Monday, November 30, 2009

Developing and Managing Products - Sirius XM Radio


Sirius and XM Radio were the two most popular (If not the only) satellite radio companies known to the average consumer. They joined together in a merger that has strengthened

their dominance over other satelite radio services such as Muzak. Some form of Satelite radio is now available for most types of cars which was limited before the merger. Satelite radio went from a concept to a major way of getting radio service as satellite radio is broadcast over a wider geographical range than regular radio signals. Sirius XM is available by TV, iphone app, car serice, and many others.

Developing and Managing Products - Amazon.com


On November19, 2007, Amazon released the Amazon Kindle. This electronic software/hardware digitally displays e-books and other media. Since then it has met lots of success, from its international sales to being implemented into the iphone on the form of an application. Sony came out with the Sony Reader as competition to the Kindle but with little success. The picture above features the comparison between the Sony Reader (Left) and the Amazon Kindle (Right). The amazon Kindle has generated a lot of popularity over two years and looks promising for the years to come.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Sales Promotion & Personal Selling - Ben & Jerry's

Free Cone Day can be seen as an effort toward Social Responsibility but I see it as nothing else other than a sales technique. Ben & Jerry's is the most successful ice cream company. My opinion is that they are using this free cone day to get more potential customers to try their products and eventually come back due to their good experience. Free cone day is usually scheduled to coincide with earth day and with other days to give to charities, but if giving away free ice cream isn't enough to get more people in their store - the pressure of customers' friends will.

Sales Promotion & Personal Selling - MetroPCS

Metro PCS has met success since 1994 but has become more popular now - not completely because of its release of the push-to-talk feature or the GPS friend locator, but because now it has been promoting itself at a new level. Metro PCS service stores have been popping up all over New York and raking in some serious business away from its competitors AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile to name a few. It's amazing because they don't offer the iPhone like AT&T, the Sidekick like T-Mobile, or the Blackberry like Verizon. They simply advertise their policy - No contracts, just "$40 for Unlimited Calls & Text" This appeals to cell-phone consumers' hearts. They just don't want to go through the pain of worrying about the next bill and the surprises it might bring.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Advertising & Public Relations - Campbell's

Campbell's was trying to improve their image by making their product pink - the color of Breast- Cancer awareness. This is one example of how companies try to "reach out" to their consumers. Doing this will increase sales because people will find a way to support breast cancer awareness - buying cans are "donating" to the Breast Cancer awareness fund. Many companies are utilizing this strategy by coloring their products pink - from Yogurt lids to M&Ms. People feel better when they are purchasing a product that will help their causes.

Advertising & Public Relations - Motorola / Verizon


The advertisement for the new Droid Phone By Motorola comes on as a very strong competition for the iphone and G1 smart phones. The commercial features the phone being deployed by fighter jets and falling into fields in pods- just like sci-fi movies. The phone is marketed to come off being a "robot" which symbolizes smart technology - what people look for in these new smart phones. Another mysterious commercial features a list of things that the iphone doesn't do that "Droid Does", not mentioning what droid is but only when it comes out. The phone happens to run more different apps that the iphone does and features a keyboard. Only Verizon users can
use the Droid, the same way iphone is used by AT&T, and the Sidekick and G1 is used by T-Mobile.



Monday, November 9, 2009

Pricing Strategy - NYC Paintball


On Saturday November 7th, My friends and I visited NYC Paintball in Long Island City (Queens) for my birthday party. We wound up spending a fortune there and it came to my attention that this place makes lots of money. This is most likely because there is no other Paintball facility in the New York City area. We probably spent about $70 each person for 4 hours of play, 1000 paintballs, mask, body armor, gun, and pod magazines. I Had a great tme either way and I'm sure that their business did as well. Just in our group they made about $600. Not including many of the other people who frequentely visit on a regular basis.

Pricing concepts - Activision


For anyone who knows anything about video games, they know that keeping up with the latest concoles and games can burn a hole in their wallet. Activision is releasing their long-awaited Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The regular pricing for XBOX 360 should be around $59.99 but anyone who's been waiting for this game for as long as I have would be paying $125.00 (Not including $25 for the Deposit) for prestige edition - The gaming package that includes Night-Vision goggles, an online token to download the original COD, and other exclusive extras. Activision also has a number of other packages available with the release of this game and continues to harvest money from gamers.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Retailing - Trader Joe's


I talked to an employee at Trader Joe's who mentioned that Trader Joe's is a very succesful company. One way they stay in business is by selling private label products - they account for about 80% of their total products. Their niche is selling organic, healthy and dieting foods (non-gluten) as well as foreign foods like swiss chocolate, etc. Trader Joe's employees work to create an environment where people feel like they are exploring different cultures by trying different foods. Their early competitor was 7-Eleven - Trader Joe's has been around snce the 1960's and has more than 280 stores in 23 states.

Retailing - Subway

In the middle of a recession, Subway has managed to pass the 30,000 mark in their number of restaurants. Subway is one of the most successful franchises because many people eat there. They serve sandwiches quickly and are known for the healthier choices offered compared to other fast food restaurants. It recently entered the Franchise 500 and continues to meet success almost every time a store is opened. There have been many steps to get to this position, but subway looks like it could be around for a long time.