Directions For Peer Reviews

• There are  two peers post
• Each response post should consist of at least 100 words.
• Point out what you perceived to be the strengths of the initial posting along with supporting rationale.
• Identify specific opportunities for improvement with regard to the content in the initial posting. Furthermore, you should provide supporting rationale for your stated position, as well as concrete suggestions and guidance intended to strengthen the effectiveness of the content.

Directions For Viedo Reviews

View the video in chapter 2 titled and provide a few brief comments with respect to its relevancy to this unit’s marketing concepts.

Mitchell Post

      For our first unit’s case study discussion board, we follow Lee Lantz’s journey as an exotic Toothfish supplier. Lantz began this marketing adventure as a fish buyer traveling through South America. During this time Lantz observed local fisherman hauling a five foot long fish with teeth away from the docks. Intrigued, Lantz bought a sample of the strange bass, and was first turned away by its lack of any flavor. This was until Lantz realized that this ‘distasteful catch’ could be a big hit for consumers who disliked fish tasting products. Moving forward with his business idea, Lantz’s next step was naming his new product. After bouncing ideas around, and even changing the name he eventually settled on Chilean Bass; the exotic South American  toothed fish of the deep. After coining this name, our fish sales entrepreneur sent samples of his stock to various chefs; asking them to try his product in some of their high end dishes. As a result of receiving semi-successful results, Lantz then began supplying Chilean Bass to some wholesalers and food distributers; specifically targeting the restaurant market. This step of the process was paying the bills on time, but this toothfish’s real explosion in popularity came once its full potential was realized by a fish stick company, and when rewarded dish of the year. 

      To answer the first question, “Was Lantz just lucky? Or was there good marketing along the way? If so, what was the good marketing?” I will say that Lantz was lucky, but that it wasn’t entirely luck that got his product to where it is today. In my opinion, Lantz was lucky for bumping into the local fisherman carrying his fish, but after that point forward his success was a direct result from his hard work and good marketing skills. In this case study, I would agree that one of the best moves Lantz made in marketing Chilean Bass was sending samples to chefs; getting them interested or hooked on his product. This led to a higher demand in his fish, which then resulted in wholesalers buying and selling his product. Another good marketing move was giving his fish a eye-catching name; one that sparks interest. 

      In response to the second question, “The period of time from Lantz’s first sale to Bon Appetit’s award was fourteen years. How could he have used better marketing to accelerate that process of unknown to popular?” I believe it could have been entirely possible for Lantz to accelerate the growth of his product through better marketing. One such way Lantz could’ve accomplished this is by targeting a bigger market sooner. If you remember, his fish was primarily sold in restaurants until a fish stick company picked it up. If Lantz would’ve expanded his target markets, and sent a sample to the fish stick company easier; he may have made a break earlier.

Cheyenne Post

1. Was Lantz just lucky? Or was there good marketing along the way? If so, what was the good marketing?
There was a pretty big combination of both luck and some good marketing. His original Idea to call the fish something other than “toothfish” was a good one, as well as to try and sell it to upscale restaurants initially because of the lack of fish flavor. He should however have stuck with the name cod instead of bass. As the market he was aiming for was the cod market. He got lucky in the fact that his fish ended up getting popularized because of a distributor’s choice and realization instead of his own.

2. The period of time from Lantz’s first sale to Bon Appetit’s award was fourteen years. How could he have used better marketing to accelerate that process of unknown to popular?
First he could have focused on the entire market instead of just aiming for the upscale ones once he realized that his original plan was not working. He should have looked at where his specific product fit into the market, and changed his communication strategy to target those other areas. Perhaps even being able to market it to upscale restaurants for the specific purpose of being a fish without the fishy flavor, promoting that it enhanced the sauces by not overpowering them.
Secondly he should have looked for some publicity from any source that he could have gotten, even a lesser known magazine or the like could have gotten him noticed sooner, resulting in moderate growth instead of having to wait on the explosive growth that happened when his product was finally noticed by  Bon Appetit.
Lastly he could have traveled to the places where his fish was selling to figure out what the restaurant owners and chef’s did like, and did not like about the product, so that he could figure out how better to fix the problems or possibly how to market it to other companies.

Directions

View the video in chapter 2 titled, 

Did you Know?  (Links to an external site.)

and provide a few brief comments with respect to its relevancy to this unit’s marketing concepts. llustrate how a company may develop different value propositions for different target markets.

No required word limited