Week Six Reflection

This past Tuesday in HONB 200-02, the class once again reviewed and discussed the importance of market segments in the eyes of a business looking to target certain potential consumers of their product(s). This discussion heavily tied into the assignment at hand that had been given the prior week. Near the end of the previous class, we were randomly divided into teams of three and were given a take-home, group assignment consisting of three parts that altogether incorporated the class topics explained earlier. The first part of the said assignment involved the individuals viewing a Shark Tank episode in which the product in question, known as PhoneSoap, caused a bit of a debate among the sharks.

The debate was primarily centered around the question of whether PhoneSoap is essentially a business to business (B2B) product, or a business to consumer (B2C) product. While other sharks decided that the technology was not worth their time as they deemed it to be more of a niche product, meaning that it would appeal to only a specifically small market of consumers, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner embarked in a minor battle over the product and whom its targeted market would consist of. Whereas Mark saw the product as becoming the next big thing in the medical world, specifically in doctor's offices and other related health service businesses, Lori saw the phone cleansing device as being very popular amongst the everyday, middle-class consumer. 

These two radically opposing views represent the ideas behind how valuable a product may be deemed to be, and thus how and where the said product should then be distributed, or sold. This ties into the two main business models: volume and margin. Whereas a volume business operates due to mass amounts of people willing to buy products without spending significant amounts of money, a margin business is effective due to smaller amounts of people who are willing to pay more for the products.

The second part of the PhoneSoap assignment was reviewed in class on Thursday. In our groups, we were given the task of taking the product information and creating a ten question survey that would enable the company to pinpoint exactly how large of a market this product would have in terms of demand, as well as what segments of people it would attract. A few of the groups' surveys were shared aloud with the class to provide some feedback to the rest of the class members in terms of what types of questions should have been included in the surveys, as well as how consumer surveys similar to this are typically formatted. 

The distinction between observational studies and focus group research methods was also thoroughly discussed, allowing the class to then have a solid understanding of what research techniques work best for what product/company situations, i.e. whether the product has been newly introduced to a specific market, what types of consumer markets the company already attracts (if any), etc. 

Upon learning of all the ways in which companies can conduct market research studies, I anticipate that my SMART project group will be able to both effectively find the target market for our Bed Bug product and to then advertise for it accordingly based on exactly what type of consumers the said target market encompasses. Our group has made a substantial amount of progress recently, aside from the business standpoint of the product, and we plan on meeting again within the next couple of days to create another memo documenting our ideas and work thus far in the project's development. 

Week Five Reflection

This past week in HONB 200-02, a large portion of marketing material that was extensively covered in class was in relation to the widely regarded concept of specialization and market segments. Upon the class's completion of our print advertisement assignment based on designated market segments in today's society, each student took turns speaking in front of the class to explain their unique advertisement. They additionally spoke about the specific market segment that they were required to research, including a brief explanation of basic information concerning their segment, such as its typical age range, family size, financial income, etc. The majority of these said aspects that help to describe the market segments fall under the demographic segmentation category. This essentially refers to traits such as, and similar to, age, gender, income, ethnicity, and family life cycle.

 After conveying these details of their segment, each student then discussed how they chose to go about creating their print advertisement for the Bambooee product, given the knowledge that they were attempting to appeal to their specific market segment in order to have a better chance at convincing them to buy the product. Upon listening to each student's presentation on their print advertisement, mine included, one cannot help but note the heavy levels of stereotyping that are necessary for marketers to decide how to best market their product(s). With the implementation of such strong stereotyping, marketers have over time developed categories known as segmentation bases, which divide up markets based off of certain characteristics (that are often stereotyped). These said bases include:

• Geographic segmentation
• Demographic segmentation (as used in the above example)
• Psychographic segmentation
• Benefit segmentation
• Usage-Rate segmentation

With the usage of all of these various segmentation tactics, marketers are able to distinguish their potential consumers based on a multitude of differing traits that can be narrowed down to determine their final target market, which is a group of people or organizations for which an organization designs, implements, and maintains a marketing mix that will satisfy their consumer needs.

The class was then assigned a small group project based off of the newly gained knowledge concerning market segmentation, in which the students have to watch an episode of Shark Tank. In this particular episode, the product being pitched is known as Phone Soap. The purpose of Phone Soap is to clean phones better and more efficiently than any other current cleaning product on today's market. Upon watching this episode, the students were instructed to create a survey in order to determine how great of a need there is for the product in the group's target market. This should be an easier task to complete now that we are fully aware of the many ways in which consumer markets can be segmented and differentiated between.

On Thursday, our marketing class was joined by the honors engineers for another of our joint classes to discuss the progress being made by each of the SMART groups on their Bug projects. My project group, Team BedBug, has been making substantial progress and is planning on meeting again within the next few days to discuss our next move in creating the product.

Week Four Reflection

This past week in HONB 200-02, the class only met once due to inclement weather conditions, however in that one class time we discussed the importance of segmenting and targeting markets for business marketing decisions. The class watched an episode of Shark Tank in which the product being pitched to the sharks, called Bambooee, is a reusable, eco-friendly towel that was created to replace paper towels.

We as the students were then given an assignment to create a print advertisement for this product based off of a random target market that was selected out of a hat. We each researched our selected target markets on a website called Claritas, and from this we were able to learn the age group and ethnicity that typically falls under the said market, as well as the market's demographics and lifestyle/media traits. The market that I selected was White Picket Fences. This market typically involves a younger family mix, which refers to those in upper-middle class that are married with children. Regardless of  whether the said families are just beginning to settle down and raise children or are approaching the stage in which their children are fully moved out of the house, this market segment encompasses them all. Those that are defined as being a part of the White Picket Fences category are more likely to enjoy reading, watching sports, and working on various craft projects. 

In order to address this specific target market in my Bambooee print advertisement, I made sure to emphasize the "going green" aspect of the product, especially reiterating the fact that for every roll of Bambooee purchased, a tree is planted. I purposely did this due to the fact that this segment involves an upper-middle class lifestyle in terms of financial income. Because of this, I believe that there would be a higher chance that those considered to be a part of this segment would willingly pay the higher price for a paper towel that is better for the planet, as opposed to regular towels that are immediately thrown away. This differs from less fortunate financial situations, whereas a family that is struggling to make ends meet would be more likely to not care what type of paper towel they buy as long as it's the cheapest option. When there is even a little extra income to go around in a household then this can make all the difference in terms of the products they choose to buy.

Furthermore, I made an effort to emphasize the fact that the Bambooee product is perfect for cleaning up all types of messes and spills, especially those made by children, pets, and crafts/projects. Considering the market segment that I was focusing on, I envisioned many upper-middle class households as having children and/or pets that often create messes and spills, as well as being involved in crafts and other at-home projects that need to be cleaned up upon completion. 

Upon learning the ways in which various target markets can be segmented, and the categories that they can fall under based on certain characteristics, I have gained a better sense of knowledge in terms of going ahead with the marketing plans for my team's SMART project, the Bed Bug. I plan on further researching the assortment of market segments that customers for our product could be a part of, and from then on, focusing on developing ways in which we as a group can reach out to these said groups through advertisements and media. In this past week, our group has created three different concept solutions, along with three different logos, that we will work together to refine and finalize. Once these are finalized, we will decide which one (or which combination of aspects from multiple concepts) will be our official solution.  

Week Three Reflection

This week in HONBUS 200-02, the class was instructed to thoroughly read chapter 6 of the text, through which the concepts surrounding consumer decision making were discussed. One said crucial concept refers to the types of "consumer buying decisions and consumer involvement." There are generally only a select few categories that consumers' buying decisions fall into, based off of the level of involvement involved in the purchase at hand.

A main category relating to this process is the routine response behavior, in which the goods and services that fall under this title are typically inexpensive and are commonly purchased. Due to this, consumers tend to not spend much time or energy on researching the product prior to making the purchase. A product that I buy which falls under this category is tissues. As I typically have to buy more tissues for my room every few weeks while at school, I usually buy tissues made by the brand Kleenex because of their lower prices. I find the tissues to be a satisfying purchase, and therefore have never really felt the need to purchase tissues made by another brand, despite my knowledge of other tissue brands that exist.

Another consumer purchasing category that has low levels of consumer involvement is the limited decision making category. Purchases that fall under this label often occur when the brand that a consumer is comfortable with spending money on is unavailable, and thus they are forced to buy another brand of the product without spending much time or effort considering the other available product options. A product that I purchase with limited decision making soap. Although I generally almost always buy Dove soap, if the store is out of Dove soap or if it's too expensive at that given time then I'll buy another brand of soap upon quickly examining the price and predicted quality. However, as I don't consider soap to be all that different regardless of which brand produces it, I won't spend much time or energy searching for another brand if Dove soap is unavailable.

On the other end of the involvement spectrum, being brand loyal refers to consumers who choose to repeatedly purchase the same brand of a product due to how highly satisfied they are with the product's results. A brand that I'm extremely loyal to is Sebastian Drench shampoo and conditioner, due to its specification towards consumers with very curly hair. Although this product is indeed more expensive than other brands with similar products, I choose to willingly spend money on it in order to obtain (what I believe to be) the high end results. This displays a fairly high level of involvement in the purchase, as I did adequate research and experimentation with the product prior to becoming loyal to the specific brand that produces it.

Finally, the category that many deem to consist of the highest level of consumer involvement is the extensive decision making method. In this category, the consumers often perform extensive levels of research and questioning prior to purchasing the, most likely highly expensive, good or service. I'm currently using this decision making method to find a car to purchase in time for the upcoming summer. As this is a huge investment, especially for a student my age, I want to ensure that I spend my money on a quality vehicle that will provide me with safe transportation. This involves researching brands, dealers, prices, styles and sizes, etc.

Additionally in this week, my SMART Project team designed an official logo for our product, the Bed Bug, and devised a "Point of View" statement that emphasizes what it is that we hope to accomplish with the design of our product, as well as who we plan to specifically market it to. We created both our first team memo and agenda at our last meeting, and we are planning on meeting again within the next few upcoming days to begin coming up with ideas concerning the actual physical production of the Bed Bug. Upon learning of the ways in which buyers make their purchase decisions, I'm excited to begin thinking from the marketers' perspective on this project in terms of devising ways that the product can be advertised in order to appeal to our target market(s).