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

Benefits are something that I take into consideration alot more than features. Features are just a selling point to me and I can be a selfish person at times so I want to know about the thing that will benefit me.

"Consider the sale of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs). These large vehicles meet the immediate needs of many drivers in terms of capacity, power, and utility. However, SUV sales involve larger questions of consumer safety and environmental responsibility. For example, in accidents, SUVs are more likely to kill both their own occupants and the occupants of other vehicles. Research shows that SUV occupants are three times more likely to die from their vehicle rolling than are occupants of sedans. Moreover, gas-guzzling SUVs use more than their fair share of the world’s energy and other resources and contribute disproportionately to pollution and congestion problems, creating costs that must be borne by both current and future generations.^"

^{The example from the book gave would be what I consider to be a benefit. It would benefit me more to have an SUV over a car if I had a big family or as the book described needed a more powerful vehicle.}

Implementation Evaluation Control

We want to insure that we have the best product out there and we will take whatever steps that our necessary to make sure that we do. We will have different polls on our website to ask our costumers about how they like our brand and if there's anything they would change if they could. Our first goal is to make sure that the customers are happy with the moves that we our making.

“Through implementation, the company turns the plans into actions. Control consists of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing activities and taking corrective action where needed. Finally, marketing analysis provides information and evaluations needed for all of the other marketing activities.” ”Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

We ultimately work for the people.

Price

"For most purchases, consumers don’t have all the skill or information they need to figure out whether they are paying a good price. They don’t have the time, ability, or inclination to research different brands or stores, compare prices, and get the best deals. Instead, they may rely on certain cues that signal whether a price is high or low. Interestingly, such pricing cues are often provided by sellers, in the form of sales signs, price-matching guarantees, loss-leader pricing, and other helpful hints."-Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Pricing is a situation that is one to have most concern for. Pricing ultimately is what is going to make or break your product in my opinion. We want our price to be competitive with all of the other premium vodka’s on the market. We want to be in competition with brands like Grey Goose, Ciroc, Patron, and some of the other big brands. We want to price our brand at 39.99 for a liter bottle and 29.99 for a 750mL bottle. Our vodka will be 80 proof.
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” -Warren Buffett

"Even small differences in price can signal product differences. Consider a stereo receiver priced at $300 compared to one priced at $299.99. The actual price difference is only 1 cent, but the psychological difference can be much greater. For example, some consumers will see the $299.99 as a price in the $200 range rather than the $300 range. The $299.99 will more likely be seen as a bargain price, whereas the $300 price suggests more quality. Some psychologists argue that each digit has symbolic and visual qualities that should be considered in pricing. Thus, 8 is round and even and creates a soothing effect, whereas 7 is angular and creates a jarring effect."-Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Distribution

"Between intensive and exclusive distribution lies selective distribution—the use of more than one, but fewer than all, of the intermediaries who are willing to carry a company’s products. Most television, furniture, and home appliance brands are distributed in this manner. For example, Whirlpool and General Electric sell their major appliances through dealer networks and selected large retailers. By using selective distribution, they can develop good working relationships with selected channel members and expect a better-than-average selling effort. Selective distribution gives producers good market coverage with more control and less cost than does intensive distribution."-Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Distribution is very important because this how we will get the product to the customer. We want to have our products made by us only. The only thing that will not come from us is the water that we receive from Iceland. We want to be a company that distributes all of our products.

“Companies often pay too little attention to their distribution channels, sometimes with damaging results. In contrast, many companies have used imaginative distribution systems to gain a competitive advantage.” Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip."

The Islands wants its product in Liquor stores, and grocery stores that sell premium vodka. We want to have our brand in location where it can reach our potential buyers but also at a convenience to them as well.

"By contrast, some producers purposely limit the number of intermediaries handling their products. The extreme form of this practice is exclusive distribution, in which the producer gives only a limited number of dealers the exclusive right to distribute its products in their territories. Exclusive distribution is often found in the distribution of luxury brands and brands. For example, exclusive Rolex watches are typically sold by only a handful of authorized dealers in any given market area. By granting exclusive distribution, Rolex gains stronger dealer selling support and more control over dealer prices, promotion, and services. Exclusive distribution also enhances the brand’s image and allows for higher markups."-Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Promotion

"Sales promotion tools are used by most organizations, including manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and not-for-profit institutions. They are targeted toward final buyers (consumer promotions), retailers and wholesalers (trade promotions), business customers (business promotions), and members of the sales force (sales force promotions). Today, in the average consumer packaged-goods company, sales promotion accounts for 74 percent of all marketing expenditures."-Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:
For promotion we have something really special in mind. We want our brand everywhere that our target market is. So that includes bars, nightclubs, social media, tv, ads on app, just everywhere. We want to let our target market know that there is finally a beverage out that was made just for them. In our Commercials we will have various scenes setup such as girls night out, night on the town with the lady, birthday beverage for her, and many more. We really want to have fun with the commercials and drive our target market right in. We feel that we are the only brand that really targets the market that we target.

"The growing use of sales promotion has resulted in promotion clutter, similar to advertising clutter. A given promotion runs the risk of being lost in a sea of other promotions, weakening its ability to trigger immediate purchase. Manufacturers are now searching for ways to rise above the clutter, such as offering larger coupon values, creating more dramatic point-of-purchase displays, or delivering promotions through new interactive media, such as the Internet or cell phones."-Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Product

"Once management has decided on its product concept and marketing strategy, it can evaluate the business attractiveness of the proposal. Business analysis involves a review of the sales, costs, and profit projections for a new product to find out whether they satisfy the company’s objectives. If they do, the product can move to the product development stage."- Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Our product is The Islands vodka. But we want to have a open mentality towards our brand. We want to be able to come out with various holiday packaging and scented caps that can really give us a boost in slaes when we need it. And we also want to come out with various bottles shapes and sizes that do diffierent things. We just want our brand to have the experience that everyone is always looking for, and the experience that we feel our competition lacks.

"So far, for many new-product concepts, the product may have existed only as a word description, a drawing, or perhaps a crude mock-up. If the product concept passes the business test, it moves into product development. Here, R&D or engineering develops the product concept into a physical product. The product development step, however, now calls for a large jump in investment. It will show whether the product idea can be turned into a workable product."- Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Target Market Strategy

"A marketing strategy consists of specific strategies for target markets, positioning, the marketing mix, and marketing expenditure levels. It outlines how the company intends to create value for target customers in order to capture value in return."- Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing:

Target market strategy is all about precise planning and knowing the strenghts and weaknessess of your company. The Islands whats to target young people between the ages of 21-28. The reason for this is because you get the real value of our brand when your out on the town with friends or with a lady. As mentioned in our slogan we want this beverage to be he one that first comes to thought for a lady. With our packaging, scented caps, and speciality bottles we think we can really hit our target market. We also want our brand to be where our target market buyers are normally at, making it a convience to get it.

"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. Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives. Whereas marketing planning addresses the what and why of marketing activities, implementation addresses the who, where, when, and how."- Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: