The Affluenza infection

John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor’s book Affluenza  describes Affluenza as “a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.” I thought that it was a perfect topic for discussion especially since this course is about convincing people to buy.  This book talks about the American values that are disappearing as people become engrossed in gaining ever more material goods. Families are getting torn apart, buried under financial ruin while their debts keep piling up because they cannot seem to stop buying stuff even if they cannot afford it. The long hours needed to provide the things they deem necessary are also weakening the bonds of families. Parents are forgetting the most important thing that children need is love, acceptance and their parents to be there for them. Relationships are falling apart because people are not spending enough time together. The wasteful consumption is destroying the world as we eat our way through non-renewable resources with no thought of the future. We have forgotten that less is more. This is one book that I would recommend reading.

Are you suffering from Affluenza?

The Egyptian Uprising and the effect on their tourism

We’ve all hear about what’s going on in Egypt for the past weeks and how a people’s need for a better life led to the revolution that has captivated the world’s attention, while giving hope to people in similar situation.  On the other hand, the country’s economy has taken a beating because of the turmoil as well as the hundreds of people who have not been working. Egypt’s tourism industry in particular has suffered the most, which the country is very reliant on. Millions of people flock to Egypt to visit the pyramids of Gaza as well as the country’s famous Sphinx. 

 Any country going through what Egypt is going through is not conducive with tourism. Tourists would not feel safe especially when other countries were scrambling to get their people out of Egypt when everything started and the outburst of violence and the pictures of the battered that also dominated the news. 

  

This is also the height of the tourist season because a lot of people are leaving the cold climates for somewhere warm. According to the NPR website, “The uprising here sparked a massive exodus of tourists, and the loss of revenue could run into billions of dollars.”  Although Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president for 30 years has agreed to the people’s demand to step down, the country is far from stable. The Egyptian government and businesses have a rough road ahead with convincing tourist and businesses to come back to the country; it’s a marketing nightmare.

Would you want to visit Egypt any time soon?           

The iPad will it oust the laptop?

A Wall Street Journal article ‘Laptop Killer? Pretty Close’ by Walt Mossberg was a very interesting comparison between the laptop and the iPad as well as what the future might hold for each.  He argued that if the iPad became just another gadget to carry around then its future was looking dim and would not make it. However, if customers saw the iPad as something that could replace laptops, then its future was bright.  The iPad is very versatile, small and light weight, making it ideal for a wide range of people. Mossberg goes on to list the pros and cons of Apple’s latest invention. Some the impressive features of such a small product, Mossberg lauded, was battery life, overall speed, and doing things like watching videos, listening to music, and reading books to name a few. Even with all the apps available approximately 150,000, the iPad is still not ready to take the place of the laptop.

In the words of Mossberg,‘All in all, however, the iPad is an advance in making more-sophisticated computing possible via a simple touch interface on a slender, light device. Only time will tell if it's a real challenger to the laptop and netbook.’

Do you think that the iPad will replace laptops?

Ads and the Super Bowl

It’s amazing how much companies are willing to spend for a few seconds of airtime (approximately 30 seconds) during the Super bowl. Companies are willing to spend millions for one of those 30 second spots.  It is estimated that there are over 100 million viewers and from a marketing point of view this is the perfect opportunity for companies to advertise their products. According to Superbowl -commercials website, Reuters reported that super bowl commercials will cost approximately 2.80 to 3 million dollars for one of those coveted spots depending how long the ad is. Although it's risky due to the price tag, the rewards outweighs the the cost for companies that participate - the bigger the risk the bigger the reward.
 According to Reuters website, Nielsen – television audience researchers, found that 51 percent of 2010 Super Bowl viewers watch the game more for the commercials than for the game itself.

 I must admit that I am part of the 51 percent but take it a step further and watch only the commercials. I am not remotely interested in the game.  



Here are some of the companies who has ads that will be airing at this year’s game:  Vollkswagen, Doritos, Coca Cola, Bud Light, and Snickers to name a few.
I mean who can forget the snickers ad with Betty White - talk about funny.

 How much would you pay for that opportunity?   

Job hunting and the Marketing Mix

In a few years most of us will be entering the job market and need to come up with a marketing strategy to help us land the ideal job or considering the economic climate practically any job will do. A very helpful tool that can be used in developing one’s marketing strategy is the marketing mix. The marketing mix is the combination of the 4 p’s: product, place, promotion, and price.

Product: You are the product and the things about the product (you) that needs to be considered are: quality, brand name, and packaging. The quality of the product is the skills, education, experience or abilities that you have and it is what makes you marketable. In today’s society, companies are becoming more aware that the public’s perception of them is very important especially in economic times such as these. More and more companies are very interested not only in the skills and level of education but whether their employees are ethnical. Depending on the job the higher the level of expertise that one has increases the probability of landing their dream job. One also has to consider their strengths and weakness in order to discern the environment that is most suitable for them. Brand name could be the school that one attended. Attending Ivy League schools carry some clout and inform potential employers’ that you, the product is of high quality. Packaging: Like they say ‘first impression are lasting ones.’ Therefore it is very important when going to an interview that one dresses appropriately. To different companies this means different things and so one should do their research and be aware beforehand.

Place: Some very important things include location, transport and cost. One has to be able to get to and from work with relative ease. If an employer is uncertain of your ability to get to work, then that may prevent them from offering you the job. It would also be beneficial that future employers know that if needed you can get to work in the case of unforeseen occurrences, especially depending on your type of job. It is imperative that you budget the cost of getting to work and that you can afford it.

Promotion: In any market in order to sell a product one has to promote it. As stated earlier, you are the product and therefore promoting yourself is very important as a way of informing potential employers of an amazing product – you. Sending your application letter and CV is advertising; presenting yourself in a very attractive light and trying to persuade the person reading it that you are the best person for the job. During the interview you will be doing some personal selling – expounding on your strengths, possible connection and how your uniqueness would be an asset to the company. It is unbecoming to seem too full of yourself and advisable to talk about your weaknesses and how the company will help you to improve.

Price: The price of any commodity plays a major role in any buying decisions.  With today's economic climate you are but one of many competing for the same job.  A competitive advantage would be your willingness to accept a lower price. Yet one must be very careful since the price of a product is also used to indicate whether the product is an inferior or superior good. You want to indicate that you are a superior good of excellent quality.

Is a degree from an Ivy League school really worth it?

What is the difference between marketing, advertising and propaganda?

The first step in understanding the differences between each phrase is to knowing what they mean – their definition. Here are some of the definitions according to our marketing text book:

Marketing is defined as the process of creating, distributing, promoting, and pricing goods, services, and ideas to facilitate satisfying exchange relationships with customers and to develop and maintain favorable relationships with stakeholders in a dynamic way.

Advertising is a paid non-personal communication about an organization and its products transmitted to a target audience through mass media

Propaganda: According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, it is the spreading of ideas or information to further or damage a cause.

Marketing:

It becomes obvious that advertising is a part of marketing. Advertising and propaganda are both used to inform the public (target market) about a product or idea or service and used to attract and convince people that they want your product or agree with your ideas.

The difference is that marketing is about educating about a product; stimulating a demand that already exists. Marketing main objective is not convincing consumers to buy a product. Advertising on the other hand, is presenting a product in a very attractive light, convincing consumers that they want to buy it. Advertising is very focused on sales and capturing a large market share. Propaganda on the other hand, although can be considered as a type of advertising, main goal is not only to influence a person but do so by giving partial information while omitting anything that will not further the cause or that is detrimental to it. It involves the deliberate use of misinformation and usually to further a political idea.

Examples of each:
Marketing: First time home buyer credit when the government was trying to stimulate the housing marketing and inturn the economy.

Advertising: Ads seen in magazines, newspapers, billboards, and on television to name a few.
Cool Ads 

Propaganda: Rwanda 1994 - when the Hutu extremist convince Rwandans that the Tutsi were going to kill them and in order to prevent that they had to take action. They used the history of Rwanda (after colonization), twisting it to suit their agenda which lead to the Rwandan Genocide.
RADIO PROPAGANDA AND GENOCIDE

Isn't there a bit of advertising and propaganda in every marketing venture?