Production and marketing
1. Would you prefer brands to generic products in all circumstances or are you selective in this
matter? Elaborate.
No, not in all circumstances. For example, for food, it does not matter to me whether the product
has a brand or is generic. I don't care if for example ice tea is of the brand Lipton or is generic, as
long as it tastes good. When it comes to clothing, I am more inclined to choose branded clothes. I
have a few brands whose products I think are fantastic, such as Hollister and Deux, and I am more
likely to buy clothes from these brands than generic ones. I also care about the image of a brand.
For example, I would never buy clothes from a shop like Primark because the quality of these
products is generally lower.
2. Can you think of products that are generally considered to be money spinners? Why do you
think they are?
I think the Iphone is the money spinner of Apple. They are very expensive, yet they are the best-
selling phones in the world. When Apple announces the launch of a new type of iphone many
people are already prepared to buy the product without knowing whether it works properly. I
think this is partly due to the brand image of apple. A lot of people trust that all apple products
are good. Apple can invest the money they earn from Iphones in improving their other products
such as the MacBook’s.
3. To whom might product placements in series be targeted? Do you consider them influential?
I think that product placement is mainly aimed at influencing children. When a child sees a
character in a series that they like, they are often tempted to copy that character or want things
that that individual also has. For example, if a character always eats a certain type of cereal, a child
might ask his parents to let him eat that type of cereal too. I definitely think that product
placement unconsciously influences people. In Flanders, product placement in children's
programmes is fortunately not allowed.
4. Which reasons might trigger a company to outsource?
When a company wants to lower its labour costs, it is smart to outsource. In-house employees are
more expensive than external companies offering their services. For example, it is much smarter
for a company to have an external cleaning service come in weekly, rather than having their own
cleaning team. Another reason is that it allows the company to focus on their core business
without paying too much attention to all the additional issues. Outsourcing can also give the
company access to the kinds of tools that they did not have internally.
5. Would you prefer working in emerging markets or in a well-established/ripe market? Why
(not)?
I think I would like to work in both markets. Working in a new market seems nice because it is
really challenging. Many things are new for most employees. You might also get the chance to
work on new concepts sooner than in an established market. Working in an established market
also seems interesting to me because it gives a little more job security. There is more security
because that kind of products are already sold and there is less chance that the market will
collapse.
1
, 6. Are product endorsements with famous people ethical? Why (not)?
Product endorsements can be ethical as well as unethical. They are ethical when a famous
person is promoting a product that is proven to work or that has real benefits or when they
show the effects of the product, however it can be unethical when they promote unsafe or
ineffective products or services.
7. Will e-commerce dominate future business? Why (not)?
E-commerce is increasing in popularity. Corona has also played a major role in this. People now
see how easy it is to have products delivered to their homes. So I definitely think that certain
chains will close their physical shops and only focus on e-commerce, because in-house staff is also
very expensive.
8. Do you think there is too much advertising? Are there any products you feel it should be
forbidden to advertise for?
There is, unfortunately, more and more advertising and that certainly bothers me. On YouTube,
for example, three advertisements are played before you can watch a video. I think that
advertisements for casinos, gambling and bitcoins should be banned, as well as all kinds of
advertisements that encourage people to donate money to certain bank accounts.
9. Do you think that most people got blind for advertising in magazines and newspapers or is this
kind of advertising still effective? Elaborate.
I think people are becoming less and less interested in it, especially in advertisements of brands
or products they have known for a long time. For example, in a product like coca cola, because
everyone already knows it.
10. Are brands just a hype that make some people rich or do you think there is an added value to
paying a premium? Justify your answer.
I think a lot of products are really just a hype and we pay way too much for them. Nowadays,
Jordans are really popular. Before they were a trend, a pair of Jordans cost about 100 euros. Now
that everyone wants the shoes, people suddenly pay 200 to 300 euros for them, and sometimes
even more. Often we pay a lot of money for the name of the brand and not so much for quality.
Designer brands like Dior are well-known, but at the same time they also deliver more exclusive
products and then it is also logical that people have to pay more for them.
I do not think so, I believe that if you buy branded products, you buy products with quality, these
brands can not afford to sell products with low quality because it will have a negative impact on
their brand image. I think the added value is sometimes worth paying for. If the product is simply
better than a generic product then it is definitely worth the money. But it's just the packaging that
otherwise I would definitely buy the generic and not spend my money on a branded product
because it has a nicer packaging.
2
1. Would you prefer brands to generic products in all circumstances or are you selective in this
matter? Elaborate.
No, not in all circumstances. For example, for food, it does not matter to me whether the product
has a brand or is generic. I don't care if for example ice tea is of the brand Lipton or is generic, as
long as it tastes good. When it comes to clothing, I am more inclined to choose branded clothes. I
have a few brands whose products I think are fantastic, such as Hollister and Deux, and I am more
likely to buy clothes from these brands than generic ones. I also care about the image of a brand.
For example, I would never buy clothes from a shop like Primark because the quality of these
products is generally lower.
2. Can you think of products that are generally considered to be money spinners? Why do you
think they are?
I think the Iphone is the money spinner of Apple. They are very expensive, yet they are the best-
selling phones in the world. When Apple announces the launch of a new type of iphone many
people are already prepared to buy the product without knowing whether it works properly. I
think this is partly due to the brand image of apple. A lot of people trust that all apple products
are good. Apple can invest the money they earn from Iphones in improving their other products
such as the MacBook’s.
3. To whom might product placements in series be targeted? Do you consider them influential?
I think that product placement is mainly aimed at influencing children. When a child sees a
character in a series that they like, they are often tempted to copy that character or want things
that that individual also has. For example, if a character always eats a certain type of cereal, a child
might ask his parents to let him eat that type of cereal too. I definitely think that product
placement unconsciously influences people. In Flanders, product placement in children's
programmes is fortunately not allowed.
4. Which reasons might trigger a company to outsource?
When a company wants to lower its labour costs, it is smart to outsource. In-house employees are
more expensive than external companies offering their services. For example, it is much smarter
for a company to have an external cleaning service come in weekly, rather than having their own
cleaning team. Another reason is that it allows the company to focus on their core business
without paying too much attention to all the additional issues. Outsourcing can also give the
company access to the kinds of tools that they did not have internally.
5. Would you prefer working in emerging markets or in a well-established/ripe market? Why
(not)?
I think I would like to work in both markets. Working in a new market seems nice because it is
really challenging. Many things are new for most employees. You might also get the chance to
work on new concepts sooner than in an established market. Working in an established market
also seems interesting to me because it gives a little more job security. There is more security
because that kind of products are already sold and there is less chance that the market will
collapse.
1
, 6. Are product endorsements with famous people ethical? Why (not)?
Product endorsements can be ethical as well as unethical. They are ethical when a famous
person is promoting a product that is proven to work or that has real benefits or when they
show the effects of the product, however it can be unethical when they promote unsafe or
ineffective products or services.
7. Will e-commerce dominate future business? Why (not)?
E-commerce is increasing in popularity. Corona has also played a major role in this. People now
see how easy it is to have products delivered to their homes. So I definitely think that certain
chains will close their physical shops and only focus on e-commerce, because in-house staff is also
very expensive.
8. Do you think there is too much advertising? Are there any products you feel it should be
forbidden to advertise for?
There is, unfortunately, more and more advertising and that certainly bothers me. On YouTube,
for example, three advertisements are played before you can watch a video. I think that
advertisements for casinos, gambling and bitcoins should be banned, as well as all kinds of
advertisements that encourage people to donate money to certain bank accounts.
9. Do you think that most people got blind for advertising in magazines and newspapers or is this
kind of advertising still effective? Elaborate.
I think people are becoming less and less interested in it, especially in advertisements of brands
or products they have known for a long time. For example, in a product like coca cola, because
everyone already knows it.
10. Are brands just a hype that make some people rich or do you think there is an added value to
paying a premium? Justify your answer.
I think a lot of products are really just a hype and we pay way too much for them. Nowadays,
Jordans are really popular. Before they were a trend, a pair of Jordans cost about 100 euros. Now
that everyone wants the shoes, people suddenly pay 200 to 300 euros for them, and sometimes
even more. Often we pay a lot of money for the name of the brand and not so much for quality.
Designer brands like Dior are well-known, but at the same time they also deliver more exclusive
products and then it is also logical that people have to pay more for them.
I do not think so, I believe that if you buy branded products, you buy products with quality, these
brands can not afford to sell products with low quality because it will have a negative impact on
their brand image. I think the added value is sometimes worth paying for. If the product is simply
better than a generic product then it is definitely worth the money. But it's just the packaging that
otherwise I would definitely buy the generic and not spend my money on a branded product
because it has a nicer packaging.
2
