Amazon Reveals New Delivery Drone Look

Who would have ever imagined we would be receiving our delivery straight to our front lawn...by air! A device was made two years ago that contained 8 legs which helped it stand when landing, but has now evolved to something that looks similar to an airplane. The device can fly as high as 400 feet, 15 miles out, and takes 30 minutes or less. It can carry anything that fits in the PrimeAir box and weighs up to five pounds. The drone is even programmed to know when obstacles are near and to move out of the way for things such as birds.

This new product is very useful for those that urgently need their products. Taking less than 30 minutes was not really anything companies offered. The fastest shipping was next-day delivery, and even then, this was still not quick enough. The whole idea of this product is very convenient as it will increase overall customer satisfaction. This new product will promote the company itself. Other competitors will not have this option, at least not yet, so Amazon will most likely have leading sales. I think that some people may even purchase something just to see the drone over their front lawn. I know I would!!


http://www.wsj.com/video/amazon-reveals-new-delivery-drone-look/0E187FA3-FB08-46D0-B3C8-A9B9669ADE9E.html

Marriott acquires Starwood Hotels and Resorts

Marriott’s Acquisition of Starwood Hotels Beefs Up Advertising Might

Marriott International is expanding its business and hotels, as they are acquiring one of their rivals Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. This will make Marriott International the world’s largest hotel company and will help expand their ad spending. This combination will obtain 30 hotel brands in its portfolio. According to data from WPP research firm Kantar Media, “Marriott International Inc. spent an estimated $96 million on measured media in the United States in 2014. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, meanwhile, spent an estimated $55 million on measured media in the United States last year. This analysis by Kantar Media includes ad spending on traditional media and online display, but it does not include the other fast-growing digital ad formats such as online video or mobile.” The Marriott CEO, Arne Sorenson, said he liked Starwood’s marketing and mix of international properties. As Starwood may help Marriott appeal to the younger generation of travelers, they have been really successful at attracting younger travelers. The article also states that Starwood was among the first companies to use Instagram’s “Carousel” ads option and has embraced the use of social media for marketing purposes. The difference between the use of hashtag among guests for Starwood’s and Marriott’s preferred guest/loyalty program was about a 52,000 difference with Starwood having a total use of 55,000 posts on Instagram alone.  “From a marketing perspective, that means more robust data available on travelers.” According to James Fox, the chief executive of branding firm Red Peak Branding, “If they can leverage that in interesting ways and reward loyalty in interesting ways, that’s going to give them a real competitive advantage against the other hotel chains.” 

Besides giving the hotel chain a competitive advantage, Marriott is also a name well recognized in the hotel industry. The brand name and quality of the hotel allows more customers to return and re-book rooms at Marriott hotels around the world.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/marriotts-acquisition-of-starwood-hotels-beefs-up-advertising-might-1447708026

Facebook Offers to Ease the Pain of Breaking Up

Facebook Offers to Ease the Pain of Breaking Up

by Deepa Seetharaman
3:57 pm ET
Nov 19, 2015

Facebook, as we well know, is a fun way to share your life with others through images and status updates highlighting those exciting moments, such as, relationships.  However, these exciting moments may turn into an awful reminder of how things "used" to be. All those cute pictures with your boyfriend/girlfried and all those cliche happy relationship posts suddenly loose worth becoming dull and overbearing once the relationship ends. What do they do now? Deactivate their facebok? Well, the social network developed the perfect solution. Now when you change that status from "in a relationship" to "single" you will “see less of a former partner’s name and profile picture around Facebook without having to unfriend or block them” while also not giving you access to search for their profiles.

I found this article interesting because I completely understand the hardship of seeing a former partner's post in your news feed. Depending on the person, seeing pictures or status updates from your ex can trigger very unnecessary negative emotions. So many of my friends complain daily about the urge to check up on their ex's profile and see what he is up to, knowing that this would give them an awful aftertaste. However, now with the new limitations, they will be able to avoid their ex.

This article relates to product and promotion from the marketing mix. Facebook seems to be loosing quite a bit of users these days. This new product will not only promote Facebook but also keep people from deactivating their accounts for expendable reasons as I have mentioned earlier. The relationship scene on Facebook is a large part of it. Improving that aspect can only do good for Facebook.

- By Ann Meyer
  Article link

Pepsi Gets Taste of 'Empire' Drama

Pepsi Gets Taste of 'Empire' Drama

Talk about a sweet deal, Pepsi is set to be the fictional, but very real sponsor of a new Empire commercial. "The collision of content and commerce started Wednesday night when the character of Jamal Lyon, a rising singer, is offered and endorsement deal with Pepsi."

There was a lot of preparation that went into the creation of an integrated product marketing plan like this, but at the end of the day it was a no brainer. The producers of Empire wanted to be sure that it flowed with the show and didn't come off as too much of an ad to viewers while Pepsi wanted to be sure that Jamal's character was going to be consistent and not take a turn for the worse in-turn making the brand look bad. 

It was a really smart move on Pepsi's part to parter with Empire, which is one of the hottest shows right now. The episode announcing the partnership and releasing the commercial for the first time is set to air this Wednesday. -Alexis Z.   

Here Are the Real Reasons Comcast Customers Won't Get to Watch Nets, Yankees Games

Here Are the Real Reasons Comcast Customers Won't Get to Watch Nets, Yankees Games

TV is changing a lot these days and even the great American sports channels could be at risk. These days, with TV on Demand and DVR, there are more and more people who aren't watching TV live anymore. In a way to "adapt to the realities of online viewing, cord-cutting and the power of data," Comcast Corp. dropped the YES Network that airs the New York Yankees. 

We have seen similar issues in Texas these past few years with the Texas Longhorn Network and ROOT Sports only being hosted on certain networks. Long-time customers were furious when their once easily accessible sports channels were no longer available without an additional fee. 

Comcast claims the drop was due to a dramatically low percentage of viewers on the network, while YES, owned by Fox, says such data has yet to be released. Is it in Comcast's best interest to limit their  customers or should sports networks remain more available? Customers are the most important public when it comes to big business. It is important to keep loyal customers because once you lose them they don't come back. I think Comcast might have lost some very loyal customers over this, but only time will tell with the continuous transitions in TV.  -Alexis Z.

Adele Says Hello to Pandora

Adele Says Hello to Pandora

In case you missed it, Adele's new song "Hello" has been dominating the Billboard music charts for weeks after it's release and still remains #1 on iTunes. The song broke records for the most downloaded song in America and the fastest-selling song in the UK. 

So what is it that made this song take the world by storm? Well it wasn't only the fact that Adele had been MIA for three years, although that has a lot to do with it, but it is also because she opted to not offer her new single and album on music streaming websites. That is, until she agreed to make the album available on Pandora, a radio music site that shuffles songs based on the users preferences. 

Because of this, Pandora's shares have increased by 5.8% while Apple Music and Spotify are left in the dust. This move has significantly boosted stock for Pandora, but they're not the only ones. Barnes & Noble has had a lot of recent buzz after selling the album in-stores. With only a few places to get the album,  Pandora and Barnes & Noble have been very successful after the release of "25." Not only that, but Adele will receive the benefits as well since less people will be streaming the album and more people will be purchasing it. - Alexis Z 

The Tricky Math of Black Friday Bargains

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tricky-math-of-black-friday-bargains-1448329361

It's almost Thanksgiving and you know what that means...shopping! The meaning of Thanksgiving has been replaced with an activity called Black Friday where stores lower their prices for a day in an attempt to bring in more sales. However, over the years the sale has started earlier and earlier. This year, stores are opening as early as 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving day!

What most customers don't realize is that the deal isn't always a deal at all. Retailers have gotten in the habit of using what is called a "stackable promotion" where they offer what appears to be more than one discount. For example, a $100 sweater that is marked 20% off and then an additional 25% appears to be 75% off, but that's not the case. The two discounts are added together and taken off the original price. Retailers have been using this technique more and more and the numbers have increased by 30% since 2013. 

Some name brand stores have taken the "deals" to the next level. Michale Kors Holdings Ltd. and J.C. Penney Co. have been accused of selling items on discount with incorrect original prices which turns out there is no discount at all. Both companies paid millions to settle the claims and a Nordstrom spokeswoman said the lawsuits had no merit and that the company is committed to "pricing integrity."

So be careful out there folks, if Black Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Cyber Monday are in your holiday plans, keep an eye on those prices and be sure you get a real deal! - Alexis Z.

Creating a ‘Fire Alarm’ for Terror Attacks

The news of shoots and local terrorism are being alarming frequent and because of this anti-terrorism rapid response teams have been established. While this effort to prevent possible attacks, there is a problem with knowing when an attack is occurring. Calling 911 is crucial when an emergency is underway. However, in attacks comparable to the one seen in Paris, there can be a significant delay in emergency response merely because of the disorientation and fear caused by such an attack. Usually in situations that induce panic, dispatchers have a difficult time extraction information, such as what is going on or the exact location of the incident, from those in the surrounding area. Most individuals who are closes to the threat are the least likely to call since they are more concerned about preserving their own life.

In our time of technological advancements, a company known as SST Inc. developed a gunshot detection platform that provides indoor and outdoor gunfire recognition to help alert and pinpoint the location of an incident; the technology would also would for explosions. Ralph Clark, the president and chief executive of SST Inc, says, "authorities are alerted within 30 to 45 seconds of the first shot in an attack" as opposed to crucial minutes it would take to pinpoint the exact location. This technology, called ShotSpotter, has been incorporated in approximately 90 cities, towns and suburbs worldwide and hopefully will be integrated in more.

A Single Gadget to End Your Charging Headaches

  With the new multi-port USB charger, you don't need to have a cluster of wires next to your bedside. With modern technology tools incorporating themselves in our lives it's hard to live without them. Which makes battery life one of the most precious things nowadays since it keeps us in constant contact with our social circle.

     The innovator of this product has made our lives easy and has ridden us of a nest of wires which we tend to use in order to power up all our devices. This device has up to six ports which all hold enough voltage to power up all the devices at the same time. So the smartphone, tablet, laptop and smartwatch all charging at the same time, all in one device and not requiring different sockets is amazing. It is also a very handy item to have during travelling, the size of the device is the size of a pill-bottle and will free up some space for necessary items. Until wireless charging is not perfected by tech giants we are stuck with wires and this is one way to make the process easier. Products which provide convenience to consumers often attract a lot of attention and this is definitely one of them. The only drawback is that it may be considered slightly overpriced at $70, at the same time competitors are offering lower prices. But the rival products have fewer ports and lower voltage.

    The topic interested me because I own four devices which I charge daily. I have a tough time dealing with all the wires and this product would make my life easier. In the marketing field, it is necessary to keep up with new upcoming products which branch out new trends which help further develop the product. This product will be mass marketed and will be sold by physical retailers such as best buy, micro center and Fry's as well as by e-commerce giants Amazon and E-bay. This product would be a must buy for me.

WSJ Link
Time published: Nov. 17, 2015 1:27 p.m. ET

   

Can Artificial Intelligence Sell Shoes

WSJA by: Shelby Peach

Article By: Elizabeth Dwoskin

Published: November 17, 2015 at 6:00PM

     Have you ever been bombarded with too many options while online shopping? The process mostly feels overwhelming because of the unlimited amount of options that are exactly what you ARE NOT looking for. Well thanks to Shoes.com and Sentient Technologies Holdings Ltd., your online shopping experience is about to be a much more relaxing ordeal- at least for Canadians, it will be.

     They're scheming up some artificial intelligence to add a "visual aid" option while online shopping. For example, if you wanted Vince Camputo heels- this option would show you more Vince Camputo heels after you viewed one pair. Let's say that pair of heels was black, then the filter would show you black Vince Camputo heels and other black Vince Camputo shoes. The online software will learn what each person likes, or dislikes, and will show more of whatever it is he or she may want. This is a brilliant addition to the online shopping world because each consumer is going to find exactly what he or she wants at an expedited rate. Online shopping, without this artificial intelligence option, is similar to an endless black hole of options.
      I think this is a step in the right direction, with the small exception that with shoes- you can never tell until you try them on. Other than that, I think that this is an awesome idea. There are times when I am online shopping and I end up looking at a bunch of products that have nothing to do with what I actually needed or wanted to buy. With this, it will not only keep us all from getting distracted while online shopping, but also it will cut our online shopping time in half.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-LH472_SHOES1_G_20151117001535.jpg

Microsoft Launched Major Updates on Xbox One for Backward Compatibility

On Thursday, Microsoft Corp. launched a major update to its Xbox video games consoles, the updates including several features such as backward compatibility for playing older games from Xbox 360 such as “Assassin’s Creed II”, “Fall out 3” and “Mass effect”. In addition, Xbox users now also have easier searches for not only movies and TV shows but also services such as Amazon or Netflix. Xbox One’s operating system was also updated to Windows 10, allowing Xbox One users the capability of playing games with Windows 10 devices such as PC, tablets. Chatting with Xbox live members is also a new feature from Xbox.

Xbox One Backward Compatibility -- TechU4ria.com

The relation of the updates of Xbox One to marketing is that the Corporation targets at not only hardcore gamers but also who want easy access to TV shows and movies since customers are becoming less independent from cable services. These features are competitive advantages that Microsoft developed to compete with its direct competitors – PlayStation 4 from Sony.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/11/12/xbox-one-makeover-brings-backward-compatibility/

New Diagnostic Tools Emerge in War Against Superbugs

New Diagnostic Tools Emerge in War Against Superbugs

by Denise Roland

Nov. 16, 2015 2:52 p.m. ET

Misdiagnosed patients is much more common then we can imagine and in some cases dangerous. Doctors will provide their patient with the wrong antibiotic because it takes a few days to process their results. So, they come up with their own diagnosis from the symptoms given for an immediate "cure". In 2013 a study uncovered that "in respiratory infections, two thirds of antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, according to the same study." So how can we come up with a more efficient way to treat people? Scientist have discovered a more functional method, delivering the results faster. This market is thriving, growing by 7% annually. 

This article stood out to me because I've been that one patient who gets prescribed medication which does not help me in any means and I eventually end up taking multiple antibiotics, hoping that eventually i'll be treated. Medication has many negative side effects so it is crucial to eliminate the unnecessary choices. With this new method of receiving results in quicker, the doctor will be able to help anyone on-the-spot with the medication necessary.

While analyzing this article, I believe that it relates to product from the marketing mix. This "new product" targets everyone, providing a more efficient way of treating people and at the same time saving patients money. For the most part, we will only have to purchase that one anti-biotic which should treat effectively according to the diagnosis.

-Ann Meyer

link to original article

‘Vault Boy,’ the ‘Fallout’ Celebrity, Pops Up in Real Life

For those who don’t know fallout is an open-world post-apocalyptic role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios who the creators of Skyrim. The objective of the game varies in each but the harsh survival in the nuclear wasteland is the same. The new Fallout 4 game has only been out for a few days and has already beat the sales record of Fallout 3 and Skyrim, Bethesda’s most popular games. Because of this crazy hype, the “mascot” of the Fallout series, Vault Boy, is popping up around in real life. Businesses are using the excitement of the game to their advantage and plastering his face on what they can. They most probably are using the vault boy as an attraction to draw in younger customers who are most likely to play the game. 

The problem with this is that it is happening without the permission of Bethesda, of course the company isn’t happy about this considering they “prefer to control and manage the way he gets used”. There are several trademarks and copyrights for “Fallout celebrity” and because of this, the company’s legal team have been contacting those that have been using the character illegally. They suspect that the usage is most probably just innocent ignorance and that those that are using it do not realize that they are doing anything wrong, since the people usually comply with the legal team. This situation obviously has to do with the legal aspect of marketing. Seeing how the game is growing in popularity, it’s not surprising seeing other businesses trying to capitalize on it as well. It would draw in more customers, especially some fans of the game. I’m a big fan of Fallout myself and if I saw the Vault Boy in a business’ window or on their signs I most probably would go check it out.

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