Marketing Mania

Does he look familiar?

Maybe not.

Watch this video.

I’m guessing you’ll remember him now? Ya, I thought so.

I initially saw the video about the Bubba’s Hover on Adweek. The article by Tim Nudd really caught my attention because of the picture it had on display. After reading the article, it seemed plausible that the entire video was a prank considering it was “released suspiciously close to April Fools’ Day.”

After confirmation, Bubba Watson and Oakley really did collaborate on the new hovercraft that is designed by Neoteric Hovercraft. In my opinion, this is, hands down, the coolest thing to happen to golf.

This innovative design has many people asking for it in their local golf courses. But at a steep price of approximately $40,000 per vehicle, it is only making the rich man’s sport even richer.

So, what value does a $40,000 hovercraft bring to golfers?

• makes their sport infinitely cooler 
• allows for easier access of the golf course, especially on water and in the woods
• doesn’t mess up the flawless green grass

As I’m reading the blog posts of other students in my marketing class, I came across Angel Liu’s reflective blog post about her group and their final project.

I must agree with her that the marketing strategy assignments were a great way to practice all the theories that were taught in class by applying them to real world companies. However for the final part of the project, instead of making a video that included recommendations made by our groups, we should have presented the information in a different manner. For my team, we seemed to have spent more time thinking about the logistics of the video than on the content itself, which is the most important aspect of the project.

Ultimately, the project allowed me to learn the contents of the textbook and lecture slides in a more informative approach and it was enjoyable to have worked in a group where all the members contributed evenly and friendships were built.

Target, the everyday low price retailer that carries everything and anything, stepped outside it’s usually comfort zone this past Christmas since it collaborated with an American luxury specialty department store, Neiman Marcus.

The collaboration generated a line that boasted merchandises from 24 upscale designers such as Diane von Furstenberg, Oscar de la Renta and Tracy Reese. Each designer contributed a few new items that were specifically made for this co-branding strategy.

Many of the designers are famous for their clothing and accessories on the runway; however, for this particular partnership, they produced various merchandises from home décor to children’s clothing to novelty items (ie. The Alice + Olivia women’s 28” bicycle).

The initial thought that crossed my mind was “wow, designer items at a low everyday price? SCORE!” and I’m sure many agreed with me. But the unfortunate disappointment of the entire collaboration was deemed as “a partnership that was hyped to the hilt, and wound up as a major bust.” 

The primary set back of this partnership seemed to be the price; it wasn’t right. “The Target + Neiman line was priced from $7.99 to $499.99, with most items hovering in the $60 range.” Although the collection represented great value at affordable price points, it was still priced a little too high.

To compound matters, the timing of the promotion wasn’t right either. “The collection hit Target stores on December 1, sandwiched between the two most promotional peaks in the holiday shopping season: Black Friday and the final week before Christmas.” Therefore, when consumers were looking for bargains, Target was selling a full-price collection.

Through COMM 296, I’m able to analyze the success of the co-branding strategy. Ultimately, the integration and cohesiveness of the price and place were not well incorporated with the product and promotion.

Innovative designs and ideas have shaped our world drastically within the last decade. Starting from the ever-evolving designs of cell phones to the popular and easy-to-use tablets, our world has adapted quickly to these new technologies. Now in 2013, the technology industry is being introduced to another pioneer.

Glass, introduced by Google, is essentially a pair of glassless frames that has a “tiny prism display which sits not in your eye line, but a little above it.”

Bottom line = a wearable computer that has an embedded camera, microphone, GPS and ability to access the Internet without the use of one’s hands.

Glass is said to launch by the end of 2013, but even with only prototypes made, there has been competition in the market.

At a hefty price of approximately $1500, Glass is a very expensive investment. Despite that, I still believe innovators, those buyers who want to be the first on the block to have the new product, will be lining up for days.

American Apparel is a fashion retailer that makes its own rules, which has led it to grow to over 250 outlets throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

The strategy that American Apparel uses, which differs from other clothing retailers, is vertical integration.

         Vertical Integration (noun):
         the combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally
         operated by separate companies.

This trend-setting approach extends from how goods are sourced—American Apparel owns its sewing, design, and dyeing facilities—to the use of advanced technology to ensure American Apparel’s full range of merchandise is available to shoppers in a timely manner.

Why do they do this?

• avoids outsourcing
  • provides more work opportunities in U.S.
  • provides higher pay to workers
• reduces transportation costs
• captures upstream and downstream profit margins
• improves supply chain coordination
  • achieves a fast turn-around time from design concepts to finished products

Despite stepping into a new year, people still can’t seem to forget about the trends that were ignited in the past years. One particular health trend that really caught my eye was the motto of  “Eat Clean, Train Mean, Live Lean.” The health conscience individuals of 2012 constantly flooded the pages of Instagram and Twitter to show off the pictures of their delicious, healthy, and very visually pleasing foods.

But has anyone ever stopped to analyze if the claims made on the food labels were 100% accurate? Well, the FTC did. They began investigating the claims, starting with a company that we all know.

The company also used catchy slogans such as  “cheat death” and “life support”, which is accompanied by an image of the POM Wonderful bottle upturned and hanging from an IV rack.

My Opinion: It’s unfortunate that the FTC claims has given a bad reputation to the company because at the end of the day, POM Wonderful only produces pomegranates and pomegranate food products. It’s proven that “pomegranates are high in antioxidants, which are believed to fight the free radicals that can contribute to chronic diseases such as cancer.”

Ultimately, the company has engaged in false advertising since they were unable to provide scientific evidence to their claims. However, there is proof that shows the nutritious benefits of pomegranates and since POM Wonderful mainly uses pomegranate juice, can consumers still include POM Wonderful as a part of their “Eat Clean, Train Mean, Live Lean” motto?

You be the judge.