Reflective Post on Marketing Project
Comm 296: Intro to Marketing has been an amazing semester. I’ve always wanted to major in marketing and the group project we did gave me a huge insight into the marketing world and has allowed me to put our concepts we learned in class into use. Assignment number 3 was probably the most stressful assignment our group did all semester.
My team members and I worked super well together doing as good as we could on all our assignments. Editing the video was definitely the most stressful thing I’ve faced. There had been a moment where we finished and lost all our work so redid it and exported it. Never have I ever been so stressed in life, but the problems we faced will definitely help in improving and learning from our mistakes in the future. I learned a lot of new skills though such as improving my video editing skills, working in a team effectively as to minimize the amount of problems a group faces, and last but not least make friends who we’ll be in touch with in the future.
Our group was lucky enough in the sense that we did not have many problems. Every time we’d meet up to discuss about our next assignment it would be a quick meeting where we’d discuss what we had to do, assign our topics, and have one person put it together and submit it which was super effective. This assignment also enabled me to learn more about Telus and the way companies create a marketing plan that would help them succeed. It is a lot of work and definitely stressful. There are moments where a marketing strategy can fail and when it does it’s not great.
This class though has taught me a lot and has shown me a different side of marketing because i always thought it had to do with promotions or advertising, there is a lot more to it. We have so many career opportunities in this field which is good because I love diversification.
Response to “Miley Cyrus: Market Genius?”
According to the blog posted by Mannat Cheema called Miley Cyrus: Market Genius? Miley Cyrus’ marketing team are genius’ by creating a major hype about Miley and making her the “talk of the town” all around the world.
I completely agree with Miley Cyrus being a marketing genius. It had all started off with her song “Can’t be Tamed”. This was the first step Miley made to get away from the Hannah Montana title she held. Her fans grew up, so she started growing up too. After her song “we can’t stop” no one could stop talking about her and how she changed in a negative way. Then came VMA’s and then comes “wrecking ball”. Everything seems to be coincidental, but it is all part of the big plan. Miley had to put herself out there and the only way she could get attention was by making people talk. Haters are going to hate and without them no one would become famous. Look at Rebecca Black through her song Friday or Justin Bieber through Baby. Even though everyone seems to hate the song or be shocked by what Miley has become, the haters will keep watching the video, comment on it or about it, and share it. That is what Miley wants at the end of the day: the attention.
Furthermore, we can’t forget the trends she’s created because of this marketing strategy she has adopted. The twerking, sticking her tounge out to the side, or not wearing pants. It’s all become a part of her style and people who admire her will copy her and those who want to make fun of her will copy her too.
So, at the end of the day, using your haters to make you famous is one genius idea to market yourself.
La Senza to Debut in the US
La Senza is a Canadian lingerie brand that has 335 franchised shops in international markets, however, none of them are in the US. I personally love their stuff and I am a loyal customer. Their lingerie is attractive, affordable, and comfortable, but that is just my opinion. Looking at the bigger picture, this is a big step for La Senza because it’s battling with other well-known lingerie brands like Victoria Secret. La Senza positions itself as a brand where “sexy is an everyday thing” and that you can shop at “guilt-free prices”.
La Senza aims to seek buyers through its sexy appeal, but wants to focus on its value. This lingerie brand segments its market through behavioural and psychographic segmentation. Women want to look good and through sexy lingerie they are not only able to please themselves, but also their significant other. Even though lingerie is not exposed and is covered up, wearing well designed and pretty undergarments makes one feel good, like me, and every other woman. Since young women is La Senza’s prime target market, attractive lingerie, coming from a woman’s perspective at least, self-motivates them and increases their self-esteem. You never have that thought of feeling ugly. It is all psychological. To look good, women wear nice clothes from expensive brands, so the same goes for lingerie.
In terms of behavioural segmentation, once women are pleased with the product they’ve bought, they are very likely to go back and buy it again (or recommend it to their friends like I have). To compete with top brands in the US, like Victoria Secret, La Senza should continue to put effort and stick to the way it has already positioned itself in the lingerie market since day one. It shows that they are loyal to what they believe in and are unique and not just copying what other brands are doing. In order to succeed, they should make sure that they make people understand and realize the VALUE of their products.
Article: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2013/10/18/sexy-lingerie-chain-la-senza-to.html
Change in Consumer Behaviour Through Mobile Devices
Smart phones.
I’m sure that’s a term everyone has heard of. You won’t believe how much consumer behaviour has changed overtime through these devices! How can one small device create such a big change? Well, think about it! People use their smart phones for almost everything: texting, social media, online shopping, etc. I know I use my phone for checking my facebook, skyping, facetiming, or even listening to music. It’s something I never leave my site and have with me at all times.
This evolution has made businesses incorporate m-commerce into their business strategies. There are apps developed by every company so that consumers will download them onto their smart phones or tablets and use that to interact with the company. In fact, around 15% of mobile users use their cellphones for online shopping, and this is an area for potential growth. M-commerce will become the next best thing and many businesses will use this to advertise content to the general public. It has become a gateway for a new target market.
But would this transformation in consumer behaviour lead to future problems?
Although smart phones are transforming consumer behaviour, it can create future problems. The high usage of smart phones and the internet has caused future generation to be anti-social. They become addicted to the virtual world that they forget reality. Internet addiction HAS been classified as a mental disorder. It inhibits social interaction which has led to a phrase called “phubbing”.
Smart phones may be great in terms of a new business strategy, but what about the social impacts? How many hours a day do you spend time using your phone? How much time do you spend outside?
Try to avoid your phone for 24 hours and explore your surroundings. There’s a lot you could be missing out on!
Article: http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/growing-reliance-on-smart-devices-is-influencing-consumer-behavior-according-research-1836318.htm
Axe Black Chill – Insulting both men and women?
Axe is at it again. Their commercials, in the past, have spurred up a lot of comments about the way they degrade women, but their new commercial, Axe Black Chill, seems to insult both men and women.
The beginning of the ad starts off with “women getting hotter every year” and that “men cannot control themselves”. Axe has openly stated that men of our generation are no longer able to control their hormones when they see women around them, which does not improve the role of women in society.
This commercial clearly shows that Axe is targeting the youth. Their target market is, in fact, men ranging between 18 to 24 years old. Axe has segmented their consumers in a very interesting way mainly because men at these ages are vulnerable and are willing to do anything to impress women. They are at a point in their life where they have come to the real world and are ready to date, but how are they supposed to impress them? Well, through Axe (at least that is what all of their commercials seem to imply).
Axe may seem to do a good job at selling their products and becoming a popular deodorant brand for men, but their methodology will get old and people will stop buying their products. Axe needs to change its reputation. They should no longer market themselves as a brand that gets women…there are better ways to make men want to buy their deodrant. Everyone has come out of that mentality a while back.
Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/axe-commercial-suggests-that-women-ruin-everything_n_3689409.html
Pop-up Ads – A Tactic for Unethical Marketing
Have you ever streamed a video and the next thing you know you’re bombarded with pop-ups? Don’t you get annoyed? Don’t you just want to avoid them?
Everyone who uses the Internet has come across pop-up ads while visiting a website. These range from winning the lottery, to losing weight, or at times it can be an advert displaying sexual content. This form of advertising is unethical because they are filled with malware and are a way of retrieving personal information from online users. It makes the internet unsafe for minors who are very gullible and will click on it.
I remember when I was younger, there was a pop-up ad about a picture of me that was on a website. Me, being curious, clicked on it and ended up having my computer bombarded with pop-up ads about breast enhancements and other junk. I was overwhelmed and scared because of all the stuff I was reading. This incident shows that the internet is unsafe for minors because you never know what they are exposed to. Ads that target people like that makes it hard to protect the minds of youngsters from material we don’t want them to see.
Another issue with pop-ups is that sometimes they impersonate real companies. If consumers were to click on a pop-up thinking that it was, for instance, an ad by a well-known company and it ends up being spam, the company itself will lose customers and it will hinder its reputation.
Pop-ups, in my opinion, need to go. They create an unsafe environment online. Plus, they should never be a way for a company to advertise its product because they have a reputation of scamming people.
Say NO to pop-ups!
Save On Meats: A mecca for the Downtown Eastside
Save on Meats is a popular restaurant in Downtown Eastside, Vancouver. The owner, Mark Brand, is a social entrepreneur. Save on Meats is considered to be the “Mecca” of Downtown Eastside for several reasons. Firstly, Brand employs a number of locals to dishwash, sweep, linens, garbage, and much more. Secondly, Save on Meats is partnered up with a local meal program that feeds 480 locals per day, but it will soon be up to 1,500 people. Brand is planning on also fundraising for the Canucks Place Hospice and many other. Business does not always have to be about making a profit and keeping that for yourself, it can also be about giving back to the community. Brand is a great social entrepreneur that dedicates his time to giving back and employs people and helps them feed their family. Finally, Save on Meats has a great reputation because of what it does for the community and this is beneficial for a business as a whole. It’s a great form of marketing strategy and it gives the brand a good reputation as well as makes it more appealing to customers to check out the place especially with the social responsibility it upholds.
Article link: http://ubyssey.ca/culture/dtes-eats-975/
TVO kids to restructure to bolster kids digital innovation
TVO kids is planning on restructuring so that it reduces its costs and is reallocating its resources so that it boosts kids educational media. In order to do this they are merging six different departments into three which will be the finance department, technological, and content department. Fewer staff are being needed in the traditional TV section and will be reallocated to newer positions related to digital media. Current costs are being cut by 5% and raise self-revenues to C$22 million.
TVO kids is doing a good job as it is reallocating their resources towards children’s education. Especially since there is a lack of educational aspects in television these days. This will improve TVO kids reputation and it will create a new form of educational experience and will transform the way kids learn in the 21st century. Perhaps TV material from these shows will be used within the classroom more often and help with teachers teaching kids in a different manner. This is very advantageous for TVO kids as it will create it’s own point of difference by focusing on expanding and specializing in kids educational media. What TVO kids should do though is focus on marketing its new project.
Article link: http://kidscreen.com/2012/11/14/tvo-restructure-to-bolster-kids-digital-innovation/
Fujitsu to expand service sales amid lower hardware demand
The Japanese company Fujitsu has been experiencing a lack of demand for it’s hardware product so is planning to expand its sales of services. Profit has been declining for three years straight which is terrible as this could lead to the company going into bankruptcy if they are no longer able to pay for their costs of production. Fujitsu is planning on targeting corporate businesses rather than consumers. The reason is that technological advancements are big today and it business information technology plays a huge role in the survival of a company. Fujitsu creates the necessary computers parts that a corporation and company needs for example cloud computing. This is vital for storing information and as companies have a lot of information that they need to store and need to be able to access they would demand from computer service providers like Fujitsu. As a whole this new project should benefit Fujitsu since consumers are no longer demanding computer services due to the recession because these are not normal goods but are more luxury goods. In addition, this new strategy might help with the declining profits especially since sales this year were 2.4% less than last year.
Article link: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-18/fujitsu-to-expand-services-sales-amid-declining-hardware-demand
Comment on External Blog: Marketing for holiday insulting to veterans
Jim DeGolyer posted on a website and blogged about how insulted he was when a mattress company that tried to advertise for a sale during Veteran’s day called it a holiday. He says he has questioned many times before on the strategy of making all products into a sale during a holiday. DeGolyer’s opinion is true to some extent. When Marketing, it should be done in a way so that it does not end up insulting the general public, especially on a big day like Veteran’s day. This all comes down to business ethics. How are we supposed to act in a way so that we make everyone happy and not do something that is wrong? The fact that during a mattress sale the word “holiday” instead of “day” used is pretty insulting for Veterans because this day is a very special day and it is in the remembrance of all the lives lost. Generally, it is important, especially when marketing, to be careful on word play. The reason is that it can be insulting and misinterpreted and mostly the goal is to attract consumers and not drive them away.
Article link: http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2012/11/marketing_for_holiday_insultin.html