This week posting "At your Service"

In this week's positing in marketing class MKT 311PL of "At your Service" from Susan Sullivan's week five class. I have been reminded of poor service and inconsistencies with performance within the service industry. I define the service industry as; restaurants, retail stores Wal-Mart, Best-Buy, Target, etc. and automobile repair shop/dealerships all most any business that offers a service to the consumer.

I noticed recently a negative change in the way businesses deal with their customers. I must admit, it has been a while since I had a representative go the extra mile to win my business or services. I realize the state of the economy is poor and job market is tough, but I believe this is an opportunity for businesses to take notice and get back to basics with customer satisfaction.

Many businesses have limited the amount training of their employees to cut costs. In these tough economic times I hope the upper-management of these companies can see lack of service and follow-up their employees are providing to consumers. When the economy and job market improves, the companies that provide their customers with exceptional service will stand-out. The companies that do not change and work towards servicing their customers better will be left with a poor reputation.

The advertising must work!

The Creative Brief in this week’s reading I found quite interesting. How do you prescribe an outline for creativity and still allow creativity? I would imagine this is a fine line to walk with advertising professionals. Be creative, show us what you have…but by the way there must be a strategy followed and a distinct message that gets conveyed. It would be interesting to research what creative strategies are used or followed for some of the Super Bowl commercials and the Geico car insurance commercials. I find these most unique!

Then there are the ever obscure and highly unlikely Orbit commercials. http://www.splendad.com/ads/show/859-Orbit-Lemon-Lime-Office-Dirty-Mouth

I wonder how effective, these truly are? Obviously there is some level of success as it’s noteworthy for me to write about!

Businesses use vehicles as billboards

I read an interesting article in the Saturday, September 26 edition of the Democrat and Chronicle. The article caught my attention over the increasing popularity of local business owners turning their cars and vans into eye catching mobile advertising. Local businesses such as: Pontillo's Pizzeria, Wegmans, and Edible Arrangements are using a vinyl "decal wrap" consisting of detailed graphics, and attention-grabbing photos to enhance their advertising message.

The cost of the mobile advertising ranges from $2,400 to $3,500 and businesses owners have found that mobile advertising is cheaper than renting a traditional billboard. Business owner's commented that more customers are aware of the services they offer and noticed the automobile driving around Rochester.

With the cost of advertising on TV, radio, newspaper, and billboards on the rise, the mobile advertising wrap on the automobile seems to be an economical means of advertising. The mobile advertising wrap is a solution for signage. Many local towns example have strict zoning codes for signage and permits are required for banners. My wife, a local chiropractor in Rochester, has expressed an interest in this way of advertising. Her truck is parked outside her office on a daily basis and she figures if she was to park her truck in front of her office might increase the number of new patients to her office. I like the concept of mobile advertising, my wife and I plan to complete additional research for this trendy style of advertising.

A rebel against traditional branding: Amazon.com

There is a great article in this week's Business Week titled, "At Amazon, Marketing is For Dummies".

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_39/b4148053513145.htm

It is amazing that Amazon has reached their level of success and broad distribution channels without traditional marketing and branding. Their ease of use and reputation has ranked them to #43 on Global Brand rankings. They have invested in technology and distribution centers which has delivered both perceived and real quality!

Amazon even took an innovative approach to launching an advertising campaign. Instead of hiring an ad agency, they issued a contest to their customers. The customer that created the best commercial, won a $10,000 Amazon.com gift card.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/video-contest/YourAmazonAdContest/ref=gw_cto_yaacsweepstakes?pf_rd_p=490867131&pf_rd_s=left-nav-2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=507846&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0MAT9DQXVVKHK668PQ8Z

I am sure that the overall success of Amazon's "marketing light" approach, will be copied by other companies. Will they achieve the same level of success? Time will tell.

General Motors New 60-Day Return Policy

I recently viewed a television commercial for General Motors new 60-day return policy. I was blown away by the marketing message sent by General Motors to consumers "If you find a better car, then give ours back" campaign. What a bold move on General Motors part trying to boost sales and gain customer satisfaction. I am wondering how General Motors President, Bob Lutz pulled out all the stops with such an aggressive marketing campaign. Especially when automobile/trucks have suffered slumping sales, and General Motors has lost market share to import car manufactures that offered better gas mileage and reliability.

I would like to understand the factors that went into the implementation of this promotion. I understand the move to increase sales and boost product confidence. But what if the promotion fails? I guess General Motors has answered this question for me by streamlining the company after bankruptcy and accepting millions in taxpayer bailout money. If the promotion by General Motors fails taxpayer money is lost and the company would be holding on to many "slightly used" vehicles to sell.

I would like to find out how much "marketing" research was completed by General Motors to offer such a bold promotion OR is this promotion a gamble of precious taxpayer money as a last ditch effort to save the company. Not to mention the cost of prime time promotion budget of TV ads, sporting events, radio, etc. I am anxious to see the results of this promotion and I hope the promotion is a success for the American taxpayer and General Motors.

Bunker Hill Community College will be a trendsetter.

Was it the foresight of a college professor, the consumer/student demand for more classes or simply a sign of the times? All of those mentioned if you ask me. Take a look at the article:
Students burn midnight oil at Boston College: http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/1110/8889740/Students_burn_midnight_oil_at_Boston_college/full/

The demand for midnight classes at this college was evident. It is a matter of time before the anticipated success of this model catches on. Currently, Bunker Hill Community College is the “only school in the nation offering overnight classes.”
I am sure a study of consumer behavior and psychographics and demographic descriptors will determine a more defined market segmentation than identified here. Judging by the hours I keep, I may be the ideal student/consumer for this type of program!

Complete a Marketing Strategy for Chiropractic Office

As a partner in my wife's chiropractic business we recently purchased a machine used for spinal decompression. The value of purchasing this machine adds specialization to the facility as industry leaders for non-surgical options. My wife and I had to develop a marketing strategy to ensure the success of our new spinal treatment option.

We had to develop our business objective specifically for the spinal decompression machine. The objective to set our business ahead of industry standards, produce non-surgical options for patients seeking alternatives to painful surgery.

Our customer target are patients with severe spinal issues including disc bulges and disc herniation. These patients have already had MRI diagnostics and have been previously consulted surgically.

In the Rochester area their are only two competitors that have this type of equipment in their office. We have strategically placed our selves on the west side of Rochester, NY and our competitors reside on the north and east side of Rochester, NY.

Due to the expense of the equipment we identified our core strategy must produce quick results. In order to accomplish our goals the core strategy included television broadcasting, radio, and web-site optimization. In our advertising campaign we established our value proposition two-fold through client testimonials in our radio campaign and a personalized message from my wife the doctor in the TV ads.

Our product positioning is streamlined through the core strategy and value proposition we developed. The marketing mix is the final set of decisions necessary to complete the marketing strategy. We set our price consistent with our competitors in order for the community to have price consistency and gain product knowledge. We researched our media outlet a local broadcast TV and radio media station for their news worth reputation in the Rochester, NY community.

The complete marketing strategy in chapter two of the Marketing Management book aided my wife and I to develop a marketing strategy for our chiropractic business venture.