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“The majority of you won’t know what a coupon is, so for your own sake: it is something your gran uses to save her pennies on her groceries.” This lecturer could not have been more incorrect. Firstly, a coupon allows people to save more than just pennies and secondly, they are far from outdated, but are in fact the opposite- trendy. The article “dealer-chic” on trend watching discusses why “deals are becoming a way of life, if not a source of pride.” It summarizes why this trend will explode in the future:

1.)    Consumers will always want more for less

2.)    The technology associated with couponing is innovative and keeps people intrigued (and fascinated on my part)

3.)    Deals are no longer heavily discounted prices on the bottom of the range products, but consumers are able to get the best of the best for less

The article mentions hundreds of deal finding sites, of which I (rather ashamedly) had only heard of three before.

After extensive research into Groupon for my class projects, my mindset on couponing has changed completely. Beforehand, I would check the deal of the day infrequently and now I find myself looking online daily to ensure I have not missed a brilliant deal. I agree with the notion that deals are “no longer considered cumbersome or even embarrassing, but simply smart.” (trendwatching) It has become an accomplishment to buy items for 50-90% less. Why would you want to pay the full price? This, however, creates a challenge for businesses because consumers are becoming more deal-prone than ever before. Thus, there is a challenge to innovate their product or service in such a way that it will avoid consumers (like me) who are discount prone.

So until businesses overcome this challenge, I will continue to participate in this growing couponing trend!

“To build a focused brand image you have to tie your brand to a single attribute that will help customers, prospects, suppliers, employees understand why they should do business with you.”
Bob Lamons – author – The Case for B2B Branding 

Recently in my marketing lectures, we have been discussing the importance of branding. What it means to build a brand that is more than just a name. It is about creating a personality. Allan Gray, a South African investment company, is one of the few companies that have managed to create a strong brand positioning. It stands as a loyal, patient and experienced investment advisor. Every marketing campaign, advert or billboard it launches, conveys the same message of reliability and a promise of excellence.

Jane noted: “marketing is entirely based on satisfying expectations.” It is about delivering a promise. In her blog, she verbalises her frustration in selecting mascara amidst a vast variety that all promise the same thing, only to be disappointed by the one she chose. I think that Allan Gray has consistently managed to deliver the same excellent results that it no longer stands as an empty promise on the shelf of investment companies.

This billboard is a quilt consisting of 900 hand-quilted squares. It is a brilliant advertisement that speaks about a patient investment over time. It is everything the brand positions itself on. Another example is this award winning advertisement Allan Gray produced:

All of the advertisements have a uniformity that promises the same thing: patience that reaps great reward. “Branding is the promises you make… whilst your brand comes from the promises you keep” we were told in class. Allan Gray has a leading edge in creatively conveying its brand positioning in such a way that it always fulfils its promises.

(for maximum enjoyment- step 1: click (Is Anybody Out There) … step 2: return to this window and read)

One of the areas that interests me in marketing, is trend analysis.  A leading company that manages to capitalise on the current and future trends, is Coca Cola. With over 450 brands around the world, it is a leader in product and marketing innovation.

Coke launched a new product in March this year- Coca Cola Music. This branch of the brand aims to rival established music brands such as iTunes and Myspace. When the idea of coke as a music brand came to my attention, my initial reaction was surprise. How do they plan on tapping into such a large market?

Walls- Coca Cola Music Commercial

This commercial answered my question. Teens. That is the market. 13-19 year olds are already most familiar with the brand, but “every six years there’s a new population of teens in the world.” (Zmuda, 2011) Therefore, there is a constant awareness to target teens. One brilliant way to do this is through pop culture. Jessica Lan commented on the effectiveness of Coke advertisements in her blog. She manages to explain the brilliance of the brand’s advertising- how it manages to captivate children and teenagers. I agree with this and it seems inevitable that this new product will explode.

The Coca Cola Music launch involved Maroon 5 ( a popular Australian band) creating a song within 24 hours, with “crowd sourced help”  (O’ Reilly, 2011) via twitter. Fans were able to watch the live stream and actively participate in helping the band create a song. This brilliant campaign has “opened [a new door to] happiness”  in that fans are experiencing a more personal interaction with their favourite artists. In my opinion, Itunes has a fierce competitor, because  “Whatever [coke is] selling, customers seem to keep on buying” (Jessica Lan). What is better than listening to your favourite artist whilst sipping on an ice-cold coke? Perhaps the fact that it was sponsored by Coke!

Marketing is like a game of chess. Marketers control us, the consumer, as pawns on a board. They anticipate our behaviour and moves. We (as consumers) see ourselves making individual decisions across the board. However, the reality is that we are pawns in the marketer’s hand. They influence us and direct ourdecisions. The most successful marketers are those that understand and anticipate the consumers’ needs and wants. In this sense, the consumer is tricked into a checkmate position and is forced to buy the product.

I had a personal ‘checkmate’ experience whilst trying a free hand cream. The sales women squeezed some of the cream into my hand and began to explain her product enthusiastically. I (only wanting the free tester) listened politely. With her words, she slowly began to move me in a direction i had not intended on heading towards. Within minutes, she had managed to convince me that moisturiser is more important than clothing because people look at your face before they see what you are wearing. I objected to her sale offer with the notorious statement: “I have no money, i’m a student”. Nevertheless, she swayed me further with an offer of a 60% discount. At this stage, it was checkmate! Not wanting to disappoint this level of commitment to the product or to give up on an almost ‘free’ purchase, i felt trapped into spending much more than i normally would on a moisturiser. With great difficulty, I decided to leave the game altogether. I left feeling as if I had made a mistake for passing on such a great deal. I realised, however, that this game of chess is more strategically powerful than it is credited for.

She was the best ‘chess player’ I have ever come across!

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