The Discussion Board: Part Core Online Learning

One of the most successful marketers is quoted in the article “Get kids to nag their parents and nag them well”(260). In the initial few sections, he discussed the present time effects of the advertising on youngsters. Through this he contend that, previously, there weren't numerous child based marketing organizations that concentrated exclusively with respect to children and have their own kids' divisions, while now, they have huge amounts of organizations that makes a whole advertising division for the

The problem surrounding Mattel Inc. is their mismanagement of international subcontractors and vendors and the production of certain toys (the manufacturing process), as well as their inability to adapt their marketing strategy or product to the constantly changing “demographic and socioeconomic trends.” This is supported by Mattel’s legal battle with Carter Bryant and MGA, their forced recall of certain toys that were manufactured overseas, and the increasing rate at which traditional toys are becoming less appealing to today’s young audience. Essentially, Mattel’s mismanagement and oversight lead to violations in terms of ethical and social responsibilities and safety standards.

Mattel, Inc has the vision of being the world’s premier toy brand, for the present and the future. It currently sells products in over 150 nations. The company was founded in 1945 by Harold Matson and Elliot Handler. It has gone to be 30,000 employees strong working in 43 countries. Mattel, Inc includes a number of toy brands such as Barbie, Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, American Girl, Tyco, and others. In 2008, the company was recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For”.

This helped bring forth a new marketing strategy—which Tom Engelhardt has called the “Shortcake Strategy” — in which children’s television shows were created for the exclusive purpose of marketing large collections of children’s toys. The prized childhood memories of Generation Y are filled with these shows and toys: Strawberry Shortcake, He-Man, the Care Bears. Discussing the politics of this kind of marketing with students is even harder than discussing wedding excess. A student once wrote in my teacher evaluation, “Great class, but please don’t go hating on Strawberry Shortcake.”

I will approach the process of exploring more technologically advanced and interactive toys within the American Girl core brand by pulling a team of people to complete the strategic planning process (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). A strategic plan is a roadmap to grow your business (Lavinsky, 2013). The roadmap will detail what it will take the implement the new technology and interactive product (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). The team will explore the new technologies and understand the current status of interactive toys that the Mattel has had success with and the pain points. This will help the team understand what works and what has not worked. Research and analysis will be performed to understand the new technologically that is available

In the short essay, Lies My Children’s Books Taught Me, it primarily focuses on The Pleasant Company and the ways they advertise, market, and sell their American girl merchandise. Lies My Children 's Books Taught Me, is written by Daniel Hade, who is a professor of language and literacy at Penn State College. In Eric Schlosser’s essay, Kid Kustomers, he explains the injustice of marketing, and the idea of “cradle to grave” advertizing. This idea of advertizing is basically to get a kid so attached or devoted to a brand/toy that they don 't just buy it for themselves but for their kids in the future. Kid Kustomers helps us to better understand the book Lies My Children’s Books

Eric Schlosser’s essay, “Kid Kustomers,” concludes and makes several strong points about the marketing on children. He starts his essay with a brief comparison that “twenty-five years ago, only a handful of American companies directed their marketing at children,” whereas today, “children are being targeted by phone companies, oil companies, and automobile companies…” He emphasizes and stresses the importance of having “Kid Kustomers,” because one important marketing strategy is to aim to “increase not just current, but also future, consumption.” Schlosser learns that ad agencies target children because they make up a majority of their sales. Throughout the essay, Schlosser not only gives marketing tips but also discusses the 7 different types

Hospitals started to be penalized by CMS in 2012 for high readmission rates that could add up to one percent of what Medicare paid the hospital. This affected two thirds of all hospitals in the United States. Now, the penalty has gone from one percent to three percent. The purpose was to increase the focus on the discharge process that will lead to better outcomes with a decrease in readmissions (Polster, 2015). The purpose of this post is to discuss two learning objectives that Tina would be able to meet at the end of receiving discharge instruction. With each objective, this post will discuss the content of instruction, method of instruction, rationale for the chosen method, the time allotted for the task, resources needed, evaluation method, evaluation criteria, what specific criteria needs to be achieved for the objective to be met, potential barriers and a plan to deal with these barriers.

In the past years advertising through media has significantly impacted the marketing industry. Industries have successfully accomplished impacting children through media by simply incorporating the four p’s of marketing, product, place, promotion, and price according to The American Marketing Association (EBSCO1). Nevertheless, companies thoroughly research information to learn what comes across as appealing to children. For example, companies advertising media incorporated attention grabbers including flashing banner ads, contests, sweepstakes, google sponsored links that matches the individual’s search history, tv commercials, are sneakily capturing the youth’s attention (Media). Cartoon network and Nickelodeon devote all their time entertaining and

Through my experience in the toy department of Wal-Mart I have learned that no toy is manufactured unintentionally but that each has a purpose and a targeted audience. This conclusion was made through my critical analysis of marketing, colour choices, layout, and cost in regards to the toys. As I strolled through the three aisles, sections of toys began to blend together as it was organized in an orderly manner; separated by colour choices and characteristics. As a result, it was made evidently clear which toys were being targeted to which specific sex. Moreover, from the flyer to the bright, over-the-top graphics, the marketing methods were very persuasive and convincing to children and parents alike. In addition, Wal-Mart used sale methods to draw customers to their products. These sales worked to promote the product to parents as well as reach families of different socio-economic backgrounds. However, despite their effort, the products within Wal-Mart do not achieve the reduction of the economic gap due to the separation of one product set, which increases overall cost of that whole product. In conclusion, Wal-Mart’s Toy Department worked to convince children and parents alike to need and want their product in addition to instilling societal gender stereotypes and sustaining economic inequalities.

Hasbro conducts business within the Toy, Game and Doll Manufacturing industry. They have strong, brand portfolio that they utilize in a wide variety of entertainment mediums. Hasbro categorizes their brands into four categories which they call their brand architecture: franchise, partner, gaming mega, and challenger brands. Their franchise brands are owned by them and they currently make most of their revenue from these brands. However, their partner brands are quickly becoming more important to their business as a majority the company’s growth recently has come from new ones. In addition to the brand architecture, they report the financial performance of their brands by grouping them into four different categories: boys, girls, games, and preschool. Boys and games has been a majority of their business mostly, but that is beginning to change recently as their girl brands are beginning to grow. (10K and Hasbro quarterly reports).Hasbro is a global company that has sales around the world. They report their sales in four segments: US/ Canada, International, Entertainment and Licensing, and Global Operations. The International segment is further segmented into Europe, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific, where they directly operate (10K). Within these segments and brands, it is difficult to identify which toys and games are their core items because they have almost 2,700 individual products that they currently sell in addition to their non-toy items, digital games,

Mattel’s three largest customers are responsible for more than one third of the company’s revenue. With such a large portion of the company’s sales dependent on the these three customers any changes such as purchase reduction, favoring competitors or private label expansion, will have a significant impact on Mattel’s revenue. Also, with this limited customer base Mattel is hindered in with its ability to change prices.

Products need to be sold, there must have a product market. The concept of the market, according to the definition given by Kolter (1999), products choose what kinds of discourse to describe, which constitute a marketing discourse. This can be divided into two categories, one is the profit-driven marketing mix, the product managers hold the initiative of management discourse; the other one is purpose-driven, having the initiative in hands by the consumers as a consumer discourse. For instance, the “kids trade”(2016) video is based on building a user needing-driven scenario: firstly, it puts forward a demand hypothesis, children in the Christmas holidays and the opening months will be quite

Retailing the right product at the right season, like outdoor games in the spring, is important to maximize sales. The continual display and presentation of new toys, games and crafts will attract customers and generate higher sales. Looking into expanding operations and product lines towards video games and other growth segments (e.g. Building sets and action figures). Building up a well-designed online marketing channel can promote efficiency and cost savings. Expanding the international market to avoid the intense competition in the U.S. Retail Toy Industry. Closing underperforming stores to improve liquidity through the expertise of Vornado Realty Trust and reinvest the money back into the operation.

The customers of Build-A-Bear Workshop are preteens from all over the world. The customers demonstrate a social need and the need to learn. In fulfilling a social need, this company offers entertainment to its customers and it also allows them to learn to follow instructions and how to assemble a bear. Everyone needs to be entertained, without fun our world will be a place filled with miserable minds and corruption. Being entertained helps children to have a more cheerful spirit and learning helps them to feel successful and to grow. The customers need to be entertained but wants to have fun with and create an experience with the people at build-a-bear workshop. In addition, they need to learn, but want to learn how to build a bear. They find the Build-A-Bear workshop and experience to be appealing and interesting and wish to be a part of it. Because the customers are able to afford what they want, they are able to satisfy their demand for the entire build-a-bear experience. Build a bear actions are certainly satisfying the needs, wants, and demands of the customers. This company has assessed the needs of the customers and has created their products around those needs. The company has taken the necessary actions to ensure that the customers have an enjoyable experience and a pleasant