What got me thinking about the price of technology was a coworker who bought her son an mp3 player from Walmart for $20. Two months later, she finally opened the box and began using it herself. This tiny little device that stores music and pictures, which I recall being all the rage not that long ago, can now be bought for next to nothing. A quick search on the Internet prices mp3 players anywhere between $18 and $300.

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It is often noted that people like to buy from, and do business with, people they ‘like.’ It doesn’t necessarily have to be the most competent or knowledgeable (although these attributes would help) that have people coming back to them over-and-over again. Getting to know people, connecting with them, is important in life, in general—an emotional connection, whether we like to call it that or not.

“What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?” is something I would need to know if I was looking to export my tea to that part of the world. It would also prove valuable for me to know if I was importing tea to North America, from China. If I knew what they charged there, how much they valued, in monetary terms, their Chinese tea, then it would give me an idea of what the Chinese population here would consider reasonable, or anyone else that loves Chinese teas.

As we all hear over-and-over again, that the world is in the midst of a recession, or an economic slowdown, I have been wondering if cutting back in the marketing division is really necessary. It is generally accepted that this is one of the first, if not the first, areas to see cutbacks during times of trouble. However, the marketing division is not just a cost centre. Marketing helps organizations generate revenue by making the brand / corporate name known.