Despite marketing channels –and distribution- are certainly not the most “sexy” element of the marketing mix, yet it remains a key factor in your marketing strategy. With the explosion of internet and online shopping in the past decade, consumers are now less sensitive/responsible to vast, enormous retailing stores. They have online shopping for that (internet is the biggest shop ever: it’s unlimited in space!), and are nowadays seeking for more quality service and better location. That is why a new trend among retailers (Sears, Best Buy, Staples or Home Depot) is to shift from huge big-box stores to more smaller, mobile and urban ones, as we have seen in last class (through this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704728004576176601936377760.html).

Another interesting “trend” among retailers is the increase of “pop-up” stores where online and physical shopping mix up. Skimming through the Brand Channel blog, an article about new Wallmart retailing strategy (“Walmart Making Technology Push”, posted by Mark J. Miller) caught my attention. It describes the efforts made by the largest North-American retailer to stay competitive in times when virtual online shopping is the new way of consumption. One of the solutions Walmart experiments is these temporary 1000 sq.ft. “pop-up stores”, which actually carry the website brand Walmart.com rather than the simple brandname and promote online shopping. Customers can actually buy a range of selected products online… from the (physical) store store, thanks to computers available on display tables. “The experiment comes as big retailers look for ways to capture consumers who are increasingly switching back and forth between retail channels by browsing for products online then buying in stores, or browsing in stores then buying online” said Barney Jopson for the Financial Times about Walmart’s new strategy.

I think Wallmart adopts the right strategy by educating its customers to online shopping. Distribution and marketing channels are not fixed elements; they evolve with time, trends and shifts as well as products, customers and environment. Even for huge retailing companies such as Walmart whose ecommerce represents 1.5 to 2%, online shopping has to be take into account: success of Amazon or eBay are the best examples.

Source: http://www.brandchannel.com/

Steve Jobs died last week. How not to talk about the Genious CEO of one of the most successful brand ever, marketingly speaking?

After consulting and reading some of my classmate’s blogs,I decided to share my opinion relating to Kevin Chuahiock’s blogpost “Complete Image Change” (https://blogs.ubc.ca/chuahiock/2011/09/19/complete-image-change/).

He greatly analyzed the shift in Apple’s marketing, from a “Mac versus PC” technology-based stats advertising strategy to a more self-centered “Mac is the new hip thing and if you don’t have it you’re old fashioned” one. But I think we can go further: Apple not only changed its brand image or its way of advertising. It changed its whole marketing strategy. More than any other brand/company, Apple placed his customer service at the heart of its strategy. Before the purchase. During the purchase. After the purchase. That’s why I think that one of the biggest revolutions Steve Job and his co-workers ever made is the Apple Store. They perfectly understood that the environment in which customer  purchase and is being offered service is almost as important as the purchased item itself.

Here’s a video of Steve Jobs introducing the concept of the Apple store (2001) :

3 key points on this video that partly explain Apple’s sucess:

1) Apple allows people to TRY its products. We’ve seen in class that “Trial” is a crucial step in the buyer decision process for new product. In Apples stores there are a lot of self-service products that you can try without any limitation, with wireless internet access (in 2001!).

2) Apple EDUCATES its customers in how to use the product (Genius Bar concept). This is, in my view, what explains why Apple users are so satisfied. In all Apple Stores, you have high-skilled and well-trained salespersons who help you to master the products and softwares you’ve bought or are going to buy, in order to increase the potential use of the machine.

3) Apple PROVIDES a friendly environment. Beautiful and modern fourniture, relaxing atmosphère, music… You feel at home when you’re in an Apple store. You can touch everything, ask anything. Salespersons are very friendly to you and help you as soon as you call them.

Steve Jobs is gone, but Apple Stores still will reflect his brilliant vision for a long time…

Marketing is not just about selling products or services. As we’ve seen in class, marketing is about creating and managing a deep relationship between a company/a brand, and a customer/a user. One of the best examples of successfully marketing strategy in the past decades is Nike. Not only the company managed to overflow our screens and stadiums with its famous logo, the “swoosh”, that became one of the most worldwide well-known brand symbol, but they also built a strong brand community with its customers.

Last week, Nike announced the release of a shoe for which some Nike customers, and actually a lot of other people, waited for a very long time. The “2011 NIKE MAG” are the exact replicas of the the self-lacing and glowing shoes that appear on the feet of Marty McFly in “Back to the future II”, in a scene setting in 2015:

A lot of fans of both Nike and Back To The Future were expecting Nike to produce these shoes, and some of them actually tried to make their own “home-made” replica like this guy:

For many years Nike was urged by some customers and movie’s fans to make these shoes real. By releasing them in limited edition (1500 pairs will be produced), Nike makes a kind of “gifts” to BTTF fans and its customer that all dreamed of wearing/owning this collection item, and strengthens the relationship with customer. I think Nike especially targets “baby-boomers”, a generation on which the movie (released in 1989) had a very big impact. But people from more recent generations like Ne(X)t Generation (born between 1970-2000) are targeted as well, and among them the sneakerheads for instance.

Nike also produced a TV ad with Kevin Durant (famous NBA player) to promote its new shoes:

But that’s not all: all the net profits of this operation (the 1500 pairs will be auctioned on eBay)  will be given to the “Michael J. Fox’s (the actor that interpret Marty McFly in BTTFII) Foundation for Parkinson’s Research”. So the final goal is not to make money, but to promote the brand with a value-based marketing operation that supports fight against Parkinson’s disease. By doing this, Nike: 1) reaches a large number of people (through all videos and link posted on social medias about the shoes = the “buzz”) 2) reinforces its relationship with its current customers by offering them a collector item, that was for a long time expected 3) delivers a message and affirm some values (support of fight against Parkinson).

And, damn I have to say, these shoes really rock!!