Week 10 EOC: What are the benefits vs the features?

Some of the benefits my product has is that it is it’s easy to carry. People don’t want to have a messy snack or something that can spill all over their car. “The process of grouping customers into market segments according to the benefits they seek from the product.” Page 142.  Another benefit is that pretty much anyone can buy/eat my chocolate covered cashews. Moms love it as a snack on the run and they love to give them to their kids too. Teenagers love them too because it’s a great snack to eat before a game or just before class.  “Packaging, style, color, options, and size are some typical product features.” Page 174.  Some of the features my product has is the clear packaging so you can see exactly how much you have in the package. “Besides changing such stimuli as price, package size, and volume, marketers can change the product or attempt to reposition its image. But marketers must be careful when adding features.” Page 111. Throughout the start of my company I didn’t want to change too much about the label or the packaging because I didn’t want it to be too flashy. Also the package is sealed so it stays fresh and you can tell if it has been tampered with. So when it comes to my product those are some of the benefits and features.

EOC: The Pitch

As I woke up that morning I didn’t know what my day was going to entail. Checked my phone, email, and messages. I was surprised to see my husband got the kids ready for school and I had the house to myself. When I looked outside it looked so nice and warm outside so I decided I wanted to go for a run since it’s been so long. As I ran out the front door I realized I haven’t eaten breakfast. I just wanted something so easy and fast to pick up so I ran to the closest convent store. There was so many people at the that store that day it was crazy. No matter what I did there was a person in my way every time I made my way towards those sweet but salty cashews a car crashed through the front door and barley missed me. So many people were hurt that day I don’t know how I didn’t get hurt. I couldn’t believe what had just happened to me. If it wasn’t for those chocolate covered cashews and the craving for them I wouldn’t be here. So every day I go to the store and pick some up because it reminds me that I’m a live and if I didn’t go and pick those up at that moment who knows what could have happened that day. And I pay my respects to the victims that day. 

Week 9: creative content

For my creative content I’m going to buy the cashews, chocolate and cover them myself. It’s going to be a type of milk chocolate because semi-sweet is not a good fit. After the cashews are covered I’m going to package them myself and take a photo of those chocolate covered cashews. They are going to be in a bowl and in its original packaging. It’s going to take some time because the process of making the cashews chocolate covered itself is going to take a little longer and I’m going to make the photo so appealing that it looks like you could pull those cashews right out of the photo. For the label I’m going to work with Photoshop and put it in myself. It’s going to have its own brand name so its identifiable between the other chocolate covered cashews.

Implementation evaluation control

For my implantation plan I’ll have budgets that will be put into action. Like budgeting on advertising, ingredients, storage and other types of budgeting details. I will have people working on advertising, and in offices because if there is a problem with orders or anything in general, I’ll have people who would be able to take care of the costumers. “Implementation activities may involve detailed job assignments, activity descriptions, time lines, budgets, and lots of communication.” Page 28.

For the control plan I’ll have to really keep an eye on it because if my objectives aren’t met then some things would have to be changed because I want my company to succeed not fail. “Control provides the mechanisms for evaluating marketing results in light of the plan's objectives and for correcting actions that do not help the organization reach those objectives within budget guidelines” page 28

 For the first year I was in business it started really slow because I realized that pricing was to much. So of course I had to lower my prices. So when the next year came around I decided to lower the prices so it was affordable to the working class or the people who are just on the run. “Evaluation Entails gauging the extent to which marketing objectives have been achieved during the specified time period page 29

Marketing Mix: Price

As for pricing I never wanted to go to high or too low. These chocolate covered cashews are made of the best Italian chocolate and the cashews speak for themselves so I didn’t want them to be too expensive. So for a 2 pound bag it would cost about $20.00 and for a 1 pound bag it would be $10.00. but if you just wanted and snack size bag which is about a 10-ounce bag then that would only be $2.50. “Price is what a buyer must give up in order to obtain a product. It is often the most flexible of the four Ps—the quickest element to change.” Page 28. I consider these good prices because it doesn’t seem to be to outrageous compared to some of my competitor’s like nuts.com or candywarehouse. If the price was too outrageous then the customer wouldn’t want to buy it. “Pricing a new product too high gives some shoppers an incentive to go to a pre-owned or consignment retailer. Lost sales mean lost revenue.” Page 358. These companies are just way to expensive so I wanted to make my product more affordable to the everyday people. 

Marketing Mix: Promotion

There will be a lot of promoting going on in my company. I promote my product online, in magazines, on billboards and many other outlets. Since I started my business it was just mainly billboards and magazines that advertised for me. “Sales-oriented organizations seek to generate sales volume through intensive promotional activities, mainly personal selling and advertising.” Page 12. But since most of the world uses a computer, cell phone, or TV my product has definitely had a rise in profits. One of the things that did help in the beginning was that my cashews were so good that people would just talk about them and then everyone just wanted to have them. "Promotion includes advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and personal selling." page 28  So the more people wanted them the more I had to think of different ways to advertise my product then that’s when the internet, TV, and billboards came into play. So no matter where you look there will be an ad with my chocolate covered cashews on it and you’ll just want some.