Ch.11:Developing and Managing Products

Nintendo DS

Gameboy Advance

The Nintendo DS created by Nintendo was a new product that was introduced in the market in 2005. The Nintendo DS falls under the new product lines category. Nintendo made a lot of handheld devices in the past, the Nintendo DS was a product that has many different distinctions between the other handheld devices that Nintendo produced. For example, what makes the Nintendo DS different from a Gameboy is the features that is new to the handheld gaming system. The Nintendo DS is a dual screen system which makes the Nintendo DS more innovative and advanced. Wifi compatibility is also one of the features that the Nintendo DS has, the ability for the system to interact with another using Wifi. And the ability to take in the same games as the older Nintendo product, Gameboy Advance, since they have similar cartridges. Along with the Nintendo DS, Nintendo has also added to their Nintendo DS product line by creating the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS. Those products includes improvements and new features in order keep the Nintendo DS product line fresh, existing, and profitable.

Ch.8: Segmenting and Targeting Markets

Nintendo Co. practices market segmentation by offering their customers a wide variety of electronics, gaming consoles and toys. Their practice helps them create diversity among their customers by offering different products instead of one particular product. Products of Nintendo such as the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS creates a different approach to what the market seeks to have based on segmentation. One of the segmentation bases that the Nintendo DS classifies under is demographic segmentation. The Nintendo DS target market is basically people who are willing and able to buy this product. All age types are considered to be Nintendo's target market but most people that purchase the Nintendo DS are in Generation Y, around the ages of 25-35. Nintendo positioning is different from their competitors, Sony and Microsoft because both Sony and Microsoft creates gaming consoles for those who are considered to be a "hard-core gamer" or casual gamer. On the other hand, Nintendo creates gaming consoles designed for those who are a casual gamer and a non-casual gamer which means that they don't actually play competitively only for fun. 

Ch.15: Marketing Communications

In order for Nintendo to receive profits for their products that they sell, they need to come up with a strategy that will attract consumers to buy their products. There are different ways or combinations for a company to promote their products to consumers so they could buy it. Nintendo uses the promotional mix in order to reach out to their target markets. In the promotional mix, different promotional tools includes advertising, public, relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and social media are used by company such as Nintendo to attract their target markets to purchase their products. By using the promotional mix, Nintendo is able to gain more costumers to buy their products and also meet their goals that they set out to become a more popular and profitable company.  

Ch.10: Product Concepts

Product mix is all of the products an organization sells. Nintendo has a wide variety of products that they sell to consumers. The products that Nintendo sells includes video game consoles, toys, cards and games. For each product mix, a product line exists. Product line is a group of closely related product items. Nintendo's product line for gaming consoles includes the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS and other video game consoles. The difference between those consoles is that both the Nintendo DS and 3DS are considered handheld gaming devices while the Nintendo Wii is not a handheld device because of its large size. The Nintendo Wii is considered more of a home entertainment system. 

Nintendo's Gaming Console Product Line

Nintendo's Product Mix

Toys

Consoles

Ch.17: Personal Selling and Sales Management

Customer loyalty is something that Nintendo aims for in order for them to continue to have a strong relationship with their customers. Nintendo offers a loyalty program in which customers can gain certain things from Nintendo that people who aren't participating in the program can't receive. The loyalty program is called Club Nintendo and customers who participate in the program receive promotional items such as sweepstakes, discounts on video games, and special coins that can be redeemed for different rewards. By having customers participating in Nintendo's loyalty program, Nintendo is able to gather information about their customers and their shopping trends, which can help Nintendo make future decisions about what their customers would want from them.

Ch.16: Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales Promotion

When a new product is introduced into the market, it is the job for the company to promote their product in order for consumers to buy that product. Nintendo Co. introduced the new Nintendo 3DS into the market, Nintendo was advertising their new product so that the people who are considered Nintendo's target market would be willing to buy their new product. As a way for Nintendo to advertise their product, Nintendo launches videos explaining how the new Nintendo 3DS is different from their previous versions of their products and other competitors' products. In the Nintendo 3DS, new features were introduced in Nintendo's advertising campaign. These new feature additions help to create diversity among Nintendo's line of products. For example, some of the features that the new Nintendo 3DS has are enhanced controls and faster processing power. These features are additions that Nintendo's previous products have lacked and made this new product more attractive to consumers.

Ch.14: Marketing Channels and Retailing

Nintendo Co. is an organization which has a unique style in which they channel their distributions of their products. Nintendo Co.'s marketing channel is through the Wholesaler Channel. Nintendo produces the product then they sell their products to the wholesalers. Then the wholesalers move the products to the retailers and the retailers sell the products to the consumers. Nintendo's distribution channel is easy for them to gain advantage because through their distribution channel, they are able to make more profit than just using a direct channel approach.

In a retail store such as Best Buy, they offer a variety of products for anyone to purchase. When I want to buy a product for example a video game console, I usually go to Best Buy because they offer a wide variety of products for me to choose from. Buying products from retailer store makes it easier for a consumer to purchase that they want and it's more convenient to buy it up front in person than online.

Ch.6: Consumer Decision Making

When a person wants to buy a particular product, they often engage in the consumer decision making process. The consumer decision making process includes five steps for a consumer to make their mind about buying a product. The steps are recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase, and post purchase behavior. If a consumer has an interest in video games and wants to buy a product from Nintendo, the consumer would engage in the consumer decision making process. A consumer can decide whether to buy a product, when to buy it, what to buy, where to buy it, and how to pay for it. These decisions can depend also on how often the person would use the product. A consumer would buy a product from Nintendo if they know that they would want to use it regularly and not once in a while. 

Ch.5: Developing a Global Vision

Nintendo Company classifies themselves as a multinational corporation that provides services across the world. Nintendo went Global during the 1980s and decided to establish a subsidiary in Washington called Nintendo of America, Inc. By establishing a subsidiary, they can handle sales from the subsidiary in that country. Nintendo established more subsidiaries as a result of their success in revenue. Nintendo has subsidiaries in America, Germany, Australia, France, The Netherlands, Spain, Canada, and in China. Although the Nintendo headquarters is located in Japan, Nintendo is able to manufacture their products in Japan and export their products to their individual subsidiaries across the world in order to sell it to the market.

Ch.4: The Marketing Environment

The Nintendo 3DS is a product in which the Nintendo Company aims to sell to the market. A way for Nintendo to gain profit from selling the Nintendo 3DS is by choosing a particular group of people that are willing and able to purchase the Nintendo 3DS. People that would buy a Nintendo 3DS are people who have purchased old products created by Nintendo, teenagers, and the millennial generation. Nintendo targets teenagers and the millennial generation because most teenagers spend most of their time on electronics and television. The millennial generation are also a target market because they are known to be tech savvy and are very dependent on electronics. The Nintendo Co. is able to advantage of the market by knowing what type of people are able and willing to purchase their products.  

Ch.18: Social Media and Marketing

Social media is one the most important tools in Marketing. Getting a certain product noticed and advertised makes it important for a company to gain consumers when they send their product into the market. Nintendo's way of promoting their product is using Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites to promote their products on the internet. Nintendo can promote their products on Facebook by creating their own Facebook page and gain subscribers or followers and make their page more noticeable and popular among the public. By gaining people to follow Nintendo's Facebook page, people are able to share that page with others in order to make the page more popular. Nintendo can use other social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram to take in feedback on their product. When Nintendo released the Nintendo DS, consumers on different social media sites posted what they liked or disliked about the Nintendo DS and what the Nintendo DS needs improvement on. Nintendo listens to their consumers' feedback and try to continue making changes and adjustments to their product.

Ch.2 Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

As of late, Nintendo has developed many gaming consoles in order to create a more open fan base across the world. Even though the Nintendo headquarters is located in Japan, their success in developing gaming consoles has made them popular among the United States and all over the world. A product that has received an increase in sales among Nintendo is the Nintendo DS. The Nintendo DS is a handheld gaming system in which it has two LCD screens. The Nintendo DS is unique to the market because of its interactive screens to create a new experience for consumers. 

Nintendo aims to have a comparative advantage over other competitors because other companies have been developing handheld gaming devices over the past decades. Nintendo introduced the Gameboy to the market as a new product in the handheld gaming console category. The Gameboy was viewed as the most sold handheld gaming device prior to the creation of the Nintendo DS. Most companies try to create more handheld gaming devices in order for them to have a comparative advantage over Nintendo. Nintendo develops more handheld devices such as the Nintendo DS in order for them to stay on top of the market. 

Ch.1 Overview of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

Nintendo: Looking back on its history and goals

Nintendo Co., Ltd was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi in 1889. The company started off manufacturing Hanafuda cards, which are flower cards. As technology continued to expand to the public, The Nintendo Co. set out to change or revolutionize their product to their customers. The company started to produce electronic games. One of the most popular and oldest game systems created by Nintendo was NES(Nintendo Entertain System) in 1983. Nintendo begun to create more gaming systems since the NES was a huge success. More notable gaming systems created by Nintendo are the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS. The main objective set out by Yamauchi was to become a worldwide card game selling company. The objective changed when technology was in high demand. The company wanted to take advantage of the technological advances and created a new line of electronic gaming systems. Today, Nintendo is known more for their creation of gaming systems than their card games.