Patagonia

Patagonia and EnvironmentI have always admired Patagonia and their commitment to the environment, and how they use this as a marketing tool.  Their first ad campaign of "Dont buy this Jacket" caught my attention right away.  It went on to tell about the carbon footprint that buying one jacket leaves, and that if you already have a jacket that works, you dont need to buy a new one.  Its nice to see a company telling consumers that they dont need to buy more than they need.  Its great to see that this message has led to increased sales.

Sliced Bread

I often find myself watching TED videos in my spare time, as it is full of interesting ideas on how to do presentations as well as valuable information.  Seth Godin does a good job explaning how important it is to market towards the outsides of a curve, as they are the ones who want to listen, not the majority in the center of a curve.  Good watch if you have 20 minutes. 

While searching around youtube for a blog entry today i came across this old bit from Bill Hicks.  Always been  a fan of his comedy and this had me laughing really hard.  especially when he talks about the marketers taking his anti-marketing rant as marketing in itself.  Warning:  language is a bit off-color.  Bill Hicks on Marketing

Energy Drinks

In the last 5 years convenience store coolers have gone from having  one or two types of energy drink to having at least a full cooler of different products.  I often times find myself thinking of how brilliant some of these companies are at marketing their product.  This winter i saw a snowboarder in the lift line with 4 different energy drink brands stickers on his helmet.  Obviously, said kid thought that these were cool brands to associate yourself with.  (well done marketers)   The best of these brands are obviously Red Bull and Monster.  (not best drink, but at marketing)  Suddenly it is not uncommon to see trucks with monster stickers on them, or monster clothing.  The ability for Monster to be able to turn  their brand into somewhat of a lifestyle is very impressive.  I wonder if people wearing these clothes and putting up these stickers realize that most of the action sports professionals promoting the brand don't even drink it.  On the other end though, the success of these brands has helped shape other brands, such as DrinkWater, created by a group of professional snowboarders who realized how influenced kids were by other professional athletes endorsing the energy drink brands.  They realized that they to had influence, but had turned down offers from energy drink brands.  So they started a brand that does nothing but remind people to drink water.  And it is catching on. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/sports/pro-water-in-snowboarding-culture-heavy-on-energy-drinks.html 

didnt have an answer

I recently started a new job.  After years of working as a cook, i finally landed a job related to my studies.  I am doing Sales and Marketing for Lone Peak Brewery in Big Sky, MT.  I just did my first sales trip to Billings on Tuesday and while riding around with the distributor he asked me what my marketing plan was.  I did not have an answer.  I am  hoping to put this plan  together in the next month, but i am looking forward to this class to help me answer that question the next time it is asked.