Ch. 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Through advertising, businesses find their way out in the world, informing people about their own service and the benefits that come with that service.The Internet advertising cost is moderate and through the Internet is easy to reach a certain target market. However, not everybody has Internet so Netflix needs to expand its advertising services using other media advertising. Being an online service, Netflix most places its advertising on the Internet, through ads in other website; but we can find Netflix's advertising in newspaper, magazine and the service is often mentioned on movies and Tv Shows. Now that Netflix has captured the attention of its target market, and it keeps growing stronger, the use of the advertising is addressed not only to new potential customers, but to its loyal customer, to remind them of the service expansion and new products. 

Netflix's advertising can be considered a comparative advertising since the comparison between its service and Amazon Prime, or Hulu, or Blockbuster is always made. Netflix is mostly chosen not only because its many advantages, but also because it doesn't present movies and Tv Shows with long and boring advertising: the infomercial, that is a very long advertisement that we can compare to a short movie rather than to a sale. For the media mix, Netflix uses mostly two factors: cost per click, meaning the cost associated with a customer that clicks on a display or a banner ad, and frequency, that is the number of times people are exposed to a given message for a specific period.

The publicity is granted not only for commercial and advertising, but also from people that talk about it or share articles and ideas regarding the product. Thanks to the product placement, Netflix is mentioned in movies and Tv Shows, songs and books, increasing the curiosity of new potential customers and the recognition of existing ones.  Finally, Netflix's sales promotion consist in allowing new customers to have a free 30 day trial while exploring the service, and at the end they can decide if keep the subscription or not. For loyal customers besides, the subscription cost remained $7.99 versus the $8.99 new customers need to pay. The increase of the cost may take aback new customers, but with the price higher, Netflix offers a wider choice of content, keeping the price worth it.

Ch. 14 - Marketing Channels and Retailing

After reading the chapter I decided which store to choose, and went out shopping. Since I am a fanatic of buying groceries, and I am very attracted from food stores, I chose to walk into Trader Joe's, located between 72 and Broadway in Manhattan. Trader Joe's started out as a small chain of convenience store in 1958. Now there are 418 stores in the United States, 4 in New York City. Trader Joe's belongs to the Supermarket type of retail operations, because is a departmentalized, self-service retailer that specialize in food and some nonfood items, like flowers and plants, toilet paper, house and body products. Talking about time utility, the customers are satisfied most of the time because products and goods are delivered daily in the store and exposed in the shelves, ready to be bought. I wrote most of the time, because so many people go there during the day, so if you go during late afternoon, you may not find everything you need. Like every other retailing, Trader Joe's has its own retail marketing strategy and mix. You can always find products on sale, and they print a weekly magazine made of 4 or 6 pages where you can see what's new. 

What most attracts me in the store, is the way everything is disposed. Every single item has its own hand made and colored tag, every aisle has indications made with art and design; nothing is made by computer. The store is clean, with a good smell that changes when you change the aisles, it is very colorful and it emanates happiness. It's a store where I find myself relaxed looking for everything new, even if it needs to be expanded cause too many people find themselves at the same time and it can be confusing sometimes. There is a good atmosphere throughout the entire store, the layout is so carefully done you find yourself wondering how do they made it. Above this, they don't only have a good width of product assortment, but they have good prices.

Once I get all my groceries, I wait in line, a long line that luckily moves very fast, due to the almost 30 cashiers that are in the store; the Trader Joe's employees are the kindest, friendly, fun and knowledgeable people I have never met in a store. Not only they ask you how you are, but they engage with you about the products you bought, talking about the day and the weather, laughing and trying to be as educated as possible. The first time I went in the store and the cashier started talking with me, I thought she was one of those people that usually talk to everybody around; but once I started seeing more and more, I understood that behavior was a strategy for marketing relationship, and I can say it works.

Even if the location isn't one of the best for me to reach, I always find the time to go at least once a week to buy groceries. I find it clean, with good food and good prices, organized and with various products, and I would recommend it to everybody.

Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

A very important matter that any marketing manager should understand is the consumer behavior, which is understanding what and how a customer wants in order to buy. Thanks to the rating characteristic available in every single content on Netflix, Netflix knows what customers think and what they like. By being aware of this important factor, Netflix is able to introduce more movies related to the ones that have been rated higher, and limit movies that have lower rates or that customers never finish watching. 

Netflix recently added a new feature on the website; it's called Play Max, and it's a tool that helps you find movies that you will like in less than two minutes. Play Max asks you some questions, asks you to rate some movies that you might have seen, and then shows you a list of movies based on your preferences and grades. Being sometimes difficult to find what we want in an enormous library full of contents, Play Max is the easiest way to find more movies that you would like to watch, so that customers won't get bored by an infinite search.

Like every other market, Netflix has competence, and like in every other market, Netflix has to beat the competence. One of the characteristics Netflix owns, is the low price; customers always like low prices, but for a customer satisfaction, the low price needs to be accompanied by a good product and a good impression. Not only Netflix offers a low price membership, but costumers are satisfied with the product and are now loyal to the company. Something customers were looking for and found on Netflix, is the formidable commercial free streaming program; you cannot find a single commercial while watching a movie or even in their webpage; this is something customers were tired of seeing: commercials everywhere, from YouTube to Google, from Facebook to Yahoo. Being a commercial free website, means being visited more frequently and more happily. Another characteristic that the business owns, is the Netflix app, available in many dispositive; indeed customers can watch movies on IPads, IPods, IPhones, Play Station4, AppleTv, Computers and so on. It is so easy to just click and start watching, and this is something customers love.

Netflix is also improving its subscription by asking the already members to suggest movies and shows to other people through Facebook; once you click on the movie you want to suggest, and the friend you want to send it to, Netflix sends a request to that friend, with a tempting 30-day-free trial option that has low chances to be turned down. 

Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

Being an on demand streaming company, Netflix doesn't have the option to literally export its products to other countries, but this doesn't mean it can't show and sell its subscriptions all over the world; indeed, being an online company makes it easier to spread the products it has to offer. 

Netflix knows to have a unique product. Nowadays many people spend their time watching TV instead of doing something else. Even more kids are watching TV not only because there are several educational shows, but also because TV keep them calm somehow, and the situation is the same almost in every nation. 

From the outside world, Netflix is now seen as something unique with a price accessible for everyone. After the great success Netflix did in the United States, Netflix expanded its services in Canada, Latin America, UK and Ireland. It has recently expanded in France and plans to expand in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium at the end of the current year.

Netflix is trying to become the best distribution service of global entertainment, also promoting movies and shows all around the world, giving more audience to the movie makers.

Obviously, this expansion will take some time, but for now the company seems to be at maximum speed and with no intentions to stop. People are eager to subscribe, and to see all the movies available for all generations; this is Netflix's objective and goal, and I can see how soon they will be expanding throughout the whole world.

Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Netflix's target market is oriented for almost everyone, from boys to girls, from toddlers to elderly people, but most concentrated on tweens and young adults; on streaming, you can find educational cartoons to show to your little kids or old movies to remember your youth. Netflix is literally designed for everyone with its high content of movie choice, and the customers seem really satisfied.

To do so, Netflix studied carefully the customers' preferences and the demography; the company wasn't trying to win over an audit of only adult people or an audit of only kids; Netflix was trying to attract as many people possible to what now became an addiction of the website: there is a section for kids, new Disney cartoons, old-fashioned movies, and even foreign movies in different languages. Netflix knows that the United States is not only populated by American, but also French, Hispanic, Italian and Asian people, and even if it doesn't provide several of the foreign movies, people are interested in this new release. Netflix is trying to attract as many people as it can, and we can actually see that is being successful.






Netflix improved very much during its existence and all the improvement is due to the fact that the company analyzed the external environment, understanding customers' needs, decisions, and competition. You don't need to have a certain age, or live in certain places, or have a different culture; on Netflix you have plenty of choice.