Blog Post 8 - Reflection

Over the course of the semester, I have learned a lot in my marketing class taught by Professor Nelson. Throughout the course, I learned about the ways marketing affects our decisions to buy products every day and they amount of research and thought that is put into marketing, which I had never really thought about before. After reading Buyology, I quickly learned how much marketing was affecting my everyday life. It taught me how much time companies take to research and learn about the consumer in order to target their marketing towards them. It’s important for the employees at each company to know their consumer as well because it gives them a better understanding of what their function is within the market.

Understanding marketing is a long-term task. While we can cover a large majority of the material in class, we won’t fully understand it until we put it into practice like we did throughout the course of the semester. With the simulation, we were able to select a target market and work on advertising and customizing our product to their specific needs and wants which helped us grow our company more. It was interesting to look at the turn-by-turn decisions and how they affected our financial status and figure out how these decisions hurt or helped our strategy. It was also helpful to put this information into presentation and report format which allowed us to get practice with the formality of the business world.

One of the best ways to learn and achieve is to set goals. We did this as a team with our simulation groups through setting goals about the outcomes we wanted out of our projects. We had to write up a memo about the goals we wanted to achieve and worked towards these with each decision we made by analyzing our current standing and tweaking our strategy slightly in order to achieve our goals. In order to engage in our class, one of the best things to do was to bring in marketing news. I loved this because of how easy it was to find this information. We were able to discuss it and relate it to what we were learning in class.

Overall, I was able to learn a lot about myself as well as marketing throughout this semester. Learning about the ethical issues marketing managers’ face with how sex sells as well as the general marketing concepts helped me grasp how important marketing is to the business world.

Blog Post 7: NFL

On January 18, 2015, the New England Patriots showed up ready for the AFC Championship Game in Foxborough, Massachusetts against the Indianapolis Colts. After the absolute beat down by the Patriots, the Colts claimed that they had information regarding a ball deflating scheme which was intended to aid the Patriots and that Tom Brady was at the head of the entire thing. Needless to say, the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl in a thrilling ending with Malcolm Butler’s interception at the goal line to win. Since then the NFL has had a really tough time.

Roger Goodell

On May 11, Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner decided he was going to flex his nonexistent muscles and try to show Tom Brady and the Patriots who’s boss. He dealt the Patriots a loss of a few draft picks, and dealt Tom Brady a four game suspension for the 2015 season. This all came crashing down once the Wells Report was released and debunked and ripped apart by multiple world renowned scientists. This already didn’t look good for the NFL and it only got worse from there when Tom Brady appealed the suspension. The case ended up in Federal Court where a judge ruled that it was an unfair punishment (the fair, according to the NFL rule book is a fine “including but not limited to” $25,000) which resulted in Tom Brady loosing almost $1.8 million for the punishment decided by Roger Goodell.

Since these events, Tom Brady started the season on a 10-0 winning streak proving that he’s one of, if not the best quarterbacks of all time. This made the NFL look really bad as well by showing that Tom Brady didn’t need slightly deflated footballs to win a game in which the majority of the points scored were in the second half, when the underinflated balls were inflated. But on top of that, Goodell can’t help but make himself look worse and worse with all of the terrible calls made by the referees this season. Tom Brady and the Patriots have lost an NFL record 360 yards due to penalties. A lot of these penalties aren’t valid and it’s causing a lot of media coverage of these blatant issues people have with the referees calls.

The NFL has had their fair share of controversy surrounding it for the past few years. With issues like the Ray Rice domestic abuse issue, the Saints and their headhunting operation going on, and even with spygate, the NFL can’t seem to win. They’re constantly in the news for negative things that are going on. Roger Goodell seems to be a large part of the problem with the NFL as well. Over the past few years, any issues that have risen are usually exacerbated by Goodell, who is known for his erratic, unfair punishments. With all of the sports analysts constantly debating over what Goodell’s next horrific move is going to be, the NFL is treating on thin ice with a lot of its viewers. While the Super Bowl is one of the most watched sports events in the world, the NFL is losing its credibility fast with no prospect of turning it around any time soon.

Blog Post 6: Under Armour

In the tennis world, a few companies dominate the tennis apparel industry. Nike, Adidas, Head, and Wilson are some of the largest companies. Every company has professional players on the pro tour who they sponsor. For example, Nike sponsors Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, and Genie Bouchard among others. It is a great way for these companies to advertise their brand through people purchasing the gear used by their favorite pro player. Nike and Adidas have the largest market share compared to the rest of the companies. This is the case in the sports industry as a whole as well. Except for one exception.

Under Armour is starting to make a name for itself in the sports world. Whether it’s football, baseball, or even just training in general, Under Armour makes sports equipment for everything and they’re growing fast. At the beginning of 2015, Andy Murray signed a contract with Under Armour for a 4-year sponsorship deal. This included all of his apparel which was huge for Under Armour since they were trying to break into the international sports market as a whole. And of top of that, they were trying to break into the tennis market because of their small presence in the tennis world. Under Armour is also sponsoring Sloane Stevens who plays tennis in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

While breaking into a market in the 21^st century is getting easier due to the easy access to new products, Under Armour is still in the introduction phase in the tennis market. So far, Andy Murray is wearing tennis specific clothing and tennis shoes. But the products available to the general public aren’t the same. The “tennis shorts” aren’t tennis specific which makes them less desirable to the die-hard tennis players. In fact, they are just everyday shorts produced by Under Armour. Once Under Armour breaks away from their everyday athletic apparel and design some tennis specific clothing, I think that their brand will take off in the tennis market, just like it has for every other athletic discipline.

One product that they have been developing is their tennis shoes. So far, Under Armour has produced a few prototypes for Andy Murray that he’s been wearing in some pretty big competitions. In June and July of this past summer, Andy Murray debuted a new pair of Under Armour tennis shoes when he stepped on court at Wimbledon. Under Armour had been working with Andy Murray for a couple of months in order to create a pair of tennis shoes that he could wear at arguably the most historic Grand Slam in tennis. It was a bold move since they still hadn’t developed a pair of tennis shoes for hard court.

When the US Open rolled around, Under Armour still hadn’t been able to make the proper tennis shoe for Andy Murray so he wore his typical Adidas Barricade 8’s. This was a huge deal for Under Armour and Adidas. Andy Murray’s previous sponsor was Adidas which caused a lot of hype around the shoes. Adidas tweeted a picture of Andy Murray wearing Adidas tennis shoes with the caption “You can choose armour, or you can choose a weapon. #ImpactTheGame”. This was a huge move for Adidas and it was bad news for Under Armour. With no way to respond but to make it the last time Andy Murray wore Adidas shoes, Under Armour got busy finalizing the designs for Andy Murray’s hard court tennis shoes. They finished these in time for the ATP World Tour Finals, a big year-end event in which the top 8 tennis players in the world square off and compete for the final tournament of the tennis season. This was a big deal for Andy Murray and Under Armour since they were finally able to find a shoe that worked for him. I have a feeling that will be the last time that Andy Murray wears Adidas shoes which is a big win for Under Armour. Now, Under Armour just has to mass produce these shoes and make them available to the public. This will really help them out since people consider Under Armour’s gear more durable and higher quality than that of its competitors. This will help them out tremendously as they try to expand their market share in the tennis apparel market.

Blog Post 5: Facebook after French Terrorism

After the ISIS attacks in Paris, France on November 13th, Facebook opened a feature on their social media site that allowed people in Paris to mark themselves safe. Once someone in Paris had marked themselves safe, it sent a notification to all of their friends letting them know that they were safe from harm. This feature was brilliant and was actually designed by Facebook in the event of a natural disaster. Facebook never planned to use this feature for a terrorist attack, but it was a quick response from Facebook that allowed them to mobilize this feature and put everyone’s nerves at ease. Within a few days of the attack on Paris, there were also attacks in Beirut, Lebanon and a few other locations in the Middle East such as Baghdad, Iraq. Facebook didn’t do anything for these horrible disasters though. And because of this, Facebook received a lot of backlash.

Facebook's website and mobile app with the Safety Check feature

In the United States, everyone feels the need to be constantly connected to everyone around them through the use of technology. One of the main ways that people do this is through the use of Facebook and other social media outlets like Twitter and Instagram. Facebook has an advantage over these companies, though. Facebook was able to capitalize on the number of members it has because of how early it came out. Facebook was the first of the major media outlets and now has 1.55 billion active monthly users.

A few limitations of Instagram and Twitter are the causes that so many people prefer Facebook to these other outlets. Instagram requires that you post a picture in order to post anything. While it’s nice to scroll through your feed and look at everyone’s pictures, it’s not always the most effective form of communication through social media. Twitter’s biggest downfall is the fact that you have to keep your tweets to a maximum of 140 characters. This is tough for a lot of people who want to write long posts, especially anything of political nature. Facebook has every feature that Instagram and Twitter has, and then some. With the ability to chat built into the service, the ability to post pretty much anything, and the ability to create groups for anything you’re involved in, Facebook has a lot more practical use for most people as compared to many other social media outlets.

However, this comes at a hefty price as well. Since Facebook has everything that other outlets don’t have, people expect that it will have everything they want. This causes issues for Facebook in times like the terrorist attacks in France, Lebanon, and Iraq among others. People lashed out at Facebook because of the filters that people could use on their profile pictures. They thought that it wasn’t fair for Facebook to choose to release a filter for France and completely disregard every other country. People also didn’t think it was fair that Facebook didn’t enable a feature which enabled users to mark themselves safe if they were close to the disasters in locations other than France. In ways, it’s understandable considering the largest usage is in first-world countries like the US, France, and other countries related to those. In the end, the safety check was a quick decision to help make sure people were safe, not to say that one set of lives mattered more than another. Facebook was also lucky because of how fast news changes now. With the rapidly changing stream of news that constantly bombards us, this whole issue blew over quickly and the bad PR that Facebook was receiving ended as quickly as it began.

Blog Post 4: Shifting into the future

Shimano is a company based in Japan known for their sports products. Shimano has been around since 1921, when they created a 3-speed cassette which became the start of their inventions. Since then, Shimano has added a fishing and rowing component to their company. While biking is Shimano's largest industry, fishing is a great industry for them as well. They are really well known for their bike groupsets.

The Shimano Di2 Groupset

In 2009, Shimano released the first electronic bike groupset. They named it Shimano Di2 and it was based off of Shimano's Dura-Ace components. Instead of mechanical shifting used on most bikes, which uses the tension of a cable to move the chain on the gears, the electronic shifting components use signals sent through wires and other electronic parts to move the chain. This is very useful because it is faster, more efficient, and more reliable than standard cables. It also learns where the gears are at and can automatically adjust which, in the long run, leads to less service of the bike.

Since Shimano released their version of electronic shifting, some of their main competitors, namely Campagnolo and SRAM, have released their own groupsets with electronic shifting. As the cycling world is starting to evolve technologically, the bikes will become more high tech and everything will probably move towards electronic shifting.

Shimano Dura-Ace Shifters                                SRAM Red Shifters                   Campagnolo Super Record Shifters

The new Shimano XTR Di2 Groupset used for mountain biking

Mountain biking is moving towards electronic shifting as well. Shimano just released their first version of XTR Di2 which is the electronic version of the top groupset. This will be a significant change considering mountain biking is a lot harder on the bike and the groupset can get beaten up a lot more. As this progresses, Shimano will probably try to incorporate this technology into the lower end models of bikes in order to increase consumerism based on the technology craze. This is definitely a very marketable product through local bike shops. That is usually the way that any of these companies market themselves. The other way to market themselves is to sponsor professional athletes who use their products.

The battery compartment built into the frame of the bike.

The new Trek Madone with full DI2 integration. This bike
 features the internal cable routing throughout the bike.

The handlebars with all the cables and wires tucked away

The Tour de France is one of the most well-known sports events in the world. This is the largest way that Shimano and their competitors can show off any of their new components. Shimano sponsors a bunch of teams in the Tour de France and works with some of the largest bike manufacturers to integrate the new Di2 system into their bikes. One of the prime examples of this is their work with Trek. The new Trek Madone completely integrates the Di2 technology into the frame of the bike with their ability to tuck the battery pack away into the down tube and made the bike one of the most technologically advanced and aerodynamic bikes on the market. Specialized did the same thing with their new bike, the Venge. Both of these companies compete with each other and this helps Shimano get their name out into the market even more than it previously was. This also helps to set them apart from their competition with SRAM and Campagnolo.

Blog Post 3: Bikes

As bikes have become increasingly popular, the bike industry has evolved to appeal to different target markets. The cycling industry has developed new products based on trends in consumer buying and fads in our society. Every bike is made for a specific discipline and is designed for a specific consumer. A large section of the bike market is road cycling enthusiasts. A lot of these enthusiasts watch the Tour de France, the largest bike race in the world, in which the best cyclists from around the world race. A lot of companies sponsor these teams and new road bikes are released every year just before the race so that they can be showcased throughout the 3 week race.

The 2016 Trek Madone 9.9 used in the Tour de France by the
Trek Factory Racing Team

With road bikes, there are two materials the bikes are made from. Aluminum is the material used in a lot of the bikes with a lower price tag. This makes them more marketable to the beginning cyclist or a cyclist who is interested in getting better but wants a bike to get them started. As you get into the more elite road bikes, the frame is made from carbon fiber, a stiff, but very light material which can be used to help reduce the weight of the bike and make it stiffer so that the cyclist can get more power out of each pedal stroke. Typically the higher end road bikes are marketed to the cyclists who are competing or looking to compete. They tend to be at least $2,000 and most people don't want to drop this kind of money on a bike. That being said, with the newest models being released every year in time for the Tour de France, the top companies can get their best gear on tv for a month just by sponsoring a professional team. This advertising is brilliant because people will see these bikes used by the professional riders and automatically be interested in riding them.

Fat bike being used for racing in the snow

The newest addition to the bike industry is fat bikes. Fat bikes are bikes with extra-large tires. These can be used in snow, on the beach, or even just as a normal mountain bike. They have started to take off in the market lately and a lot of bike brands are starting to capitalize on this. Catamount Outdoor Family Center offers fat bike rentals. Catamount is a company with 500 acres of land and maintains more than 20 miles of trails. This is the perfect area to expose people to fat bikes and let them try them out for themselves. A lot of people have rented fat bikes and then after a couple times, gone out and bought their own fat bikes. While it could be argued that this is a trend or fad in the bike industry, a lot of bike enthusiasts don’t expect it to slow down.

While the bike industry has changed a lot in the past few years, a lot of research and marketing has gone into this change. The pricing behind lower end bikes favors the beginners by getting their interest and then getting them to upgrade their bikes. It also works because these bikes are very versatile and can be used on roads and trails. This helps beginning cyclists get more comfortable before they start upgrading. The marketing that goes into the design of the bike is huge. Just based on a simple hybrid bike, the consumer can decide which direction they want to go in and what type of bike they would want to upgrade to.

Blog Post 2: Smartphones

Smartphones have ruled the market in recent years with 64% of Americans and approximately 25% of the world’s population owning a smartphone. My contract expired in May and I have thought about getting a new phone. As I was thinking about this, I started to think about the battle between Android and Apple for the largest percentage of market share. When Apple first came out with the original iPhone in June of 2007, everyone was very unfamiliar with this technology. In 2011, HTC released the Thunderbolt, the first Android phone that had features that were able to challenge the iPhone with the release of 4G data connection. Ever since the HTC Thunderbolt, there has been a constant battle between Apple and Android companies to one-up each other with each new model of their phones. Windows has a line of phones as well made by companies such as Samsung, Nokia, and Sony among others. However Windows phones have had a rough start to their existence with powerhouse operating systems such as iOS and Android. With very limited apps in the app store, Windows has turned away a lot of prospective consumers.

Some of the most popular phones on the market are shown above.
(L to R: Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge, iPhone 6 & 6 Plus, Samsung Note 5, Motorola Nexus 6, LG G4, HTC One M9, Motorola Moto X)

Apple has always had a large following. They really created a need for a smartphone even though everyone knew it was completely unnecessary. Apple also has done a great job with their customer service which has increased customer loyalty.

The iPhone progression from 2007-now.

Apple’s Marketing has always done pretty well. They come out with a couple advertisements and ad campaigns every year which connect with people really well. They always do a great job targeting a large population with a variety of ages, genders, and cultures.

Product: Apple started out in computers and started to lead the technology industry starting in the early 1990’s and introducing markets with each product they released. Apple now sells iPhones, iPods, iPads, Macs, laptops, and an assortment of all types of devices. Every year they update their current models and discount their older models.

Price: Their prices are relatively similar to their competition which has helped them stay competitive. Apple's iPhones are priced at almost the same price as most other phones on the market.

Promotion: Apple has been known for their television advertisements that urge people to believe in themselves and help Apple change the world. The new iPhone 6S that just came out has been paired with the slogan “The only thing that’s changed is everything.” This was used to show how they drastically changed a lot of the features on the new iPhone in an attempt to catch up to Samsung.

Place: Apple’s products are on sale everywhere. You can purchase their products from any retail store like Walmart and Target, online stores like Amazon and their website, and technology based stores including BestBuy and Verizon.

Samsung, the largest Android phone company, also has great customer loyalty. Most consumers have upgraded their phones and followed the progression of Galaxy phones. They released the Samsung Galaxy S6 in April of 2015, the newest Samsung smartphone which follows a long line of successful phones. They also released the Galaxy S6 Edge, a new phone with a new concept of rounding the edges. They were able to market this very well because of the product differentiation that they were able to create. Any technological advance is one that can be used to market the company and Samsung took advantage of this.

Product: Samsung started out in televisions. They spread to home appliances while still developing home technology and eventually spread to phones. Samsung now sells phones, tablets, televisions, computers, home appliances, and many more electronic products. Every year, they seem to break new ground with another product that has never been seen before.

Price: Their prices are very competitive with their competition. This has helped them build their brand and grow over time. Apple's new iPhones are priced higher than the Samsung Galaxy line, coming in at nearly 100 dollars more. This has helped Samsung break into the smartphone market with increasing success.

The Samsung Galaxy S progression from 2010-now

Promotion: Samsung has used some pretty famous faces in their advertising. Their company-wide slogan is "The next big thing is here" This was used to show how they drastically changed a lot of the features on the new iPhone in an attempt to catch up to Samsung who is leading the way with phone technology.

Place: Samsung products are on sale everywhere. You can purchase their products in just as many places as Apple. Samsung's product lines are carried in retail stores like Walmart and Target, online stores like Amazon and their website, and technology based stores including BestBuy and Verizon.

Both of these companies have great products, but when it comes down to which is the best, you have to look at the timeline in which we're talking. When smartphones first came out, I think everyone could agree that the iPhone was hands down the best smartphone. Over time, the competition has caught up and even surpassed the iPhone a little bit. Android started to catch up and even Windows phones have a small percentage of the market share. Right now, everyone has to fight to keep up with each other and it's becoming a big competition to see who can add the most features and who can bring in the most customers. If you had to pick, which would you choose?

Blog Post 1: Tennis Endorsements

            Hi, my name is Forrest Owen and I'm a junior at St. Michael's College. As part of a marketing class that I'm taking, I'm creating this blog with the hope to educate people about marketing. In this post, I'm going to be talking about the effect that marketing has on professional sports and outdoor pursuits. I’m on the varsity tennis team as well as an instructor for the SMC Wilderness Program. I have a strong passion for both of these pursuits and I’m going to be doing plenty of research on these fields as well as incorporating my thoughts about how these programs aid or hinder many companies marketing practices.

            In almost every sport that is televised today, athletes, teams, or organizations have sponsorships with certain companies. With many sports, those sponsorships aren’t broadcasted through the players. For example, the Boston Bruins have a lot of companies that pay the TD Garden for advertisement space on the boards. A few hockey players like Alex Ovechkin who had endorsement deals with CCM for a long time before he switched to Bauer.

            In tennis however, the players are the individual who have a relationship with the company. Similar to Alex Ovechkin’s endorsement deal with CCM, many of the top players are sponsored by companies like Nike, Adidas, Wilson, and Head, to name a few. Throughout an athlete’s career, most professional tennis players change the companies they have endorsements with.

            One of the prime examples of this is Novak Djokovic. Currently, Djokovic is the top tennis player in the world and just won his 10^th Grand Slam title. During the earlier days of his career, Djokovic was sponsored by Adidas for his apparel and footwear. In November of 2009, Novak Djokovic signed a 10-year deal with Sergio Tacchini for his apparel effective on January 1^st, 2010. Djokovic’s deal was short lived though as he moved on to a 5-year sponsorship in 2012 with UNIQLO, a small Japanese company who provided his apparel as well.

Ad for the new Barricade 7 Novak Pro

            Throughout his switches to and from apparel companies, Djokovic was still sponsored by Adidas for his footwear. Just before the 2015 US Open, the last Grand Slam of the calendar year, Adidas released a line of tennis shoes which Djokovic endorsed called the “Adidas Barricade 7 Novak Pro”. After winning the US Open wearing these shoes, I can only imagine how this will immensely help Adidas with the sales of these shoes.

            Under Armour is a brand that is rising in tennis. At the start of 2015, Andy Murray, the top tennis player from the United Kingdom, signed a 4-year deal with Under Armour for apparel. Since Under Armour is still developing their tennis line, they don’t have a lot of tennis specific clothing. For this reason, I believe, you don’t see a lot of people sporting Under Armour clothing on the tennis court at tournaments or big tennis events.

            Recently, Under Armour has been working with Andy Murray to create a pair of tennis shoes which he can endorse. At Wimbledon, Murray wore Under Armour’s test shoes for the first time where he made it to the 4^th round before losing in a tough match with Kevin Anderson. A lot of people prefer Under Armour brand clothing to that of Nike, including myself, because the quality of Under Armour is significantly better. I think that once Under Armour releases a pair of tennis shoes to the general public, they will have a big break-through in the tennis market and will start to gain some ground on the competition where they will be able to really compete with Nike and Adidas for the top tennis market shares.

            Sports Illustrated wrote an interesting article around the time of Wimbledon about the design of Murray’s tennis shoes (http://www.si.com/tennis/2015/06/30/andy-murray-custom-under-armour-shoes)