In our last day of class, we saw the Kit Kat promotion strategy video. It was really clever for Nestle to design a new Kit Kat package and include the post as one of its distribution locations. The strategy of having stocks of Kit Kat in the post is really advantageous for the consumers. It is convenient for consumers to buy and send the product in just one place. I also think it is convenient to have the Kit Kat selling in the post because the product’s packaging is similar to a postcard. Since the post delivers almost anything, especially in the form  of written communication, such as letters, it is reasonable to have the Kit Kat message sent with the product itself.

However, I believe that Nestle’s strategy was successful in Japan mainly because it reflected some traits of the Japanese culture. I have observed that many Asian countries give a great importance to family and friends. Maybe for that reason, the Kit Kat strategy is so successful in Japan because people can send messages to their beloved ones. I believe that Nestle could be even more successful if it expanded this strategy to other countries. I think majority of the countries would accept the product, since people will be able to write a message and at the same time, send a treat to their beloved ones. Besides, everyone loves chocolate!

As I was searching for an external marketing blog online, I found an interesting post by David Wolfe called “The Brain Thinks Brands are People” . David explains the functions of the left and right side of the brain. He says how a company’s logo like the Michelin Man is more than a simple cartoon. A logo has a great influence in a consumer’s life, since it represents the services and products a consumer consumes. In addition, I think the title chosen for the article was really clever because we often associate brands with people. Many times we have celebrities in mind when we think about a specific brand for instance. The reason for that is because we value brands. Like a celebrity, a brand can capture consumers’ attention. Indeed, brands determine who we are. More than connecting with our life, brands represent our lifestyle.

I really enjoyed checking David Wolfe’s blog. I found other interesting posts besides the one I discussed today. His motivation to keep sharing his interests with the marketing world shows how everyone is updated with the world and technology, especially elderly people.

One of Shaan’s recent blog posts that caught my attention was about McDonald’s advertisement. McDonald’s is giving free coffee for two weeks. I agree with Shaan about the strategy used by McDonald’s to get more customers to try McDonald’s coffee, a product that is new in its chain. I don’t think that McDonald’s mainly intention is to compete with other coffee shops, since it is the most popular food chain worldwide. I believe it only wants to advertise some of the other products it is selling besides hamburgers. By offering more products, McDonald’s is able to attend various consumer segments who prefer to drink cofee, tea or juice, instead of soda. I also agree with Shaan that the free coffee technique is a way to build cutomer loyalty. Consumers who frequently consume McDonald’s have more choices of beverages now and are more satisfied with McDonald’s variety. The strategy used is also very wise, since the cold weather combines with warm beverages like coffee. Therefore, consumers are likely to go to McDonald’s to have a free warm drink and a hamburger in addition!

As I was reading Jenny’s blog post this week, I found a really similar topic from what I posted on my blog last week. I agree with Jenny about how customer service decreases in quality when stores go on sale. Last week in my blog, I discussed about how the different pricing strategies affect consumer behavior in relation to buying a product. Interestingly, Jenny commented about how stores deal with sales and its impact on customer service. When a store is on sale, its main strategy is to have as many consumers in its store as possible. As Jenny mentioned, customer service decreases during sale period. Consumers in a way save money by receiving the 50% off, but the poor service may lead them to never come back to that store again. Since the price consumers pay is their sacrifice for getting a product, they may come to the conclusion that saving 50% is not worthwhile.

I really enjoy when stores go on sale, however I dislike the customer service provided, especially when you cannot try the clothes you are buying because there is no one in the fitting room area to help you. Every sales person is busy with the huge amount of customers in the store. When stores go on sale, our first instinct is to buy as much as possible. Sometimes you buy a product just because it is with a discount. It just feels like if you don’t buy anything, you are losing a great opportunity. Buying a product for a reduced amount does not always mean a gain. Many times you buy clothes because you think the price is worth it, but later you find out that you will never wear that clothes because you don’t really like it. As a result, stores should think about brand loyalty when offering a sale, since they can either increase the number of loyal customers or drastically decrease that number by just basing on their customer service performance during sale period.

Chapter 13 reading was quite interesting, since it talked about the pricing concepts. We, consumers, are the main target when it comes to pricing a product for sale. The section of the reading “legal and ethical aspects of pricing” made me reflect back at my past purchases in stores that use a deceptive price advertisement strategy to attract consumers like me. It is very common to find store with the “buy 1, get the 2nd 1/2 of the price” deal. This strategy is commonly used in clothing stores. Clothing stores are always updating their catalogue. Fashion trends change all the time and so do the clothes in the stores. The “buy 1, get the 2nd one 1/2 of the price” deal is most commonly offered when a new catalogue is coming soon. Stores try to sell as much inventory as possible and offering consumers this kind of deal is a way of reducing inventory. They encourage consumers to buy as much as possible by giving them discount according to the number of clothes they buy. However the discount is only applied to the least expensive clothes.

Another pricing strategy in clothing stores is giving more discount as more items are purchased. They set a minium purchase amount criteria in order to apply the discount and basing on that, as more someone spends, the more discount they receive. I think this is a clever strategy, since consumers think that they are getting a good deal by buying more. Many times consumers buy more clothes just to receive more discount. This strategy makes consumers tempted to buy more, since they believe they are paying less for more clothes. As a consumer, I remember how this pricing strategy made me confused about the clothes I was buying. When you start selecting the clothes you want to buy in order to receive the discount, you realize that the pricing strategy has in fact tricked you. You will receive a greater % of discount as you buy more, but you will also need to pay more for the amount of clothes purchased. As seen, these pricing strategies are very effective in grabbing consumers’ attention and persuading them to spend more than they expected.

Today, people are more aware about preserving the environment and opting for eco-friendly products. Indeed, not only supermarkets sell these type of products, but some stores also have some eco-friendly products available. Many companies are applying the “preserve the nature” idea in its product. Plastic is a common recycling issue. An example of that is water bottle. Since majority of the bottled water sold in the market use plastic, companies are trying to reduce the percentage of plastic in each bottle. The water brand “Poland Spring” designed a very light bottle that uses the least amount of plastic, but in the same time, stores the liquid inside. Also, the company reduced the amount of plastic used to make the cap of the bottle. When we buy a bottled water, we don’t really think about the percentage of plastic that is used to make a single bottle. We just drink the content and dispose it. That is why I think “Poland Spring” was efficient in delivering its product. Since we dispose the bottle every time we finish drinking it, I don’t think companies that use more plastic in its bottle have an advantage, especially when it comes to green consumers.

Another really common product that is sold in every supermarket is the eco-friendly bag. It is resistant and reusable and it substitutes the plastic bags when you are grocery shopping. In some places, for example, charge you for plastic bags. Although most places give you free plastic bag when you purchase something, there are some places in Vancouver that don’t give them for free. Instead, they made plastic bags as an additional selling item. Therefore, it is always advantageous to bring your own grocery bag, since you can save money and preserve the nature.

Appearance is certainly one important criteria in judgment. When I was a child, my parents would take my sister and I to go grocery shopping. I really enjoyed those times because my parents would buy most of the things I liked to eat, except chips and soda. I would grab the most beautiful packaged product and put it in the cart and my Dad would ask me, “Why do you want to buy this?” And I would say, “Because it is pretty.” Consumers in general, especially children, are attracted to beautiful packaging. We usually think that beautiful packaging equals better quality. However, we can be mistaken with this marketing strategy. As a consumer, I think that if a company invest time in designing beautiful packaging, then it must be investing in the product’s quality as well. It is also true that majority of the good looking packaged products cost more than normal looking ones. Why is that? Manufacturers want consumers to think that they are superior than other brands for its quality and “packaging” and therefore it is more expensive.

VS.

I think that packaging is really important for selling a product, since it is a way of displaying the product and the company to the market. It is true that appearance helps the promotion of a product. Most consumers buy a certain product from watching advertisements about it. If an unknown brand is introduced to the market, the only way to attract consumers is through its packaging. Besides developing good looking products, firms should also design convenient packaging for their products. Having a product that is difficult to carry around will probably discourage consumers to buy it in the first place. Therefore, promotion is definitely a word firms need to consider when it comes to selling its product.

Today I went to one of the Marketing studies sessions and it was about consumers’ shopping experience. In one of the situations presented, we had to imagine ourselves in a crowded DVD rental store. We had to return some late dvds and pay a certain fee for returning them late. Given that the sales person was too busy and therefore did not charge us for the late dvds, we were asked about how we would react in a situation like that. In this circumstance, as customers, we would be happy for not being charged a late fee. However, I think this only happened because the store was too crowded and the sales person was too busy to deal with so many problems. Applying this situation to the real world, some of us may have experienced the same situation as the above. As consumers, we benefited from using a product and not needing to pay for it, but is it right? Some customers would certainly go back to that store again, since the store gave them benefits.

This situation is very common in any type of store. A restaurant, for example, can attract many customers to eat there again. An example is how employees give extra food for a table without charging them for that. For employees, not charging customers is not a problem since it is the company that is  paying for the supplies. However, from the employer’s point of view, employees are breaking the rules of the company. Applying some HR concepts, employees can eventually be fired if the employer finds out that they are not charging customers for the goods provided. This is certainly not a good approach to encourage customers to visit the store again.

As I was reading chapter 8 from the marketing textbook, I found a really interesting topic for discussion today. There was a section on the bottom of page 159 that made me want to discuss about it even more. It basically talked about how brands are expanding their image in society, increasing their sales and attracting young teenagers to their market. Many well known brands that have adults as their target audience are also pursuading children to join them. I totally agree how kids and young teenagers from nowadays seem to care more about fashion and brands. My younger cousin, for instance, is an example of that. Some years ago, parents were the ones who would dress their children with the clothes they bought for them. However, today things have change a little. When my cousin was a kid, she used to pick which clothes she would wear everyday, many times rejecting the clothes her mom chose for her. Now, as a teenager, she is even more picky. Her closet is filled with expensive clothes, shoes and bags, all from famous brands. Indeed, the expensive brands are attracting kids and teenagers before their time. One of the reasons why teenagers are buying expensive brands is to fit in the high status environment surround them. The fashion world is encouraging more people to stay fashion by considering only the expensive brands. Many times teenagers are influenced to purchase a product because their friends have it or because that product is simply everywhere. The brand “Kipling,” for example, is a very well known bag brand. It is a success in Brazil, with kids and teenagers as its target audience. Although expensive, Kipling was a success in my school in Brazil. Every girl would carry a Kipling bag to school. If you did not have one, you were a  minority. That’s why famous brands are attracting the younger market. Famous brands are indeed increasing their profits with the young audience. Parents are spending more money today, sastifying their children’s wants.  The same concept is applicable to kids wearing famous brands. However in this case, it is the parents’ incentive to buy their kids expensive clothes. I remember entering the “Puma” store in Brazil and finding shoes for babies. Since Puma is a foreign brand in Brazil, all of their products are priced at a premium level. I remember my first impression when I looked at the baby shoes was “This pair of shoes is so tiny and cute” followed by “Who will buy this? It is so expensive.” However, who knows …

It is funny to see how yogurt brands are competing with each other, trying to make the best yogurt with less calories. I remember the time when there was only one type of yogurt: the normal type of yogurt. Today you can find different labels for yogurt: diet, light, 0% fat, less calories. I have noticed that most of the yogurt commercials are directed to women, having them as the target audience, especially for the less caloric yogurt ads. Yogurt brands, like Dannon, are investing more on what the audience is looking for. Women are constantly concerned about being healthy and reducing fat from their diet. Also, many of them care about how many calories are in the food they eat. Following what its audience is searching for, Dannon sells its product and modifies it to suit consumers.

Dannon’s commercial is entertaining and at the same time effective. Dannon is able to sell its brand and present the product’s features in its commercial. The commercial does not only emphasizes the fact that the yogurt contains only 80 calories, but it also shows how tasty it is. It is so tasty that the person who is eating it does not want to waste a single drop of yogurt. Being light & fit is what everyone wishes!