In Response to Cody's Post About Bundle Deals

In his post Cody talks about bundling deals and how they seem to trap consumers into buying more food than they need. I agree with his stance that these deals entice customers to spend more money at the store. If you see something that looks like a good deal you'll usually go for it even if you don't need the extra food or product. Companies know what they are doing with these deals, it makes consumers believe they are getting a great deal even if they don't need the extra product. Getting a good deal feels good to consumers so they usually go for the extra purchase.

What do you think? Do deals like these "trap" consumers into purchasing more than they actually need?

In Response to Melissa's SMS Post

In her post Mellissa talks about SMS messages getting read more often that emails when used as a marketing tool. I would have to agree with what she said. When I get an email from a company I don't recognize I don't even open it, but when i receive a text message I almost always read it no matter who it's from. I think this is a marketing strategy that is under-utilized using this method over, or in addition to, emailing would yield more retention of information by consumers and attract more consumers in general.

What do you think would SMS messaging be an effective marketing strategy?

In Response to Blackboard John Smith Question

The case of John Smith involved a scenario where John could sell names to a car company. I don't think he should sell the names of people who are likely or very likely to buy a car in the next twelve months. The amount of revenue he would generate would not be enough to save his company for long and it is not worth the breach of ethics it would take to give the names away.

What do you think should John sell the names to try and save his business?

In Response to Kaley Deboer's Social Media Post

In her post Kaley asks whether having social media accounts is an essential aspect of a companies marketing strategy. I believe that it is, more and more of peoples lives are lived in the virtual world. Having social media accounts like a facebook or twitter accounts allows the company to have another outlet to market their company to people who might not be easily marketed to without one.

What do you think is having social media accounts a necessity for marketing of companies?

In Response To Dan's Crowd Funding Post

In his post Dan talks about crowd funding, or kickstart projects. Kickstarter is a website where projects are funded by donations by people who visit the site. In his post Dan questioned whether or not these funding these projects is worth the donation for the people who contribute to them. I think depending on the projects it would be well worth the donation. Depending on the cause, people could be very satisfied with donating a large sum of money, it's about that individuals connection with the project being donated to. In some instances I believe it would be appropriate to share the profits of the project with it's initial donors, such as in Dan's example of funding a movie. I think in that case some of the profits from the movie should be distributed among the donors of the project, since they essentially provided the means to make it happen.

What is your opinion on this matter? Should donors to kickstarter projects be reimbursed should that project succeed on a financial level?

Samsung's Anti-Apple Marketing

Samsung and Apple are direct competitors in consumer electronics, and especially in the sale of smart phones. Samsung recently lost a legal battle with Apple over the use of technology in their smart phones that was patented by Apple. Samsung was  ordered to pay Apple 1$ billion in damages. Samsung seems to be striking back by starting a new ad campaign that pits the iphone 5 and galaxy 4s phones side by side. Apple has tried this tactic before with mixed results. I personally think it is a better idea for samsung to emphasize how it's product is different from it's competitors, not just bashing apple. Differentiating their product from other smart phones would better persuade consumers who want something different from their phones to purchase their product.

What do you think? Could simply bashing Apple help samsung catch up in smart phone sales?
Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/business/media/samsung-apple-fight-moves-to-the-marketing-arena.html?_r=0

Group Buying Offers

Group buying offers are no longer being effective at marketing subscriptions. People are used to seeing offer after irrelevant offer to subscribe that this technique is no longer proving successful. Merchants are also realizing that this techniques are becoming less successful poor retention rates and negative impact on the bottom line aren't worth the one-time uptick group buying offers provide. More targeted personalized offers will need to take the place of group offers for a better effective strategy.

What do you think? Can group offers still be successful or not?