More than 150 million Americans have heard of Wally Amos. His fame is grounded in quality, substance and a positive attitude. His most recent project is working with his wife Christine Harris-Amos who created Chip & Cookie, two dolls fashioned in the image of "boy and girl chocolate chip cookies." Once again Amos is in the kitchen baking cookies in the Chip & Cookie retail store located, on Oahu, in Kailua Town, Hawaii.
In 1975, long before there were "food personalities" like Emeril Lagasse, Paul Newman and Nigella Lawson, Amos came up with the idea that he could sell his cookies as an entertainment personality -a gourmet chocolate chip cookie. Borrowing $25,000 from friends, Amos opened the first freestanding store, on Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood, CA, that sold only cookies: The Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie. Soon the entrepreneur became a national personality renowned not only for his cookies but for his ebullient and outgoing persona as well.
In 1985, a series of events began that led the company to change hands. It is now owned by the Kellogg Company. Amos eventually returned to baked goods through Uncle Wally's Muffin Company.
Asserting that being famous only meant that lots of people knew who he was; Wally Amos always wanted to use his wide recognition as a means to draw attention to an important cause. That cause became literacy. Wally dedicated his efforts to Literacy Volunteers of America where he served as their National Spokesperson from 1979 to 2002. As a literary advocate, Wally uses his well-known name to support educational causes and serves on the Boards of the National Center for Family Literacy, Read to Me International, and Communities in Schools, in addition to many others. In 2005, Wally Amos and his wife, Christine, founded the Chip & Cookie Read Aloud Foundation, a publicly supported 501(c) (3) organization, to promote reading aloud to children.
Assignment: answer the following question:
- How can marketers ensure quality throughout all of the Marketing Mix?
- How do you go about monitoring the environment to ensure you are adapting to changes needs/desires of your customer base?
- How do you ensure quality throughout the Product Life Cycle?
- Within your response, include a relevant sentence or two quotes from our Kotler and Keller Marketing Management text to support your view