Advertisements

This advertisement represents the "Thinker" because it has practical information that would make a consumer who is health conscious want to buy it. It mentions that you can lower your cholesterol in 6 weeks and advertises its whole grains as a healthy choice for a consumer. This fits in with the thinker because for someone looking for value and healthy choices, this product is the right cereal to buy. Since Thinkers tend to be more conservative and look for quality and value in a product, this cereal ad definitely gives a consumer a better buy than Fruit Loops.

The above picture is an advertisement from Neiman Marcus and it represents my secondary VALs category the "Striver." I think this ad represents the fun loving and trendy girl who loves to show off what she buys. The four watches on her arm suggest that she is over the top and showing off her purchases. Also the look on her face seems to be suggesting that she is a little full of herself and wealthy. These are all characteristics of the Striver. The girl in the ad is definitely demonstrating her ability to buy.

VALS survey

When I took the VALs survey, my primary VALs category was "Thinker" and my secondary was "Strivers". From the description of "Thinker" I learned that thinkers are motivated by ideals and are mature and satisfied, comfortable and reflective. I would say for the most part that is true for me. I have always been told I was mature for my age and I am a very reflective person. I always reflect back on the things I have done and my behaviors at the end of the day. According to the survey's results, I am a conservative and practical consumer. This is definitely true! I don't like spending money on things unless I find them extremely necessary. Although I have always had the funds if I wanted to buy something, I look for value and function first, before I will buy something for fun. This fits in well with the "thinker" definition. For my secondary VALs category, I am a "Striver". In this definition, I learned that I am funloving and trendy, motivated by acheivement and concerned about the approval of others. I find that to be extremely true for me because I am definitely fun loving, and concerned about the approval of others. The results also said that Strivers are active consumers because shopping is both a social opportunity and an opportunity to demonstrate to peers my ability to buy. I would say that is not true for me. I do not go shopping very often, and when I do it is not usually a social things. While it can be true for me sometimes it is not true for the most part in my experience. I am not a big spender and when I do, it is because I find it extremely necessary to buy.

Priming

A real life example of priming for me, is the other day when I completely forgot that it was my best friends birthday. She lives in New York, and it quickly occurred to me to get her a hallmark birthday card. This is an example of priming because priming means attaching a stimulus with a product, where if a certain thing occurs ( a birthday), it is linked to that specific brand (Hallmark).

Apples and Oranges

About 4 years ago, I became an avid Apple user. I have an ipod, mac computer, ipad, and iphone. Pretty much anything new that comes out of apple, I want to buy. There is definitely a group of die- hard apple users who refuse to buy anything besides mac products, me being one of those people. Apple has turned their logo into a promise of excellence and by purchasing one of their products the customer knows it is guaranteed to be outstanding, or they will fix it for you. In china, they are trying to sell the knock off of Ipads, they call them Apads. Clearly there is no apple logo on them which makes a huge difference to the customer. Not only does it make it worth less when there is no symbol on it, but there is no guarantee that it is made well, it will last long, and it is as legitimate as an apple product. The logo creates meaning for the group of mac users because it symbolizes a company who makes an unbelievable product, and customer service is impeccable. There is clearly a difference between mac users and pc users. Not only are the available programs different, but there is no way someone going to buy a PC gets the attention that someone else going into a mac store to purchase their product would get.

Pretty Good Problem

Northface fleece jackets are something that you don't see advertised heavily. There are no annoying commercials that are trying to push buying one of these fleece jackets on anyone, yet there are many people that wear them. It is not unusual to walk around a college campus and not see these jackets worn by females, especially the lower classmen. Northface fleece jackets are comfortable and keep you warm, and the quality assurance for the brand is well known. This product gets around the "pretty good problem" by making a great product that keeps you warm, and lasts for a very long time. When it is cold out, it is essential to wear a jacket to keep you warm, although Northface didn't invent the fleece jacket, when people buy them they are happy with it and tell their friends. That is how it has become popular.

Sailor Jerry Rum VS Titos Vodka

Both of the websites have a verification page when you first visit the site that verifies the visitors age. Titos just has a click if you are 21 or over, and Sailor Jerrys has the visitor submit his/her birthdate. I like how Titos website has a blog that discusses things about the vodka, such as recipes, news and other promotions. Sailor Jerrys website also has a blog in the same fashion. In the sailor Jerry website, there is an about us which tells the history of the company, although Titos mentions their history on the homepage, it is not as obvious to find on their website. Both websites are promoting their product.

Reality Check

Reality shows such as The Jersey Shore have taken over the television industry. When I flip through the cable channels there is more reality shows playing than anything else. I don't understand how any of the people from Jersey Shore reality show have gotten so famous for partying and being drama queens. Reality shows have been around for a long time with shows such as the Real World and Survivor, but the idea of reality shows have taken over television and I am not sure what all the hype is, since you don't need to go very far to find these types of people at any college.

Another show that has given a fame from a reality show is Jon and Kate Plus 8. This show seemed to be sending the message to people that all they would need to do is have a bunch of babies and then they could be famous. I never understood what the point was of these shows?

The final reality show that had many follower shows similar, was Flavor of Love and Rock of Love. These shows are based on finding ( or winning) the love of a bachelor based on looks, sex appeal, and other materialistic qualities that change the meaning of relationships into a game.

Selling In? or Selling Out?

One of the blog posts from Drews Marketing Minute discusses the concepts of selling a product. As an avid viewer of Television, the commercials seem to be more and more in your face and interuptive while viewing a program. Commercials have taken over most of the content that we watch, yet personally I do not bother to sit through commercials, no matter how exciting or funny because I know the company is just trying to sell me a product. This was one of the discussions in the blog I read. Drew mentions that people get discouraged when they feel a company is simply just trying to sell you. Some commercials make it obvious that they are trying to sell you a product. For example, on A&E network they constantly play these gold coin commercials, claiming that these gold coins are worth twenty dollars each and that viewer can get 5 coins for only twenty dollars, and then they throw in that they will add extra products to make this deal unbelievable. I think it is so obvious as a viewer that this is some sort of a scam. If only this company read Drew's Blog.

Some of the Best Things in Life AREN'T Free

I recently went to the movie theater at the mall in Providence. Although it has always been a rip off to buy any food or drinks at a movie theater, I think $4 for a bottle of water is pretty outrageous. A small bag of popcorn was over $5, which is crazy when those bags barely hold a couple fistfuls of popcorn. I was extremely shocked that a bottle of water is that expensive. At the grocery store, a pack of 24 bottles of water is around $3, which is less than one bottle at the movie theater. I understand it is how they make money but must they really inflate their prices so much on something as common as a bottle of water?

Introduction

My name is Andrea Miller, I am from Andover Massachusetts, and a senior. I am a global communications major and a psychology minor. I hope to work in Marketing in the future and am very interested in learning about business.