Week One Discussion Questions

1. The first thing I see when I walk into a super market is sales, sales, sales. I think the supermarkets purposely put the sale items in the front of the store to catch our attention and make us think we are saving money. I think this is a great marketing strategy because people might start buying things they don't need, but are willing to spend money on it because it's on sale! 

2. Market based analysis is a strategy used by sellers to make buyers buy more. The strategy is to set things up that go together in the hopes that people will buy them all. One example I've seen is in the juice aisle, the store will usually set up little displays of straws. Or in the cereal aisle they will have a display of bananas since a lot of people will have a banana with their breakfast. It makes people buy extra stuff just because it's there, not because they need it. 

3. I think the idea behind the ice burg theory is that the people selling the product get to control what we see and can hide what they don't want us to see. They put an emphasis on the good parts of the product; the top of the ice that's above water, and they fail to mention all the less great parts; the ice beneath the water. It's like trying to market ice cream. You'll focus on the great taste, but you'll purposely not mention how many calories it has in it. 

5. I am actually very familiar with Airbnb so I chose that one! 

• 5.1: The product is the homes/apartments themselves. For price, I think this is where airbnb really shines. Their prices tend to be lower since it is through individuals trying to make some side money and not through a business that depends on sales. Airbnbs are able to stay cheap because its not the main way individuals are earning money. For place, airbnb is run online and there are places to stay all over the world. This makes it so universally friendly that anyone could use it. And for promotion, I see ads online all the time. That may be because I use the website, but i get ads on Facebook and Instagram very often. 
• 5.2: The main competition for airbnb are hotels. I think airbnb will continue to stay competitive with them because of the pricing I mentioned above. Most of the time, it is an individual who will be out of town for a week so they are trying to get a little extra cash by renting out their home. For hotels, they depend on making money to stay in business, so they have to keep their prices at a higher rate to stay open. 
• 5.3: A sharing economy is a GREAT thing for airbnb. It can also be a great marketing strategy for the company. When someone has a room that is not being used, they are able to offer it to someone else at a low cost. 
• 5.4: 
• Strengths: low cost, availability all over the world, easy online booking  
• Weaknesses: not as regulated as hotels, not supervised
• Opportunities: airbnb has no limit to it's growth. The more people who put rooms up means that there are more choices for the renters. 
• Threats: the hotel industry has had it's eye on airbnb from the beginning. Also, a couple untrustworthy owners or renters could easily give airbnb a bad reputation. 
• 5.5: I think the best way for airbnb to grow its business is to just keep getting people to put a room or apartment up for rent. They more options there are and the more variety in locations will just draw more and more people in.