Austin Smith's Business Blog

The Marketing knowledge I have gained this term has been immense. I’ve gained an excellent foundation for approaching business cases. Firstly, the assignments, course content, and examples in class have enabled me to really expand my innovative thinking and apply Marketing Context into business cases. I feel confident that I am now able to dissect any company and present a thorough company analysis. I’ve been able to examine companies by looking at their core customers, company values, competition, and where they stand in the industry. It is critical to look at both internal parts of the company and external parts using the CD-STEP formula for Marco-environmental factors/influences. Once a thorough company analysis is complete, I’ve learned that segmenting, targeting and positioning are the next critical phases to a Marketing plan. Using the Segmentation Attractiveness criteria, we’re able to determine the optimal segment and target market. The next step is to build and critique the product mix by examining the product, price, place, and promotion.

In this last assignment, our team had to decide creative ways for EA Games to gain success in the industry. We looked at their products, noticed that they are shopping products, that the industry is in a growth phase, and that along with the products of EA, they have great services to go with those products. When creating a product, it’s important to look at the core customer value, then the actual physical features, and most importantly, have services to go with it. We tried to emphasize EA’s services that are giving the business a sustainable competitive advantage in the video game industry. The pricing strategy would be price penetration for their mobile games as we’re trying to attract more customers to the company in a segment that targets mobile games for consumers. The strategy for “distribution/place” is to improve the online store that EA has, which is called “Origin,” in our assignment we tend to emphasize that our status online has potential to become strong. For “promotion”, we incorporated an advertisement, and the objective of this advertisement was  a pull strategy, to stimulate demand of the end consumer. All and all, this course has been very educational, and the assignment was very interesting to apply all of our course concepts into actual context with EA Games.

As of today, Lululemon announces their new line extension of yoga paints and mats but this time their apparel is crafted in leather! Did anyone see this coming? Personally I had no idea that leather apparel for yoga would be desirable. When we think about the marketing mix, specifically Product “P,” Lululemons marketing team had to think of every little detail before adding depth to their yoga products.First off, to enable a new line extension, it is vital that your company has strong brand equity to allow the depth of your product to be successful. Sometimes, when a company adds depth to their product line it can sometimes ruin the existing line of products. Lululemon has done an excellent job gaining the trust of their consumers, and I believe that consumers will accept this new yoga product. Currently in the product life cycle, the leather yoga pants and mats are in the introduction stage. The products are new to the world, and it’s important that Lululemon masters promotion to allow for transition into the growth stage of the product life cycle. I think they have done an excellent job through this promotional ad linked here. Through their promotional ad, immediately the consumer has affection for all the sustainable practices that are involved making the products. I believe that Lululemon will see a growing number of new consumers to their existing customer base and that this is an excellent route to expand their brand. Right on Lululemon! Keep the creativity and sustainable practices going!

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URL used:

http://shop.lululemon.com/miscellaneous/productnotfound.jsp;jsessionid=EF0BC61F3B006B5D55121C3901950030?_requestid=3724251

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og0uyUEr1PA

On the topic of retail marketing, Jason outlines a set of guidelines in which every retail marketer should consider when making decisions:

Jason’s Top Five Shopper-Marketing Tips:

1. Understand—definitively—who your shopper is
2. Establish a shopper-marketing owner.
3. Dissect your shopper’s path to purchase
4. Define your objectives upfront
5. It is nothing without the insight.

My goal in this blogpost is to elaborate a little more on what Jason said, essentially to really get that point across to my fellow readers, that the key to successful retail marketing is so identifiable that marketers often miss the thing that solves success. You might be wondering what’s this so called “antidote” that I am talking about, well, it’s simple…it’s the consumer. To be a little more specific, it’s the actions of the consumer that we must all carefully examine every day with whatever business we run. We’ve all heard of the quote “actions can be more powerful than words” and I think that this quote really resonates here. If we break apart this quote in more abstract thinking, we can depict that the “words” represent the driving forces – the content on banners, advertisements, and signs – on the marketing side. The “actions” represent the interactions – the way people decide which product to examine, which direction they decide to go, and the driving force of how much time they spend in a store – on the consumer side. It is important when running a business that we study the psychology of consumer behavior, and then integrate the actions we examine for the consumers to add value for their next visit. With the five shopper-marketing tips in mind, “an increase in sales” as Jason states in his blog post will be the result.

Austin’s Top Five Shopper-Marketing Tips:

1. Have a strong distribution channel. A good product, with the right price, and the right promotion is nothing without distribution.
2. Add value for the consumers with your distribution – do it faster, lower costs, more contacts, do whatever it takes to add value for your consumers
3. Monitor the behaviour of your consumers, if you see changes in their purchasing decisions, this could be influenced by growing trends in society, so, stay up to date with current events and growing trends.
4. Always be conscious about your competitors. Make sure that your company can be ready to adapt to technological changes, which will allow your company to keep up with competition.
5. Retailers need to be making changes to their entire marketing mix. When you make a change in your marketing mix for whatever product or service, really monitor its results. If there needs to be a change, make sure you timing is right when making that change. It can be useful to study patterns in the fiscal quarters, and examining where there might be an opportune moment to make that change.

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URLS used:

http://www.bcbusiness.ca/retail/marketing-to-shoppers

https://twitter.com/DDBCanada

Dove makes it clear in their advertisement, that the soap industry has had its fair share competitors who mislead their consumers into buying beauty products with photo shopped models in their commercials. The skin results, body sizes, and skin color of the models are all characteristics that are featured when a company markets their soaps and beauty products.

Dove makes a bold statement allocating their funds for an ad that doesn’t target their consumers, but to the other developers, and graphic designers in the industry who work for other companies to stop their false advertising. As much as I am a strong support of Unilever, and use their products daily, I think that this was an unsuccessful message. Dove hired Oligivy & Mather to create this add, I think they could have created a more results orientated commercial valuing their consumers as there will always be companies who have graphic designers that make those touch ups.  Consumers are aware that there is lots of false advertising, but I think in this industry especially, if Dove can continue to send the message that they’ve been around for decades, and their products have natural medicinal ingredients, they will gain more consumers. Also, with Dove launching this ad, it goes to show that companies are always examining the external environment and constantly keeping updated with their competitors activities.

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URL used: http://ht.ly/is5SK

RED is an organization that is fighting for an aids free generation in Africa. This organization really resonated with several professional athletes, most notably Didier Drogba who plays for Chelsea Football Club in the English Premier League. This advertisement says it all.

Drogba’s passion for change really inspired a lot of professional Athletes to wear the red laces to support the cause.  Players in the Professional Soccer League all the way to Tennis league with players like the Williams sisters wore the red laces.

I think Nike has done a great job on the basis of Value Based Marketing:

1. Nike Maximizes Value – As the sponsor the RED organization, people feel empowered buying these laces as consumers can relate themselves to all the pro athletes who also share the same red laces. They offer consumers a feeling of wroth, something that’s intangible, a feeling of goodness.
2. Nike thinks about Long-Term Focus- Nike realizes that Athetlic Apparael is a huge market share for their company, and the Soccer market is extremely profitable. Entering the market with more differentiated products that support good causes really give them the sustainable competitive advantage over other sport companies.
3. Nike values Relationships –This continues to allow Nike to expand globally and give them a positive reputation and a feeling of acceptances in mixed cultures all over the world. Nikes shareholders also feel good about their investments and commitments to the company as they promote this great cause

It’ll be interesting to see the next step for the RED organization and Nikes partnership. Perhaps there will be more limited edition laces, sport bands, and sport wear that will be released in the mere future to further expand Nikes product line, and boost donations for the RED organization.

Here’s a video on the organizations mission and vision:

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URLS used:

http://www.joinred.com/press_releases/nike-and-red-unite-to-leverage-the-power-of-sport-to-fight-hivaids-in-africa/

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/5732623/arsenal-0-3-chelsea—terry—drogba

Today, I plan to solely concentrate on one of the five promotional mix strategies- advertising. Volvo has designed a very clever advertisement in which I think the North American demographic can really relate to. This illustration has many layers and I am going to try and break it down into to what I think Volvo is trying to communicate:

1. The floor plans resemble a consumer in the middle class. I say that, because the house appears relatively small, but comfortable for a new family and presumably a middle income family.
2. Clearly everyone can observe the car labelled as “living room.” I’d like to elaborate a little more. Volvo gets us thinking that yes, we do spend quite a lot of time on the road- as vehicles are our main mode of transportation. It makes practical sense to have a comfortable vehicle if you are spending “almost as much time in our cars as we do in our living rooms” stated in the description above in the advertisement.
3. An investment in a car can be a big decision, and to some, the second biggest decision after purchasing a home. The title “Volvo for life” really symbolizes that committing with their mini vans; you’ll get a lot of value out of them, almost as much as your living room in your home.

Recently in one of our past lectures, we were taught that brand = trust. Volvo has most certainly earned the trust of their consumers, allowing them to afford to go along with this print campaign that could be confusing to some consumers at first, but effective nonetheless to their loyal Volvo fans.

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URL Used: http://d-lists.co.uk/2011/02/24/30-innovative-print-ads/

Today, I plan to blog about an intriguing video I stumbled across on YouTube. I am not necessarily proud of how I came across it though…it was one of those days when you get lost in the YouTube world and start clicking on the side bar clips for countless number of hours for no apparent reason. Please watch this video before you continue to read through my blog post:

The Break Up

Microsoft Advertising launched this interesting clip quite a while ago; however, I still think it is relevant in today’s world of Marketing. Microsoft has communicated that one of the main problems faced in both agencies and large corporations today, is the lack of connection between consumers and advertisers.  Advertisers must not be reluctant to change their campaign initiatives in the marketplace. This is important to keep in mind, as consumers tastes can vary, especially in today’s world as we constantly see vast changes in technology. Products and services are so readily available online, and this causes consumers tastes to change quickly as information is so accessible.

Canadian Marketing Company Inventa had no issue connecting consumers with CIBC- their client- this past summer on a project in Toronto, Canada.   The project values the practice of experimental marketing. This is a great technique that can bring any consumer and company together to form a fostered relationship. This clip really illustrates the type of work Inventa values to help out their clients such as CIBC.

Inventa project for CIBC

It is important, as a company, to get out of a comfort zone, and approach things a little differently.  Adding value in the consumer’s life is of upmost importance if a company plans to succeed. In the first video clip, the lady (the consumer) mentions to the man (the advertiser) that “they aren’t talking anymore” and she wants “a divorce” – I think CIBC solves this problem by connecting with lives of their consumers. The man (the advertiser) reflects many companies that are completely off track consumers, who stick to their old traditional styles of marketing, which will evidently cause consumers to shift their consumer-preferences and go try out a new branded product, or service.

Lance Armstrong finally confesses to the world that he is a user of performance enhanced drugs. Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Lance says it all.

With Nikes continued support, the Livestrong Foundation will be able to stand on its own. Both the brands have positive futures with their decisions to drop Lance. This will enable continued sales for Nike and fundraising for the cancer cause.  The foundations supporters and the consumers of Nike are glad that the two have displayed strong ethical behavior with their recent decisions. The result of great ethical behavior (dropping Lance) will be strong financial return and strong social return for both brands. People today still see the Livestrong Foundation as a cancer charity that stands strong, separate from its founder. Livestrong has a lot of opportunities with Nikes continued support.  It is the right move by Nike to drop their sponsorship deal with Lance as Nike “does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner.” Nike has avoided what could’ve been a huge loss in sales with their products. Nike has strong value-based marketing with the ability to understand its customers. Nike products with the Livestrong emblem on some of their products accounts for nearly 100 million in revenue.  Nike demonstrates corporate social responsibility and strong ethics supporting the cancer foundation. The company is mindful that their consumers don’t value figures like Lance Armstrong.  An important take away is that anyone in marketing must recognize the ethical implications of their actions. Every company must be cautious about what they stand for, and who they support.

For more information on the Livestrong foundation and Nikes contribution, check out the Livestrong corporate partner page.

Article Used:

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2012/10/17/Nike-Drops-Lance-Armstrong-101712.aspx

In my colleague Tom Tang’s blog post, the topic of Kodak’s future was raised. Kodak is in a dilemma with no way of getting out.

To further Tom’s blog, I examined what I thought might have contributed to the downfall of the company. The organizational structure of Kodak was clearly missing a solid management team. Kodak did not advance out of their past successes when the company was a notorious leader in the chemically photographic age of cameras. Kodak fell behind in the digital revolution.  Companies such as Fuji, and Apple were technologically innovative unlike Kodak which clearly shows that without the drive, the company will not go anywhere. When a new dominant technological product hits the market, companies need to adapt quickly. Kodak ceased to come up with new innovative products such as Fujifilm and I-phone. In doing so, they did not deliver consumer needs, thus, the company gradually lost market positioning.  It’s definitely too late to find the managerial talent and market leadership needed to transform the company internally. Because Kodak’s management team has not pushed for innovation, the company continues to fall behind in keeping up with its competitors in a market they once dominated.

Image Link:

http://0.tqn.com/d/dc/1/0/W/g/kodak_camera.jpg

I recently came across Connors blog which covers the issue on the Occupy Wall Street continuing to be a frustrating pandemic. This movement has caused other countries to retaliate and the protestors have gained very little progress. My colleague Connor has brought up this issue here.

In my opinion I strongly agree with what Connor has stated. I have a couple points to further his discussion. Although I am a part of the 99%, I don’t share the same views as the protestors. These protestors are trying to achieve the equality of taxation and re-distribution of wealth but they are not making a strong case through their actions. Recently in Vancouver a young lady passed away on the scene of the protest. The paramedics and the police have been stationed around the camp setup which is coming straight out of taxpayer’s money. Occupy Vancouver has only wasted resources and caused many disturbances throughout the city. This only furthers my disappointment with the effectiveness of their movement. In a sense I think they are making little progress. No protestor reflects the positive social change that they are supposed to be standing up for.

 Images:

http://www.imperfecteconomy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/800_cp_occupy_vancouver_made_in_vancouver_111016.jpg

http://604events.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/occupy.jpg