Alex's Random Thoughts

When I was randomly reading stuff earlier today, I found a interesting marketing blog through Jonathan Fung’s blog . The Canadian Marketing Blog is just simply talk about the marketing method in the Financial industry. For most people, they will just think that Banks don’t need to advertise itself, because people will just rush to the bank if their have a good performance, but this blog analysis the marketing skills that banks need to use to advertise themselves, which is a new idea for many people.

Today, I want to talk about a new category of product in the computer market, Tablet PC.

In Erick’s Blog, he thinks that all 3 companies are targeting the same market segment, but I think that Apple may target other segments at the same time.

As all we know, Apple is not just a computer company; for some people, Apple is even a religion. So when Apple have a new produce, it will target the market segment of the product based on the product’s design, function, price and performance. On the other hand, for people who think Apple is a religion, they will just buy everyApple’s product. It is always fun to watch people buying things for different reasons.

I was reading other people’s Comm296 blog and I found a interesting new in Pattie’s Blog.

The Canadian Olympic Foundation is going to reproduce the red mittens aging,but will there actually have people to buy a pair of those?

I think the red mittens are a seasonal product which is specifically for the 2010 Winter Olympic, and right now is almost 8 months after the Game already, is there anyone still want a pair of those? Since the Game is gone already, which means the season is gone either, so why do they think people are still demand for it? Without a doubt, the original  red mittens were a successful idea back to April,2010, but will they create another success this time? We will see.

Based on the success of  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the best FPS game of 2009, the up coming new game from the Call of Duty (COD) series has already  draw attention from the gammers, and surprisingly, it draw attention from the marketers too

The up coming new game from the Call of Duty series is Call of Duty: Black Ops, and it is going to be release on 09/Nov/2010, which is 2 days later.

As the release day is getting closer, some marketers started to use new COD game as a tool to market their products.

“Black Ops Wrangler”,  Soldier Systems http://soldiersystems.net/2010/11/05/black-ops-wrangler/

“In a marketing first, Chrysler has announced the release of a vehicle with a video game promotional tie-in: the Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops edition. Available in two variants, the two door version is based on the Wrangler Rubicon model while the four door is based on the Wrangler Unlimited model. Both models feature a black exterior with Black Ops graphics on the roof and front quarter panels, 32 inch off-road tires in a high-gloss mineral gray, and tail lamp guards and a fuel-filler door from Mopar. The MSRP on the two door is $30,625 and the four door is $33,500. Since there’s finally a Jeep with tie-ins to a video game, perhaps someone will consider releasing a UNSC Warthog in the near future. The fans can only hope…”

It is pretty interesting to see marketers link their products to the gaming industry, but as the gaming market is expanding, we will be more likely to see ads like this Jeep ad, link the gaming world and the reality together.

Last week, we  have talked about the ways that how the gun industry market their products to the shooting community. This week, I want to talk more about the defense industry.

For any product within the industry, the best way to advertise their products is field-tested by any combat force within any combat zone or armed conflict. The best example is the US military, because they are the most experienced combat force after World War 2 and basically every fight is their fight, so if the US military uses certain equipment on the battlefield, it is best advertising campaign for the companies within the arms industry.

Although normal people cannot buy a tank or a bomber, civilians can still legally buy small arms and personal equipment like tactical vests and body armor , so those companies usually market their products by slogans like “field-tested by the US Army” or something similar. These companies sometime even give out their products to some well-known combat forces like the 75th Ranger Regiment, SEAL, the 101st Airborne Division and USAF PARARESCUEMAN(PJs), and the soldiers will give those companies some photos that soldiers are using those products as a return for those “free gifts”; those companies will use those photos on their ads to promote their products.

Another way to attract buys’ attention is to get a NSN number for the product. A NSN number is a NATO Stock Number, or National Stock Number (NSN) as it is known in the US, is a 13-digit numeric code, identifying all the ‘standardized material items of supply’ as they have been recognized by all NATO countries including US DoD. Having a NSN on the product almost means that the product is accepted by the US combat forces, so having a NSN is a way to promote the product. Almost every hot selling items have NSN numbers, such as almost every product from a weapon lights company called” Sure-Fire”,   protective eye wears from “ESS” and “Oakley”, weapon sights from “EOTech”.

http://www.eotech-inc.com/product.php?id=2&cat=1

https://secure.usstandardissue.com/Product_Category.cfm?id=7

http://www.esseyepro.com/Crossbow_detail.html?color=27

http://www.narescue.com/C-A-T_-_Combat_Application_Tourniquet-CN33B7051138B3.html?BC=8A50801E34A7

http://www.surefire.com/nsn_ordering

As a competitive shooter, I always buy my gears either with NSN codes or tested by the others, because any mistake within the game will not only lose the game but also have a much higher chance to do serious damage or even kill the others or myself, compared with other sports.

After all the mid terms, I finally have some time during the weekend, so I decided to review so of my shooting training videos.

Although I watched those videos more than 10 times already, I realized that during the whole video, it is all MARKETING of different brands of guns and accessories.

During the video, Art of the Tactical Carbine 2 by Magpul Dynamics, you can find all the big brands within the shooting community, such as gun builders like Knight Armament Company(KAC)’s SR-15s and Wilson Combat’s 1911s, and accessories providers like SureFire’s weapon light systems and Magpul’s products.

Magpul Dynamics is  part of Magpul Industries, a successful gun accessories designer and manufacturer, and the company is a successful example of how marketing works in the gun industry. Magpul is comparatively young company within the industry, but having created the strategic identity and web marketing pieces fir itself and having its products used by the US military on the battlefield, Magpul turned into a famous gun accessories provider within a few years.

During the show, the instructors, Travis Haley and Chris Costa, are also famous people within the community, so if other companies’ products appear in the training video, it will be a great chance to market its product, because most people who actually use guns and the gun accessories (targeted market) will buy the videos anyways, so the guns and accessories providers for the video can contact their potential buyers through the video.

In conclusion, the general marketing skills for the shooting community are having pictures or videos of the product used by some famous people within the shooting community or famous organizations(i.e. the military, especially US Special Forces), because it is the way to proof that the product can be used in extreme environments efficiently, which is what gun users are looking for.

P.S.: I just found a comment about Magpul’s market strategy on a gun community’s forum.

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=275961

“First, EVERY successful company markets. Though all do it, they do not always do it the same way – but none-the-less they market. If you have a website – you are marketing. The top banners of this website contains marketing from a variety of companies.

Some market by names associated with their weapon (EB, Special Forces, Wilson’s Spec Ops, etc.), others by having their weapons associated with particular departments (SA, FBI, etc.), others market by having a laundry list of accomplishments by some of their smiths (Wilson, etc.), and yet others market by allowing others to test their firearms in certain training environments, etc. Some use a combination of several methods. So yes, this is a marketing strategy by NHC.

There is nothing wrong with marketing – as matter a fact it is a tool for business survival. In marketing, the manufacturer/builder must choose, or be chosen, by the right advertising or marketing source – if not then it is all a waste of time and $$. You don’t see Mercedes Benz advertising their cars by giving them to gang members; RATHER you see them with royalty and successful people. Proper marketing targets potential buyers thru proper channels; moreover they utilize reliable sources and capable people, etc. NHC works with MPD because most consider Chris and Travis to be individuals with extreme taste, reputable backgrounds, knowledge, and experience. Moreover, Chris and Travis like NHC because IT WORKS! It is reliable, dependable, and accurate, etc. Call them for yourself and they will confirm it! (using their own words of course…).” by 1911OP

In my opinion, humor and exaggeration are the keys for the advertisement to capture people’s attention, thats why most successful marketing campaigns can make  people laugh.

Today, I want to share some ads that I think is successful and funny.

Nikon D700 Billboard

I think this is a successful one because the advertising billboard in South Korea which flashes every time someone passes it, so people will turn around and try to understand the ad, so people will have remarkable impression of that product

Canon: Cyber Shot

As a Nikon user, I have to say that I dislike Canon, but the ads did capture me attention and made me want to borrow my friend’s Canon camera to try

Last night, when I was watching random videos on youtube, I just realized that most commercials have some kind of sexual appeal, so I did some research on wikipedia, and this is what I got:

“Sex in advertising is the use of sexual or erotic imagery (also called “sex appeal”) in advertising to draw interest to a particular product, for purpose ofsale. A feature of sex in advertising is that the imagery used, such as that of a pretty woman, typically has no connection to the product being advertised. The purpose of the imagery is to attract the attention of the potential customer or user. The type of imagery that may be used is very broad, and would include nudity, cheesecake, and beefcake, even if it is often only suggestively sexual.”

Apparently, a lot of advertisements used sexual appeal, and the most famous company should be AXE(personal opinion)

Welcome to UBC Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

In this blog, I would like to start with the camera brand that I love most, Nikon.

Nikon was found in 1917 in Tokyo, Japan, and its original name was Japan Optical Industries Corporation. In 1945, after the WWII the company transformed from a military industry which produce aiming device for the Japan military to a private company that  produce camera, microscope,  telescope and all kinds of optical products. In 1988, after the company lunched a successful series of cameras, “Nikon”,  the company was renamed Nikon Corporation by the camera series’s name.

Right now, Nikon is one of the best camera producer of the world, and it has different series of camera for different special needs, such as “Nikkor” lens for Nikon’s SLR/DSLR, “Nikonos” under water cameras, “Coolpix” DC series, F series 35mm SLR cameras (Most of the models have been stop production), and my favourite–D series DSLR.

Next week: product review of Nikon D60