Situation or SWOT Analysis

"Managing the marketing function begins with a complete analysis of the company’s situation. The marketer should conduct a SWOT analysis, by which it evaluates the company’s overall strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T)" (Marketing: An Introduction 10th ed. pg. 55) For my SWOT analysis I will go in the order that they imply so starting with (S). What would be the strengths of my company? For starters I would need to point out who my company will be mainly promoting our product to. Of course I would like to say that anyone will want to be our product but that just is not looking and walking into a business realistically. So we will push this product to people over 55. Why, because our brand is all about rememberence and usually people over 55 like to remince about when times were simpler and they were younger. So one of our strengths I believe is going to be marketing, we already know who we want to market to and our whole product is about remincing so we already have a leg to stand on. Moving on to (W) weaknesses starting a company is never an easy thing unless you have the money to get everything off of the ground. So one of the weaknesses of the company would be that we are relying solely on our ability to market ourselves and relying on our customers to help get us off of the ground. "The company should analyze its markets and marketing environment to find attractive opportunities and identify environmental threats. It should analyze company strengths and weaknesses as well as current and possible marketing actions to determine which opportunities it can best pursue."(Marketing: An Introduction 10 ed. pg 43) Next is (O) oppertunities, While many other companies sell vodka not many advertise solely to people over the age of 55. They mainly focus on the younger crowds who are still out and partying away their lives. Our company will advertise to those who are rarely spoken to from this market. We want a company that knows its customers and it's customers know themselves they are already established and know who they are. By advertising to them we are hoping to attract their attention in a way that others will not. "Assesses major threats and opportunities that the product might face, helping management to anticipate important positive or negative developments that might have an impact on the firm and its strategies." (Marketing: An Introduction 10th ed. pg. 43) Finally (T) threats of course everyone wishes that when they started a business they would encounter no problems no threats and that the company will take off with out a hitch, but those people who base everything in their company on that idea will quickly lose everything that they have come by. The biggest threat to our company I believe is the simple fact that vodka's biggest crowds are the younger people so those Vodka companies that advertise to that particular group may take potential business away from our company do to the fact that we are advertising to a group older then the standard Vodka drinker.

Objectives

Athabaskan's objective is to constantly improve the quality of our product. Doing this will cost not only time but money as well. By focusing on the customers of Athabaskan and developing something to their specifics Athabaskan will not only allow the great taste of a memory but create great memories in the process. Since Athabaskan is a vodka that takes all natural berries and roots down to their essence we want to devote time into replanting any type of plant that we use. All plants will be used to help produce a quality Vodka that tastes great but still gives you some of your daily nutrients. To help us acheieve some of our goals we will need to rely on the general public, or our customers. Our customers are going to be how we as a company can advance and allow for ourselves to thrive. "A public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on an organization’s ability to achieve its objectives," (Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ed. pg. 69). As a company we can help ourselves improve the quality of our product using a couple of methods. We need to focus on the profit of the company as a whole. Since our brand is new we do not  want to come out right away with and offered discount or lowering our products prices, so we will still strive to keep our product at an affordable price to begin with to help the push of our product. Since our product is suppose to be availible to every one we will make it that way. By putting our product our there where it is easily accessible we will hopefully allow the sales of our product to continuously grow. By saleing our product we will be able to make the advacements in it that we would like to strive for. "Profits can be improved by increasing sales or reducing costs. Sales can be increased by improving the company’s share of domestic and international markets,"(Marketing: An Introduction, 10 ed. pg. 43) Overall the objectives of the company are easily accessable. We must work hard and show that we truly want to make a product that is for the people. That is what we strive for something people will want while tossing in great taste and memories.

Business Mission Statement

"An organization exists to accomplish something, and this purpose should be clearly stated." (Marketing: An Introduction 10th ed pg 39)

Athabasken is dedicated to bringing a new way of rememberence for the everyday person, whether it be a customer, company, or employee by :

• Committing our brand with high quality ingredients to an affordable price.
• Focusing on beinging an all "Green" company.
• Ensuring that all buyers of Athabasken focus on remembering when times were simpler.
• Constantly striving to be the best at what we do.

                       

Week 9 BOC: Cyber Shopping

A Canon 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera would be what I would want for myself and to advance my career if money were not an issue. This camera may not be top of the line but it is used by many professional photographers. The original price of the Canon 7D is right around $1800. Hence why i have been unable to obtain it thus far. Since Canon has a newer model coming out soon they are decreasing the price of this camera ever so slightly to roughly $1500. Now to many 300 dollars may not seem like much to something so pricey, but Canon rarely ever drops their prices unless the product is way out of date. Not only will this camera help me to update my photographic process it will also show that I am serious in advancing in my career as a photographer. I believe that the Canon 7D produces beautiful images, granted not all of the work is merily the camera but having a camera that can produce the images that you have imagined and have put the work into is a major plus. Who does not want to have something that helps them advance the person that they are weather in your career and or in your personal life. This camera could be for me the start of something more in my life.

Week 7 EOC: The Pitch

Athabaskan

Vodka that's rejuvenating made with premium chosen berries and roots that have a native culture reminiscence with a berry flavor that makes this vodka unique for you who says vodka can’t have nutrients to be flavorful. This new Vodka is designed with you in mind. Taking ingredients used in the past to make your present brighter. Athabaskan is created to bring back a Native feel to the lives of its drinkers. It will contain multiple types of berries that enhance its flavor but also contain nutrients needed in daily life; also certain roots will be used in order to protect the feel of Athabaskan. As a new Vodka on the market we are trying not to compete with the other brands but instead are trying to create a brand that’s yearned for, Vodka that is remembered for its reminiscence of the Old Country, a reminder of when times were simpler. Not only will this Vodka create a feel of youth and rejuvenation but it will also have a great taste to go along with it. Athabascan is ther for its consumers and created specifically for its consumers. By creating Athabaskan we will be targeting the elderly since we are trying to bring back memories, we want them to remember life as it use to be life that was more simple. Everything that we will put in our Vodka will be recognized nothing will be an overly complex chemical. Yes this will be new but it will be a new to remember. Our vodka will start out affordable and always will be, it will be sold alongside other vodkas not as competition but as a target. We will want our customers to see our bottle and have it look simple not flashy like the other brands because we are not about flashy we are about fresh and simple. In fact I believe that this will be our slogan Fresh and simple, like the old days. We are about a simpler time full of wonderful memories that are just waiting on the inside.

Week 6 EOC: Me x 3

I tend not to be a materialistic person, of course there are things that i would like to have in my everyday life but they are not things easily bought on budget. I live my life very simply and for my defining things just are not myself. Obviously every person buys health care products, things that improve their hygene. So I could not say that "oh I buy toothpaste and that defines the person that I am." What I can say for myself is that I enjoy reading so books would be a defining factor of myself. Not all books obviously but books pertaining to life outside my own. I love to read and be taken out of my world and put into another. For that amount of time I'm not worried about my own issues because for that moment I have none. Books are a way for me to not focus so much on what my life is like but gives me a reason to allow my mind to wander, without reading I can not truly say that I would be the person that I am today. Reading has always been a big factor in my life. Growing up for me was not the easiest we had a poor family and even though I was loved very much by my family I moved around a lot so I didn't have many freinds and I could always rely on books to be there for me. The next thing that I believe would define myself would be paper and pens and yes they are linked together and for a purpose. I not only read books I also like to write them. I enjoy creating a world on paper, one that is mine, something I came up with. A world that is more easily controlled and changed. I was able to take the hardships of my life and make the character in a book I was writing find a way to conquer that issue. I have always liked to think of myself as a creative person and writing was my calling. I can not draw but I can create and the way I did that was through character creations and creating worlds to go with those characters. Even though they may have been fiction they still helped to shape the person that I am today and for that writing has alwsay been a defining part of my life. Finally and I just realized this calling not to long ago would have to be anything that has to deal with a camera. I love taking photographs and no not of myself but of actual meaningful things to myself. Such as nature, what better way to get away from it all then by just leaving your worries behind and going on a nice camping trip or hiking. I believe that people forget what else is out there and i want to remind them of that. The way that I do this is by taking pictures of what I see out in the wilderness. Taking a photograph that creates life long memories. The world is to caught up in moving forward that it forgets to stop and enjoy the scenery. Well I for one do not want to be swept up and caught by the hussle and bussle of daily life. I would rather take it one step at a time and enjoy it while creating beautiful pictures in the process.

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

Since the internet is such a hot comodity amongst just about everyone from children, teens, college students, to job employers, what better way to look for a job then finding one online. In my personal opinion I believe that doing a job applicatin this way takes out the personal part of the interview. On the plus side applications done this way take out the middle man. Looking at an application this way allows for the employer to focus on the qualifications and the skill versus a first impression. "Over the past few years, a new type of social interaction has exploded onto the scene—online social networking" (Marketing: An Introduction, 10 ed. pg. 14) Many places now use social networking as an opportunity to grow. "Social networking media range from blogs to social networking Web sites, such as Facebook and YouTube, to entire virtual worlds, such as Second Life and Gaia Online. This new form of hightech buzz has big implications for marketers." (Marketing: An Introduction, 10ed. pg. 14) Sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and even Facebook can now be a means of getting a job. I you befriend people and or follow people through these sites and you have similar intrests then who to say that you can not get yourself to a place or get a job by the people that you know. As a person who lives in Las Vegas, knowing someone is everything. Even though the city may seem big to an outsider, for someone who lives in this town you truly know that Vegas is incredibly small and if you mess up here then you will no onger be able to work here. This also works in the opposite direction as wel though if you make a name for yourself here every one will know who you are. Or even if you become friends with someone and they begin to recognize the work that you do and produce they could mention your name and from there you could take off.  Social networking will get you a far way in this town and with the economy being the way that it is most employers enjoy the word of mouth  to find jobs or to sale a product versus the advertising avalible jobs. "But these days, thanks to modern technology, armed with little more than a video camera, laptop, and a cell phone, anyone can spread the word about products and brand experiences to thousands, even millions, of other consumers." If you work at a company and hear that there is a job opening in an area that say your friend is good at then you can suggest that person to whoever is hiring. By doing this you take out the middle stuff. The business will not have to spend money on advertising the job and taking time to interview 100's of 1000's of people.