Chengxi Yang's Blog

In today’s marketing class, we talked about sustainable marketing and a case analysis about Land Rover’s sustainable marketing campaign. After reading some other people’s blog about sustainable marketing and Land Rover, I start to be skeptical about if sustainable marketing can really help a company boost its sales.

Article:

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/review-2012-range-rover-evoque-01102012.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/03/07/range-rover-evoque-convertible-are-ragtop-suvs-catching-on/

First we can watch 2 videos about the Land Rover’s sustainability campaign.

Although these two campaigns are inspiring and impressive, can they really contribute to Land Rover’s sales? Back to the questions we discussed in class today, I don’t really think that environmentally conscious consumers are going to be interested in buying Land Rover vehicles just because of sustainability. When buying a car, the word “sustainability” is not even in people’s considering process. When I was looking for some articles and comments about Land Rover Evoque online, people hardly even care about the car’s sustainability. Instead, What they commented is all about the shape, function and fuel-efficiency. “The Evoque, an all-new model that hit the U.S. market in October, is a great-handling little SUV with a stylish interior, plenty of zip, and class-leading fuel economy.”, commented by Thane Peterson. Therefore, I think the sustainability campaign actually cannot help a vehicle producer like Land Rover gain more market share and increase sales. In other words, the campaign is not a success.

However, the successful case of Tom’s Shoes is a totally different case. Purchasing a pair of shoes is not a big expense for anybody; therefore, the sustainable campaign can easily work and can be attractive enough for social activists.

Therefore, my point is, when trying to gain more market share and increase sales by applying sustainable marketing, we need to actually consider the industry facts.

After reading Margaret Fong’s Blog about the power of word-of-mouth, it reminds me the importance of word-of-mouth marketing with the emergency of Web 2.0 and social media.

Word-of-mouth marketing aims to generate buzz about a business. As stated by Margaret Fong, consumers continue to trust opinions of other consumers more than paid advertising. The Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey also shows that the recommendations from people known has the highest degree of trust in all forms of advertising. Take me as an example, when I decide to buy something, I’ll ask my friends for advice in the first place, and their suggestion will always sway my purchasing decisions.

Word of mouth marketing has the power to quickly build up or tear down the reputations of products, services, and organizations. In the past, the brand experience was shared face-to-face. However, since the emergency and popularity of social network, consumers now can easily share their opinions and comments worldwide, the effect of word-of-mouth is largely magnified. With those good or bad comments that cannot be easily managed, it now seems to be a challenge for marketers to manage the relationship with their customers and build customer loyalty.

Since the WOMM and the use of social media are totally free, this is a great opportunity for small companies or start-ups. This is just one of the advantages of the WOMM. Nonetheless, since the WOM communication is intangible, it seems to be a double-edged sword for many organizations. Because WOMM is intangible, it’s easy for leaders to lose sight of the effects. In my opinion, organizations needs to be more aware of the individual online and offline interactions, and increase the interaction between consumers and organizations to make sure a good brand image is spread properly. Also, through social media, companies can conduct online activities to increase consumer involvement and engagement to make sure desirable comments about a brand are expressed.

After reading Ryan Abushinov’s Blog about the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements, it reminds me some advantages of celebrity endorsements that can effectively help build brand image and increase sales.

It is estimated that companies in the US spent $800 million in 1998 to “acquire talent – entertainers, athletes and other high profile personalities – to spotlight in advertising, promotion and PR campaigns” (IEG Endorsement Insider). And, approximately 20% of all television commercials feature famous people. I think celebrity endorsements indeed do the trick in building brand image and increase sales, and we can find lots of examples in our daily life.

The celebrity endorsement can celebrity endorsement can instantly create brand awareness and recall. In China, this method is widely used by newly founded companies in clothing and fashion industry or cosmetic industry, and it always does the trick. Although some research states that sales will only increase by an average of 4%, it doesn’t mean the celebrity endorsements fail to attract customers. In my opinion, celebrity endorsement is most effective for newly founded companies for instantly increasing brand awareness, however, for those which are already well-known, the celebrity might not be the best choice for attracting customers

Also, celebrities have credibility on expertise that makes a product more desirable or enhances perceptions of quality. Consumers always believe in public figures, and they perceive a celebrity endorser as a guarantee of a product’s quality.

Last but not least, I think celebrity can help expand market segmentation. In other words, celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image. For example, if a company wants to create an environmental-friendly brand image, a well-known environmental activist might do the trick. Or, when a company starts to think about targeting on the LGBT market (as stated in the textbook, when gay marriage was pronounced legal in Canada, it created a new market segment), the company might think about inviting Lady Gaga (also popular as a gay rights advocator).

Although sometimes it seems that the effect of celebrity endorsement is not remarkable enough, and although the cost of celebrity endorsement is pretty high, as long as companies are smart enough to take advantage of it, it can effectively contribute to a companies’ success.

As stated in the textbook, marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. The Ritz-Carlton hotel example from the textbook gives an excellent model of building customer relationship. As an important process of marketing, customer relationship management plays an essential role in customer acquirement and retention. A Hotpot restaurant in China named HaiDiLao, which considers providing incredible customer services as their competitive advantage, has caused a sensation and gained huge success. “Nothing can prevent HaiDiLao to make you feel like God” has even become a catchword among all young adults.

The motto in HaiDiLao is “service first, customer first”. Employees are told to pay attention to customers’ unexpressed wishes and needs. This has brought their customers continuous delight and surprise. In waiting area, waitresses will continuously give customers free drinks and fruits. They even offer free nail service to help you kill the boring time while you are waiting to be seated. Once seated, hot towels are provided and changed every 15 minutes. When waitresses hear a customer is sneezing, they will offer him a fresh ginger soup without request. Toothbrushes and toothpastes are provided in the washroom for free. When customers bring young kids or babies, employees will help you babysit and feed. I also heard that a customer received a new ipod after losing his old one during dining. The video below provides an example of one of its superior services. (make your noodles in front of you – noodle dance)

Instead of making efforts in offering excellent food and comfortable dining environment to retain its customers, HaiDiLao considers delivering superior customer experiences as a stepping-stone to success in the competitive restaurant industry. In order to maximize customer satisfaction, HaiDiLao’s marketing department works closely with the HR department. They work together on designing a customer-oriented marketing plan and program. They develop well-designed training system to maximize employees’ initiative and satisfaction, so that employees can better create customer satisfaction. The effective coordination between departments has made the superior service delivery possible.

The personalized and humanized serving program has brought HaiDiLao a large loyal customer base and has helped it gain an increasing share of business. The HaiDiLao case has helped me gain a better understanding on marketing concepts like customer relationship management and partner relationship management.

More Info: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/metro/2010-04/30/content_9796948.htm

First of all, I know much more about myself. After finishing the online questionnaire (the StrengthsFinder), I figured out lots of my strengths that I didn’t realize before, which helps me make clear targets on how to strengthen myself.

Secondly, I learned lots of useful interview tips. After the lecture focusing on interview, I learned how to shake hands, how to impress the interviewer, and how to effectively present myself. All of these will definitely contribute to my future development. The mock interview is particularly necessary, it helps me know better about the process of a real interview.

Lastly, I learned how to write an attractive resume or cover letter. As an international student from China, i knew nothing about the skills on writing resumes and cover letters before. The COMM299 class taught me how to write an official and professional resume which can effectively present myself. Also, the COMM299 class taught me how to write a cover letter which can effectively match myself to the job posting.

I believe the professional skills learned in this course will definitely contribute to my future development.