Final Project

There has been myths about the impact music has on people while shopping. Ask yourself when your shopping does the music being played make your stay longer, shop more, or leave.  “Just as interior design is part of the in-store experience music has become an important competitive toll for business owners” I conducted this project at All Saints inside the Caesar’s Palace forum shops.  I surveyed 50 shoppers to see if music affects theirs shopping experience.  Since All Saints interior is a very dark and works with muted palettes I find that the music they play has a slow tempo. All Saints prides themselves on being a digital brand and works with a variety of excellent artist. However when it comes to the music they play in store it seem to fall short. I set out to see if customers would respond to better-known upbeat music all while staying within the All Saints aesthetic. Music played in stores has turned into more than just music in the background. “A deeper understanding of how consumers are affected by music is important for anyone who runs a business were the experience offered is becoming a main differentiating factor”

 

Music is an emotional language and can be the connecting factor between brands and its consumers. The results I found were that music were profoundly a big part of people’s lives. Music being played inside a store actually had influence over people more than I thought. My survey consisted of 10 questions that asked customers about how they felt about music while they shopped. When asked would you say music helps create a better atmosphere in a retail environment 43 out of 50 responded yes. Another question that I wanted to highlight that I asked was how important was music in your life. 27 surveyors circled very important and 18 surveyors answered important.

 In conclusion:

The results I found shows that music is not only important to consumers but that business owner should take it more seriously if they want to difference themselves from every other retail store.  If the consumer appreciates the music that is being played I observed that it makes them stay longer but also come back.  Just like customer service, music should be a part of the in store experience as a whole. If you have ever been to a high-end store you will see wine being served. Just like those added values, music should be put in a stores competitive utility belt. Music is power and whether its conscious or not it affects the way we shop.

week 8 eoc: graphs

this week we learned to put together graphs in excel. I spent all class trying to figure out how to build the graph and then get it into my blog. after I got home I was able to work in excel a little more and learn how to make graphs. so without further ado here are my graphs.

week 7 Eoc

For my final project I decided to survey the influence of music on shoppers at All Saints inside the forum shops at Caesars Palace. All Saints is a British based company that has a rocker grudge type esthetic to the stores clothing and decor.  All saints works with and plays music from plenty artist across a wide range of genres, but the problem I found is that a lot of the songs that they have on their playlist are often sad and depressing. We are located right across from H&M, which is a young hip store that has dj’s that play top 100 hits. By doing so it gives the store a party type atmosphere which the customers seem to enjoy. For my project I want to test to see if playing more upbeat music will result in customer’s attitudes towards purchasing more products.

I feel that the same way smells attract people to bakeries or restaurant is the same way music attracts people to retail stores. According to retail radio “Study after study has shown that your choice of music can heavily influence customer buying choices and the length of time they spend consuming”. Music influences shoppers more than you may think wither its obvious or subtle. The decor inside All Saints very dark and dreary and I know a lot of stores play music that match their stores decor. However music sets the tone for the store. With the effect the music has on people I think the stylist may also be affected by the up-tempo music and may be more enthusiastic to sell. I am eager to start surveying people to test my hypothesis.

week 6 Eoc BIG analysis

In one of Tom Hank’s greatest roles, he plays Josh adolescent boy in a man’s body in the movie Big. Josh makes a wish at a carnival to be big only to wake up the next morning a grown man. Josh has to learn to cope in the real world wither it be finding a job and being romantic with women. On his adventure he earns a job at a toy company which is perfect for him. Hs deep insight on what kids want out of towns ultimately gets him an executive position. Movie reviewers said that however “The real beauty of the movie lies in the realization that an adult that manages to maintain the exuberance of youth is one to be greatly envied, and while the means by which this message is conveyed is highly unconventional, the message is delivered with insight and clarity”

From a marketing standpoint the story showed that really understanding your consumer is key. This is evident in several scenes in the movie. In one scene Paul who is a market researcher is wowing the owner of the company with numbers on a new problem. While he is going on about how kids will love this product, josh comes up with a fresh concept that ignites debate amongst colleagues. Through the movie Tom Hank’s character uses forms of primary research. This type of research finds answers to specific questions.  Primary research finds out what the customers’ needs are and may take the form or questionnaires, interviews or direct contact with the consumer. However Josh simply just played with the toys and in turn finding out what customers wanted.

Week 6 eoc what did I learn

While completing my first project I learned a lot. I learned how to put together survey questions carefully and then take that data and analyze it. Before I was able to even put together survey questions I had to put together a marketing plan for the fragrance. My idea was to make a fragrance for a man’s lifestyle other than just making something that smelled good. I wanted to add a hint of vanilla in the top note without making the fragrance too feminine. My marketing included selling them in department stores and small boutiques at a price between 70-90 dollars.

I set out to find what my consumer was willing to pay, where they purchased their fragrances, how many fragrances they owned, and ultimately did they see fragrances as a part of their social lives. Looking back at my project I think that I could if organized my questions a little better. I surveyed women and men of all different ages and all different settings. I found that my data was a little sporadic however I was able to retrieve some good data from that. While I looked at everyone else projects I saw that some student brought up some interesting things and even added visual aids. At the end of the day I was happy with what I did but overall I think that I could have did an even better job.

Fragrance Project: Analysis of the project in the Real World

The way something, someone, or someplace smells is key to the experience one may have while smelling this certain person, place, or object. In today’s society people buy and receive fragrances for many reasons. Wither you receive a new fragrance for your birthday, holiday, or, special occasion or you purchase one because your significant other likes it, people associate all types of emotions to smell . Along with that there are varieties of different fragrances, different price points, and different places to purchase these fragrances from. When you put on a cologne it should smell like who you are and what you have been through. So ultimately people don’t pick a fragrance because of the smell but rather they pick a fragrance that is a representation of themselves. The way you smell is the best way to set a great first impression. In today’s society fashion is all about lifestyle branding. Companies now sell fragrances around what people do opposed to just selling scents for people to wear. Through surveying 10 people I was able to have a slight understanding of how people view fragrances as a part of their social lives.

While conducting my survey I found out that my results were somewhat sporadic. However 3 out of the 10 surveyors that had 4 or less fragrances spent $35 dollars or less on their scents.  Where those who owned 5 to 10 or 10 or more spent from $75 to $120 per bottle on a fragrance. 8 of the 10 surveyor’s said they shop at Macy’s or Nordstrom’s for their smell goods with 1 saying they shop at bath and body works and the other 1 purchases their fragrances from a person selling them outside a gas station. 8 out of the 10 said that they are attracted to the smell of a person when first meeting them. Followed by 1 no and 1 I don’t know. One interesting fact that I found out that is that the design of the bottle has no influence on their purchase. 8 out of the 10 said that the design didn’t matter when it came to choosing a fragrance. When asked how often they buy fragrances for themselves, answers ranged from 1 every month or two to not often at all. The people that said they didn’t buy new fragrances often owned 1-4 0r 5-10 fragrances showing that these people most likely stick to their favorites and don’t venture out outside of them.

I had fun with this project getting out and interacting with people. Even though this was only a small survey it gave me a snapshot into where some consumers buy their fragrances and how much they spend on them. I look forward to building on my surveying techniques to strengthen my marketing skills.

week 5 eoc

The wall street journal conducted a study to see how website read what we do on the internet and then sell that information to other parties. On a new computer WSJ visited the top 50 sites and found out that 3,180 tracking files were placed on the computer. These tracking files often lay dormant gathering information that can be used to learn your daily activities and interest. These files assign you a number and soon you’re bombarded with ads and spam emails to your computer ultimately leaving you annoyed. This isn’t a new technology however in the last couple of years it has morphed into something bigger and some of these sites that have these files on it doesn’t even know. These things we call cookies are tracking our every move as soon as we turn the power on to our computers. From a marketing standpoint for business’s I feel that this is not a productive way of gaining information on your customers. To bombard them with spam to get them to buy your products? They should think of a program that lets you opt in to using it. Maybe some type of rewards program and emailing list that lets you learn your consumer so that you can better service their needs.

Now a lot of people may not know that they are being targeted but striping away my marketing researcher title as an American I do not like it. Eric Snowden said it best, simply “I don’t want to live in a country that does these things”. To me it’s a waste of time to spy on my every move when there are bigger problems foreign and domestic. Either or we can’t do anything about it if you want to use the internet. Only other option is to disconnect yourself from technology completely.