P.S. Heavy Dose of Satire. No Offence Intended!
Hockey Gear
$1,000!
Top Hockey Player
$7,500,000 PER YEAR
Economic Benefit of Stanley Cup Victory To Boston
Probably $10,000,000
Difference in Class
PRICELESS!
There are some things a money or education can’t buy. For everything else…There is MasterCard!
Almost every business in the world has customers. Unless you have someone consuming your product, you cannot succeed. To sell a product, it is essential to implement immaculate brand management. The most successful products, even if they aren’t necessities, employ successful brand management practices.
The same applies to us, as humans. In our lives, we try to achieve things. Amongst the factors that play an important role in our success is how we build our brand. When applying for a job, odds are, you and the next person who applied are as similar as water. You have the same skills and attributes to suit the job gained through different experiences, just like water is obtained from different sources. Imagine yourself at a convenience store at the aisle that stocks bottled water. It’s clear, transparent, and tasteless. Then why, do you pick up the bottle that you do?
Imagine a world where all water had the same price. Odds are if presented with two bottles, you’d end up picking the one which has more attractive packaging. Moving away from the water analogy, that is exactly what we as humans while applying for jobs are like. It is vital to build a brand for yourself and present yourself in a way that makes you stand out from the others. The reason a potential employer might pick you should be because although he knows that you, like water will give him benefits as a consumer, it is essential to remind him of those benefits in a way that makes them have a eureka moment.
And that, is precisely what my business communication class taught me. I am taking my first steps in the world by building my own brand and although we look at the lessons we learn from a employment point of view, it would make much more sense if we looked at them from a brand management point of view.
Since this is my final blog, I thought I’d do some community service. Hey Marketers, if you’re reading this blog, I’m going to give you some tips on how to market your products to a college demographic.
1.Youtube
Yes, we use youtube all the time! In Class, At Home, In the Library. Hell, some of us even use it when on the stall! Youtube is awesome. so if you can get your ad on Youtube you’re doing a great thing. Viral Videos = Win!
2.Facebook
We’re on facebook more than we’re on youtube. I guess that’s enough said.
3.Samples!
I mean, well, we’re usually broke most of the time. Most of our money goes in buying, other necessary stuff. Even if we’re really rich, we don’t really have TIME to go shop at places. So give us samples. Free Samples FTW!
4.Events
Sponsor our events and trust me, we’ll love you.
5.On Air Marketing
I know it usually works for kids but, sometimes watching our favorite character on our favorite show/movie use something really might tempt us into buying your stuff.
6.Any publicity is good publicity.
When Coach tried pulling away it’s bags from Snooki, that was a bad move. Why? Too many people watch Jersey Shore. That’s a lot of good exposure.
7.Hot Models
Sex Sells!
8.Athletes
Yeah, we’re really into our sports. Guys usually are, which sort of makes girls want to follow them too so well, that kind of makes everyone want to be like them and it affects everything
9.Be Green
Although we don’t really say it, we really do care a lot about the environment so if you do too, we’ll buy from you.
10.Let us get involved!
Customization, cause we love to be unique!
When I was 5 and first began playing soccer, every other kid on the team had a role model they wanted to be like. I remember being the only one on the team who didn’t want to follow anyone. Sometimes though, I wished I had some who influenced me. My coach once told me, it’s never too late to get influenced by someone.
This is a blog about how I got influenced by someone who I barely understood or knew the existence of until 16 months ago. Mike Sorrentino. Do you know him? Born in 1981? Italian-American? Maybe you’ll know his nickname. The Situation. Yeah, that’s right, the biggest influence in my life(only within 16 months) is The Sitch.
MTV aired a reality show about the Jersey lifestyle. And the rest as they say, is history. Although MTV comes out with many shows, not all of them do well. Jersey Shore surpassed all expectations. The first episode attracted 1.375 million viewers. That’s unprecedented for a premiere. It has only grown in popularity and the season three episode 2 garnered a whopping 8.87 million viewers. It has inspired an entire genre of similar shows. With a minimal promotion budget focussing on commercials, the show created a phenomenon, which is worthy of being studied in classes.
Back to The Sitch, He’s was an assistant manager of a fitness center who got unemployed and then shot to fame. A party animal, he uses his popularity not only to endorse his own line of clothing, vitamins, workouts, shoes, vodka and rap, but also being socially responsible about The Candie Foundation’s Pause Before You Play campaign.
His most famous contribution to mankind will be the discovering and categorizing the existence of“landmines, grenades, grenade launcher, submarine, tank and a-bombs.”
Did you hear about Alexandra Wallace? Hasan Baba? Rebecca Black? I’m sure you’ve heard of Justin Bieber then..no? Peter Chao? Each and every one of them is a Youtube phenomenon. While some turned out to be heroes, others flops. Irrespective of that they all share something in common, an unbelievably stratospheric rise in popularity and recognition. Whether or not their popularity is positive is another matter.
Let’s start with Justin Bieber. An obscure little kid from Ontario who hit big time through his viral videos about popular covers. While it can be argued that he had the talent, the fact that he got signed by Usher, under his music label is what counts. Rebecca Black, being touted as the next Justin Bieber, came out with a new video called Black Friday. Uploaded on February 10th, it skyrocketed to a point where she now has over 13.5 million views. Finally, let’s bring in Hasan Baba, while he has not made it big yet!, a video of his techno moves, rivaling Jersey Shore fistpumps, have already hit 6 million views in just 20 days.
Popularity is just limited to those who can perform, Alexandra Wallace who uploaded a rant about “Asians in the Library” created a sensation with almost a million views in less than a week. On the other hand, Peter Chao gets lauded for his risque racist humor and gets movie contracts.
This brings us to the potential of E-Marketing via viral videos. I truly believe that youtube videos are quickly becoming a preferable PR and attention grabbing tool by people wanting to create a sensation. The fact that videos are uploaded into the anonymous world of the internet assuring no consequences offers promoters a chance at promotion without creativity and time limit makes this one of the best forms of media.
P.S. Click on the Hyperlink to see the video.
Have you ever been on a website where an advertisement popped up, promoting something in the same geographic location?
While I do believe that it is absolute genius on the part of a company to target customers that way, I also believe that from a consumer’s point of view, it is a complete turnoff.
Honestly, it’s scary! Isn’t it weird to know that not only do these companies know where you live but, they also know what I like. I have a completely empty Facebook profile, very strict and high security settings and regularly clear my cookies but somehow, i’m still being tracked.
The funny part is I actually do remember most of the brands offered to me this way. I make sure I never buy from them again. Most of these advertisements are poorly conceived, relying on price as a basis of promotion. In my opinion, they lack creativity tying to entice the consumer by trying to differentiate the product based on price, which strips away almost all value from the product. Quite often they advertise sales/clearances, something which shows no confidence on part of the company in its product. I hope they stop soon. Because they are really annoying and are eating away at the reputation of the company.
Sorry to have kept my audience waiting a little bit longer today but, I was a little busy with a lot going on this week. Hopefully my content is worth the wait.
While hunting for another blog to reply to, I came across Patrick Go’s Blog about Sexual Content in Advertisements. Patrick argues about how sexual content could backfire from a Marketing point of view. Although I do agree that using sexual content in an advertisement would severely stunt a firm’s popularity amongst the mainstream population IF it were the only kind of commercial they chose to promote. However, while marketing to a specific target, especially men(could be women too), these commercials work wonders. While browsing youtube(yes, isn’t it fun to do during midterm week?) I came across some very unusual commercials using sex/women to sell products to men.
Now although I agree this commercial is from the Netherlands and not a single word makes sense but try guessing what it’s about…
Yeah, I know…who ever came up with the idea of selling an info line using a sexy car wash!
I do agree that the above does not really coincide with my topic. Here is something that does. First up a japanese backpack commercial. Again, the content makes no sense but, I am certain it is targeted towards adolescent boys still in school. Definitely catchy, I mean who would really want to see a backpack commercial?
Flipping things around a little, I feel that this concept is applicable to our fellow Venusian’s as well. I do not know how many females would really pay attention to a dessert commercial, especially with the whole dieting-and-stay-in-shape trend but Bonjour Dessert’s idea of using muscle heads as chefs, GENIUS!
My friend Kristel Co So, wrote a great blog post on February 3rd targeting commercials that tickle our funny bone and their impact. It was aptly titled “Bottoms up! for Heineken’s “Walk-in Fridge” Commercial”
While reading her blog, I could only think of the most memorable commercial I have ever seen. I was living in England in 1999 when the commercial first aired. It is quite possibly the funniest commercial I have ever seen. The commercial advertises Sweden’s most popular daily at that time, Expressen.
It features two middle aged guys sitting next to each other in a sauna. The shot only shows them above their shoulders and one of them tries to surreptitiously glance somewhere that is dangerously low between the other’s legs. When you see the commercial and figure out what he’s looking at, it turns out to be hilarious.
As a young soccer player, our entire team shared a gym and anyone caught naked would be ragged about their “wee-wee.” At that time, this advertisement made perfect sense and appealed to little me. While at the same time, I remember how the rest of my family, parents, grandparents, and cousins would also all tear up laughing while watching this commercial.
The commercial is very simple and manages to catch your attention easily. The fact that it manages to be funny without a single word being said makes it relevant across all cultures. I agree with Kristel about the impact of funny commercials and how they remain etched in our mind. I picked up my first newspaper after watching the commercial and every time I read one, I think of it.
Yes, I did make my father buy Expressen when we went to Sweden!
It can be seen here.
In one of my all time favorite movies, Fight Club, Tyler Durden(Brad Pitt) talks about the impact that marketing has had on us. He talks about how the success of marketing and the American Capitalist Society has been achieved by preying on people. Making us believe that certain luxuries are actually necessary. So great is the impact of marketing that we always end up buying stuff we don’t need. What Gen Y views as conveniences are luxuries that are marketed so successfully that we cannot imagine life without them. Brands are the order of the day. Rather than who you are, it is what you own that defines you.
For example, do we really need a cellphone? All we really need a phone for is making calls and there are ample payphones on every block. Even if we are somehow able to rationalize the need for a cellphone wouldn’t it be enough to have something functional rather than a smartphone?
How many of us really need a car? There’s always public transit, why a gas-guzzling Hummer over a Civic? Why a new car over a recycled(used one)? How many of us really need branded clothes? Or Branded coffee?
Or Branded anything? We all fall prey to marketing. And we need to re-think what we buy.
The movie really influenced my purchasing decisions. While making any purchases it is necessary to really evaluate, will I really need this? Am I going to use it? Is we get more environmentally conscious I feel it is important for us to think not only about the way the product was purchased but also what happens to it once we want to dispose it off
Move over celebrities who endorse products! Although around for quite some time now, I feel that celebrities moving towards creating their own brands is the next step in the celebrity marketing world.
The media is flooded with reports another celebrity launching something almost every other week. While browsing newspapers today, I read about Halle Berry’s new perfume, and became curious. I looked up about it online. Within the past 3 days, two celebrities, Halle Berry and Sofie Vergara(of Modern Town) announced their own line of products. Does launching celebrity brands really work? Let’s try to analyze with a few examples
It all started with tennis player Jean Rene Lacoste who established the green crocodile that adorns most of our polos today.
As more and more brands start using celebrities to endorse products and we get habituated to them, some very smart celebrities(and firms) are teaming up with celebrities to create a line of products or even celebrity owned brands. Paris Hilton is the first one that comes to mind. Although not famous for anything really she started off with her own bottle of perfume from Parlux Fragrances which raised Parlux’s sales by 47%. Parlux followed it up with several fragrances bearing Paris’ name. Of course she now has her own line of hair extensions, footwear, fashion, and accessories line. At one point of time, she even had her name on certain nightclubs.
Finally, another example is former Spice Girl, Victoria (Adams) Beckham who has her own line of clothing(of which her denims are the most famous) and perfumes which is immensely successful.
So to conclude, I do agree that celebrity brands work extremely well. Whether it’s a successful athlete, a moderately successful pop star or a not so successful heiress. Some clever marketing can make all the difference.