Month: November 2010

Categories
MARKETING

The Fun Theory

Volkswagen has an initiative called thefuntheory.com. The site is dedicated to changing people’s behaviours for the better by using fun as an incentive. Here is a video of how more people chose to be healthy and take the stairs (instead of the escalators) because it was more fun.

YouTube Preview Image

I love this initiative of Volkswagen’s because not only does it provide entertainment to the people who stumble upon the video on youtube, it DOES show how fun can change things for the better. In addition, this is such a positive initiative for the company to be linked to and to be involved in. It has successfully increased Volkswagen’s brand awareness, and people have more positive attitudes towards Volkswagen’s products.

Categories
MARKETING

PR is 24/7

Last Friday, I attended the International Business Conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. While I was listening to the speakers, most of which are business professionals, I wondered why they took the time to prepare material and attend the conference (I’m sure they had other important tasks to attend to). I realized that speaking at the IBC is one form of promotion for their organization  – PR.

But I believe PR is more than what business people say when they are in the spot light. Even at lunchtime, or during coffee breaks, those business professionals are representing their company. For example, if I see a speaker doing something inappropriate after the conference, I will link that individual to the company he/she represents, and pass judgement on the company as a whole. That’s why I believe PR is going on 24/7, and that the higher your position in a company, the more your actions  affect the company image.

Categories
MARKETING

Reverse Psychology in Marketing

YouTube Preview Image

I was browsing through Rohit Bhargava’s influential marketing blog when I came across the “Hollywood Declares Themselves” video that encouraged young people to vote in the US elections. Countless Hollywood celebrities endorsed the DeclareYourself campaign by appearing in this video. What made the video more unique and memorable was the fact that for the majority of the time, the celebrities urged the viewers to not vote. They kept saying things like “why vote?”, “why should we care about education”? I agree with Rohit that the reverse psychology grabbed people’s attentions, and allowed them to understand the real message.

Also, this ad was effective because not only did it encourage the viewers to vote, it told the viewers HOW to vote. Most ads for products already does this (eg. At the end of the TV ad, the announcer might say: product sold in various Shoppers Drugmarts), but as Rohit pointed out in his blog, many election campaigns do not focus on this, and are therefore not as effective.

Categories
MARKETING

Harry Potter Marketing Strategies

YouTube Preview Image

Last night, I watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One (Yes, I am a early adopter/innovator). I enjoyed the movie until the last part, where the movie abruptly ended. The producers have decided to present the last book in two parts in order to cover all the details, and of course to make more money. I think this strategy has both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it allows the movies to be more entertaining (since more time has been put into each movie), and increases the revenue. But on the other hand, some customers may be frustrated at the cliffhanger ending in Part One, thus causing a negative attitude towards the Harry Potter franchise.

Note** Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One has been wildly successful at the Box Office. According to AFP news, it made 61 million on its first day, which is the fifth best opening day ever.

Categories
MARKETING

Sex Sells

I recently read my classmate Eric’s blog post: Peta . He comments on the new PETA ads, where celebrities support animal rights by posing nude.

All of the ads are also sexually suggestive, because this instantly grabs people’s attention. Many marketers have known that sex sells best for a long time, and have been using this trick to sell products. In fact, a large amount of ads for trendy clothing stores are sexually suggestive (Calvin Klein, Guess, DKNY…etc). I don’t think this is unethical or immoral of the marketers or the companies, because they are using marketing tactics to increase consumer awareness of their products. And it’s definitely true that people will remember an ad that is sexually suggestive versus one that is boring. Using sex to sell products is becoming, or is already a part of our lives. Products that have nothing to do with sex are being sold with sex. For example, here’s a German vacuum company’s ad:

It took me a few seconds to spot the vacuum in the ad.

Categories
MARKETING

The Great Search

I got my wisdom teeth pulled out this weekend. They started to bother me 2 weeks ago, and since I am new to Vancouver, I had to find a new dentist/oral surgeon by myself. (and fast!)

As I was going through my search for a great dentist, I realized that I went through the entire consumer decision process. Because I considered a dentist as a shopping good, I was fairly involved in my search and was willing to put in some effort in order to avoid pain. I also had several evaluative criteria, for example, it must be close to residence, must have open spots in the near future, and must be clean and reputable. Most of my search included asking my friends who had their wisdom teeth taken out who their dentist/oral surgeon was. I trusted their advice more than anything else, which is a valuable lesson for service-centred companies. After much searching, I found a oral surgeon at the Oakridge medical centre.

http://oakridgeoralsurgery.com/

Spam prevention powered by Akismet