In this episode we dive into a world that is outside of finance. We dive into marketing, and how major companies that all of us know came to be the powerhouses that we know them to be today. We talk through the marketing aspect of these companies and how a lot of time we don't even realize the impact it has on us as consumers. This loops into investing and we cover how the marketing and image that a company is able to create and maintain has some impact on its attractiveness as an investment for different investors.
I definitely ramble on this episode as I go through different marketing topics and the impact each has on investing as it was something I find incredibly interesting and enjoyed talking about.
In this episode we dive into a world that is outside of finance. We dive into marketing, and how major companies that all of us know came to be the powerhouses that we know them to be today. We talk through the marketing aspect of these companies and how a lot of time we don't even realize the impact it has on us as consumers. This loops into investing and we cover how the marketing and image that a company is able to create and maintain has some impact on its attractiveness as an investment for different investors.
I definitely ramble on this episode as I go through different marketing topics and the impact each has on investing as it was something I find incredibly interesting and enjoyed talking about.
Hey, what is going on guys? Welcome to episode three of the life finance and in between podcast with your host myself, Eddie Thomas, brought to you by wealth management services here in Hershey, PA. Let's get into it. I have naturally before I got into the finance industry, I was a marketing major and had a job in marketing before I came here. So the marketing side of things, from companies, I really do appreciate whether it's commercials or ads or running or just their brand image in general. And so I was trying to think of a way where I can tie the marketing knowledge I have the awareness I have of that industry, and what role does it play in the financial markets. And so I was looking and I was looking at the top, like, the companies, you always think about the apples, the Amazons, the Facebook, the I guess, Twitter, if you want to throw them in there, Netflix, Google, those companies that come to mind the tech heavy companies that really utilize tech to the best of their abilities. But also the Domino's Chipotle. Those companies as well, that kind of are in the same like everyone knows their names, right? And you ask yourself, Why does everybody, you don't even think about it, you just know him, you just know them. You don't, you might not even know you've never had their product, you never tried their service, but you know, the company. And the reason for that is unbelievable branding and marketing. And the impact on financial markets that it has is we're starting to see it break market caps. Meaning these companies are getting invested into so often, that worth so much money, that there's other companies that do similar things that just aren't even compatible. And it's because of branding and marketing all throughout the years of the company. So the perfect example of this, in my mind is Apple versus Samsung. Now I use Apple, I mean, if you can see a logo on the computer, it's a Mac, I have an Apple Watch on I have an iPhone. So this is a little bit biased. disclaimers there. But I don't think it's controversial to say that Apple is a much more no name for their consumer devices than Samsung is. Now Samsung goes into like fridges, and like dishwashers and stuff like that, which Apple just doesn't really go into. But I'm just talking phones, wearables, laptops, and headphones, the whole kind of consumer goods there. Exclude the things like fridges and dishwashers. And so arguably, any Samsung user, obviously, I feel like there's two camps, I feel like you're either super avid Apple user like myself, Oh, you'll never use Apple ever, because you don't like them as a company. So the only other alternative you have really is like a Google phone. So but who uses those and Samsung. And so if you ever looked at a Samsung phone, if you're an Apple user, whether you want to believe it or not, or whether you want to admit it or not. Apple has more simpler phones, Samsung, Samsung has cool Earth, I guess, features to their phone, there's more customer customization to it. Their phones can probably process more. And I feel like every like Samsung comes out with like a technical like a technology first in the industry. And then Apple comes like with that two years later. And everyone's like, wow, look what Apple did when Samsung has been doing it for a while. But the reason for that, the reason for that is branding and marketing behind Apple. They have I mean, it's it's probably the best that there's ever been as far as companies go. And there's other companies that have this similar kind of branding and marketing like Domino's, I'd mentioned them as well. And we'll get into them later. So I'm not just going to talk about Apple in this. But I'm more so talking about the general idea around when companies build really strong brands and have a really strong brand and edge and they're recognizable names. Your everyday investors are more enticed to invest into those companies. And for good reason. I mean, they're really successful companies are Apple's the richest company in the world. They have the biggest market cap in the world. And then you have companies like Facebook and Microsoft and they're catching up. But apples the richest in the world. But the reason these companies are so popular is because yes, they have a really good service a really good product. You can't get anywhere without a good service or product. But at the end of the day, the only reason they ever really got figured out or stayed relevant because people companies copy each other clearly Apple is not the only filmmaker, Facebook's not the only company that has online ads or a social media platform. Microsoft isn't the only software creator or it's like a gaming company. They're not the only ones. They're just the best at marketing and branding, their services. And it helps that they have a really good service, product and service. But they're the best at putting in front of consumers. They're the best at making in front of mind, they're the best at painting a picture around, this is what you need to have if you're a consumer. And I fall in trap, too. I mean, like the new Xbox came out, I don't need new Xbox, I have an Xbox One and works perfectly fine. The Xbox series X came out. And I was like, Wait a second, do I need do I need one of those, I didn't buy one because they're very expensive. And they went out very quickly because of the different like semiconductor shortages around that, like, materials to make them are obviously pretty hard to get from Microsoft right now. But my point being I saw the marketing around it and the branding around this brand new Xbox, and part of me wanted it knowing I don't even really need it. Now as a consumer at that point, you need to control yourself and not buy it. But the point is, these companies are so so good at making you buy something like Amazon with their service of two day delivery. And having the marketing around that two day delivery, completely changed delivery, as we know, it completely changed that entire space. And if anything is not two day delivery now on whatever website you're looking at, I guarantee you're looking at Amazon, or you potentially looking at Amazon, to see if they have it for two day delivery. That's just how it goes. That's just what happens when companies change the game. And they change the game around their branding and marketing around it. And in turn, they get a lot of investments into their company to start and then when they're established, people want to invest in them everyday investors want to invest in them, institutional investors want to invest in that company, because they know they're going to perform well over time. And that's exactly what happens. Disney, another perfect example. Disney is not the only company that's ever made kit shows. As a start. They're not the only company that's ever made movies, they're not the only company that's bought other companies that have products, they want services they want like business bought ESPN, they own Hulu, Fox, I'm pretty sure they're not the only ones who tried to do this. They just had the best service and the best marketing around that service. They have theme parks, but not the only one with theme parks. They just have the best theme parks because of the marketing and service around that. And so if you're catching my drift, I'm I'm reiterating myself over and over at these companies. But the reason being is because I truly, truly think for these very large cap companies. The big differentiator, obviously, if you have a quality of quality behind you, is how you portray yourself to the public. How you brand yourself how you market yourself. And it really is starting to break market caps like Apple is people think I mean, rewind the clock, people not think it was paused to get to $2 trillion market cap apples at 2.5 trillion, Microsoft's at 2 trillion. These are the companies are coming up on it. Obviously there's more money in fluctuation now that more money to go around more money to be invested into these companies at this point, and they're reaping the benefits of that. But it's there it is, it is absolutely there. Because I mean, it's a long game. It takes time to get there if you're a company. But the more you get in front of people, the more of these companies are in front of you and myself. The more we're seeing them the more we believe in what they're doing, the more we want to invest in and we want to be a part of it. And that's what you are when you invest into a company. So you bought shares of Microsoft or Amazon or Starbucks that's another one Starbucks. How many coffee companies can you possibly have? How many coffee companies are there? Are you gonna buy the ground and make it yourself? Buy the beans, grind them up, make them yourself? Starbucks, they sell their their cup of coffee at like four bucks. Most of the difference between that and making a home it's like the it's the marketing. It's the event that it almost is they go to a Starbucks and buy coffee there. Now there's some people that will swear it off and never buy it. Understandable not one of those people I'll buy Starbucks pretty much anytime I'm on a road trip alright now I'm not Am I gonna say no to stopping a Starbucks. My point being though, is because of their marketing and branding was so strong. They crushed companies like Dunkin Donuts. They crushed other coffee companies other to go coffee companies. They just I mean they in the consumers eyes. They're just a step above it Dunkin Donuts is on the first rung of the ladder. Starbucks is on the second and ever Every time someone tries to take a step they get to them. They're agile enough, they're smart enough to stay in front of them. That's what these other companies are, as well. So I think we're starting to really see the impact that social media marketing has on people, the impact of staying in front of consumers non stop, because when you scroll on your social media pages, when you watch TV, when you go online, there's this ability to have these targeted ads that you need a ton of money to do. And these companies have a ton of money. And they're really, really good at marketing to you and targeting you. And yes, it brings you in as a consumer. But it also brings a bunch of people in as investors, and I think some haven't really put that connection there yet, where. And you I mean, if you've seen like the, I guess the comparisons where it's like, if you're gonna buy something from Apple for $1,000, you're gonna buy Starbucks 100 times, or you're gonna buy McDonald's 15 times and spend whatever amount of dollars that whatever amount of these companies, if you invested in it, what would that have turned into? So those are the comparisons put X amount that you would spend. And then if you invested that same amount, what would it turn into. And so I start, I'm starting, I'm starting to see, and we've seen for a while, that investors are in taking that approach. And I'm not saying they're not going to buy from these companies, but because they really liked the companies because they really liked a product and service, because they see him all the time, from the marketing side of it, they're much more inclined to invest in them much more inclined. And the companies are doing incredibly well because of that, and I think we're gonna continue to see that I think we're gonna see that the more the algorithms of marketing, refine themselves, and computer learning comes into play. And people get smarter with marketing, and they find new ways to keep it in front of you keep it in your lives, you'll scroll by an ad, if you're on social media, you won't even know what an ad or you'll be online, you just looked up your favorite pair of jeans, you go online, you just Google something completely different. And that pair of jeans is sitting on the website that has nothing to do with what you just looked up at all. But they're there. And maybe you buy him, and maybe you don't. But it's gonna be there the next time, it's gonna be at a time after that. And the time after that. And then my point is, marketing is so so good branding is so so strong that these companies that can afford to do it like they do. And they've painted this picture that they are premium, their premium product and service. They're going to keep being those kinds of companies. And then it also comes down to usability like Domino's makes ordering a pizza, probably easier than any other pizza company ever has. If you can choose between picking up your app saying I want pepperoni, bacon, and extra cheese, and I want to in 30 minutes to this address here, I paid There's your tip, drop it at the door, and you put on an app and you see step by step by step where your services where your pizza is, and its process. Is it being prepared? Is it in the oven? Is it in the box is it on its way to you and you could see that and live action live feed, or you can do with the old way. And you can call the pizza place and say hey, I'd like to order a pizza and they say see in an hour. And you're like cool, I want to put extra cheese and stuff on it. And you just got to hope it has extra cheese on it. And they'll show up whenever they show up and you're not going to know where they are in between then. And so even when I just said it out loud like that, at least to me, it was just so clearly better from Domino's. Now. Is their product the best? Probably not, probably not. And I'm a fan of Domino's I am I don't mind it. Every once in a while I'll get a pizza or something from it's not the best pizza. It's kind of just like in a pinch, you know. But the idea being they definitely get a lot of sales and they get a lot of traction. And they're their brands valued so highly, because of the ease ability they have in front of consumers. And the only way consumers ever found out about that it because their marketing is so good and their branding is so good. So these companies that have named off and I've rambled on and rattled on about this for like 15 minutes or so now. But my main point being that as an investor if you're if you're seeing a company that you see all the time you love using clearly other people love using it, you're seeing their marketing, you're seeing their branding, it's hard not to love that company. And you and you have every reason to do you have every reason to love them, obviously do your own research on their books side of it. I mean if they're showing profits and that side the technical side of it, do your research, obviously but If those other pieces are there, it's going to follow, there's going there. There's success comes with successful marketing and branding, for companies like I'm naming, and whether or not you even know it's happening anymore. It's hard to tell at this point with how big these companies have gone. It's like this another, another day in life where you see their name. But it's brilliant. It's marketing, all its marketing and branding. And if you can tell, I'm really passionate about the marketing side of things. I think it's amazing. I think the psychology of it is, is awesome. I think what the studies have come out around marketing and branding and how it impacts us as consumers, it's awesome. But I also love that I can now make the connection into the finance, world and investor. And we're seeing how it impacts these companies on the investing side. And people while yes, now they're enjoying their services and our products, they also get to enjoy the returns that these companies are returning. It's not every year, obviously. And who knows what the future holds. But these companies, the ones I named in the companies that know how to build, foundation, and tell a story, get you to buy into their product and service. In my opinion, they're the ones that are going to win. Again, do your own research, if you're gonna invest into them, if you're gonna buy their, their product or service, do your own research. But this is just how I feel, I just feel as if these companies are a step above everyone else. And they're breaking these market cap rules that we thought were in stone before. And we're gonna continue to see them break rules, like will Apple be the first $3 trillion dollar company? Who knows they're on pace? Well, Amazon, Will, Domino's will Chipotle will Starbucks, nobody knows. or Facebook, nobody knows. But they're gonna, they're good companies. And they're gonna continue to be good companies, in my opinion, because of what they built. Because they have a good product and service, but also because they really have the means to tell you about it. And so that's what I wanted to talk about today, guys. And I feel like it's gone incredibly quick. I've rambled on about it, if you can tell I'm pretty passionate about it. But I think going forward and I kind of touched on it in the next couple episodes, expect me to talk about the psychology of investing. And even the the psychology that marketing has on you or investing has on you. As someone talked to me about it, if you're listening, you know you are and they really wanted to hear about that side of it. The psychology, the psychology of younger people and then versus older people. So I'm going to get into that at some point very soon here. But I just want to talk about this this topic first. I think it's a it's something where the marketing is just so silent, you don't even realize it, but it's there every day and I think it's amazing the impact it has on people and the impact it has on these companies from an investing standpoint. And why there's great companies to be a part of and watch so Alright guys, I'm going to wrap up this episode here. And if you guys like what you see like what you heard, leave a review. Give it a thumbs up or stars whatever platform you're on and it helps out and reach out if you have any feedback or anything like that but stay happy guys stay healthy and I'll see you on the next one. Securities offered through securities America Inc. Member FINRA slash SIPC. advisory services offered through securities America advisors Inc. Wealth Management Services and securities America are separate entities. The opinions and forecasts expressed are those of the author and may not actually come to pass. This information is subject to change at any time based on market and other conditions and should not be construed as a recommendation of any specific security or investment plan. Past performance does not guarantee future results.