Pricing above the market

              Pricing above the market is an pricing method that some companies use. A company might choose to use this method for all of their products. Or they could focus on one product particularly. Examples of companies that use this pricing is Tiffany's. Everyone one generally knows that when you see Tiffany's signature blue box, not only do you know where the product came from. You also know that the product is expensive, which in consumers minds leads to a superior product. Tiffany's has achieved this with not only a single necklace, or a single watch but their whole jewelry line. Another example of this would be the car Ferrari. Even though Chevrolet makes very affordable cars to the top of the line Ferrari. Everyone knows when they see a Ferrari just how fast and expensive the car is. So the company has created brand recognition as long as pricing above the market. If we look at similar sports cars such as the Chevrolet Camaro these cars both have the same manufacture but offer two different experiences. Even though in 2016 most cars come with Bluetooth, reverse camera, daytime running lights, and a sunroof. Even if we put all the top of the line amenities into a Camaro it still would not compare to a unloaded Ferrari. Chevrolet can price a Ferrari above the market because they know they have a superior product and consumers are willing to pay for the superior high performance product.
          One thing I have noticed in my research is that brand recognition, brand loyalty, and pricing above the market go hand in hand.  If consumers have brand loyalty they will purchase a product regardless of the price. Such as the fans of Nike Jordan's. Obviously the shoes wont make you walk, run, or jump any better but consumers are willing to pay an above market price for these goods. Another example would be the grocery store Publix's. Publix's is known to offer an "experience". The store is well lite, clean, cool, and employees go above and beyond to be friendly. Consumers want to experience this, so they don't mind paying high prices for goods as opposed to Walmart. So in short if a company knows that it has a superior product or offers a superior service, they will be successful pricing above the market. But the minute that pricing does not equal quality consumers will no longer be wiling to pay the high prices. So companies must focus on always keeping their goods or service top of the line

Branding

          Branding is a big deal in marketing. Often times consumers might even forget the product all together but remember the pitch or the celebrity whom endorsed it. I have noticed the trend with retired athletes, celebrities, and even ones still working. Of course one of the biggest names that immediately comes to mind is Michael Jordan, and his shoes. Research shows that the Jordan brand grossed over $100 million dollars in 2015. This is just off the sale of his very popular shoes, not including his clothing and or his athletic gear. When those figures are added in Forbes estimates Jordan's' brand at over $1 billion dollars.
         Jordan's branding includes his icon logo of himself jumping with a basketball in hand. Now although Jordan did not invent shoes or clothing. He necessity that people must have, clothes and shoes, and capitalized on it big time. His deal to partner with Nike was the biggest deal in its time Nike offered Jordan a record $500,000 a year for 5 years and put many stipulations on this deal. Jordan would eventually over come all of the stipulations and become the household name that he is now, and arguable one of the most recognized brands in the world. Not only does he had record sales he has also created a 'cult' following with consumers lining up to get each new pair of his shoes ad 'collecting' them. 
        So if every company could follow Jordan's every move marketing and branding would be all a company needed. But there is no 'playbook' to Jordan's success. Some say it is simply everything he touches turns to gold.

Inventions before there time

             An idea that has been on my mind is inventions that were ahead of there time. I read about how many years ago Apple had the idea for the Ipad tablet. As I researched this, some reports say that apple had invented an Ipad prototype some 10 years before the Ipad first hit the market! Its hard to say when the right time is to release a product. I know there is research, study groups, and surveys that can be conducted. But how does one fully know when is the right time? I think if you have a great marketing team and flood the market with the product it could be successful. I can relate this to the idea of Tide Pods. Tide was the first company to invent the pods. They marketed it to not only women but men. Their slogan was "take the guess work out of laundry". They successfully convinced audiences that anyone could do laundry just add one tricolor pod and it had all the detergent, the pre-treater, and the stain remover in one and add it to  the laundry. I remember when they first hit the market we even received a small 5 pack sample in the mail to try along with a coupon for $4 or $5 off. (Of course now it would be unheard of to find a coupon for $5 off. But Tide hung in their and had great sales. I think partly due to the fact that the target audience was male and female. After some time of being the only pods on the market. Now when I walk down the laundry isle nearly every brand has pods. Nearly each brand offers a liquid, a powder form, and the new pod forms of their detergent brand. Five years ago who would have ever guessed that we would simply throw a small pod into a load of laundry and walk away? But Tide's research and development team did. Then they had a great marketing strategy.  Even now I still see the Tide pods advertised everywhere. This invention followed our new busy lives. The washing machine and dryer have become one touch and energy efficient and the laundry detergent has become one drop. Now if we could just get someone to market a way to fold the clothes! (which is my least favorite part of laundry) 

impulse items

               One topic we could write about was impulse buying. An example of this is the items at the checkout counter. I see items like this all the time. As we stand in the long checkout lines we see the candy, chips, and cold sodas. As we stand there we impulsively want these sweet, salty, and cold items. Which most of the time never have a price tag on them. 20 ounce sodas in my area are $1.79 each, but if I were to visit the drink isle, a whole 2-liter soda is only $1.00. The same with the chips the medium sized bags are $1.49 but a whole huge bag is only $2.50. Often times there are more than just food items there. I have noticed that lately there are toys and coloring books for kids. Some isles even have the latest TV infomercial items.