How to sell anything

Less cookies or higher prices?*

Even the Girl Scouts or America have tough decisions to make. A recent article on CNN reports people will find one to four less cookies per box this year. So instead of raising the price on a $3.50 box of goodness you will get two to four less Thin Mints. From cookies, to laundry detergent to cereal to baby formula a lot of companies are practicing raising prices by lowering quantities. Sure, I understand they are trying to shift the supply curve to right but are they also trying to get the customer to purchase their product more often?

What other products have you noticed this trend of reducing the size but keeping the price the same?

Would you rather have the same price but lower quantity or a higher price with a higher quantity

Another great example of public relations for a terrible product

I can not believe this product actually got this type of positive PR.

Click here to see what I mean.

A glass and a half full commercial

An advertisement from the UK. Very creative and the balloon is the best part.

NEW CORPRORATE LOGOS JUST RELEASED...

A humorous sign of the times...

You would think they would be doing better...

Late last year ebay decided to change their pricing stratagy. The result is explained below. It also clearly demonstrates what happens to a product/service when they have an available subsititute such as Craig's List.

From the Wall Street Journal
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EBay Inc. reported a 31% slump in fourth-quarter profit and the company's first quarterly revenue decline, as the online seller struggled with one of the worst environments for consumer demand in decades.

Revenue fell 6.7% as shoppers pared holiday budgets and shifted away from eBay's core online auctions. And eBay indicated that conditions remain uncertain in the current quarter, issuing ranges for revenue and profit that are below estimates on Wall Street.

While eBay said its online payment and communications units grew, revenue in its core marketplace business -- which accounts for 55% of revenue -- declined 16%. The company attributed the drop to the strengthening dollar given the company's large international exposure, and the global slowdown during a crucial shopping season.

But eBay, the largest online retailer by volume, also appeared to lose some ground to fixed-price sites such as Amazon.com Inc., some analysts said. "EBay is losing market share compared to other e-commerce players like Amazon," said J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan. "They still have a lot of work to do."

Shares of eBay fell 6.5% to $12.41 in after-hours trading, erasing gains made earlier in the day. The stock traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market at 4 p.m. at $13.28, up 73 cents.

EBay profit dropped 31% as CEO John Donahoe's turnaround skidded.
John Donahoe, who has been eBay's chief executive for a year, said he was pleased with the progress the company has made to turn around its flagging marketplace business. "The changes are not working fast enough, but we are on the right path," he said.

He also emphasized that the faster-growing nonauction portions of the business are becoming as significant as the traditional core eBay business. "In the future, if we connect the buyer and seller through an ad, that is as good as an auction," he said.

For the past year, Mr. Donahoe has pushed for eBay to sell more fixed-price goods and changed the company's fee structure. In the fall, eBay said it would lay off about 1,000 full-time employees, or 10% of its work force.

For the fourth quarter, eBay reported earnings of $367 million, or 29 cents a share, down from a $531 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier. For the fourth quarter, revenue was $2.04 billion, down from $2.18 billion.

A classic example of how to use public relations and the media

Starbucks' campaign to promote volunteerism (and store traffic) got a huge bump today from no less than Oprah Winfrey -- and by extension, Barack Obama.

Starbucks' 'I'm In' spot is set to air on CNN, and CNN Headline News, as well as a variety of NBC platforms.

The talk-show host talked up the java giant's "I'm In" campaign, which encourages consumers to pledge five hours of community service before the end of the year. Those who commit to doing so at Starbucks between now and Sunday will be rewarded with a free coffee.

Ms. Winfrey also encouraged Americans to help the chain double its goal of 1 million hours pledged on the coffee company's site, pledge5starbucks.com. The "Oprah effect" already seems to be working: According to the site, about 350,000 hours were pledged by this afternoon on the East Coast.

Below is the Oprah segment, be aware that this a just a little politically slanted.


Do you think this will work? I think this a great example how to use public relations to push sales but outside of going in and signing up to get my free coffee this will not make me want to go back and pay $4 for another cup.