In resopnse to Egage...

How long do you think it will be until PC's are totally extinct?

I see PC's hanging around for a while just because it is what older generations are used to but at the speed that technology can advance i wouldn't be surprised if PC's become the new record players. Maybe 20-25 years and i think the youth will barely understand how a PC worked.

Do you think soon iPads and Tablets will have no place and we will only need our cell phones for all of our electronical needs?

Pricing

After reading Chapter 11 and 12 on pricing I took a trip over to Wal-Mart and on my way i traveled past a McDonalds which was swamped with customers. Almost right next door was a Wendy's, Burger King, and a Pizza Hutt which all had a combined customer load of about 10 people. McDonalds had over 6x the customers of all its competitors combined. customers were waiting in large lines when right next door were more fast food restaurants, i was astonished until i thought deeper into the situation. All of the other chains were slightly pricier than McDonalds which was what caused their vacancy. These customers cared so much about a $1-$2 difference in price that they would wait for almost 15 or 20 minutes.

Can you think of any other industry where this same pricing action occurs?

In response to Alex Purdy...

Do you think the local movement will continue to grow and the nationally owned stores will have to change tactics to entice customers?
Do you think it is possible to have a whole community go local and stop buying from out of town owned companies?

I agree with the first question because i think a buy local movement once it hits the national scale will entice buyers to follow the buy local trend, therefore large corporations will need to adapt to buy locally in order to survive in the market. I certainly believe that it is possible for a community to eliminate any purchases that are non-local but i do not think it is anywhere in our near future. Too many businesses survive in this recession because they can import cheaper items opposed to locally producing them.

NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

I was watching the NBA All-Star Game just a little while ago and realized how much branding the NBA is able to do each game for all players. Players are allowed to select which ever shoes they want to wear but everything other than that must be Official NBA Gear. from headbands to socks, all appearal must be official to NBA qualifications. I find it amazing how easily they are able to brand each and every player.

Do you know of any other large corporations who are able to accomplish this same task so simply?

target marketing

I saw a great example of target marketing yesterday when i was watching TV. An advertisement came on for make-up and it showed Beyonce (a very attractive african american woman) using a shade of make-up specific to her skin color. the advertisement was clearly promoting this line of make-up to African American females who want to be stunning like the star they see before their eyes.

Do you think this type of racial target marketing is useful to companies or do you think people see it as a bad thing to isolate races?

In response to chris beland...

Does anyone know how bad the ski resorts were hurt this year? Does anyone else have similar stories about over preparing?

I have a lot of friends who work at ski resorts and this year many of them got laid off or extremely less hours to their name because of all of the struggles in the industry. in return this lack of jobs made them struggle financially in terms of surviving on their own wages while at school.

NCAA advertising

While watching many college athletic events on television i realized that the conferences on at the time find as many ways to put ads up as they can. These commercials are usually full of beautiful campuses and students succeeding in a number of different fields and can sometimes come off as corny or cheap. Considering the fact that most athletic programs do not gain money for their respective schools, do you think these cheesy advertisments are needed or is it a spot where maybe the schools can save a bit of money to invest in new and more exciting promotions?