EOC: Week 10: what are the benefits vs the features?

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

                When creating a new product for the market, you have to think like a consumer a view the possibilities of all angles. The key is to make sure your product is successful, and does not fail when it gets to the market place. A very important thing to do before releasing a new product to the customers is to have the company test it to make sure it works the correct way upon release. Something the company does not want, and many times does not plan for, is if a product hits the market and something goes wrong with it making it a defect. This will call for a market wide recall on the product making consumers wary and wanting to stay away from it all together. The book stated a couple good reasons why or products fail like, oversize, product design problems, in correctively positioned or priced, excessive development cost, competitive reaction, or poor research findings. When I did research for my bar snack food product “Lava Cakes”, I did a lot of research to make sure that this product would attract the buyers and would work in the intended market place. The benefit is that this food give the average bar goer something to snack on while drinking to stay awake and purchasing more drinks, or having some sort of food in the stomach. The cool feature of this product is that it comes along with a story that also gets the bar goer involved with other individuals at the bar to strike up conversation that otherwise might not have happened. When coming up with a new concept for products it’s important to look at the existing market and start idea screening products, or the process used to get and spot good ideas and drop others to stay on top of the competition.

EOC – Mission statements

EOC – Mission statements

Throughout the class many students had very interesting mission statements for their Philelas Fogg alcoholic snack food products. These snack foods were based off of the movie around the world in 80 days, and were made for a slightly older audience, or the market that goes to the bar. Knowing this many students created a very interesting pitch, as well as a mission statement to go along with their products. Abbott, Joaquim http://jquik.blogspot.com/ had a great mission statement that states the brand right in the first sentence. I like the way he explains the unique flavor as well as the journey around the world, and the conversation starting snack for the bar scene. The only thing that Joaquim could have done is used a quote from the book.  Another student that had a pretty good mission statement was Orta, Marty  http://martyortaphotography.blogspot.com/. He went into great detail describing his food with flavor as well as how it will appeal, and attract to the customer. His is also ideal because it doesn’t say or mention the company making money, because that is something the consumer doesn’t need to hear, and something that they really don’t care about. The customer is buying the product based on the taste and quality. Another student whose mission statement I liked was Fite, Kyle  http://kylefite.blogspot.com/ . His mission statement attracts the consumer to go out and purchase the snack with fancy words, as well as describing the taste of the bar snack food. Kyle goes after the fact that it’s a bar food and conveys that smoothly to the buyer. The other great point to this mission statement is that he also describes where and in what locations will the snack be sold in. This main fact is important to get across to the consumer to understand why the consumer would want to buy it, and exactly where they need to go to buy it.

Week 8 EOC: Creative Content

Week 8 EOC: Creative Content

                On the creative content part of this project for Phineas & Fogg I will do several different things to get the product out on the market. Every product goes through many different stages of trial before it gets to the market and the consumer. The first’s stage I will figure out what kind of package the Lava Cake will come in so it will attract the public. For the Lava cake, made out of bread with honey nuts baked inside, I will put it in a see through bag where the bread will stay fresh and will not go stale. I decided to choose a see through bag because the potential customers will; be able to look through the bag and see the freshness of the product, as well as the coloration of the bread to ensure there is no mold on it. The Lava Cake would be priced around the same price as a loaf of bread so it will sell quickly and not sit on the shelf too long. The idea of the product is to get it sold as soon as possible. This item will be sold in grocery stores, in a slightly larger quantity for families, as well as in convince stores like 7-11 and gas station snacks in a smaller go size. For my logo I will draw up a gingerbread cookie man running away from a volcano that resembles hot bread that is fresh and warm to eat. This logo will also relate to the running, or on the go aspect, that Phineas & Fogg had during the movie around the world in 80 days. I will also come up with another logo for the Lava Cake that strictly relates to the food and the story from the movie that will attract people to read the story and capture the movie goers to buy the treat because they liked the movie.

Business Mission Statement

Business Mission Statement

We at Phileas Fogg Food Company provide innovative, quality food products and services that meet the needs of our customers and consumers. We are a food company that dare to be different than our competitors to provide a better quality comfort food that people all over the world can enjoy. As well as traveling around the world, we strive to gather the best ingredients to bake the freshest quality of snacks. While making Lava Cake at Phileas Fogg’s we’re not only committed to making, marketing and distributing foods, we are committed to making foods better. We believe in building value through creative new product development, improved product processing, innovative packaging, more effective distribution as well as inventive marketing. We also support our products throughout the distribution chain, so that each and every item from Phileas Fogg’s Food Company is the best product it can be for the consumers.

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

“Marketers are now working to harness the newfound communications power of their everyday customers, turning them into influential brand ambassadors.”(An Introduction for Education Management Corporation) Marketers today are now beginning to expand on their businesses by increasing the marketing campaigns as well as where the ads are seen and by who. The market is expanding in so many way by places and locations affect who sees what is advertised and if they can afford the product, as well as by mediums like technology and televisions. Companies really want their brands exposed to you, and the more they can get that across to you the better chance they have of you purchasing there product. Facebook has achieved the goal of product placement every time you log in to use it, there are items and places that you might like, click on, or even buy right then. They feel like the more they expose the users to it the better chance they have of the consumer being aware of the commercials and products, as well as the consumer going out and purchasing the item. “In addition to posting jobs and videos of current employees on its Facebook page, the company has recruiters and other employees find user groups and join discussions.”(An Introduction for Education Management Corporation) Facebook has become an easy medium for not only friends to chat and connect on, but also for friends to check in on companies, and their jobs. Facebook and other social media sites have expanded to letting the companies relate to its users on a personal level and letting them communicate with them. In this case we, the consumer, can have an idea what the company is working on many times before a commercial comes out on TV. If current growth trends continue, Facebook could rival traditional job boards in 2012(Recruiters Troll Facebook For candidates they like) At this rate consumers will just look to online social sites, and the sites of the companies themselves for the new scoop, rather than going to the big stores to ask questions and found out what the new products are by local associates.

Week 4: Business to Business

Week 4: Business to Business

“The consumer market as we know consist of All the individuals and households who purchase goods and services for personal use.” (www.answers.com) Some major factors that that we used to base what we will buy are based off of the culture we were raised in as well as the culture around us, our families, commercials, and also our friends. Many of these factors, as well as social class, and flexible spending money affect what we buy without us even thinking about it. There are five main stages in the consumer buying decision process which include a need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behavior.(Marketing: an Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, pg.134) The apple brand has made a great connection with consumers by being there for them when they need help,  and also welcoming the user into a technology family. The adoption and diffusion process for new products is big in marketing, especially for the United States, where we make purchases based off memories and feelings of certain products. (http://allthingsd.com) the business market is always growing and expanding, especially with ever growing technology, the companies have to keep up to compete with other brands.  The companies have to keep on creating new products as well as making flashy commercials to gain the attention from the consumers and draw them in. If a company falls behind a little bit another one will come in and take the spot with new materials and gaining the crowd of the previous company causing them to reinvent the brand. The steps in the business buying decision process really relate to the way we think and we can further understand this by using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. These needs are a five step process that consists of Physical needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization. By knowing these steps we can understand why we make some of the purchases we do.

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

                Since I was born in the time period from 1977 – 2000 I fall into the category of the millennial generation. This generation has a massive amount of purchasing power in the consumer market with $733 Billion dollars. The true definition of millennials or the millennial generation by the book is “a term used by demographers to describe a segment of the population born between 1980 and 2000 (approximately). Sometimes referred to in the media as "Generation Y," millennials are the children of the post-WWII baby boomer generation.”www.pewsocialtrends.org)( Based on some research there are about 76 million millennials in the United States. This group was raised on fast food and self-entertainment and raising, rather than many of the other groups where many individuals were taught lessons by family instead of friends. This group has hit the ground running after education as well as technology to catch up to the ever expanding market that seems to keep on expanding.(http://apps.americanbar.org) This group has had to graduate high school, as well as finish college to even make an decent impression on an interviewer and keep on moving on the path towards their dreams because there is some much competition. Everyone in this group is trying to do the same thing where there isn’t as much support compared to the other groups and how they started and were raised.  The millennials in the United States have adapted to technology as well as the new things in the world a lot quicker than the rest of the generations where it seems the market is leaving them behind.(http://nrn.com/article/targeting-your-demographic?page=0,1) This generation group is based on entertainment and the market to keep in growing and expanding with the new ideas and reinventions that keep coming out. This young, and relatively new generation is still adapting to the other groups and working and reaching out to make things happen, as well as making changes in the world.

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

                Nike is a shoe company that has grown throughout the years and has become widely known. The company has many supporters in the United States and has grown to become known throughout the world too. They have used many different sports as well as athletes to spread the world about their shoes and how great they are for all kinds of sports. The company throughout the years have also placed there logo on clothing products to help spread the word of their company. Nike has also decided to support and sponsor certain athletes of whom they chose to get the word across to the public’s eyes in a nice positive way. According to halogen TV they stated Nike as the number one company in a quote stating “Nike donated more than 78 million to the following causes: children and youth, conflict resolution, human rights, international relief and development and recreation. Nike gave 5.3 percent of its income to charitable causes in 2009.”(www.csrwire.com)( By Nike giving back to those countries and individuals less fortunate, the consumers want to buy more to feel like they are supporting as well as help out the cause. This is a positive movement where the company doesn’t hog all the money and they give back to those in need. According to athletic business.com “Nike has agreed to provide more than $1.5 million in pay and benefits to 1,800 workers at two apparel factories in Honduras.”(www.mrporter.com) Nike has also come in after many world disasters to come and help those that are in dire need like for the Hurricane Katrina disaster in Louisiana. Nike also looks after there current, and former workers, “According to The New York Times, a Nike spokeswoman says the $1.54 million is for “a worker relief fund” and not severance pay. Nike also agreed to provide vocational training and finance health coverage for laid-off workers.”(www.ethisphere.com)

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

Alexander Moss

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

                The “Videogame Makers Can't Dodge Recession” article by the Wall Street Journal is saying that it is getting harder and more difficult to continue to sell games to the market when the prices continue to climb, and go up, and we as America continue to stay in a recession. The article is stating that the makers of these games need to get with the program and make them more affordable for the consumers so people can still buy the products. “A professor at the Stern Business School at NYU has been conducting research in Japan on the effect of the secondary market in video games on new game sales. According to preliminary results from the study, the used game market actually increases sales in the new game market.” (blog.pricecharting.com) I agree with the professor because people just want to play the games the gamers don’t really care if it is new or not, as long as the game works. Myself as a gamer prefer used games because I feel like I’m getting a deal and I can follow the series of the games by starting with the first one, and playing them all the way through.

                According to, toptenreviews.com, the Xbox360 is the top console for 2012. “Video game graphics are becoming more and more advanced by the minute, multimedia capabilities are improving and gaming is becoming more and more common every day.” Many of users now days look for the consoles that go online so they can play against their friends. “Developments in hardware and software have given artist an even wider palette of tools with which to create.” (americanart.si.edu) I feel that the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 area both competing for the market to reach the star level. Both systems have online users that play every day as well as the family games. The ipad and iphone apps are really the ones on top of the market. The WII system I would put under the cash cow category because it still makes games and is out in the market but only for the younger kids it seems like they need to really expand their market to catch up. The PlayStation 2 console, as well as the Nintendo DS, are in the question mark section to me because they have games out on the market but they put out very few, and don’t advertise enough to generate revenue. The system that would be in the dog category is the Nintendo 64 or the Atari systems because they have been of the market for some time and only fun for collectors.

EOC #2: week 1

EOC #2 week 1

Alex Moss

I have always had an interest in custom cars. I was inspired by the shows like “Pimp my Ride” and worked to put all the extras on my personal everyday car. I was inspired by the music video where all these cars had the Lamborghini doors that went straight up in the air, and I thought that was the coolest original thing. The problem was that this was a new thing where no one had the money or even though about doing something so crazy to their car. I found a person I Baltimore to do it and I was one of the first in my area. He did for really cheap and I thought it was a great deal. Later the door wouldn’t close and I got really mad and I was furious because he was a professional in the field and I couldn’t find him or get a hold of him anymore. He failed on the main fact of customer relationship management where “the overall process of building and maintaining profitable customer relationships by delivering superior customer values and satisfaction”(page 45), because I was far from satisfied and furious. Later that week I found a custom car shop fairly close to my house that could fix it and helped me with no issues. Long story short they always catered to my needs and helped me out I ended up becoming a normal customer who would always stop in. I decided to make frequent stops to this shop because they cared about their customers and went out of the way to order parts and make sure I the customer had received everything I needed in one stop while getting a low price if not the best price in the area on new stuff for my car. This is what customers like where businesses go out of their way to help the customer.

EOC #1: week 1

EOC week 1

I am Alexander Moss and i am a recording professional. I originally went to the Art institute of Washington DC, but transferred to the Art Institute of Las Vegas to further my profession. I first got introduced into the audio industry since a young age and never stopped moving forward to working in it. I have received my training through various courses and class, and have played many instruments like the trumpet, drums, guitar, piano, and bass guitar just to name a few. My passion from music started in the family where both of my parents were fully involved in musical field which inspired me as well. Once I moved out here to Las Vegas my brother and I decided to start a family music company. For us it is not all about the money, it is about having fun with what you do, as well as following your heart and passion for the music. We work together to make many mixes and beats to make mash ups and songs that are brand new that relates to the times of the era. We all love music and it’s about following the passion of the heart and bringing the glory to the music. Feel free to check out www.mossart.org where the music comes to life with free downloads.