Week 10 EOC: My Business Mission Statement

"A mission statement is a statement of the organization’s purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment. "(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 39) Here at Play Hard Vodka were all about working hard so you can play hard. Play Hard is just a slick term for letting loose and having fun. Everyone needs a little fun in there life, am I right? From the waters from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, to the hemp seeds we import from the British of Columbia to filtering it with our Herkimer Diamonds.We loosen up inhibitions and encourage you to explore. It's time for you to come out and play!

A few good questions to ask yourself while trying to write your business state would be, "Forging a sound mission begins with the following questions: What is our business? Who is the customer? What do consumers value? What should our business be?" (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 39) Our business is to loosen inhibitions just as a Electronic Dance Music Festival would do as people dance through the night and take our customers on an never ending adventure from the first sip of their glass to the last sip of the glass. Our customers are people who work hard to play hard, people who love to let loose on the dance floor to their favorite DJ or those who love crazy night life adventures, not knowing what will happen. Our company is all about having a good time regardless of where you are. With us, you can play hard no matter where you are. "Mission statements should be meaningful and specific yet motivating."(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 41)

Play Hard Vodka

Week 9 EOC: Creative Content

For my creative content for my product of Play Hard Vodka, I am going to use FL Studios to come up with a theme song. It won't have any lyrics because most electronic dance music don't have any. I'll be using a hard hitting simple bass line with some voice clips saying, "rock this" and another saying "energy." Then a catchy little piano melody will slowly make it's way into the mix along as the song builds. Then after more synths come in with some counter melodies to give it a little more depth to the song. Then to round out the last part of the song, we throw in some harmonies to make the song scream. I hope that this will catch the listeners ears and make them move their feet to the beat. When making this theme song, it was all about having fun, without having any worries.

Implementation Evaluation Control

"Managers typically use budgets, schedules, and performance standards for monitoring and evaluating results." "(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Appendix 1 Marketing Plan) In order for Play Hard Vodka to evaluate how we are doing in the markets. We need to look at sales number in each of the cities and compare how they are doing against each other. If numbers are high in a certain city, but low in another city, we have to figure out what is going on in that city and see if we have to change how we market our product there. We want to be able to build and capture consumer value and consumer loyalty with this innovative vodka. We want them to come back and live the play hard lifestyle to the point they put implement it, into their lives.  Brand equity is the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product and its marketing. It’s a measure of the brand’s ability to capture consumer preference and loyalty." (Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler pg 228.).

Marketing Mix: Price

"Companies today face a fierce and fast-changing pricing environment. Value-seeking customers have put increased pricing pressure on many companies." "(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 275) Play Hard Vodka has been thinking carefully of where to put the price on our product. We are a specialty vodka and only the second of it's kind to sold in the United States. After doing some research on the other company and where they sell their product, the price ranges anywhere from 44.99 to 55.99 depending where you buy it from. Since we are new and want to get out into the market, Play Hard Vodka will be selling for 33.99 per 750mL bottle. We feel that this is the perfect price to market this at due to the quality of ingredients and the process it takes to be made. This gives independent wholesalers and independent retailers a chance to set the prices whatever they want it to be as long as it does not exceed our competitors top price. "Customer value-based pricing, setting price based on buyers’ perceptions of value rather than on the seller’s cost.""(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 276)

Marketing Mix: Promotion

"Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 54) In the means of promoting us, since we are small company we don't use television commercials or use buy ad space in newspaper or magazine. We do most of our promotion through huge social networking medias such as Twitter, Facebook, our website and by word of mouth from our loyal consumers. We occasionally hold social events down at our distillery, at these events we have a 6 or 7 different kinds of cocktails that were made by our mixologists using our brand of vodka. Then each cocktail is paired with a certain dish to bring the full flavor of the dish and drink. The only way to find out about these events is to look it up on Twitter, Facebook or our website. We act like an underground secret society, you either know about us or you don't. Do you dare come out and play hard with us? "The company designs promotion programs that communicate the value proposition to target consumers and persuade them to act on the market offering." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 31) We also offer tours of our distillery, that gives people the insight to what Play Hard Vodka is all about. On this tour, people will go on an adventure learning all about the company, how our vodka is made, what ingredients we use and what we want to accomplish as a company. At the end of the tour, each person will get two drink tickets to take to the bar after to enjoy some cocktails on the house with each person receiving a little gift bag on top of that. Also to create some buzz around the cities we decide to come play in, we will have a street teams in each city, sticking our brand logo anywhere and everywhere possible. This is to get people exposed to our brand without them even knowing. The more they see this logo around their town, the more likely they will check out to see what that logo is all about. 

Marketing Mix: Distribution

"The company must decide where to launch the new product—in a single location, a region, the national market, or the international market." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 253) Play Hard Vodka will only be available in a select cities going up the West Coast into Canada and select few cities. The cities that we will be coming out to play in are Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Denver, Honolulu and British Columbia, Canada. Our distillery is the only place that you can buy in bulk from. To get our products to the shelves for our consumers, we use two different marketing channels, "indirect marketing channels, containing one or more intermediaries." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 314) and "direct marketing channel, has no intermediary levels; the company sells directly to consumers." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 314) In each city, we will work closely with independent wholesalers who in turn will sell to the retail stores, that we have approved of since we want to over see where we are being sold. Play Hard Vodka will not be making appearances in grocery stores like Albertsons or Smiths ect. and not sold in drug stores. We also want to work with independent retailers to sell our products on their shelves. Our product will also be available online through our website for a more direct connection with the company.

Marketing Mix: Product

Here at Play Hard Co. We bring you this innovative product and we define a product as, "Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 209) We bring you one of the only vodkas ever to be distilled with hemp seeds. This new innovative vodka is made with some of the best quality ingredients around. We source our water off the Kona Coast of Maui. 3000ft. below the Pacific Ocean lies very cold water that is naturally enriched with minerals and vitamins. After we bring it to the surface, we desalinate the water through the process of reverse osmosis and keeps the water enriched with minerals. Since it is illegal to grow hemp in the United States, we look to the British of Columbia, Canada to provide us with the hemp seeds we use to distill our vodka with. We work with the farmers over there and keep a solid relati We let our mash ferment for 6 days and run it through a continuous column still to remove all impurities. After distillation, we mix our grain alcohol with our deep ocean mineral water to bring it down to 40% alcohol. Then we filter this carefully made vodka with herkimer diamonds to finish it off. These diamonds aren't diamonds at all, but the hardest quartz in the world. They can be found in Herkimer County, NY. After our process what we have left is a rich, creamy, smooth vodka that will satisfy. Our glass is hand blown into a sphere, that will resemble the hemp seed that we decided to distill our vodka from. "Product is a key element in the overall market offering." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 209)

Target Marketing Strategy

"The company must first decide who it will serve. It does this by dividing the market into segments of customers (market segmentation) and selecting which segments it will go after (target marketing). "(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 9) As our company was deciding to who we should appeal to, they brought up behavioral segmentation which "divides buyers into segments based on their knowledge, attitudes, uses, or responses to a product" ("(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 147), the reason being is that our vodka won't appeal to everyone, especially if has the word hemp in it. Most of society when they hear the word hemp, they automatically think of the marijuana. People who use marijuana know that and people who eat healthy know that there are beneficial effects to hemp seeds. Then there are those people where this product will just interest them enough to have them buy it because it's so trivial and witty. "The company must also decide how it will serve targeted customers—how it will differentiate and position itself in the marketplace." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 9) We will serve our customers in such a way that will differentiate us and our position from the other companies and it's in the vodka itself. Distilling vodka with hemp seeds is still brand new to the vodka market. It's an untapped resource waiting to be discovered. This is really a special product that has been crafted. "Specialty products are consumer products and services with unique characteristics or brand identification for which a significant group of buyers is willing to make a special purchase effort." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 211)

Situation/SWOT Analysis

"Strengths include internal capabilities, resources, positive situational factors that may help the company to serve its customers and achieve its objectives." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 55) Our strengths would be how close we work with each of our suppliers, independent wholesalers/retailers and the select liquor stores we stock our products on their shelves. We have the ability to create buzz with this innovative brand of vodka that we have produced. Also our strong presence in creating social events at our distillery for people to come out to try out our vodka. Also we offer tours of our distillery and give them the rundown on what we use to make our vodka with and the history behind it. We also have a little bistro where people have the opportunity to eat a wide range of dishes made with some of the ingredients we use in our vodka. We offer all this to keep our customer values and customer relationships high. "Weaknesses include internal limitations and negative situational factors that may interfere with the company’s performance." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 55) Our greatest strength is also one of our greatest weaknesses among being advocates for hemp because majority of society associate hemp with marijuana. The idea of vodka distilled with hemp seeds might not catch on. "Opportunities are favorable factors or trends in the external environment that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 55) Some opportunities that we can take advantage in the market is the ability to educate people about the uses of hemp. As stated before, people associate marijuana with hemp, so therefor we can put little pamphlets on our bottles and give information about hemp."And threats are unfavorable external factors or trends that may present challenges to performance." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 55) Threats that our company faces is the changing ever economy around us and in the British Columbia since we import our hemp seeds from there. We also face more companies jumping onto the hemp seed bandwagon and start making there own, making it a tougher market to compete in. 

Objectives

Here at Play Hard Vodka we have one goal and that is comprised of many more smaller objectives. The first objective that we have is to ensure that we produce one of the finest, most innovative vodkas in the market today. Our company has done some research in this field and have found out that there is only one other company that has produced a vodka distilled with hemp seeds. There may be a lot of vodkas out there, but this is a whole new level to the game. "Most companies today are networked companies, relying heavily on partnerships with other firms." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 20) Our next objective that pushes us towards our goal is to keep customer values high and customer relationships high. We have been working hard with our suppliers to ensure that we can provide you with the best quality ingredients for a good price so then we can pass our product that we make to you the customer at an affordable price. "Customer value is the key ingredient in the marketer’s formula for success."(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 47) Since we use hemp seeds to distill our vodka, we want to also educate our customers on the beneficial effects that hemp can have on the world today. From being used as textiles, to being used in different kinds of paper. We are advocates of the hemp industry that used to drive our nation when we first started.

Business Mission Statement

"A mission statement is a statement of the organization’s purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment. "(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 39) Here at Play Hard Vodka were all about working hard so you can play hard. Play Hard is just a slick term for letting loose and having fun. Everyone needs a little fun in there life, am I right? From the waters from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, to the hemp seeds we import from the British of Columbia to filtering it with our Herkimer Diamonds.We loosen up inhibitions and encourage you to explore. It's time for you to come out and play!"Mission statements should be meaningful and specific yet motivating."(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, Pg. 41)

Week 8 EOC: The Pitch

Imagine you're at a huge Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Festival. The huge crowd moving their bodies in time with the pulsating music that they are getting lost in. All the crazy and neon lights going on in the background of the DJ as he's searching for the next song to go into or waiting to drop the bass so everyone goes into a mini frenzy. At Play Hard Vodka that's what we like to do. Play Hard is just another saying for loosening inhibitions and having fun no matter what. It's all about the good times that you are having with your friends or random people that you just met. We will bring you around the globe on an exciting adventure, going 3000ft. beneath the Pacific Ocean to source our deep mineral ocean water which contains minerals such as magnesium, calcium and potassium. It is then desalinated through reverse osmosis so it keeps in the minerals. Then we zoom over to the British Columbia, Canada to import our hemp seeds, yes we said it, HEMP SEEDS. We distill our vodka out of hemp seeds, then mix it with our deep mineral ocean water, then we filter it of Heirkimer Diamond, which isn't a diamond at all, but the hardest quartz in the world. We Work Hard, so YOU CAN PLAY HARD.

Week 7 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

The way that companies are looking for people to fill the empty spaces isn't through job boards anymore, but on social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter and Craigslist. Can this new way of looking for potential employees a good or bad move on the part of the companies. One reason why companies are doing this is because it saves them at least hundreds of dollars of posting to a job board somewhere. "Some recruiters say they have all but eliminated their spending on job boards, which can charge a few hundred dollars per job posting, depending on volume." (Wall Street Journal article dated August 8, 2011, Recruiters Troll Facebook for Candidates they like.) So saving a few hundreds of dollars per posting is a good upside, but this new program called "brand ambassadors" could cause some trouble. A brand ambassador is a person that the company picks to represent them in a variety of events to help talk about their company. They are given full training, including product and company knowledge. It's not easy to become one of these people since you have to apply and be up to their standards. "Marketers select their brand ambassadors very carefully, based on customers’ devotion to a brand and the size of their social circles."(Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler pg. 143). Why would they worry about the size of your social circle? Oh yeah, it's part of their marketing strategy, the more people the ambassador knows, the more people he can talk to about the company and get them hooked. If one ambassador gets 10 people hooked, those 10 people will get 10 more hooked and so on and so on. It's a never ending chain reaction. Sounds to me like they are using you to get to your inner most circle of friends. But these representatives aren't doing this for free, but they do get paid in vouchers and gift cards for their work. This could cause some huge problems. "some view the practice as underhanded or deceptive." (Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler pg. 143). "Others worry that brand ambassadors will be perceived as hucksters who promote products because they get free stuff—or, worse, as annoying evangelists best avoided." (Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler pg. 143)

Week 6 EOC: Me x 3

 

There are some things in the world that define me as me. I would like to say that my different types of Domo hats is one of them. No matter what season or where I'm going, I will always be wearing a Domo hat. I've always had a thing for Japanese things and ever since I laid my eyes on Domo, I became a huge fan. With his mouth always open looking like he is about to yell something and his arms raised in excitement, even if it's only over something small. I get excited quite easily over things I love and end up yelling and raising my arms in excitement.

When I was in the 6th grade, I had no idea how much the saxophone would become part of my life. At first I didn't like playing the saxophone, all the practicing of endless hours to get better, and most of all lugging around this huge case that held this hunk of metal. As time went on my saxophone started to grow on me. Now I'm playing saxophone for a band named Chug-A-Luv. Seeing a saxophone in a rock band is something you don't see everyday of you life; it's interesting and new. This saxophone is definitely one of the items that defines me. 

My HTC Radar has only been a part of my life for about 5-6 months and it is definitely something that defines me. A small, white, and skinny smartphone that runs Microsoft Windows 7.5. Not many people out there have a phone running Windows Mobile, because everyone else either has an android phone or the iPhone. I love the idea of personalizing your home screen with live tiles of your closest friends. Being able to personalize your home screen with your closest friends defines who I am because I do like being around my closest friends and having a good time.

 

EOC Week 4: B-to-B vs Consumer Marketing

The GE company has been around for a long time. They have been filling peoples houses with many essential products needed in everyday life. GE just doesn't stop at household products to sell, but they are a big company in the diesel locomotives. They know there is a difference between Business to Business Marketing and Consumer Marketing. "At a general level, marketing medical imaging technology or diesel locomotives to business customers is like selling refrigerators to final buyers. It requires a deep-down understanding of customer needs and customer-driven marketing strategies that create superior customer value." (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, page 158) When buying a refrigerator, a consumer doesn't take a longtime to make a decision, do a little shopping, compare and make the decision which company will keep their food cold and fresh. That's not how it works in the business to business marketing; making a decision takes time. For GE who is a big player in the diesel locomotive, they have to make sure that their product is far superior than their competitors, without a superior product no one will want to do business with them. "The real challenge is to win buyers’ business by building day-in, day-out, year-in, year-out partnerships with them based on superior products and close collaboration." (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, page 158) The business' that look at GE for diesel locomotives are going to look at all the statistics that this engine is capable of. They want to know every single little detail to horsepower, emissions reports, fuel economy, price, and reliability. GE needs to make sure to keep their business associates happy so they can continue to work, if something were to go wrong or their products start to slip, that could cost the company millions of dollars. "In its business markets, rather than selling to large numbers of small buyers, GE sells to a few very large buyers. Whereas it might be disappointing when a refrigerator buyer chooses a competing brand, losing a single sale to a large business customer can mean the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in business."(Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, page 158)

Week 4 BOC: There's an App For That

If I could create an app, it would be a voice calender reminder. Yeah, I put appointments and important dates in my calender way in advance, but as time goes by I end up forgetting about everything I just put in my calender. This app would be highly useful to me. With everything that I put in my phone calender, it gives me the option of setting a reminder, but it only gives me one option. With the voice calender reminder, I would be able to put in my important dates and each and everyday when I wake up, I can open the app and hit a button. This button will then read what is on the agenda for today. Throughout the day I can always check to see what else is going on in the day and also add stuff to my calender. I find it easier to be able to hear the things I need to do than read what I need to do. I'll be able to play the recording as much as I want, no more looking at screens. If it was also a choice you could download extra celebrity voices to help keep track of what you need to do. What a fun and interesting way to stay on task and schedule.

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

I was one of the 83 million people to be born in between 1977-2000, based on this I would be defined as a Millennial. A person who embraces the technology of today and seeks out information on companies that try to get our business. You can tell which people of the world were born in this time period, just look for a cell phone in one hand and some sort of mp3 player in the other. They are always on their phone, looking at their Facebook or Twitter. The Millennials are always craving technology, looking for the newest little gadget to hit the markets. I do love technology, but with the demographic groups of the Baby Boomers and Generation X, I can't help but I fit some of those characteristics as well. I was a latchkey kid, both my parents were working while I was in grade school and I would ride my bike home and stay home by myself til my parents got home. Also even though most of the time I stuff my face in my phone, computer or video games, I'm always looking for new experiences to help me grow as a person. You can't get world wide experience just sitting behind a screen, you have to get out there and do stuff. I like to think that me being a part of the Millennials Demographic helps me understand the past generations a little better, using the technology of today to better my experiences in the world. 

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

"When consumers buy from Blanket America, not only are they generating automatic donations, but supporting our larger commitment to ending extreme poverty. " (http://www.blanketamerica.com/about-us) This is the goal of the non-profit organization called Blanket America with the help of another non-profit organization called Gifts in Kind International. Blanket America runs the "Buy 1, Give 1" where if a person buys a blanket, quilt, bed sheets, towels off their website they will donate 1 item to a family in need. This is a huge organization, who is open to any company that is willing to work with them. "Large companies have already shown their support for this program. Online sites Amazon.com and QVC.com have already made these patch work heritage quilts available online for those who would want to buy them." (http://ezinearticles.com/?Reaching-Out-to-the-Americans---Blanket-America&id=3838929) Blanket America's reach does not just end in America, but they extended their hand to Haiti. "With choose Haiti, Blanket America is workjing to create sustainable jobs for the people of Haiti - an essential component to the country's economic recovery." (http://www.pr.com/press-release/296816) Blanket America is doing an amazing job in helping the people around the world, giving to those who are less fortunate or who were caught up in a disaster. 

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

I believe music is the universal language that people can communicate through. No matter who you are, everyone and anyone can understand music. Music is all around us, any and all sound is music. I never knew how to express myself very well, but when it came to music, it was a breeze. When playing, I felt that I just put myself out in spotlight and showed everyone who I was. All my worries went away and the only thing that mattered was the music I was getting creating with my band. I want to create and capture sounds for other bands, know what goes on behind the scenes of recording/producing. I'm already on one side of fence, might as well get best of both worlds.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

The workers of K&K Bowling Company have always demonstrated good customer service. I haven't always gone to them for my bowling needs, but when the occasion rose up, it was my turn to become one of their newest lifetime customers."Marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction." (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, page 5) As a potential customer walking into one of their store locations, seeing some familiar faces from the different bowling alleys. I noticed that they were a very tight knit company, based on family and really close friends. I walked up to one of their employees named Joel, he politely asked me what I needed today and I explained my situation of me having wrist problems while bowling. He then immediately started asking me questions, like where I usually go for my bowling needs and who drills up all my bowling balls. He told me the reasons for the problem as he was measuring my hand and span, then he instantly said that my span was wrong and it was off by an 8th of an inch, which makes a huge difference, but I had no idea at the time. My knowledge of work in the pro shop was very minimal. He was very knowledgeable about bowling and made sure he took the time to explain everything clearly. He made a connection with me and it was a very strong one. It's thanks to him on my very first visit to K&K that I am now a lifetime customer. 

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

In the video game world, you have your heavy hitters which are the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and mobile gaming. The two most dominating systems of the video game market. Then you have your handhelds and other home consoles via the PS Vita, Nintendo DS and Nintendo's Wii which usually don't do well in the market. The star of the video gaming world I would say is mobile gaming on iPhones and Android powered devices. No matter where you go, you see people on their phones, playing some game that is very fun and addictive, just a time filler. "According to Mobile Gaming 2012, the latest report from leading market research company, The NPD Group, among all app gamers, 59 percent of total game play is done on a mobile device."(https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/industry-expertise/video-games/). Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have been battling it out in the past couple years in terms of sales. This has always been a huge rivalry in the video game market. These two systems are cash cows especially the Xbox 360 due to the Red Ring of Death ultimately making consumers purchase multiple systems if they did not fix them. Just recently Sony released a smaller version of the PS3 in Europe which has boosted company sales by a huge amount.  "According the MCV, Sony saw a 138% increase in PlayStation 3 sales with the release of its smaller, lighter game console in the United Kingdom. What’s more, MCV says that the 500GB model also accounted for 37% of all PlayStation 3 sales last week, which is particularly impressive since the slimmer model was only released this past Friday."(http://bgr.com/2012/10/02/new-playstation-3-sales-sony-sees-138-percent-increase/) Handheld consoles are easily getting erased from the video game market. With the uprise in mobile gaming, you see fewer and fewer handheld systems in public. Nintendo who has been a huge factor in the video game world is rapidly falling behind. The Wii started out strong, outselling the Xbox 360 and the PS3 when they were first released, but the consumers did not grab on for a long ride. "Nintendo decided that they couldn’t win the hardcore gamers away from Sony and Microsoft, and instead went in a different direction, targeting the extremely large pool of non-gamers, instead of creating a new, powerful console with great online play and a traditional controller." (http://www.nintendojo.com/features/editorials/early-abandonment-how-wii-failed-hardcore-gamers).