End of Intro

In undertaking this marketing class, and more specifically this blogging assignment, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. My knowledge of both blogging and marketing were nearly nonexistent in January at the beginning of this spring’s semester. I can now proudly say that I’ve moved into the category of “novice” for blogging, and maybe even slightly past that in terms of general marketing knowledge. Rather than writing another post about random happenings or concepts from the world of marketing, this post will be a reflection of this course overall, and of the blog assignment, in terms of objectives and outcomes that we were expected to experience and gain knowledge of over the course of the past 16 weeks.

To examine and convey basic and emerging marketing concepts and terminologies

            This first and most basic objective is very obvious about its importance to this class, and really is the concept of the class in 11 words. Examining these ideas was not only the purpose of time spent in the classroom, but also the aim of textbook chapters, other external readings, and the major projects of the semester. At the beginning of the course, I would have had a difficult time coming up with even two of 4 P’s that are considered one of the most basic concepts of all marketing efforts. Learning emerging marketing concepts was also well reinforced through the use of a practice marketing simulation where 6 teams competed to sell customized backpacks in a ficticious market. This project forced teams to make decisions regarding advertising, distribution, and price of their backpack using real concepts learned throughout the course. By the way, my team won!

Understand the functions, roles and responsibilities of marketers

            The roles and responsibilities of a marketer are far greater and deeper reaching than I would have believed prior to this course. Of course a marketing manager is expected to make decisions on things like new advertisements, the brand image and positioning, and target markets chosen, but their job goes far deeper than that. Decisions on manufacturing/ production schedules, distribution channels, pricing considerations (one price for all or employ price discrimination to increase revenue from those who are willing and able to pay more?) and future direction of the company and new projects are all decisions that a marketing manager would have at least a say in.

Analyze and evaluate marketing opportunities in the internal and external environment across a variety of settings

            The content that came along with satisfying this course objective was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the course for me. Each class would begin with presentations of two commercials that had previously or were currently in use as television advertisements for a vast variety of products. Daily discussions surrounding these commercials, as well as relevant general marketing news, allowed for conversations that delved further into many intricacies of the world of marketing. Moving from what the commercial showed and said, and into what it actually meant and what the intended outcome of the ad was revealed a lot of industry insight from our professor who still also works in the industry outside of academia.

Use written and oral skills to persuade a target audience

            In addition to commercial presentations, each class began with a presentation of a TedTalk that could be about nearly anything, but that had to also be able to be related to the course in some way. The purpose these presentations was twofold in that not only did they force new content into every class period, but also, and more importantly, they allowed each student to get more comfortable with giving presentations and public speaking. This is a skill that one could never be too good at, and is always worth improving upon.

Participate and communicate as an effective member of a team

            Similar to oral presentation skills, group/ collective project effectiveness is a skill that can, and should, continually be honed. In addition to the aforementioned semester-long practice marketing simulation, many class periods involved small group projects accomplishing things such as creating a fake product and how you would market it, or discussing potential future plans for saving a failing business, or determining where a product currently fell within its product life cycle. Again, the actual assignment is slightly less important than the skills learned during its completion. The backpack simulation required high levels of teamwork to complete different reports and projects (such as filming a commercial for our company) throughout the semester and nearly constantly; there is no substitute to experience in learning soft skills like communication and this course gave me a good amount of it.

These five examples of how course material, projects, and assignments ushered me toward an understanding of some vitally important objectives and learning outcomes are just a small portion of a long list of skills and knowledge learned throughout the semester. In learning these skills, I also learned that a career I would have never even previously considered could be one that I would thoroughly enjoy and potentially even be successful in.

THANKS FOR READING!

The Genius of Stickers

One of the main metrics used to assess the effectiveness of a marketing message is the ratio of customers reached per dollar spent. As stated in other previous posts, this semester has not only taught me many concrete marketing principles, it has also taught me to be more aware of marketing messages in everyday life. Recently, I began to think more deeply about the abundance of stickers that I see every day. They’re everywhere! On cars, signs, doors, laptops, cell phones, water bottles, tables, skis, skateboards, and just about every other receptive surface conceivable. If you look at what happens when a person chooses to stick a sticker on something, it becomes hard to believe that one has to pay for stickers, rather than all companies giving them out for free.

            When I was young, I collected every sticker I could get my hands on, and stuck them haphazardly to my desk, and eventually the back of the door in my bedroom. At that time, I just liked the diversity of colors and shapes and patterns, and that I could decorate my room without artistic talent, because I have none.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I had created a marketing campaign off all my own favorite things, things I had purchased before, which I saw everyday. Granted, I was the primary viewer of all the marketing efforts.  But, think of the owner of a car covered in bumper stickers, or the girl across the coffee shop whose laptop is advertising everything from her home state to her beloved Tom’s Footwear.  These people have such high brand loyalty that they are willing to advertise for free, or even in some cases, for a price. For example Ski The East, an online community of devoted East Coast skiers, sells sticker kits for anywhere from $3 to $20 depending on size, color, and number of stickers in the kit. So not only is this company generating revenue from selling its stickers, it is also generating revenue from the advertising that comes with having your company’s logo plastered anywhere and everywhere.

            For all companies, reaching consumers outside of its targeted market segment is expensive and ineffective in terms of the amount of customers that can be generated per dollar spent. The use of stickers as a promotional tool in a company’s marketing mix allows for brand images to reach customers it may have never dreamed of reaching.   Even if nine of every ten people who see it have no reaction whatsoever, the company that charges for its stickers is still paid to gain that tenth customer who saw the sticker and decided to check out more about your product.

            In a marketing environment where it seems lately more is better, I find it fascinating to see the success and effectiveness of one of the simplest forms of advertising available.

Product Life Cycle

            Any product brought to market goes through phases and cycles, known as the Product Life Cycle, much like any other living thing. In the product life cycle there are four phases: Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline. The names of the categories are fairly self-explanatory and thinking of a few examples of any isn’t too difficult; perhaps an example for Introduction would be 3D printers for personal consumers, for Growth, GoPro comes to mind, Maturity could be exemplified by Ford, and when I think Decline, I think of something like the market for land-line telephones. Depending on where a product or service is in their life cycle is a major driver in the direction the company should be attempting to go at any point. Production levels, marketing message, pricing strategies, and distribution channel usage are all aspects of your business that come into question depending on your products position in it’s cycle.

            As you can see in the image above, the product life cycle is graphed with sales on the Y-axis and time on the X-axis. (Sales are obviously the most important area to track performance from, but to the businessman/economist in me, this graph would be more interesting by having a typical cost curve as well, that would show profit in a more evident way throughout product life.) This curve shown is a fairly typical shape but not all products will share the same curve; factors such as knowledge of the product class, popularity of the product, and length of popularity will all shape the curve differently. Think of SillyBandz, the shaped rubber band bracelets that saw huge success out of nowhere and for only a short period of time; their curve didn’t look like the one above. It likely spent nearly no time at all in the introduction phase and its curve during growth was extremely sharp. Because SillyBandz would be considered a “fad” product, its decline was likely just as sharp as its growth after spending very little time in the maturity stage. In contrast, try to imagine the product life cycle shape for a product such as Coca-Cola.

            Given that a product is positioned differently in consumers minds depending on its point in the life cycle, the message sent by marketing and promotional efforts needs to fit the time and place on the curve. During the Introduction phase of the life cycle, the marketing message just needs to make consumers aware of the product class in general to create a space for their product. Once in the Growth phase, the emphasis is placed more on getting consumers to recognize your product as the superior option within the class and thus the best options for their hard-earned money. As sales level off and a product moves into Maturity, some of the spending on advertising will be curtailed and what is left will aim to maintain existing customers remind other buyers of the product. Finally in Decline, most spending on advertising will be cut and the product will slowly be phased out completely, hopefully involving some market cannibalization by another of your own products.

Moe's Knows

A recent outing with some buddies in the daily struggle to avoid eating dining hall food led us to Moe’s Southwest Grill.  At Moe’s, a place where I have only eaten a few times before, I expected to be shouted at upon entry to the restaurant (Welcome To Moe’s!!) and I expected to get a decent meal at a good value; what I hadn’t expected was to find inspiration for a Marketing2015 blog post. Taking marketing this semester has certainly lead to a greater overall personal awareness of marketing efforts being put in front of consumers everyday and finding this cup was an example of that.

Almost all competition in any industry is based on one of two factors: price, or quality, and for that reason most marketing campaigns aim to convince consumers of their product’s superiority in one of these two aspects. This cup breaks from that typical formula and instead uses a campaign of functionality to promote the catering side of their business. There are many methods used to promote products such as product line extensions (using a current brand name to enter an new market,) sub-branding (combining a corporate brand with new brand to distinguish a new part of the product line,) brand extension (using a current brand name to enter a different product class,) and co-branding (combining of two brand names on a single product.) This campaign is a particularly good example of brand extension because Moe’s is able to promote a new service, using existing products, directly to customers who have already shown interest in the product just by being at Moe’s in the first place. For these same reasons, this also an example of market modification, which is defined as using existing products to find new customers and/or increase use and use situations among existing customers.

Expanding from their traditional revenue stream that is their brick and mortar retail locations to also include offsite event catering allows them to begin to gain market share in an $8 billion per year industry.¹ Being profitable in the catering industry is largely due to a company’s ability to keep costs at a minimum. Given that Moe’s already knows all of its price points on food costs and other overhead, and that they sell an inherently cheap-to-produce product, they will likely have an opportunity to see a healthy return on investment for any capital they allocate to this side of their business.

What really caught my attention was the sheer simplicity and brilliance of the marketing effort used here to put the line for a name on the cup. Not only does this raise awareness of the catering business to those in the restaurant for a single meal, it also allows for those who use these cups at a catered event to have a nametag of sorts and to tell their drink from others in the vicinity. In a world of over thinking and high complexity, this ad stuck out to me for the fact that it is neither over thought nor complex.  

Works Cited:

Wood, L. (2011, June 17). Research and Markets: 2011 Report on the $7 Billion US Catering Services Industry. Retrieved April 10, 2015, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/17/idUS178751 17-Jun-2011 BW20110617

Market Economics

To be profitable in any industry is very simple: generate more revenue than cost.  But, in reality, there are many factors that go into getting these numbers to come back with a positive bottom line. Marketing is thought of primarily as a firm’s advertisement strategy and efforts for a product or service but the marketing team has further-reaching consequences on a firm’s net income. Advertising efforts, in conjunction with an understanding of the quantity demanded in the market, allow for closer-to-optimal production levels. This edition of Marketing2015 will explore some theories of supply and demand and why the marketing team should be paying close attention.

Supply and demand is generally considered to be the main backbone and most fundamental concept of Economics, day one material in any 101 level econ class, micro or macro. As seen in the above image, price is on the Y-axis while quantity is on the X-axis. The demand curve starts high on the left and moves in a somewhat linear fashion toward the bottom right; the shape and direction of this curve is telling us that at a high price, consumer demand a lower quantity and that as the price decreases the quantity demanded will rise. The supply curve follows an opposite path: low on the left when price is low, and high on the right when/ where price is higher.  This concept makes a lot of logical sense: when prices are low firms are hesitant to produce many goods because the price will not offset the costs enough to turn a profit but when price is high, they are hoping to produce and sell a high volume of goods to cash in on people demanding their product.

The point on the graph where these two curves cross is referred to as the equilibrium point. This point represents the optimal price where consumers are willing and able to purchase all of the goods that producers are willing and able to make in any given market. This point is also known as the market-clearing price for the same reason. This is where marketers can have an impact on the bottom line.  If the marketing team is able to anticipate this sought-after point, it can be determined ahead of time what the likely demand will be.  Thus, the production team can create an appropriate production schedule that will allow for minimal overhead costs and ideally a complete avoidance of any unnecessary costs for thing like storing the extra, unsought goods, or having to wholesale a large number of them at a cost much lower than MSRP in an effort to at least see some return on the investment of producing them in the first place.

To delve a bit deeper into this concept we can begin to look at things like shifts of the curves, which occur when there is a change in number of consumers, the average income of consumers; and the preferences of the consumers or the prices of related good within the same market. There can also be movements of the equilibrium point along either curve.   These occur when there is a change in either value on an axis, price or quantity. These concepts would be covered in much greater detail if this were an economics blog.

Product -Lining

This installment of Marketing2015 will again focus around sports, but this time is about the sales and pricing strategies used by equipment manufactures. This strategy to which I am referring is the idea of “product-lining.” Firms in industries other than sporting goods and equipment employ this strategy as well, but product-lining is most prevalent and useful in those markets.

The idea behind releasing an entire product line makes sense in a sport such as hockey because many players have many different needs of their equipment depending on factors such as skill level, frequency of playing, and budget. The way that a company such as Bauer (considered by many the worlds foremost expert in hockey equipment) handles such a diversity of needs is to release a product line with multiple options rather than a single, “one-size-fits-all,” product. Currently Bauer has three major product lines Supreme, Vapor, and Nexus, which all are complete product lines in themselves that have differences between them in fit, function, and performance.

 Not only are there three product lines, but also there are generally about 7 products per item, per product line. What does that mean for producer and consumer? For the producer it means a great deal of market coverage and segmentation, reaching many different individuals from an NHL superstars like Ryan Kesler (face of the Nexus line) to the first timer just looking to play some pond hockey. Product lining also seems to be very conducive to high levels of brand loyalty and, more specifically, even product line loyalty. The expense of this is very high overhead costs for manufacturing and storing so many different items, as well as marketing in enough areas to reach all desired segements. For consumers it means being able to find a product that fits best physically and economically, no matter whom you are and what level of performance you need.

The image above shows the top four models of the Vapor line, which has a total of 9 different skates in its lineup, following the same pattern seen down to the X40 skate. The top skate of this line is $700 currently but you can get a pair of the lowest grade X40 for just under $100. The difference in price is influenced by many factors such as materials used, production method (hand-stitched vs. machined,) warranty level, and protection level to the user. Not only does the boot itself change, the performance that can be expected of it increases along with price, where the top of the line products will be much stiffer and stronger, as well as likely being a lighter weight overall. Other than skates, using this strategy has lead to success in the sales of gloves and sticks as well where novice players don’t demand their equipment to be as high-performance.

            The product-lining strategy is also used in the sales of items such as golf clubs and balls, baseball bats and gloves, as well as tennis racquets just to name a few. Outside of sporting goods, product-lining can be seen in vehicles, moving from a base model and adding trim packages and desired options to create a vehicle more tailored to the buyer. This strategy also is used in the sales of services such as insurance sales or banking where different price points can reflect different levels of coverage or options available.

Works Cited:

Jones, Steve. "Bauer Hockey Introduces New Product Line Inspired by Needs of Top Professionals." Business Wire. N.p., 15 June 12. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.

New Product Process

Welcome back to Marketing2015

Although recent blog themes have been have been focused around some area of athletics or athletes, it seems time to get into some of the more technical concepts of marketing. Class discussion and readings in the time passed since the last blog post have included topics such as product positioning, target markets, market segmentation, and other topics of market research and product placement. The purpose of this post will be to detail a process discussed in chapter 10, the New Product Process.

As expected, the New Product Process has multiple steps, seven to be exact, that must be taken in successive order to give a new product the best possible chance at being successful once brought to market. Taking these steps will greatly increase a product’s chances, however following them will not and cannot ensure than any product will ultimately meet the goals intended by the producer bringing it to market. This process is specifically geared toward the marketing of a new product, but applies as well to marketing a new service, with only a few conceptual differences. Although some of these 7 steps can be undertaken simultaneously, none can be skipped altogether, and any serious rearrangement will have effects on the effectiveness.

Without further ado, the steps:

1.     New-Product Strategy Development

This is the area where a team will define the role that needs fulfillment within a company’s portfolio. Firms will use SWOT analysis and environmental scanning to see where they can impact a market and how.

2.     Idea Generation

In this stage, a large number of concepts are developed based on perceived opportunities discovered in step 1. This process is undertaken by members of the new-product team of the firm, as well as by collecting input from customers, suppliers, outsourced R&D teams, and other similar products that can spark ideas.

3.     Screening and Evaluation

This is when a slightly narrowed group of ideas is evaluated to determine the actual plausibility of the product and the list is narrowed further to include just a few of the best ideas. Internally, production capabilities are assessed, and externally the idea of the product is preliminarily tested without an actual product being built.

4.     Business Analysis

At this point a product has shown high potential and is only one step from having a prototype built. Analysis done now will specify the product features, as well as the marketing strategy that will be employed. There are also many financial projections undertaken to show how the new product is likely to affect the bottom line.

5.     Development

Finally, all the conceptual work is done and the prototype of the product is produced. Getting to this point involves so many prior steps because this is where a significant capital outlay must occur. Having a tangible model allows for further testing of production efficiency as well as lab and consumer testing to see that the product meets the protocol that has previously been established.

6.     Market Testing

Now that there are actual units being produced, it’s time to test and see if people will buy the product when faced with the choice of it versus its competitors in realistic buying scenarios. The product can be tested in a standard, controlled, or simulated test markets depending on how much money can be spent, how long the firm has to test the product, and what type of product it is being tested.

7.     Commercialization

This final step is when the product is positioned in the minds of consumers and the process of getting it to actual retail locations is undertaken. Many products are slowly “rolled-out” regionally to mitigate the risk of the product tanking, and to add a stream of revenue as quickly as possible to begin to offset all the costs undertaken to get to this point.

           

The use of these sevens steps is typically a very lengthy and expensive process that can be immeasurable helpful if employed in the correct ways. Sometimes, going through all this means that your product is delayed months or years before getting to consumers, but taking the time is worth it to know the firm’s money isn’t wasted on a tanking product.

Big Name Marketing

Today, American culture contains many aspects that I find unexplainable. Near the top of said list would be the gross infatuation we have with celebrities. This love of all things famous includes actors and actresses, musicians and other performers, and of course athletes. If you hadn’t have guessed from the last post, that’s where we will focus most of the attention in this post.

National media efforts keep us in touch with just about every detail of information we could possibly desire about the lives of our favorite stars. Who is performing better than expected, and conversely who isn’t earning their keep, who is dating who, who is in trouble again, who is getting traded where, and of course, why are any and all of these events happening? One place where we see surprisingly few athletes is in large corporation’s marketing efforts. Granted, there are some exceptions. We see some familiar faces taking their stardom on air, but compared to what these players are being paid in endorsement contracts it is safe to wonder if they are actually worth the cost (spoiler alert: they are) and also why don’t we see them in more adds.

The top five earners from athletic endorsements are Tiger Woods, LeBron James, Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, and Kobe Bryant, in that order, who made a combined $239 million in 2014. * The problem is, how many ads can we actually recall these people being the main character in? LeBron has done a few new spots recently, including promotion for Nike, Beats (which he is a partial owner of) and Samsung, but they come few and far between and certainly don’t account for the $53 million he is paid. So how are companies able to pay these guys so much, where does the value come from? The answer is products lines. The LeBron line of basketball sneakers moved about $300 million worth of shoes in 2013. LeBron’s jersey is also a perennial top-seller, and his line with Nike includes a lot more than just shoes. If you look at Tiger, the story is much the same whose deal and line of video games with EA Sports earned the company $800 million worth of sales through the release of sixteen titles. Nike cashed in on Tiger’s success as well to the tune of $791 million in sales of its line of golf equipment, clothing, shoes, and accessories in ’13. It is safe to say that these two have, or in Tiger’s case, had, the most successful and recognizable marketing campaigns in recent years but really the main promotion being used by the companies sponsoring them is based on their performance in their respective arenas.

Companies know that success sells, whether it is actually due to their products performance or the perception that their product is the catalyst for success. To put into perspective how valuable a big name endorser can be, look at the recent offer made to Kevin Durant by Under Armour. The Baltimore/ DC based company offered up $285 million as well as partial ownership (reportedly 10%) of the company as KD35 neared the end of his deal with Nike. The astronomical figure actually makes a lot of sense knowing that UA has 0.35% market share for basketball shoes, compared to Nike’s 93%, and that a deal with Durant would likely bring in upwards of $50 million in sales. Maybe Under Armour would have used KD heavily in commercials, more likely though, they watch him continue to be a dominating force in the NBA and their bank accounts swell.

*Four of these 5 athletes have contracts with Nike, Mickelson being the only exception.

Works Cited:

Maisonet, E. (2014, September 03). Why Kevin Durant chose Nike over Under Armour. Retrieved February 09, 2015, from http://www.sbnation.com/2014/9/3/6098457/kevin-durant-nike-contract-under-armour

Forbes.com

Big Game Marketing

Welcome back to Marketing2015.

            In the days since the Intro to Intro post, there has occurred one of the most anticipated marketing events of the year, Superbowl XLIX. (Shout-out to my Patriots for another great win, PATSNATION!!! TB12 is the Best. Period.) The game was an instant classic in every sense on the field, and a surprisingly memorable one for the commercials as well. For the purpose of this blog, in that it’s about marketing, most discussion will stay focused around the advertisement blitz that is the “big game.”

If you were to ask a random sampling of Americans whether they watch the Superbowl more for the game itself or more for the commercials, a very large percentage of people would undoubtedly respond toward the latter. This year’s game set a record for TV viewership with 114.4 million sets tuning in. In a country of roughly 315 million people, that is a pretty astounding number. The largest markets were obviously the New England and Seattle areas but together they don’t combine to nearly that figure. So why are the majority of people watching TV at that time watching the Superbowl? (71% to be exact) Hint: it is not due to an inherent love of football. Americans have come to anticipate and desire the 4-hour overdose of marketing! We now welcome the chance to see an incredibly vast spectrum of products and services that is sure to include many of our favorite brands. Many companies use this event as a springboard for a new product, product line, or marketing campaign. Almost all of brands use commercials that have been made specifically for the Superbowl and are kept off air until their debut during the game, which makes a lot of sense because when you spend $4.5 million on a 30 second spot, you want to maximize the value of your ad. While on the topic of price, although the $4.5mm seems astronomical, you’re reaching about 25.5mm viewers per dollar which appears to be a value when you think about it.

We have come to expect a certain type of commercial from certain brands that historically advertise heavily during the game. Some examples would be Bud Light with their “Up For Whatever” campaign, Budweiser with something sentimental usually involving a puppy, some Clydesdales, or both, Old Spice with some nonsensical song about smelling good, and Doritos using some form of humor and outrageous plot. This year’s game welcomed most of these, as we would have expected, but also some unfamiliar brands toting a less familiar message. Most people would consider this year’s ensemble of commercials more emotional and heartfelt than those of recent memory where humor was more the go-to emotion to play on. There were also more PSA type commercials hoping to restore the image of violence that has taken over the NFL this season.

            Two advertisements in particular stuck out most to me from the lot of them; one for being what I consider a great commercial and a good use of company budget, the other the opposite of that. The commercial that stuck out to me for the right reasons was made by the Italian carmaker Fiat. It depicted a little blue pill (you’re meant to infer Viagra) falling through the streets of Italy and finally into the gas tank of a 2-door Fiat coupe, at which point the car grows to a more impressive, 4-door size. This commercial used humor and some subtlety to create an effective ad. The one that stuck out for the wrong reasons was made by the insurance company Nationwide, and was meant to bring attention to the high number of accidental deaths of youths in America. Clearly this is a noble cause and something that people should be aware of, in my opinion though, it seems that due to the culture of recent Superbowl ads being light-hearted and funny, the ad was poorly timed and delivered, as well as being a bit ambiguous about what the were really trying to advertise which happened to be a website with tips on how to reduce the risk of accidental deaths. (The links to both commercials are attached)

            Whether you watch the game for the athletic contest or for the advertising entertainment, it’s safe to say that neither are going anywhere for a while. It will be interesting to see how trends in advertisement style and spending continue in the coming years.

Nationwide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY

Fiat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_cNf3d9gq0

Works cited:

Breech, J. (2015, February 2). Super Bowl 49 watched by 114.4M, sets U.S. TV viewership record. Retrieved February 4, 2015, from http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25019076/super-bowl-49-watched-by-1144m-sets-us-tv-viewership-record

Post 1: Intro to Intro

This blog that I will be keeping throughout the semester will be in an effort to break down the concepts and strategies covered over the course of BU-215, aka Intro to Marketing. There is some history of marketing experiences in my life but taking a full semester course should prove to be an enlightening experience on the subject. My formal introduction to marketing, at least in a scholastic sense, came during a short module of the BU-113 course that lacked depth and detailed coverage of the material, but was successful in teaching the most basic concepts of marketing and how it should be applied to the product we were selling in the marketplace portion of that course. All of the rest of my history and acquaintance with marketing is specific to personal marketing and comes from an earlier time in my life when hockey played a much bigger role. In an effort to keep moving forward along the path I desired I was constantly trying to get noticed and “sell” my skills to coaches and programs I wanted to be a part of, during high school, I had to apply and market myself to prep schools, in prep school I had to market myself to junior teams, and in juniors I had to market apply and myself to colleges. I knew nothing of marketing terminology at the time, or even that I was applying marketing concepts in any way, but looking back now with an understanding of some basics, it is clear to see the similarities between marketing myself and what is needed to market a product or service for profit.

Marketing is defined in our textbook as the activity for creating, delivering and exchanging offerings that benefit its customers, the organization, its stakeholders, and society at large. Admittedly, there are vast differences between me trying to get noticed for a hockey team and a fully planned, multiple medium, large scale marketing effort but both can be broken down using tools such as the 4 P’s and SWOT analysis. Using the 4 P’s, Product, Place, Price, and Promotion, you could say the product was my abilities, the place was wherever I was playing, the price would be my performance once on their team, and my promotion was my performance on my current team. When marketing a product, it is also important to pay attention to all of these aspects and what approach will work best given your product and target market. SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; an analysis of these will give you an idea of where you are and what you need to do in the future to become more relevant or stay relevant in your market.

The topics of this blog will continue to roughly parallel the lessons and topics of the class, ideally using different forms and media to convey new ideas.