
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Chapter X - Developing and Managing Products-Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

Chapter X - Developing and Managing Products-Ferrari California

Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Chapter XVI-Sales Promotion – Ferrari
Ferrari uses Auto Shows as Sales Promotion. When Ferrari wants to introduce a new model, first they send out a press release and then they haul it to the nearest Auto Show ,and there’s one at least every month, during this years Frankfurt Motor Show Ferrari unveiled the new 458 Italia as a replacement for the Ferrari F430. Most people who attend those shows are regular Joes, they’re just there to look at pretty cars. The real advantage of Auto Shows is the media coverage, every car TV show and magazine has their team on the spot, to bring us the latest news and the newest cars, some of those guys are even allowed to test the cars, which makes for a better coverage.

Chapter XVI - Personal Selling- Ferrari
Personal Selling is very important to Ferrari. Ferraris are high value, technically complex products, you will need someone knowledgeable to guide you thru the whole process of buying one on the. So you’ll need to visit a certified Ferrari dealer. First you’ll have to setup an appointment with the dealer, then you’ll need to dress well and look serious. If you’re not escorted out by the security during the second step, then you can start negotiating the purchase with the dealer, you can choose the model that suits you, the paint, interior, options and even request some personal customizations, the dealer will surly help you pick out everything you “need”. Then you negotiate the price, pay the down payment and wait a year until it’s delivered. If you don’t like to wait you can buy a pre-owned Ferrari on the spot, which is just as good as a new one.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Chapter XV – Public relations – Bugatti and Top Gear
At first when the Veyron came out, I honestly didn’t like it, I thought that it was ugly, it was too heavy, and it was too arrogant with its 1001 hp and 253mph. Only recently (after being influenced by Tog Gear) my view of the car has changed radically, I have seen the other side of the beast and now I think that it’s the most beautiful car ever both in the looks and engineering department. So I think the PR effort was pretty effective.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Chapter XV - Advertising - Lamborghini
This ad is part of Lamborghinis advertising campaign called “Feels Italian Wherever You Are”. The campaign shows us how a driver experiences the world from behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, it shows stereotypical national scenes in a distinctively Italian way. This particular ad shows two “typical” American guys sipping espressos in front of Biff’s Big Burgers, with a Lincoln parked next to the Diner.This ad is an example of Institutional Advertising, and that’s because it doesn’t show the actual car that they would like to sell (except for the reflection in the window) instead they emphasize the fact that even though the company was taken over by Audi is still very Italian.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Chapter XVII – Pricing – Ferrari
If you want to buy a new Ferrari you will have to shell out at least $250 000, then you’ll have to wait for a couple of months until it’s build and delivered. But during those couple of months you’ll never doubt that you made the right decision, because you know that the car will be everything you always dreamed of.
Ferrari charges what it charges for its cars because they are made from the highest quality materials available on earth with the attention to detail that’s only second to NASA. And ofcoure Ferrari can increase their price any time they want without affecting the demand because with the maximum output of only about seven thousand cars per year, the dement will always outweigh the supply.

Chapter XVII – Pricing – Bugatti
Bugatti is a legendary car manufacturer, so in 1998 Volkswagen thought that they will buy the rights to produce the car and reinvent it, and now the company is losing about 1.5 million dollars per car, and that’s because all the research and development costs a lot, and in case of Bugatti nothing will do but the best. And so the car that costs $3 million to produce is now sold for only $1.5 million and until the production ceases in 2011 Volkswagen will lose about $675 million, but in the long term the company will probably gain on that decision because they have reinvented a great car and now they can start producing much cheaper cars and charge a lot more for them.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Chapter XIII – Retailing
For the assignment this week I visited the Barnes & Noble Book store on Warren St. I often visit the store during hour long brakes between lessons, but I seldom buy anything, the main reason is the price, the books that I’m interested in aren’t really worth 20 or 30 bucks that they’re asking for, and so what I do is scout for interesting books and then buy them on eBay. For example during my last visit I considered buying “The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion” by Douglas Brinkley, it cost about $20 at the store, but I was able to buy the same book in “Brand new” condition for just $5 with Free shipping on eBay.com.
Barnes & Noble is my favorite store, it has a good atmosphere about it, there’s always relaxing music playing and the employees are nice and helpful, but every time I go there I feel guilty, because the majority of time I spend there, I just read car magazines, which I never buy. And the rest of my visits I spend browsing thru books which I’ll buy on eBay. The last book I bought there was “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown on September 15 and I’ve been freeloading ever since.
Chapter XIII - Retailing – Ferrari Store
Ferrari isn’t heavily involved in retailing, they are mostly interested in winning races and then selling cars, at least that’s what they tell us. Nevertheless they own and operate over 25 “Ferrari Stores” worldwide, in which you can buy all the useless key chains, pens and T-shirts that you will never ware or use in your entire life. You can also buy all kinds of race memorabilia, from intake valves to the rear spoilers. And if you visit the store at Ferrari.com you’ll see that they over charge for everything. Actually the over pricing thing isn’t all that bad because each Ferrari store is also a museum and you have to pay to get in, so while you browse thru all the red T-shirts looking for the right size, you might be standing just feet away from a car that brought Michael Schumacher fame, and I would gladly pay for this kind of experience.


