The Proposal - Product Placement

Its kind of hard to tell, but it is a Starbucks cup!

I was sitting down for a lovely evening with the fellas and we figured we would get in touch with our feminine sides and watch the Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. In one of the opening scenes Sandra Bullock has to fire one of her employees and while doing so she is holding a Starbucks cup waving it in the face of the camera. It is a blatant product placement because the cup is obviously empty or it would've been spilling all over the place. While watching it all I could look at was the cup and wasnt looking at the movie. It was cool to see product placement firsthand.

Managing Products

Managing a product line is crucial part of the marketing process because it enables companies to establish marketing plans, change them, mediate the amount of money being spent and analyze the effectiveness of a plan. It is easy for us as consumers to just sit back and see things as they come but in all reality a lot of work goes into each commercial we see or each marketing strategy we notice. There are many different types of branding like retro branding, national branding, private-label brands, generic brands and many others. One of the first steps in the marketing strategy and management processes is determining which type of branding a product falls under. One of the best marketing schemes right now in my opinion is the new Old Spice commercials. They have determined what type of branding they are, which is a national brand, that appeals to all males in the country. Because of this realization they then made their commercials, packaging and product all appeal to the average male. The following commercial outlines their new line of deodorants...



This commercial explains a new set of scents that appeals to the 'real men' in America, and I think it does an effective job of capturing our attention and showing an entertaining ad.

Creating a Product Line

A product line is when producers expand upon one individual product and release different products that compliment it or compete with it. This gives companies the possibility to dominate a market and control a market segment. When we look at different products today almost every company has come out with some sort of product line. In class we talked about Pyramid Brewery releasing a different line of beers with similar advertisement and packaging as well as Old spice releasing a wide array of different deodorants.

One example i can think of that truly represents the importance of a product line is something that most car companies do. They offer a a product line of cars, featuring trucks, suv's, coupes, and hybrids, different but similar products that help them gain a portion of the market. As these products reach there maturity peak they will see their highest number of sales and as they begin to decline the companies will develop a new design and new features for their next set of products.

Creating New Products

New products are announced everyday, but only few actually make a large impact on everyday society. One particular product that I noticed that was revolutionary and has seemed to stick in the market is the Dyson Vacuum Cleaner. It took a different approach to the normal vacuum market, introduced a new idea and product and managed to influence the market and become a household item.



This vacuum is a continuous innovation that has led to a newer improved specialty product. It is not something that we will see in every home, but in many cases we will.

Target Marketing

Target Marketing is crucial to the success of advertising. The sole purpose of it is to spend money in a demographic that you know are interested in the product. Instead of wasting resources and creating a product that appeals to everyone you focus your efforts in a product segment in which you know you can be successful. I think a great example of this is the product Axe. Axe advertises to the teenager and young adult males who want to smell good and obviously attract girls. The entire marketing scheme is based off of this assumption including stylish packaging and commercials showing guys that used axe being chased by beautiful women. It is a genius marketing plan because it solely appeals to a strict demographic, but has the potential to do extremely well within its segment. Axe is marketed to 'Generation Y' and no one else, and this is a sound plan. Axe is a relatively new product, and once established in this market segment they may be able to branch out and expand their product. Market fragmentation is when a company has products in different market segments that appeal to different demographics. When Axe grows they can begin to partake in market fragmentation, but for now it is in their best interest to remain with their target market of 'Generation Y'. The following is a commercial that obviously advertises to their select demographic.

Business to Business Marketing

One of the first companies that popped to my mind when thinking about business to business marketing was IBM. This company is founded on the ability to make solutions and ideas that other companies can use to make life easier. It is one of the most recognizable companies in the world, and its sole purpose is to create products and services for other companies to use. This ad I am about to show you is an ad that promotes the use of a certain server that can hold more, and will make life easier for companies.



I think IBM is the perfect example for B2B marketing, although I do not personally think that their ads are very effective we can definitely see the B2B aspect.

Chapter 4 - Consumer Behavior

This ad is a great example of how companies use consumer behavior to market a product. Consumer behavior is how people express who they are, and is determined by their purchasing patterns because it talks about how they chose to run their lives. This victoria secret ad speaks to women who want to be sexy, and appear beautiful for their men. Victoria Secret can use this ad to determine how their consumers (women) react to the thought of sexuality. They can use this commercial to determine whether or not women buy their products as a neccesity or because it will help them feel better, feel sexier and feel more successful. It is a crafty marketing plan that goes unnoticed but is effective for the company research.