In Response to "From Print to Phone to Web. And a Sale?" and "Firms Hold Fast to Snail Mail Marketing"

Within the next ten years, it is my belief that the internet will be an essential part of every persons life. In order to hear the latest news one will need to access the web. In order to purchase certain, it not all material items, one will use the web. Ordering a pizza on a Friday night will be done strictly through the internet. Cars will drive themselves, and homes will be run through a computer. The internet will become a way of life. In these two articles they discuss how the internet is now beginning to take over the marketing sector.

In the first article "From Print to Phone to Web. And a Sale?" they talk about how a lot of ads in magazines are now providing the readers with bar codes. The reader can scan these bar codes onto their phone, if it has access to the internet, and will be brought directly to the place one can either purchase the item in the ad or learn more. This is great for the producers because they can now advertise in a magazine and provide the reader with an easy way to access their product. Usually one sees an item and isn't exactly sure where they can find that product in the store or even online. Although this may seem beneficial a problem with the bar coding is not everyone has access to a phone that has internet on it. Although now all phones have internet, unless one has a data plan they can not access this for free. Even if they have a data plan it still isn't free they have to pay a monthly fee. If these advertisers start relying heavily on those bar codes in their magazine advertisements they not only lose the market of those who don't have phones with internet access, but they also lose the part of their market that doesn't necessarily read whatever magazine they advertise in.

In the second article "Firms Hold Fast to Snail Mail Marketing" they talk about how since e-marketing has become such a large phenomenon most companies are cutting back on mailing costs and going towards e-mail. All of the companies that the article mentioned had actually lost from switching to e-mail. When switching from the normal paper mail to e-mail it can be difficult to distinguish between what is junk and what isn't when it comes into ones e-mailbox. There are so many people out there who use different names to try and get the receiver to open a piece of mail that ends up containing a virus. It was mentioned in the article that a lot of the companies who switched to e-mail lost some of their customers because they thought they were receiving junk. Another benefit of direct mail, like talked about in the article, if a piece of mail one company sends is fun and entertaining one may keep it. For example the company that sent funny postcards. One of their postcards got them an over $200,000 deal just because of a postcard. This shows that a piece of direct mail can really have a larger effect on a person than an e-mail.

One company that would benefit from direct mailing that wasn't mentioned in the articles is grocery stores. Although they do now offer their flyers online, not everyone has access to the internet on a daily basis, granted most do, but that is just an assumption. It is easy for a grocery store to send out its fliers letting their customers know what types of sales they will be having. This benefits them because usually a household will receive more than one flyer. In that case, they can compare which store has the better deals, or which store has a deal on what one needs to purchase and can go from there. It they relied on e-marketing, the risk arises of people only looking at one stores flyer and not the others because they won't have a physical piece of paper right in front of them.

I think that eventually e-marketing will replace traditional marketing. Although the stories mentioned in the second article show a loss for the companies, at the end it still said the companies were planning on working on e-marketing. In essence it is cheaper and the potential audience is so much larger. In traditional marketing the list of people whom a company calls or mails is only so long. If one were to market on the world wide web, the market in endless. Also, with the new interest in going green, many companies are looking to save paper. A great way to save paper is to e-market. Within the next 5-10 years the main way to market a product will be through the internet.

Do you think there are any companies that would never be able to benefit in any way from e-marketing. If so which ones and why?

In Response to Deanna Sylvester

"How do you think this will affect all of the name brand businesses out there? Do you think they will change their prices in order for this not to happen?"

I think this will have a huge affect on the name brand businesses. For most companies, such as toothpaste and cleaning products, they only sell their products in stores such as wal-mart. Some may be sold online but shopping only hasn't yet evolved to purchasing a tube of toothpaste. These companies rely on their sales to big retail stores. If these companies stop purchasing their products and rely on selling their own some of these major organizations may end up going out of business. This would end up being a problem because once the economy picks back up consumers will need to go back to the products they enjoy. I don't believe they are switching because they don't like the name brand products, they are just switching to save money. Once they are able to afford the better product, they will want to buy it but since these retail stores will no long offer the products they want, they won't be able to purchase them.

In effect, the brand name stores might change their prices in order to compensate for the loss. It would help them keep their products in these large retail stores. Most brand name products also have high prices mainly due to the fact that they can. People are willing to buy their products at a high price because they are of better quality. So I feel that if they lowered their price even a little bit it would keep them in business and wouldn't cause a big loss. It would be in their benefit to lower their prices and hope these retail stores don't stop buying their good.

Do you think that it could be considered a monopoly since Wal-Mart would now only be selling their products in their stores?

"For Sponsors, Tiger's Open Timetable Most Troubling"

The main focus of this article is talking about how Tiger Woods doesn't plan to be golfing for a short period of time. He also isn't sure as to when he plans to return to golf. The author is focusing on how his short absence from golfing will affect his sponsors. He talks about Nike and how they plan to stick behind Tiger Woods 100%. They state how Nike stands behind the athletes they sponsor for pretty much anything and wouldn't just give up Tiger because one day he will return.

I feel this is a smart move on Nike's part. Tiger Woods is known for being one of the best, if not the best, golfer around. Although what he did was ethically and morally wrong it won't stop him from winning golf tournaments. He will still be the best golfer no matter when he decides to start back up again. If Nike were to drop him, another company could swoop him right back up and be the ones now making money. I feel as if his fans will forget about the fact that he cheated on his wife. It may take a few years, but in reality it will blow over. I feel that Nike knows that this is the case also.

When companies sponsor athletes it also isn't always public knowledge. Until reading this article I wasn't aware that Tiger Woods was sponsored by Nike. This may be to my own ignorance and it is publicly known, but I'm sure there are customers of Nike who don't know what athletes they sponsor. So for those people they aren't going to stop shopping at Nike because of Tiger Woods because they don't necessarily know the connection he has with Nike. So I feel that it is more a benefit to Nike to keep Tiger because one day he will rise up to be just as popular as he has always been.

Do you think that by Nike continuing to sponsor Tiger Woods they are making a statement that they approve of what he did?

In response to Deanna

"Do you think things will be looking better for the unemployment rate anytime soon?"

Although I would like to be optimistic and say that I do think the unemployment rate is going to get better soon, I just can't do that. It has been shown that unemployment is the very last thing that will improve after a recession. Although it has been reported that we are out of the recession jobs are not opening up. Employers are still weary that the economy isn't totally recovered yet. They are focusing more on making up for their financial loses than hiring new employees. Also, people still aren't spending as much money, so companies are still not back to where they used to be before the recession.

I feel it is going to take at least a year for the unemployment rate to get better. People are not comfortable with the economy yet. Since this recession was so bad, everyone is paying close attention to their personal finances in case we drop back down again. The unemployment rate can not get better until the people of the United States have confidence in their economy. Also, companies need to feel confident that, once people do start spending, they will continue to spend. They will not hire more employees until they are absolutely necessary. Unfortunately I don't think will be happening any time soon.

What industry do you think will start to hire employees first?

Shiny Sud's Commercial

For most companies they want to find the easiest way to catch the eye of their viewer, in order to get the best results. They hope that through advertisements they will be able to do so. In the shiny sud's commercial the advertiser, method is looking to promote their cleaning product. They create the idea that other cleaning products, although one may scrub them away, do not always leave. They are trying to convey the message that their product does not stay in the shower after it is cleaned, but they do so in the complete wrong way.

The commercial has the suds acting as men trying to get the naked woman to come into the shower while they proceed to watch. This commercial proves to be not only degrading but seems to violate the law of sexual harassment. Although the figures speaking aren't people, that is who they are perceived as. When they are talking about how the woman is cleaning her body and what she looks like doing it, it is relaying the message that it is okay to watch a woman while she is showering and comment on her. The woman is also covering her body conveying to the viewer that she feels uncomfortable doing this. This is what makes the commercial degrading. It is clear that the woman doesn't feel comfortable yet she continues to do what the soap suds say.

I feel that this commercial would catch the attention of many but not in the correct way. I feel this is a bad marketing ploy. It is going to give the company nothing but bad publicity. It makes Method look as if they are trying to use the sexual harassment of a woman to try and sell their product. Next time they look to emphasize how clean their product makes ones shower, they should use a bit of a cleaner commercial.

Do you think that when making this commercial they company thought that it was appropriate to go on public television?

In Response to Elizabeth S post

Why haven't more companies gone green?
I feel that the reason most companies haven't gone green is due to the costs. Most environmentally friendly equiptment and supplies are expensive. This is most likely due to the fact that it is not in high demand and they haven't been able to look into cheaper ways to become environmentally friendly. If there was more of a demand for more companies to go green I feel as if the companies promoting going green would look for cheaper ways to make everyone become a part of the cause.
I also feel like the cost is important when it comes to companies trying to transition into becoming green. They would have to change either their products that were not earth friendly to being earth friendly. They would also have to change thie facilities and officies, vehicles they list could be endless. This is would generate a large cost and with the way the economy is going most companies can't afford to do all of this. Also, by going green they aren't generating a profit. They are just helping the environment. This can have an affect because they are changing their product for the good of the environment, not for a monetary gain.
Do you think that if the government were to provide companies with an incentive to go green, this would cause more companies to take action?

"Is Environmentalism more of a threat or an opportunity for marketers?"

I feel that environmentalism is more of an opportunity for marketers. I idea of "going green" has been on the minds of many people in the United States for the past few years. It is definitely something more and more people are looking into and becoming more interested in. The fact that the current generations are destroying the environment is impossible to ignore when it is being publicized around every corner. Since it is becoming such an issue, there have been so many people looking to buy products that are environmentally friendly.

It is would be to a company's benefit to market products that are environmentally friendly. It would give that company a competitive advantage because they would hit a new forming target market. For example, the companies that make household cleaning products now have to compete with a new upcoming company known as Seventh Generation. They have an advertising campaign on television which publicizes their new products that are environmentally friendly and aren't damaging to the human body when inhaled. Marketing their new environmentalist approach is going to work in their benefit.

Another industry that is benefiting from environmentalism is the automobile industry. Although more and more companies are able to manufacture environmentally when the concern about environmentalism first came about Toyota came out with the first hybrid vehicle. The marketing they did for this vehicle is what caused them to benefit so much from environmentalism. The other car manufacturing companies saw how beneficial their new product and marketing efforts had been for them, they jumped on the bandwagon and began creating their own hybrids.

It seems that pretty soon almost all companies will begin looking into ways to have their organizations work more environmentally friendly. Do you think the costs of becoming environmentally friendly will hold any companies back if all other companies in their industry are getting on board?