Allstate and Ford, Keep Up the Good Work

The two companies I chose are Allstate Car insurance and the new Ford Motor Company Fiesta.

Target Audience

For Ford motor Company, their brand is reinvention, and their product is cars, more specifically for my project the Ford Fiesta. The target audience for the Ford Fiesta in the past has been in the international market but recently they have tried to get into the North American market with their new commercials and print adds.  Their main target in North America is the younger “hipper” generation.  It is mostly for a family with no kids because the car is a compact car,.  It is also targeted at people who live in a city because the commercial is filled in a city setting.

 

Positioning/Differentiation

In regards to positioning Ford has tried to create a “hip” atmosphere around the new fiesta.  They try to make their car look more futuristic then the others.  They also play up the lower price tag, and the great gas millage too.  Compared to other companies, their aggressive marketing strategy is paying off.  Ford is working very hard to make their car better than the rest.  The position that Ford uses with price makes it competitive, but also more marketable then other car companies.  The place situation for the new Fiesta is everywhere.  Ford has done an amazing job at marketing the Fiesta.  They have everything from flashy print adds and commercials to real life testimonials with regards to their Fiesta Movement campaign.

 

AIDA

I would say that Ford is in the early majority group of its adoption curve because the Fiesta still has a long way to go.  I would say that Ford has done a good job at getting the attention of their target audience, but needs to till pass into the stage of holding interest and arousing desire.  Overall Ford is doing a great job at raising hype about the new Fiesta.

Target Audience

Allstate has a similar target audience in that they target to a younger target audience.  With their new commercials that portray a crazy teenage girl played by an old man, they are making a joke at a bad situation.  The company for Allstate is Allstate Car insurance, the brand is that their insurance is always there when you need it, and their product is car insurance.  Allstate insurance targets a younger audience of probably 20-30 year olds, and not specific to men or women. The demographic includes people from the city and people from the suburbs.

 

Positioning/Differentiation

In regards to positioning Allstate has worked at marketing to a different audience than other car insurance companies.  Their competitive situation is quite high, other car insurance companies also put out adds and market their product well.  Examples include Gieco also goes for the humorous approach when selling car insurance.  With their “are you on good hands” slogan they make potential customers question their current car insurance provider.

 

AIDA

In regards to AIDA and the adoption process, Allstate is currently in the early majority stage.  Allstate targets the early majority because they are the ones that would be most receptive to the humorous commercials. Allstate works very hard to target a specific audience and their commercials do a good job of that.

An Analysis – File it Supplies Inc.

Situational Analysis: File it Supplies Inc (FIS) owns FILEX brand of file folders.  The company’s largest customer, Business Center Inc. wants to buy some of FIS’s file folders and sell them under their own name. Business Center has already managed to put its name on more than 45 high-sales-volume office supply products.  This is not the first time Business Center Inc has asked FIS to produce file folders that they can market under Business Center Inc’s brand name. Each time in the past they have been denied and they continue to purchase their products from FIS.  It has been FIS’s policy to not let other companies re produce their brand.  Business Center Inc. accounts for about 30 percent of the marketing manager’s business.  There is a concern because local stationers’ businesses are discussing the use of larger wholesale distributors like Staples, Office Max and numerous others.  These large suppliers offer the product at a lower price.  FIS sells to Business Center Inc, and although FIS is doing considerably well in the market, it is the fear that Business Center Inc will soon be out preformed by other large corporations in the area such as Office Max and Staples because they are not re-sellers and can provide a cheaper priced product. The market situation for FIS is optimistic, but similar to above, the bigger concern is for their largest customer, Business Center Inc.  Due to the fact that BCI is the largest consumer of FIS products, FIS is directly dependant on the success of BCI.  The folders that BCI is requesting only have a 20 percent gross profit, and if FIS was willing to accept the deal, that 20 percent would be even less because now they are competing against another product.  In regards to the competition situation the other highly competitive companies have an advantage of size, but not necessarily customer service.

SWOT Analysis for File it Supplies Inc

Strengths	Own the majority of the market Able to produce enough product to handle the new business Business Center is good at retailing Good reputation with community and good quality Wide range of products
Weakness	Another competitor may bring down the overall market value of the product Acceptance of the deal “breaks” current company policy Currently only 20% profit margin with folders for BCI
Opportunity	Produce a second line of product Generate more business overall because BCI will need to purchase more product Create a more competitive market against their own product Better relationship with Business Center Inc.
Threat	Competing against themselves Lower overall market price If do not accept could lose BCI’s Business Competing against other large companies (ie Office Max, Staples)

Statement of the Problem: FIS needs to decide what their solution for Business Center Inc’s proposal is.  FIS needs to consider the following when they make their decisions; SWOT Analysis, The Four P’s of Marketing and the opportunities that can come from the new product that will be distributed.  FIS must not only decide what they need to do about the offer, but they also need to develop a new policy if they are going to accept Business Center Inc’s proposal.

Recommendation, Solution and Rational: The recommendation is that File-It Supplies revoke their current policy and permit Business Center Inc to purchase FILEX under their own brand. File-It Supplies’ current strategy is out of date, and upon evaluation needs to be updated based upon the current market standing.

There is quite a bit of supportive evidence for the point that File-It-Supplies should allow Business Center Inc. the right to sell the FILEX folders under their name.  It is important to consider The 4 P’s of marketing in both outcomes of the deal, acceptance, or denial.  The current marketing strategy limits the marketing mix and the target market by not allowing Business Center Inc to sell the product under their name.  If Business Center Inc was allowed to sell the product under their name at a lower price, they would be able to market to a different target market then the current one because price is a major factor when selling.  FIS would still have good differentiation from the “new” product because their “old” product has established a name and different target market from the old product.  It is important to remember that although both products would be competing against each other in the market, the original product all comes from FIC, meaning they get the revenue.  Both products are in a very similar segmentation, but like stated before that should not be a problem because the entire product comes from the parent company (FIS).

FIC should also consider the customer value they have set up with Business Center Inc, and how it would be detrimental to their company to loose them as a client.  Although in the past Business Center Inc has not left when they were denied by FIC for their proposal, who is to say that this time will not be it.  FIS needs Business Center Inc’s business, and to keep it why not allow them to sell more product?

In regards to the 4 P’s of Marketing, it is in the best interests of FIS to accept Business Center Inc’s proposal.  The first P is product, the product at hand is of superior quality in the market place.  If FIS chooses to accept the deal, they will not be making a new product, the quality will not change, just the name.  Along with that, the production needs of the company will not grow beyond the companies capabilities. However, the second P, place will change.  The channel type that the consumer is purchasing the product is changing.  Although the customer will be going to the same store, there will be two different products they can purchase.  Promotion of the product will also change.  FIS will not have to change their promotion that greatly, but they will want to reevaluate how they promote to other companies similar to Business Center Inc.  Upon accepting the deal, FIS will now have a new policy on allowing companies to purchase their product.  This will entail a new marketing strategy to customers.  The last P. price will not need to change either.  In regards to selling to Business Center Inc, the price can and should remain the same.  The price that FIS uses for other products however may need to change.  Now that FIS is competing with larger companies in the market, that provide bulk goods at lower prices, they will need to “keep up” with the wholesale prices.

Taking all of this information into consideration, it would be in the best interest of File it Supplies Inc to accept Business Center Inc’s proposal to sell FILEX folders under the Business Center Inc’s name. Business Center Inc has proven to be a loyal customer. It is their president to continue to sell the parent product along with their product, so there is no harm in allowing them to purchase more product to produce more revenue.

Social Media and My Life

Social media is the largest thing in marketing that my generation has to deal with.  It is an exciting and challenging venue to  be able to market in.  Personally Twitter and Facebook have helped me easily connect with friends that I do not have a chance to see regularly.  Many of my friends go to colleges in other states and participate in study abroad programs, if it was not for Facebook, I would not be able to connect with those people at all.   Social media does not only make communication easier, it makes it possible.

Professionally, social media has help me connect with many GVSU alumni in the field of hospitality who know of job opportunities and have proven to be amazing references.  It has also proven to be a great resource to do research on companies and potential employers.

In the future I believe that social media will prove to be a tremendous resource to not only myself, but also the marketing field.  For me, if I achieve my goal of working for a college, it will help me market to students and other staff at other universities.  Working with social media helps one gain credibility within their said field.  If I work in the hospitality industry and regularly write about articles and post new ideas about things, it shows that I know about current topics that are relevant to my field.

In terms of marketing, social media opens up a plethora of resources.  It is important for a company to convey its marketing concept accurately and  social media is an excellent portal for that.  Remembering back to the four P’s,  social media is an excellent way for a company to hit its target market in a cheap way.

I think that we are just on the beginning of the social craze and I can’t even imagine where it will be in ten years.

GVSU New Library

Here is a story about the new Grand Valley Library! Although it will not be completed until 2013 I will make sure I come back and visit this beautiful facility.