Marketing Principles

I really want an iPod but I don't have $250 to spend. So I compared all the mp3 players within my budget and narrowed it down to two: Sansa e250 and iPod Nano.

Contrary to what you would think, I ended up with the Sansa. Why? Very simple reasons really.

1. Bigger screen (almost double)
2. iTunes crashes my PC every single time
3. It has a radio
4. I can record voice, radio and music
5. It looks sturdier - I thought the Nano would break just by looking at it.
6. Did I mention a bigger screen?

So you see, even though I long for the day I can have an iPod, the Nano just wasn't the same and there was actually a better product. So it seems that I will buy my Mac and my iPod once I graduate.

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments

Ok, so it's not really and iPod but it looks like one. Sirius launches the Stiletto.

What do you think? Will it sell or not?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 5:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

I know most of you don't like Nokia, but this is one cool phone. I only wish that, like the Sidekick or the Motorola Q, they would've found a way to put a QWERTY keyboard in it.

What do you guys think?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments

Facebook has recently opened its subscription to friends of members, which means pretty soon there will be people in Facebook that are not in college or that are not part of any previous network. Does that change anything for you? Who knows, maybe your future employer can now see your Facebook page.

On the other hand MySpace is thinking about developing a mobile phone application - a MySpace Web application to run on mobile phones that should be launched in three to four months with a major U.S. carrier. Do you think this is a good idea?

So Facebook or MySpace, which one do you use and why?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments

Some people thing Zune can give iPod a run for its money. For example, with Zune you can purchase songs at $.99 or you can have a membership for $14.99 monthly and buy as many songs as you want.

Read the article and tell me what you think. How many of you even buy songs?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments

Does this even make a difference in your purchase decision? Or is it more of an awareness and trial campaign?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments

Following the class discussion about market segmentation, you are today's hottest marketing segment. Were you aware of this? It is your generation, the connected generation, who is driving business today - and changing everything. Hence it is only logical someone would come up with the 10 Cravings of your generation in a two part article.

Read both parts, they are pretty short, and tell us what do you think? Is this really you? Are these really your expectations?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments

So, what do you think of Zune - Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPod?

It looks cool, has a big enough screen and you can apparently view it either horizontal or vertically - but what can it do?

Read the product launch here and here and compare to iPod. What's the verdict - success or failure? What do you like or dislike? Would you buy it? What do you think it represents?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments

Starbucks is currently in the middle of an unexpected lawsuit due to an internal promotion gone wrong.

The company sent an e-coupon to their employees for a free Grande coffee drink. The employees were allowed to send the coupon to friends and family and be valid until September 30th. But when a local Starbucks failed to accept the coupon, the disgruntled customer turn around and sued for fraud.

Read the article in the link above and evaluate the following: What are negative implications for Starbucks? What could the company have done differently? Is this a bad strategy or a bad implementation? Did Starbucks have a contingency plan for this "positive" deviation from the plan? How would you react as a customer if this had happened to you? Do you think it is a frivolous suit?

Posted by Adriana M. Bóveda-Lambie at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments