Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

I fall into the Millennials category according to the book, Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing.  “Both the baby boomers and Gen Xers will one day be passing the reins to the Millennials (also called Generation Y or the echo boomers). Born between 1977 and 2000, these children of the baby boomers number 83 million, dwarfing the Gen Xers and larger even than the baby boomer segment.” The millennials are said to make for a huge attractive marketing from age 12-32. 

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

Blanket America Blanket America is an online premier supplier in the bedding and textiles industries. They offer esteemed Blanket America Patchwork Heritage Collection. Blanket America Patchwork Heritage offers bedding set collections, quilts, throws, patchwork quilts, comforters, pillows, shams, decorative pillows, Afghans, and comforter sets. 

Blanket America stands by the “buy one give one” philosophy.  They believe that “when you buy from Blanket America, not only are you generating automatic donations, but supporting the larger commitment to ending extreme poverty”.  www.blanketamerica.com  This makes the consumer feel like they are really apart of the cause.  It makes the consumer not only happy with their purchase, but also feel good about themselves. 

This is another quote from their site that I found to make customers want to buy.  This gives the consumer a sense of feeling humane.  “In addition to domestic giving, Blanket America has provided disaster relief to Haiti with blanket donations, and created jobs with your demand for our Choose Haiti line of products”. www.blanketamerica.com  Blanket America really stood out to me and made me want to find out more about it.  I had never heard of this company before. 

I thought it was really cool that when I went on the site I seen that there was a “Haiti” line they offered to purchase.  Although there was only one item on the site, it was still cool to see them incorporate the place they are supporting in the line. 

Blanket America really cares about the needy and really does give back for every purchase you make.  They even outsourced to other companies to help out with the cause. “In December 2011, Blanket America teamed up with Gap to continue their mission of donating blankets to those in need.” www.blanketamericablog.com The company shows me that just because you become successful with your own business doesn’t mean you have to be selfish with your profit.  You can put you profit to use and help those less fortunate.

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group- Video Games

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Studies show that the video gaming industry has not been doing well.  The sales have dropped and don’t seem to they will have a comeback any time soon.  The industry has been dropping sales of video game software, the physical games themselves, the consoles, controllers, everything!

“According to the latest numbers from NPD Group, sales of games, hardware and accessories fell 25% year-over-year in October from $1 billion in 2011 to 755.5 million, Bloomberg reported.”  

http://bit.ly/VXNAUm

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group- Video Games

The games aren’t the only factors that play a role in the gaming industry.  The gaming consoles are not selling as well as they use to either.  Although the Xbox was a Dog when it first came out, the Xbox Connect now plays the Star.  “For the 22nd consecutive month, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console was the best-selling gaming system, although sales declined 31% from 393,000 in October 2011 to 270,000 in 2012.” http://bit.ly/VXNAUm This is a breakdown of where I feel these consoles actually stand currently according to The BCG Growth-Share matrix:

Xbox - Dog

Xbox Connect – Star

Wii – Dog, no more than a cash cow

Wii U – Dog

Playstation Veda  - Dog (pretty much for al handhelds)

IOS mobile platform (android/tablet) – Star

PC – Dog

The gaming industry is losing sales not only from lack of interest, but also from other matters.  “Sales for video games and consoles are falling steadily every year, and many are pointing to the competition from cheaper alternatives like digital game downloads for smartphones and tablets as the leading cause.”  http://bit.ly/Xy5c9m This tells me that the sport of play games itself, but the purchasing of games is a factor.  It goes hand in hand with artists not making as much money they use to due to music downloading sites and CD burning abilities.  The audience is still there when it comes to having an interest for games. 

The economy plays a role in the outcome of the industry as well.  The economy is going through a tough time right now and people just can’t afford the expensive games like they use to.  People are putting themselves in a “saving” mode.  They don’t want to spend $65 on a game they can dowload for free.  The average cost of a game is anywhere from $40-$75.  This is pretty pricey compared to free. 

The gaming industry has many diffwerent factors invloved in its decline.  The industry looks like the only way it will survive would be if it comes out with something new that really grabs their audience.  Whether it be some new game console that is uncompareable, or an awesome new game.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

 

As a fashion design professional, I am very experienced when it comes to the industry.  I knew I wanted to be in the fashion industry since I was a freshman in high school so I decided to get in the industry early so I knew what it was about on a hands on level.  I have been in retail since I was fifteen.  Of those 7 years I spent 5 of them on the management side.  I’ve worked for several companies inside of malls like VF Outlet, Perfumania, Charlotte Russe, Michael Kors, and Wilsons Leather.    

I started at Michael Kors as a part time sales associate and after 3 months of employment moved up to floor supervisor.  Working at Michael Kors gave me my first breath of the high end market.  The customers were not seen as customers, but potential clients that could begin a long term relationship with the company.  In the beginning of my fashion career, sales were the only thing I knew or thought about.  Once I started in Michael Kors they showed me the wide range of positions and possibilities open to me.  I learned what it meant to be a visual merchandiser, a buyer, a personal shopper, a stylist.  All of these different careers are huge titles in the fashion industry.  Working at Michael Kors gave me the opportunity to really get my feet wet and decide what kind of careers I wanted out of the fashion industry.

After 2 ½ years I left Michael Kors and started at Wilsons Leather where I currently hold assistant manager/ visual merchandiser (at store level) position.  I started as a MT (manager trainee) and continued rising.  More than any other responsibility in the store, I love to merchandise.  If I could do nothing but spend all my time merchandising the store I would be happy.  I get to be the one who everyone comes to if there is any question or concern on the merchandising of the store.  As a visual merchandiser it is my responsibility to know at any given time, the latest items wanted in the window and also know which product will act as substitute in the event we sell out the first pick.  The product wanted in the windows is chosen at a corporate level so that all the stores are modeling the same product consistently. 

When it comes to the in store merchandising those are all my own personal put together.  The best part of my day is either when I finish a display, an associate will walk pass and look at it and say “wow Bree that looks great!”, or when I finish a display and two maybe three days later we sell out of one of the items.  That lets me know I am doing my job and that I really have an act for this.  I actually get to play a key role in the business and feel proud.  When a customer first walks into an establishment, their first impression is gathered from the appearance of the store.  My experience in the retail industry is an advantage on my part.  In my past experience I have managed adults, sometimes almost twice my age, when I was still considered a “child”.  Everywhere I work people believe me to be older than what I am from my personal experience and knowledge in the industry.  My journey in the fashion industry is just beginning and once I get my degree I intend to explore it all.

Week 1 EOC: My Shopping Experience

My greatest shopping experience took place at Nordstrom.  Originally I was not shopping for myself, but actually tagging along with my cousin.  He was purchasing a gift for a girl's birthday.  As the lady showed us different perfumes, began to get bored.  He finally decided on the latest Chanel perfume that was out (I forget the name).  I then had to help him decided between getting the pricey perfume or settling for the inexpensive toilette.  Seeing as the two of them weren't that serious I told him to get the toilette and save a few dollars. 

As the lady at the counter wrapped up his gift, I started wondering around and stopped at a Bare Minerals counter.  The lady there was very friendly, honest and knowledgeable. I had never tried Bare Minerals, but I've seen the infomercial.  She got me to buy $65 worth of the product and threw in a few sample items and I haven't spent more than $20 on make up at a single time.  The product came with two different sizes of brushes, a base compact, and an overcoat powder.  The way she drew me into buying the starter kit is that one of the brushes included in the kit alone was $25, so of course buying the whole kit was a no brainer. 

As the lady rang me up she kept me engaged in the product and convinced me to give her my email address to receive the deal notices, which I found that deals rarely happen.  The lady gave me all her info that way I can be a lifetime client and I appreciated it.  I now continue to go to that direct Bare Minerals counter to buy my product.  This type of service is rare to receive and the funniest part of it all is I’ve always told myself I would never shop at Nordstrom because I know I could never afford anything, and I’m sure the workers are really stuck up.  That lady changed my whole opinion of shopping Nordstrom.