EOC Week 10: What are the benefits vs. the features?

For my project I am doing is ThisIsLife.com, the key benefits vs the features have quite a bit of explaining because people just don't want cool features, this has to be different than most so the benefits will have to be the main selling point. With the features, people will be able to go onto the website and create profiles. When  you make a profile you can upload pictures, make posts, follow friends, follow certain groups, and message people back and fourth. Like any other social network. The difference is the UI system (User Interface) this will be one of the best features on the site because people now a days don't want to see a header a body and a footer on a site, they want things to move around and be exciting. This site will be very heavy on the UI system just for that reason. Users will be able to customize their settings for their profile to edit how much they want to offer. Basically giving the user a better handle on what their doing, because we already know that social networks run peoples lives everyday. Now for the benefits, they have to be unique in a way that will make a person want to come back everyday to find out more. The key benefits for ThisIsLife.com is that the experience you have on this site will be like no other. People will enjoy going on and reading peoples posts because each post will be meaningful and enjoyable to read. People will feel comfortable going on and speaking about their lives on this site where they don't have to worry about thinking about if people will like it or not. For people that are suffering with depression I can only hope that they will use this site as a pathway to happiness. No one should ever feel that low in life that nothing is exciting or fun. No one should ever feel that way.

Week Nine EOC: Three Great Mission Statements

Three great mission statements that I have read are as followed; Andre De Los Monteros DreCo Media   caught my attention because I too am wanting to help kids that are less fortunate then others, "I have had a long dream of reaching out and helping children with poor or no parental guidance and give the love and direction needed." http://drecomedia.blogspot.com/ I believe if everyone worked together we can make sure that the future generations of the nation will be able to live the lives we did when we grew up. Haley Blaine "Beauty and the Bully" caught my attention because in my own project I'm trying to help other people feel more comfortable posting about their lives.  "To spread the word about the seriousness of bullying. Our mission is to inspire youth to speak only kind words, and teach that it takes a kind heart and mouth to be truly beautiful." This is a inspiring mission statement and you can look at this and more at http://byhaleyblaine.blogspot.com/search/label/Final%20Project.
The last Mission statement that caught my attention a great deal is Kathryn Lynch f35 Studio, her passion to help veterans find confidential help for ptsd or other issues countered when they were deployed in the war. "Vets Ride will continuously evaluate other worthy charitable organizations that serve our military personnel and we will be flexible in shifting our financial support when applicable." You Can see this and more at http://f35studio.blogspot.com/search/label/Final%20Project

Week Nine BOC: Week Nine Top Hits

The top five songs of the 2012 summer are as followed; Call me maybe by Carly Rae Jepson , Payphone by Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa, Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye feat. Kimbra, Wide Awake by Katy Perry, Lights by Ellie Goulding. The Information I read was on                          http://www.billboard.com/charts/summer#/charts/hot-100?order=timeon and by clicking the link you can see them too. Each of these songs are on the charts because each of them have catchy lyrics in the song for people to remember. Also by over playing them on the radio forces people to hear it, you might not like it the first time, but at some point you will be humming the tune of Call Me Maybe. By also putting songs into commercials it allows people to hear the songs even on the television. These songs make people have the urge to dance and be happy.

Week Eight EOC: Creative Content

The creative content going into my marketing plan is a Website. A social network based site people will be able to make accounts and be able to put as much information about their lives as they choose to. Users can upload pictures and videos for others to view as well. The main attribute this site will have compared to others is that this will be a safer more protected site than the competition. You will be able to follow other peoples profiles and comment on pages. The site will automatically let you know when you have been added to distinct groups like 9/11, WWII, Vietnam War, and other groups. This site will be completely free to use and 100% safe. People from the company will constantly fish through the site to make sure everything being posted is appropriate. When accounts are first made users will have to agree to terms that what they are posting is the truth and that plagiarizing is illegal. The users are the focal point in this and staying connected as such is the most important concept that we focus on for the site. This site is closely related to people that are looking for hope and some happiness in their life. It will not be hard for users to come everyday and post anything they feel. Again mainly focused on the elderly because their story is meant to be heard and the best way to remember it is when its written down. Now take that and allow users that are interested in the subject to read it and know their reading something beautiful.

Implementation Evaluation Control

The implementation of how this site will come alive is by me and only me. I will be the coding end and the business end of the operation. If you dont need anyone else to do a job just do it yourself. Soon I will find someone to be my partner but for ownership reasons I will hold majority for I am the creator and founder of this project. Like the book says on printed page 50, "To find the best marketing strategy and mix, the company engages in marketing analysis, planning, implementation, and control." The way that we will be viewed as a credible source of information is after we have received funding from the angel and get our 5,000 users from around the nation. From Kotler & Sons "Implementation addresses the who, where, when, and how." So by doing so it will be tricky to get everyone to jump on this bandwagon, not everyone wants to talk about their lives openly in front of people and I have to be understanding when doing so. 

Price

The price for my product is totally 100% free. Throughout all of this their isn't a doubt in my mind that would think otherwise, this site is to only help people. If people want to donate to the cause then they do on their own. We will never put a price on this, it would be very wrong to do so. To prove how important price is to us and everyone else, read this from the printed page 13 "The major marketing mix tools are classified into four broad groups, called the four Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. To deliver on its value proposition". Price is important to us, so important we made it free. From printed page 79 "Rather than offering high quality at a high price, or lesser quality at very low prices, marketers in all industries are looking for ways to offer today’s more financially cautious buyers greater value—just the right combination of product quality and good service at a fair price." Even though it is free we strive to make sure the value you will receive is the same value that mercedes benz offers to their customers when they sell their cars. 

Promotion

From the printed page 11 from the book, is the definition of how consumers feel about products and promotions "The idea that consumers will not buy enough of the firm’s products unless it undertakes a large-scale selling and promotion effort." The way that this site is going to promote itself is by getting an angel investor to invest $50,000 in the company. After doing so me and some others from the team will travel the county to mainly retirement homes and any other organization that can provide us with users. Like I said before, everyone is the target audience. The plan is to find atleast 100 people from each state to make an account, after all that is done we will have 5,000 users that will making posts and telling their friends about this. Each person probably has a Facebook and twitter so it will be very easy after this point to get our website going. On printed page 11 "The selling concept takes an inside-out perspective. It starts with the factory, focuses on the company’s existing products, and calls for heavy selling and promotion to obtain profitable sales." Basically to say the website will be our factory and we will have workers working day in and day out to make sure that everything being posted is safe and enjoyable for everyone else. 

Distribution

From the book of printed page 10 "The production concept holds that consumers will favor products that are available and highly affordable. Therefore, management should focus on improving production and distribution efficiency." With that being said the distribution will be very simple but extremely important for this because its a website, all you need is internet to go on so theirs no need to go to a grocery store and pick this up. Why its so important is because someone can go to any website that they can join for free, this will be the best one offering the best value. Sometimes people have this idea that free is a bad thing so making sure that the value is top priority. In the book on printed page 46 "making more sales without changing its original product. It can spur growth through marketing mix improvements—adjustments to its product design, advertising, pricing, and distribution efforts." I like this concept because I never plan to change the price of this but I do plan to accurately weigh sales and accounts on the same level.  

Product

Like many businesses that produce products for consumers I will not follow what the printed page 7 says in the book "The mistake of paying more attention to the specific products a company offers than to the benefits and experiences produced by these products". The product that ThisIsLife.com is offering is a safe, free social networking site for people to channel their emotions and life stories. Its the satisfaction that people will feel when they are on this site, to be able to go through and read about peoples lives and experiences that have changed the lives of thousands. If people choose they can buy ThisIsLife.com merchandise and 20% of the money will be donated to organizations that help kids get through depression. I can only make it a mission that people choose my product other then others because of the value that they will receive when on this site, "Consumers usually face a broad array of products and services that might satisfy a given need. How do they choose among these many market offerings?"

Target Market Strategy

For its ThisIsLife.com their is a wide variety of who is involved in the target market because everyone has a life story and like the book says on printed page 9 "The company must first decide who it will serve. It does this by dividing the market into segments of customers (market segmentation) and selecting which segments it will go after" . To be exact on who would be in the category of target market it would have to be the elderly. Even though a lot of the elderly isn't computer savvy as the young generation I still have faith they will find a way to be able to do this. I would say the depressed is a target audience but that would be wrong to say, I can only hope that people are sad come to my site to channel their emotions. Now because its hard to truly go after everyone it will be a challenge, and like the book says on printed page 9 "By trying to serve all customers, they may not serve any customers well. Instead, the company wants to select only customers that it can serve well and profitably." I will make it my mission to make sure everyone wants to be on my site. 

Situation or SWOT Analysis

Like any good marketing analysis this is ThisIsLife.com SWOT analysis, and by definition in the book printed page 55 "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)" We will follow those exact steps to be successful. 
Strengths
         - A positive format that allows people to make accounts and start channeling their feelings of anger, sadness, or any confusing feelings in a environment where you will feel comfortable and safe.
         - Be able to tell your life story in writing in a easy and fun way

Weaknesses 
        - The weaknesses for the project would be that people feel that they dont trust it
"Weaknesses include internal limitations and negative situational factors that may interfere with the company’s performance."
Opportunities
        - Being the best social network online
        - a safe alternative to cure depression instead of medication
"Opportunities are favorable factors or trends in the external environment that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage"
Threats
        - Having a cyber bully threaten any of the users
        - Having someone commit suicide because of someone being mean on the site
"Threats are unfavorable external factors or trends that may present challenges to performance"

Objectives

With every idea that is coming out for how to make a difference its easy to come up with a major idea that can do all that and more. From Kotler & Sons"Broad mission leads to a hierarchy of objectives, including business objectives and marketing objectives"The main objectives of ThisIsLife.com is to do exactly what the project is, make a difference in someones life. I've seen a lot of my close friends and even myself go through this and when you're at a low where nothing seems fun anymore, you need help. No one on this entire planet should feel this way and thats one of the main objectives of this site. The goal of this is to be able to let users channel their bad energy out in words and let people that are going through very similar things read and tell you how they are getting through this. I know that when i was going through depression it was hard for me to be able to talk about it because I was blind to think that other people might be going through the same thing. Another objective is to allow people talk about experiences of their life. Mainly for the elderly because their voice is rarely heard now a days and it shouldn't be that way. In the textbook of Kotler & Sons "This mission is then turned into detailed supporting objectives that guide the whole company" My uncle told me that when ever a elderly person tells you about their life, grab a pen and paper so you always remember what they said. I took that to heart and thats what drives me whenever I have the chance to talk about life with someone. Everyones life is important and deserves to be heard.

Business Mission Statement

In August 2012 I, Ryne Colquitt created ThisIsLife.com. From the textbook printed page 41"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" Our mission statement will serve to be on the same guidelines. This site is a different kind of social network and can be best described as the new way to get your life story told for a much larger audience then your family. The characteristics of the site is that for a more enjoyable experience only the people that want to read about your life are going to be the ones reading it. Our target audience are people from any age, but focused more upon the elderly because their voice is rarely heard now a days. For the workers of this site, we will make it our mission to make sure everyone that posts is comfortable when they are on the site, people that include themselves with bullying will have their account terminated as soon as possible. Users on ThisIsLife.com will also be able to post about incidents that have affected their life in a positive/negative way, the intention is that when the user posts they will feel less alone and know that other people are affected by almost the same things. ThisIsLife.com does not intend on focusing energy on making a profit, like the textbook says on printed page 41 " a company’s mission should not be stated as making more sales or profits—profits are only a reward for creating value for customers". ThisIsLife focuses more on the guidelines of allowing people to be more open with their lives in a comfortable environment. 

Week Seven EOC: The Pitch

My pitch idea is a Social network for everyday lives mainly focused towards the elderly to enjoy. The concept is for people to stay more connected with life situations. For the elderly they will be able to tell their life story more fluently and be more comfortable saying it. Getting their full meaning of life out their for people to read and enjoy. On your account you will be able to see how many views and comments people have made on your story. Now for terrible life experiences like 9/11, a loss of a family member, or anything that changed your life,  the site will be a able to track key words from your post and put you into a group of other people that have been through either the same thing or something very close to it. For the users they will make postings by logging into the account and making the posting, now to make sure that everyone is being honest the users will have to agree to the terms of use, basically saying that we would hope for you to tell the truth and certifying everything you state is about your life. Now that everyone on the site feels more comfortable and knows that their not alone in life we can make sure to decrease the percentage of depression or even the amount of suicides. In today's society their are many bullies on the internet, and on this site only the people that want to be their will make an account and talk freely how they choose. How I will receive funding is contacting a retirement home and talking about my idea and to see if they would back my business.

Week Six EOC: Me X 3

Week Five EOC: Super Bowl Commercial

The super bowl commercial I have chosen to talk about is the advertisement from the doritos commercial. Its date night and the boyfriend shows up to his girlfriends house to pick her up. She isnt ready yet and tells him to sit down and relax till shes done, as she walks away he gives her a quick look at her body. He goes to sit down next to his dates son; he is probably around the age of three. The boy is very protective of his mom and when the boyfriend trys to grab one of the kids doritos, the boy slaps him and says "put it back, rule one keep your hands off my mama, and rule two keep your hands off my doritos". The textbook states about from the chapter one "The marketing concept states that to be successful, a company must provide greater customer value and satisfaction than its competitors do. Thus, marketers must do more than simply adapt to the needs of target consumers." This advertisement is great because every kid that grew up with a single mom can really relate to this. It is very natural for the boy to be very protective of his mom, its even better when he lays down the law for his doritos. No kid is ever comfortable for a new man or woman to walk into the house and act like he already lives their. I can say when I saw this i could relate very much so, when i was little I found it very weird when my dad would start dating again and just seeing them would make me feel uncomfortable. Society teaches you that marriages are perfect and this commercial breaks that barrier and shows the side of the little boy. This is my favorite advertisement from the super bowl.

Week Four EOC: Business VS. Consumer Buying Behavior

The key factors that go into today economic market are many things because everyone wants to know that what they are buying is going to be worth it. One major factor is price, the economy is hurting and when its in pain peoples wallets hurt at the same time. The second factor is the need for the product, if a person doesn't really need it at that moment they will not buy it. Another factor is how they are going to use the product, do they have anything in their house that can do the same thing? The stages of a buyer is when they pick up the product they are very intrigued. They start to look at the product and study everything about it, they start to tell themselves how much they want it. Questions start to fly in their head about how they could use it? or if they really need it? If that person really likes it, they will ask questions to a worker about the product. Hopefully the salesman did their job good to sell the product because at this point the person will feel very sure about buying this product. If they still feel uneasy they will start to question themselves even more but at this point the product has taken over the buyer and they will purchase. I believe that the business market is whatever is in need at this point and time. Technology is at a all time high and the need for it is incredible. Technology is very fast with being updated and being able to find something new is stunning. Here is what is said about General Motors in  a article from the textbook, "In the buying decision, locomotive performance plays an important role. In such big-ticket purchases, buyers carefully scrutinize factors such as cost, fuel efficiency, and reliability. By most measures, GE’s locomotives outperform competing engines on most of these dimensions." As you can see everyone consumer has to consider all types of buying decisions when it comes to their product. 

Week Three EOC: My Demographics

If i were to categorize myself in demographics, I would fall under the category of Millennials or Generation Y. After reading about this, i have to agree with just about all of it. I am very technology savvy and I am very proud to say I have been raised around this large amount of technology. My brain is constantly revolving around the next best technology and I believe that allows me to think a lot outside of the box. Thinking back to see how much has changed in my mini lifetime blows my mind, because I've seen cassettes turn into CDs and VHS tapes turn to DVD and even Bluray. Ive seen very fat TVs turn into LED flat screens. With the craze of technology taking over the world. I've seen the change from flip phones to touchscreen smartphones. When I read the part about reading the instructions  I found that very honest. I really don't know the last time i read a instruction manual because once i open something from the box I already know how to use the product, except for a minor amount of things that I learn along the way of use. I love the fact that I have seen boom boxes turn into iPods, and the constant change of what technology is hot and what is not. I do see the difference between my demographic compared to others and I find it funny when my family or friends get a new piece of technology and have to teach them. Its going to be vert interesting to see the new generations take over of technology and to see what they can do with it. After growing up with technology I can say that it is still not as smart as a human, because it all comes down to how smart the programmer is when they make the product, and thats where our generation comes up to the top of the charts at this moment! 

Week 3 EOC: Making Money For Good

All throughout history there has always been those companies that are really good at being greedy, but with that being said theres always the small group of businesses that don't listen to the status quo and strive to make a change. Take Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Last October when it was very relative for the Occupy Wall Street. This company saw the power of this movement and because of this they passed out free ice cream to everyone to fulfill them with the hope for them to not give up on their beliefs. The company stated in the article "We, the Ben & Jerry's Board of Directors, compelled by our personal convictions and our Company's mission and values, wish to express our deepest admiration to all of you who have initiated the non-violent Occupy Wall Street Movement and to those around the country who have joined in solidarity. The issues raised are of fundamental importance to all of us." You can read this article on http://www.alternet.orgstory153561/5_companies_that_did_something_good_for_the_world_this_year/. The second company that strives for good is H&M, for years they were looked at as a irresponsible company but they have changed their focus drastically. Last April they started a new line of clothing that is more environmentally friendly materials like organic cotton and changing their hangers so it takes away at a lot of waste, they also said "These steps may be relatively modest, but they're significant within the "fast fashion" industry, which is notorious for its waste. The hope is that H&M's efforts will become the industry standard, and chains like Forever 21 and Zara will be pressured to follow suit." read the full article at http://www.alternet.orgstory153561/5_companies_that_did_something_good_for_the_world_this_year?page=0%2C1. Companies are always changing and with new innovations its good to know that these businesses are trying their best to have better quality and make sure the customer comes first, it really isn't all about the money. The third company is Hewlett-Packard, a electronic company that has been around for years and is still considered at the top of their game. HP has sought to make a difference when it comes to their workers rights, and because of it they have topped Corporate Magizines 2010 for getting away from conflict minerals, materials mined in areas where human rights are rampant. HP executive Zoe McMahon told CNET last year, "Because our suppliers are not using material from the DRC, that gave us some comfort. But to this day, there is still no certification mechanism that can assure us wholeheartedly that they are not sourced from the DRC. Once metals are with smelters, it's difficult to know where the material comes from." You can read this article at http://www.alternet.orgstory153561/5_companies_that_did_something_good_for_the_world_this_year?page=0%2C1. The last company that will be brought up is Patagonia a outdoor gear and clothing company. Patagonia strives to make sure that the company comes first and the quality of the product lasts. Patagonia trys a great deal to reuse and recycle old product to find a new home for the product. Their initiative is to reimagine a world where we take only what nature can replace. "Despite some reports to the contrary, Patagonia says it did not donate any gear to the Occupy movement; still, one has to wonder if the company's latest ad campaign was influenced by Occupy's anti-corporate message." you can read this full article at http://www.alternet.orgstory153561/5_companies_that_did_something_good_for_the_world_this_year?page=0%2C1

Week Two EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

With so much technology changing every day, its very surprising that big name video game companies haven't released a new console since 2005 Xbox 360, 2006 Playstation 3, and 2006 Nintendo Wii. Its almost like they don't have anything new to give. Its been 6 years since then and so much has already changed, these video game companies have fell off the market because they haven't created something that can adapt to the new age of gaming. People can now go on their phone and pay a dollar for a game that probably took a day to make, play it for a couple weeks and then onto the next one. With that being said these people don't need consoles to play their video games because they can be played through the iPhone and Android device. Even though these companies have been lacking on a new console, they have updated their software to allow users to buy more of a digital copy of a game for just about the same price, you would think that those numbers would be low but from http://www.slideshow.net says "2011 Public Video Games Numbers  Total value of all public game companies  $111.2 billion.  $39.7 billion PC and console (not including Nintendo)  $37.6 billion from online  $17.3 billion from Nintendo  $11.8 billion from mobile  In June 2011, the global video game market was valued at US$65 billion" thats actually not bad at all, and i bet that the mobile game apps number will have increased in a large amount for 2012. Even if every gaming system is moving to digital i have faith that once Sony , Microsoft, and Nintendo release a new console it will start a revolution, i mean what else have they been doing for the past 6 years? but don't take my word for it http://www.idate.org said “Growth of the video game market is still influenced by the life cycle of home consoles. As such, the commercial launch of new generation machines from 2012 on will inject renewed growth into the sector, with video game software generating potential revenues of some EUR 60 billion by 2015.” Im very glad to have the chance to grow up my whole life surrounded by technology especially video games, i applaud the people that strive to always break the barrier of what is possible, a company called OUYA a few months ago went onto a website in sought of looking for people to back up an idea for a gaming console solely made for the online gaming experience, every game is free to try and is built around the android market since then they have raised 5 million dollars and the console will cost just around 100 dollars. Just like http://www.kickstarter.com says, "We've packed this little box full of power. Developers will have access to OUYA's open design so they can produce their games for the living room, taking advantage of everything the TV has to offer." i feel like this will soon be the top gaming console.

About Me

My name is Ryne Colquitt and when I do something, I do it right. How I do it is has an expectation of perfection. I make it a demand for myself to put everything into my work so everyone can see the passion that I give for people to enjoy. My creativity and drive set me apart from everyone else and that what makes me the best in my field of design. I strive to make sure the customers’ needs come first, by doing that I find that my creativity comes out more fluently and genuinely. I’ve created many things in my life and to this day seeing the customer’s joy and happiness for a final project is the most valuable thing to me.  I want to be able to know that once im done with the customers project he will come back for more if that be websites, mobile apps, web apps or codes for a program. I was raised with the motive that to be successful you have to love what you’re doing and therefore I really enjoy what I am doing , I have learned the unknown language of code and I am here to spread my knowledge and destroy the fear that people have when they are creating a website for their business or personal life, anything goes when you decide to allow me to make your project.

WEEK ONE EOC: GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

Week One EOC: Great Customer Service

 I currently work at New Balance Running Shoes and for the past year I have learned an incredible amount  about customer service, first of all to give good customer service you have to really understand the customer. You have to take into consideration of who they are and what they like, for instance this one day at work I had a Hispanic male that came into the store. By looks he didn’t look wealthy and he didn’t speak much English, he came up to me and in the English he did know he asked for my help. We walked around the store and I showed him where everything was. He pulled out a piece of paper out of his pocket and it had a list of things he had to get. One by one I helped him but the best part about all of this was he was a genuine guy and he was having a good time in Vegas. After a while of shopping he got so comfortable with me and my knowledge of the product I was selling that he would just walk around to everything I talked about and grab it so he could have it, clothes, shoes, laces, inserts, accessories he was buying everything I recommended. At the end of the transaction it came up to about 600$ or so and pulled out the money like it wasn’t even a problem, it impressed me that he didn’t even ask for a discount even though I did give him 15% off. After I checked him out he asked for a piece of paper and a pen and asked if anyone spoke Spanish, I said that my manager speaks fluent Spanish and he continued to write a paragraph in Spanish. When he was done I got my manager to translate it and it said that I gave him the best customer service he has ever had.