1. Provide substantive feedback to each classmate. Do you agree with their assessment of the firm's marketing strategy and their recommendation to the firm? Do you have anything to add?

The service I chose for this week's discussion is Spotify. Spotify is a media streaming service that allows access to a large database of songs, podcasts, and other types of media from all over the world.

3.) Which product category is this offering part of? I would label Spotify as a specialty because most users are loyal to them and the unique characteristics their service offers.

4.) Is it part of a product line for the firm? If so, please describe. Spotify is not part of a product line.

5.) Is this product or service a:

• Convenience offering
• Shopping offering
• Specialty offering - I would consider Spotify to be a specialty offering because of its unique characteristics that make its consumers stay away from substitutes.
• Unsought offering

6.) Evaluate the brand name. Is it part of a family brand, or does this product have its own brand name? Copy/paste any brand identifiers (picture, design, or symbols).

Spotify has its own brand name and has gone through quite a bit of logos over time. I have pasted two of their most common here, they also have a "Spotify wrapped" logo that is popular among Spotify users.

7.) Identify competitors to this product. Some competitors to Spotify would be Apple Music, YouTube TV, and Pandora. None of which compete in my opinion.

8.) How is this product priced relative to its competitors? Based on this, what would you say is the firms pricing objectives? Spotify is a free service with ads, with a premium option without ads for $9.99/month. They also offer a bundle to students that includes a Hulu and Spotify premium subscription for $4.99/month. Apple offers their music subscription by paid service only and it costs $9.99/month.

• Maximize profits
• Maximize sales
• Maximize market share - I believe maximizing market share is the firm's pricing objective. Offering their premium service with a Hulu subscription for only $4.99 tells me they are not too worried about maximizing their profits. Having priority over their market is their biggest objective when it comes to their pricing in my opinion. It is also worth noting that for about a year in 2019 they offered their premium service with Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ for only $8.99/month.
• Maintain status quo with competitors

9.) Which distribution channels does the firm utilize to get this product to consumers? Spotify utilizes a direct-to-consumer distribution channel.

10.) Which elements of the promotional mix does the firm utilize to communicate about this product? Advertising, social media marketing, and sales promotion. Social media marketing is a big deal for Spotify, especially now as podcasts are growing in popularity very quickly.

11.) How successful do you feel this product is? I feel as though Spotify is incredibly successful, almost everybody I know prefers Spotify over other streaming services. I even prefer to watch music videos on Spotify instead of YouTube.

12.) Playing the role of marketing consultant, what one change would you recommend to this firm which could serve to enhance its success? Since I use Spotify a lot my advice to them would be to constantly encourage new content. The more types of content that become available on Spotify will attract new listeners and consumers.