Phils 550: You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start In The Morning

Located ten minutes away from NMU in Marquette Phil's 550 "convenience" store, really isn't that convenient for college students to make run of the mill beer runs. But Phil has no problem keeping the buzz alive about his store, and getting college students to drive out of their way for a dirty thrity. His tee-shirts and billboards are the talk of the town. He heavily depends on word of mouth advertising, mainly from the college students, but Phil is everywhere. "Phil is a true Renaissance Yooper: an experienced welder, a storekeeper, a Reverend who has officated over 30 nuptials, He also has a Monday morning radio show on local station WUPX: "Felix's Random, Retro, Radio Roadshow", and he probably has more friends than anyone I know, based upon all the customer photos all over his store, and on his website. Check out the pics of international "sightings" of the very popular Phil's 550 tee shirt which asks: "Have you had your Phil today?"" (taken from website review) His reputation adds more desire for people to drive out of the way for something they could get across the street. The store itself isn't anything special, but it's the service and logo that people spend money and time on. His website has the marriages he's performed, "spottings" of students wearing Phil 550 shirts around campus, the U.P, the U.S and world. Within the student community the "coolest" thing someone from NMU can do is go to Phils 550, own some type of clothing with the logo or ridiculous saying on it, take photos of doing ridiculous things in said clothing, and submit it to his website/facebook, or go in person to show him drunken photos of yourself in his clothing. My first week I was at NMU i was told over and over again "You gotta go see Phil!" Now I ask new students "Did you go to Phil's yet?"

http://phils550.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Phils-550-Store/202401160385

Get Naked Drink Beer from Tim Mulheron on Vimeo.

Gourmet Food Prepared and Delivered by Jackasses

Lonesome’s Coal fired pizza is located in Portland Oregon. They have no storefront, no sign, it's delivery only, and their marketing ploy is comprised of a giant and a midget getting drunk and handing out menus on the street-literally. They hand decorate each box with photos and biographies of musicians and filmmakers, as well as a sampling of that artist's video or audio work. Which is no coincidence, before opening the doors(and by doors I mean figuratively not a storefront) in July 2010, the founders “three rednecks and a gay guy” had opened the Red Truck Gallery, a pop-up art space that has promoted artists and their work in New Orleans, New York, Paris and, last year, Portland. They are very passionate about artists they like so they stick a sample CD, short film, or photos of them, and customer can visit the stores website to purchase more or their work. Their website, facebook, and promotional materials also share the same ridiculous theme, making the consistent message through all forms of media. But it doesn’t end there, they deliver in a hearse occasionally possibly by a midget, and they even started a rumor that a gorgeous woman delivers too. The system relies on a lot of word of mouth promotion, and I can’t think of anyone better than artists to spread the word. The point is, you really have to know your target market, through lots of market research, and a little luck, you can make it work. By the way it’s the best pizza you’ll ever have, using only local fresh ingredients in interesting combinations and sauses like marinara, alfredo, sriracha base, and a spicy Ethiopian variety. Cheeses of coarse include mozzarella, but there's a goat-cheese option, and a vegan cashew cheese also. They have already had an amazing return on their investment, opened a second store on the other side of the city, and plan to start a third in Texas this summer. Instead of traditional names, Lonesome's pies have names of fights that are too awesome to actually happen like:
My Dad vs. Your Dad
Burt Reynolds vs. the Girl Who Stole My CD Collection
Lou Ferrigno vs. a Shark with Throwing Stars for Teeth
Rock Hudson vs. Clothes Shopping with Your Mother (that one's vegan!)
Awesome things lesbians can do
Possible reasons we ain't getting women, though we own a badass pizza place.
They have a salad called "Little Tiny Jesus," and they serve "Bite-Sized Hitler" breadsticks
The fare is reminiscent of the dreams of teenage boys ready to take the plunge and finally kiss that girl, if it wasn't for that Stallone marathon airing this Friday on HBO.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lonesomes-Pizza/128118453878707
http://www.lonesomespizza.com/

Gibbs Technologies

The consumer production vehicle, theAquada, has logged hundreds of thousands of hours of road and marine time and proven itself robust and reliable. TheQuadski andHumdinga programmes have since pushed the technology into single person crafts, and larger four-wheel-drive applications.

High Speed Amphibians enable a transformation of operational maneuvers from the sea. From small swift reconnaissance missions to truly amphibious expeditionary and support vehicles, High Speed Amphibians have the ability to realize the vision of the future fighting force. The transition from land to sea, and vice-versa, is seamless, eliminating operational pause in ship to objective maneuvers.

The Vault!

Disney's legnedary vault, greatest marketing decisions made.
For everyone who doesn't know, the vault is walt disney studios term they coined for putting a stop in production of certain dvd titles. The reason this is so great is that it allows disney to keep the life cycle of a product in the stage of their choice. It not only allows the product to be more exclusive but it also allows the product to stay profitable.

Fast Don't Lie For Adidas?

"Man, I need some new shoes so that I can go hoop more often."

This was the phrase I told my friends last semester, as we were talking about playing basketball more often at the gym and during the summertime.

If your an athlete or a person that likes to play basketball or any kind of sport, this may sound familiar. As consumers we always are always looking for things that we need and or want.
In this case, we look for shoes that can improve our performance on the field so that we play better.


In October, Adidas released two new shoes called the Adizero's. They had two brands: The Adizero Rose and Dwight's Beast Drop, named after NBA basketball players, Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose.

*Now keep in mind that Adidas really isn't known for creating great basketball shoes and is more known for shoes that you can wear everyday and can kick back and relax in.

If you were to ask people what brand makes great basketball shoes, you would most likely get Nike or Jordan, usually because of people's brand familiarity or brand preference.

But Adidas did a pretty smart move. Around the October month, there was a movie called The Hangover that was in theaters everywhere. What they did was they used a man named Ken Jeong and used him to produce really funny advertisements along with Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard themselves to promote their brand of shoes. Here's an example of their advertisement.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=adidasbasketball#p/u/22/O-a9lx3pOC4


The Website promoting the shoes itself:

http://www.adidas.com/basketball/us/newsarticle/the-adizero-rose-and-dwights-beast-drop/


I actually did buy the adiZero Rose after doing some research on it, and it's a really great shoe to own, so Fast Don't Lie For Adidas!

Lite Cleaning

"Baby will you pleasseee do the dishes?"

"But there aren't enough to fill the dishwasher, so nope."

Sound familiar? Before purchasing a new home this past summer I thought there were two options to this situation:

The first being wash them by hand; another argument in itself.

The second to let them pile up until there was enough for a full load in the dishwasher; running it half full is just a waste of water.

Now that I'm a new homeowner who has had the privilege of becoming known by my first name by home improvement stores all over south east Michigan I have discovered a third solution:

A portable or small capacity dishwasher!

These appliances are not much bigger than a microwave and hold around four to six place settings. They come in either a model similar to larger units that are built into the cabinetry of your kitchen, or are portable and can be moved from counter top to table if needed.

These hidden household gems are not widely advertised and are found in remodeling and home improvement magazines. The target market is focused on non traditional households. Those that are missing the white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and a dog. These houses or apartments are for individuals or couples just beginning their lives together. The product is just as efficient as full capacity models and use the same cleaning agents. Though half the size the price is similar to the full sized units, and is between $170 and $300.

Does the limited marketing approach work?
Though outside of my own I haven't seen one in any other kitchens, but I must say, I bought one. I'm sure there are others around that would agree it is an easy, though slightly pricey, solution to the evening dishes argument.

Wendy's

Wendy’s Fast food chain has introduced a new campaign for the New Year. For a limited time for one dollar you can purchase a one Wendy’s key chain that is good for a free junior frosty with any purchase at participating Wendy’s until the end of the year. The proceeds of the key tags go to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to support local Michigan adoption programs.

5/3/1 by Jim Wendler is a strength training program sold on www.elitefts.com. This is the program I use for my weight training because of its simple nature, easy application, continued results, but most importantly, the great selling that Wendler does on elitefts’s site. The program is only a basic outline, with some set rules, but is very flexible in what can be done. This leaves many questions to a lot of users, and Jim is available to answer all these questions, and he answers them on a daily basis on the Q/A board. From a marketing standpoint, this is personal selling to the person who is asking him questions, but also mass selling since usually they are broad questions that apply to many people, and it is also customer service. When someone has bought the program and has gone on to use it with their own twists and is having undesired results, Jim is available to help get them back on track. After following his log for a few months (here: http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/training-logs.asp?tid=63&__N=Jim%20Wendler) and reading his Q/A I was sold on the program and the support available, and have faithfully followed this program for two years and have every intention of staying with it for a long time to come.