BOC and EOC Week 10: Les Paul

Born on June 9, 1915, Les Paul was a famous jazz, blues, and country guitar player from the mid 90's. He was one of the first people to create an electric guitar. He helped to revolutionize music with his electric guitar. He is not personally known by everyone, but his name is known worldwide. Musician or not, most people have heard the name Les Paul sometime throughout their life. Les Paul made a name for himself by introducing the Les Paul guitar by gibson. It is easily one of the most well known guitars by people all over. Only recently dying, Les Paul lived to be 94 years old. Google has chosen to commemorate this historic icon on his birthday by transforming the logo on their website into a string instrument that you can both play and record.
Here is the song that I made through google's string instrument.
http://goo.gl/doodle/nrsW

EOC Week 9: Three Great Mission Statements

One great mission statement that I read is Deziret Ritsch's. The mission clearly tells what they want for the customers and what they want as a company. A great part of the misson statement that I really liked was, "Toxic Vodka will be about more than just a great tasting drink, it will be about the lifestyle." http://ritschphoto.blogspot.com/ This tells that the company doesn't want to any other customer, but wants people to know that they can trust this company, and will keep coming back to buy their vodka.

Another great mission statement is that of Steven Jeria's. "Our mission at Andes Vodka is to provide our consumers with the finest, smoothest tasting vodka so they can experience what real quality tastes like."  http://jeriasoundsweekone.blogspot.com/ It tells that he stands by his vodka and only wants to make a great tasting vodka to appease his customers. He plans on developing his vodka to make it the best and wants his customers to have a great experience when drinking Andes Vodka.

One more great statement is Dewayne Hernandez's. He talks about making a great tasting vodka, being devoted to his vodka, and being devoted to his customers to create great relationships so that his customers keep coming back. "We are going to build an experience that both 'establish and maintain profitable customer relationships.'" http://audiocservice.blogspot.com/  By creating a great relationship with his customers and being devoted to his customers, they will have a great experience everytime they purchase his vodka, and they will keep coming back for the experience.

EOC Week 9: Creative Content

For my creative content, I plan on writing a radio commercial to help promote my vodka. The commercial will be either 15 or 30 seconds long. The commercial will help the listener understand the luxury of Splash Vodka and our company. It will also try to give details so that the listener can almost taste the vodka. Once a person tries Splash Vodka, they should be able to hear the commercial and have it trigger the great memories they had with their previous experience trying Splash Vodka.

Final Project: Implementation Evaluation Control

Final Project: Price

Splash Vodka will be priced at seventy dollars a bottle. We understand that this is more expensive than many types of vodka, but you’re not just buying the vodka, you’re buying the experience of the luxury that comes with Splash Vodka. Splash Vodka is unique vodka, and we want people to have a unique experience. We don’t want people thinking this is just another brand of vodka and that is why we have priced it at seventy dollars a bottle. By paying this price, people will already be expecting the luxury of Splash Vodka. “Price is the amount of money customers must pay to obtain the product.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 53) People will be willing to pay this much for our vodka, because they will know it is worth it. We want people to purchase Splash Vodka, not only knowing that it is worth it, but that they are worth it. We don’t want people to think they are spending a fortune on a bottle of our vodka; we want people to know they are able to afford it. People will buy Splash Vodka knowing they have earned the luxury of it. They will know their money is being well spent when they purchase a bottle. “The many possibilities can be collected into four groups of variables known as “the four Ps”: product, price, place, and promotion.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 53) The four Ps of marketing all work hand in hand with Splash Vodka. Since our vodka is all about luxury, every part of it will show how luxurious our vodka is, and why people won’t be afraid to pay this price.

Final Project: Promotion

For promotion of Splash Vodka, we will use both radio and television advertisement to help get our name out to the public. We will promote the smooth great taste of Splash Vodka, along with promoting our great company, letting people know they can trust us. “Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 54) Splash Vodka is about luxury. To show people how luxurious Splash is, we will show people the luxury we want them to have while drinking Splash Vodka. We want to show people the great time they will be having while drinking our vodka. “Many companies follow the selling concept, which holds that consumers will not buy enough of the firm’s products unless it undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion effort.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 10) We do not want to over promote our product, but no one will know who we are, or what our product is if we do not promote it. No one will purchase Splash Vodka if they don’t know it exists. This is why we will also be promoting it in the more luxurious casinos and clubs by word of mouth. We will have people talking about our vodka and the great times they’ve had with it so that other people will become interested. We believe that people will want to experience a luxurious lifestyle by drinking Splash Vodka if they have heard other people talking about the luxury of it.

Final Project: Distribution

Our company will only be distributing Splash Vodka in select places. To help promote the luxury of Splash Vodka, it will only be held at the more luxurious casinos, clubs, and more upscale liquor stores. By limiting the distribution of our vodka to select places, we believe that people will be able to see the luxury of our vodka better. We want everyone to feel welcomed to drinking Splash Vodka, but we do not want people to think this is just another brand of vodka. We think people will go to these places to purchase our product for the luxury, and by going to these select places for our vodka, they will be experiencing the luxury of many other great things, and they will see the great lifestyle they can have with choosing to drink Splash Vodka. “Market development A strategy for company growth by identifying and developing new market segments for current company products.” (Marketing: An Introduction p. 46) Different people will slowly recognize our vodka and the lifestyle that comes along with it. By using word of mouth to promote our product, unfamiliar people will discover Splash Vodka and will have to go to the select places we are distributing it. They will be able to go to these places and discover a life of luxury and discover how luxurious Splash Vodka is.

Final Project: Product

“Product means the goods-and-services combination the company offers to the target market.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 53) Splash Vodka is not only luxurious vodka, but also comes with the quality customer service that Splash has to offer. Splash Vodka has a soft but rich flavor while giving your mouth the wetness a fresh glass of water can. It is 80 proof and is made at the perfect time to combine French mountain spring water with both winter and spring wheat to give Splash its great flavor. It’s distilled four times and only partly filtered to preserve its natural taste. Splash also comes in a unique glass bottle shaped like a water drop and with designed all around the bottle. Another thing that makes the bottle unique is that the designs are different on every bottle. Our company is much like Ford where “The car comes fully serviced and with a comprehensive warranty that is as much a part of the product as the tailpipe.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 53) Our product also comes with great service as part of the product. We inform all suppliers of Splash Vodka of the great ways it can be served so that the customers can have the best time possible with Splash Vodka. 

Final Project: Target Market Strategy

Our marketing strategy is to target only those seeking the luxury that comes with Splash Vodka. Splash Vodka is not vodka that every person can afford every time they drink, but it is vodka that everyone that is looking for a great time while living luxuriously will buy. “Guided by marketing strategy, the company designs an integrated marketing mix made up of factors under its control—product, price, place, and promotion (the four Ps). To find the best marketing strategy and mix, the company engages in marketing analysis, planning, implementation, and control.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 49) Our strategy is to put Splash Vodka in the more luxurious clubs and casinos so people will know that they are living wealthy when they go to these places and drink our vodka.  “Companies know that they cannot profitably serve all consumers in a given market—at least not all consumers in the same way.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 50) Our company understands this, and that is why we are choosing to place Splash Vodka in more luxurious places. When other people not accustomed to luxury try our vodka, they will have to go to more luxurious places and it will help to create a better more unique experience for each individual.

Final Project: Situation or SWOT Analysis

At Splash Vodka, we study our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, or do a to make sure our company is creating great vodka, connecting with our customers, and being the best our company can be. “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).” (Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Edition. p. 54)

“Strengths include internal capabilities, resources, positive situational factors that may help the company to serve its customers and achieve its objectives.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 54) Our strengths are the great relationship we can build with our customers. Our company makes sure to treat our customers like family, making sure they always have a great time when drinking Splash Vodka and letting them know they can always trust our company to produce high quality vodka to the best of our ability.

“Weaknesses include internal limitations and negative situational factors that may interfere with the company’s performance.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 54) The major weakness we have is that our company is new and not many people know about us yet. This is were promoting Splash Vodka will help get our name recognized.

“Opportunities are favorable factors or trends in the external environment that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 54) Some of our opportunities are that our product is from Las Vegas. With all the tourists that visit Las Vegas, our product can slowly become more recognized all over. It’s also a great place to start our company because our product has the ability to be all across the strip where many people drink alcohol.

“Threats are unfavorable external factors or trends that may present challenges to performance.” (Marketing: An Introduction, p. 54) Our threats are our competitors. Though a great opportunity for our company, the strip is a great opportunity for all our competitors.

Final Project: Objectives

The overall mission of Splash Vodka is to create a trusting relationship with our customers, knowing they will be buying quality vodka every time they purchase Splash. We do this through many of the objectives we have. “The company needs to turn its mission into detailed supporting objectives for each level of management. Each manager should have objectives and be responsible for reaching them.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions p. 40) The goals of Splash Vodka is to research both the process of making our vodka and the different things that go into our vodka. We continually study the process of which Splash Vodka is being made to make sure that the quality of Splash is always at its best. We also study the wheat and water we put into our vodka to make sure they are fresh to give Splash its great taste.

Some of other objectives we have are to make sure we are promoting to the people we want drinking our vodka and to make sure we are promoting the right amount. “Marketing strategies and programs must be developed to support these marketing objectives.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions p. 42) By studying our consumers, we can discover who they are and what they like. We a great amount of effort into researching our consumers to make sure that our vodka is at its best quality for them.  

Final Project: Mission Statement

The mission here at Splash Vodka is to make the best quality vodka that's both smooth and refreshing, and gives people the feeling of wealth without having to be a celebrity. We want everyone who purchases a bottle to have a great time drinking Splash Vodka and enjoy themselves to the best of their ability.

"Mission statements should be meaningful and specific yet motivating. They should emphasize the company’s strengths in the marketplace. Too often, mission statements are written for public relations purposes and lack specific, workable guidelines." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Koetler, Pg. 40) 
Just by following this simple guideline, we can create a better company that people will learn to love and will be well respected. Putting the customers first and making sure that our customers are happy with our company will help create a better company and in time, will help the company grow to be great.

EOC Week 7: Pitch

Splash Vodka is a premium brand of vodka that gives you richness that you have always wanted. Splash is made for every person that wants the amazing experience that it brings, while receiving the wealth of just owning a bottle. Its elegant flavor is something that you never want to forget. Just one sip and the smooth wet taste will give you feeling putting a cool refreshing splash of water over your face. Splash Vodka is made at the perfect time of year to get its full, rich flavor. It is made to perfection through a brilliant process that gives Splash its amazing taste and clean aroma. Splash Vodka is distilled four times to receive its great flavor. It is made with a combination of winter wheat and spring wheat. Made with fresh French mountain spring water to help give its smooth wet taste. The aroma of Splash is clear, fresh, and the moistness of spring air. The palate is smooth, soft, rich, and wet. The finish has a soft bite, but is smooth with a medium sustain. Splash is partly filtered to help preserve its rich natural taste while creating Splash’s fresh moist aroma.

EOC Week 6: Me x 3

Almost every person has at least one brand of a product that they always buy and will rarely buy another brand of that product. It is something that they value and they like buying it. I have a few brands that I prefer to purchase over others. One of the brands that I buy is Old Spice deodorant. I like using Old Spice and will rarely buy anything else. Even if I go to the store to buy it and it is not there, I will either wait and buy it from another store, or buy it at another time. It is the deodorant I have become used to, and I like wearing it. I even prefer the buying the actual Old Spice brand compared a knock off Old Spice brand. I like the smell of it, and feel that other people like the way I smell when I wear it.

Another brand that I prefer to purchase is Asics running shoes. I will purchase other brands of running shoes, but if I ever need a new pair of running shoes, Asics are the first brand of shoes that I look at. I’ve always known Asics to be one of the best running shoes. I have liked almost every pair of shoes that I have purchased from Asics and I love using them. They have always been very comfortable to me and I have always loved wearing them to run in.

I have also always purchased Apple products. I currently own an iPhone and an iMac. I have also purchased an iPod multiple times. I love Apple products and the type of company that Apple is. Almost every time I have gone into Apple, I have had fairly good service. They treat their customers well and it shows that they know what they are doing. I like using their products, and I will probably always use them.

EOC Week 5: Sony Sleuths - Marketing

Sony has found itself into a tight bind after not getting their system hacked once but twice. This has definitely become an issue for them. After getting hacked the first time, Sony decided to take their system offline and reported the system had been hacked and that some customers “personal information like email and physical addresses, birth dates, and credit card number and expiration date may have been obtained.” (http://www.ktnv.com/story/14528749/sony-playstation-network-hacked-personal-info-breached) This is a big problem for Sony, being that over 70 million user accounts may have been hacked.

            If this wasn’t a big enough problem, the system was hacked a second time where over 24 million user accounts may have been hacked. Sony has tried to assure customers that this second hack was not a big deal because the information was from an “outdated database from 2007.” (http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/05/sony-online-entertainment-hack/) With many new hit games coming up for Playstation 3, Sony could have a lot of angrier people to deal with. They will have to find some way to have gamers play on their network again once it is back online. I think if they were to credit every user account that may have been hacked with something so that users can purchase something from Sony's Playstation 3, online store. This will entice players to come back sooner, and help gamers feel more open to Sony again.

EOC Week 4: There's an app for that

These days, everyone’s cell phone can play games, take your blood pressure, or find directions. There is an app for almost anything. There are also great ideas for apps that have never been made. One great idea I have had is for a corrective vision app. All you have to do is just input how bad your vision is, or what the quality of your corrective glasses are, and using the camera, the phone will correct the image for you so you can see it without using your glasses. Think of all the times you were trying to read something, or just look at an image but can’t find your glasses. This would save time and make it much easier. Another great idea for an app is a how to for dummies. There are many people in the world who were never taught simple tasks like how to wash there clothes or clean the bathroom. With how to for dummies, how to videos will show you how to do simple tasks like washing dishes, cleaning your bathroom, or making your bed. The last idea I have is a remote control for your television. Almost everyone sits in front of the tv pretty much every day, and a lot of times they see a show and would love to change the channel but can't find the remote. If you could use your phone as a remote for your tv, you wouldn't need to go searching for your remote anymore. Now people can just leave the remote on top of the tv and use their phone as the remote. That way you never lose your remote again.

EOC Week 3: Making Money for Good

Many companies all over give back to the world in some way. Many of these companies, like Target, Yoplait, and Kraft, have offers for whenever you buy their product, they will donate to people in the world that are in need. Companies do this to help promote their product, but to also give back to the world to show they care. By having donations whenever someone purchases their product, it helps people show they care and also makes people feel good about themselves knowing their money is going to people in need. Target has been giving back to the community for a long time. Target donates 5% of their sales back to the community for things like school, art, and making the community safer. One of the donations they do is “Take Charge of Education,” where their slogan is “Help us help your favorite school.” (https://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-005174&ref=sr_shorturl_tcoe) Target donates 1% of your REDcard purchases at Target to a school of your choice from K-12. Here people not only get a good feeling for giving to the community, but they get to give to a school of their choice which makes it more personal and caring. Yoplait also donates but they use a different method. Their slogan for their donations is “Save Lids to Save Lives.” The donations are made from when someone buys a Yoplait yogurt with a pink lid, removes the lid, rinses it off, and mails it back to Yoplait. Through everyone who participated in this, the people “helped us donate more than $2.6 million for the fight against breast cancer.” Yoplait has also donated to the breast cancer cause in the past and they have donated “$30 million for the breast cancer cause during the past 13 years from all Yoplait’s donation programs.” (http://www.yoplait.com/Slsl/default.aspx)

EOC Week 2: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

The video game market has been growing rapidly for a long time now. Since technology is constantly improving, companies are finding new ways to appeal to gamers. Finding new ways to have gamers interact with one another, gamers are becoming more involved in the game world and less in the real world. New technologies like Xbox Kinect are helping gamers interact even more with the game itself, making the game even more enjoyable. The recession has definitely slowed down the market, having “Industry sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. fell 9%, to $5.06 billion in December from $5.5 billion during the same time a year earlier…” (http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/01/13/video-game-market-sales-fall-december/) The market has recovered some of it’s losses, where “retail video games market grew 3% in February, up from the same time period last year, to $1.36 billion.” The Xbox Kinect Controller is a large contributor to this, having “passed 10 million unit sales, helped drive the 22% jump in sales of video game accessories.” (http://www.bgr.com/2011/03/12/u-s-video-game-market-jumps-3-in-february/) I think having Kinect, Xbox would definitely have to be a question mark here. Kinect is helping the growth of sales in Xbox systems, as well as games. It opens many doors for Xbox, but I don’t think the company knows where to take it, or where the gamers want it to go. Mobile gaming has grown rapidly as well. Mobile gaming never used to be a competitor in the video game market, but since smart phone technology has arisen, mobile gaming has improved to a point to help put it in the market as a competitor. Smartphones have grown a large amount from 2009 to 2010, where “iOS and Android game sales increased from 5% in 2009 to 8% in 2010 and revenue increased from US$500 million to $800 million in that same yearly period.” (http://www.tuaw.com/2011/04/15/ios-and-android-gained-video-game-market-share-in-2010/) These new advancement in technology are helping the gaming market grow, but where the market will go next is what everyone is wondering.

EOC Week 1: Great Customer Service

Depending on where you go, customer service can be either really good or really bad. About 6 months ago, when I bought a computer from an apple store, I had a great experience. The employee who sold me the computer was a really nice guy. He helped me out with exactly what I was looking for. I already knew which computer I wanted, and when I talked to the guy, he didn’t convince me to spend just a little extra, but he tried to convince me to spend less money on a different computer. It might not have been quite as good of a computer, but when I told him what I wanted, he knew it might be a better idea to spend less money and buy another computer. It was almost a thousand dollars cheaper. Not only did he help me out with what I needed, but he also threw in a couple things for free, like an extra keyboard, and I never even asked for him to do anything like that. The guy was definitely a great employee, or at least I thought so. Not only did he help me out as a customer, but it also seemed like he was trying to get to know me and connect with me on a personal level. I can tell that Apple takes care of their customers a lot. Almost every time I go to an Apple store, the employees are really great and the customer service is amazing. Even when I called the customer service hotline, they treated my good. I already am an Apple customer, but had this been my first experience, it definitely would not be my last.

EOC Week 1: My Voice

Michael Schultz is a young man from Las Vegas, Nevada, who works with engineering, mixing, and the production of audio for movies and music artists. Some of his latest projects have been working with a few artists in producing their music and trying to help promote them to the public. With his interest in all audio fields and his fast ability to gain knowledge and adapt, he is quickly learning every side of the audio industry. Michael has also been working with some local recording studios and gaining connections in the audio industry. Michael also plays many instruments like the guitar or piano and is a working musician in a local band that has traveled throughout Nevada and has future dates to play in California. He also writes music for other artists as well himself. He is constantly working to make a better name for himself in the audio industry. Michael has plans of opening a production studio for audio in film as well as for recording artists in the future.