Week 5 EOC: Social Networking and Job Hunting

Word of mouth still is one of the best ways to market. "Thanks to modern technology, armed with little more than a video camera, laptop, and a cell phone, anyone can spread the word about products and brand experiences to thousands, even millions, of other consumers." (p143)  There's a new mouth to help get the word out, and that new mouth is social media. Companies are using, what they tagged, brand ambassadors programs, to organize and supercharge consumer-to-consumer interactions about their brands. These ambassadors of brand are everyday consumers who are passionate about their products to act as part PR agents, part sales reps, and part evangelists. So if this program worked for the goose, it should also work for the gander. According to the article by Joel Light,

More companies are trying to tap Facebook Inc.'s 750-million-plus user base to find new employees, threatening traditional job boards and competing with LinkIn Corp., which has dominated the online professional networking arena. Eventhough the use of job-recruiting is low, it's appeal is slowing increasing. I believe companies are adapting to find able candidates in an more efficient way, through a virtousouly endless pool of potential employees. Of course, like many things on the Internet, everything can't be reliable information, but with companies already trusting the Facebook brand, hunting for future employment can begin right where it left off, the social media.

 

 

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

So what is great customer service? Let's break it down. Okay, first we have to realize what a customer is and who we want our customer to be. Secondly, we must figure out that customer's wants and needs to be able to provide the best possible service. Lastly, the services rendered should in turn create a relationship that should last long after the initial service experience. In order to deliver great customer service, you must know your target customer. This is important because knowing who you want to service better gives you the right plan of action needed to develop a product for your customers. Once you have figured out who, finding out their interests, likes and dislikes will allow you to come out with a service specific for your clientele. Building that lasting relationship depends on your attitude toward providing excellent service and the commitment to consistently deliver that service. Great customer service isn't about the selling, it's about the people.

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

Millennials. Both the baby boomers and Gen Xers will one day be passing the reins to the Millennials (also called Generation Y or the echo boomers). Born between 1977 and 2000, these children of the baby boomers number 83 million, dwarfing the Gen Xers and larger even than the baby boomer segment. This group includes several age cohorts: tweens (aged 9–12), teens (13–18), and young adults (19–32). With total purchasing power of more than $733 billion, the Millennials make up a huge and attractive market.
-Millennials have fluency and comfort with digital technology.
-Millennials were the first generation to grow up in a world filled with computers, cellphones, satellite TV, iPods, and online social networks.
-91 percent of Millennials are on the Web, making up 32 percent of all U.S. Internet users.
-77 percent of Millennials frequent social networking sites and 71 percent use instant messaging.
It's true. The Millennials are the digital generation. Without technology busting at the seams entering the 2000s and the way of life it brings, the purchasing power wouldn't be that great in numbers. I agree with the ability to use social media has shifted marketing strategies to focus on multiple facets of the consumer's needs.

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

“This was the first time our company was involved in a program like this so we didn’t know what to expect,” said Scott Henderson, president of Living Essentials. “The response was overwhelming. We challenged 5-hour ENERGY® fans to make us write a big check, and they really came through. In October 2012, Pink Lemonade flavor 5-hour ENERGY® was released. Between October 1 and December 31, 2012,five cents of every bottle of Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY® sold was donated to the Avon Foundation for Women Breast Cancer Crusade.The Avon Foundation for Women continues its search for new preventive strategies to address the growing number of breast cancer cases around the globe. To develop new strategies to prevent breast cancer, we need to understand the causes of breast cancer in people, changes in breast cells that give rise to cancer, markers for disease, and how breast cancer progresses (avonfoundation.org)An advertising campaign got the word out across national TV, radio and Internet. Response to the new flavor and its tie-in to a great cause generated such great demand for Pink Lemonade 5-hour ENERGY® that two additional production runs had to be ordered.