Week 8 EOC: Creative Content Final Project

As a photographer the creative content I will be creating will be along those lines. I will be creating a logo for my new company as well as a label for my new beer. I will also be creating a magazine ad for my project to introduce my new brand to the marketplace. I will be taking some photographer of existing bottles then using photoshop to create my label so that I can print it out and put on the existing bottles. For the ad I will be taking a photograph my new beer the product shot fashion. I will be incorporating the motto of the company which is “Legends are not born, Legends are made. Become part of the legend today" into the ad as well. The ad will be a single page ad that would be able to fit into many different types of magazines. Using the tools I have acquired over the time I’ve been at school as well as the one’s I learned before coming to school I hope to be able to produce some nice creative content for my project. I have a general Idea of what I want to do such as the ad, the product label and the logo now the hard part for me will be finding the right amount of time to get it all finished in time. Having a Scottish heritage I plan on incorporating that into the design of the logo and the label.

SWOT Analysis

“Marketing planning involves deciding on marketing strategies that will help the company attain its overall strategic objectives. A detailed marketing plan is needed for each business, product, or brand.” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, Printed page 56.) As talked about in the book this marketing strategy should have a SWOT analysis done to help direct the company which direction would be the best place for their new product in the overall market place. SWOT analysis stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats. At Natures Blend Brewing Company we feel as though our strengths are being a small brewery offering a new refreshing product to a niche market. Our strength will lay not in the mass marketing or selling of our product but our promotion of selling a special experience to be shared with family and friends. This also could be our weakness in that we are going after a niche market within the bigger marketplace. Being a small company utilizing a smaller niche market is having the opportunity to have a larger impact with more direct marketing and advertisements. Everyone at some point in their lives has wanted in some way to become a Legend or have those great experiences with family and friends that last a lifetime. We at Natures Blend Brewing Company offer the opportunity of doing just that with every case of our product we sell. “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.” (Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing, Printed page 57.) For a company that is just starting out it is critical that the marketing strategy is not only implemented properly, but for the company to utilize that plan and adapt it as the market changes. Being a small family owned brewery we do not have the ability to change and adapt to the market place as easily as a large company does. This is why utilizing the niche market within the marketplace is essential to our success, as well as having a solid marketing plan.

Business Objectives

“Marketing plays a key role in the company’s strategic planning in several ways. First, marketing provides a guiding philosophy—the marketing concept—that suggests that company strategy should revolve around building profitable relationships with important consumer groups.” (Marketing : an introduction / Gary Armstrong, Philip Kotler. — 10th ed., Printed page 47.) At Natures Blend Brewing Company the marketing concept or philosophy is not to be the very best but to be the brew that people drink when gathered around with friends and family. We are a family based business that believes that thru the bringing the family back together and creating moments and memories we can be the makers of our own legend, as well as the legends of those who drink our brews. “Customer value is the key ingredient in the marketer’s formula for success.” (Marketing : an introduction / Gary Armstrong, Philip Kotler. — 10th ed., Printed page 47.) The key ingredients in our brews are not the items used to create them, but the service and quality that we provide to our customers. We here at Natures Blend Brewing Company do not measure our success by how much money we make or how many products we sell, but instead by the feedback we get from our customers. Just as in our mission statement we are a family brewing company and that family extends to all of our customers and vendors. The legend of Johnny Appleseed is a role model for our company he set out with a simple objective and that was to plant enough apple trees so that no one would ever go hungry. We at Natures Blend Brewing Company have a simple objective and that is to spread joy and cheer back into the ever growing world. We plan on doing this just as our mission statement says by bringing the family back together like in the vintage days of Johnny Appleseed. Families are not just those who are blood relations, families are good friends, neighbors, our communities. At Natures Blend Brewing Company everyone is family. So come join us and start creating your own legend today.

Business Mission Statement

“Forging a sound mission begins with the following questions: What is our business? Who is the customer? What do consumers value? What should our business be? These simple-sounding questions are among the most difficult the company will ever have to answer.” (Marketing : an introduction / Gary Armstrong, Philip Kotler. — 10th ed., Printed page 39.) Here at Nature’s Blend Brewing Company our business is not making beer, the beer is a by-product, and our business is bringing people together to join us in creating a legend of their own making. Nature’s Blend Brewing company believe at its core its motto which is “Legends are not born, Legends are made. Become part of the legend today.” Our target market is not to be the beer company that everyone drinks to have a beer, but to be the moment that people want to drink with their family and friends. We are a family oriented company trying in a small way to bring back the vintage days of family backyard barbeques and block parties. The vintage days like in the days on Johnny Appleseed where the community was a close to family as was one’s own brothers and sisters. Johnny Appleseed spread apples seeds across the country with the intent that no one would go hungry if there were apples to eat; at Nature’s Blend Brewing Company our intent is to bring the family back together with each moment spent together. “Products and technologies eventually become outdated, but basic market needs may last forever.” ((Marketing : an introduction / Gary Armstrong, Philip Kotler. — 10th ed., Printed page 40.) Just as marketing needs may last forever, moments spent with family and friends lasts forever and what better way to make them last then by creating your own Legend. “Legends are not born, Legends are made. Become part of the legend today.” - Nature’s Blend Brewing company

Week 7 EOC: The Pitch

The apple tree has been around since the beginning of time. Archeologists have found carbonized remains of apples dating back to the Stone Age. For centuries the apple has been referred to in manuscripts and texts, in fact Old Saxon manuscripts dating back into the 15th century talk about apples and cider. Some of the earliest English colonists even began bringing apples trees to the new world to replace the crab apples found in North America. By the early 19th century apple orchards had been established throughout what were then the American colonies. A man by the name of John Chapmen set out in the early 1800’s to rid the world of hunger by planting apple trees and so the legend of Johnny Appleseed was created. Johnny Appleseed is estimated to have travelled some 10,000 square miles of frontier country planting apple orchards as he went. This is just one of the many legends surrounding the apple. Many medical remedies are also made from the fruit and bark of the apple tree.
Nature’s Blend Brewing Company offers a unique brand of brews from our own apple lager to an old world apple moon shine, all of which are brewed with the same types of Apples that Johnny Appleseed planted. "The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction." (Marketing : an introduction / Gary Armstrong, Philip Kotler. — 10th ed., printed page 5). At Nature's blend brewing company we take this marketing strategy and our customer relationships very seriously and by providing a top quality product, as well as superior value to all of our customers we will become the next favorite brew in America and around the world. “Legends are not born, Legends are made. Become part of the legend today."

Week 6 EOC: Me Times Three

First of all I have to say I do not spend a whole lot of time on using personal care Items. I shower, brush my teeth, put on deodorant like any other guy. I can’t say that I am excited or even have a favorite type of toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, or even soap. I am a stereotypical male who uses whatever is available.
This being said I suppose I will start with the soap that is currently in the shower. I believe the brand is dial and I couldn’t tell you what the scent is, just that is smells good. The bottom line for me is that it lathers well, enough so that I can shave with it and that it makes me feel clean. Yes I know surprise no I do not use shaving cream, just good old soap. I think like most soap product dial is marketed towards the female gender using Demographic segmentation. “Demographic factors are the most popular bases for segmenting customer groups.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition, printed page 177)
Another personal product that I use is that of Colgate toothpaste, could it be cause of its fresh mint taste, or because it leaves my mouth feeling clean. To be honest it’s what on the bathroom. Yes typical male I know, but if it isn’t broke don’t fix it, my wife buys it I use it. Now I could be wrong with this but I think that Age and life-cycle segmentation could be used to market toothpaste. “Consumer needs and wants change with age. Some companies use age and life-cycle segmentation, offering different products or using different marketing approaches for different age and life-cycle groups.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition, printed page 178)
My third personal product would have to be my electric shaver or beard trimmer. Why because I think its fun to use and it’s easy to use. It is a Norelco made by Phillips and it is a rechargeable hair trimmer/ cutter. I use it to either change my appearance or just easily trim up my beard. For the price it has given me good value and if it were to quit working I would buy another one. “Included in the potential user group are consumers facing life-stage changes—such as newlyweds and new parents—who can be turned into heavy users.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition, printed page 182) This is where I think a product like this may be marketed as well as with other markets. User status has a lot to do with a product like the hair trimmer mostly because people start to use or reuse a product like this when they have life stage changes

Week 5 EOC: Health Care Reform

Why should we reform health care in the United States of America? After looking at the numbers released by the Us Census Bureau on health care statistics it looks to me like the health care industry is doing a good job covering most Americans. For example 98.5 percent of Americans over the age of 65 are covered under some kind of insurance at some point during the year and 82.2 percent of Americans under the age of 65 are also covered by insurance at some point during the year. In households with married couple families nearly 90 percent of the husbands, wives, and children are covered by health care are some point during the year. In other households 86.3 percent of individuals are covered by insurance at some point during the year. Some people will argue that income is the reason for health care reform, according to the percentages given by the federal government 84.2 percent of people making less than $25,000 a year are covered by insurance during the year.
So how can it be that we need health care reform to make health care more affordable when more than 80 percent the lowest income class is covered by insurance and 90 percent of the highest income class is covered by insurance during the year. In my opinion from the numbers given by the US Census Bureau it appears to me that most of the American people are covered by some kind of insurance during some point during the year. While it would be great for every person in America to have insurance during the year, it looks to me that the health care industry is doing a pretty good job already, at least from a numbers stand point. While things could be improved I do not believe that a total overhaul of the industry is warranted at this time. To find more information on the percentages and numbers found in this blog post go to http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032007/health/h01_001.htm.