EOC WEEK 10: Customer Loyalty

There was a time in my life where I would travel a lot and my favorite city of all time is New York. I love everything about it except for the smell in the summer. When I go to New York I am a regular at a number of places. I only eat at Slice of Harlem, which is a pizza place obviously in Harlem, and the longer I’m there they start to recognize me and I get really good service. I get graphic tees from Yellow Rat Bastard; I get mix tapes from my favorite vender on Canal Street. I buy sneakers from a few stores out there but one of my Favorites is Flight Club.

Flight Club is a Sneaker store that specializes in Exclusive sneakers. When you walk in it looks pretty upscale and I love that all the sneakers are in Pre wrap because in case they have to sell you the display one shoe won’t be dirty while the other is clean. When you walk in you are greeted but if you show that you know your sneaker, they really give you the treatment. They let you know where else the shoe is being sold and what makes it exclusive. They also let you know about the fakes that are out, and when you are a serious sneaker consumer all of this is very important.

When I am in town for a few weeks I stop in and they try to build a relationship with me right away so when I am going to buy a shoe they know my style and what I want. The service they provide makes me want to just visit every time I go to New York, and I believe that is what you should want from a customer.

EOC WEEK 9: Pricing

When shopping there are a lot of things that I consider; I look at where I’m shopping, when I’m shopping, who is with me, and most important what I am shopping for. The place is a factor because there are certain places where I just won’t spend over a certain amount. For example Target, I like their products and the way the store looks but some of their things are priced way too high for me. If I am going to pay $300 dollars for a blanket, I won’t buy it from target I will get it from Macy’s with a designer name. The people that I am with are a factor because I spend more money when I am shopping with friends than when I am shopping with my mom. The time is a factor because if I am shopping on the weekend I have more time to compare and bargain verses when I am shopping on a week day when I don’t have as much time. The thing I am shopping for is a factor because depending on the item I will shop for it differently.


One situation I was looking for an Adidas track jacket to add to my collection. I was in New York at this store called Yellow Rat Bastard on Broadway. I love this place every time I am in the city I have to go there. Anyway this jacket was about $85, which is a reasonable price for some jackets, but for this one it was a little more expensive. I knew that I could probably order it for less or just find it in another store. However I wanted to wear it latter on that day to a party so I didn’t want to chance it. Basically I paid extra so I could wear it that day. This is what people do; they pick and choose what is important to them at the time and spend accordingly.

EOC Week 8: Progress on Vodka Brand

So far after my pitch last week I have been doing a little more research on things such as recipe, pricing, and advertisement. I have also been looking into doing some other things to it like possibly making it a specific color, flavor, and have a special cocktail for the brand. Also how will it be sold, do I want it to be exclusive so you would have to order it, Do I wanted sold in certain places, or do I just want it available.

In my progress I have settled with the name “FRESH.” I was thinking of spelling it with a “PH” instead of an “F” though but I am still thinking about that. I have come up with the price of $15 per bottle, because I want it to be available for all people to buy not just the elite. I have an idea for a commercial wear this handsome man in a suit is walking into a night club with all eyes on him. He gets to the bar and orders a Fresh and Sprite. While he is there an attractive woman sits next to him and says “just left the studio huh?” because of all the commotion she figures he is someone famous until he replies, “No I just finished my shift… I’m the driver.” This is to show that swag is something that you are… not what you buy.

EOC 7: challenge in development

The biggest challenge that I had for developing this product was trying to find something new. Almost every idea that I had was taken. It’s hard to figure out something new for a product that already has everything known to man. However I still had this assignment so I just had to try and pull out all the stops. I looked to my area of interest, which is Hip-Hop and went from there. That helped me move along for a while but then I ran into another challenge which was using my idea that I came up with and expand it so that I could move forward. When all of this is said and done the challenge isn’t really coming up with an idea, it’s trying to get an idea that works.

Time Out Hotel

Time Out HotelCierra EsparzaMary Ann EstoyJakia JohnsonJeremy Delaluz We were looking for a new experience in Vegas. Something new and exciting that everyone would enjoy no matter the age. A place to attract all age groups in sections for each individual to belong. Baby boomers born between 1946-1964 can take a blast from the past at The American Bandstand restaurant featuring an environment inspired by the original hit show. All born between 1965-1978 generation X can enjoy the replica of The Woodstock festival. Generation Y can enjoy an interactive social club/lounge that enables you choose your own music digitally. “An experience for everyone”

EOC Week 5

This week I want to see what my classmates thought about advertising versus marketing. I have picked three and this is what they thought:

“Marketing is a philosophy, an attitude, and a perspective. That is a plan that brings buyers and seller together to figuring out the needs and wants, and making products that correlate with consumer desires.” (http://robotzonmarz.blogspot.com/)

“Advertising is basically how you promote what you are trying to sell, getting the word out that you have this product and want to sell it. It’s the way you get people to know about the existence of the product.” (http://19starsproductions.blogspot.com/)

“Marketers care about their customers. As for advertisers, they are just trying to focus on selling the product.” (http://ccmarieproductions.blogspot.com/)

I agree with these statements. Especially with the first quote, there is a certain “swag” that goes with marketing. This is something that everyone can’t just get up and do. It all revolves around creativity, originality and style. Yes you can go to school to learn about marketing but the three things I just mentioned are something that cannot be taught, and can the difference between average marketing and great marketing. When it comes to marketing companies are not looking for cookie cutter ways to get their product out, they are looking for ways that set them apart from others.

Week 4 EOC: What is the Difference between Marketing and Advertising?

At first glance you might think these two are kind of the same thing, but actually they are not. Marketing is the planning and process that businesses go through to make an exchange to a consumer. Its focus is to deliver value and benefits to the consumer. Advertising is non personal and is a way a company is identified.

Just trying to explain this probably doesn’t cut it. For example, the ads and commercials you see are considered advertising. The process of getting those ads to a certain meaning is marketing. They seem similar because they work together. Take McDonalds, they have this McCafe thing going on and to market that this could appeal to a variety of people they have a variety of angles to go off of. They say that it’s a cool drink like the one you get from the coffee shop, but theirs is a little hip. For this to reach the masses they had the commercial in this hip laid back jazz spot with the Neo Soul artist Dwele performing to reinforce that hip feeling.

Advertising is only a part of marketing like I said before they work hand in hand. Marketing thinks of ways to reach the people and Advertising actually reaches the people. “One of the primary benefits of advertising is its ability to communicate to a large number of people at one time.” (MKTG, Lamb, pg. 212)

Week 3 EOC: How I Buy Stuff

“A lifestyle is a mode of living, as identified by a person’s activities, interests, and opinions.” (MKTG, Lamb, pg. 76)

As far as how I make my purchases, every product has a different buying process. I tend to not follow trends but sometimes my interest happens to be parallel with what’s “hot.” I’m not your typical female consumer. I buy what fits me as a person. For example sometimes buy Complex Magazine, it’s a men’s magazine but they give good information on sneakers. Now does this mean I want to be a guy, No. It just means I’m not into heels and things like that. I guess you can say that I buy to fit my lifestyle.

My lifestyle is urban, Hip-Hop, and mobile. Because of this there are certain things that I will buy and not buy. With the Hip-Hop side certain things I buy to fit this is Music, which is mostly Rap and R&B. As far as Urban it’s clothing. Most of the clothes I buy for everyday wear are jeans, t-shirts, and exclusive sneakers. I buy business attire solely because I have to so that I can go to things such as an interview. I try to research a product if necessary. I feel that if I am giving you my money I want to know that you appreciate me as a customer. Sometimes I may hear of a brand I normally buy as being racist. In this case I would do my own research and then come to a conclusion on if I would continue to support it or not.

Now there are brands that cater to a certain lifestyle of their consumers so basically I just look to see which on caters to mine.

Me as the Consumer EOC Week 2

I consider myself to be in the Hip-Hop demographic. My income is not that high so I buy according to what I can reuse or have for a long period of time. This also makes me a very picky customer, but once a brand makes me happy I am loyal to it. For example I am a diehard sneaker fan. It is part of my lifestyle. I don’t just but sneakers to walk around in, I buy them because it’s a part of my culture. I spend a lot of time figuring out what shoes to buy. Like I said before my income is very little so I only buy once maybe twice a year. When I am buying shoes the quality as well as style is very important to me. They need to be stylish enough so that I wear them for more than a few months and stable enough so they can last until I bought the next pair. I remember I use to be very loyal to the Nike brand, I was going on a trip and I bought these White on White Air Max. They were beautiful, I took them home packed them and went on my three day trip. By the third day the sole of my left foot was coming off. I called the store and told them I was bringing them back for an exchange. I went back and exchanged them for a pair of Adidas Shelltoe Superstars, white with silver stripes.


Now the story about the Air Max was 10 years ago. I still buy Adidas and I still have those shelltoes. You see a consumer like me will pay top bucks for what they consider a top product. I just don’t have the money right now to waste on a shoe that will tear up in three days. I do understand that Nike is still a good brand but I can’t afford to give second chances so you only have one shot. Shoes aren’t the only thing I buy carefully. It’s everything that I put value on or eat. I only buy certain brands if they work I stay with them if they don’t I find one that does. As being part of the Hip-Hop Culture I buy clothes with styles that aren’t afraid to be different. Hip-Hop is about expression, the more products that give me the options the better.

A Quality Customer Experience

Last week I decided that I would buy a new digital camera. Now I have been seeing those Coolpix commercials every time I would turn on the television, and by the fifth time I was looking in the paper to see where I could find one. I saw that Best Buy had a few models on sale so I decided to go and check them out. As I was looking at the cameras they had I saw the one I wanted it was its latest model and it had all the cool things that I didn’t understand but felt that I needed it.

A worker came up to me and asked if he could assist me. I told him all he had to do was get me this red Coolpix and I will be on my way. The worker said he would do that for me but asked if he could show me another camera before I made my purchase. I agreed and he brought me a Kodak that looked like the Coolpix but it was almost $100 cheaper. When I saw that I asked him what’s wrong with the Kodak since he was trying to get rid of it. He then told me that although the Coolpix was “Cool” the pictures were horrible. He even went a step further and compared the two online so I could see for myself. He was right, the Kodak was a better camera for me and that was the camera I left the store with.

The moral of this story is, “don’t buy the name…. buy the product.” Going into the store I wasn’t looking for a product good for me. I was looking for the Nikon camera cause I just thought that Nikon could do no wrong. The worker helped me see that Nikon didn’t do too hot with this one. Now every time I go to Best Buy I will be asking for Dustin because I know he won’t sell me anything with low quality.