Week H Assignment 

Katellyn Ahuatl

Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?

In the movie  “The Joneses” we are introduced to a family that is not real but more so are working together to gain clientele for their products they are selling. As the movie progresses I do categorize that the Jones family live a personal setting because wherever they and whoever they are around they are “showing off their lifestyles’ ‘ which makes the people want to be like them and they end up buying those specific products which boost their sales in the end. To name some examples I pickled up were the glasses, the tv, the watches the toilet 

• 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 I see between the sale tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some of my favorite brands is making it seem like if they have the specific item they are advertising their lives will be like theirs. This tactic is smart because a lot of people fall for the trap but sometimes everything we see is not the reality because in the movie we see that the Jones family played their roles right because everyone fell for their products. I can connect this with the tactic called influencer marketing because they are using their title of being “happy and successful” out to the public. This draws them to want to be like them and buy the products they have which in this case are the products they are trying to sell. Once the Jones family has business they can use Relationship marketing which is a strategy that involves creating more meaningful relationships with the  customers, so they continue to come back. I see this tactic used in alot of companies for example having a loyalty accounts connected with them, personalized couples for the people subscribed to the company.

• 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 the course material I’ve learned in the class and what I observed in the movie, I  think the way the products were marketed in the movie was not ethical. Reason being is because there was no actual bond that connected to them. They were solely focused on making sales and they didn’t care if they had to make up a fake lifestyle which created an unrealistic way the products were to be used if they were brought by the crowd. One way Steve worded it was when he called themselves they were  “a unit.”

• 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 in the Jones Family and found out their secret I would definitely feel betrayed. I would have mixed feelings of frustration but intrigued to as what was their main motive to do what they did. After finding out their secret, I would question whether our friendship was genuine or  strictly business. Intrigued because for some strange reason I find what they were doing was cool in a sense that they get to play a role but at the same time work and make money. I would question it but I also would want to know the reason and more about the company they work for.

• • Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?

Yes. Personal selling uses in-person interaction to sell products and services. The Jones are professional marketers who disguise embedded marketing as a daily routine: their clothing, accessories, furniture, and even food are carefully planned and stocked by various companies to create visibility in a desirable consumer market—so do their interactions with neighbors. 

• 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.

The sales technique employed by the Jones—product placement, is similar to luxury card—Lamborghini (Huracán LP610-4) appeared and promoted in movie Dr. Strange by Marvel Studio in 2016.

• 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?

It’s not ethical. Any kind of misrepresentation is unethical, let alone the accompanying hidden agenda of making money when the neighbors invest their real emotions in the Jones.

• How would you feel if you were friends with someone in the Jones family before you found out their secret? What about afterward?

• I would feel they are cool and fancy people, after I found out everything is just pretense I would feel being fooled and cut ties with them. 

Would you categorize the way the jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?

I categorize the way the jones family lives as personal selling because as a family they use themselves to sell their product. In the movie, the Jones family cultivated relationships so that when it was the right time to sell and promote their products they could capitalize on those relationships and make sales. 

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 of my favorite brands are Nike, Polo, and Puma, and when brands as big as that release a new product or a product that’s highly anticipated it could almost feel like you’re being pressured into making a purchase without thinking it through all the way, all because you want to be one of the first people with a high-quality product. The Jones family markets in a similar way because they use themselves to make their products become high quality in the eyes of the customer.

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 the course materials and what I saw in the film the jones family marketed products in an unethical way because it was built on a foundation of lies.  The way they lived wasn’t perfect and they are not an actual family. The bonds that they created were also built on a foundation of lies. 

How would you feel if you were friends with someone in the Jones family before you found out about their secret? What about afterward? 

If I was friends with someone in the jones family before I found out their secret I would feel good knowing that I made a new friend but after finding out their secret I would feel like our relationship was fake and only exist so that a product can be promoted

In our marketing class, we’ve learned several tactics to successfully sell a product (also known as marketing). In the movie The Joneses (2010) we get to visually see the marketing concepts we learned throughout the semester in action. For example, we visually see the consumer decision making process in real time and the strategic use of segmenting. At the conclusion of the movie, it’s evident the Joneses family was selling a lie, however that’s just the nature of business.

We become aware that the Joneses family is not a real family, but that they are individual salesman pretending to be a family. They individually have a sales goal to meet and are periodically evaluated by their company. They are assigned certain products to push to their respective demographic. Because of their assigned sales goal and fixed products, the Joneses family was involved in personal selling. During one of the parties in the movie, Steve Jones shared his pictures of his adventures of Mt. Everest on his expensive television with several other male guests. He knocked out two birds with one stone in this interaction. The first being that he sold the idea that was an successful and exciting guy, and the second was he successfully pitched the benefits of the TV set bundle with the ”clearest HD picture”. Everything the Joneses family established was transactional, including friendships.

The friendships made by the Joneses was strictly transactional. In today’s business world, we refer to that as networking. However If i could pretend I was a friend of a Joneses family member before discovering their facade, I feel it would’ve been fun. I would’ve been a genuine friend, enjoyed the activities they set up, and I would’ve asked for business advice to learn from them. I would’ve been oblivious just like all the neighbors. After becoming aware of their masquerade, however, I would’ve felt betrayed and cease all communication with them. The ulterior motives by the Joneses may be considered unethical by many, but I don’t believe so.

The Joneses family moved into a retirement neighborhood with an average income of $100,000 and several golf courses. We can assume the disposable income of the families living in this neighborhood was astronomical (except the neighbors of the Joneses). In our marketing class , we learned that segmenting a product is an effective way to sell your product. The Joneses family, did exactly that. Each family member was tasked with pushing a product to a certain demographic. Jenn Jones (the daughter) was assigned to market female products to her girlfriends, but Mick Jones (the son) was commanded to introduce the alcohol beverage ”Rudy’s Rum Punch” to his next party composed of high school teenagers. I believe the Joneses family acted in a ethical manner for the most part, except selling the alcohol drink to minors and the company attempting to absolve themselves from responsibility. Nevertheless, the Joneses never forced anyone to purchase a product, and the market they targeted had the purchasing power to afford their products. The products they successfully sold, fell entirely on the consumer decision making process, something we see in our everyday lives.

The tactics used by the Joneses to push their products in similar to those used by the companies that appeal to me. Lexus made a limited production super car called the LFA in 2012. I’m obsessed with this $500,000 dollar car. They sold me the idea of having a daily driver with the power of a super car and the reliability of a Lexus. In the consumer decision process, this is called the need recognition phase. This is my rationale – I didn’t have a reason to even consider a car in this bracket because I don’t have the income, but I made the need to have an unrealistic car as a daily driver. Just like in the movie, there doesn’t need to be a special occasion for an expensive gift, but I’m fully aware the LFA is out of league (for now).

The Joneses was a perfect way to wrap up our semester. I felt I had a better understanding of the movie because of the concepts I learned in class.

Personal Selling entails marketing a product that you have face-to-face with a consumer. In the Joneses, they have portrayed the use of Personal Selling. It might not be the ideal method that we know but essentially, they were doing the same thing. They marketed the products they wanted to sell by portraying a lifestyle that used each product. They met with people in person and spoke about the products.

I see some similarities between Jones’s tactics and the brands I use today. An example would include the Kardashians, they are paid to market products because they are famous and portray a “rich happy family” lifestyle. There is no guarantee that the products they use are good, but people will want to buy the products because of their lifestyle. They do the same as the Joneses, which would include hosting social events wearing and using the brands they like, and portraying a family lifestyle that’s always happy.  They are using the tactic of self-marketing a happy lifestyle. Who does not want to be happy? And therefore, these products would seem to contribute to their happiness, which would make people want to purchase them.

The way products were marketed was certainly unethical because it was based on a lie. The family was not real, and neither was their opinion of the products they were using. There is no real certainty that the products are true to their purpose. However, it was portrayed so based on a misconception.

If I were a friend of the Jones family, I would feel betrayed and also foolish to simply believe that happiness is based on a lifestyle and the products they were selling. I would also feel disappointed in myself for believing a lie and not researching the products myself.

I would categorize the way the Jones family lived as personal selling but not in a direct way as they sort of prolong the process,  instead of just letting people know directly that they are trying to sell them a product, they would show off products to others by using them themselves so that people would see how good said product Is and would want it for themselves too.

A similarity between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of other brands is commonly known as influencer marketing. This happens a lot throughout the movie as the Jones family makes sales by influencing different customers on different products. For example, when Mike Jones was showing off his skateboard, I am sure that made his friends want to get one as well, or when Kate was showing her living room to her neighbor instantly her neighbor fell in love with her dining set and wanted one like it. They all market products to people within their age group or things that a targeted group would be interested in, like when Steve took the golf clubs to the court where everyone would be fascinated with it even though he was already a good player he made It look as if it was the clubs that made him better in the game. Examples of how other stores use this tactic would be when you’re going to look to buy a bed or a sofa set, stores like Ashley furniture and Ally furniture would allow you to sit on the sofas or lay on the bed so that you would get a feel of the product to get that personal experience they also would have showrooms whereby they have other pieces in the picture for you to see and get your interest with it, for example, they would put a coffee table, or a center table to show up the sofa or when selling the beds they would have dressers, closets, and nightstands to also influence the customers buying decision.

I think it is ethical however I am sure that some may disagree, I think it was ethical in ways that even though the Jones lied and made people believe they had it all they had never forced anyone to buy a product or use a product they simply introduced different products to people and let them decide on their own as to if they wanted that product or if they needed it. However, in the end, Mr. Jones tough they were somewhat being unethical as to what had happened to their neighbor Larry but I don’t think that was Mr. Jones’s fault it was Larry who got jealous of Mr. Jones and wanted to live a lavish lifestyle even though he could not afford it, causing him to be in the situation he was in which led him to do what he did.

If I were friends with someone in the Jones family before finding out their secret I would be thrilled, excited, and a tad bit jealous, thrilled because my friends were cool and rich, excited because I was being introduced to new products, gadgets, and games and a bit jealous because I’m sure I would if wanted to live their life as it seemed to be so cool. After I found out about their secret, I would be disappointed and even pity them. Disappointed because I thought they were real friends and not fake ones and pity them as their life was just all made up nothing was real as they were just living a lie.

1.I would consider them as personal selling because when they first moved in, they quickly made friends and then started to compare the number of things they sold in the last month. They were making friends just to try and sell products to them to make a profit, as they all had increases in the sales they made. One of the ladies who visited called it “Self-Marketing” and explained how the family was there to sell a lifestyle. They also had a lot of luxury that made it very easy to try and convince their neighbors to buy things from them because “they know the lifestyle”
2.The tactics they used in the film was trying to use themselves as an example of the products they used, such as luxury items accompanied by jewelry, nice clothing and cars. An example is in the film’s beginning where the husband predicts that their neighbor Alex is a “Sad bastard” and sleeps in a different room than his wife. He then invites him to their party and his wife kisses him in front of him to show the type of marriage they had, as this is what Alex wants. Amazon is a brand that uses social media and using young influencers as can convince people to buy products that young people can use like cosmetics or clothing apparel. Amazon will also host live streams showcasing products to people to try and show people the item they want and how it looks or performs.
3.The method the Joneses used felt like it was not ethical as everyone they befriended they made sure to show off the stuff they had, to try and get people to want the things and lifestyle they wanted, instead of looking out for the people. They used the neighbors to profit from them and used them purely for business.
4.I would feel like they had betrayed me as I would friend someone to look out for them and to engage with them positively. Still, if someone is just there to use me for money and business, then I would feel like that friendship is useless as if you look out for them and they just abuse the friendship to get what they want, it would feel bad.

Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?

In the movie The Jones I believe that it would be categorized as personal selling. They were trying to sell directly to consumers. They would be personally selling so that they can market their products and show how good it is. And so that it can make people attract what they got going on and make them buy their products.

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.

The similarity between the sales of the Joneses family and other brands is that they would be advertising to their neighbors trying to interest them in the product. And try to peer pressure and show them how good the product is, basically force them to buy their products.

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?

I think the way products are marketed in this movie is unethical. They basically had to lie to people and were trying to be a perfect family. The way they were marketing seems like they were just trying to sell the products and get people to be like them. They did not even know if the product was good or not. They were just marketing and peer pressuring people to buy their products. 

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 was friends with someone in the Jones family before I knew their secret I would think or assume that they are great people. I would also be wondering how they can afford their products. Afterwards I would not even want to be friends with them anymore, even trust them anymore. I would feel hurt and upset because they had to lie to people to buy their products. Other people would think that it is bad for business and I would feel very different about them after and think they are actually not great people.