Month: March 2011

I came across Gabriel Wong’s blog post about Nintendo’s soon to be released 3Ds gaming system. Gabriel did a fantastic job of analyzing the marketing mix for this new product. He mentioned that he would place this product in the Introductory stage of the PLC and I agree with him. Even though the gaming system industry has been around for more than 10 years, gaming consoles that are 3D is completely NEW to the industry.

Gabriel mentioned that in the article he read, the company realizes that there may be a segment which may not use the 3D feature, and I agree with Gabriel’s opinion about Nintendo not having to be concerned about this. In my opinion, Nintendo has also been one of the leading innovators for gaming consoles. Its evolution of portable gaming consoles has made such progress and every single one of its new gaming consoles were successful; I believe the N3Ds will be as well. It could be said that gamers are trend followers and are unafraid to take risks in trying new products.

Since Nintendo is producing the first gaming system that will go 3D, there is a hype the comes along with it. Although consumers will not be happy about having to buy new games to support the 3D function of the console, gamers eventually will buy new games, just so they could experience the 3D affect. However, the main point is, with Nintendo being such an established company, many trend followers/ gamers are loyal to Nintendo and have trust in its innovations. Having this new gaming system would essentially make the buyer and user “cool” and “trendy” because they own something this amazing!

Nintendo has nothing to worry about. As long as the N3Ds comes out with no bugs or defects, I think that consumers will find this new product worth the purchase.

It has almost been a weeks since Japan has be shocked by it’s 8.9 magnitude and tsunami. People around the world is acting fast to get help and donations. I was browsing TrendHunter-Marketing when I came across the ‘Broken Flag Advertising‘ article (more pictures can be found at link). The article displays different ads of the simple Japanese Flag. However, the red circles in the middle are either broken or distorted in some way. Some ads have simple writings such as “Pray for Japan” or “Help Japan.” Some ads don’t even need any description for viewers to know what it’s for.

The article talks about how these different ads are uniquely different, but at the same time equally effective.

I personally really admire these ads because they are so straight forward and meaningful. The message is clear and in general, really effective. These ads really proves that pictures are worth a thousand words.

These are only some examples of the many different Japan disaster related campaigns out there.

People around the world are doing different things to try to raise money for Japan, including the use of social media!

As a well known Vlogger on YouTube, Ryan Higa made a creative way donate money to RedCross. As it shows in the video, him and his friends stood around the street holding signs asking people to Honk for Japan. For every honk $10 dollars will be donated. In the description box of the video, Ryan explained why he decided to post a video instead of just directly donating. His response was:

The purpose of this video was not only to support Japan myself, but to encourage others as well. I could have easily donated the money and not made a video about it, but I think its a lot more important to get support from all over the world. I personally can’t donate a million dollars, but if millions of people watch this and decide to chip in, it is possible… I’m just trying to help in the best way that I can.

The donations go up as the views on youtube go up. So far Ryan has donated $2625. It touches my heart to know all the support people are giving around the world. Make a donation today at http://www.REDCROSS.org and contribute!

I came across this interesting article from the Times about McDonalds in Hong Kong. Since January 2011, McDonald in Hong Kong has added Wedding services called “McWedding.” McWeddings can be held in up to 3 different locations in HK.

McWedding is very different from any usual wedding. Instead of a fancy banquet, it offers a carefree and happy environment. McDonald M.C coordinate different games while waitresses deal out hamburgers. They hand out goody bags filled with McDonald character plush toys. Helium balloons replace the lack of liquor at the event. Instead of a elaborate wedding cake, the couple gets a stack……. of Apple Pies. In my point of view McWedding seems more like a birthday party more than a wedding!

Although McDonalds have been under attack for the unhealthiness in their food products, they are still standing strong by finding different ways to show a different image of itself. As the article mentions, McDonald has established itself as a family place where children and adults will have fun and can find at least one thing they like to eat. By introducing McWedding, McDonald has further strengthened this image. As the couple in the article explains, they often went to this McDonald when they were growing up and it holds a sentimental value to them. In effort of directing people’s attention about the negative points of McDonald’s, it tries very hard to establish the fact that McDonald’s bring people together.

This affordable wedding plan is the start of an evolutionary change in weddings. Fast food chains which has usually been seen as unhealthy food that’s not high class is beginning to make its way into important events like weddings. Although McWedding isn’t exactly receiving positive reactions from the general public, they have definitely grasped people’s attention and disbelief!

But the question that I am most curious about is how many couples are actually willing to hold one of their most important days of their lives at McDonald’s?

Back in 2007, British designer Anya Hindmarch launched the “I Am Not a Plastic Bag” line. The objective to this launch was to promote eco- friendliness. Essentially, it promoted the idea that reusable shopping bags can be a fashion statement as well.

This bag is just a simple canvas bag with “I Am Not A Plastic Bag” in large print on it. Personally, I do not find it very appealing. However, other people beg to differ. This limited simple designer bag for only $15 at the store, was sold out with its high demand. Some lucky people who got their hands on these bags put them on ebay and actioned them off for up to $400 each! As different models came out the amount of money people were willing to pay to get one of these bags increased. Some were selling online ranging from $700-$2000.

When I first heard about this bad, I did not understand what this hype was about. I saw it as a very plain and simple bag that you would potentially get for under $10. It did not exactly appeal to me either, which made it hard for me to understand WHY people were willing to pay so much for this bag.

I think this links back to BRANDING. These bags were very popular because it was designed by a famous designer. Consumers do not mind that other people are carrying around the EXACT same bag. They just want to be seen as one of those people who were privileged enough to own this exclusive bag.

If the exact same bags were being sold as a no name brand before Anya Hindmarch launched this line, people would not pay much attention to them and definitely not spend as much money on them.

This product is another example of how important branding is. Since this product was so simple, it is very easily likable. However, I believe rather then buying the bag because they really, really like it, they bought it for the brand itself.