Ear to the ground: Listening to consumers

Doing an exercise in Social listening, using social media to listen to customers, and I decided to listen to what people were saying about Flame Paint, a brand of spray paint. First step was looking at its Value Proposition and I feel Flame's would be affordable, high quality, artist spray paint. Now scrolling through Twitter not a lot of people are saying too much about their products, but those that are seem to be excited, and happy about their purchase. People like Assid expressing his feelings with the short and sweet tweet "<3 flame", or Rachel Wood tweeting "Loving the vibrant teal and blackberry from flame paint today". So it seems they are being well received. If I were the brand manager for Flame Paint I would probably make more of an attempt to connect with these people. They don't have a lot of people talking about them which really allows them the chance to communicate and create more loyal customers by interacting with them. That's just my two cents though.

Article Review: Kellogg's cereal bar
Cereal sales has been on a slow decline over the recent years with people opting for a warmer, or less mess quick breakfast. The article stated that "sales of cereal in the U.S. have dropped from $12.8 billion in 2001 to $9.3 billion in 2015 according to market research firm Euromonitor International." This is a problem for companies like Post, and Kellogg's, but Kellogg's is trying to increase sales by getting into a niche market. That market is Cereal Cafes. There café named Kellogg's NYC was created in hopes of encouraging people to eat more cereal. According to Kellogg's "For folks who are eating cereal, 30 percent consume it outside of breakfast and more than half believe cereals are a great snack". I think this is a great idea and a perfect way to help stimulate sales, especially with the location, NYC, and the small market for Cereal cafes. There only major competition that I can find, within New York, would be KITH treats, a very similar café. Though you are paying around 6-8 dollars for a bowl of cereal Kellogg's is making it worth your money by creating signature bowls like "Life in Color", Fruit Loops topped with marshmallows, passion fruit jam, and lime zest. Even allowing you to substitute milk for ice crème or yogurt. I think this is a perfect example of what I am learning in BA 223 with finding a niche market, and listening to what people are doing and catering to that.