Marketing 16th Edition by William Pride,Ferrell

تمرين 2

Digital Imaging Goes Mainstream By now, millions of U.S. consumers have made the transition from film-based cameras to digital cameras. Many cell phones are equipped with digital cameras, as well, which only adds to the market potential. So many people are busy snapping so many photos, but Shuterfly's analysis revealed that women accounted for 70 percent of its customer base. Why? "Women often are the people who take on the role of family historian or chief memory officer," the CEO explains. Not only are women taking photos (or raking charge of photos taken by other fam-ily members), but they are making key decisions about which photos to print, which printing service to use, and what kinds of prints and personalized products to buy. For this reason, much of Shutterfly's promotion budget is devoted to media that reach women.
The biggest surge in buying occurs in the last three months of the year. On the day after Halloween, for instance, Shutterfly's site is inundated by 3 million photos of costumed kids of all ages. On that day alone, customers order a total of 1.2 million prints-and the holiday rush is just beginning. "From Halloween, it is straight on to Thanksgiving, holiday cards, and calendars," the CEO says, "and our lab is running 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
The Shutterfly of Tomorrow
To date, Shutterfly has sold millions of prints and personalized products and is storing at least 1 billion images for its customers. Sales have increased to nearly $250 million, but profits still depend largely on the all-important year-end holiday season. The company's reputation for quality and responsive service has helped it maintain an enviably high customer-retention rate. It has one production facility in the east and another in the west so customers can receive their orders quickly, regardless of location.
More innovations are ahead as Shutterfly's marketers act on their insights about the strong emotions that photos evoke. "People have an intrinsic desire for social expression: to capture and share their experiences, to relive special moments, and to communicate their memories," the CEO notes. A Shutterfly senior vice president adds, "Prints are great, and that is one way to tell a story. But there is another way-books, collages, and other products. You will see a lot more of that. That's the area where we are proud to have put up the flag and to be a leader."
1. What is Shutterfly doing to manage the marketing challenges of heterogeneity?
2. How has Shutterfly used marketing to draw custom-ers through the product adoption process?
3. What has Shutterfly done to add supplemental fea-tures as well as symbolic and experiential benefits to its offerings?
4. Why would Shutterfly negotiate to license Nickelodeon characters for personalized photo products?