Category Archives: The Joneses

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The Jones Assignment

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• 1. Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?
Yes. I would categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling. The Jones used Guerilla marketing as their personal selling techniques; their tactic was undercover/stealth marketing. The Jones made sales off their interactions with the people around them, such as their neighbors, friends from school and their hairdresser. The Jones family were the sales representatives and served as the personal connection between the company’s products and the buyer. Another reason why I agree that the Jones family is an example of personal selling because most techniques for personal selling were used in this movie. Such as Sales presentations, conversations, demonstrations, retail selling, and reference selling. The Jones Family had parties to indirectly influence their community of their goods.

• 2. What similarities do you see between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some of your favorite brands? Give an example.
Some similarities that I see between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some of my favorite brands are sham events and direct marketing. In the movie Kate Jones went on a walk/jog around the neighborhood and she had on her nice sweatsuit and sneakers that she was promoting. The next day the woman in the neighborhood were wearing the dame thing. I was a part of this technique when I worked for Adidas in 2017. Every season we received a new uniform and sneakers while working there. The uniform and the sneakers were the latest from the collection at the time. We were able to up sale and silently promote the items we had on. We were also able to directly answer any questions or concerns a consumer had because we were using these items firsthand.
Another example from the movie is telemarketing. When Summer and her husband Larry were having the conversation about the bills and an ad for a new flat screen popped up on the computer screen. We have all experienced telemarketing from our favorite brands. From scrolling on any of our social media platforms and then an Ad from Adidas pops up.

• 3. Based on what you read in the course materials and what you observed in this movie, do you think the way products are marketed in this movie is ethical?
Based on what I observed in the movie and what I read in the course materials from a business perspective I do think the way the products were marketed ethically. Guerrilla marketing is a risky and edgy marketing approach that uses combinations of different marketing communication tactics but in creative ways. We know that Guerilla marketing is not always “conventional” or “typical”, but it works. I am aware that someone was hurt in a car accident from the Jone’s products and that a man committed suicide, but those are the risk. I believe every company has risk. I can promote a Tesla today and someone can possibly get in an accident tomorrow. Every new product may have certain risk, and we can’t help whom abuses a product or how they internalize situations.
• 4. How would you feel if you were friends with someone in the Jones family before you found out their secret? What about afterward?
If I were friends with someone from the Jones family, I do think I would have fell a victim to wanting to keep up with the latest products that they had. I would have been eager to be around them and learn how I could obtain the things they had. After finding out their secret, I don’t think I would have been to upset. I understand this form of marketing on a business level, and when it comes to capitalizing sales, I believe in “whatever works” or “whatever it takes”.

The Joneses

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At first I believed the Joneses family was just a wealthy family when they moved into their new house. However, they were not a real family, they were put into “units” and were actually all working as a sales person. The Joneses family can be categorized as personal selling. Each person in the family had a target audience that they focused on to sell products to. Personal selling is known as face to face selling in which a salesman tries to convince the customer into buying a product. The Joneses family easily did this with their neighbors as they manipulated them into thinking they were living a luxurious lifestyle. They went about their “everyday lives” and were able to mention and promote different products to their neighbors casually. This helped to persuade and influence these consumers to try and buy this lifestyle as well. Since they were focusing on selling an image which was “the perfect family” and a luxurious lifestyle it keeps people always wanting more and makes it easy to trust them since they are just a “family”. 

 

One of the selling tactics that the Joneses family used was product positioning. In one of the scenes, the mother was supposed to market wine coolers but they were in juice packets. The mother felt it looked a little cheap and even asked how she was supposed to make consumers want this. Her boss didn’t help much but just told her to make it seem high end. However, the teenage brother got his hands on these wine coolers and actually sold them to underage kids at a party. Because the packaging was bright looking and seemed like juice, it easily appealed to younger people to drink it or want to try it. Not that I agree with this tactic in this scene, but the brother knew he would be able to get lots of consumers to buy this especially at a party. Lot of companies use this tactic for marketing especially in the makeup industry. Packaging is very important. It has to look appealing and catch the consumer’s eye. Everytime I go to Ulta Beauty, I am always walking down almost every aisle. And the reason is because the majority of the make up brands look so pretty and there’s bright colors or aesthetically pleasing patterns and prints on the labels. Next thing you know I’m looking at multiple highlighters and different eye shadow pallets that I know I probably won’t really use. But, at that moment I feel like I want to buy it or try it. Another selling tactic that is similar to what brands do in real life is word of mouth.These companies  are sending free products to influencers in return of influencers posting and sharing the products on their social media. In the movie the family are basically influencers, but keep it a secret. The dad is given a high end car for free and it’s his job to promote and sell it. His neighbor is influenced and buys this car as well along with other products the dad has been selling. SKIMS and Pretty Little Things among other clothing brands also use influencers such as celebrities to wear their clothes and post on Instagram. I feel like when I see a celebrity that I like advertising for a brand I’m familiar with, I tend to click and scroll and look through the clothing line. They also used word of mouth as a tactic.

 

I do not believe all the products that were sold in the movie were ethical. Ethical marketing means being upfront and honest about the product you are selling. And not being manipulative while selling. The Joneses family was very manipulative. They had a secret identity and made it seem so effortlessly that they have all these products. As the movie came closer to the end,their neighbor was pushed to the edge and got consumed with having the best luxurious lifestyle. He ended his life over this which was really sad. The dad wanted to be upfront and reveal to him how he was able to “afford” all of these items because he knew his neighbor was trying to compete with him and felt bad. But, the mother did not allow him too and didn’t want to reveal their secret. In my opinion this is not ethical marketing because they were not honest with their customers and didn’t treat this one specific customer with respect in this scene.

 

If I was friends with someone in the Joneses family before I found out their secret, I would probably wonder how they have so much money. It would make me probably motivated to have a house like theirs one day too and want this type of lifestyle too. After finding out their secret I would be surprised and probably keep my distance a little bit. I would feel that our relationship wasn’t genuine if it was kept a secret for so long. So I would feel like maybe they only see me as a consumer and would always try to sell me something.

The Joneses

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The Joneses was an interesting movie and I was confused at first but as the story went on it got more clear to what was going on. They posed as an ordinary family and moved into a wealthy neighborhood to get the rich to buy their pitch.

The Joneses family is categorized as personal selling. Personal selling is a face-to-face selling technique by which a salesperson uses their skills to persuade a customer and even though i don’t agree with what they are doing, they are using their skills even if it’s lying to the people around them and making them want to buy it isn’t easy. It still requires skill to get into the people’s minds around them and trick them into spending money.

A brand I would compare to the Joneses family is Costco. Costco Uses free examples for food and anyone can try it. They let people try it in hopes of them buying and selling their products. This is a smart tactic and it reminds me of how Steve uses his own golf equipment and shows it off so his friends and others can see how good he is while using his products. Another brand I can compare them to is Wendy’s. They use social media to roast and post memes on Twitter and this makes them go viral and people are always talking about Wendy’s. This is considered mouth-to-mouth marketing and you can say that’s how the Joneses marketed.

The way they market their products is different than the regular ways you see companies marketing. They were elite at what they did and even sold more and more as the movie goes on. I think they forced the agenda of buying things onto the people around them and that would make me view it as unethical.

If I were friends with someone like the Joneses I would feel nothing because I would think they are regular people but if I found out I would feel weirded out and betrayed. I would have viewed them as a great business family.

At the end of the day, the Joneses used excellent strategies to make their pitch known and get their friends to buy it. They knew the place they were at and what worked.

 

The Joneses Assignment

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The Joneses

The movie The Joneses used the facade of a nuclear family to help promote and sell their products. I don’t believe the way they lived and presented themselves could be categorized under personal selling. Personal selling is a marketing technique that uses one-on-one interactions with an individual buyer to cater to his specific needs and preferences to complete a sale. The salesperson can gauge interest as he pitches his product or service and adjust his presentation to fit that specific customer’s needs. This in-person approach helps facilitate sales by creating a relationship with the buyer while getting immediate feedback so as to better pitch a product. While it uses the building of personal relationships to help sell their products, there is still an element of you knowing that you are interacting with a salesperson.

The Jones family operated under the guise of creating relationships on a personal level, with each of them catering to their specific ‘target group’. They conveniently left out their personal agenda to sell as many products as possible. They preyed on the vulnerabilities of the community, and the psychological need of a person to want and have what their peers do in an effort towards social acceptance. That knowledge of knowing when you’re being sold a good pitch can help a consumer separate from the emotional need to want what their peers have. The Joneses technique lacked the separation between a person’s actual needs and emotional wants. The community wasn’t aware they were being pitched to, which lowered their boundaries and made them more vulnerable to persuasion. It better falls under the category of stealth marketing, which is a subset of guerilla marketing.

The Jones family sale tactics are similar to some of the marketing tactics used by companies today. One of the techniques used was word-of-mouth marketing. An example of it in the movie was when Steve used it to increase sales of the golf club he was promoting. Netflix utilized word of mouth marketing by providing quality services, and personalized recommendations, ultimately ensuring their spot as a household name. They also use social media to post trailers and memes to help spark conversations about their shows. It generates discussions and continued interaction, helping spread their name.

Another one of the strategies employed was product placement. The Joneses used the subtle placement of different products to spark interest, and when asked about them, they were able to quickly pitch its benefits without people realizing what was happening. Starbucks subtly used that technique to generate media buzz and attention when a Starbucks cup was left on the set of Game of Thrones during a scene. What was a so called “blooper” was actually a well-planned publicity stunt capturing people’s interest, causing chatter, and increasing brand visibility. It benefited both Starbucks and the show Game of Thrones, with both gaining traction online.

The technique used by The Joneses was very effective and vastly improved their sales, but it was marketed through unethical means. A company can have full liberty to promote their products in a range of ways, but once they remove the boundary between buyer and seller, they’re guilty of using emotional manipulation to sell their goods. (Not that that doesn’t happen in other ways.) The Joneses preyed on the vulnerabilities of the people around them to meet their needs and increase sales. It has the ability to send someone on a drastic downward spiral of unhealthy behaviors with irreversible consequences. We see that in the movie when Larry goes into debt trying to keep up with the Joneses, hoping it’ll help improve his relationship with his wife. The Joneses portrayed themselves as the perfect family, ultimately leading Larry to believe it was achieved through their material belongings. Had he known they were peddling a fairy tale rather than reality using an invasive marketing technique, I don’t believe he would’ve fallen into the trap that led to his untimely demise.

I would have no opposition to being friends with one of the members of the Jones family but would only feel betrayed once I discovered what they stood for. I would feel manipulated and taken advantage of if I knew someone had developed a close bond with me just to fulfill their agenda. Relationships can’t be built and then remain intact while standing on a lie.

The Joneses is an interesting movie that sheds light on the potential manipulation that companies may use in the name of marketing. It brings awareness to the many ways a consumer may be persuaded into a purchase by an outside influence they aren’t consciously aware of.

The Joneses

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The Joneses

Upon watching the movie, The Joneses, the technique used can be classified as personal selling. From a family perspective, the image was to be seen as the ideal family to entice other families within the neighborhood. Another noteworthy personal selling point was the family structure used, a nuclear family which allowed The Joneses to target individuals within a demographic: Steve can focus on husbands, Kate – wives, Jenn – teenage girls and Mick – teenage boys. By presenting this “American Dream” ideal, it encouraged the neighbors or in this case potential consumers to ask questions to influence their decision making.

When it comes to influencing consumer decisions, marketers may employ various tactics. The personal selling by The Joneses was similar to the way big brands incorporate “influencers,” whether paid or by sending free merchandise, to promote or sell. For example, popular NY sportswear brand Eric Emanuel who specializes in mesh shorts teamed up with popular streamer Kai Cenat by sending him free merchandise to be worn on stream with the hope that his popularity or influence would encourage viewers to search for and purchase the product. The key with The Joneses was, by promoting themselves to the point where the products they are consuming (by wearing, using or driving) became desirable to the neighbors with whom they interacted.

This type of marketing and sales, while having its strengths, some may not agree with and question its ethics. We understand that ethics focuses on what is right vs wrong and while on a personal level pretending to be an affluent family named The Joneses to gain business opportunities may lack some moral compass, from a business/marketer perspective I do not believe they acted unethically. In my opinion the tactic used was no different to marketers using commercials to influence decision making e.g. paying actors to pose as a family around a table at thanksgiving dinner to perhaps promote a new gravy product or when brands like Coca Cola use fake condensation on their drinks to give the effect that it is cold and refreshing to the viewer. The only difference is The Joneses were tasked to create the same connections but in a real-life setting. At no point did they directly force any of the neighbors to make any purchases. By promoting the family unit as the ideal product, they were able to successfully tailor their presentations to meet the needs, motives, and behaviors of their targeted individual consumers.

On the contrary, if The Joneses were to move in and promote themselves as who they truly were – 4 separate, unrelated sales/marketing reps with products for sale it would have not been as effective and therefore they would not have been received in the same manner by their neighbors. There would have been a disconnect between the product and potential consumer. I am of the view that within marketing and sales to create the desired perception there will be a modicum of deception even as small as using photoshop to enhance photos of a product, at which point we accept marketing for what it is – persuasion by way of perception or we label it all as unethical.

As a friend, prior to learning of their secret I would have believed The Joneses were who they portrayed themselves to be as nothing would have made me think otherwise. The reality is many people do live the lives The Joneses did and many view the products they were marketing as a measure of success. I would have viewed them as simply successful people. However, after finding out their secret, from a personal and friendship point of view it would be natural to feel betrayed and deceived.

In the end The Joneses executed the marketing strategy effectively. They presented the lifestyle all their neighbors wanted and added perceived value to their lives by connecting consumer with product.