SUSAN TEGOMOH

I am a frequent Kohl’s shopper, though I shop at Kohl’s, I just shop there for the deals. I am a “yes to you” rewards member and I also use email coupons for deals. I also hear ads on TV like the Kohl’s friends and family going on this weekend for “mother’s day”. They know that when you come in to buy for mom, you will earn the Kohl’s cash to spend for yourself. Most returning customers often spend more than the $10 Kohl’s cash. I also get email about one day flash sales going on. Their ads are also very effective and eye catching because the first thing you see on the flyer ads is the $10 Kohl’s cash.  Kohl’s is doing a great job using integrated marketing communication to reach customers and they have been very successful in getting repeat customers. They know that shoppers love deals and they are using the Kohl’s cash to draw customers into their store. partnering with Amazon just sealed the deal. If you can’t compete with the big guys partner with them. Kohl’s is using their Amazon partnership to bring more people into their stores and stay in business. Store are going out of business every day because of online shopping like Boston Store.

If I were a retail grocery store owner, I would use the omni-channel marketing by creating a mobile app to stay in the competition. Since the two retail giants Amazon and Wal-mart are out to put other retailers out of business. I will use this app and website and also create customer e-mail subscription to keep my customers posted of new arrivals and fresh products. I will also offer online ordering and curbside pickup which Walmart does not offer. Customers love convenience, providing such convenience to customers will draw crowds and keep the business alive. Wherever Wal-mart goes small businesses die, the best way to survive them is by exploiting their business strategies and implementing tools to shield your small business against them. How do we do this? providing quality product, creating customer awareness of the difference, offering perks and excellent customer service. I love deals but I don’t shop Wal-mart because they have low quality products.

Looking at dynamic pricing from a marketer or a business person’s perspective is a necessary evil.  Most marketers take advantage of demand and consumer’s pressing needs to charge high prices either to cover cost or make profit and also eliminate loses like airline companies who charge high prices to last minute customers too taking advantage of their pressing need. So people pay the price for not planning ahead. I have worked as a hotel receptionist, hotels charge very high rates on weekends and also on event days because they know they will have a high influx of customers who did not make reservations ahead and these customers are charged almost twice the price.  From the ethical perspective, dynamic pricing is so unfair and very exploitative. These marketers take advantage of customer’s situations and charge them more than they can afford. This is so unfair because some customers are charged higher than others for the same good which is so unfair to them. Looking at it business wise, it is profitable to the business but from the customer perspective, it is unfair and exploitative.

I think Harley Davidson made this segmentation targeting change. It involves a wide variety of targets. This Commercial targets people from all demographics, White, African Americans, Hispanics, young adults, college students and people from all works of life. Harley Davidson in the past was viewed as a high earned brand mainly for people from 35 and above predominantly males. Today Harley has expanded their target. In order for Harley to reach its target audience, they need to advertise more on social media like face book and mobile phones because to the world is in the palm of our hands each and everyone in these diverse target owns a smart phone or is connected to social media in one way or the other. In order to get the under 35s, they need to do more face book commercials. Out of every 10 baby boomers 9 or 8  have a social media account and out of 10 men women and over 35s 9 of them own a smart phone. People don’t watch TV like they used to before smart phones anymore. Harley can run successful TV commercials only during events like super ball where many people are watching these commercials. Over all social media is the best way to get the business.

Search for information: Buying engagement ring is like a big investment just like buying a car. Buying an engagement ring online pose a much more risk and challenge. First of all there is that fear that what you order and paid a fortune for might not be exactly what you saw on the pictures and it might be the wrong size and fit. Blue Nile has done a great job answering these questions, for somebody like myself, I do a lot of research on a product and read customer reviews before buying it. Blue Nile has the Guide and education tab on their web site which educates customers on how to chose their rings and gems. The 4Cs video is very educative. It tells the customer what they are buying. The Blue Nile website provides ample information for prospective customers.

Levi’s water<less jeans is a very smart business initiative in the SWOT perspective. I give Levi’s Strauss “thumps up” for this initiative.  By creating an environmental friendly product and saving water is a very smart way of luring consumers to consume more of their products, water is getting very scare especially in developing countries and for company to bring up such and initiative to preserve water is more than smart. This is a strength because Levi’s jeans are not only stylish, but they are also environmental friendly which gives the consumer that opportunity to be stylish and also save the environment at the same time. This alone puts Levi in a very high position against their competitors in terms of sustainability. If other companies don’t don’t put up such initiatives it will be difficult to compete with Levi’s. Consumers tend to lean towards companies that do something for the environment.

TV # 60

Radio#9

Online# 15

Gas pump topper#1

Over the past three days I have seen almost 100 ads both on TV, Radio, and online. It is amazing how businesses uses less then 2 minutes in one ad reach millions of their targeted audience. What really amazes me is how companies use gas pump toppers to target undisturbed audience.

The first ad i saw was on my way back from school at a BP gas station in Cambridge I can remember well because it was relevant to me as a driver. It was an allstate ad. I don’t know if this was a coincident or they are programmed this way for one to see an auto insurance ad on a gas pump topper.

The second ad I saw was on facebook. It was a Fashion Mia ad. It is an online fashion website. I always visit this side to look at clothing.

The third ad I can remember well is a radio ad. It was a car sales ad and they were mimicing the president. I can remember this ad because it was very funny. These companies take advantage of ongoing issues to reach their audience. They use such ads to capture people’s attention.

Welcome to Blogs.uww.edu. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!