$10 Rolex sells for 66k on Ebay!

A retired Navy doctor starts the bid for his vintage Rolex at $9.95, and ends up with $66,100 by the end of the bid.

Full article here

Chapter 8- Segmenting & Target Marketing

Market segmenting is an idea that applies to who companies should target when marketing a product. Its basically a way for marketers to group consumers that are most likely to purchase their products. For example, Marketers can segment groups of consumers based on age, race, gender or their income level. After marketers segment a group that will be most likely to buy their product, target marketing comes into play. Target marketing is the focus companies put on specific groups of consumers, that they their product will most attract.

Breitling is a high end brand that definitely puts market segmenting and target marketing into play when pushing their product. For example; GQ magazine is a men's fashion magazine that has Breitling ads in each issue. By Breitling advertising in a publication like GQ, they are obviously targeting men, and not just any man, but men of higher income. GQ magazine can be obtained by anyone, but is most popular among men that are willing to spend a few thousand dollars on a watch. It's quite obvious when you flip through the pages and see ads for Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Rolex that this isn't printed for any average Joe. These are all companies that you won't see advertising during a football game. People might say, "Companies target men during sporting events". Which is true, but it will be different kinds of companies. You'll certainly see ads from Ford, Toyota and Budweiser during a sporting cast, because those are companies that target the average American male, due to their product's affordability. This proves that Breitling is precise when it comes to segmenting and target marketing. They know that it would be a waste of time and money to advertise to the average American man, that most likely won't purchase a $5,000 watch. So they market their products in a publication that is popular amongst the guys with money to blow, GQ. Thats income segmenting at its best.

Jay WINS again!

Hip Hop business mogul Jay-Z, has the official "Ok" to open new venues of his 40/40 club in a number of airports across the U.S. Which will add on to the venues already established in New York, Atlantic City, Tokyo and a number of other cities.

Read the official article here

Chapter 11- Developing And Managing Products

Corporations are always looking for new ways to increase revenue and interest in their products. Developing new products is one of the top ways to keep consumers on their toes and curious about what's next from a company. Apple is a company that continuously comes out with new products and updates for old ones. By having that reputation, Apple is one of the top generators of interest in the business world. When constantly updating products that are effective and reliable, a company is sure to generate more interest, which in turn will of course generate more revenue.

Breitling targets the interest of the upper class and people of the aviation field. Although an already established company, Breitling recently created the new product named, Navitimer 01 Limited. A watch from a classic company with a contemporary look. Although the new watch has a modern look, it still contains the vintage swiss watch movement, that majority of watch companies no longer use. So Breitling is basically giving the consumer an updated look from their vintage chronograph watches, while still staying true to their original interior watch movement; Swiss. Developing this new product can increase sales, by gaining the interest of the newer generation that are interested solely in a great looking watch and the watch connoisseur that is interested in the look of the watch but even more interested in the movement.

Bottled Water; Big Business For No Reason?

Getting a Head Start on Black Friday Shopping

2 Women camp outside of Best Buy more than a week before Black Friday.

Chapter 21- Customer Relationship Management

       A company keeping a healthy relationship with its customer is keen to the idea of “customer loyalty”. Of course there are businesses that consumers will continue to religiously purchase from, no matter the relationship they have with the company. Supermarkets and Cable companies are just a few examples of businesses that people will continue to be loyal to, no matter the health of the relationship. The point of Customer Relationship Management is to potentially increase sales. When getting information from consumers, that gives the marketer the understanding of what will help sell their product or if their product is perfect the way it is.

      The way Breitling uses Customer relationship management is not aggressive at all. Many companies use surveys or questionaires, for their customers to help them better market and manage their product. Breitling on the other hand simply gives a link to their authorized dealers that you can contact if you have questions or comments. Being that they are a luxury watch company, I feel as if they wouldn’t value a customers input as much as a company providing a service that can possibly be improved to fit a customers happiness. I feel Breitling value’s its customers, but have their marketing management set in stone, and is not interested in changing anything about their company to meet individual customer needs.