Blog #1: Introduction

Hi there and welcome to my blog! I'm developing this page to help myself and whoever else is interested to learn more about how businesses become successful and how they market themselves. Through the semester I hope to create a page full of interesting marketing examples and insights that will help readers understand a vast range of marketing concepts.

Before I bombard you with articles, videos, and pictures, relating to marketing strategy, I think we ought to take a look at a few fundamental marketing concepts. The fundamental concepts of marketing, or "the marketing mix", are made up of four controllable factors; product, price, promotion, and place. "The four Ps" are areas of focus that are essential to the success of any company.

Product

 

"BURLINGTON, Vt. -- At 24 years old, Cyrus Schenck is a college dropout and the founder of a ski company". Renoun skis utilize a patented hyper dampening technology that may change the ski industry forever. The hyper dampening material potentially could be used everywhere, shoes, tires, protective padding, you name it. common goods we see today might be different tomorrow because of Schenck's product. If you want to know more click the link below.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/04/13/new-ski-innovation/25731887/

 Product is the first of the four Ps. It is a good or service that a producer creates in order to meet the needs of consumers. 

There are generally two types of products:

-Physical goods: These products are designed to serve some sort of everyday function for consumers. We are constantly surrounded by these products. Example: a pencil

-Services: This type of product is provided by an organization that provides some sort of service that helps customers get what they need. We depend on this type of product in our lives everyday. Example: Saint Michael's College

Price

 

 3d printers potentially could help companies reduce their costs of production by automating many Jobs traditionally done by employees. We have seen sophisticated modern technology applied in the production of many goods we use and depend on today. For example the robotic instruments used to manufacture cars. such technologies reduce costs and improve efficiency.

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130205-lenovo-dhl-vision-3d-printing-and-customization-to-become-the-new-norm-in-future.html 

 

 Milton Friedman, a famous economist who had strong faith in markets and their ability to properly dictate prices.
Milton nails it in this videolink: https://youtu.be/7V9ihC1o7wc 

 

Next is price. The price of a good is typically dictated by the cost of production and the market that the good falls in. The cost of production influences price because producers need to be able to pay for the resources and inputs required to create what ever it is that they are providing. A market price is the average price of all goods that are substitutes for each other (or goods that are similar to each other). Honda and Toyota are examples of substitutes. When there are multiple goods or services that are similar, producers compete with each other to provide the best product for the lowest price. Why? because consumers like to see their dollar go further. In economic principal, the profits companies make from sales of goods are zero in the long because when there are profits to be made competitors enter the market driving prices further and further down. When competitors no longer can offer prices that match market price, they are usually forced to leave the market. Consumers should like business competition because it keeps the prices they pay low.

Promotion

 

The new Star Wars movie was promoted everywhere. I've never seen so many advertisements and related products for any other movie. So far, the movie has grossed $895,426,162; more than any other movie in history.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm

Third is promotion. This concept is about how producers communicate with consumers, whether it be by TV commercials, or just by word of mouth, promoting a product or service is the best way to make an organizations potential customer base aware. You name it, anything that explains a companies product in a way that hooks consumers is considered promotion.

Place

 

  You can now order Domino's Pizza using twitter. This is a whole new level of accessibility.

https://twitter.com/dominos?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

Last of the four Ps is place. This concept is about how producers get their product to their customers. The accessibility dynamic between producers and consumers is important because the success of producers is dependent on how good they are at putting their product in the hands of consumers in exchange for money. On your phone, on the corner, or on the TV, wherever you look there are producers are trying to sell you stuff, and generally, the more convenient they're service is, the more they sell.

Thank you for reading my very first blog! I hope that it was a productive use of your time and you enjoyed the information discussed.

Next time I'm going to talk a little bit about a company that has had a huge impact on my life. My father is a pilot for Southwest and for as long as I can remember he has told stories about his experiences at work, whether he's telling me about a tricky landing procedure he had to pull off, or just a funny story about the company. One thing that my father has told me about his job time and time again is how lucky he is to work for a company like Southwest. My father's passion for aviation and love for his company are why Southwest airlines matter to me. Southwest is a company that does more than just maximize efficiency and real in profits, it's a company that values its customers and employees over everything. The success and stability of the company can be attributed to it's values, and Southwest's values are different. It's customers and employees are number 1, not just because it sounds nice in some phony business model, but because it is how the company was built and how it has succeeded since it was created in 1967. Since then it has grown to become the largest domestic carrier and is still expanding its horizons. This company has utilized all of the concepts in the marketing mix in innovative and inspiring ways that I think we can learn from.