Andy Kong's Blog

Throughout this Marketing course I learned that working with diverse team members that we don’t get to choose can be more enjoyable than working with a team that I choose. Throughout my years at Sauder, I could say that the team that I was assigned in this class was one of the most diverse. It was more refreshing to work in a group that I didn’t get to choose, as it allowed me to meet new students. Whereas, in past group projects, I would choose my team members, and they were usually my friends who already shared similar perspectives with me. As for what I learned about marketing, I have always had this idea that marketing was all about advertising, and commercials, and slogans. However I learned that it is possible to develop a strong recognizable brand now, so that the brand can be known to consumers without any advertising in the future. Also, I learned that it is vitally important, how consumers perceive your brand, and what it stands for. A company may think its positioning itself as being the top restaurant, or top car manufacturer, or top whatever company, but it needs to stop and think of how consumers perceive the value of that brand. The top takeaway from the course, is to not underestimate the power of marketing, consumer perception, and brand equity, as this can be the difference between earning a profit or a loss. Even if a company is offering a superior product, if consumers perceive the brand to be inferior, they may choose another brand who’s product is actually of lesser quality. This can be the cost of ineffective positioning and weak brand management. As, it is true for a business, this lesson can also be applied personally, as often times how we perceive ourselves will not be the same as how others perceive us. Thus we may not be getting the success, treatment or results we want in our lives, not because we lack the competency, but because of erroneous perceptions that could be fixed, if we stop and think of how we are positioning ourselves in society. In summary, we can think of ourselves as being responsible for our own personal brand.

Came across a short marketing tip from JimsMarketingBlog.com, titled: “Quick Marketing Tip- Stop Trying to Appeal to Everyone”
Read it Here: http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2013/03/02/quick-marketing-tip-stop-trying-to-appeal-to-everyone/

Basically Jim states that:

“One of the golden rules of successful marketing, is to identify exactly who your customer or client is, then focus exclusively on them. This is the opposite of what we see most small business owners doing. They try and be a little relevant to everyone and succeed in being directly relevant to no one.

Don’t do that. Really. Stop it. It’s hurting your marketing and hurting your business.”

He goes on to say focused marketing on one specific segment of your most important consumers is a much better use of resources. He says that the most important thing is to find your main customer profile and then suggests simple practical things to reach them such as:

• Write with them in mind.
• Use their language.
• Study what matters to them.
• Be where they are.
• Uncover the problems facing their industry or industries.
• Offer answers.
• Become a useful resource.

From my own personal experience, I can also attest to the idea that trying to appeal to everyone is generally not a good idea. My family runs a small business, and we try to always try to focus on what our main customers value. This is key, as small business’s really don’t have to resources to appeal to all groups. For business’s with limited resources, I beleive the best strategy is to Determine which groups are the best contributors and make sure those groups are satisfied.

I was reading my classmate, Lauren Telford’s blog post titled, “ Tobacco Marketing: The Smokey Shade of the Grey Area”. Lauren goes over how advertisements and marketing for tabacco products and cigarettes is unethical, misleading and downright dangerous. 399 smokers die daily in the US from these products, and so the obvious question is, to what extent did Marketing campaigns contribute to these deaths? Well, Lauren states that within 1 year, from 1954 to 1955, there was a 3241% increase in Marlboro sales, when Marlboro introduced the “Marlboro Cowboy”. The tobacco industry is now forced to put labels on their cigarette packages that warn users of the dangerous of smoking. Nevertheless, it seems even with the warning labels, and the common knowledge that smoking kills, many of today’s youth are still inclined to try it and become habitual smokers for the rest of their lives..

I agree with Lauren that ethical norms and regulations should be enforced when it comes to advertising dangerous products  such as those implemented by the AMA, American Marketing Association. However, to counter the marketing efforts of the powerful Tobacco Industry, and the idea that smoking is cool, I feel that counter-ads can be an alternative solution… Check out this one below..

Just stumbled upon a great analysis of Samsung’s move towards focusing on new innovative software by YouTube Blogger Marques Brownlee..
(Check out the video below) Traditionally, I always felt that Samsung Smartphones offered the best specs in terms of hardware, while Apple had the best software. But as the keynote suggests, Samsung is heavily promoting the value of their new software upgrades in a very similar way, that Steve Jobs and Apple has done with the Iphone in the past. Consumers place more value in what their Smartphones can do for them in terms of functions and applications, rather than on knowing what their phone is “capable” doing. Of course there will always be the tech nerds/geeks that will always focus on the technical specifications of the hardware when they make their purchase. But to me, it seems that Smartphones have become so powerful, that they have more than enough  capability of running most applications. Therefore, companies like Samsung and Apple should focus on developing new innovative software that makes our lives easier…

After watching the review, I must admit that the Samsung S4’s new features are really quite impressive indeed, so
I am curious to see how Samsung’s new S4 will compete in the marketplace…

I recently saw this video, where Samsung gives consumers a glimpse of what kind of new technology is going to come out for new smartphones, tablets, and portable computing devices. Check out the video to see this OLED technology , which is basically a full colourful animated display, on a film like screen. The display/screen is amazingly thin, clear, high resolution and it seems flexible…
I am very curious to see how this technology, will shape, influence and change all the smartphones, tablets and laptops we see today. We saw how Apple revolutionized the mp3 player, cell phone and tablet market with the introduction of the “TOUCH SCREEN” in the iPhone. The “touch screen” changed the way companies designed their products, styled their products, and other industries such as App Developers, and Software companies, were forced to cater their products to adapt to the emergence of the Touch Screen. Will the new OLED technology be the next big thing that changes the Market? I personally believe that this has the potential  to be the next big leap in mobile electronics.

For all the women out there that love diamonds and  designer shoes, Kathryn Wilson, New Zealand’s most successful footwear designer, has teamed up with Sarah Hutchings of Orsini Fine Jewellery to create the product for you. This is the worlds most expensive high heeled shoe for the well heeled consumer.  This shoe is decked out with white diamonds, carefully attached to the shoe with extreme detail. Who can purchase such an expensive item? I would expect some kind of real life princess, or  wealthy socialite. Whatever the price though, I am sure these shoes will be purchased surely and swiftly by the Paris Hilton’s, or Kim Kardashian’s of the world… This is an example of extreme Prestige Pricing. Now, whenever the purchaser attends those fancy social events, balls, banquets, she can literally say, she walks in the most expensive foot wear in the world…
Personally, I feel this is ridiculously excessive, and quite vain, indeed, $500,000 USD for a shoe, yikes..

With the job market more competitive than ever, I think students should not only focus on their grades, but also they should learn how to market themselves to land their job positions after graduation. It seems networking, and the saying, “its not what you know, but who you know”, is  definetly more true in today’s job market, as  so many jobs are offered through referrals. I wish I had learned the importance of  self marketing, sooner…Oh well better late than never..  It doesn’t have to be overly expensive or fancy, but creating things such as your own personal blog, or promoting your business through a facebook page, or a YouTube Channel, or a Linkedin page, to show your audience what you are all about, can really give you an edge and make you stand out in the sea of job applicants… Check Out the video above, that My Team  and I made, as an example of Self Marketing, this was a video made to promote the CA designation and was our team’s entry into the “2012 Become a Chartered Accountant YouTube Contest”. Yes that is me, in the Video.

Mercedes has recently announced its newest model, targeted at the younger generation of young urban professionals. Traditionally, the average Mercedes Benz buyer is about 40-60 years old, mostly due to the price of their vehicles being too unaffordable for younger consumers. The CLA, is going to be priced lower than the current C-Class, and Mercedes Benz hopes it will redefine the brand’s image and capture the market of younger car buyers looking for their first car. Starting at $29,900, the CLA is going to be one of the cheapest models Benz has to offer. I believe its main selling points are going to be its stylish good looks, its luxurious brand image. In comparison to other competing cars, at this price range, brands such as Honda, Infiniti, and Nissan, offer more performance and features per dollar.. However as I said before, the CLA is going to rely on its premium exterior style and brand power to sell itself.

Being designed after the much more expensive Mercedes CLS, we can see that the CLA offers beautiful exterior design at 1/4 the price.. To illustrate how important this car will be to the brand in 2014, Mercedes Benz has promoted the CLA very heavily over the last couple of months, at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, and also at the most recent SuperBowl, with costly advertisements featuring Supermodel Kate Upton and Karlie Kloss. We can expect to see the new CLA on sale in Canada and the USA, starting in Fall 2013.

-New CLA Ad featuring Supermodel Karlie Kloss

I stumbled upon this ad by Levis stating that they are going to introduce a new line of jeans which are partially made out of Recycled Bottles. Their slogan, ” Our Jeans are Made out of Garbage”. I personally think that although Levi’s goal to appear environmentally friendly to its consumers is understandable, this type of marketing ad may have adverse effects. Levi’s has always been associated as being a high quality premium brand of clothing. Are consumers going to view the brand in the same light, or are they going to be willing to give up $60-$100 on a pair of jeans that are “made out of garbage”? Levi’s claims that the polyester fabric derived from the recycled bottles, is strong, flexible, and offers a unique color, however, I think they should really re-consider the way they market this new product. Surely stating that your jeans are ” made out of garbage” is not an effective way to demand a premium from your consumers..