People buy benefits

A stapler- what is it? A hand held device to fix pieces of paper together. It has a spring mechanism and a strong base that makes the staples close shut.

Why would you buy it? Well the advertisers what to promote how you look prepared when you buy their stapler. They want you to gain the fast and effective experience of using their stapler as a better way to bind paper and other materials.

A folder- It has two rings that clamp together. It is a big piece of cardboard that is folded over and has a sturdy spine.

Why is it good? You can buy it in all different colours and patterns. It is a neat and effective way of keeping all of your notes together. It makes you look organsied and you can transport it around easily.

A kettle- It is a container with a coil that heats up to boil your water.

Why would you buy it? It lights up different colours when it boils. It comes in stainless steel, black, white, pink, red, blue and green. It has an easy pour spout and it has a safety lid. It also can hold X amount of water.

Buisness Knowledge

A customer is the person who buys the product and a consumer is the person who receives it, wears it, uses it etc.

B2B means business to business.

By a 'Market Segment' I mean a grouping of people who like the same sort of product and look for a similar price or quality of that product. If you were a business person trying to sell your product to a specific market, you would break up the market into segments. I.e price, gender and Interests. You would then account for these customers particular needs and then target them accordingly.

The Pareto Principle also known as the 80-20 simply means that 80% of your customers will buy 20% of your business. Another way to put it is that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.

A customer can be analysed in two separate ways, what and why. This means that you can put them into a segment of the market to explain what category they fall into. However, to find out what that customers emotional driver is behind buying a product is the why they want to buy it.

A rational decision when buying a product is merely when a customer buys it for its purpose or functionality.

An irrational decision when buying a product is when you buy it to make you look good or that it will enhance your life in some way.

Product Life Cycle- Nintendo

Nintendo products timeline

1. Super Nes
2. N64
3. Gameboy, pocket, colour, advanced
4. DS
5. Wii

Nintendos target audience was clearly aimed at the youth market as the majority of games were simple, fun, colourful and addictive.... its always been the Nintendo way!

Weaknesses of the franchise would be; the early games would stop working as the game cartridge would become dusty inside and prevent them from loading up. I remember always having to blow into the game casing to clear the dust and debris to make it work! The original Nintendos used black and white graphics as that was as far as the technology had got to then.

You had to have a TV to use the console, which made it quite expensive if you didn't already own a TV.

The competition was always a big issue with Nintendo as it was always in the shadow of the mighty Playstation and Xbox.

SWOT analysis of B&Q

Strengths- Sales advisors who are well trained on each specific department of the store. Free appointments with design consultants. B&Q's is a trustworthy brand, local to most people in cities across the UK. They help people with DIY projects and 'you can do it' self learning classes, giving them the confidence to do it themselves. It is known as a charitable organisation, promoting self grown produce, timber from well maintained forests and donation of materials to local schools.

Weaknesses- They are trying too hard to be the 'Jack of all trades', thus lies the 80/20 rule: 80% of their customers will only buy 20% of their business.

Opportunities- They could offer a new service to customers, for instance rather than just employing trade experts (as they currently do) they could expand that service by sending out an expert to help with the task at home.

Threats- Competitors; Homebase, Wickes, Howdens, Ikea, Magnet, Wren etc

The features pushed in adverts NOT the product

Adverts I have noticed pushing the products benefits, not the actual product are as follows:

The new Renault Clio Va Va Voom ad. The car in this advert is seen as something so magnificent that you don't see it until the end of the advertisement, and when you see it it's hung like a stunning piece of artwork. Also, the advertisers boldly use strong icons, the innovators of their generation, to ooze sexuality and popularity: if you buy this car, you will be an innovator. You will lead your peers into a new way of thinking. What I most like about this ad is the questions they ask to the audience during the add; What us va va voom? Is it more? Or less? Does it smoulder? Does it burn lightly? Is there a queen of it? VIVE LA RENAULT CLIO.

The Comfort ad is also another advert that pushes the benefit of their product. They focus on how movement releases bursts of freshness. So instead of getting sweaty when you move around all day, you release a really fresh scent.

Anymore adverts I come across that catch my eye, i'll be blogging about... stay tuned!

The customers buy the experience we give them not the product.

An example of an item I have bought recently, which demonstrates the statement above is my USB pen. It is called 'the survivor' because it claims exactly that. You can literally run your car over it, submerge it in water, drop it from height etc and it will work just the same. I bought this item because I loved the idea of having all of my important files on this one stick that could not be destroyed. I also loved the fact that it was quite chunky and had a 10 year warranty because I am forever loosing and breaking my usb pens.

SO you see.... I bought the experience of reassurance with this product. The features were all there on the packaging; 16gb memory, strong connector, waterproof and so on. However, I only noticed these details after buying the product.

Try and think of the latest gadget you have bought and think of why you bought it! You will find that you have probably had an emotional response to the product, but didn't realise this at first! The best advertisers are the ones who focus on the experience, not the features of a product.