Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Verizon market segment operates within the traditional family life cycle. With many of its advertisements often including the "traditional family" (a husband,wife,often two or three kids) which can apply to the middle age married with kids category or even the older married couple with children who are independent from their parents because Verizon family deal is better deal financially for most families in these economic times. Also while not directly advertising it, Verizon is very appealing to young single people because they are up to date technology wise as evidenced by their continuing success with their Droid models. Another reason Verizon is successful with the young single people segment is that their low monthly cost is something that fits perfectly into their general financially statuses. Although Verizon successfully advertises too these segments of the family life cycle it seems to ignore the newest and one of the largest segments of the family life cycle, the homosexual segment. Verizon has yet to include a same sex couple in any of their advertisements and would be wise to do so.

Developing and Managing Products

 

Verizon develops its new products through brain storming and using the ideas or current products of competitors, such as AT&Ts iphone. Although Verizon's Droid models are "new" products they are not peoples usual definition of a new product. Verizon's Droid models represent a new product in the sense that it is an improvement over previous models of the product. A cellphone was the initial product and the Droid is simply a new and improved version. While new products that are improvements over older ones can be only slightly different, Verizon's Droid is drastically different in its features as well as capabilities while maintaining the basic and main assets of the previous product such as be able to call anyone. All products also go through the product life cycle. The four stages of the life cycle are Introduction(when a product is widely introduced to the market), the Growth stage(where the sales for the product should increase dramatically), then  the product enters the maturity stage(where the sales still increase but at a much slower pace) and the final stage is the Decline stage(where a large drop in sales occur). Verizon's Droid model's are in the maturity stage for the most part but advances in technology can either keep the product between the growth and matuirty stages or in can even force it into immediate decline.

Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management is something all businesses must use effectively to run a successful business. Verizon however continually fails when it comes to this aspect. Verizon's relationship status with their customers is often ruined in large part because of their horrendous customer service. However, Verizon does use the data they obtain from their customers to their advantage and that is how they run their business successfully. Verizon uses the data it obtains to build a profile of its customers to effectively cross sell. Consumers who buy Verizon's droid models are often knowledgeable when it comes to the latest technology. They are also will to spend a large amount of money on the newest technology. This profile allows Verizon to cross sell products such as the newest televisions, newest home phone technology and newest Internet technologies. Also, since Verizon offers their droid models at a much cheaper price if the customer agrees to a two year contract, Verizon will have that customers brand loyalty for at least the life of that contract and it also gives them time to collect data and build the relationship beyond those two years.

Integrated Marketing Communications

 

Verizon uses many things to communicate its messages to its target market and uses all four concepts of a promotional mix. One of Verizon's major ways of communicating to its market is through sponsorships. Verizon uses its sponsorships to communicate its message through them in a positive and very public way. They evaluate how much exposure the sponsorship will give them and how much positive emotions it will cause to be associated with the Verizon brand. Verizon also uses social networks to send out its message, using sites such as facebook.com/Verizon and myspace.com/Verizon. Also, the message Verizon tries to send through its advertisements is that people who have Verizon have many friends and are the typical happy family as evidenced by there commercials that include hundreds of people following the "Verizon Guy". In Verizon's most recent commercial, a advertisement for their newest droid model the Verizon Fascinate, Verizon shows the phone with many different attention provoking colors in the background, while also playing exciting and attention grabbing music. In a way Verizon communicates its message that the Fascinate is a great "sexy" phone without saying a single thing in its advertisement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJGL3-0idic

Product Concepts

Verizon wireless has many products but its main products are their cellular phones and the monthly bill, warranty, customer service and all the features and convenience that their phones like their droid model comes with. Speaking of Warranties, Verizon offers free warranty for a year and if you would like to continue it, it will cost you upward of five dollars a month and research shows that after a year or so there are more problems with Verizon phones, which could be a form of planned obsolescence. Verizon has also extended their product line to include an internet system, home phones, a type of television brand, among many others which has separated them from some of their prime competition in the phone industry such as AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon's brand is often identified not only by its name but by its colors, in that the word "Verizon" is always black but the "z" is always red, resembling its red check mark above the word. Verizon has many product line as well, but their most successful is their cellphone product line which they have added hundreds of new phones since its inception due to the accelrated rate at which technology evolves.

Sales Promotion and Personal Selling

Verizon uses many different sales promotions. Verizon uses premiums, loyalty programs, training programs, rebates, and various online promotions. A premium Verizon has recently started is a buy one get one free promotion on their newest droid model, the Fascinate. The promotion is over at the end of the month and by
putting a clock on how long the premium will last, Verizon has created a need and urgency for customers to buy their product. Verizons upper office also provides training for the "middle man".  When the newest droid came out, Verizon trained all its store employees and its technical support staff on how to use the phone and fix any potenial problems customers have. This is a sales promotion because people will buy the product if the the sales person doing the personal selling can show them the features of the phone and explain them intelligently. Verizon also uses several online promotions such as their online only discount on their droid models. When buying the phone in stores, you get a  hundred dollar rebate, which from personal experience takes very long to arrive. However if you buy the phone online you get the hundred dollars off the top and
dont have to wait for anything. Lastly, Verizon also rewards its current and loyal customers by allowing them to upgrade their droid phones once every year.

Advertising and Public Relations

Verizon implements institutional advertising, product advertising, and comparative advertising along with many others. Institutional advertising is a type of advertisement that makes the company look better while also promoting a product but only to a certain extent. Verizon does this in there commercials where they often call it the Verizon family showing a typical family all using Verizon phones, this commercial makes Verizon look like a family friendly company.  Product advertising is when a company only promotes a product and its benefits and capabilities. Verizon does this with their recent Droid commercials in which there are no people in the commercial it is only the Droid model they are selling as well as a demonstration of its capabilities. Lastly, comparative advertising is an advertisement that shows the differences between two similar products. In many Verizon advertisements, they often display two maps comparing their coverage with that of their competitors.
Public relations is the way companies get a feel for the attitude people have toward them as well as how a company tries to influence these attitudes. Verizon did this through press releases when they release new Droid models. They used a press release to get the word out about the newest Droid while saving a lot of money doing it.

Retailing

I have recently visited a Verizon store in Queens near Lefferts Boulevard, and after leaving I was not impressed. While the Verizon store is a specialty store and the brand itself is very popular, the customer service is not as good as the product. Upon entering the store I made several positive observations in that the store was very neat and clean and well organized, everything was easy to find. However I soon came to find the reason for this was that there were so little customers to mess anything up. As a matter of fact the store was empty accept for me and two employees who were just standing around and did not even acknowledge me in anyway. I ended up approaching them after about five minutes of just browsing around the store. I asked about my Verizon Fascinate (which I had recently purchased) and to my surprise they were very knowledgeable when it came to my phone even though they seemed disinterested. However I cannot say I was very surprised as Verizon's reputation is good product without good customer service which was reinforced in my visit. 

The Importance of Understanding Consumer Behavior

Verizon uses several aspects of consumer behavior to tweak their product in order to be very marketable to several groups. Verizon uses the need recognition step in the consumer decision making process by understanding two things. One is that people have been made to believe that they need a cellphone. The second is that people also need to have the most updated, technologically advanced phone that can be produced. Verizon takes advantage of these needs by making and selling their Droid models. While using need recognition to make the product, when developing their prices and plans for the Droid phones, Verizon markets to the age and family life-cycle. While it is often the kids in the family that want the newer phone models, it is typical that the parents are the ones paying the bill. Due to this Verizon makes use of its family plan and fairly low cost service. This also helps in the fact that the social classes Verizon targets is the middle and working class and cost effective things are very attractive to the people in these classes.

Developing a Global Vision

Verizon Wireless and more specifically their droid model is a rapidly selling global product. Verizon first "went global" in 2003 when it started selling its products in many other countries. As of today many Verizon phone plans either come with an international plan or a international plan is offered and a fixed rate. Also a huge part in globalization, Verizon's phones are made in China exclusively because of cheaper cost and increased communication throughout all businesses worldwide. Due to the recent popularity of the Verizon droid model, as well as the global marketing and global business growing constantly, Verizon has released a global business specific droid model called the Droid Pro. This model is available in 220 countries and has great coverage in 212 of those 220 countries. The model is very business friendly with easy to use buttons, long battery life as well as built in applications to help in everything business related. While Verizon is global, they are far behind a few competitors like AT&T.

The Marketing Enviorment

Verizon's Marketing Environment has increased rapidly throughout the years. While Generation X would appear to be the target demographic, essentially all four generations are buyers of Verizon products. While the Verizon droid model is more popular amongst tween's and generation X, it has a modest presence within the other generations. The advanced technology of the Verizon droid has made it very popular among all demographics but especially among the Asian population as research shows that the Asian population is technologically advanced. Verizon also maintained its relatively low prices on family plans in its response to the economic times as well as the involvement of all four generations in its sales, as often displayed in many of their ads. In response to the large percent of the population in Verizon's region being Hispanic (also the largest of the minority population) Verizon has released several ads and commercials that appear to be aimed at this Hispanic demographic not only because of its portion of the population and its predicted larger portion of the future but also because research shows that Hispanics are very brand loyal and are far more likely to stay with the company.

Origin of Clothes

Shirt: Made in U.S.A
Cardigan: Made in China
Pants: Made in U.S.A                             
Boxers: Made in Mexico
Shoes: Made in China
Socks: Made in China

Corporate Irresponsibility

While very difficult to find an example of corporate irresponsibility in the Verizon company, a proposal made by the company seems to be very irresponsible. Verizon and Google made a proposed deal that they would use the fact that there service is used so much and by such a large amount of people that they would make a net neutrality policy for all its users. This idea however was quickly shot down by legislators as it is the same as regulating the internet.

Source(s):

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/17/markey_doyle_eshoo_inslee_letter/

Ethics And Social Responsibility

Verizon fulfills its social responsibility in its eyes by running a volunteer program for all natural disaster and to help the homeless population. On top of that Verizon has a donation program for a variety of charities and will match every dollar that is donated. As for its ethics, Verizon has a strict code of ethics. They require that every employee go through training so that they can make the right decisions based on Verizon's values. This program is constantly updated and has been updated as recently as 2009 and has new additions to the training program set to be implemented at the end of 2010. Verizon also offers three separate hot lines that they constantly urge employees to use if they have any concerns or ethical questions and each hot line number is completely anonymous. To ensure that things within the ethical questioning process is done ethically, Verizon established their Corporate Responsibility Executive Council in 2007 to overview all processes involving ethics. Overall Verizon's activities to satisfy their social responsibilities is fairly common and expected, their views on ethics and programs to ensure things are done the right way is very good.


P.S: Below is a link to an example of Verizon contributing to a social responsibility.


http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/05/new_verizon_store_donates_2500.html

Strategic Planning

Verizon's droid marketing plan includes coming out with an updated Droid model almost monthly and recently has released the Verizon fascinate, a phone Verizon hopes will compete with apples iphone 4 as the iphone is the cream of the crop in the increasingly advanced world of cell phones. In regards to Verizon's strategic decisions, Verizon realized that in this age people want to have service anywhere they can and therefore Verizon made it a point to not only provide and develop the best all around coverage known as their 3G network, but to also expose there competitions lack of coverage compared to theirs as seen in many of their commercials. Verizon also has also developed some strategic alternatives to the droid and cellphone part of their business by selling packages that include land line, internet and cable television service in hopes of increasing sales my introducing a new product to their present market. Verizon's target market for their Droid models are young people between the ages of as young as 14 to someone in their mid to late 20s and even beyond.

History and Mission Statement

The first Droid was the Motorola Droid which was released on November 6th, 2009. The Droid was launched from Verizon as a alternative to AT&Ts i phone which was Verizon's main competition. The Droid sold around 200,000 models in its opening weekend and is estimated to sell around 765,000 units within a year according to Avian Securities forecast. Since the Droids initial release, four new Droid models have been released. The HTC Droid Eris which debuted on the same day as the original Droid, the HTC Droid Incredible which came out on April 29th, 2010, then the Motorola Droid X was released on July 15th, 2010 and most recently the Motorola Droid 2 came on on August 15th, 2010.



Verizon Mission Statement:


"As a leader in communications, Verizon's mission is to enable people and businesses to communicate with each other. We are also committed to providing full and open communication with our customers, employees, and investor."



"Verizon Mission Statement". September 1st, 2010 <http://www.samples-help.org.uk/mission-statements/verizon-mission-statement.htm>.