By: Samantha Bielawski

The brand I will be talking about is County Saddlery, which is a saddle company that mainly builds English saddles that give the representation that they are “best for backs”. The logo that is used is of a horse doing what appears to be a piaffe (a dressage movement where a horse seems to trot in place) without any tack on.

This is the main logo for the County saddles when looking up their website but it can cause the assumption that the company mainly caters to dressage saddles. There is a second logo that is also used that shows that it caters to jumping as well with a similarly drawn horse in flight position. The main issue I have with the jumping logo is the fact that it has a rider on it unlike the dressage logo. It seems that it interferes with the message that County is trying to get across with the thought that the horse is able to perform as if the rider was never there.

The branding as a whole can seem kind of confusing in a way with connecting County to horse products, but it is simple enough to remember when recalling the saddle brand. The slogan “best for backs” is catchy and can be misleading. Issues that cause back pain in horses usually stem from the saddle fit as well as saddle positioning. Problems that can occur are when horses are training is the fact that a horses back changes; such as muscle build up and weight gain/loss. Studies also showed that 30% of horses that have gotten their saddle fitted at least yearly still had ill fitted saddles. This bringing to light that in order for a horse to be pain free with a proper saddle fit you have to have routine saddle checks making the purchase of a saddle a one time thing. Another issue that can occur is riding multiple horses you cannot always purchase a saddle for each horse or wait for the saddle to be shipped to you either(custom saddles can take 6-18 weeks to make and ship). So the slogan “best for backs” can be a little misleading when putting the effort into giving the best for your horses’ back.

Even though there is a lot of pointers as to where branding can be misleading the County Saddlery has been successful over the years with multiple riders that are Olympic level competitors all over the world.

It would have been better if the County had a different name that relates more to the company brand. In order to make County clear when searching for the product Saddlery must be added in order to narrow down the search. A way a company can make itself stand out is by relating the product/service to the brand name of the company to make it easier to identify. Companies that have done this is Lyft, Netflix, and Taco Bell to name a few examples.

References

County Saddlery:. (n.d.). Retrieved October 08, 2020, from http://www.countysaddlery.com/

Study: Ill-fitting Saddles Behind Horse, Rider Back Pain. (2014, July 12). Retrieved October 08, 2020, from https://thehorse.com/149352/study-ill-fitting-saddles-behind-horse-rider-back-pain/

By: Samantha Bielawski

Pinterest was founded by Ben Silbermann, whom is the current CEO of the popular social media platform. The social media platform started in 2010 and grew to 17 million users in 2012. Because of the growth of Pinterest and the audience platform it had created the social media sight has become a handy business tool for reaching target markets. The main point in Pinterest is to help people find creative ideas for future projects and even future goals. Pinterest allows business to be part of those projects and future goals that a target market might have.

One of the benefits of Pinterest for a business is that Pinterest influences purchases. A lot of Pinterest users use Pinterest to decide what to buy. A study found that 87% of users purchase products because of the platform. The study had also found that 93% of users had used the platform for planning future purchases.

Pinterest can also inform the business of emerging trends to help stay ahead of the curb when keeping in the spotlight of the target audience. When it comes to the search portion of Pinterest bubbles will pop up with popular keywords and trending products. This can help users and business track what products are in style as well as products that are starting to lose popularity. This giving a business an opportunity to improve on its line of products.

Finally, another handy benefit to Pinterest is the study in which Pinterest users have a 9% higher average income than nonusers. Further research has discovered that regular Pinterest users spend less time looking at traditional media sources such as catalogs and television. This making a business save money by not having to invest in traditional advertising and still reaching the desired audience.

References:

Carlson, N. (2012, April 24). Pinterest CEO: Here’s How We Became The Web’s Next Big Thing [DECK]. Retrieved August 05, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/pinterest-founding-story-2012-4

Emma. (2015, September 16). 10 reasons why your business needs to be on Pinterest. Retrieved August 05, 2020, from https://business.pinterest.com/en/blog/10-reasons-why-your-business-needs-to-be-on-pinterest

By Samantha Bielawski

One of my favorite social networks to scroll through is Instagram. I do a lot of scrolling through the app to get ideas for training, art, and decoration (I am one of those people who are obsessed with Halloween). Instagram is a photo and video sharing app that was launched in 2010 by Kevin Systrom. The main focus of the app was to feature photographs taken on mobile devices. One of the cool things that make Instagram a useful tool for marketing for companies is how easy consumers can help promote products.

The type of marketing I see directly on Instagram is promotions and sales advertisements. If you go on to tap on those promotions or ads it takes you to the Instagram page for that company and usually has a link to the website for easy access to their products. As there is direct marketing there is also indirect marketing in hashtags and tagging companies in Instagram posts. When people receive new products that they are excited about they will take pictures of the product, the effect of the product, or the product in use. This is free marketing in a way and can help companies to see the satisfaction of their products.

Like most positive media there can be bad media but depending on how the company handles the situation can make or break the company. There was an ad a while back that I came across and the company was having a going out of business sale. I saw a comment on the post by a past customer that said something along the lines that the product was poor quality and not as advertised. Even though the company was going out of business this could have been an example of why, customer receives product, customer posts how the product quality is poor. The company never responded to the consumer about their comment on the photo.

Resources

Blystone, D. (2020, June 17). The Story of Instagram: The Rise of the # 1 Photo-Sharing Application. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/102615/story-instagram-rise-1-photo0sharing-app.asp

By Samantha Bielawski

I’m choosing to use Facebook since it is my most heavily used social media platform on my phone and for my business. Facebook was started in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. They were all students of Harvard University at the time of creating Facebook, which has become one of the largest social networks in the world. With a number of one billion users as of 2012 from all across the world, giving companies the ability to have a world stage for promotions of their products. 

When looking at the marketing implications for the Facebook networking sight there are several ads that pop up based on my Google search, and fan pages that come up due to things I have liked on Facebook that are similar to the suggested pages. There are a few examples that come to mind where my personal use and promotions seem to come up that I have an interest in. For example, I did a research piece for class that involved the website for Schneiders Saddlery, also known as SSTack. While I was doing research I noticed that ads for upcoming sales, promotions for new products, and upcoming seasonal items was showing up constantly on my Facebook account.

A more current situation that has occurred that involves me interacting with the promotional ads is my current search for a new vehicle. I have been searching for a 2019-2020 Ram 2500, with that search I have been having ads for trucks close to or similar pop up regularly on my personal Facebook account. Because I am looking to buy in the near future I have been interacting with the ads and contacting some of the dealerships through the Facebook ads. I know that in a way the ads are coming up through my personal searches but I find I have a higher chance of interacting with an ad when it is something I am currently looking for. If I was not currently looking for a new vehicle I would not be reaching out to the dealerships or even looking through the ads.

Resources

Hall, M. (2019, May 29). Facebook. Retrieved July 05, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Facebook</p&gt;

Tractor Supply – For Life Out Here

Tractor Supply Company is the largest rural lifestyle retailers in the U.S. It has been the main one-stop shop for farmers, ranchers, and everyone that enjoys the rural lifestyle for more than 80 years. They have specialized in a variety of products that include care for home, land, pets, and animals.  

Why I Chose Tractor Supply

The reason I decided to use Tractor Supply as the company for my project is because of their ability to connect with me on a farming level. When raising any form of livestock it is a lot of work and to have a place where I can purchase all my necessities, helps me save time and money from having to go through several different places for farming equipment. I am choosing Tractor Supply because I have an extensive background in livestock and the struggles that rancher’s and local farmers have to deal with when having livestock. Tractor Supply is a store where a lot of farming equipment and livestock items can be purchased.

Product

The new product that Tractor Supply would sell is Fence Track. Fence Track is a single wire that can be put towards the top and bottom of the fencing to allow farmers and ranchers to know where they might have down fencing or where livestock might be escaping or even possibly where predators are coming in from. It alerts ranchers when and where there is irregular pressure on a fence such as a fallen tree. This saves time to allow for fence repairs to happen immediately instead of having to walk the whole fence line of a hundred acre field or more to find a problem.     

Research

The research will be focused on creating a product that has similar readings to an electric fence where there are electrical outputs that signal when the fence is touching ground and alerts customers of a weak spot. Then it would move on to a secondary research to see if there is a consumer need for the product by having case studies and doing research from previous studies. Next a prototype would be created to be tested by potential consumers for primary research and test customer satisfaction with the product. Company Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://corporate.tractorsupply.com/company- overview/company-profile/default.aspx

When it comes to ethical practices within the company it can make or break the business. Looking into the ethical practices of a integrated marketing campaign it is important to do your research. Researching and understanding the target market will help in the long run to have an idea how to market to your consumers to get a message through. Always have respect for all aspects of the business from consumers to employees. A company is only as good as it is to its employees, meaning it is important to listen and respect your employees as it is important to respect the consumer. Treat others how you would like to be treated, is a common saying that should be followed when using ethical practices. If there is a situation with a product that you are using that could cause harm you would like to know about it as soon as you can. Being safety conscious about the well being of your consumers and employees keeps your business safe.

Potential risk that can occur if ethical practices are not followed can include court cases, financial issues, and public relation problems. Circling back to safety conscious if a there is a known problem with a product by the company and the company decided to sell the product anyways this would be considered unethical and end the company up in a court case. Looking into public relation problems this could stem from anywhere within a business, for example if a company uses a factory that produces waste and to cut corners to save money decides to dump the waste into a river which then causes major pollution and disrupts the ecosystem. This example of doing something minor which causes a major impact can drive consumers away if the company continues with this practice. Having these ethical problems can lead to financial issues where the company will lose consumers and possibly shareholders.

References:

Shewan, Dan. (November 28, 2018). Ethical Marketing: 5 Examples of Companies with a Conscience. Retrieved from https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/09/20/ethical-marketing

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.