In response to Kaley DeBoer

So what I question is whether or not having a twitter account or a Facebook page for a company is actually beneficial? Do you believe social media marketing is beneficial, or do you think it hasn't quite reached it's maturity enough to be successful?

As previously stated in a previous blog, I believe that Social Media is very beneficial for marketing.  The ease of connection with consumers makes it faster to connect with them and get out information about new products.  In the age of twitter and facebook, all it takes is one quick tweet saying the iPhone 6 is coming out, within 20 minutes that tweet would be seen by millions of people.  The buzz one tweet can create is larger than anything a marketer could do without social media.  

Looking back before social media, it is hard to understand how companies got attention to their business.  I believe that in 5-10 years, there will be a whole new social media that changes marketing even more.  Technology is moving so fast and companies will keep taking advantage of it.  

Facebook's advantages for Marketers

Everyone knows Facebook.  The site has generated a success that was never imaged.  Business's have discovered the pros of creating Facebook pages as a way to create buzz for their company.  Putting a page on FB for any company will help them connect to their target market through word of mouth.  When you see that your friend liked a company it will increase your interest and make you look at the business and like it yourself.

Having special coupons on FB will give more reason to get more people to like your page and keep the company growing.  Do you think that in 2014 every company should have a FB page?

In response to Sarah Allen

How do you think marketing managers choose the appropriate price for a product? What factors do they take into consideration when setting a price?

When it comes to Pricing, I believe that many factors come into play.  Cost of goods sold and all other expense will dictate the break even cost so companies will make sure to be over that and make a profit.  Another major impact on pricing is competition.  In order to compete, you must be in the same price range as the competitors.  You can make your product cheaper to try and sell more, or higher to give your product the sense of being better than the others.  

Regardless of which path you take, Pricing is a very important P that cannot be over looked when it comes to introducing a new product,    

Eco friendly products

The environment is falling apart, and companies have seen this as an advantage to create a new line of products.  Pilot Pen company has created the B2P, Bottle to Pen, pen that is made with 89% recycled material.  The market for this product is very high because everyone wants to save the earth, so Pilot makes these pens more expensive because they can get away with it.

Do you think it is right for these environmentally friendly pens to be more expensive than regular pens?

In response to Chris Naples

Do consumers seek a common, generic experience in their products so much that they are willing to pay a premium over other similar offerings in order to get it?  Also, does Apple's single template marketing help to reinforce this idea of a generic experience?

I have touched on the Apple marketing idea before and would love to elaborate on it.  Apple is so simple with their ads that they really allow their product to do the talking.  I believe that Apple is at a point in their lifecycle that they have establised themselves as the "elite" producer in electronics.  

Consumers are willing to pay a premium for any Apple product, iPhone, iPad, iPod, because they know that they cannot get a better product anywhere else, and everyone whats the best.  If Apple were to raise all of their products by $100, they may lose 1% of their market, but the other 99% will still pay the extra just to have the Apple logo on it.  

Marketing through Sports

Lately there has been a big push for sport teams to rebuild stadiums.  When a new stadium is built, there needs to be a lot of money which comes from sponsors.  Large company see this as a great oportunity to really get their name out and associated with a big city sport team.  

One of the most recent teams to build a new stadium is the New York Mets with the building of Citi Field.  Citibank took on the responsibility to finance the creation of the new ball park in order to get their name on it.  

Is this a good promoting strategy for a company?  What if the team isn't a winning team, does that reflect poorly on the company?   

In Response to Will Ferguson

Question: Do you think gender specific marketing is sexist? 

Will makes a great point as to gender specific market and how it is just targeted to its potential customers.  I don't believe that it is sexist at all.  Why would you target a Cosmopolitan magazine towards a male when it is strictly a female magazine?  It isn't being sexist, but smart.  As a Marketer you want to do whatever it takes to reach your target market, and if you need to reach females, it is important to get there attention with bright, pink colors.