Week 10 EOC: Road Map to Success

10 things to do:

-tweets (54)

-blogs up to date (EOC's)

-Read the book Ch. 6-10

-Final project; adventure letter, advertisement, full marketing plan, package design, 20 quotes from the book, creative content, marketing plan: Business mission statement, objective, SWOT Analysis 

Week 9 EOC: Creative Content

For my creative content to market and advertise my product I would use a print ad and place it in Men’s magazines like Men’s Health, GQ Gentlemen's Quarterly, and Esquire to specifically reach men in their mid-20’s to early 30’s. I would target men in this specific age group because this is the age group where men are still going out and trying to attract the opposite sex. To market to woman I would also place a print ad in Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Glamor to reach the attention of woman also in their mid-20 to early 30’s for the same reason. My product is Ceviche Taco rolls that is a tasty mix of jalapeno, lime, cilantro, and Pico de Gallo. While these flavors go wonderfully with tequila, these Ceviche taco rolls will enhance the flavor of the tequila and will be real hit at Mexican cantina theme bars. To get into the spirit of the product and theme and also gain the attention of my target market, I will use two different prints, one for the men’s magazines and one for the woman’s. The print ads will have the same theme, look, and feel, but feature the opposite sex as the center of attention based on the gender magazine; for example, for my men audience my print ad will feature a Hispanic looking woman at a fiesta themed party holding the bag of the ceviche taco rolled chips. Men will be surrounding her, holding bottles of beer, trying to gain her attention, but the man in front of her that captured her attention will be holding a bottle of tequila and two shot glasses.

Week 8 EOC: The Adventure

"Viva bien en México"

Hola! My favorite adventurers, soy yo Phileas Fogg (It’s me Phileas Fogg) your favorite and oh so handsome traveler! As you can see I recently made my way south of the boarder and landed in soleado (sunny) Mexico City, where I also learned some Spanish while romancing Mexico City’s finest paso doble dancer Maria Reina. I can still feel the R’s rolling off my tongue, but that is different story for a different time. During my journeys in Mexico City I discovered flavors and spices I have never tasted before. I knew I had to have them with me, but the only way to get them was by stealing them from el baquero con el pelo de oro (the cowboy with the gold hair).  When I landed in Mexico City or should I say almost crashed and destroyed Mexico City’s metropolitan cathedral, I stumbled across a Mexican cantina. This place was filled with many colors that resembled the dessert atmosphere with an aroma of something that was sweet, yet spicy. The cantina grew very quiet as I opened the door and stepped inside. The place was full of men that looked similar to the cowboys I had seen in Texas, but with bigger hats known as sombreros. I walked up to the bar and said “Excuse me, my kind lady. May I have some water?” She looked at me confused; I could tell she was distracted by my good looks. A young boy came up and approached me, he said “agua” I then looked confused, “agua means water” the young boy said and I thanked him while giving him a trinket I had discovered in Texas. “Aqua for me!” I said to the lady, but then trouble busted through the cantina doors. Another man who reassembled the cowboys I had seen in Texas, but with a bigger hat and gold hair approached me and said “Agua here is for the weak. You will drink Mexico City’s finest tequila to prove to us you are man.” I knew right away, if I wanted to survive Mexico City, I needed to prove that I am Phileas Fogg and drink the Tequila.

Price

When it came to finding the right balance about pricing and selling our product vs. to what our competitors price their product at was challenging. The book states that the price should be a reflection of what the customer thinks is a good value.
“The company can offer greater customer value either by charging lower prices than competitors, or by offering more benefits to justify higher prices.”
Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 53 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print

 believe that when it came to selling our Phileas Fog’s Ceviche Taco rolls
in cantinas, customers would be willing to pay $4.75 for a 1.52 oz. container made of cardboard and metal ends all coming from recycled material, that is carefully carrying their soon to be taco rolls because we are not only selling a shareable party snack, but also the experience of Phileas Fogg as your wing man.  “Once the company has chosen a desired position, it must take strong steps to deliver and communicate that position to target consumers.”Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 53 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print With our product carefully delivering our adventure story inside the container, this can lead to a conversation starter with the opposite sex. With these taco rolls being limited edition, it will also spark interest with customers wanting to try them before they sell out and again sparking the curiosity to see if it does indeed perfectly pair well with Mexico’s finest tequila.  

Promotion

“Just like manufacturing businesses, good service firm’s use marketing to position themselves strongly in chosen target markets.”

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 223 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print

“These and other service firms establish their positions through traditional marketing mix activities. However, because services differ from tangible products, they often require additional marketing approaches.”

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 223 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print

Distribution

The idea that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable and that the organization should therefore focus on improving production and distribution efficiency.

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 10 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print

 

"Sellers must search for buyers, identify their needs, design good market offerings, set prices for them, promote them, and store and deliver them."

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 8 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print

1

Product

We believe that our Phileas Fog’s Ceviche Taco rolls
will be the new shareable party snack that will have everyone reaching for it.“Product is a key element in the overall market offering. Marketing-mix planning begins with building an offering that brings value to target customer.” Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 208 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print  With it perfectly pairing well with tequila by enhancing the natural tequila flavors with the lightly spicy and salty flavors coming from the taco roll, our product will not only be a conversation starter for men to use while approaching woman in the cantina, it will be shareable and just might give one the confidence in approaching the opposite sex.
“When developing products, marketers first must identify the core customer value that consumers seek from the product. They must then design the actual product and find ways to augment it in order to create this customer value and the most satisfying customer experience."

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 211 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print We decided to embrace the Mexican culture because not only does everyone love a good fiesta, but it is a culture that it known for its fiery passion. Developing a chip rolled into a taquito style embraces Mexican dishes, but comes with a twist by also infusing another famous Mexican dish ceviche. These Phileas Fog’s Ceviche Taco rolls bursts with a lightly spicy spices and tangy flavors such as; jalapenos, limes, cilantro, and Pico de Gallo that would put a spicy new spin on bar food in Mexican cantina theme bars. With our product being made with zero tans-fat, zero cholesterol, and a medium to high salt intake to absorb all the tasty tequila, this will draw attraction from both and woman who trying to watch their weight, but can rely on the taco rolls to absorb their alcohol intake so they don’t end up feeling too bloated.

Target Market Strategy

With careful consideration and researching both male and females, it was important to us that our product was going to have to be entertaining, delicious, and shareable to get both men and woman interested in our Phileas Fogg brand. “Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives.” Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 57 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print
Phileas Fog’s Ceviche Taco rolls will be served to all those who wish to indulge in a lightly spicy and tangy snack that pairs perfectly with tequila and can kick up the fiesta level. We decided to market our product to men in their mid-20 to early 30’s because this target of men in this specific age group is the age group where men are still going out and trying to attract the opposite sex. To market to woman we would also market to woman in their mid-20 to early 30’s because of the same reason, going out equals finding someone new.

“In an increasingly connected world, people at all levels of the marketing system must work together to implement marketing strategies and plans.”

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 57 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print
 With our product perfectly pairing well with tequila, this would also be an asset to bar’s in purchasing our product because this would lead the target market to purchase tequila to drink with their Phileas Fog’s Ceviche Taco rolls to spark the curiosity and seeing if the taco rolls really do enhance the natural flavors of the tequila. With more men buying tequila shots of the good stuff vs. a regular beer, this conducts gross profits increasing in the bar setting.    

SWOT Analysis

When it came to planning and developing out the business and research and involving the company’s strengths and weaknesses, a strong and solid advertising plan was established in creating relationships with our consumers that the company and brand can only get. “Marketing planning involves deciding on marketing strategies that will help the company attain its overall strategic objectives.” Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 54 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print

Showing our weaknesses is realistic reality in highlighting the variables that we can control and account on to the best of our ability. After creating and developing our Phileas Fogg brand, we have managed to come up with a broad analysis that is true to the company and show us as a true company.

“Managing the marketing function begins with a complete analysis of the company’s situation. The marketer should conduct a SWOT analysis by which it evaluates the company’s overall strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T).”

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 54 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print  Our strengths include an original idea that has fully mixed and joined into the party snack market as well as tying with the large range of suppliers that will allow us to expand the popularity of our brand by offering different flavored snacks that are featuring different countries and cities. Our weaknesses for the company include the lack of brand recognition compared to other highly known snack products with the lack of not overly advertising social media, radio ads, and or commercials the snack industry is known for having. The main opportunity for our brand is not only attracting a large target market due to the various foreign-inspired shareable party snacks that our brand can produce, but to maintain that loyal clientele.

Objective

After developing our mission statement, it is important for a set of business and marketing objectives to be created to ensure that our overall goal is met. Using an example based on a skin care brand known as Kohler the book stated “To increase its market share, Kohler might increase its products’ availability and promotion in existing markets and expand business via acquisitions.”
Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 42 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print
 Objectives may include establishing a target market to place more emphasis on our consumers or even a supplier that may provide benefits to our company. “Each broad marketing strategy must then be defined in greater detail.”
Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 42 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print  For our Phileas Fogg brand to expand and gain the popularity, we plan to draw attention by using an advertising campaign that will help bring awareness of our brand as an exotic, healthier, bar snack vs. compared to other party snack brands. Our company would use print ads and place it in Men’s magazines like Men’s Health, GQ Gentlemen's Quarterly, and Esquire to specifically reach men in their mid-20’s to early 30’s. To market to woman we would also place print ads in Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Glamor to reach the attention of woman also in their mid-20 to early 30’s. To get into the spirit of the product and Mexican cantina theme we would launch our product just a few weeks before everyone’s favorite drinking day, “Cinco de Mayo”. 

Business Mission Statement

“A mission statement is a key tool that can be as important as your business plan.” The book states that “A statement of the organization’s purposes—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment.” Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 39 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print  Creating a mission statement is very important when it comes to defining your brand and business. While some companies drive to define their missions the book states “Some companies define their missions myopically in product or technology terms (“We make and sell furniture” or “We are a chemical-processing firm”). But mission statements should be market oriented and defined in terms of satisfying basic customer needs.” Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 39 Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print

Mission statements are something that household brands like Google and Amazon not only have, but live up to, to ensure their brand and value they have in the competitive marketplace. To ensure you have a great business plan you not only want to state the service that the company is offering, but define the way the relationship was established between your market and consumers. Most companies aim directly for the PR, they want to come off as a great brand, but to become a great believable brand, you must sell it with meaning. While bringing the Phileas Fogg brand to a new crowd in a new atmosphere that’s not your local grocery store, we felt that it was best to show and highlight that anyone can feel that they are traveling with Phileas Fogg and want to continue the journey by trying to locate the limited edition snacks. With introducing our consumers to the exotic, shareable bar snack that is filled with flavors that are appealing to bar-goers both male and female is a goal we can achieve and continue bringing in more consumers.

Week 7 EOC: The Pitch

When it comes the famous infinite bar setting, finding a delicious treat that satisfies both  man and female and that can be shareable can be a challenge. With much consideration, Phileas Fogg's Ceviche Taco Rolls are the new popular snack. The book states that "A product is "anything that can be offered to the market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption, that might satisfy a want or need." While absorbing the consumed alcohol, these delicious, lightly spicy and tangy rolls encourage both men and woman to drink and eat more. With the rolls having tangy flavors and spices from jalapeno, limes, cilantro, and Pico de Gallo these rolls pair   perfectly with tequila while enhancing the natural flavors from the tequila.

"A product is "anything that can be offered to the market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption, that might satisfy a want or need."

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print.

 

While embracing my Mexican culture I plan to develop a chip rolled into a taquito style that bursts with lightly spicy spices and tangy flavors such as; jalapenos, limes, cilantro, and Pico de Gallo  that would put a spicy new spin on bar food in Mexican cantina theme bars. Popular Mexican dishes such as ceviche, are seasoned into the rolled taquito chips and form an tasty blend of spicy, salty, and a little sweet that would surely be a hit in any cantina. Our product would be made with zero trans-fat and zero cholesterol, which could draw attention from women trying to keep an eye on their weight. With establishing our brand from scratch, our design and packaging would be a top priority for us. Our product would be sold in a 1.52 oz. container made of cardboard and metal ends all coming from recycled material, featuring our Phileas Fogg in his hot air balloon wearing a sombrero and Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral in the background.

Week 6 EOC: Me X 3

Everyone has a scent that they refer to as “their” scent; mine would be Flora by Gucci in Glamorous Magnolia. It is a soft, floral scent that bursts with a fusion of peony and magnolia. It’s the perfect fragrance for spring and spring happens to be my favorite season. To me this scent is very charming, romantic, and optimistic and who doesn’t want all that in their lives. Every day when I get ready, I remember I can’t leave without spritzing my Flora; it reminds that no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I can stop and smell the flowers.

Burt’s Bees is a brand that I enjoy and would recommend to everyone. When I use Burt’s Bees products, I know I’m getting something that is natural and providing my skin with the best ingredients. My lips are delicate and to keep them from getting chapped, I use Burt’s Bees Wild Cherry Lip Balm. This lip balm is made with cherry oil, coconut oil, beeswax, sunflower seed oil, and rosemary leaf extract. With ingredients like this, Burt’s Bees can guarantee that this lip balm is 100 percent natural and most importantly, free from animal testing. It’s skin-friendly, life-friendly, and 100 percent for me.

Every day I’m always on the go, whether I’m going to school, work, or just walking my dogs, I know it’s important to always have water with me. Living in Las Vegas, we all know that’s impossible to leave a water bottle in your car for five minutes and still expect it to be cold. For almost thirty dollars, I decided to purchase something known as a Hydro Flask. Hydro Flask is an insulated water bottle that is made from high quality food grade 18/8 stainless steel. Sounds fancy right? Well not only is it BPA free, but Hydro Flask will keep your drink at your preferred temperature for hours, and I mean hours. So if you like your hot’s hot and cold’s cold, get yourself a Hydro flask and like me, you’ll take it everywhere you go.

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

"While I wish every company used Monster, social is a solution that many people are using"

Light, Joe. "Recruiters Troll Facebook for Candidates They Like." The Wall Street Journal. N.p., n.d. Web.

"To say Apple is hot just doesn't do the company justice"

"Life Comes at You Fast"

Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print.

Reading this article was another reinsurance that it is about networking and who you know when it comes to landing a job. The article stated that candidates tend to value referrals from their connections on Facebook more than reaching out to someone new by LinkedIn or any other job searching website. This also showed that social media is not only dominating in marketing, political views, and so on, but also in job hunting. In today’s digital age social media is everywhere and almost everyone is on it. With companies posting on twitter, Facebook, and or Instagram they know their postings will be seen, that including’s post about hiring and or job fairs. The article stated that in addition to posting jobs and videos of current employees on its Facebook page, the company has recruiters and other employees find user groups and join discussions. With Facebook dominating in the social media platform, I believe it has and or already is rivaling against traditional job boards because one, money is time and two, we all know almost everyone has a Facebook page. In June, the application now has nearly 800,000 monthly users, according to AppData.com, with results like these why would any company waste time to post job post anywhere else?

Week 4 EOC: New App

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

BOGO Bowl "Buy one, Give one"

BOGO Bowl is a company that believes that when you buy a bag of dog food, they give a bag of food to a pet in need. With a motto like "We believe in Dog" the message is clear and they're simply here to help animals. With it being simple, your feet-warming, bed-hogging, cookie-stealing best friend or friend’s gets great food with quality nutrition such as healthy weight formula, chicken formula, lamb formula etc.  So does Chance or Lucy down the street and everyone gets a bite of the healthy meal. When I first saw this I thought “Someone’s already doing this?” The answer was no, then I thought “Well don’t shelters and rescues already get all the food they need donated? Again another sad no, then I thought “This is way too good to be true, the second bag must be a rip off of a cheap food brand.” Luckily another no, I was pleased and excited to know that there was a high quality pet food brand that was being so generous and clear about their simple message, “Buy one. Give one.” Unlike some other pet food brands, protein is their first ingredient and according to vets, that equals a good sign for you and your pet. Their formula also includes fruits and veggies and they don’t believe in using byproducts in their high quality brand. With no artificial colors, flavors, wheat or soy fillers this not only informs us that our pets are getting the ultimate best, but so is Fido who is still waiting on finding the right home and right family. We may not be able to rescue every pet, but we can lend a hand by choosing BOGO bowl who is surely making a difference by saving pet bellies.

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

PS4- Cash Cow

PC- ?

Mobile games- Star

Cash Cow: Play station 4: A PlayStation is cheaper than most of it's competitors with the same resolution and gaming experience. When the PlayStation 4 launched in 2013, it sold over one million gaming consoles world wide in the first 24 hours of release. Before the PlayStation 4 we had the PlayStation 3 which had sold over 80 million copies world wide. Before the 3rd PlayStation was released, the PlayStation 2 was named the best selling home gaming system and everyone you knew had one.

?: PC: Right now PC Games would be considered question marks. With almost everyone having a computer, PC games are coming out more then ever. Most Games that are coming out now,  are now available for your PC. With some games you can even play with people on their gaming systems such as PS4, but with the PC you still need to update things like Graphics cards and monitors which is the down side can become pricey and questionable on who would spend the time and money on that.

Star: Mobile games: Mobile games known as apps are defiantly stars. With their convince and accessibility today anyone, anywhere can join, download, and play anytime. Games today are literally at our finger tips at all times with a simple push of button which makes the mobile gaming company more accessible and more successful. Whenever you want to kill time, you can just pull out your cellphone and play any game to pass the time.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best but legendary. ~ Sam Walton

I'll never forget the first time my family and I went to Disneyworld. We were full of excitement, but also very tired since my parents decided that the red eye was the best flight to take. We couldn’t contain our excitement and couldn’t wait to get to our Disney hotel to start the trip on the right note and of course finally get some sleep.  I remember arriving at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort at 4:30 in the morning , the bellman was so friendly,  awake, and ready to attend to my parents with every need they had, I thought to myself “its 4:30, how are you so awake and cheerful?!” We went inside and straight to the front desk where a lady named Margot was ready and eager to help. She greeted us by saying “Good morning and welcome to Disney’s Port Orleans resort! Where are we visiting from?” My mother answered “Thank you and good morning to you as well, we actually just got in from Las Vegas.” Margot responded “Well, that’s quite a trip and I’m sure you’re all ready to get some beauty sleep before heading to the parks, is this your first time visiting us here at Disney World?” My parents were quick to share their excitement and almost tell poor Margot our whole life story, but I noticed she never lost interest. She was patient and showed interest, it was almost as if she was excited for us and wanted to make sure our trip went on as planned, but then came the bump in the road. As Margot looked for our name to check us in, she informed my mom that a reservation under their name was not showing up. She could see my mom starting to panic and told her “I’m going to need a few minutes to get this fixed and talk to my manger, but while I do that let me get you some Hot coco and fresh beignets from our kitchen.” Margot wasted no time and after waiting for 15 minutes, Margot worked her magic and won over the love from my parents by booking us a new room and upgrading my parents with a suite and free breakfast for the first two mornings. I remember my parents thanking Margot over and over again. I was almost worried they were going to want to take the poor lady home, but because of Margot and how she truly went out of her way to please us, she made our Disney experience that much better. Seven years later my parents still remember Margot and remind us kids “That’s customer service.”

EOC: Voice

I’ll never forget the first time I watched “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. I remember being so drawn to the music, the actors and the western story. My grandpa being the movie buff that he was, was quick to fill me in all the important details, “This movie was made by an Italian director named Sergio Leone; now that Blondie there, (points to Clint Eastwood) directs movies too and he wins Oscars.” I remember becoming in such awe about this new world I was learning about and decided that I too wanted to be part of this movie magic. After graduating high school I decided that I wanted to pursue my dream and study film. One thing I’ve learned and have taken with me throughout this journey is that it’s all about networking. Luckily after attending NAB last year, I was given the opportunity to sit and chat with Mr. Tom Stern himself (Tom Stern is a cinematographer who works with Clint Eastwood). After filling him in all my goals, he was very interested and in return he gave me his email and told me to stay in touch. With graduation around the corner and our pen pal friendship staying solid he said “whenever you’re ready, I’ll put in that word for ya.”