Response to Ariana's post n the iPhone!

I think that the iPhone is a brilliant invention and Apple has done quite well with marketing and selling the product. As an iPhone 4s owner my loyalty is certainly to Apple products. I have to say that I enjoy the easy to use phone and applications associated with it. I use to have a Blackberry before purchasing my iPhone and enjoyed using BBM- black berry messaging. It was a way to communicate with other Blackberry users and sent messages much quicker then via text. Now the iPhone offers a service known as iMessaging from iPhone user to another iPhone users and I find that even more efficient and quick then texting or BBM even ever was. I agree with Ariana that the applications are what really sell the phone itself. I use my applications, especially Maps a lot. They are easy to access and use. It is not rare to see many businesses using iPhone technologies now to run day to day operations. I know at Dicks we could use company iPhone's to scan customers rewards points through the Dicks Sporting Goods application and it was certainly a lot more effective than having to send the customer back home to dig through and find a coupon. With technology such as Siri, a voice operated robot living in your phone. Siri can basically do anything, you ask Siri to do something and Siri will find it for you right away.  Simply ask; "Siri, where is the closest restaurant in Keene, NH?" and Siri will tell you and send you a location to the restaurant, Siri will even make a reservation for you if you ask. It is amazing how far technology has come within the past few years. I am grateful to live in an era where there are so many advances and I certainly do love my iPhone 4S.

Do you think you would be able to live without technology now that we depend so much on using it? How often do you use your smart phone? Daily? Hourly? Every minute?

Segmenting and Target Markets- Gap

When one thinks of target markets and segmenting they can usually picture the "average" shopper, who continuously purchases a certain product. Chapter 8 discusses the 80/20 principle; holding 20 percent of all customers generates 80 percent of the demand. This relates to the concept of brand loyalty. If a certain consumer has an opinion on a company and enjoys their products, for instance, Gap. Then the consumer will continue to shop and purchase Gap products. They may not need those new pair of $65 cargo pants but they try them on, fall in love then purchase them. Then their friends see how nice the pants are, they purchase the pants, the chain continues and demand goes up. The target market for Gap usually consists of many middle class individuals that demand quality products for an average price. Gap shoppers range from those in their 20's who want a trendy new top to an elderly person in their early 60's buying a new pair of khaki pants. Gap creates an atmosphere that is "family friendly" that way every individual consumer feels like they can find what they want. Gap certainly uses the concept of one-to-one marketing when they market BabyGap, GapKids, and GapMaternity. It focuses mainly on a specific individual; such as GapMaternity geared more towards pregnant women rather than a man shopping for suit pants. The company overall does a great job at establishing its target market.


How do you feel about Gap with relation to one-to-one marketing? Do you think they practice one-to-one marketing?