In Response to Abby Hajec

"There's been some rumors that they may even offer it for free even with Prime members," Kessler said. "I think we're heading for sub-$100 price points for e-readers."

If it does eventually reach below $100, or become free, do you think this will generate more profit or do you think the Kindle Reader will be on the decline?

I would agree that with the decline in price for the Kindle, it will increase revenues. People will be more drawn to buying the Kindle and once they have they are apt to but more  and more books. It gives people more of an incentive to spend more money on buying books through the Kindle if the price is cheaper. Amazon will definitely benefit from lowering the cost of the Kindle. They would also catch the group of people who are on the fence about buying one. If it is cheap or even free then why not?

Do you think with the decrease in price of the Kindle there would be an increase in price of books on Amazon sold through the Kindle? 

VH1 Gets A Makeover

VH1 is aiming at a new target, women 25 to 35 years of age. Due to a recent drop in ratings the channel is looking to regain its spot in the market. "We saw ratings deteriorate, and we were hearing from our audiences that there was a fatigue level with some of our shows," said Tom Calderone, president of VH1. This past Sunday they introduced their new show “Mob Wives” which shows females who have married into well known mob families. In May VH1 is going to launch a new show called "Big Morning Buzz Live," hosted by Carrie Keagan who is 30 years of age. In later May they plan to show "Single Ladies," which is hosted by Queen Latifah. 

The station believes that men are the typical ‘funny people’ of TV such as Colbert, Leno, Letterman, etc. So they are introducing the ‘funny women’ in hopes to gain more of an audience. 

"VH1 is in a continual state of reinvention, and part of choosing not to grow old with your audience is realizing when you have dined out on certain formats too long," said Mr. Toffler President of MTV.

"As professional women continue to become more affluent and make more inroads into the working world, advertisers are growing more desperate to reach them," said Brad Adgate, an analyst at advertising and marketing firm Horizon Media.

Women control 80% of the consumer market, so why wouldn’t you market the media to the majority of the consumers? Do you think it is smart for VH1 to market more towards women? Will that be more effective to gain more of an audience?

Privacy Bill

I found an article that closely related to the discussion in class with the guest speaker Mr. Faulkner. It relates to our discussion on being ethical, and if it was ethical for Mike Vitone to acquire email addresses and send emails to people without their approval or knowledge. The article was from the Wall Street Journal, click here. Apparently Senator John Kerry (D., Mass.) and Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) passed a bill called the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011. This bill will allow people to see what information is being sent out about them as well as require permission for their information to be shared.

"These companies can do virtually whatever they want with our personal information," Sen. Kerry said. "Sen. McCain and I seek to change that."

Do you think it is ethical for Mike Vitone to e-mail people without their knowledge that he has their addresses?

In Response To Kristen

Kristen posted the question, what other features could this company market to potential consumers? She is talking about the video which I posted below about the roll top computer idea. I think it is amazing how quick technology grows and changes. I found this article and picture about a bendable, almost paper like computer which is being worked on by Arizona State and HP. Here's is the link to look at it:  http://elitechoice.org/2009/01/10/flexible-computer-screens-from-hp/. Today the latest rage is the iPad, which acquires a lot of the same features that the roll top and the paper like computer do. However in response to Kristen's question, it has more features that will be appeasing to consumers. Some of these features would include flexibility, not as easy to break, and even more portable. I would pose the question how soon will these items be on the market, and will the iPad or items alike be able to keep up?

In Response to Britney Perkins

What do you think about Viral Marketing?  Do you think that this video was a good marketing decision for Smart Water?

I would agree that viral marketing seems like a great new way of spreading marketing advertisements to a wide array of people. Marketers are always striving to find ways to get their products shown to a large amount of people. What would be the point of an advertisement if only a few people could access it? Marketing on sites, such as Youtube is a great technique. People will recommend Youtube videos to friends and family which would ultimately cause this 'viral marketing'. As for Smart Water marketing on Youtube and trying to go 'viral' it obviously was a great idea! 8.7 million people have  viewed the advertisement so it clearly proves that it has been viewed by a wide audience, and isn't that the point? Do you think other advertisments would do better or be better seen if they were viral on sites such as Youtube?

Google "Plus One"

Google is continuously finding new ways to keep up with the rapidly changing world on the internet, especially with the increase of usage on social networks. Google is known for their reliable search engine Google.com. Today however there is a huge increase of sharing on the web via social networking sites such as facebook and twitter. Some people are able to find articles or pictures based on someones facebook page if they posted something that they want friends to see. Also blogging is a way of gathering information on useful webpages, articles, pictures, online videos, etc. People don't necessarily have to go to Google anymore to find an article, etc. that they want to see or that their friends want them to see.

So how is Google planning on keeping up with this trend?

Google is introducing the "Plus One" button, similar to the "like" button on facebook. Google feels that this will bring more attention to their search engine and make it more competitive with social networks. They feel that the "plus one" helps show searchers what is a more valued article etc.

 

Do you think that this will make Google more competitive against social networking sites?

Response to Ashley Guidi

What’s Green? I would agree that companies use this idea of going green as a way to make more money. Most people don’t investigate a company if they are green or not when they go to the store. So if an item says something ‘green’ on it, most people would believe that. Consumers want to feel good about what they are buying also, if something you bought was less harmful to make or had a positive impact on the earth you might feel better about buying it. I think that there are some companies who are actually going green however. I have an internship at a company called UNFI and I know that they are putting solar power panels on the roofs of most of their buildings. If a company is going to market that they are green however, they should legitimately be green and ethically it would be the right thing to do. Do you think that the majority of 'green marketing' is a scam?

Time Warner and the IPad

Time Warner has stirred up some controversy between large media companies for a huge action Time Warner took just recently. Apparently Time Warner now has an app for the IPad that allows people to stream live TV shows through their apple device. Melinda Witmer, chief programming officer for Time Warner Cable, said that her company is "well within our rights" She is saying this to defend herself for the many large media sources who disagree. She later goes on to say that Time Warner would only be streaming these TV shows in a “secure network” such as at home. HGTV came out to say that they did not granted iPad video streaming rights to any distributor. MTV and Discovery channels came out to say that this is violating their contracts which states it is specifically to be used for ‘cable TV’. Time Warner is utilizing new technology in a way that is more convenient for its users as well as more lucrative for themselves while keeping up in a fast growing world. 

 One of the major concern for major media companies is that they are not going to be able to benefit from what Time Warner is doing and feel that they deserve a share in this new app. Other concerns are that people will watch TV only on their portable devices and that there will eventually be not as high of a demand for satellite or cable subscriptions. 

Do you think that Time Warner is right to take advantage of this new technology? Should media programs have a part in some of the money making? Could this make TV obsolete?

In Response to Laurie

I agree that sex sells, I think that most people whether they like or dislike the using of sex as a selling strategy could agree that it is an effective strategy. I personally am not offended by sexual advertisements, but i do see where it can be too much. Some people of older generations do not approve of this taboo of sex being shown everywhere. Also I think that children can  be subjected to seeing these advertisements which could have a negative impact. I do not blame marketing for putting sex in ads, it clearly seems to be working. My answer to Laurie's question; Do you think we use sex in advertisements too much? No. However it can be used in the wrong context. In a children's advertisement for example would be the wrong context. So the question that I would pose would be In what context is a sexual advertisement more acceptable than others?

To Spend Or Not To Spend

After watching the Overspent American in class it really opened my eyes to how the standard of living is perceived through the media. I never had a thought about how the TV shows that are being watched portrayed people as ‘middle class’ when they have all of the luxuries of the rich. People ultimately get this perception that they are able to live this way because they’re part of the middle class too. People always want more and more things and in order to pay for these desires to buy they are consequently working more. The video pointed out that by the 1980’s it was projected that Americans would have a 4day work week and a leisurely lifestyle. So why isn’t this prediction true? Simple, people want more and more! In order to get more they have to increase their wages. Another option to get more “stuff” was also explored in the video and that is to acquire debt. Like the video said, ads are being shown to people who come from a variety of income levels and some people are unable to afford the ‘luxury’ item being shown to them. Marketing has definitely kept up with the trend of more is better, no matter the price. Marketing high priced items to people who do not have a large salary may actually be working however. Why else would marketers market to people who don’t have sufficient income to pay for their items? The answer could be that some people are willing to have a large amount of debt in order to keep up with the Joneses. 

Is marketing to blame for this increase in consumer spending and increase in personal debt? Or should we hold people accountable for their own decisions whether that is to spend their money or not?

In Response to Paige

I was surprised to see this video of Britney Spears and her new song. I had only heard the song before but this was the first time that I had actually seen the video. When I first read the title to Paige's blog I though that I was going to have to search even just a little to see the products that were being advertised. I was amazed at how in your face they were. Here's the video again:

In Paige's blog she asked these questions:
Do you think this is a good way for music artists to make money? There will always be product placement in music videos and movies but there are ways of doing it so that it doesn't bombard the viewer and is not obnoxious. What are some ways that product placement can be done more efficiently?  
Apparently Britney made $500,000 for placing these products in her video, so yes it probably is a good way to make money. However, there has to be a better way of placing products so that it is not so in your face. Maybe have less products that are being promoted, or do so in a more subtle way. If the products were placed in a less in your face manner would she not have made as much money? How many advertisements in one video is too much to where it becomes distracting to the viewers?

Marketing Through The Internet

I watched the clip of the Bon Iver band on the David Letterman show and I have to say I really like their music. Here is the YouTube clip to watch:

 "The Internet played a significant role in feeding people the music.... It's like wildfire [how it] spreads," Mr. Vernon

It's amazing how the fame and recognition of Bon Iver started on the internet. Marketing on the internet in today's day and age really seems like the way to go however. With so many people casually searching the web and stumbling upon new things, they are exposed to a variety of new talents, marketing strategies, advertisements, etc. On the Ellen Degeneres show she usually has people on each week that she found on YouTube who have a talent. It seems like a lot of people can get recognition via the web. Another great aspect to marketing yourself or your business on the web is that it is relatively inexpensive to do. You do not need a huge budget if you are going to post YouTube videos of yourself or blog about yourself or be a part of a social network. In fact, most of it can be done for free. Another great aspect about marketing online is that people will share their opinions of what it is you are marketing whether that is commenting on something you have posted, or blogging about it. People who are on the web actually spread what is is that you are marketing for you.

"The Internet has been like the French Revolution for the music business," says Panos Panay, founder and CEO of Sonicbids

It makes me wonder if the internet can be this useful and powerful for musicians, can it be equally as useful for businesses? Can Mike Vitone use this to helpp get recognition of Campus Mom?

In Response To Kristen

J.C. Penny going green?

This reminds me of our discussion in class about social responsibility. J.C. Penney may be trying to go ‘green’ out of a social responsibility to be good to the environment, or they may being going ‘green’ in order to attract more customers. Either way I feel like it is a good thing to be a socially responsible company. I feel that would absolutely attract a larger customer base. If J.C. Penney were to get rid of a $454 million sales opportunity they are expecting that they will make up in sales with this ‘green’ appearance. I could not see them dropping a multimillion dollar opportunity without projecting to make more than what they are dropping. I wonder if other companies have tried this technique and been profitable?