Marketing Week 2

Topic 1: Social Listening

 The Santiam Liquor Store has the largest selection of liquor in Albany, OR with a special focus on liquor that is made here in Oregon. They will typically order items that aren't already carried if enough people are asking for them, and they have the longest hours of operation in town.
 When I researched them on social media, however, this is what I found:
    

Angelwithblueeyes1 on twitter stated that she had to call in for hours of operation

Meghan CosMo Tompkins on facebook bragged about the Strawberry moonshine being carried in the store

Sharon32s on Instagram posted a picture of a couple of guys sitting by the Kraken Rum display in the store

 They are currently in the business of selling liquor, energy drinks, sodas, mixers, tobacco products, and other miscellaneous items. You wouldn't be able to find most of this information on the web though because as of right now the only thing that really pops up when searching is the shooting incident that happened back in 2016. If I were the brand manager the first thing I would fix is that issue alone. I would create a page for each social media platform and update new products that are coming in, companies that are coming in to do taste testings, and respond to the feedback that customers would give at least once a week.

Topic 2: Marketing in the News
 Article Modern Furniture (Forbes)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2018/02/05/modern-design-no-retail-markup-furniture-maker-article-forecasts-200-million-in-2018-sales/?ss=sales-marketing#68aae2e32b38
I was interested in this article because it is a business I have not heard much about that seems to be doing well. This article discusses the growth of the company. Beginning with the brainstorming at an IHOP about a company originally called Bryght back in 2011. The founders grew Article quickly by taking control of the supply chain and selling direct at far lower prices than retailers could. This year they expect to double their sales to $200 million.
Article is the largest furniture startup attempting to re-engineer the furniture business for millennials so far by providing mid-range to high-end modern furniture for a fraction of the market cost and it took minimal outside financing in order for them to grow and be able to do so.
They aren't the only furniture startup attempting to target the millennials but they are having success by simply paying attention to what is selling versus what isn't and capitalizing on that data to know what to focus their advertising on. Specifically, the article stated: “As a manufacturer and retailer, Article has access to voluminous data about what’s selling and what isn’t, allowing it to test its products with small production volumes, and then move quickly to produce more of what's selling or to kill off or change what isn't. “You know what's in demand and what's not in demand," Baig says. "You don't end up with mountains of product that you are trying to push through to the consumer." The company's most popular item has been its Sven sofa, in Italian charm tan leather. "As soon as we put it up, we could tell we had something there,” he says. “So we promoted it more, and that amplified its popularity.”
If I were the brand manager I would primarily focus on getting the name of the company out into the media since the organization doesn't seem to have a whole lot out there currently and they seem to be an up and coming company.