Blog # 5

First word: (ROCK)
Write out a few lines of your thoughts about this word. Just brainstorm here – a mind dump. You can write down any thoughts that come into your head as you think about the word, maybe synonyms, uses of the object, memories or whatever comes to mind.
I think my friend came up with the best word for an inanimate object/thing. I can't think of anything else that is inanimate like a rock. It just sits there and does nothing unless something acts upon it (force) to make it move. Some synonyms could be stone or things similar to it: bricks, baseballs (solid hard), pebbles, asteroids, comets, volcanoes. Some of the uses for a rock include anything that involves excerting force on it like throwing it to break a window or to hit something or also catching (playing a strange game of catch with rock). Some memories that come to mind when I think of a rock include being hit with a rock by a kid when I was little. I also remember silly things from my childhood like breaking a window with a rock. Basically negative associations come to mind when I think of a rock.

Second word: (WOOD)
This word that my friend came up with has a lot uses and almost limitless thoughts and ideas popped into to my head. With many uses being my first idea, they can include changing the make up of wood to create something useful like chairs, paper, pencils, bats, houses, floors, cups, walls, roofs, weapons, desks, counters, and so on (just a big list of things that are made out of wood). Some synonyms or close objects that resemble wood include, bark, tree and twigs. Based on the list above, obviously some uses include changing the wood to products for use-pencil to write with, chairs to sit on, desk to lay things on, bats to hit baseballs, houses to live in, floors to walk on, and so on. Some memories that come to mind when I think about wood are school related wood materials (pencils, papers and desks mostly).
Some ideas that come two mind when combining the two include:
One way would be to use the wood (bat) to exert force on the rock (or baseball....?)
Another would be to literally combine the two together like creating a circle with rocks with sticks in the middle...(whatever that is)
You can build a fort with the both rock and wood.
Similarly a house (shelter) can be built with both (rock floor and wood surroundings)
A mallet could be created with both
Flames by creating friction with wood and rock (flint)
A hammer (similiarly to a mallet)
Old-fashioned barbecue pit
Old-fashioned cart or car (round rocks as wheels and wood on top)
Another would be to have the wood in some shape making it a target for rock throwing.
Another is to shape or cut the rock into triangle form and placing a long rectangular piece of wood over it...as if to balance it (seesaw?)

As you can probably see, I feel it is difficult (maybe because I'm not used to it) to be creative with only a rock and wood as inanimate objects. But I can see how taking advantage and using each of the objects make up and uses can create possible products (as I also illustrated above from the possible outcomes from combining the two). As far as alterating the original ideas, I think suggested new uses for the products would make more sense (at least to me). For the pit, perhaps it can be used as a storage place of some kind or stone well (feel that this was already original in the first place but could've possibly evolved from a pit). Similarly a fort could've evolved to a simple shelter, or vice-versa. The use in the latter is for refuge while in the former is for protection. And finally the wood to exert force on the rock...could've possibly given rise to the birth of baseball (I can picture some cavemen playing around in that form)

Blog # 4

BLOG #4

　

As I was thinking about the topic for the paper, I realized I had no problem coming up with any ideas,in fact I came up with too many so I feel that my idea for the topic may perhaps be a bit ambigous since I wanted to focus on the overall element or key that seperates successful products from others (I expect to get some feedback that might narrow my topic). In other words, the answer to why they're successful and maybe how we might be able to come across these customer insights.

The way I plan to go about this is (and I'm open to any recommendations) by looking at few successful products or services and going into detail each of their stories-how marketers and researchers approached the target market, delivered the product, etc.

I feel I would be able to write a lot with this approach also because there are so many rich stories and examples out there of marketers stumbling into customer insights that (as mentioned in class) were obvious after their discovery but not so much in the beginning. I plan to use resources and concepts from other classes (marketing 460 information analysis and Brand Management) also to help me with the process.

I find this broad topic of mine interesting because I feel that I would be able to get a good picture of how to get to the root and heart of how successful products meet the needs of consumers (customer insights). Not just feature-wise but even emotionally-wise, as we have learned so far from class, consumers (or rather people) are very emotional and they can identify with a brand or product and be loyal (as how I experienced and mentioned in my last post about how I grew loyal to jiffy lube after experiencing great customer service). The way I see it, brands came out of a customer insight in itself. Customers a lot of times don't have time or expertise to decide among all the products and brands (problem), so they choose products or brands they trust among the many as a way to decide easier and save time (brands =solution?)

The connection of the successful products to customer insights is, in a sense the bridge? By going into detail and seeing how exactly marketers approached the customer problems, I can basically learn part of the process and requirements for getting to those customer insights (what it takes). As already mentioned it can be as simple as satisfying a single need under certain contextes but it can more complex as going beyond needs and satisfying values: attributes > benefits > values. I am interested in seeing an example of each.

One article I would like to use as example (can be reached at http://www.mail-archive.com/medianews@twiar.org/msg04090.html) is the same one that I mentioned in an earlier post. It all started when the phone company Vodafone at first had no luck selling their smartphones to the older market due to the phone being too complicated with fancy software and applications. But after focusing on and listening to their customers, they've learned that they just wanted a simple device that can work. Hence the "Vodafone Simply" was born ,



a simple phone that was tailored for older people (Pringle, p.1). Quantitative data was gathered through a survey conducted to understand the older people (to gain the insight).

Blog # 3

BLOG 3

I have never really thought about my experiences as a customer or my relationship with brands or companies, so it took some time for me to discern any meaningful experiences that I may have had as a customer. But the ones I was able to remember, I found it interesting how the thing that Professor Walls mentioned in class about how when a company gives value to a customer (through experiences etc.), the customer returns that value through more frequent purchases, positive word of mouth, etc., somewhat applied to me as a customer.

One of my most recent memorable experiences as a customer occurred at Jiffy Lube. It all happened when my car broke down, of all the places at a gasoline station due to the gas pump (ironically), so I ended up calling a number of stores (auto zone, other unknown shops) before calling Jiffy Lube, and was greatly disappointed by the customer service they offered which never bothered to go that extra mile in helping me out...Finally when I called Jiffy Lube (expecting no difference in service), one of the workers offered to go the extra mile and help pull the truck into the shop. With the surprise of my life I gratefully agreed and waited for my truck to be taken to the shop to be taken care of. Reflecting on this experience...I suppose that event made me feel...special. That value that I experienced was in fact reverted back in the form of more purchases (more oil changes), word of mouth (recommended friends with car troubles to Jiffy Lube), and favorable associations (while having negative ones to others like auto zone).

After this experience, I realized that more personal events have a bigger impact than just plain old advertisements (which are not as memorable...at least to me). However, in retrospect I do remember some ads or other experiences that were powerful. One that appeals to the senses, would obviously have to be Starbucks. The setting is perfect to make you wanna stay either to study or relax with friends and drink coffee. For me it feels almost like home or a good place to read and think about things (very convenient). The spatial setting of the tables, chairs, couches, and free wifi draws on students to drop by.



Of course not to mention the delcious products they offer that only add to the great experience at StarBucks!!



Advertisementwise, one ad that is always powerful is the one about the poor kids in Africa. I cannot recall the name exactly but I remember it clearly aiming for the audience's emotions. The sad pictures of the kids in poverty suffering everyday trying to survive,

　
was a powerful advertisement that inspired me to donate to the cause. The pictures were sad enough to make you melt in sadness....
A similar experience happened to me during class last semester when the Professor showed us a quick advertisement that was also asking for donations to help fix the cleft lips of kids in Africa. As the pictures were displayed slowly,



the Professor took the opportunity to talk about the hard lives that the kids had to deal with (on top of living in poverty) and the health risks that came with living with a cleft lip. Clearly appealing to the emotions, I was able to imagine and put myself in that kind of position (experience it). I pictured myself being made fun of, which is never fun, which the kids experienced such everyday (according to the Professor), so I ended donating in the end as well.

In breaking apart the experiences, I realize each has their own intended audience and purpose. For example, I thought it was amusing how the girls in class never understood (even disliked ha) the


under armour commercial of the professional athletes Professor Walls showed in class. With this in mind, the intended audience was obviously for guys (I understood it) or athletes. The slogan "for warriors" is only something athletes can understand when they stress their bodies to the limits. Anyway, going back to the first experience I recalled (Jiffy Lube), it was the excellent personal customer service that left me satisfied and loyal (value in return...). That experience is still burned in mind that I recommend anyone with car problems to Jiffy Lube. The last two ads, as already mentioned, appealed to the emotions, and not that I'm Mr. Sensitive-type of guy but it did move me enough to feel sad and help out in any way that I could (donation).

Blog 2

Dorian Silva
Mkt 372
　

BLOG 2

After reading the chapter on the persona lifecycle and the Cohort Personas powerpoint, I realized that the main objective of the marketer is to pinpoint specific type of persons (also known as segmentation). But of course caution needs to be taken when approaching this because (as mentioned in class) narrowing too much the segment can possibly lead to pinpointing down to single persons' lifestyle that may not fit a good segment (might not be big enough), and may end up being too expensive and a waste of time.

Starting off, when segmenting a marketer needs the basic characteristics of the market like demographics to divide the people into homogenous groups to begin the STP process (segment the market, target a market, position among competition). That is, personal characteristics such as age, gender, race, income, etc. The marketer can also use more useful info like their activities, leisure, spending, and hobbies for behavioral characteristics and feelings, opinions, and interests for psychographic characteristics (though harder to get than demographics).
With this in mind, when creating a persona for me or people like, it helps me to think in terms of an actual person. That is, creating an actual person. I like to think that with all the people out there it might be possible to almost randomly pick any characteristics from demographics, behavioral, and psychographic (even if it sounds crazy), and come up with a market segment to target (invent) and position. I came about this way of thinking in that the word "persona" means "person" in latin.

A marketer can get a persona of me or of people like me easily (as a typical american anyways) following the STP process. Beginning with the demographics, a marketer can start the STP process by categorizing me in the age group of 21+ (21 to 25), male, hispanic, off-campus student, and somewhat a broke college student (I say somewhat because I got some generous aid from financial aid). As far as behavioral characteristics, I am a very active person. Some of the hobbies and activities I enjoy (and that might cue in on a insight) are exercising, reading, listening to music, playing sports, driving randomly to clear my head, art, etc. Problems that I can think of when doing such activities include dealing with traffic (driving from my apartment to campus),




dealing with too many people when exercising (for example when at the gym),



 and time constraints (eventually having to do some work, sleep, etc.)




Finally some attitudes, opinions, and beliefs that I possess include being a liberal, belief in god, and not taking myself or things too seriously. Finding a solution and positioning to my problems may be hard and possibly not exist (at least at first sight) since dealing with traffic and people are almost inevitable, though it just may not be obvious.

Finding a solution and position to my problems may be hard and possibly not exist, since dealing with traffic and people are almost inevitable, though it just may not be obvious as well.

Blog 1

Blog 1



I thought it was pretty interesting how the history of the design philosophy followed a trend , evolving over time to better satisfy the needs of the customers by eventually focusing more on the customer and their problems themselves.

Starting off, we see that the designers began in a phase where the emphasis was not even on the customer. According to Raymond Loewy- “most advanced, yet acceptable”, eye popping technology or the idea that the more it does the better, took precedence over solving consumers problem. To me this sounds like a philosophy that would create complicated products that would do too many things for a person to handle, leading to low user satisfaction. One example that comes to mind is the "Vodafone Simply", a simple phone that was tailored to older people. The phone company Vodafone at first had no luck with the older market due to the phone being too complicated with fancy software and applications. But after focusing on and listening to their customers, they've learned that they just wanted a simple device that can work.

After that, the design philosophy changed to a more focus on the people by designing something that would deliver benefits to the human aspect. “If people are made safer, more comfortable, more eager to purchase, more efficient, or just happier, the designer has succeeded” said Henry Dreyfuss. Also to note, Mr. Mulhausen mentioned in class that at the time there was growing interest in Anthropometrics to figure out how exactly the product would function with the customer. Already a big change from the first view of design philosophy of Raymond Loewy, but not exactly complete in that it would make a person's life easier or solve his/her problems.

The trend continued to improve as the design philosophy changed again with Eero Saarinen who focused on fitting the product in a bigger context. "Always design a thing by considering its next larger context- a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan". Furthering the evolution, Charles Eames preached "design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose". In other words arranging elements in a way to best accomplish the purpose, which to me sounds strongly like Apple, where the famous ipod is absolutely the best example of arranging elements in way to listen to music to its full potential.

Finally, the design philosophy evolution reached its final stage when Dieter Rams said that "good design is as little design as possible". Dieters' ten principles of good design sounds to me that when it comes to designing a product, the product has to get to the point quickly in a useful way that makes sense in itself. As Mr. Mulhausen mentioned, Apple is a big fan of Rams' philosophy where the ipod itself was designed to be simple and to make sense in way that instructions are not even necessary.

The design philosophy in the end has shifted from being competition based to improving the lives of the people.