And so it ends in Week #14...

It's sad that our class is now over. Originally I wasn't really all that excited about this class, in fact I was kind of dreading it, but it turned out to be one of my best classes this semester, and by far the most fun.

This week's chapter was interesting. I thought that it was cool to look at the different pricing methods and try to figure out how they apply the company that I work for. It was kind of hard to really place our companies mind set because we sell phones at a discount in exchange for a two year contract. The balance of long term income versus an immediate loss is something that is beyond be without more information than I have, but it was still interesting to speculate about it.

The other thing that I found interesting was the discussion about the effects of hard times on pricing and a marketers job. I liked that part because of the current economic climate. It was good to see something that applied to today, to my everyday job.

Well, I guess this is it, my last entry for this class. It seems so strange for this class to be over, but I guess that's the way it is. I'll continue to use this blog for personal things I think. It's been kind of fun.

Until later,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Week #13...Are we really so close to the end?

This chapter on sales promotions was very interesting. Sales promotions is probably one of the things most associated with marketing by the general populace. I had to laugh about the Loyalty Marketing section with the comment about how the average household participates in twelve different frequent buyer programs, just because that is so true of my family. I swear it's like a compulsion that my mother has, if there is a loyalty program out there, she has to be a part of it, it's just funny. I think that my favorite promotion for most things is sampling. This seems to be the most effective one for me, because I want either reliable information from a source that I trust will give me the honest truth or I want to be able to test it out for myself. Maybe it's because I'm poor and so every purchase carries a higher finacial risk... that's a thought... but who knows.
The other part that was interesting was the steps in the selling process. I found this interesting because I'm in sales. Not all of the steps apply to me, cause I'm in a more retail environment, but it was still interesting to read.
Well, until next week I suppose, at least for one more time...
Roger the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Starting to wrap it up, week #12

Well, I wasn't there last week so it writing this is going to be a little more difficult than usual. The chapter was good. I found the different looks at the various advertising channels and all the associated facts very interesting. The other thing that I found very interesting was how much was spent of advertising. Some of those companies spend ten million a day on advertising, that's just crazy. I guess it is worth it though because they continue to spend the money on it. Also, I have to say that the huge sign of the soccer player in the chapter was pretty amazing. Sadly I'm not sure what more to say, so...

Until next week,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

And around comes week #11!

This was an interesting chapter. I thought that it was interesting that it talked about how one concern of advertising is that the receiver of the message may not always decode the message in the intended way. I don't even know how many times I've watched an ad on TV and wondered what on earth the marketers who developed the ad could have been thinking, or wondered if they thought their commercial all the way through. But this chapter helped me understand a little better about how it may not be as easy as it seems to get your message across in exactly the way you wish. Every person is different and we all interpret the stimuli we are presented with in a different way. So you would have to be able to make a message very simple, while still making it unique and interesting enough that it is memorable.

The other thing that was interesting was the section on blogs and how they have impacted the world of Marketing. I never realized how big and how important for business blogs have become in recent years.

It was also interesting to me to see how the market has changed from being mostly product driven, to being more consumer driven. It makes sense that such a change has happened, however, when you consider the advances in technology.

Well, I'm not sure what else to say, so...

Until later,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Wow, #10 already? CRAAAZY!!!

Once again, I'm amazed at how my business classes overlap. The whole section on JIT inventory and inventory control was a new view on some of the material I covered in accounting. It was nice to have it discussed in a different light. I really love seeing the many roles that technology plays in business.
I also found the various things from the IPs on Dell. I suppose that I have to admit that what they have done really is fairly impressive. They've really changed the way that your average person buys computers. That said, I hate their products. I think that they are poor quality and they are very expensive to repair, but that's just my opinion. I do have to acknowledge their business prowess.
And I found the section on transportation interesting since I used to work for a trucking company. It was interesting to see where we stacked up on the matrix.
I think that I'm out of things to say, so...
Until next time,
Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

And now, the amazing #9

I really don't know what to say about this week. The test was pretty good. It went well and I was glad to see that my studing served me well.
Until next week,
Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Here we go again... GO #8!

Well, this was certainly an interesting chapter. It actually reminded me a lot of one of my other classes. Especially the product creation process that was outlined. This might be kind of dumb, but one of the things that I found incredibly interesting was the last page in the chapter, the page about the lifespan of the VHS. One of the things that I found interesting was how quickly it went from peak sales to being essentially obsolete. I think that, especially in the world of technology that we will see this become more and more pronounced.
Test marketing was also something I found interesting especially since I participated in something very similar to a test market during some religious service. I was part of a group that spearheaded multiple programs to see if the way the whole church did its missionary work should change. I know that's not quite the same thing, but I was still able to draw several similarities.
Well, I guess that's it for this week.
Later,
Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Round #7

Well, another week has come and gone. Last weeks class was pretty good. There were some interesting things about the product classifications. I think I must be a Marketing professional's worst nightmare, because I'm really picky about tons of stuff that I buy, turning even what most people might think of as normal things into something that is treated almost like a specialty item. I want to know what I'm buying and then once I've decided what it is I won't take any substitutions. I buy quality, not quantity. I would rather buy an expensive version of an item once rather than buy something that is cheaper multiple times, that's just the way that I am I suppose.
The rest of the chapter was interesting, like product items, lines, and mixes. I liked the the branding and packaging info, and I thought the discussion about the Private vs. Manufacturing brands.

Well, until next time,
Roger, The Guy in the Penguin Suit.

Ready? Here comes #6!

Last week was really interesting. I think that maybe part of the reason that it was so interesting to me is because I'm kind of a techie. I love to see all the new applications of technology and. learning about the DSSs was really cool. Also seeing the applications and value of the internet was also really impressive. Of course the internet has changed the way that business is done, and its influence is far reaching, but seeing all the applications of technology always impresses me.

The rest of the class was fairly interesting, like the various forms of market research and the whole deal about the competitive research, but nothing caught my interest like the applications of technology.

Well, until the next entry!

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Week #5

Last week's class was interesting. I thought our discussion about Coke-a-Cola and its target markets was quite interesting.

The other thing that was interesting to me was the many applications that this brought to light for me in my work and the company I work for. I don't think that we are doing a very good job with all of out marketing. I think that we should try to do a better job at diversifying our marketing mix. We are advertising almost exclusively to the younger generations, like those in there teens and twenties. I think, however, as a local telecommunications company, we could get considerable response from some of the older markets.

The other thing that was of particular interest was the one to one marketing. I've seen this in action in online stores such as Amazon. I'm not sure why it intrigued my as much as it did, other than the fact that it seems that it would be a highly effective form of marketing that will improve as technology continues to advance. I know that it has worked very well with me. I'm fairly loyal to both Amazon and Netflix, which are the first two companies that spring to mind that use a one-to-one type system.

Well, until next week,

Roger, The Guy in the Penguin Suit.

The Fourth Week

Well, I think that the coolest thing about class last week was just being able to see how the buyer decision making process applied so well to me. I think I must be one of those problem customers, not because of buyer's remorse or because I always complain and want to take things back, but because of how much info I want on all of the items I buy. Unless something is one of my routine purchases (and even those I re-evaluate quite often), I turn most items into high involvement item. I want to be sure that I'm always getting what I really want and need before I'll fork out the money for it. I'm always hunting down information on the internet and from friends and family about new things.

I guess that I don't really have a lot to say about class this week. It really made a lot of sense. Nothing seemed strange or confusing, but not much really stood out either.

Until next week,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

Week #3

Well, this week has been a little crazy, so I'm a little behind, but here we go.

I know that this is gonna be a little strange, but I actually really liked the bit that we did in class about Jaws. We considered motivations in a way that I hadn't ever really done before... You always look at people like the town leaders and think of them in a negative light, saying that they're just greedy or something along those lines. That being said, it was very interesting to look at them in a different light such as that of realizing that economic stability is a form of CSR as well. I had never really thought about things that way.

There were also several interesting things that I found in the ethnic groups such as the fact that Asians have the highest average income of any ethnic group. Other than that there were a lot of things that I was already at the very least aware of. The most important thing to me was the way this section opened my eyes and changed my viewpoint, not to say there is not greed and other questionable motives out there, but there is a much wider scope of human motive that I need to be aware of. This alone made it a good class to attend.

Well, until next week,
Roger, The Guy In The Penguin Suit

Week 2

Well, another week has come and gone, and along with it, my Learning Presentation, thank goodness! Those types of things make me nervous. I think it went okay though. As always, there were a few things that I should have said but didn't, but overall I think that I did okay. In fact, I think that everyone did pretty well.

We went over the quiz in class. It took a while, but I think that it probably helped most of the students. It didn't really do me a whole lot of good on this one, cause I was able to find almost all the answers in the book while I was taking the quiz, so I already knew all the answers this time, but maybe in the future that will be a different story, so I'm not going to complain.

One thing that I did find interesting was the discussion in class about salespeople going out of there way. I honestly can not remember a sales person going out of there way for me, but that maybe a better lesson. Right now I am a sales person for a local company and I want to make sure that I'm trying to go the extra mile so that I can be the sales person that has gone out of their way to help a customer.

Other than that really the most interesting things about this weeks class, at least for me were the discussions on blogs and how much they are now being used for business, something that I saw as I did my research as well. Netflix has it's own blog were all the official updates and projects for the company can be found. And as a final thought, the other thing that was very interesting to me was just how much all of the topics of business overlap. All of my business core classes have overlapped considerably and have given the same info repeatedly with a different view. I like that a lot because I find it very interesting to see all the connections and the importance of a solid and varied education of business principles.

Until next week,

Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit

The first entry!

So I guess that I'm starting this blog because of my marketing class, but who knows I might use it for both class and personal use after my class has ended (hence the very... unique name). So my understanding is that for this class we are supposed to talk about what we thought were the highlights and the most interesting parts of class.

Of course, the first class of any class is interesting, even if it's just because of how different each class and instructor is. I liked how Professor Allen seemed to be interested in our success. It seems to me that there are too many teachers out there who are to busy teaching their class to teach their students. I have to say that I do feel bad for him though. It's gonna be hard to teach 125+ students spread out over the whole state.

The other thing that I found interesting was the retention pyramid. There's a few that I'm not sure about for me personally, but I guess that's to be expected since everyone is different.

I've never had a teacher that asked what I liked and didn't like about other classes and teachers, so that surprised me, and then that Prof. Allen has plans to then apply what we said to this class is actually really cool, and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

I'm a little nervous about the presentation that I have to give this week, but I will be happy to not have it looming in my future, and I'm excited for my topic (Netflix).

I think that that's really all for today I suppose... I don't really know what else to write.

Later then,
Roger, the Guy in the Penguin Suit
--
"I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a ring of Pure and Endless Light,
All calm as it was Bright."
- Henry Vaughan 1622-1695