Tuesday, March 29, 2011

EBAY: Acquiring Different types of Products For "Different" Uses

Lately I have been blogging about Soul Train, but since Chapter 10: ProductConcepts really has no relative stance with "Soul Train", I decided to make this post about Ebay.com: a website where millions of people worldwide perform business transactions through "Auction" or "Buy It Now" status. Thousands of people shop everyday on Ebay for different types of products, from a missing piece for a espresso machine to wholesale items to help supplement a business, and also automobiles and homes could be found on this website. 


Ebay has a new policy known as the "Buyer's Protection Program". Buyers are qualified for this protection if they use Paypal, an online payment company owned by Ebay, to make payment to a seller if they are not satisfied with an item or have issues with the product that they purchase or issues with a seller. Several outcomes can come from this once a claim is filed against a seller. Either you can receive a full refund from Ebay or the buyer and seller can come to a mutual agreement about the item sold. 


A lot of people worldwide use Ebay as a means to sell unwanted household items or to create an online business which Ebay has several different programs for a potential seller to achieve this. ANYTHING could be sold on Ebay. This website is probably one of the best outlets for a buyer and seller to either pay what they want for a certain item or receive a desiriable payment for what they sell. Specialty, convenience, consumer, business, unsought, and business products could all be found on EBAY!

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Market Research On An New American Household Name

Marketing Research is the process to planning, collecting, and analyzing data relevant to a marketing decision.

Soul Train, like most companies, have to undergo a Marketing research to stay in business and to be "known". This information is critical and is passed down the line as in linking the consumer, customer, and the the public to the marketer through information. Soul Train conducted a lot of surveys about the shows pro and cons, what needs to be enhanced, what needs to stay, and what have to go. Not only did the creative team behind the show have input on the set design and selection of guess appearances, it was the audience too.

What most people don't realize is that all the products that we use daily, all the shows we see, all commercials played, and all the music we listen to has to undergo this process because it's about what the "people" want.




Soul Train has now joined forces with a company called Foursquare to promote citywide events of upcoming Soul Train shows, runway shows, and concerts that gives them a push in the matrix for internet savvy 18-35 year olds that require update info on demand. As time goes, so does technology. And with this collaboration, Soul Train has a better advantage of sticking around for years to go. Currently these events are only available in the Atlanta, Georgia area, but both companies are pursuing to go to different major cities together.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Distribution of the infamous urban store "Dr. Jays"

The Sunday that just passed, I stopped by Dr. Jays to buy my kids some new sneakers. At first, I thought that Dr. Jays was a franchise, but in fact they are a chain store ownership. A lot of people don't know this but, Dr. Jay's is NOT only located in New York. Actually they are located in all the major cities on the east coast (also, I found some information about stores located in California). Dr. Jay's has been around since 1975, and the first store opening in New York.

Even though Dr. Jay's is conveniently located through out most cities, especially in New York's five boroughs, they also have a website where you can also shop which is, http://www.drjays.com.



Dr. Jays has stores catering to not just the urban man, but also women and children alike. The female version is called Dr. Jay Ladies. The children's department is more than likely, located in the main Dr. Jay's stores, and even women's footwear and accessories could be found in the main Dr. Jay's stores other than Dr. Jay Ladies.

Dr. Jays is a urban mainstream retailer, and it seems as though they are here to stay. So considering that they cater to the urban styles such as Rocawear, Sean John, Coogi, North Face, Baby Phat, Marc Ecko, Nautica, Polo Jeans Co., Akademiks, and host of other popular urban styles, they must be classified as a specialty store. Most of the time they can have moderate to high prices on on clothing, shoes, and accessories unless they have a major clearance event to make way for next season's inventory of the latest styles.


Monday, March 7, 2011

The Concept of Market Segmentation

Soul Train became extremely popular during the late 70's and early 80's. In result to that, their audience was no longer just African-American teenagers, it was a melting pot of all backgrounds, age groups, and nationalities that were patiently waiting for the show to come on Saturday late night.

So to cater to everyone's needs, Soul Train featured other mainstream artists and Soul Train dancers than their usual famous black musical performers and dancers. For example, they featured Elton John. and Michael McDonald performing and also, Rosie Perez was also a featured dancer bringing a new diversified mix for their viewers to watch.

As a showcase, Soul Train is no longer popular, but the award show still remains, and is shown annually on B.E.T. and Centric.