Chapter Nine Review & Application

2.1 Break into groups. Can we classify each of the following products into category, convenience, shopping, specialty, unsought- that they think fits best from their perspective as consumers. Coca Cola, car stereo, winter coat, shoes, life insurance, blue jeans, fast food hamburgers, shampoo canned vegetables, curtains.

Coca Cola- shopping Shoes- shopping Life insurance-unsought Blue jeans-shopping
Car stereo-specialty Winter coat-shopping Fast food-convenience Shampoo-shopping
Canned vegetables-convenience Curtains-specialty

4.2: How does Hormel use its web site to promote its store brands? Is the site designed more to promote the company or its brands? Check out the Spam Web site. How do you think Hormel is able to successfully sustain this brand that is often the punch line to a joke?Hormel went for branding over company promotion. Hormel neatly separated its brands by refrigerated or pantry products. It focused on meal making by using an interactive kitchen.

The Spam.com site is fantastic. They first go for recipes, then fun and games, returning back to different Spam products. I think the more people hear about taste Spam and internet spam the more the product is marketed. The old slogan has been said, any marketing news is good news.

5.1 Find a product at home that has a distinctive package. Write a paragraph evaluating that package based on the four functions of packaging discussed in the chapter.

I went with Trader Joe’s Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats. The oatmeal is packaged in a resealable and recyclable can with a label going completely around. The product label features a photo of a breakfast meal consisting of simple oatmeal with fruit and cinnamon on top and a glass of milk. In addition, the nutritional facts, cooking directions, ingredients and UPC code are printed. Oatmeal, by itself, is a bit dull. By adding brown sugar, fruit, and/or granola, it becomes a healthy and tasty breakfast. The meal takes a convenient eight minutes to prepare. The oatmeal meets all four requirements: to hold and protect its contents, promote how the product is used, convenience and the ability to be recycled when finished.

6.1 List the countries to which Levi Strauss and Co. markets through the web site. How do the product offerings differ between the U.S. and European selections?
The first thing you notice is Quentin Tarantino’s style rock and roll playing on the Deutschland Levi site. In comparison, the USA site has no music going. The USA site features soft spring colors and relaxed clothes. The German site has an industrial theme, with black and dark grey colors. It’s a little edgy.

The American site had three main areas: destructive washes, dark side and capital E. The destructive side featured worn out jeans. The dark side featured the original heavy denim and regular jeans. The capital E featured an upscale line or premium jeans.

The Deutschland Levi site featured four areas. The first area featured is the regular jean area. Next was a link to a hip hop selection of jeans. The third part featured an urban, city mix of jeans and clothes. Lastly, one could click on an area featuring traditional western jeans.