Airport Monopoly

Recently, on my way back to Wake from Texas, I got stuck at the airport in Atlanta for five hours.  Why is this significant?  Well, at one point, I got pretty thirsty and headed over to a snack shop to pick up a coke.  After waiting in line for about 5 minutes, I was finally able to purchase the drink I was craving: a Diet Dr. Pepper.  I was thoroughly disgusted, however, by the ridiculously high price of $1.99 that I was forced to pay for the 20 oz. treat.  So at that point, I started thinking about the whole decision making process and why I had gone ahead and chosen to make such a fiscally irresponsible purchase.

First, I know that there were certainly different options around the airport other than the little shop I chose, but I also know that I want a DDP for a variety of specific reasons.  First, I wanted a caffeinated beverage so I could stay up since I'd started my journey back to Wake really early that morning and so that I wouldn't miss any updates on my delayed flight.  I chose a DDP specifically because it is not only one of my favorite drinks but it reminds me of good ol' Texas as well.  Additionally, I was drawn to that specific shop to purchase the beverage because it was close to my gate.  Unfortunately, the price was increased due to the convenience factor and the fact that in an airport there is little competition since the customer is basically being sequestered in one area.

That said, though, I was still willing to pay the high price and made the purchase decision without regarding that aspect of the decision process since all I really wanted was a Diet Dr. Pepper and to be close to my gate.

Skinny Girl

As cliché as it may be I love Bravo TV. I follow Top Chef as if they were all my family members and get personally offended when a millionaire breaks the rules on The Millionaire Matchmaker. I feel loyal to Bravo partially because I feel that I am personally indebted to them for introducing me to Skinny Girl Margarita’s, Bravo star Bethenny Frankel’s creation.

Bethenny with a bottle of Skinny Girl Margarita's 

For those of you who aren’t addicted to everything Bravo comes out with like I am, Bethenny was an original New York City housewife. She is loud, crass, and brutally honest and I can’t get enough of her. Previously struggling to make it as a natural chef on ‘The Apprentice’ she emerged as a favorite housewife because she was entertaining and funny but still real. She was single and working to make a name for herself and her brand. After meeting her fiancé and becoming pregnant Bravo saw the opportunity and gave her her own show. The show killed the Housewives in the ratings and Bethenny became a standalone star. Now with a baby, a husband, and a growing brand in natural cookbooks, recipes, and her infamous Skinny Girl Margaritas she continues to share her whole live with her fans and consumers. People see who she is what she stands for and how she lives. Her willingness to share her whole life on TV and with her consumers and fans has done wonders for her brand.

Skinny Girl Margarita’s are great! They are light and refreshing and can be served over just ice while still being less than 100 calories a drink. My roommate and I swear by them and her and everything she stands for. The alcohol business is extremely hard to emerge in. With household names like Grey Goose, Smirnoff and Absolut the liquor department is even harder. What made Bethenny’s brand succeed is that buying each product is in turn buying into her and the 'Bethenny brand'.  She created a brand around herself because she lives every day with her products. If it has Bethenny’s name on it I will buy it and although I have obviously never met her I feel like I completely trust her. Her success is a testament to transparency when promoting and making a brand successful. She has genuine fans of the brand that is her life which translates to being fans of her products which is remarkable. While some may say this is similar to any celebrity who has a brand that is themselves I think this speaks to something else. Consumers want genuineness.  Any celebrity can come out with a clothing line and put their name on it hoping to capitalize on their fame but it’s not that simple.  Consumers don’t take your word for it anymore you need to live breath and exude your brand if you want it to succeed. More and more it is becoming evident that in order for a brand to succeed the people who run it must in term become a brand themselves. Bethenny does this in a unique way by living completely for her fans and in turn building trust with them. Building trust that translates to her products that aren’t just bottles with her name on them but a genuine good product that you can tell she knows you will enjoy.

Emily Kieczykowski is a BEM major with a concentration in Marketing and a minor is Psychology at Wake Forest University 

The "F-an"

With the winter fast approaching and the warm weather behind us, many people are starting to yearn for that hot sun and beach breeze of the summer. While cranking up the heat in your apartment and having a baby pool doesn’t quite make the cut as far as faking the experience, a growing trend is beginning to fake other parts of the past time. I am of course referring to the growing fascination with fake tanning, more specifically spray tanning.

Fake tan is the fastest-growing area of cosmetics with new brands coming out every other day. Whether it’s Jergens gradual tan builder, any of the L’Oreal sublime bronze lotions, tanning towelettes or Mystic tanning at a salon the consumer trend seems to be towards the most natural fake tan for the cheapest price. The mentality being: why spend hundreds of dollars on a vacation when you can tan at home for $10.99 a bottle or in a booth for $30! It is shocking how many girls on campus you can obviously tell have had fake tans gone wrong.  The orange skin or streaked application of a color that is obviously not natural leaves me to wonder as a consumer… What were they thinking! There are many students who have successfully navigated the consumer jungle of tanning products and so I decided to see what the draw was to it.

As a curious consumer I couldn’t help but try it out and see what all the fuss was about. I researched and decided that I would splurge for the mystic tan considering I would be sporting the ‘Fan’ (Fake – Tan) for a few days before it wore off and was skeptical about how it would look. First and foremost the process of getting a spray tan is not trivial. It takes quite a while and involves a fair amount of planning. Not only can you not shower or get wet for four hours but you are also covered with the actual die for that period of time.  This creates the challenge of wearing something that wont give you marks in the tan and also wont be ruined from the brown die.  The weather is also crucial because when they say you can't get wet this include rain.. I've had visions of leaving behind an orange trail and having my face appear to be dripping off. It’s cold and dark in the booth and the mist has a less than ideal odor. If you can get past those things there are still the very crucial instructions that you must follow or else risk the infamous Ross debacle from friends (see below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOLCwaHVtWs

Overall I was pretty happy with the result. I looked freshly bronzed while not orange and the tan was even without any streaks. I could see why people went through the uncomfortable process to get the tan. However it brought up in my mind what consumers will do for a desired result. As we see on Black Friday every year consumers will go to crazy lengths to get something that has a high intrinsic value. While I was happy with the outcome, as consumers are happy with the half price TV they get after waiting 6 hours in the rain, I was surprised that I had not heard about the annoyances of getting a spray tan. Don't get me wrong its safe to say I would probably go and get another one but it really is a testament to consumer habit of putting up with uncomfortable things in order to get what we want. Inconveniences aside we as consumers will do what we have to get what we want.

Emily Kieczykowski is a Senior BEM major with a concentration in marketing and a minor in Psychology at Wake Forest University