Ferrari Red Becomes Ferrari Green?

When you think Ferrari the first color that comes to mind is naturally Corsa Roso, or red. However, in a recent effort Ferrari has made a push towards a greener attitude in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly. When I first caught wind of Ferrari's plans to adopt a greener outlook I saw it as a huge oxymoron, a company that produces some of the worlds fastest gas chuggers wants to limit its emissions. However, as I looked more deeply into the endeavor it began to make a little more sense. The heart of Ferrari's green movement does not lie within their vehicles, it lies within their operations. Ferrari's plant in Maranello, Italy utilizes some of the most cutting age "green" technology including a photovoltaic roof, and a trigeneration plant for electricity, hot, and cold water. This is an interesting move for Ferrari, as far as marketing is concerned it seems unnecessary. Ferrari's customers are a very particular type of people and I cannot imagine that Ferrari is trying to branch out to the environmentally friendly population, most of whom would have great difficulty affording one of Ferrari's speed machines. This leads me to believe that Ferrari is actually going green simply for the benefit of our planet and I find that very admirable. Do you think that Ferrari has alternative reasons for going green? Does Ferrari's new outlook change your perspective of them as a company? How long do you think it may take until going green becomes the standard in the business world?

Organic Food Movement

Organic foods are proven to be healthier and better for you. They contain less of all the bad ingredients we all look out for on the back of our favorite junk foods, they are produced in more ethically sound ways, and they have less of an impact on the Earth. Yes, organic foods can cost more, and initially be less attractive to potential customers, however, as more information surfaces about the dangers of mass produced, chemically altered foods, more and more customers are being drawn to the labels that hint at "All Natural", or "Organic". Due to the increase in popularity of natural and organic foods, many farmers who previously did business with major brands such as Tyson and Perdue, are negating their contracts and making a move towards healthier, organic means of production in an attempt to increase revenue.
Unfortunately, due to the downturn of the economy, some of the farmers who have changed over to an organic platform, are now finding it difficult to remain above water due to the rising costs of resources and the decrease in demand for their more expensive products. The end result of these factors is that many of the farmers who have been in business for generations are being forced to close up their farms, or make radical lifestyle changes in order to keep from going bankrupt. Do you think that Organic foods are worth spending the extra money for? Will the industry remain sustainable?

Direct Mail vs. Electronic Marketing

Typically when new technology comes in, it replaces old technology. However, for some reason e-mail and the internet have failed to completely phase out our aging system of snail mail. There are many factors that play into snail mail's resiliency, but in any case the fact of the matter is that it is still practical. This is proven in the article "...Snail Mail Marketing" in which certain companies profiled their success with snail mail. Based on the examples from the article, snail mail still offers a more personal and harder to ignore form of advertising. In the article, one business owner says "I think it's easier to delete electronic junk mail without taking a second look."
Although many companies still stick to snail mail, there are many new forms of advertising that seem very promising. Barcodes are one of the latest trends to take off in marketing, they have yet to become a staple in advertising but they are certainly on the rise. Barcodes use the technology in modern day smart phones to automatically link customers to products companies are trying to advertise. The technology is fantastic, and I think it is a great form of marketing. As American's we live in a world of convenience and instant gratification, what is more convenient and instant than seeing something you like, scanning it and being able to buy it right then? I think that barcode technology is a great way to advertise, but it unfortunately limits itself. The only customers that a company is marketing to when they use barcode advertising are those customers that have smart phones, and although that number is growing daily, it is still limiting. I think that electronic forms of advertising are certainly on the rise, but I do not think that e-marketing will completely phase out traditional forms of marketing. I think that as long as people are reading newspapers, magazines or any other forms of paper, traditional forms of marketing will still be around.

Advertising on Ice Hockey Boards

Recently while watching a hockey game on TV, I noticed a digital advertisement on the glass boards around the outside of the ice. After thinking for a minute, I realized how great of an idea this was. The rink pays little to nothing to actually digitize the company's logo and show it on the boards, while reaping full benefits of a normal advertisement. The advertising is extremely flexible because nothing is actually physically on the boards and advertiser's logos can be changed at a few key-strokes of a computer. I think that this will inspire alot more of this type of advertising because it essentially creates advertising space where there is none, and any television network can't turn that down. Do you think we will be seeing much more of this type of digital advertising? Do you think it is as effective as conventional advertising?

Apple's New IPad... Jewel or Junk?

Apple recently released its newest creation this month, the Ipad which is a multi-use, portable tablet. The Ipad is a touch screen computer very similar to the Iphone but much larger. The Ipad is roughly the size of 4 Iphones put together and its intended use is as a personal computer. Critics and the media have met the Ipad with mixed, but mostly negative views. The reason that the Ipad is not being accepted well is it's lack of functionality, it basically is capable of the same functions as an Iphone and is not as portable. I have to question the marketing department at Apple with this creation as to who their target audience was. The Ipad is not small enough to fit in a pocket, and at the same time, does not have a large enough screen to be enjoyable for use at home. It also remains in limbo as far as its uses, it is not capable of as many functions as a home computer or laptop. Basically, what Apple has done, is created a larger, less portable Iphone that isn't really sure what it wants to be.
Usually Apple can be counted upon for great products such as the Iphone and Ipod, which have both changed the way the world works. However, Apple's latest concoction just doesn't seem to make sense. It is possible that Apple sees a niche for this product that the rest of the public hasn't seen but as it stands, this product appears as though it is set-up for disaster. The rest of the marketing was equally surprised with Apple stock dropping as Steve Jobs was making his key-note speech introducing the product. Hopefully Apple can recover from this bobble and continue to make great products. Do you think the Ipad has the potential to succeed or is it doomed for failure?

Slap And Chop!

I've seen the funniest infomercial ever, and its for the Slap and Chop....




What I find funny about this infomercial and many others like this one is the way that they push these products. The fact is that usually the products that they are trying to sell are actually good ideas and are very useful products and the way that they market them makes them seem opposite. When I see informercials, I automatically think that the product is a piece of junk and the fact of the matter is that some of these products are not pieces of junk. I think that some of these products limit themselves by advertising in an infomercial format and I think that if some of these products marketed themselves in stores, they would make more profit. Do you think that the products you see on infomercials are better off advertising in infomercial form or in stores?

NBC's gratuitous use of the Luge Death

I'm sure we've all heard about the tragic death of the Georgian luge competitor during the olympic trails. Over past couple of days since the accident, I've spoken to a couple of people about the ethics of whether or not NBC should be showing the footage of the crash on national television. I thought that this was an interesting tie to marketing as well because we all know that as humans we have a sick tendency to desire to view these type of things, and I believe that NBC is using that to their advantage. I don't think it is necessary or ethical for NBC to be showing footage of the crash on national TV, there is a level of respect which I think is being dishonored by exploiting the video to increase ratings. Do you think it is ethically correct for NBC to be showing footage of the tragic accident on national television?