Creative Content

Implementation Evaluation Control

"Through implementation, the company turns the plans into actions." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 39) At Merken Jerky we will maintain close relationships with our bars and nightclubs (where the scene is taking place) through our networkers and our marketing teams. We believe we can take control of what people want as well as providing what we produce. "Control consists of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing activities and taking corrective action where needed."  (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 39)

Implementation Evaluation Control

"Through implementation, the company turns the plans into actions." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 39) At Merken Jerky we will maintain close relationships with our bars and nightclubs (where the scene is taking place) through our networkers and our marketing teams. We believe we can take control of what people want as well as providing what we produce. "Control consists of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing activities and taking corrective action where needed."  (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 39)

Marketing Mix: Price

"Pricing may play an important role in helping to accomplish company objectives at many levels. A firm can set prices to attract new customers or to profitably retain existing ones. It can set prices low to prevent competition from entering the market or set prices at competitors’ levels to stabilize the market."(Marketing: An Introduction; Armstrong/Kotler; 9 Pricing Understanding and Capturing Customer ...; pg. 18 of 59) Based on the fact that our distribution is going to be a little selective to only bars nightclubs, and a few grocers, our price range will be just outside of what you might pay for a normal snack, but will not be super expensive either. We don't want people to think that cheap means it's not that good, and also on the contrary that if it's expensive, that noone will buy it. Therefore, our Package price for Merken Jerky will be $8.00. It's an affordable price for an experience worth waiting for. "For most purchases, consumers don’t have all the skill or information they need to figure out whether they are paying a good price. They don’t have the time, ability, or inclination to research different brands or stores, compare prices, and get the best deals. Instead, they may rely on certain cues that signal whether a price is high or low" (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition pg 292)

Marketing Mix: Distribution

"In some markets, the distribution system is complex and hard to penetrate, consisting of many layers and large numbers of intermediaries." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing pg 325. The way the we are going to distribute Merken Jerky is fairly generalized. It's going to be available at some convenience stores. We want to value the Merken for certain occasions and locations but not limit the ability for people to buy small amounts of their own. Merken Jerky will be more widely available at bars, nightclubs, and party-type surroundings. We feel that Merken Jerky is not for an everyday snack; it is to lure you to the bar and the excitement of finaly having that tangy flavor again."Exclusive distribution also enhances the brand’s image and allows for higher markups.( Marketing: An introduction; Armstong/Kotler; 10 Marketing Channels Delivering Customer Value;page 25 of 50)"

Marketing Mix: Promotion

"Sales promotions are usually used together with advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, or other promotion mix tools. Consumer promotions must usually be advertised and can add excitement and pulling power to ads."(Marketing: An Introduction; Armstrong/Kotler; 13 Personal Selling and Sales Promotion; page 38 of 49) Our promotions for Merken Jerky are going to be radio commercials, TV commercials, magazine ads and posters in some major bars. The key to all our promoting will be the our "Centuries old perfection" On our TV commercials, once you take your first tast, you get electrified, both literally and emotionally from anything that may worry you. Our goal is to spice up your evening so that you will spice up your life "Today, in the average consumer packaged-goods company, sales promotion accounts for 74 percent of all marketing expenditures." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 37)

Marketing Mix: Product

"Product is Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. "Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition pg. 208. Merken Jerky is made from 100% hand cut, cornfed beef, dried and hung for 72 hours. Only water from the natural aquifers in the Netherlands mixes it for the hydration process. After being cut, it's then blended with our unique mix of spices. These processes ensure an even the highest quality for each batch. Specialty products are consumer products and services with unique characteristics or brand identification for which a significant group of buyers is willing to make a special purchase effort." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 8) Merken Jerky is a centuries old, perfected mix of spices and flavors pleasing to the senses and makes a night worth looking forward to.
"A consumer product that the customer, in the process of selection and purchase, usually compares on such bases as suitability, quality, price, and style... Shopping products marketers usually distribute their products through fewer outlets but provide deeper sales support to help customers in their comparison efforts." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 211)

Target Market Strategy

A marketing strategy consists of specific strategies for target markets, positioning, the marketing mix, and marketing expenditure levels."(2 Company and Marketing Strategy Partnering to ... ; Marketing: An Introduction; Armstrong/Kotler; pg 33). For Merken Jerky, our target audience is both male and females above 21. Anybody that enjoys having a drink after work, or drinking off a hard day with their friends, will enjoy some tangy, spicy, Incan inspired merken jerky to keep their stomaches full which will keep their glasses fuller "After a company has defined market segments, it can enter one or many of these segments. Market targeting involves evaluating each market segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more segments to enter. A company should target segments in which it can profitably generate the greatest customer value and sustain it over time" (Marketing: An Introduction; Armstrong/Kotler pg 50).

SWOT Analysis

"The marketer should conduct a SWOT analysis, by which it evaluates the company’s overall strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T). Strengths include internal capabilities, resources, positive situational factors that may help the company to serve its customers and achieve its objectives."(Marketing: An Introduction; Armstrong/Kotler; 2 Company and Marketing Strategy Partnering to ... pg. 31) SWOT Analysis is a useful marketing technique for understanding the companies or brands Strengths and Weaknesses, and for identifying both the Opportunities open to you, and the Threats you face as a business. "Planning good strategies is only a start toward successful marketing. A brilliant marketing strategy counts for little if the company fails to implement it properly."(Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions p. 57) The Strength for Merken Jerky is that its tangy flavor will spice up your night. It'll energize you and will make you feel alive. There is only one weakness, there just isnt enough jerky in one package. Once your friends have a taste, you better just buy a whole case because it won't be there for long. "Managing the marketing function begins with a complete analysis of the company’s situation." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 34) 

Objectives

"Within individual business units, marketing designs strategiesfor reaching the unit’s objectives. Once the unit’s objectives are set, marketing’s task is to help carry them out profitably." (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong/Kotler, page 17) The objective for Aztec Merken Jerky is to have the utmost good time. It doesn't matter where you are and what your state of mind is; Merken Jerky will help you continue your night of wonder. Your current surroundings will be enjoyable at all times! It will help your alcohol let you overcome your fears, electrifying you with self control. "These objectives should be based on past decisions about the target market, positioning, and the marketing mix, which define the job that advertising must do in the total marketing program. The overall advertising objective is to help build customer relationships by communicating customer value." - Marketing: An Introduction; Armstrong/Kotler pg 19

Week 10 - Features Vs. Benefits

Merken Jerky has an authentic, zesty, Aztec flavor from South America that will keep you going all night long with beer in hand. The light but flavorful taste of merken jerky is made to accompany any alcoholic drink. While keeping the calories low, the satisfaction will always remain high.

Less calories means more jerky for you, more jerky equals more of a reason to drink beer, and more beer is never a bad thing. Merken Jerky's salty, tangy flavor will help absorb the alcohol in your stomach and keep you coherent for the entire party.

Week 9 - Mission Statements

http://seansshowings.blogspot.com/search/label/Final%20Project

"Mission statements should be meaningful and specific yet motivating. They should emphasize the company’s strengths in the marketplace."

Very straight forward, very concise and very incising  It this is a strong statement that would have potential buyers and consumers leaping at the chance to bring this product into their mix.



http://mossartmusicmedia.blogspot.com/

This statement shows a competitive edge within the company. It is not necessarily a good idea to make it part of the business model to compete for customers, although, that is exactly what takes place.



http://marketingjess.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-11-21T13:40:00-08:00&max-results=7

Shows the eagerness to continue to build within the industry and become enlightened and inspire their target market to better serve them and create a true sense of belonging.

Week 7 EOC - The pitch

Incan inspired Merken jerky from Chile. It's jerky with a traditional spice blend made of dried and smoked aji cacho de cabra chiles, toasted coriander seeds, cumin, and salt. With a spicy, smooth blend of spices. Merken Jerky is the snack of choice when enjoying your favorite game at the bar with a beer in your hand. Not too spicy but not the same boring, bland jerky from the corner store. Merken jerky comes from thousands of years of tradition and culture dating back to the 1500s. "Ch'arki", a name derived from the Quechuan language of the Incas (which literally translates into "dried meat"), later evolved into what we now call jerky. The discovery of Jerky allowed humans to both store food for long periods of time and have an easily carried, dense source of nutrition to take with them on journeys. Jerky is both flavorful and compact and almost any meat (except pork) can be made into jerky. Some say Native Americans made the first jerky (buffalo jerky) thousands of years ago, while others say an ancient Inca tribe called the Quechua made jerky as early as the 1500's. Whatever the case, this time tested recipe has been passed from generation to generation.
When the first Europeans arrived in the New World, they found that the Natives were making a dried meat product that did not need to be consumed immediately and they instantly knew that jerky would be beneficial to them. What the Native American tribes called "pemmican" was jerky meat added to either crushed dried fruit or animal fat. The Native Americans taught the settlers how to cut and prepare the meat into long strips and later shared with them the entire jerky-making process and some variations of seasonings to make different recipes. With this newfound knowledge and time-tested recipe, the European pioneers found themselves cooking and consuming jerky more than ever before; it was absolutely the snack of choice.
Jerky reached its height of popularity during the expansion into North America, where traders and explorers prized it as an essential source of nutrition as they traveled to new areas with limited accessibility to fresh food and supplies along the way. The fact that meat could be hunted anywhere along the trails that the settlers were following to the West made this method of preparing meat an extremely valuable skill. This was also the introduction of other jerky meat types such as turkey, goose, and other wild game. As the industrial age in America approached many companies saw the potential of producing jerky products in large quantities for mass consumption. Today millions of people around the world now enjoy jerky products. Join the bandwagon and enjoy the world's best tasting snack!
During his time in South America, Fogg tried and tasted many foods. Several of which had an old spice recipe known as Merken. He took a liking to this set of spices and tried combining it with different foods. eventually he came up with putting it on dried meat...while experimenting, suddenly Mr. Fix caught up to him and blew the door open to the small one bedroom apartment he had been staying in with the lovely owner Consuela. Fogg hastily snatched up all of his meat and merken within arms reach and jumped out of the second story window, falling straight onto a cart full of corn and toppling over onto the street. He then sprinted down the street and around the corner to his balloon and made a quick getaway.

EOC: Week 5

While the traditionally used method of requesting an application and returning it to an employer still exists, many companies are now turning to the faster and more informative method of using social media to seek out and recruit new employees. Some job sites have been around for almost a decade, like Monster.com, an online job posting site as well as a sight to post a resume or portfolio for potential employers to search for. The newer, LinkedIn, job site is a corporate style site used for the same purpose as Monster.com. However, LinkedIn also utilizes a user profile as a sort of pre interview process so that the candidates are able to express themselves as well as flaunt their skills and past experiences by posting their work on their profile.

Many companies are looking past Monster.com and LinkedIn due to the overwhelming information and social marketing influencing the profiles on Facebook. The majority of social-media traffic to Waste Management Inc.'s careers website comes from Facebook, beating out LinkedIn, said Jenny DeVaughn, manager of social media and employment branding.Companies are able to get a much clearer picture of the person they are hiring as well as the ability to see what other people think about them and the usual habits of their potential employee. More companies are using Facebook as a corporate reference because it is a real-time and real life online persona of anybody they seek to employ.

Companies like Monster and LinkedIn, are now even offering a cash reward for anybody who refers somebody through Facebook. Companies are becoming so infatuated with the idea that Facebook is a true-to-life representation of the people they seek to hire that they are now starting to pay people who use Facebook as a tool in helping to search for new people and keep in contact with someone they feel has what they are looking for. Many corporations are now building entire marketing and hiring strategies solely around Facebook and how it is able to connect and inform on their potential candidates.

Week 4 EOC: Marketing at work

The consumer relationship between the product and themselves is a tricky one. The fact that you could have the best product in the world and it's proven to work more efficiently than anything on the market and is half the price, does not mean that it will attract the attention of your targeted buyers. The main element in building the desired relationship is marketing and advertising. Without the correct type of marketing strategy and an ineffective advertising campaign, no matter how superior your product is, it will fall on deaf ears.
Building this strategy and recognizing the correct path to take in order to reach your buyers is an entirely different circumstance. According to a CSXT purchasing executive, the company “evaluates many cost factors before awarding … a locomotive contract. This shows the process of how a product is processed before being used or "sent out" for business.
Environmental impact, fuel consumption, reliability, serviceability [are] all key elements in this decision.” But also important is “the value of our ongoing partnership with GE.” Again this shows that a lot of thought is put into a product and its evaluation before actually being produced or put on the shelf for a customer to ponder.

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

Video game sales are down due to the nations recession. people are not buying new video games as much anymore because industry leaders are promoting updates and add-ons that help to enrich older games to keep them up with the times.


"Sales of new videogames, consoles and accessories in U.S. retail stores fell 20% to $515.6 million, down from $647.2 million the same time a year ago, according to survey data from NPD Group."
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-videogame-industry-sales-fall-by-one-fifth-2012-09-06

"Sales of Internet-delivered content, micro-transactions and mobile applications amounted to $391 million in sales, while rentals and used-game sales rang in at $104 million."
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-videogame-industry-sales-fall-by-one-fifth-2012-09-06

These statistics are a clear indicator that more people are purchasing in-game content or add-ons from sources like "Xbox Live" or "Playstation Network" rather than buying a new game to add to their arsenal. Why buy the new Assassin's Creed when you haven't finished downloading and playing the rest of the old one? In this aspect, gamers can actually wait to buy the "new" games for several months, this means that the $59.99 price tag has, in most cases, dropped significantly and is now a more affordable game. Meanwhile, $20-30 can get you more content for a two year old game than the one that just came out and is twice the price.


Last week, Amazon blamed weak quarterly results from its media business on a decline in videogame sales. "You're seeing an industry slowdown in games and consoles," said Amazon finance chief Tom Szutak in a conference call
This directly supports the fact that consumers are not willing to put out the money to buy a new console when they can stay home and save money by playing the same games they've had or update one of them to make it more interesting. I think a lot of the "plunge" has come from the uprise of apps and smartphone games and media. These apps are now making entertainment and games available on the go without spending a fortune to buy an entirely new platform just to enjoy the experience of a new game environment.

Week 1 EOC: Customer Service

So I was interested in buying a new computer as I needed something powerful enough to run the programs I needed to use for school. I got onto one of my favorite websites for audio related equipment www.sweetwater.com. After searching for about 5 seconds, I found the sweetwater creation stations. I looked through the four models and decided on the one that I was interested in, the Creation Station 1500. It was unclear from the description if the processing power and hardware were going to be enough to run my programs to my satisfaction. I don't normally try to talk to salesmen as I am not interested in being hit up to buy extra things that I don't need for prices that I don't want to pay. This time however, I took a chance and emailed the regional representative, Allen. The only reason I decided to talk to one of the representatives was because everybody I know who has used sweetwater swears by them and refuses to use anybody else for their audio/video needs. Within about 30 min, I received a response from the rep containing a precise answer to my question as well as a question of his own. Surprisingly his question was not something like "have you considered this item instead?" or "how about this to go along with it?". He asked me what my current machine was so he could assist me with whether I even need to spend the money on a new computer or not. I was pleasantly surprised that I was not being asked to fulfill a quota or rack up commission. I replied back with a rather complicated answer and another question. I soon recieved a phone call from a number I didn't recognize so I ignored it and waited to see if they left a message. I checked the message later and it was Allen. He said that because of the complexity of my last email, he felt more comfortable talking to me over the phone so that I wouldn't be confused by his answer. Again, I was both surprised and very appreciative. At this point, I didn't need anymore information about sweetwater to know that I would never use anybody else. I returned Allen's phone call and we talked for about two hours. First about my inquiry about the computer, then about how I'm an audio student and the techniques and equipment I'm familiar with and his opinions and experience with them. Then a little about his family and what it's like to work at sweetwater, and my family life and my future career.
   After all said and done, I ended up buying a different computer from sweetwater, for less money and more power for what I needed because Allen asked me the right questions and helped me to find the correct equipment for my purpose. I have now talked with Allen several times about other items I've purchased from sweetwater. He asked me, jokingly at one point "are you making you're own studio now Kyle? I see you've purchased all these items and I was wondering if I could rent some time from you?"
  Sweetwater is based out of Indiana. It is far away and I've never been to their location, however, I refuse to buy anything from anybody else. I will often make trips to Guitar Center and Sam Ash to see the items I want in person before I buy them, but I always get on sweetwater when I'm ready to buy. Their customer service is fantastic. Their webiste is very well made and easy to use. Their prices are great, and most of all, their in-house warranties and return policies are worth every penny. I can't see myself using anybody but Sweetwater for the rest of my life.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

My name is Kyle Fite, as you can see from my blog name. I am currently an Audio/Video student at the Art Institute of Las Vegas. I will be graduating in March of 2013 and pursuing a career in the US Navy. I am working on my degree out of passion for a hobby that I started with when I was in middle school.
   Starting in sixth grade I became a saxophone player. Throughout middle school and high school I went from playing one instrument (Alto Saxophone) to playing twelve instruments and winning multiple awards both at the state and national level. My passion for music and for sound as a whole is one that accompanies me through every moment of every day. I find rhythm and music in everything around me, and am fascinated with how the sound is made or produced and actively try to dissect how it was created. My original goal was to enter the military by way of the US Naval Academy. Plans went awry and that didn't work out. After searching for a path to take I came up with the Art Institute due to my love of music and the sounds of the earth. I quickly became familiar with the hardware and software associated with my field and also with the industries many sub fields and those industries around me. I am now a very proficient audio, video, and visual FX creator and editor. I have done several pieces which showcase my various skill sets.
  Within audio I am very familiar with post production sound. Things like sound design, foley, mixing/mastering in post, video capturing/editing, cinematography, lighting, set design as well as authoring and branding. With visual FX I have found another passion. I am efficient with After Effects, Encore, Premier, Illustrator, Photoshop, Etc. I taught myself everything I know about vis effects and love to create new things, or backwards engineer effects that I've seen from feature films or indie movies that intrigue me.
   I wish to use the knowledge from my college career as a fallback for when I leave the Navy later in life. I wanted a degree specifically so I could be an officer. I originally wanted to fly, however, after speaking with a few colleagues and searching within myself, I am now undertaking a SEAL training challenge to prepare me for the most intense training in the world Basic Underwater Demolition/ SEAL training (BUD/s).