RCS 362 Reflection

I will say that I learned a more out of this class than I thought. And in reality, just about everything that I learned in RCS 362, has in some way, shape, or form connected with my MKT 424 Consumer Behavior class. True, it is a marketing class, but I believe that it tied in everything to make more sense of what was taught in RCS 362. I enjoyed the class discussions which helped to cause what was taught, to be applied to everyday life situations. With that being said, I think I am ready for RCS 261...I think.

Black Friday

So, clearly Black Friday has been done and over with for some time, but I thought that I would reflect on it from my stand point. I work for a store called FlyButter Boutique. In the store we sell men's and women's clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Even though we had $5 off hats, $10 off all jeans, 25% off of purses, and so on...business was not as great for us. Why? Well the reason I believe is that people were so caught up with sales as larger locations, that they didn't take the time to think about how they could purchase the same types of items for a much lower price. So, the conclusion that that experience has shown me is that, it's not always about marketing and the advertisements...it's about consumer behavior as well. It's about why a consumer buys or does not buy a particular item. It amazes me how people (especially in Greensboro, NC)want to look the part of living a glamorous life, but don't want to pay the price for it...it does work that way...all the time.

RCS 362 Exam...

So, oh my gosh, I didn't get every question on the exam correct, but I feel as though it went well overall. I really appreciate the exam review that was given the week of Thanksgiving...it really helped. There were a few questions that stomped me, but for the most part, everything was clear and straight to the point.

Class Presentations

I must say that I enjoyed everyone's presentations through out the 3 day process:-) I can honestly say that I learned some new information that I did not know before. I appreciated the groups that went out of their comfortzones and did companies like Kodak. Since the majority of everyone in the class are retailing majors, it was nice to see people apply what we have learned to different areas and fields of life. But, I will say that the Kodak group was the one that stood out to me the most. The reason being is because, they didn't do clothing, they presented themselves as an actual ad agency, and they were very professional. It's presentations like that, that makes professor happy...I'm sure. So, kodos to that group.

NYTimes News vs. BBC News

I guess I can already say that my opinion of this particular subject is bias. I have honestly never heard of BBC news...am I wrong for that? Perhaps, but because of that simple fact, I can already say that I favor MYTimes better. Why? you make ask. Well, one because it's familar and I have a connection with it. The connection is that it makes me think of a pariotic vibe. For example, some people feel that same connection because of events like 9/11. It just makes you feel as though the information that they provide is accurate that you can trust. And I think that, that is the main issue. People want to be apart of what's going on around the world, it's just that they are looking for a source that they can trust and rely on.

Real Beauty...Where Is It?

I'm all about exposing our society for the type of people that we can be. The above DOVE commercial, I must say is one of the best "tell all" commercials that I've ever soon. The whole purpose of this was to show the women of today and the upcoming women (who are currently little girls in middle school) of today that real beauty is natural. Now, please don't get me wrong, I am pro-make-up. I wear it...just not everyday...mainly on special occasions.

But I think that people have gotten this twisted idea that real beauty is what we see on the TV and in magazines...the truth is, it's the complete opposite. So, I commend DOVE for opening our eyes to the type of world that we are really living in.

The Size of the Package

In chapter 7 of our textbook, we talked about packaging...a very important piece because if your product or service is not viewed to the consumer as appealing, then you're not going to sell that product or service. Lets take McDonald's for instance. The commercials that they make are apart of their package. The purposely make the fries, drinks, and burgers to look extra-juicy, delicious, and everything that our minds think that those items will be when we eat them. But, then when we get to the stores...they look nothing like the pictures. But, McDonald's still did their job of getting you to the store.

Yahoo Messanger is a Mess

When we were given the assignment to create a Yahoo Messanger account if we didn't already have one, I was like, "NO!! I hate Yahoo Messagner!!" And with the assignment, we were asked to give information as to how YM could make some improvements so that others would use it. But, before I even wanted to tap into that, I wanted to explain why I don't prefer to use YM.

First off, in my opinion, YM does not have anything appealing to it's display that would make me feel inviting to use the program. For instance, the color which are lavandor and gray are so not active and atrractive that would make me want to use YM. As a matter of fact, I believe that the colors alone cause for a calm, but yet complacent atmosphere. It makes me feel as though I'm in an old-anti-tech era...if that makes sense. It just looks boring, which even makes me think that no one else uses YM...honestly, I don't know anyone who does.

And concerning that, I don't believe that Yahoo has done enough advertizing like it used to do about using YM. And not that I think about it, I started getting less interested with yahoo after middle school. And the reason being is that whenever you thought about the internet and talking with people online, the first think that everyone thought about was AIM (AOL Instant Messanger. In my opinion, AOL has always been the domoninant internet user until recently. But I believe that it will always outdo Yahoo Messanger.

And as to the question as to how YM can appeal to college students...that's the thing, I think that YM is geared moreso towards the highschool and even middle school students. To me, YM just streams off the idea of simplicity, that better suits the ages between 10-17. So, in order to appeal to the colliget level, YM needs to create an atmosphere of education, sophistication, but still fun and energitic.

What Was Coke Thinking??

I was surffing the internet recently, and I came across a commercial by Coke and I must say that I was very bothered and disappointed with the well-known company. The following commercial, I believe is one of the most offensive commercials I have ever seen. Now, personally, I am not offended because I think that the point that Coke was trying to make was that Coke is such a universal product that has the possibility to unify people all over the world...but others may think otherwise...what do you think?

Ethics in Marketing Communication

After reading chapter 3 of our text, as well as seeing some of the clips for Thursdays class, I still will hold true to my thoughts about how marketing agencies are playing a fair game. My thought is that no matter who we as a society market to, it is still left up to the consumers on whether or not they will purchase to products that are presented to them.

An example of such is that of all of the different drugs that are advertised each day, like we talked about in class. The one thing that still strikes me as being odd is that, not matter how much the commercials disclose all of the information about how some(if not all) drugs have side-affects. An example of such is like the drug Celebrex. During the commercial, the information of the side-affects are given such as drowsiness, bleeding, dry mouth...so on and soforth. Now, after that information is given, and the consumer still decides to part-take of that particular drug, they are accountable of the outcome, because they have been warned.

The Power of Marketing

Before I started taking any Marketing classes, I used to think that ads don't affect me in any way...I thought any types of marketing only influenced people who were weak-minded. Now, after learning a few things for class, and also from the Marketing 424 class that I'm taking, I've realized that I fall into that "weak-minded" stereo-type that I had created.

Now, I realized that marketing is apart of the society that we live in. And without it, we wouldn't know about the various products that are available to us...not just to consume for our satisfaction, but also for products that we need for everyday life such as food, jobs, or even clothing. Without marketing, we wouldn't know what's going on in the world of consumer buying.