Beerstitutes...

Apparently there are more people than I thought who liked to consume a good beer every now and then... It is amazing to see how consumption changes by each state!

Top 5 state per capita as follows (2012):
1. North Dakota (45.8 gallons per capita)
2. New Hampshire (43.9 gallons)
3. Montana (43.9 gallons - oh, so proud)
4. South Dakota (38.9 gallons)
5. Wisconsin (36.2 gallons)

It is said that 99 million American regularly drink beer. I mean I knew it was pretty popular but, not THIS popular. It almost seems as though it is one behavior of consumers that reaches most all Americans. Fox News article stated, "U.S. brewing and beer importing business put more than 2 million Americans to work". This is also something that hit consumers all over the world. There are not many products that can hit consumers like a beer.


This is one product that marketers can have GREAT influences with when it comes to their marketing strategy. Take Bud Light for example, ask just about anyone and I'm sure they can tell you at least one Bud Light commercial that they can remember. So Cheers!!

You Have a Great Personality

Brand personality is a way for marketers to associate a product with set of humans.
Even I can say there are certain brands that appeal to me based on their personalities. Let's think about cigarette brands for a minute, when you think Marlboro what comes to mind? Most
people would say manly or "masculine" while Virginia Slims were created to meet the needs of a woman's personality or "feminine".

Another brand that comes to mind that is very gender specific in its' personality is Old Spice. It also is supposed to be masculine, think of the new commercials and how the Mom's sing about how, "Old spice made a man of my son". They are very good at creating a personality that appeals to men but, women want their "men" to have it.
The personality of a brand will essentially:
     ~Build a long-term brand equity
     ~Differentiate the brand making it more unique
     ~Can create a powerful relationship to bring in loyal customers

They got me good..

At times it not hard to persuade me, other times it can be extremely difficult. So today I want to ask the question, "What REALLY persuades me??" Is it marketers bringing to light all of things that appeal to me or are they putting it in my mind that the products should appeal to me? I imagine one side could be very much like this card trick...

The dealer moved cards based on what the person says, persuading them they are making the decisions, when in all actuality he is the one that knows where the card is the whole time.  It is just like me, I can think I know all the products I want and need, but really it is up to advertising to show me what I want and persuade me into buying something new (even if I do not need it at all).

It amazes me how I can buy something and then later look back at it and wonder, Why in the WORLD did I buy that??, it sure wasn't because I needed it and then I think, oh yeah! it was on sale.... or I saw that on a commercial and it looked like a great idea! A perfect example of persuasion was the other day when I went to the store to my dog some dental treats, when I was looking at all the different brands and kinds I did not know which one to buy, I read the small print and the nutrition facts on the back, but, in the end I ended up buying the only one I had seen an advertisement for. Even though it was more money than many of the competitors. It is amazing how something so small can have such a hindrance on what I might buy or consume.

Nudge You

Nudges are everywhere and they affect everyone. Barack Obama has recruited a “Nudge Unit” to run experiments on potential nudges. One example was they sent letters out to people who decided not to pay their vehicle taxes. At first they sent just a plain letter saying, “pay your taxes or lose your car” which this alone almost doubled the number of people paying their taxes. But, in a rewrite they actually added a picture of the car each person would lose which tripled the amount of people who paid their vehicle taxes. 

I thought this was a perfect example we can all relate to. It especially shows how nudges can help to influence people to make better and healthier decisions without them actively knowing. I mean hay, if this will keep a doughnut from going straight to my butt... sign me up!!

Below I'm adding a funny video from a Monty Python movie... it gave me a good laugh and I hope it will you too... so "wink, wink... nudge, nudge"!! 

Okay now for serious, I found this pretty cool sight about nudges and how they hope to help people in their everyday lives to make better decisions for not only themselves but, the society as a whole. From being a healthier person to even getting people to recycle. There is great site called INudgeYou which goes into a great detail of how nudges work in society today. Here is the like to take a look around at the sight and what they are doing... INudgeYou 

Now... go be nudged!!