Rowena Lam's Blog

Although I haven’t owned a Smartphone, I have already acknowledged that Angry Birds is an addictive but light-hearted puzzle video game way before the class discussion.

I am a PC-gamer, who particularly fond of playing FPS (First-Person shooter), ranging from Portal to Left for Dead. However, I am attracted to Angry Birds even though I dislike playing simple and dull flash games.

Why do I like Angry Birds so much? Low priced? – No, price doesn’t matter to me because I always borrow my friends’ Smartphone to play with. I think the main reason is the graphic designs of the game. The characters are adorable. How can a creature look so angry but cute at the same time? Also, the entertaining music and sound effects perfectly prepares the atmosphere for the game.

I believe the marketing team for Angry Birds has done an excellent job so far, as proven by its popularity among people over the globe and in developing other side products such as plush toys, t-shirts, cell phone cases, etc. Besides, recently they have introduced Angry Birds on Google Chrome. This distribution strategy works because it expands its target market from mobile users to PC gamers. It creates value to me who does not own a Smartphone. However, I think this is a good strategy only to the extent of generating more exposure. It might not really work in terms of competing time and attention away from the mainstream PC games such as those I have introduced. This is because PC is considered as a platform to support complex and more “entertainment-demanding” games. In this context, Angry Birds might lose its “competitive advantage” of its light-hearted nature which is designed for playing on the bus or during break time – situations that require less attention.

TUAW (the unofficial apple weblog) has recently posted a video features playing Angry Birds in real life!

This is an awesome promotional strategy because it communicates the value of Angry Birds in a new perspective. Normally, we would think of Angry Birds for self-entertainment. No matter it is on mobile devices or PC, you are still playing the game yourself. However, this video shows how people are enjoying the theme of Angry Birds together, in a crowd, cheers and boos, excitement all over the place. It is no longer a self-activity (one-to-one); it is a community event (one-to-all) – everybody talks about it, enjoys together, and shares feelings – “you can join in the fun wherever you are”!

With this “community” concept, I have an idea for Angry Birds to expand its product line in terms of its game design. They might want to develop an Co-Op (or 2-players to start with) version – where multiple players cooperate for going through each stage. However, this might cause a direct competition with Gunbound– a multiplayer online game that have similar game design of Angry Birds – both apply the concept of projectile motion for killing enemies.

Nonetheless, I can’t express my passion for Angry Birds any simpler: I love Angry Birds!

Lady Gaga, with her bold brand of pop, outrageous outfits and shocking performances, successfully “rocketed Lady Gaga from unknown New York lounge singer to the world’s biggest pop star this side of Britney Spears.” Her fame formula is indeed her strategy of differentiation in this intensely competitive music industry.

In comparison, do you possibly know the following musicians?

Sara Bareilles – an American singer-songwriter and pianist

Kate Voegele – an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress

You might have or have not heard of them before. They are certainly not as well-known as Lady Gaga. Thanks to YouTube, this media revolutionary platform or medium has exposed me to these two amazing musicians. I consider them as more socially influential to me than Gaga. I believe music and art are in the eye of the beholder. Instead of attracting audience through using sex appeals in performances like Gaga, they tap into my heart with their powerful vocals and musical talents. I think they have developed their fan base (their market) through implementing a relatively niche differentiation strategy – focusing more on acoustic music as opposed to electronic or auto-tune. They are some of the musicians that have inspired me to love performing music and singing. The following are recordings of my live performances playing their music:

Cover of Sara Bareilles’s Bottle It Up –

(Vocal & Pianist: Me; Guitarist: Erving; Drummer & Vocal: Nicholas )

Cover of Kate Voegele’s Kindly Unspoken –

(Vocal & Pianist: Me; Drummer: Nicholas)

They become the social reference groups that even influence my “consumer decision process” in buying my guitar, and I have been self-learning guitar since then.

Our fellow classmate, Elaine Poon, expressed her opinions on Lady Gaga as an example of social influence in her blog post. I totally agree with Elaine that Lady Gaga as a performance artist, “there is nothing she will put on her body without knowing the concept and reference behind it.” This is so true because Lady Gaga will definitely want everything that associated with her to help her establishing an appealing “brand image”, so as to retain or even attract more people to join her fan base. Elaine also called attention to the effective marketing effort that has brought her to fame – pop icon references, shocking outfit, and unpredictable performances. She does not merely deliver what audience normally would expect from a performance artist – beauty or singing skills – but also communicate “the concept of outrageous and bizarre” through her innovative performances. Her fame proves that her strategy of differentiation is working very well.

Lady Gaga’s raw meat dress

But really? Well, I would never deny that her strategy is very effective in terms of increasing the size of her fan base or at least getting people over the globe to know about her. However, I think her outrageous costumes might go too far, which has subtly provoked a negative social influence: “A desperate Lady Gaga fan has been charged with animal cruelty for allegedly killing her cat and using the dead pet’s blood to complete an outfit she planned to wear to one of her heroine’s concerts.” (WENN.COM)

Outrageous costume Lady Gaga wore at the 2009 MTV awards (Ninemsn)

Lady Gaga the pop icon – Do you find her aspirational or dissociative?

Our fellow classmate, Sang-Ik, expressed his opinions on MCD’s deceiving discount promotion in his recent blog post. I completely agree with his view that MCD is taking advantage of consumers’ unconscious habit of perceiving the advertisement as a discount promotion for getting 2 Snack Wraps while it is merely a price for 2 units of the product.

There is a similar example of deceiving discount promotion:

Logitech D-pads “negative” discount

Promotional discount aims to stimulate sales. It creates value especially to price-conscious customers. However, if discount promotion is not appropriately implemented, customers who discovered the false discount might consider the company as despicable. It immediately poses a threat to the company’s brand image and customers’ loyalty.

You might say it is just a human error or typo that no one should make a great deal out of it. However, since customer is always the centre of considerations in value-based marketing, I believe the companies bear the responsibility of inspecting the discount tags to avoid any chance of misleading. Furthermore, for those who think the companies purposefully deceive customers using the trick, might question whether the companies have considered the ethical implications of their decisions on the society.

Is it a mistake or conspiracy?

Should customers trust or doubt?

Many businesses nowadays provide goods or services via drive-through (drive-thru). It was first introduced in the United States in the 1930s, and has scattered all around the world since then. Some common examples are:

Drive-thru fast-food restaurant – McDonalds

Drive-thru mailbox

Drive-thru bank

It is a marketing strategy that improves one of the marketing mix components – Place. It delivers value to customers primarily through efficiency and convenience. For instance, it makes product or service readily accessible when customers are on-the-go or simply do not want to remove themselves from the car in the cold rainy weather. Since drive-through does not require any parking, it can save up parking lot for other infrastructure, though many companies still provide both alternatives so as to suit different customers’ needs and wants: stay or to-go.

Some special drive-thru services:

Las Vegas drive-thru wedding ceremony – Original idea: “In 1991, Charolette noticed a handicapped couple having difficulty getting out of their car and into the chapel.”

Compton drive-thru funeral home – Original idea: “Gang members didn’t want to attend graveside services because of cemetery shootouts. Adam’s drive-thru’s glass partition is bullet proof and this has made it a popular location for gang funerals.”

Personally, I like drive-thru for conveniently getting my food. However, I do not think drive-thru is appropriate for all types of businesses. In my opinion, convenience can turn out to be terribly tacky. Furthermore, North Vancouver had planned to banish the drive-thru services for “they attract a lot of late-night traffic and noise, and they are a constant source of idling cars.”

But sometimes tragedy happens in drive-thru:

I love creativity and innovation. I value originality and experimentation. Perhaps these self-values explain my passion for graphic design.

I was attracted by the blog post “Questions to ask before you design a new logo” on Drew’s Marketing Minute. The term “creative brief” captured my attention. I did a little research on what it means: “a set of guidelines that will help your logo designer in deciding the creative direction of the logo design engagement” (LogoFAQS.com). LogoInn.com’s creative brief includes your company name, a business description (product or service), website address, target audience, colors, preferred image and text style, language, and some additional thoughts.

Our classmate, Clara, has recently launched the first beauty club at UBC. I helped her to design the logo for the club. I did a similar approach of conducting a creative brief before my designing process by asking her for some information about the club:

Club’s name: UBC Beauty Avenue

Club’s mission: To provide members an enjoyable and inspiring experience while they learn and share their knowledge in beauty.

Target audience: People who have a passion in fashion and beauty (Psychographic: self-values) and want to gain knowledge in beauty (Product-related: hoping to benefit from workshops)

With these “cues” in mind, I have designed some logos for her to choose from:

I have designed some logos for my OB (C292) project group. Our group name ZARRIL combines the initials of the group members, so as to depict the strong sense of unity and team spirit.

I have also created a logo for my HR (C391) project group:

I believe an effective logo is a significant marketing tool for brand recognition. I totally agree with Drew that a logo is to “capture the spirit of your organization in a mark”. A unique logo might eventually become a strong and well-known symbol that it creates a position for the brand, in order to distinguish it from its competition.

Whenever I recognize a need to purchase a particular beauty product, I will perform an external search for information so as to assist making the buying decision. Michelle Phan, the popular Youtube makeup guru , is probably the source of information that first comes to my mind.

Michelle Phan, the popular Youtube makeup guru.

I have followed Michelle Phan on Youtube since her first video around 2007. Her makeup tutorials usually incorporate her voice for instructions with nicely chosen background music. She demonstrates her unique and artistic makeup application methods through the “How-to” video style using the products she has chosen. Her videos are so informative and valuable to the audience because they are home-made videos with the function of providing us product reviews (in motion). They are therefore more persuasive and influential to the consumer decision process than the exaggerated, distorted or biased commercial advertisements.

Her first Youtube makeup video – Natural Looking Makeup Tutorial:

Her most viewed Youtube makeup video – Lady GaGa Poker Face Tutorial

Lancôme is a high-end makeup brand. Since Michelle’s success has been recognized around the world (with appearances in popular magazines and over 1 million subscribers), she was hired by Lancôme in 2010 as the official video makeup artist for the company. I was not familiar with this brand until Michelle introduces their products in her makeup tutorials.

Glamorous Fall Look – video sponsored by Lancome

Why would Lancôme pay Michelle to advertise their products?

Looking at the immediate environment – Competition

According to a makeup artist of Lancôme, the company was losing their youth market over the years to other brands such as MAC and Clinique. With the help of this young Asian Youtube makeup guru, Lancôme is able to advertise their new innovative beauty products by redefining their brand to be modern, trendy and fresh, so as to take on the youthful and probably the Asian demographic.

Looking at the macroenvironment – Technology

Lancôme has realized the power of the internet and capitalized on the popularity of Youtube. By incorporating their products into Michelle’s makeup tutorials, the company is adding their own commercial advertising into the user-generated content, so that this way of promotion appears more authentic and persuasive to the community-minded users of Youtube. In addition, they can effortlessly and quickly capture more customers through Michelle’s huge fan base.

Michelle Phan has become an opinion leader for beauty products since a lot of people want what she used or recommended – successfully exert a certain degree of social influence to the consumer decision process.

During class today, we recognized that the consumer decision process can be influenced by four groups of factors: marketing mix, psychological factors, situational factors and social factors. Among the psychological factors affecting the way people receive marketers’ messages, discussion of attitudes really captured my attention. This made me recall a powerful, inspiring and emotional appealing advertisement that is only less than a minute.

It is a Spanish advertisement for AFANOC – Association of Children with Cancer. I think the three components of an attitude are well-addressed in the video.

Cognitive

The contrast of physical appearance between the healthy sister (dense hair) and the brother with cancer (bald) illustrates a gap. Instead of marginalization, however, they reduce the segregation through exchanging what each of them can give: hair from the sister and cap from the brother, as well as a warming smile. This raises awareness on how important and valuable the bond and interaction with children affected by this disease are.

Affective

The music effectively contributes to arouse people’s emotions. The slow tempo and simple instrumentation create the atmosphere of calm and peace, encouraging the sense of support and solidarity while reducing fear and anxiety. The short music pause from 0:31 to 0:33 highlights and prepares for the climax of the advertisement – amplifying the sentimental effect of the interactions between the brother and sister. The sister’s angelic smile makes the audience appreciate the genuine love and care dedicated to her sick brother.

Behavioral

Although the sister cannot medically help her brother by cutting and giving him her hair, this innocent child’s action highlights her selfless characteristic. With the Spanish line at the end meaning “we don’t ask you for more than what you can give”, the advertisement inspires people to do more voluntary services and provide what they are capable to offer – love and care – in order to help the children with cancer to overcome the uncertainty and fear with solidarity and support.

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