Category Archives: The Joneses

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Keeping Up With The Joneses

Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?
The Joneses are masters at a few things and one of them is personal selling. This is personal selling in its truest form because they are making induvial and personalized sales to everyone they encounter. The “family” unit each works their own specific brand and age group. They have created a personalized group of products for each group they’re in. They started smaller and then worked themselves into bigger and bolder items. Video games, hair products, etc to safaris, high end cars and jewels.

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.
I’m going to use Instagram as my brand for this. The similarities between the Joneses and marketing tactics today used by Instagram are different visually but more similar than you’d think. Instagram’s marketing is more about reading all your personal info, your google searches and your internet likes. After that info is all sold to other companies, it is then used to create personalized items that the user may be interested in.

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 don’t think that what they are doing technically classifies as unethical. It is gross and underhanded but its more gray than black and white. They didn’t set out to force people into bankruptcy and foreclosures. We must have our own limits when it comes to the way we compare or compete with other people. I think we see this in its realest form when the neighbor ends his own life after burying himself in debt. We honestly see so much of this now too when people bury themselves trying to keep up with all these influencers who are also getting paid a lot of money to promote these products.

How would you feel if you were friends with someone in the Jones family before you found out their secret? What about afterward?
I don’t consider myself easily influenced, though there was a time in my life when I lived back home in Atlanta (Shoutout to the Real Housewife of ATL in the party scene) like the Joneses, that I was. I wanted to do all the fancy things and have a cute car and buy expensive clothing. I get what they’re doing, and it really is a brilliant way to market if you’re in the absolute perfect market. This wouldn’t work in a market of low-middle class people as they have more real-world problems than people with a large income. I probably wouldn’t be friends with them now. I don’t surround myself with people who boast or are super materialistic. I wouldn’t be friends with them now for that reason and I wouldn’t be friends with them after because just going that deep into a deceit is not something that I would want to be around.

The Joneses

  • Would you categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling? Why or why not?            I would categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling because everything they do is face to face. The are literally posing as a family to infiltrate the rich and wealthy lives to promote “personal” products they have. They knew exactly who to target and play close to help benefit them and reach the consumer.
  • 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.                                              Similarities i see between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some brands is using people to lie about how good a product is, giving free products to promote them, etc. The only difference it doesn’t have to be face to face as everything is on the internet these days. Perfect example is social media influencers or celebrities. Most of the time they are wearing something and it was given for free just so it could be seen on the person and then others will follow and buy if eye catching. Also the way they can use filters to make something look better than what it really is, like makeup or skin care.
  • 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?                                                    The way products are marketed in this movie is completely unethical. They are lying the whole time to several people. Not taking into consideration how people can feel, where they stand mentally and even financially. But they purposely get setup in these rich communities because they know everything would be a competition of who gets the best product first. I honestly think about it, what would be the worst thing to happen if they told these people they worked as salesman or marketer? I think they still would’ve bought in and probably saved a lot of peoples sanity from trying to impress the wife like Larry. It was almost criminal in a sense people were real life getting hurt because of them. Emotionally, financially, and physically.
  • 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 before i found out their secret i probably at a point would’ve thought something was too good to be true but would’ve minded my business. I definitely would’ve felt plugged in with what was new and in. Also i guess a part of the community. Afterward would’ve felt annoyed and disappointed. Would’ve viewed the family as lame and went to extremes to be liked for profit. As they were not being 100% authentic in all aspects of self and career.

 

The Joneses

1. Yes, how the Jones family lives can be categorized as a form of personal selling. Personal selling involves direct communication between a salesperson and potential customers to persuade them to purchase. While the Jones family’s approach differs from the traditional one-on-one interactions of personal selling, they use persuasive tactics to generate desire and influence consumer behavior.

The Jones family acts as influencers within their community through their fabricated lifestyle. They showcase desirable products, create a sense of aspiration, and indirectly encourage their neighbors to purchase them. By presenting an idealized lifestyle and influencing consumer preferences, they effectively engage in personal selling techniques, albeit more subtly and indirectly.

While personal selling typically involves direct communication, the Jones family’s actions can be categorized as a variation of personal selling, where they use their fabricated presence and influence to promote and sell products to their community.

2. One similarity between the sales tactics employed by the Jones family and the marketing tactics of some favorite brands is influencer marketing. Influencer marketing involves partnering with individuals with a large following and leveraging their influence to promote products or services. This is why the Jones family was focused on being popular and presenting themselves as the ideal family.

A specific brand example would be Daniel Wellington, a famous watch brand. Daniel Wellington collaborates with social media influencers who showcase their watches in their posts and stories, often accompanied by discount codes or special offers. The influencers present an aspirational lifestyle associated with the brand, creating a desire for consumers to own a Daniel Wellington watch and be part of that lifestyle.

Similarly, the Jones family used their fabricated lifestyle to influence and create desire among their neighbors. They presented an idealized version of life, showcasing desirable products and creating a sense of aspiration within the community.

Both the Jones family and brands like Daniel Wellington utilize the influence and reach of individuals to promote their products and create a sense of desirability among consumers. They tap into the power of social proof and personal recommendation to influence purchasing decisions.

3. Based on the course materials and general ethical principles in marketing, the way products are marketed in the movie “The Joneses” can be considered unethical. The film depicts the Jones family engaging in deceptive marketing tactics, posing as a genuine family while being a marketing team employed to promote products.

The Jones exploit the trust and relationships within the community by creating a fabricated lifestyle and showcasing products without disclosing their true motives. This lack of transparency and deception is inconsistent with ethical marketing practices emphasizing honesty, transparency, and respect for consumer autonomy.

Ethical marketing requires providing accurate and truthful information to consumers, allowing them to make informed decisions. The actions of the Jones family in the movie involve manipulation, misleading the community, and taking advantage of their trust for personal gain. Such practices go against the principles of ethical marketing and can have negative consequences for both consumers and the reputation of the company behind the marketing campaign.

Marketers need to prioritize ethical considerations, maintain transparency, and respect the rights and autonomy of consumers when promoting products and services.

4. If I were friends with someone in the Jones family before discovering their secret, I would likely feel mixed emotions after learning the truth. Initially, I might have admired their lifestyle and considered them close friends. However, upon discovering their deceptive marketing tactics and the extent of their manipulation, I would likely feel a sense of betrayal, disappointment, and a loss of trust.

Discovering that someone I considered a friend had intentionally deceived me and the community for personal gain would be deeply unsettling. It would challenge the authenticity of the relationship and raise questions about their true motives and intentions. The revelation of their secret would likely lead to a significant shift in my perception of them and could strain or sever the friendship.

The sense of betrayal and loss of trust would make it difficult to continue the friendship with the Jones family. It would be challenging to overlook their unethical behavior and maintain the same level of trust and closeness.

The Joneses

The Joneses

I.

Personal selling is a sales method where the seller convinces the customer to purchase a particular product/service face to face. The salesperson aims to emphasize various product features to prove their value and encourage the customer to buy it.

In the movie “The Joneses”, I would categorize the Jones family lives as personal selling because as they are using their personal relationships and influence to promote and sell products in their neighborhood. Additionally, the fact that the family members are acting and faking their lifestyle further supports the idea that their behavior is designed to persuade their neighbors to buy the products they are promoting.

II.

There are couple similarities I can enumerate between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some brands.

First, I would say is the use of influencer marketing. Influencer marketing implies collaborating with people who have a huge social media following to push things to their followers. The Jones family sells things through their personal influence and relationships with their neighbors, whereas brands may work with social media influencers to reach a larger audience. In these recent years, we saw how Companies hire influencers with a huge presence on social media to promote or review their products in order to get the subscribers to like and maybe buy the products. For example, Jennifer Lawrence starred in a fragrance ad for Dior to promote their latest fragrance, “Joy by Dior “and also commented about it on her Instagram account, which has over 24 million followers. Dior was able to sell their fragrance to a big audience and build a positive link with the brand by working with Jennifer Lawrence.

Second, I could add product placement which is a marketing tactic in which a brand’s product is featured in a television show, film, or other kind of media. This can serve to increase brand awareness and exposure, as well as making the product more appealing to customers. In the film “The Joneses,” the members of the family use product placement by inserting the things they are marketing into their daily lives. For example, we saw the daughter Jenn who succeed to sell beauty products to girls in her school or when Kate was able to influence the ladies in the neighborhood to buy some workout clothes.

III.

Based on what I read I would say The Jones family members utilize deception and trickery to sell things to their neighbors throughout the film, which is not entirely ethical. They impersonate their lifestyle, relationships, and personalities in order to sell the things they promote. I would say their entire lifestyle is a complete lie even though they were pulling numbers and their sales were going up. And in business, this might be considered unethical persuasion because they are not being honest about who they are or what their motivations are. At, some point, this whole unethical behavior created some challenges for the neighbor Larry as he got himself in deeper debt trying to keep up with the lifestyle the Jones Family was promoting.

VI.

I will feel deceived, manipulated, and betrayed if I were friends with someone in the Jones family and found their secret.

I think I would prefer to end the friendship and confront them about their unethical behavior. It’s a good thing to sell products to friends and family but using deception to make the sale is not right. People are emotional and sometimes when some understand they’ve been used that can cause a conflict.

The Joneses

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

No, the way the Jones Family lives cannot be categorized as personal selling from “The Joneses” in the traditional sense. Personal selling typically refers to the process of a salesperson or representative of a company engaging in face-to-face communication with a potential customer to persuade them to buy a product or service. Think of the people who knock on your door selling cleaning products. In context of the movie,  the family was not actively engaging in face-to-face communication or direct selling with their neighbors or acquaintances. Instead, they were living a seemingly perfect lifestyle and using their influence and social status to indirectly promote and sell products to their peers.

While the Jones family is not actively engaging in traditional personal selling, their actions can be seen as a form of social influence or product placement. By living a luxurious lifestyle and using products in front of their peers, they are creating a desire for those products and indirectly promoting them. This type of marketing strategy is known as “lifestyle marketing” or “influencer marketing.” Although its not personal selling in the traditional sense, it does involve using social influence to promote products and indirectly persuade others to buy them.

What similarities do you see between the sales tactics the Jones family employs and the marketing tactics of some of your favorite brands? Ex:

The Joneses use a combination of social influence, product placement, word-of-mouth marketing, scarcity marketing, and emotional appeal to promote products and persuade their peers to buy them. Many brands, especially apparel, use these to help promote their product. Ever been inside Hot Topic/Spencers? Name me one employee who WASN’T completely decked out in the most awesome apparel and little charms that they sell there.
I’ll wait. 🙂
[ you can’t >:) ]

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?

The marketing tactics used by the Joneses in the movie can be seen as unethical because they are deceptive and manipulative. The Joneses are not honest about their true identity or the fact that they are promoting products on behalf of a company. Instead, they create a false persona and use their influence and social status to indirectly promote products to their peers.

This type of marketing strategy, known as stealth marketing or undercover marketing can be seen as unethical because it is deceptive and does not give consumers all the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision. They are deceptive, manipulative, and do not give consumers all the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions.

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 deceived and manipulated. My and others trust would be violated, and people may have been tricked into buying products they may not have otherwise purchased. There would be too much deception and mistrust for me to stay friends with the family. :,)

 

The Joneses

Question One

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

Personal selling is defined as the process of selling products or services to target individuals or people through face-to-face interactions. In this promotional method, the salesperson always uses his/her abilities and skills to make sales, and they mostly do that without the target consumer realizing their intentions. In the movie, the Jones family does not seem to be involved in personal selling in the traditional sense. Still, rather, they use product placement and influencer marketing strategies to sell products to their neighbors without using any advertisement strategies. The Jones family tries to portray themselves as people living an ideal lifestyle to influence their neighbors to emulate them and, resultantly, opt to buy and use similar products. This technique is called stealth marketing, which involves personal selling where the salesperson is not transparent to the target consumer.

Question Two

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 tactics used in the film by the Jones family are quite similar to the marketing tactics that most popular brands use in real-life situations. For instance, Audi, which is one of the most popular car brands in the world, has been using product placement within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The main character of Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Junior) is often seen using the Audi R8 in all the Iron Man films, and this is a strategy that Audi has used to advertise their product through partnering with the film industry. Other good examples are brands in the fashion industry like Louis Vuitton and Channel, which use influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements to reach their target audience and make them desire to use their products (Eisend, 2020). The influencer marketing and product placement are currently among the most effective marketing strategies, so several brands have been using them.

Question Three

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?

The ethical implications of marketing products in this film are open to interpretation (Kolter et., 2016). The family is actually using the products they are marketing and not forcing their neighbors to buy them. However, the Jones family is living a fake lifestyle, making people buy products they do not need due to feelings of inadequacy. This strategy seems manipulative and raises questions about the ethics of marketing and advertising.

 

Question Four

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 manipulated and deceived if I were friends with the Jones family before realizing their secret. It is okay that they are trying to make sales but the fact that they are not transparent would make me lose my trust in them. After knowing their secret, I would be even more disappointed for how there are capable of deceiving me and others for financial benefit because this signifies lack of integrity.

The Joneses

  1. Even though the Joneses family is not directly selling a service or product face to face, I could still consider this personal selling. The reason why I believe this can be regarded as personal selling is the fact that they were actively engaging in conversation and building relationships with their neighbors, all while using their perceived lifestyle to sell products indirectly. The way they created an illusion of an ideal or “perfect” life to sell products is a form of stealth marketing that can very well be considered personal selling.
  2. Creating an illusion of a wonderful and perfect lifestyle to discretely market products/services is something I see on social media all the time. My favorite brands don’t really partake in the types of marketing the Joneses have, but it is something I see become very successful, especially on platforms like Tik Tok or Instagram. For example, I see an abundance of day traders or drop shippers flaunting a lifestyle that may very well be fake (big houses, new cars, nice watches/clothes, etc), in order to sell their personal courses that usually consist of very basic information. Even though the majority of the time these influencers rent items to make it seem like it’s theirs, many people do fall for their marketing strategies and purchase these courses in hopes of learning how to make money like them.
  3. No, the Joneses family did not partake in ethical business/marketing practices. Even though everything was legal (besides selling alcohol to minors) and technically allowed, Joneses essentially put on an act in order to have their lifestyles perceived in a manner that would help sell products. This is far from authentic, and it was obviously unclear if the Joneses genuinely recommended the products, or if they just wanted the easy money. These highly manipulative practices would not fly in an ethical marketing business.
  4. I don’t think I’d be friends with anyone in the Joneses Family, but if I were I’d be a tad bit jealous of their perceived lifestyle and “perfect” family prior to finding out the truth. Upon uncovering the truth, I would definitely feel betrayed and a little sick. The reason is that they went too far, creating an illusion just to sell products is extremely immoral and shows their true colors.

Giordani – The Joneses

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

In some ways, I would categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling because their technique involves many of the techniques of personal selling explained in our reading. Acting as a family with a trendy lifestyle and full of charismatic personalities enabled the Jones’ to have conversations with potential consumers across gender, age, and interest groups. Their entire public life and personalities were comprised of demonstrations of the products and the conversations and parties they hosted allowed them to utilize the technique of addressing objections. 

Additionally, I noticed an example of reference selling when Steve connects with a young salesman at the country club. By booking a lesson with this young man, Steve was able to forge a connection with the salesman and use his skillset to boost the man’s confidence regarding the recommendations he made Steve, thereby creating a satisfied customer of sorts. In turn, we see the salesman use his experiences from the lessons he has with Steve as a sales tactic when engaging other country club members. Because everyone is trying to keep up with the most trendy + exclusive items, many of the men in the film become influenced to keep purchasing various items. In my opinion, Steve essentially created a loop of reference selling and this tactic made his sales stats increase explosively. 

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.

Ever since the pandemic became widespread in early 2020, many younger consumers have started to reject the idea of celebrity and instead resonate with content from people who either are or appear to be your average person. I think that brands have started to pay attention to this more and more as evidenced by the large amount of user-generated content that brands will pay for or ask to repost from their customers. Affiliate marketing has also become huge. The common thread is that I’m seeing many brands work with influencers and people who already use their products, or who could easily appear as if they do.  

I think that these practices are similar to what The Jones Family did. However, the Jones’ lives were entirely fabricated, I see fewer and fewer examples of influencers and content creators pretending to use/like a product as a sales tactic. It’s definitely a practice that occurs, but I think I’ve finally managed to train apps to not suggest that kind of content to me. 

Some brands that I’ve seen use this tactic are Eat Loisa and Nama. I find that brands in the cosmetics industry more closely mimic the Jones Family’s tactic. Brands like Benefit, Tarte, Anastasia Beverly Hills, and Victoria’s secret will often host brand trips that have very little to do with the products that they sell (makeup, undergarments, lingerie), and way more to selling you on a lifestyle. 

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?

While all sales tactics rely on convincing the potential consumer to make a purchase, I think the techniques of the Jones Family could be categorized as extremely unethical. The deep manipulation (and age-inappropriate relationships) they needed to engage in so as to make their sales goals led to people ruining and ending their lives. No sale is worth that in my opinion.

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

I think it would be difficult for me to be friends with someone in the Jones family before I found out their secret. Though all of them were extremely charming in their own ways, I don’t enjoy being in environments where there is a push to overconsume all of the time. I think if we were friends and I found out their secret I would feel deeply betrayed due to realizing the entire relationship was based upon manipulation.

The Joneses

Jacob Quirola

The Joneses

  1. With the Joneses not being a family of not selling their products in person, it’s very much personal selling from my point of view and the reason why I agree is because they were personal selling and actively engaging but also building their relationship with the neighbors. With the film illustrating the family’s perfect life and selling products is very much a way of undercover marketing which is what they have established with their way of personal selling.
  2. Seeing what the joneses have done to market their products, it’s the ideal way of doing marketing that has made their business efficient yet so confidential is something all businesses do today. Using my uncle who is a restaurant owner, the way he markets his restaurant is by marketing it on social media, showing the decor, beautiful art, luxurial furniture, well mannered waiters, establishing the food to the customers before agreeing upon it and making sure the experience is one to remember for them to come back, these are considered a well constructed marketing plan but as for the joneses bring a perfect lifestyle is someting the media does to gain followers and target their audiences and it can be said that its the same ideology the family uses to bring their buyers.
  3. Practically No, in the film the joneses didn’t use the essential marketing practices, not using the ideal way of ethical marketing and mostly selling in order to get buyers was not very inaccuracy due to them not being general with their products but also just wanting to make a profit is not always a great proposal in marketing because of all the schemes that can go wrong if not managed correctly.
  4. I wouldn’t want to be associated with people like the joneses because of one reason, poor judgement in managing in marketing, they might live a life where their riches are a persons desire to be them, but it won’t be a right decision in the business segment in dealing with products and services. To give my overall view on the joneses, I would find them as schemers that just want your money and are just unethical of their way of business.

I had really enjoyed this assignment, and I have really taken away some key pointers from this movie.

Keeping up with “The Joneses” Reflection

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

I would categorize the way the Jones family lives as personal selling. The reason being that they partake in self-marketing, which is even encouraged by their boss, KC, at LifeImage Enterprises. It is their job to market themselves to make people like them, therefore want to be like them and have what they have in the form of material possessions. Their decorated house, lifestyle, the quality time they spend with others in the neighborhood, the parties they throw and how they present themselves in public were like an inescapable billboard. Every interaction each Jones family member had with a stranger(s) was their opportunity to convince them to buy something, as was seen numerous times throughout the movie – this is considered personal selling. But they did it so casually and without pressure, that nobody even noticed.

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.

There are some celebrities who became famous from one profession or for another reason, and then decided to create their own brand of products that they market by wearing it themselves. A good example of this is Kim Kardashian’s line KKW beauty, or her SKIMS brand of shapewear that she advertises and markets by wearing on her social media accounts. Another brand that comes to mind is Emily Ratajkowski and her swimwear brand, iNamorata Woman – she also models her own product. A very famous example I can think of is when Michael Jordan collaborated with Nike to release his line of Air Jordan sneakers and wore them while still playing in the NBA. This works and convinces people to buy from them because these celebrities were, and still are, well liked, before launching their own brand and marketing it.

Based on what you read in the course materials and what you observed in the movie, do you think the way products are marketed in this movie is ethical?

I think the Jones family marketed their products in an unethical way. There was one particular scene in the movie, not long after the dinner party, where Kate and Steve are sitting in the kitchen on their day off. Kate mentions to Steve that although his selling numbers increased after the party, he could do better. She specifically states, “create a ripple effect to get others to sell for you”. While that could be interpreted as a commission, I don’t believe it is because Kate was fine with Steve doing this unbeknownst to the ones they are targeting to sell for them. So in a sense, Steve would make money while others don’t, Steve does little to no work while making maximum profits. This sounds like one sign of a pyramid scheme, although I may be wrong.  Mick was marketing alcohol to underage teens, which was illegal and highly unethical. Larry Symonds, one of the Joneses neighbors, committed suicide due to the consequences of his bad decisions trying to make his wife happy – a result of getting too caught up in Steve’s lifestyle. Although Mr. Symonds made that decision, it probably wouldn’t have happened if the Joneses never stepped foot in the neighborhood.

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

The only person I could really see myself being friends with is Mick Jones because he seems to be the most laid back character. He made some mistakes and wasn’t perfect, but was more tolerable in my opinion compared to the other Jones characters (Steve would be second, Kate third and Jenn last). If I found out that him and his family were not actually a real family and that their only goal was to sell products to people in the neighborhood, I would be weirded out by it I guess. I don’t think I’d want to be friends because there would always be concerns that his only primary goal was to sell something, or get me to sell in a sneaky way, and not at all have an authentic friendship.