Is This The End???

Sadly yes it is, the end of this blog series that is. My semester is ending in a short 12 days (Yes, I am counting down), not only does this mean that I have one semester of College left, but it also means that my Marketing class and thus this blog is coming to a close. Even my professors are happy that the end is near, in one of my other classes my professor let us out early simply because he did not feel like doing the next activity. Getting out thirty minutes early was like an early Christmas present for me that I was very happy to receive. I can’t wait to go home to see my family and enjoy the rest of the Holiday Season, this is my favorite time of the year and I love to spend it with my loved ones. The meme below perfectly depicts how I feel at the end of the semester.

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These past weeks have been so fun and I have learned a lot from running this marketing blog. I’m can say that although I have probably gave you guys some new information I have learned quite a lot from you. I know, I know it’s cliché of me to say that but it’s true. Being able to repeat information that you have learned is good and all but the ultimate test is being to teach someone else. It is through writing these blogs for you guys that I have been able to get a better understanding of the various marketing topics I have discussed.

To review some of the concepts that I found most important for me to remember as a consumer. As you can imagine the marketing mix is so important, it really describes why products/services are put into existence and how companies get consumers to purchase their products. As you may remember, the marketing mix or the 4 P’s consists of: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. One thing that I have learned from this class is that the “Place” goes far beyond where the final product is sold, it also includes where it is manufactured, how it is distributed and things of the like.

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Another main concept is the many different needs that consumers have which drives us to buy. Again you guys may remember the Hierarchy of Needs, which basically states that there are different needs that we have to fulfill through our actions. If you look at the image below you see that psychological needs are the most important as they provide you with the basis to live a basic life. The sad thing is that some people may use this hierarchy of needs as an excuse to buy when that is not always the case. Of course for psychological needs you need to have money to purchase a home, clothes, food and the other necessities. However the ultimate need is to fulfill the self-actualization needs. This need goes beyond the retailer. These needs can only be fulfilled by having morals and seeing yourself as valuable. What can make it difficult for some is that they associate their purchases with status and that the more things they have will cause them to be accepted.

  http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/maslows-hierarchy.jpg

In my eyes the best way to fulfill the self-actualization is to obviously fulfill the other needs first but once you reach that time do the things you are called to do. Do the things that make you feel like you’ve made a difference or reflect your morals. For me, if I can afford to I would love to do more service trips both locally and abroad. Here at Saint Michael’s College I have been blessed to serve twice in the Dominican Republic. This trip really changed my view on life and made me want to serve in other ways. I’m not too sure if service is my exact purpose but I know at feel very at ease when I am serving others. Have you guys had a moment like this?

Well this is it guys! I hope you guys have enjoyed going along this journey with me as we all learned the many avenues of Marketing. I know I sure have, this was my first blog ever and although it was a part of class I have enjoyed every second of it. I hope that I helped you guys in some way shape or form. Have a good one! 

Black Friday!!!

Hey Guys!! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Last week in my marketing class, we talked about pricing and one thing that came to my mind especially with Thanksgiving coming up was Black Friday & Cyber Monday. Since, we host Thanksgiving at my house, I don’t really participate in Black Friday because I just don’t have the energy to stand in lines early in the morning for deals. I guess it is just not that big of deal to me. However, for some Black Friday is more than a one day affair; we all have seen on the news those people that start camping out in front of stores hours in advance with some starting days in advance. To each his own but I can never see myself doing that.

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These people aren’t “crazy” though, if you find a need/want for the products on sale I say go for it. Some of those discounts are insane and that is what drives people to the stores right after Thanksgiving Dinner. Retailers are making their Black Friday sales better every year in hopes of attracting more consumers than before. Not only that but they are starting before actual Black Friday, many retailers start their Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day. This is crazy because Thanksgiving, a day that is supposed to be for family is slowly turning into a materialistic holiday. With more retailers opening stores on Thanksgiving, not only does it push employees away from their families but our society’s growing need to have more stuff soon enough these sales will draw people away from their families.

.http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/black-friday-rush.jpg

Now to relate all of this to my marketing class, one of the things we talked about where the steps that a company may go through to reach a price for their products. We talked about the first one (Identify Pricing Objectives & Constraints) in the last post. This one is relevant to the Black Friday sales because retailers have to look at what their competitors are selling similar products for. One strategy for this is for a retailer to price their item lower so that they can get more traffic in their store and hopefully increase their profits. This ideal goes with the step two of this process which is to, Estimate Demand & Revenue. Seeing as though Black Friday is such a huge day for retailers, the demand for various products is very high and retailers can use this to their advantage with their pricing.

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The final step is to Determine Cost, Volume & Profit Relationships. During the Holiday Season, retailers have to pay close attention to their costs because they may have extra workers to combat the increased traffic. Most people would think that having the lowest price would benefit a retailer as it would draw consumers to their store, however this is not always the case. If the price is so low that it prevents them from breaking even then this will surely hurt their bottom line. So with all of this in mind, the ultimate question is do retailers make a substantial amount of money during Black Friday and Cyber Monday? With all of the additional costs from having more employees working substantial hours to having the power on for longer than normal operating hours to the extra advertisement, it can be more difficult to make a profit. Another thing to consider is that although the deals may be insane, our society is very technologically based and online deals attract more people than combating massive crowds when there aren’t nearly enough items to go around. So many things to consider. Well thanks for joining me today guys, until next time!