 2009) the refernce to B and C1 is in the list below:

Social Class System in Great Britain:

•A B C1 C2 D E
•A – upper middle class
•B - middle class
•C1 – lower middle class
•C2 – skilled working class
•D – working class
•E –lower class

I have some questions for you.....

1. Where do you class yourself?



2. Do you class others?



3. Does social class appeal to you?



4. Are you happy with your Social Status?



5. Why have you given the answer to Q4?



6. Do aspire to be of a higher social grouping?

The diagram above is a link to a site that shows Kotlers definitions of social class, there has also been a steady growth in all classes from higher through to lower as the diamond diagram shows below:

•Social class is a better indicator of purchases that have a symbolic aspect but low to moderate prices e.g cosmetics, liqueurs.
•Income is a better indicator of purchase behaviour for non-symbolic, high expenditure products e.g. fridge freezers.
•Both social class & income data are needed to predict behaviour with expensive & symbolic products e.g. cars, homes.

My Family...Your Family...They're Family.....

“If we believe our overall values drive our behaviour, then we should be concentrating on the important, underlying motives that drive consumers to make product or service choices rather than simply product attributes” (Ries & Trout 1982)

Families ad Family values play a massive role in the consumer markets, after all your family is a group as well, please refer to blog about groups,there are specified group name for families and they are as follows;

• Nuclear Family - father, mother & children who live together
  
• Extended Family - nuclear family plus other relatives such as grandparents, aunts etc.
  
• Family of Orientation - the family you are born into.
  
• Family of Procreation - the family founded through marriage.
  

I am willing to place a bet that in the majority of households up and down the country the wives/lady of the house is the one to control the purse strings when it comes to purchasing, as in the traditional family "the man earns it,the woman spends it" as i said this is probably what happens all the time and will never change,are women just satisfied by spending money that is not really theirs in the first place.........? Yes is the answer!!!

Family Values

Although now in the modern family it appears that there would more involvement from both parties when it comes to wanting a bread winner and a parent at he same time there are more and more women slowly entering the higher stature jobs and i say fair play to them for wanting to do it,and actually succeeding...but how would this effect the buying power in the household? would it create a better understanding? or would it create a rift seeing as the woman is also earning money and wants more of a say in matters? i can see both scenarios happening but more so the latter one as women are and i quote again Dr Malcolm from Jurassic Park "Women will Inherit the earth" just have a look at the chart below to see if you would agree with me..........also click the link below it to watch the video....

Family Roles

Children Rule The Roost

The family unit is not as it used to be with the traditional 2.4 children where they would sit around the table every night and to enjoy time with each other children now seem to be co-dependent on their families,slowly but surely there are more and more latch key kids,they are the children who get home cook their own food and watch the television til their parents turn up from work.

With all these different lifestyles now going on it has become difficult for marketers and advertisers to keep a brand or product with the family home. By this i mean that if the parents always bought the same make of car for example a Mercedes or the same brand of washing powder lets say Daz the children in that family group could easily be persuaded to purchase completely different products, especially if they are latch key kids,the influence of television is constantly around them they will learn to trust a brand just by watching it on the television,the more you see something the more you recognise it as being something you can trust,whether or not you are used to it or not i just believe that seeing something enough will eventually make you want it,i know as a latch key kid myself from experience that it works,i used to see adverts for Audi on the television all the time when i was done making my own tea after school,and eventually i bought one,even though both my parents drove BMW's when i actually bought my car i remembered the adverts and that hit the memory bank ( nostalgia ) remembering seeing the advert made me want one....

AUDI

In the current financial climate, many family's buying behaviour may have changed with the emphasis being on greater value for their money. This could see a greater purchase increase in supermarkets own branded products, for example, a low involvement product such as buying Heinz baked beans could easily substituted for an own brand alternative saving a few pennies per tin. The decision to do so may be affected by the role of the individual in the family and their decision making.

This leads me nicely to the children of the house...they "Run the Roost"......
"Many parents our unable to establish dominance in their household. They let their children do whatever they want and then are afraid to set down strong punishments and follow through with them,children are impressionable and easily influenced by their friends and advertising. They have materialistic wants and over dramatically complain when their parents don't get them the latest toys." (taken from an article on yahoo) It is so true that now the children have the say as to what is brought it has become a case of want,want,want. Children have learnt to manipulate and convince parents that's the decision they made on their own when really the children conned the parents into that belief Seany said " I often convince my dad into believing that he made the decision to buy me something" and that really shows that the children really are where the buck starts and stops.......

Watch these...........there is some foul language in some of them but if you listen to what is actually being said you will find it to be true.....

Katt Williams

Marriage

Big Kid

Two Jobs

Talking About Whose Generation......?

The Who sang the song My Generation, but what generation are we talking about? In this blog i am aim to show the variations in Generational Marketing.....

The method of marketing to a specific generation is affecting the way that we promote and sell products and services. We are all a product of our generation. (Ruthy 2009)

1.Millennial or Generation 2001ers, born after 1980

2.Baby Busters or Generation Xe rs born between 1965 and 1980

3.Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1964

4.Mature Citizens born between 1909 and 1945

•A person’s age impacts on his or her identity and often on spending patterns
•Age cohorts are groups of people of similar age who share similar experiences
•Marketers tend to refer to “generations” as potential targets

As we are now a nation getting older the marketing sector has to yet again adapt to the changing market place and what people want.

Here are just a few examples of generations that would of been hit by marketing in a big way whether it is directional or un-directional marketing these generations would of seen the same product being advertised but in different mediums. Click the links below to view the videos

Generation Y

Silver Surfers

Baby Boomers

This really is where all the previous Blogs that have been done really tie into together from self-concept to nostalgia all the areas are covered by generational marketing....for example look at these posters advertising Coca Cola,notice the difference in styles and what they are trying to sell to the market at the time the first poster is from the 50's the second from the 70's and the third from the 90's.

We were put into groups to create a power point presentation but unfortunately our group presentation did not work,we decide to edge away slightly from the brief showing how marketing effects three different countries "silver surfer generation", we decided to find out about Abu Dhabi, Poland and the UK, interestingly with the U.A.E being a relatively new country,with all their grandeur and technological advances in buildings their level and perception to advertising mediums was very poor, where as in Poland being a European country i would of thought that there would of been a vast amount of advertising being noticed by the older generations but as Maria explained to the group "Poland has been put under a blanket and hidden away from the westernisation" with the wars that Poland have been involved with they have some what been put on high alert to any kind of media that could break traditional values.

But in the UK there is a substantial amount of advertising done aimed at the older generations, and it seems more and more so now that ever,The number is projected to increase to 5.5 million by 2016 and to 8.2 million by 2031, a rise of 76 per cent over twenty-five years. that is staggering.........everyone needs to start making babies NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Kerry made a point in the lecture that her Grandad buys Old Spice the aftershave,because that what he knows and trusts which brings us nicely back to a previous blog yet again,if you trust a product and know what it does then why change it.......? For generations people have been trying to work out the formula to what each generation wants and i think i have the resolution to their problem........why not just employ some from each generation to tell them what they want,surely that will give advertisers and marketeers a better idea of what consumers want?

It would also appear that slowly but surely things make a come back....so i wonder what the next trend will be for people.........post a comment and let me know what you think will make a come back when we are silver surfers.... i have put up a video to show you things that were sold on when i was a youngster....the worst thing is some of were not even born when i saw these on the television............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB8g_RkuEY8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93HorvwRdXY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9RH3upe0gs

The last video at the bottom is the last century in 5 minutes............enjoy.........


1900 - 2009

Are We Who We Are Because We Want To Be........?

This week the topic was groups,and what an eye opener it really was, to realise that there is possibly so many people out there who want to appeal to their peers rather than being their own person, does peer pressure impact you? do you buy what people tell you to buy? do you feel a need to fit in? must you keep up with latest trends and fashions?


•A group is two or more individuals who

–share a set of norms.
–have role relationships.
–and experience interdependent behaviours.



Groups have been around for centuries for example the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat's, Mods and Rockers, ant through the 60's The Hippie's.


People are often often drawn to groups Solomon says "Groups do not push they pull,similar to the positive and negative of magnets" I believe this to be so true as for example when we all started this year at University people were not pushed into making friends with others it was by their general integument to want to know someone else (the pull towards a group or person) and it is like that with everything from where people go out,the restaurants people eat in,what people decide to wear in some places down to the drink you order at a bar.


Certain groups my even have aspirational qualities,not saying that every group has an Adolf Hitler but there will always be someone in every group that will set trends and critique their so called (followers) its a horrible thing to say but it is true....right...? As long as the trends of the future and present generations keep changing and evolving there will always be groups to follow trends.

After doing some research there have been studies carried out and there is a lot more behind the actions of a person and the specific groups he or she may fall into not only does it have to to with Group Decision but also the Development please click the link to read through the paper ( http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-925691-8.pdf )

Dr Zimbardo States "Only by understanding peoples behaviour you can change their behaviour" does this mean that when people enter a group they are suddenly brain washed with new ideas and outlooks to create a better environment for themselves in a group? Does that little Hitler all of sudden have control? No is the answer people just want to be wanted by others.....(Click Me)

Talking about groups this was taken from the link above " They evolve historically, being formed sometimes for social reasons, sometimes to fight common causes, sometimes to produce (or consume) goods collectively " Etzioni and Lawrence (1991)

This takes me back to my point earlier of generational groups i have put a board together below for you to see the different groups over the decades......

Reference - looked to for reference; this is applicable to products.

Acquired - a group that you will have moved into or joined; behaviours are acquired, this group may be most influential whilst in education, a time where behaviour is easily influenced, especially by peers.

Peers - people of equal standing to yourself.

Aspirational - wanting to belong; this may be achieved through the possession of brands.

Disassociation - hating to belong; trying to do all that you can to stand out from the "norms".

Contrived - formed for a specific reason; classes and social groups etc.

Associative - realistically belonging.

Groups have a massive influence over purchasing,as certain brands carry stigma's, and this can be of putting to consumers of different groups from purchasing that brand. Burberry for example (my favourite label mmmmmmaaaaaahhhhhh) "thats my sarcastic noise" may carry the image of a "Chav", therefore deterring others from buying it, even if it is not bought of Bovingdon Market.

This is all because people do not want to have the slightest association with something negative, in this example their image. Although i will be honest i cant really see 45 + year old walking around high street Kensington in a Burberry Mac whilst on an ASBO.....maybe people just need to relax on their image conscious lives and do what they want to do...........?

Dr Zimbardo

Group Conformity

Can People Get It Right...?

Values -
"If we believe our values drive our behaviour, then we should be concentrating on the important, underlying motives that drive consumers to make product or service choices rather than simply product attributes." (Ries and Trout 1982)

Fulfillment - Meaning - Optimism - Truth Dedication - Responsibility - Will - Vision Humor - Knowledge - Wisdom - Education Strength - Courage - Creativity - Ingenuity Development - Progressivism - Integration Justice - Kindness - Magnanimity - Altruism Lightheartedness - Acceptance of the Absurd Passion - Willingness to Risk - Self-Awareness, these are just a few words that enter peoples value system, do we as consumers take into consideration any of these words when we make a purchase of a product or service?

Involvement-
Refers to how much time, thought, energy and other resources people devote to the purchase process.

As a member of Generation Y my values have changed over the years which probably helps me to make a decision when it comes to the purchasing process,over time ideas and values are bound to of changed in every person,certain things may change peoples out look to purchases such as their money situation and family circumstances.






"Innovator/Experiencer Your primary VALS type is Innovator, and your secondary type is Experiencer."

The comment above is my result from taking the VALS test (Values, Attitudes, Lifestyle test) the results i believe were honest to my character take the test yourself you may be pleasantly surprised or may be horrified.






Another motivation involved in the purchasing decision is that consumers have certain terminal values (such as self-fulfillment) which are achieved through a series of decisions made from weighing up the alternatives. Laddering techniques means that there can be a link found between product functionality and desired end states (often a value).

Yet again this leads us back to the "Consumer Decision Process" and ponders the question do we make the purchase for ourselves in the end or do we actually do it for the receiver.......?

Which ties in nicely to another of my previous blogs,(what a coincidence).But do people regret purchases that they have made? and do they want to openly admit they have made a bad decision to their peers....? lets see what John Cleese and President Obama have to say on these matters one is on values and the other is on decision...also i have put a video in there for a bit of fun....


Compaq


The Future


Decision

Will Christmas,Birthdays and Valentines Day ever be Abolished.....?

The amount of effort and thought that has to be put into the process of gifts and presents is quite possibly the most painful thing i can think of doing after gauging out my eyes with a toothpick.....a slight exaggeration i hear you say but it really is not.

The consideration process is immense its like sitting my year 9 s.a.t's test, i suppose the the purchase of a present is highly dependent on who i am purchasing for,after i have written this blog i am sure that i will be buying for people in the near future is socks....

The purchasing of gifts of any sort has a a level of involvement whether it be high or low there will always be a thought a process behind each process, for example you know to get your aunt a tin of shortbread as all your going to get is a horrible jumper that the moths love and that you get your other aunt a bottle of smelly stuff as you know what ever present she produces will be cracking!!



Obviously the higher the cost the higher the consumer involvement,as there is a higher risk when making a purchase of high value,things like this would be a car,holiday or house.

This can be described by Laurent and Kapferer (1985) who argue there are 4 components that affect a consumers purchasing decision.



1. Importance and Risk. FTPEPS - Finance, Time, Performance, Ego, Physical and Social.



2. The probability of making a bad purchase (the product may not work, or there may be a problem).



3. Pleasure value of product category ( enjoyment in purchase transaction).



4. Sign value of product category (What will others think of the product; will they make an assumption about you based on the product?)



but with this i ask the question,are you being judged on the gifts you are giving to people? i say with this economic climate people should be happy with what they are given!?!



Consumer Involvement By Pirjo Laaksonen says that "Confusion arises between product importance and involvement"

Taken from the same online text Mital 1989 argues that it is the importance facet that is the proper representative of involvement itself.

I believe both of these statements to be true because if the product has a functionality then the idea behind purchasing it is high and if it will be an everyday object like socks then although it is important the functionality and involvement behind the purchase is low compared to the amount of use a computer could possibly be.
One of the main factors affecting purchasing decisions currently, whether it be for a gift or for a regular purchase, is value. People are wanting to spend less but obtain the same results for their money.
Do emotions really effect the purchasing process.......? what i have found is that when i am buying a gift for a friend which is rare i tend to buy an item that will create a nostalgic feeling for him or her, i feel that buying a gift should make the recipient feel good and actually remind them of a time or a person ((PREFERABLY ME))
emotions affecting purchases supports the fact that gift selection is right brain dominated, the emotional side of the brain, the process begins by the selection of the store to get the gift from however,this is decided by the rational thinking side,the left side of the brain, This has a big impact on marketing as it is is the experience of the shopping experience in the particular shop that will affect whether the customer will return or not.

Danzinger (2004) takes a different approach to gift- giving and suggests that gift-giving emotionally connects the giver and the receiver, therefore creating emotional shopping where the goal is to achieve a special feeling by giving a gift that communicates a message.

Shops and stores a always trying to create a more enjoyable shopping experience by offering extras, extras such as wrapping the product and placing it in elegant looking bags; making the purchase feel special, creating an emotional connection with the purchaser before the gift has even been given to the receiver.

A post from myself just would not be the same without a video so here is one for you to enjoy....

Practical

Giving

Emotional

I stick to my earlier point that from now on all i will ever be buying for anyone is a sock...not a pair just a sock,there for they can look forward to me giving them the other sock for their birthday,Christmas or Easter if i am feeling generous....

Whats In You're Memory Bank.....?

Advertisers have never had it so hard,with regards to new ideas and innovations in product advertising,they have to keep on out-doing themselves time and time again, the creation of adverts for a product are to install a small piece of information into the consumer mind,whether its through a piece of well known music or a super famous person like Kerry Katona.... Adverts have also now become educational to a point, take a look at these adverts and see the difference in details;

Old School

New School

Can you see that one will sell you a box on four wheels and the other is trying to sell you the lifestyle and elegance?


Adverts like the first one will bring back memories for some people as will the advert from 2008 for my generation but the thing is what is it that we really remember? There is a link below to a video that brought back so many memories when i watched it....



Music from the 90's


Kotler's Buyer Decision Process assumes optimisation rather than satisfaction, but in terms of purchasing a product heuristically (buying quickly with not much thought), it is not optimisation that is focused on, but satisfaction of the purchase. For myself a good example would be the fact i buy Cheerios for my cereal because i am satisfied with the product and it means i will keep buying and stick with the product (also because it has the green band it means it has 100% wholegrain) WOW!!! Have i just proved that,that piece of advertising works?


"Learning is the acquisition of knowledge. Memory is the storage of internal representation of that knowledge." Blakemore 1988.


This entire concept relates back to researching into finding out what the target audiences are most likely to take interest in (e.g. humour and simplicity for males and details for women), please read through my other blog "can you really remember what you saw on television or a magazine?" to find a better understanding of this concept.

What can you remember from a smell or a taste....? do certain things mean different things? does the taste of a Chicken and Mushroom Pukka Pie remind you of the last game at the old Wembely Stadium Between England and Germany and Germany won, One to Zip!! If the answer is No then you missed a rubbish game but if the answer is Yes then you enjoyed that atmosphere as much as i did........?!?!?!?!?

Solomon states "Nostalgia has been described as a bitter sweet emotion, where the past is both viewed with sadness and longing."

"When a stimulus is capable of recreating a personal event, even after many years, there often follows a bitter sweet feeling of nostalgia." Du Bois 2000 (research)




The idea of an item bringing back memories either of good time or bad times is just normality i have found a site that allows you to look back at what you may or may not remember... (NOSTALGIA)


By using certain music, a feeling of happiness can be achieved through triggering memories from the particular era. This ultimately creates a link between the nostalgic memories and the product being advertised. Can someone please tell me what happened to the guy that delivered Milk Tray? I have uploaded a collage to show just a few things that role back the years for me.......

Please wacth all these links about memory they will really help you to understand what is going on........

Memory 1

Memory 2

Flash Bulb Memory

What's that film called....? What Women Want.....?

This week i have come to conclusion that the women in this group completely believe us males to be from the neolithic times and slightly falling towards the neanderthal end of the progression chart of the development of "MAN" after all was it not once said "one small step for MAN, one giant leap for MANKIND" notice how there was no mention of women in that statement, i know there are those of you who will be all pedantic about it and will want to tell me there is the word (man) in (woman) but frankly i believe you are just grabbing at straws!

Here is a list of things that are supposedly able to impress a woman:


•Compliment her
•respect her
•honour her
•cuddle her
•kiss her
•caress her
•love her
•stroke her
•tease her
•comfort her
•protect her
•spend money on her
•wine and dine her
•buy things for her
•listen to her
•care for her
•stand by her
•support her
•hold her
•go to the ends of the Earth for her.


This was the list to impress a man:

•Show up naked
•Bring food

There area few things i would like to add to the male list and they are as follows:

• Watch Match Of The Day on Saturday and Sunday Nights
• Laugh if he says something even she does not think its funny
• Also don't talk to him because silence is Golden
• Compliment him,he has feelings too!

Advertising to the different sexes has become a multi billion pound fragment of getting the product to the specific genders, with adverts of epic proportions such as the new channel advert with Nicole Kidman in just hit the emotions of the females, the advert seems to touch on all emotions from lucky breaks for the guy and heart breaks for the pair of them i have added the full video for you to have a look at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfoMbir_Qd4

It is now pivotal that advertisers and marketers take into consideration the most effective ways to reach their target audience whether they are male or female.
Do males care about the heart string emotional adverts? Do they put there hands in their pockets and donate Cash? Do they even pay attention to them? the answer from me personally is NO!!

Females tend to have an easier barrier to break down when it comes to empathy what ever that is........? Females have been found to donate more money to charities than the males as it would seem the charitable organisations have found what they can use to attract the loose change in the bottom of women's bags there is research that actually proves this with thanks to Natasha for the link....
It was also found that women prefer strong colours and evocative images, whereas images were unimportant to males and the use of colours did not generate much interest...
It was also found that women prefer strong colours and evocative images, whereas images were unimportant to males and the use of colours did not generate much interest, this refers to one of my earlier posts which is entitled "can you really remember...what you saw on tele or in a magazine?" have a look if you have not already. Some adverts have become slightly aspirational

I have added some links to show just what i mean, but before you disappear into that sworded world of You Tube let me just say that there are some men out there who are willing to do their bit........in bed that is..........enjoy the videos.
(some of the adverts shown may not be suitable for children under the age of 21)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b1Y1CrNWgU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dElUq3xoikQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG96exYFj7w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtLp4dzC5wQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4L3bm6m3KQ

An Eye Opener.......

Yet again unfortunately i was not able to attend this almight eye opening event,although from what others have said and what they have witten in their blogs i feel as if i was actually there.....
In this post i will be using information from other postings about enterprsie week.

Alan Rich believes that "a well run business will always come through a recession" the business will survive because the employees will really know and understand their business. He explained that at times like this businesses should focus on brands that willbe most likely to survive and concentrate the budget on these brands, to be sure of success. He thinks all you need is enthusiasm and not just for the job but for each other.Ivor Peters explained "there is no solution because there is no problem". He went on to say that clients will always be lookking for 3 key things:

Measurement-(very important in current climate)
Accountability-(transparent with brands/clients)
Innovation- (the stand out factor)

He believes there is a huge opportunity with recession.
This infomation was retrieved from Lois Simpsons blog
" http://parttimemrs.blogspot.com/ "

Below is a link to a Richard Branson interview explaining what he believes can be done during the current financial climate to create awareness of a company.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk2AO67dn3w

Tom Vick from worldwide advertising agency JWT hosted a session where the message that came across was that currently online and digital marketing are killing TV advertising, however, this will gradually change.
Another piece of advice given was that "word of mouth is the new marketing sensation".

• There will be a return to the full service agency. This will save on outsourcing and expenditure as every process to do with a campagin would be able to be completed by the one company.
  
• The disciplines of account and channel planning will merge.
  
• There will be an increase in global outsourcing and the "always on" agency. The idea of this is to pass work over to different time zones so that it is continually worked on 24 hours a day.
  
• There will no longer be a purely digital agency or advertising agency.
  
• There will be an emergence of mobile becoing a significant marketing channel. This can already be seen as mobile phones are adapting and are equippped with numerous applications, the Apple iPhone and the Blackberry can be examples of this.
  
• Finally, there will be a greater focus on cost efficiency.

Whilst reading through some of the postings on enterprise week i was astonished at this piece of information which i found reading through Natasha Stokes' blog http://natteringnatasha.blogspot.com/

"In terms of advertising, it is still very much alive and the typical 30 second advert is still very successful; but it is all about whether it is actually being seen. In the 1970's, only 3 adverts were needed to be broadcasted to get the message out. Today however, 117 adverts are needed to have the same impact. Advertising therefore is starting to get very costly as with more and more people swapping to digital television (87% of people with TVs now have digital), it is easy to simply cut out the ads. This issue is backed up by the fact that recently it was announced that Google is bigger than ITV in advertising revenues."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKGGjpbYTb8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uhdUV_GQ0s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doZH8_ueR3I