Week 7: Engaging Your Customers - FaceBook Strategy (Part 2)

I feel that these posts engage the audience because they are down to earth and relatable. They are something, as a pet owner, I would find funny and it would draw me to a page to see posts like this. They also promote product so it is a good way to attract potential customers.

Week 7: Engaging Your Customers - FaceBook Strategy (Part 1)

Some of the businesses I chose to "like" are:

• Dogster Magazine
• Modern Dog Magazine
• Humane Society
• Helen Woodward Animal Center
• ASPCA
• Animal Planet
• Animal Lovers
• Petco
• Forever Dogs

The reasoning behind liking these specific pages are that they are all centered around animal care and news. By reaching pages that advocate the health and well being of animals it will be beneficial in reaching people who will, potentially, be interested in our product. This Facebook feature is important for business development and exposure because it allows us to connect to a broader  audience of potential customers.

Week 5: Defining Your Target Market (Part 2)

My target market for Pawsibly Purrfect Pets will be pet owners, and animal lovers, between the ages of 30-70. I use this range of age because the products are quality and custom, meaning that the prices will be on the higher end.

Psychographics:

• Men and women
• Ages 30-70

Demographics:

• Pet owners
• Animal lovers
• Individuals who appreciate quality product and are interested in purchasing homemade custom products

Week 5: Defining Your Target Market (Part 1)

Subway takes an approach towards advertising their product as a healthy, and balanced, nutritional meal. The feel of their website is that it is targeted towards a younger crowd but also directed towards kids and middle aged adults. They use vibrant colors, light hearted attitude, and witty phrases which signifies that they are geared towards a young, "hip" crowd; who would find these things attractive when making a decision on where to buy their food.
Some psychographic descriptions I would use, for Subway, would be:

• Men and women
• Ages: 13-45

Some demographics I would us, for Subway, would be:

• Individuals interested in health and nutrition.
• Individuals trying to lose weight.
• Individuals who are interested in saving money and earning rewards.

Additionally, Subway adamantly promotes a healthy lifestyle and is involved in helping the community. They include separate sections to call attention to the policies and commitments that they implement into their everyday operations. They also offer a rewards program to appeal to people who are interested in earning extras and saving on their products.

Hungry Bear is a smaller scale deli than subway and adamantly focuses on the quality and taste of their product; as opposed to nutrition. They focus on letting the customer know that they use generous portions. Instead of using tactics like savings and rewards, they want their customers to know that they are getting what they pay for; in terms of portion and quality.

Some psychographic descriptions I would use, for Hungry Bear, would be: 

• Men (I would say this is the most accurate because I feel men tend to eat a little more than women), but also women as well.
• Ages 25-50 (I use these ages because the sandwiches tend to be a little higher in price; the younger the less likely you are to have disposable income for eating out...and the older you are the less likely you are willing to spend $10 on a sandwich)

Some demographics I would us, for Hungry Bear, would be:

• Individuals who are not as concerned with nutritional facts but more concerned with taste and flavor.
• Income not a factor when choosing a place to eat.
• Foodies 

Hungry Bear has a less vibrant feel and more of a call for attention by promoting the quality and deliciousness of their food. They do offer salads which gives options for those trying to eat healthy. There is not focus on community or social responsibility but I believe that is in part to the fact that it is a one location, smaller scale shop.

Both restaurants aim to attract customers by quality of their food, in different ways. Subway with nutritional facts and Hungry Bear with food quantity and quality(always fresh, never frozen).

Week 4: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding (Part 2)

I do a lot of online shopping and one of my favorite shoe brands is Puma. At www.puma.com I see another example of less is more, as with Apple and Toyota. The website is well contrasted in colors that are simple but effective. The logo appears in the right spot and on every page allowing for maximum brand exposure and allowing for ease of navigation.

The header stays fixed at the top of each different page so that the viewer always knows how to return to the home page. I come back for the product because I like it bt I am comfortable with the online shopping process because it is simple and visually appealing. When I am looking for a certain style or line, on the website, it is easy to find exactly where it is.

Another site that I use fairly often is www.amazon.com . Despite the fact that they sell and advertise a vast amount of products, I feel that they make them easy to find. They provide great tools to navigate the website, with specificity. This is another example of simple design and, in this case, the emphasis is on the display of products.

The various search options makes it convenient. Even with all the product picture displays on the front page, they still categorize items for simplicity. They tend to place things of relevance, at the moment, higher on the hierarchy scale and those are the first things you see when visiting the site.

Week 4: Aesthetics, Design, and Branding (Part 1)

The first website I visited was http://jamilin.com/ . I immediately notice that the website is very loud. The colors don't seem to have any good contrast. You notice the tabs as many different bright colors that don't really pair together well, causing for the page to appear very chaotic. I don't even know where any brand or logo appear as so many random things fill the page. It's overwhelming and definitely not practical. Half of the page, in my opinion, appears to be ads and if they are I'm too scared to click on them and find out. I find there is too many options on the drop down menus, making it very disorganized. I notice an abundance of exclamation points after some of the phrases and slogans, which literally SCREAM messy and unprofessional to me. It just seems like the website goes in so many different directions I don't even know what the purpose for it really is. Things are aligned in a sloppy way and it is extremely hard to tell where one section ends and another begins.

I think one of the best things they could do, from a visual standpoint, is to tone down the colors and use shades that don't clash. The menus need to be categorized better to where there is not  so many page links on each drop down. I feel that this just makes it hard for people to navigate. Since practically everything stand out on the page and has an overwhelmingly close proximity, it is hard to rank the importance of what is being read. I think that a simple overview of the content to weed out some of the unnecessary information could do this site a lot of good. Like they say, less is sometimes more.

Another site I chose was http://www.roverp6cars.com/ and again I find the same degree of chaos on the page. One of the first things I notice is how they use photos of cars as backgrounds for the links. This is a bad tactic because it takes away from the readability of the words. It is also very repetitive and long and, again, contains too many links. In one particular part they even use different coloring on the words in the same sentence. The colors are all too loud and don't mesh well together, but the biggest problem is it is confusing to the reader. At one point there is a large blue link which boasts "CLICK HERE" and I am not even sure what it is meant to be for.

I feel that they need to use less imagery and more of a plain canvas for the wording on the pages. They should improve upon the alignment and proximity of the content. I think a good idea would be to take the various car photos and make a clickable gallery in which the viewer can scroll through instead of overwhelming them with all the pictures at once. I also think that using colors that contrast better would make the site more visually appealing. Again, as in the other site, I think that making broader categories for their internal links would make it easier to navigate. Using a few drop down menus would be more effective than the long list of seperate ones they have displayed.

On the other hand, https://www.toyota.com/ is visually appealing right when you open the page. The colors contrast well and go together making it easy on the eye. They use the gallery option, as I suggested for the other site, and it works well to display the different car models and styles. Their logo is placed in a noticeable spot and aligned against the menu items with just enough emphasis. They keep their logo displayed, in the same spot, on every page. The design is convenient as it includes a search option allowing for user convenience. Here the design strongly influences the way I feel because it simply makes it easy for me to comprehend what I am looking at and simple to figure out where and how I can get where I want to go.

https://www.apple.com/ is another site that is an example of a well put together website. The design is sleek and it is not too loud, yet catches your attention I like the way they have the large image of the iPhone's plastered against the all black background because it looks sophisticated and gives me a feel for the type of quality company they are. The hierarchy of the site is well set up as they display the newest product on the market with a catchy phrase;"Welcome to big screens" in large writing as a marketing tactic for their new cell phone design. the site is straightforward in that the menu is simple and right to the point.  Each internal link is categorized by the various products and support offered and, once clicked, shows the different available versions. The design and branding make me feel like this is a company that has it together and is about quality.
 (Links to an external site.)

Week 3: Communication-Business and Consumer(Part 2)

1. Adidas:
https://www.adidas-group.com/en/group/profile/

Adidas actively uses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Instagram.

Last Twitter post: September 10, 2018
Last Facebook post: August 2, 2018
Last Instagram post: September 9, 2018


2. Puma:
https://us.puma.com/en_US/home?locale=en_US&mktID=PL:Brand%20Marketing:Puma.com-CatchAllPage:United%20States-en&plinkID=Brand

Puma actively uses Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.

Last Twitter post: September 4, 2018
Last Facebook post: September 4, 2018
Last Instagram post: September 10, 2018
Last YouTube post: September 10, 2018


3. New Balance
https://www.newbalance.com/

New Balance actively uses Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Last Twitter post: September 10, 2018
Last Facebook post: September 9, 2018
Last Instagram post: September 10, 2018
Last YouTube post: September 7, 2018


4. Nike
https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/?ref=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.searchencrypt.com%252F

Nike actively uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Last Twitter post: September 5, 2018
Last Facebook post: August 21, 2018
Last Instagram post: September 9, 2018
Last YouTube post: September 10, 2018


5. Under Armour
https://www.underarmour.com/en-us

Under Armour actively uses Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Last Twitter post: September 11, 2018
Last Facebook post: September 11, 2018
Last Instagram post: September 11, 2018



I choose several popular shoe companies for my research. Each company seems to have the same scope of social media platforms, in which they use to promote and stay connected. Several use YouTube as a way to promote product through videos that exhibit their values and company attitudes. Instagram is used as a consistent way to post pictures of new product and promote things, such as campaigns and sales. A couple of the companies use Pinterest as a link on their sites. I think this is a good tactic as it allows exposure and promotion of product through customer pictures and displays.

I noticed that all five companies have the similarity of  Facebook being the least active. I think this may be because of the increasing popularity of other platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter. Each company is pretty consistent with posting every week or so to each popular site and generate many comments and likes when they do. I do notice that, as larger companies, they don't seem to be as active in response to comments, especially negative ones. I noticed a lot of negativity towards Nike, in light of recent events (not that I would expect any response to this particular subject). I think that just goes to show, though, how social media really acts as a place for customers to voice their opinion on any subject about a company; and may not always be positive. Sometimes companies have to deal with backlash and things of that sort and I can imagine that is probably tiring to see. However, in the end, any way that a company can get people talking, especially on social sites, will potentially generate more traffic to their page.