In Response to Will Ferguson's Post: Interactive TV

Do you think interactive TV is going to be the next big thing for entertainment?

I could definitely see television headed in this direction and become increasingly popular over the next several years. With so many shows similar to American idol, dependent upon viewer voting and decision making, it seems as if most shows will have to have an element to be decided by the viewers in order to maintain ratings. Several shows similar to "Opposite Worlds" have already been produced and have been on for years. Although the situation is not as extreme, shows like "Big Brother" (in its twelfth season) places contestants in a house competing against each other, and based on what viewers observe, they vote to send contestants home. In some cases viewers of certain shows may decide what a person eats, wears, or even does, such as ABC's "The Glass House"  With shows like this becoming increasingly popular, I'm sure a station will attempt it's own sort of Hunger Games scenario, although not as extreme, but perhaps a more intense take off of CBS's "Survivor" The question however is if these shows are a good thing, or if watching people competing in extreme make-believe situations is a bit too much.

Do you think Television Stations may go too far in the future in regards to the viewer-voting competition shows, similar to "Survivor", "Big Brother", and the new ones to come?

Intrusive Advertising?

Recently I've noticed that products I search for on Google, happen to show up in Ad spaces on various websites, placed there by Google Ads. In one case there was a long-board I was looking to buy that I had researched using Google, and for a whole month it would appear on almost every website I visited as a Google Ad. These Ads are present because of Google saving my form data on my computer, or possibly even the searches themselves. I can understand their approach, by placing the products that I search for in front of me constantly, greater increases my chances of clicking their Ads and buying the product. However is it okay that they remember what products I buy, and is there a chance they may also be saving all of my searches to gear their Ad spaces to fit my personality? For example I was looking up basketball stats, between Lebron James and Michael Jordan, as well as some new basketball shoes, three of which appeared the next day in this ad below. Is it possible they will create a marketing scheme personalized towards me, and constantly barrage me with basketball shoes and products?

Although this may be a creative form of effective advertising, I can't help but think it is a slight invasion of privacy.

Which raises the question, what is the limit to which companies can find customer research to create effective advertising?

Super Sales

  Has a sale ever persuaded you to buy something you didn't expect to at first?

Occasionally when I go food shopping I'll enter the store with a specific list of items I need to get to stay within my budget, but get persuaded into buying sale items and end up spending more. The theory that I'm getting more for less sometimes convinces me to go over budget for items I may not need, just because at the time I assume I'm getting a good deal. For instance while passing through the drink aisle and I'll see that two liter sodas are "buy-one-get-one" free, and I get caught up in the deal aspect, as opposed to the fact that I didn't even plan to buy soda. I have gotten better at only buying the items that I intended to get when I made my list at home, but its still tempting to buy sale items. I am sure this is exactly what store owners want to have happen, however it can make cost conscious shopping difficult at times.

Do you find yourself doing the same when you shop? Have you ever had to cut another shopping trip short because of splurging for sale items the week prior?

In Response to Nicholas Vita's Post: Pop Up Ad's Online

Do you think that pop up ads have a bad reputation as spam or can be a useful marketing tactic for some companies?

I believe that pop-up ads do have a bad reputation for simply being an annoying aspect of the internet. I also don't know of many legitimate pop-up ads, today it seems most of them are linked to fake organizations trying to convince people to donate money. Other fake pop-ups seem to convince internet users that they've won some sort of prize like an Ipod or television. Recently I've found that they've gotten even more annoying featuring voice recordings, or even videos that start to play once the page opens. With all these factors contributing to users disliking pop-ups I find it hard to believe that people would appreciate a pop-up as a an actual product offer.

Have you ever benefited from clicking a pop-up? As in did it lead you to a product/service you were interested in?

Are Annoying Ad's Beneficial?

Has there ever been an ad on television or the internet, that seems like its only purpose is to get in your head, or to be annoying? I find that this happens far too often, especially with companies whose ads are constantly on the air. One commercial that seems to fit in this category is State Farm's commercial where one of the people in the accident has his mother show up instead of a state farm agent. I'm not sure if its that I've seen the commercial too many times, or if its the commercial itself, but whenever it airs I find myself reaching for the remote to mute the TV before the mother yells "SIX CALLERS AHEAD OF US JIMMY!". When a commercial becomes annoying not only does it get stuck in my head, but I start to resent the company for making the Ad. I understand that companies want their commercials to be memorable, or have a catchy jingle so the public remembers their product/service, but I feel that many companies are walking a thin line between memorable and simply annoying. A different commercial seemed to be annoying from the start; McDonald's "fish bits" commercial. In this ad the actors sing a "fish bits" jingle, which seems to get stuck in my head no matter what. With the amount of money these companies have to spend on ads, I feel that taking the annoying commercial route is only hurting their business, where they could be creating more effective commercials to promote their product.

Are there any commercials that annoy you? Do you think these ads actually help persuade people to buy the companies product?

In Response to Nicole Rutigliano's Post: Dr Pepper ten, "Not for Women"

I agree that many people will not want to drink soda's and other drinks with the word "Diet" in them due to the fact they most likely contain replacements for natural sugars that customers don't want to consume due to the side effects they may have. I especially agree with your idea that male customers will not buy a diet drink, but possibly due to the fact that dieting does not seem like a "manly" thing to due. In addition I feel the main buyers of soda, at least in large quantities, would be parents during their weekend shopping trip, whether to drink at home, or to give to their children for school lunches, or after soccer practice etc. In my experience  most of my friend's mothers are the ones that venture out to do the shopping, and with the slogan that's been negatively labeled  towards women, I feel that this would deter women shoppers to buy Dr. Pepper Ten, and to supply their children with the soda due to the message that's attached to it. Perhaps if they changed their marketing strategy to a soda that provides the energy to due all the activity's shown in the commercial and remove the "not for women" line, it might increase their customer base.

Do you think this type of marketing may be beneficial to the company?

Disaster of the Seas

Can Marketing Help Save Customer Loyalty for Carnival Cruises?

Even though Valentines Day is suppose to a romantic day for many, it can be implied that love was not in the air for the passengers of Carnival's cruise ship "The Triumph", as they exited the vessel after 5 days on what's being called the "cruise from hell". During their cruise in the Caribbean the ships engine malfunctioned and caught on fire, and as a result passengers of the ship had to endure five days without electricity, air conditioning, running water, limited food, and possibly worst of all: no working toilets. These unhappy cruise-goers could be seen literally kissing the ground after stepping foot on land five days ago surrounded by a herd of media representatives. Carnivals President and CEO was present to answer some questions as to why the fire broke out and try to express his apologies and condolences to those who were on the ship. However with this speech, two press releases and limited responses to the media's constant questioning, Carnival, as of yet has not launched a marketing blitz to try and maintain its loyal customers who may be second-guessing their yearly vacation time with Carnival. The question is how do you recover from such awful publicity? And with the longer they wait to start their marketing campaign/improving their ship safety programs, will it be too late to save their customer basis? Worst of all their competitors have jumped on board this incident by placing their own Ads (such as Princess Cruises) right before any online videos covering the story. Carnival's attempt to win over passengers with a departing gift of five-hundred dollars was taken as a slap to the face by some customers, many of which after being plunged into darkness on all floors not directly open to the outside, ended up camping all over the outside spaces of the ship.

When disaster strikes an organization as with Carnival Cruise Ships, is there any way they can recover their image? 

For more info check out:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/troubled-waters-carnival-triumph-18517690