EOC Week 7: The Pitch

The Pitch

I have decided that my ‘pop-up restaurant’ will be a food truck. This truck will provide fresh, healthy and nutritious food made with high quality ingredients, to those who want great tasting food but don’t wish to, or can't afford to, take time out of their schedule for a sit-down dining experience.

“Consumers’ needs and wants are fulfilled through market offerings—some combination of products, services, information, or experiences offered to a market to satisfy a need or want.” (Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2013). Marketing: An introduction (11th ed., p. 6). Boston: Prentice Hall.) My truck’s market offerings will be easy-to-eat sandwiches/wraps made of pitas, tortillas, or lettuce. These will feature a small palette of ingredients, artistically combined to create delightful signature sandwiches. Recipes will be created for many different regions around the world, each designed with the rich flavors characteristic of the cuisine represented. All sandwiches will be assembled per order, using freshly prepared ingredients.

Generally, we will stick to simple ingredients. The main ingredient will be grilled chicken. As far as meat selection, we will only utilize chicken (and a vegetarian chicken alternative) in the menu. This decision will drastically improve our efficiency. It will also help our bottom line, as chicken is the most profitable of all the meats we could serve. Perhaps most importantly, people from all backgrounds love it! “Chicken is the only food in the world that transcends race, religion and gender.” (“International Franchising.” Chicken Kitchen. CK Systems, Inc., 2007. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. <http://www.chickenkitchen.com/#international>).

For all intents and purposes, our sandwiches will be gourmet, but we will downplay that point somewhat, as we do not want to alienate less particular clientele with a potentially off-putting tag. People will understand that these are not ordinary sandwiches soon enough, when they see and taste them!

My pitch: A hand-held meal, costing little dough, for those on the go.

“Simply put, marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. The aim of marketing is to create value for customers and to capture value from customers in return.” (Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2013). Marketing: An introduction (11th ed., p. 2). Boston: Prentice Hall.) I will elaborate on the Cluck Wagon marketing strategy, including how value will be created, in the blog posts that follow.

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

It is amazing how rapidly technology is changing life, at home and in the workplace. I remember my first job searches. I combed the phone book for the names of firms and, hopefully, some information about what made the firm stand out from the rest. Beyond that, magazine searches through microfiche film seemed to be the technique that beared the most fruit. When it came to sharing with an employer, I had to rely on a resume and a cover letter, and a large portfolio full of physical samples of my work.

Today, an employer might find me by noticing an online presence that I maintain, without any thought to squiring a job. As in the real world, some people online are more highly sought after than others. In fact, employers are now seeking brand ambassadors online. As our text correctly states, "...thanks to modern technology, armed with little more than a video camera, laptop, and a cell phone, anyone can spread the word about products and brand experiences to thousands, even millions, of other consumers."

According to the Wall Street Journal, "...(Monster.com) plans to launch a program where companies can offer employees cash rewards for making referrals through (Facebook)." If people start making money for referring online friends, the trend could explode. We'll see what happens.

Week 6 EOC: Me x3

Three Products That Define Who I Am

iPhone 6+

 

I have been a fan of the iPhone since the beginning. Once I picked one up, and realized I understood everything about it intuitively, I was hooked. I am currently on my fourth iPhone, which is the iPhone 6+. I resisted getting it for a while. The screen seemed so large it was almost grotesque, and I was sure it would not fit comfortably in my pocket. But as before, once it was in my hands I knew I had to have it. I am now to the point that I don’t know how I was able to use such a small screen before, and it fits perfectly in my pocket. I hate using the phone, but love the apps. They allow me to be me.

 

Music Collection

My music collection isn’t exactly a product, so I’ll use the hard drive the collection resides on to describe it. It is a 3TB Seagate External Hard Drive. I use it to manage a collection of music that exceeds 120,000 songs. I have been a lifelong music lover, and the collection encompasses all genres of music. I add to it regularly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vizio 80” TV

I love the theater experience, especially when I can have it in the convenience of my own home! I moved recently, and have had to purchase to new furnishings. I abandoned a 106” projection screen system with the old house, and opted to buy a VIZIO M-Series 80" Class Ultra HD Full‑Array LED Smart TV for the new house. As far as systems go, LED beats projection on many levels, assuming the same size screen can be acquired. I no longer require a nearly complete dark environment to watch television, I don’t lose half of my image when someone’s head moves in front of the projector, and I no longer have to replace lamps at $500 a pop when they fail. In fact, the VIZIO requires very little power, or the related power cost, to operate. The VIZIO has four times the pixels of my old HD system. It is a smart TV, and comes equipped with dual-band Wi-Fi, a six-core processor. I can also browse and stream content from Netflix and others straight from the TV. Once settled into the new place, I expect to host parties to enjoy movies and/or TV shows.

Week 4 EOC: New Phone App

Virtual Valet

For professionals, there never seems to be enough time to get everything done that needs to be done, outside of the office. There have been many times when I have worked 50+ hour weeks, leaving many household chores and other responsibilities unattended. I have (halfheartedly) joked with coworkers about the need for an office "gopher," who would be responsible for taking care of things that required attention, but the job made very difficult. Hell, we had an "office runner." Why couldn't the runner pick up my dry cleaning on his way back to the office? How about have my car cleaned, or filled with gas?

This service could be like a Molly Maid operation (or an expansion of the original concept), where people who were not necessarily skilled could work part or full time, fulfilling the needs of busy people.

I wouldn't need to know the person too well, so long as he or she had good credentials, and probably carried insurance, etc. I already place trust in complete strangers when I leave my car with them for service. This wouldn't have to be any more scary.

Services might include...

(This list could grow quite large!)

Laundry or Dry Cleaning

Housecleaning

Auto Registration

Auto Maintenance

Auto Cleaning

Auto Fueling

Food Preparation / Service

Home Services (Landscaping, Pool, etc.)

(These services could be handled like property managers or condominium owners. Virtual Valet wouldn't have to actually perform the service, though they could. All that would really be required is that they make sure that the work was taken care of.)

The service could be like the game, The Sims, in which one simply needs to pick up the phone to call a baby sitter or housekeeper, solving a problem of time. Call Virtual Valet, then go do the thing which is really requiring your attention, whatever it be!

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

It seems that, through and through, I belong to Generation X. And not just because I was born in the tail end of 1969. The labels and descriptions used to describe my generation fit me like a glove.

One such label is the “MTV Generation.” I was alive to see three or four television channels turn into hundreds overnight. When MTV rolled onto the scene it was mesmerizing. And it changed the culture. My high school was filled with people sporting fashion trends they’d seen their favorite bands wearing on MTV.

I had lots of spare time to watch MTV, and a virtual plethora of other new and exciting cable television stations, because I was a “latchkey” kid. My parents were divorced, and both of them worked. This left me free to get into all kinds of no good with my friends, most all of which were of the latchkey variety. There always seemed to be a house we could go to, to escape parents or other authority figures. I could tell stories, but I’ll keep them for another post.

Having grown up, at least to a large degree so, I have begun more and more to ponder my future. Untrue to one of my generation’s descriptors, I was very interested in financial success from an early age. I studied architecture in college, then boldly moved to California from Indiana, with the hope of striking it rich! After a move to Miami, and then to Las Vegas, I was doing very well that I started my own practice. Things were going well, until the economic crisis hit, costing me the business. In the wake of that misfortune, I have come to appreciate quality of life over career success. Though when I look to the future, it seems I have squandered away my savings and am indeed “woefully behind in saving for retirement,” as our text puts it. And like so many other Generation X’ers, I’m working on that.

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

Newman’s Own is a company I have been familiar with since I was a kid. The company began as a charitable organization - the brand started with a homemade salad dressing that Paul Newman, and his business partner A.E. Hotchner, prepared themselves and charitably gave to friends as gifts. Newman said at the time of the company’s formation, "My profits will be divided between a number of tax-deductible charities and causes, some church-related, others for conservation and ecology and things like that.”

Since that time, the Newman's Own Foundation has generated over $400 million for charity. According to the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/18/giving/making-his-own-charity-an-acquired-taste.html), “The business was an accident and the charity an afterthought, as Mr. Newman and his colleagues tell it.” In the article, Newman’s daughter Nell is quoted as saying "He thought the world had treated him incredibly well … let's just do this and give it all away.”

By the end of 2006, Newman quietly turned over the entire value of his ownership in Newman’s Own to charity. “Completed over a two-year period … the amount of his donations to Newman’s Own Foundation Inc. comes to an astounding $120 million.” (http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/06/11/ailing-paul-newman-turns-over-120m-to-charity.html)

Paul Newman passed away in 2008, and Robert Forrester is now President and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation and Chairman and CEO of Newman’s Own, Inc. According to Forrester, “Paul Newman wanted to make the world a better place, and we carry on his legacy to do that.” (http://www.forbes.com/sites/devinthorpe/2014/12/29/newmans-own-foundation-ceo-explains-unique-social-entrepreneurship-model/)

Today, 100 percent of Newman’s Own, Inc.’s distributed profits go to charities around the world. Much of the charity is in the form of research grants, to organizations focusing on fresh food access and nutrition education.