Business 2 Business - 3-4-09

Many different types of organisations use each others business to help establish their business and sell their products to, but the way they are sold is different to they way products are sold to the public consumer.

Businesses sell to businesses more than to the consumer, but the consumer does not realise this. This is done behind the scenes as sometimes businesses do not spend money but products.

By looking at three different companies who have different target audiences, competition and price, allows for a more in depth understanding of why businesses sell to each other. Coca-Cola has approx 50 million potential customers within the UK, Financial services software has 100s and MRI scanner manufacturer has 1 – NHS. Coca-Cola costs between £1-£5, financial services software costs £50,000 and MRI scanner manufacturer costs £825,000. The MRI scanner manufacturer has fewer clients so can not afford to lose any, as does the financial services software, this leads to them having a closer relationships with their client. This would build up trust and due to the amount of money involved they will want to do best for their clients. The best way for them to promote new products is personal selling, going to the client and telling them face to face enabling the client to feel the relationship developing and trusting in the company. Coca-Cola’s relationship with its consumers is a lot more difficult and they have such a large potential audience that speaking to individuals would be a lot of man power. As like consumers talk about new and good products businesses will do the same. In London there are many different businesses and staff will talk to each other, companies like financial services software will want their customers to tell others about the software and think about buying it. The relationship that the company has formed allows for this to take place especially if the client trusts the company enough to recommend it.

Business will always buy for a need and never a want; they will not buy on impulse. They will undertake the whole of Kotler’s Buyer Decision Process, by a group of people rather than one individual.

As my final week I thought I would put in an advert that whenever I watch it I become a kid again and want to be back there. Yes, you guessed it … Disney. I love this advert because it is exactly how I feel when I think about going there and while I’m there. I know my parents get excited about going to so it’s a little reflection of my family. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Thanks for reading and I’ll speak over the summer – Year 1 – DONE!!!

Culture 27-3-09

Culture can affect the way in which an individual looks at a product or situation. By understanding different cultural backgrounds, allows for advertisers to use certain techniques when aiming at a specific audience.
“A culture is the configuration of learned behaviour and results of behaviour whose component elements are shared and transmitted by members of a particular society.” Ralph Linton (1945)
By learning the different ways different cultures act and the way in which different activities are undertaken, understanding why the customer acts a certain way becomes clear. Different cultures come from different influences on an individual’s life, family and friends, education, government and religion. All playing a vital rule in the way the consumer looks and understands different subjects.

Culture is made up from different essential components, Beliefs, Values and Customs.
Beliefs – Mental and verbal processes undertaken that reflect an individuals knowledge of a product or service. E.g. Green – environmentally friendly.
Values – the guides in which individuals use for what they believe is appropriate behaviour, often accepted with members of a particular market audience.
Customs – modes of behaviour that are culturally approved in specific situations. E.g. If a policeman shots a terrorist – socially will accept it because of the situation.

Things which seem normal to some cultures are completely different in others. Christmas is a prime example showing the different ways different countries celebrate the same occasion. In Jaclyn Fierman’s book, Christmas shopping around the world, describes the different ways in which Father Christmas arrives to the children. In Italy a witch flies down and drops the presents through the chimney, in Syria he arrives on a camel and in Scandinavia they celebrate him coming with reindeer's like in the UK. What we think its just a simple fact of how Father Christmas arrives changes all over the world.

Geert Hofstede’s theory looks at the way national cultures vary and the way these can be measured. This analysis explained four dimensions to show the variations in culture across national boundaries, Power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and individualism/collectivism. For England the analysis demonstrates the strong feelings towards individualism and masculinity.Power distance and uncertainty avoidance are ranked lower for England than the first two. Once looking at England, by investigating another country enabled for a comparison of these four factors. Italy showed some of the same factors as the UK but Italy ranked higher in power distance and uncertainty avoidance. Although Italy is seen as individual, the UK is ranked higher, with Italy being only slightly higher on masculinity. While looking at Italy different ways in which their country has their own symbolic references compared to those that the UK has. Stereotypes are used when individuals think about other countries, myself finding it harder to create a stereotype of the UK but a lot easier describing one of Italy.

The advert I chose for culture looked at the relationship between certain animals. Stereotypically cats and dogs fight, with cats trying to eat the fish. This advert shows a change in roles with the use of language. The advert works well as it brakes the normality of a fish, changing the perception of the fish to the audience.

Social Class 20-3-09

“Social class is a division of society made up of persons possessing certain common social characteristics which are taken to qualify them for intimate, equal status relations with one another, and which restrict their interaction with members of other social classes.” Krech, Crutchfield & Ballachey in Dubois 2000.

These two diagrams below show the way in which social class has developed over the past century.

These showing three different classes developing into seven classes, creating a diamond shape from the previous triangle. These changes have occurred as individuals have began to move up social classes, either by income or marrying up.

Different countries have different social classes and these are determined in different ways. Below is a table showing the different social classes in Great Britain and those in India. These social classes can have more importance to particular countries than to others, some finding it hard to associate with those below their class.



Classes are often determined by what occupation an individual has, their income, education or family background. These are visible by they way they dress and are groomed, with their tone of speak giving a distinction between upper and lower classes and titles that may be held.

Their income and social class run alongside of each other, helping to understanding why individuals are in that class. Status symbols are used to show others an individuals place within society. Incomes have began to increasing changing the social classes of individuals, this is due to a rise in women working bringing more money into a household and a rise in graduates being able to do higher paid jobs.

Individuals have their own opinions on the way in which social classes are worked out and the way in which they are seen. Social mobility of an individual can be done quickly and often as needed, this shows that there is not one thing it is based on and individuals can change quickly. An example of this is marrying up the social ladder. The income factor in purely based on the head of the houses income rather than the dual income of the whole family, this could change the social class of the family as the women in the house could also be working. Individuals may dress like they belong to a particular class but actually don’t, this can cause confusing so ignores the subject of the actual class.

Social class shows a better indication of symbolic purchases; these could range in price but would involve cosmetics and liqueurs. Income shows a better indicator of non-symbolic purchases, these would high expense like fridges or cookers. Using both social class and income shows indication of expensive and symbolic products. This way individuals can show their personality with their wealth, example cars and homes.


This Rolex commercial is aimed at the Higher Class as it is an expensive company. The sports shown are those connected with the higher class, Show Jumping, Tennis, Golf. Over the top of the commercial is an opera song, a show which the lower class would not go to as it is often expensive and is associated with money.

Kids Grow Older Younger - 6-3-09

Sorry once I started writing I couldn't stop!!

“Kids Grow Older Younger”

“Kids Grow Older Younger” was broadcasted in 1992 showing how children now look at media and how the industry is aiming branded products at them. The show visited different members of the industry finding out many disturbing facts.

From watching the programme it gave incite in the way advertisers use brand loyalty from a young age. Children begin to recognise advertising around 2-4 years old, just when they will be able to talk and point things out that they want. £30 million is spent on children’s advertising a year, but why so much? Children are able to persuade adults to buy different products either because of the brand or, as research has shown, packaging plays a major role when advertising towards children. Stereotypically girls would go for a product with bright colours and boys with dark colours. Boys seem to be more sucked into brands due to the sponsorship connected with brands and sports. At the moment within the market children have been hooked to High School Musical enabling marketers to put the actors’ faces or even the writing and they will want the product. It is then down to the parent to say no that not good for you or you can not have it.

Brands build up the Child's identity being able to fit within a group of friends. Children look at brands as if they were a human, whether they are fashionable or popular. If the child does not have a certain brand they will often be bullied at school for not being ‘cool’. This can be due to parents not having the money or simply not thinking they are suitable. Advertisers are aware of the bully that takes place, aiming at these bullies to get the latest brand to promote it, as the rest of the kids in the playground look up to him/her. Children will try and play parents to buy them presents of they are good. To do this asking for something, being told ‘No’, asking again later and told if your good, behaving for the rest of the day, then asking again and the parent will more than likely say yes. This technique is used by children allowing them to achieve their goal, getting the product.

Peter Cooper, a consumer psychologist, explained about the two different types of mothers. Regressive mothers like to keep their child a child for as long as possible. Continuing the idea of their innocence and they need to be looked after. Dettol shows this as they want to look after the children.

Progressive mothers want the kid to grow up and be able to look after themselves. BT show this in their advertising as the child is allowed to be alone surfing the Internet.

Nowadays, children are having to grow up fast due to different fears that are scaring the nation, paedophiles, exams, divorce, all playing on the child’s mind. These fears come from factual news and soap operas which are often watched as a family before bed. These programmes show in-depth stories that realistically could happen to anyone.
http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/35 This article I found really interested me, showing the target age changing and what mothers thought about the fact of their children growing older younger.

Pocket Money 2008 -

As children begin to want to buy their own products parents give pocket money enabling them to have some responsibility. These children want to adapt to adult lifestyles so buying products that will imply this. Toys have been effected buy this as now 9/10 year olds are more interested in fashion and music rather than sitting with a toy. Crisps and sweets have felt a decrease due to the healthy eating lifestyles that parents and school are promoting. Money used for CDs have moved to sharing folders for mp3 players, so children are growing up faster.

The increase in technology and neighbourhoods has changed the way pocket money is spent. Due to the potential dangers of playing on the street, children are more restricted than in the 1970s, this allowing the money to be spent on items that will be used in the home. Only 7% of boys said that they don’t like video games, showing that many are stuck in front of a screen. By using the entertainment in homes, surfing the Internet will increase pester power again as the child will need a credit card to buy a product, not using the pocket money. Within the report it was found that less affluent families are more likely to indulge their children finically.

Girls always want to buy clothes were as boys will only want it for the brand or logo. 7-10 like to save money to show that they are good at something; where as 4 out of 10 over 11s spend money without thinking about it.

These figures show that children buy what they want and it will more often than not it will be aimed at someone older than them.

Piaget’s Theory - http://blackboard.bucks.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_171870_1%26url%3D

This theory shows the development of children towards advertising and the way they look at it.

International food advertising, pester power and its effects.

Pester power is a pejorative term for children making requests of their parents (Brown,2004). It can cause great strain on the family relationships, parent would have the better judgement, child wants the unhealthy food. Spungin (2004) argued by advertising to children, companies are encouraging the child to nag their parents into buying something that is not good for them, they don’t need or the parent cant afford.’

Pocket money allows for the child to have their own spending power, creating early loyalty with brands, having more power over the adults purchasing behaviour. Adults want to protect their child from the market causing the child to have constricted access to bad purchasers. McNeal explains that brands and stores offer security to children in the same way that pillow a blanket does. Market research agency Datamonitor describes how these circumstances have formed due to the prepared play divorce/ working a parent off against each other.

Like with adults, children will buy what their friends are buying, showing that advertising does not work, word of mouth is more affective.

Palan & Wilkes (1997) identified three strategies the child uses, bargaining, persuasion and emotion. Marquis (2004) found that in French- Canadian ten year olds girls are mostly likely to use persuasion and boy will use emotion. When food shopping with the children lower-social-class households agree with the statement ‘I buy what the children want.’ In Sweden parents spoke openly about the fact they don’t take their children food shopping because it causes too much stress and exhaustion.

There is an increase request for foods high in fat, sugar and salt, indicating the crease in conflict when in the shop causing the purchase of less healthily foods. An example, sweets near the checkouts are at eye level of the child making then want them and maybe causing a conflict.

This weeks advert shows girls trying to look at lot older than they are but still playing with dolls. This advert works as it uses bright colours and the children used are ones that the girls watching can relate to as their will be those girls in their class at school. Bratz have also used technology for the girls in continue interacting and grow up faster as they are unsupervised using the Internet.