Colette Cheung's Blog

Upon perusal of Cristalle Lau’s blog, I found that she was talking about Breast Cancer Awareness via putting various names of fruits as your Facebook status. As Cristalle was saying, it was quite ineffective compared to last year’s bra color status. Compared to the Run to Cure Breast Cancer, in association with CIBC, using Facebook to raise awareness for this type of cancer was not very effective as there was much confusion and dissonance associated with the fruit names. CIBC’s Run for the Cure is more well-known, and attracts many consumer segments to participate and not only raise awareness but is also able to raise money to fund research programs.

In my humble opinion, this co-branding works well because more consumers notice CIBC are would be willing to change banks since CIBC supports a good cause. Using Facebook to spread knowledge of this cause was not a good PR tool. Instead, I think the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation should focus more on marketing tools that are efficient and effective. Although using Facebook is “free”, their efforts are not as they had hoped. They should instead focus all their efforts on this run, which I believe has spread the most awareness for breast cancer.

Open 24 hrs today and what do I see? A ring for singles?No offense, but isn’t your future hubby supposed to buy you that? Why buy a $60 sterling silver ring with turquoise plastic? Nonetheless, this Swedish company was able to fully exploit the sense of belonging that lies within all of us. The purpose of the ring was to show other singles out there that you are out to mingle and are not taken. The ring is meant to “identify” others who are “not romantically attached,” according to the official website. I understand it is getting hard to figure out who is taken and who is fair game, but to have to dish out some cash to do so? There is a growing number of goods and services tailored to this growing and emerging segment. Online dating sites, various groups and clubs to meet new people, the options are endless. I believe that the “Swedish Singelringen” will be able to capture this market segment and make could use to earn some cash. It is hard to figure out whether or not people are already in relationships, with an increasing common-law relations and people who don’t wear wedding bands, you don’t want to be wasting your time flirting with someone you can’t be with.

Nonetheless, Beyonce said “if you like, you should put a ring on it,” not “if you’re single, put a ring on it”. I believe there’s already a song for “all the single ladies.” 🙂

Brands are everything. They create value in the consumer’s mind, and help promote new products given that the market trusts the brand. Dole, who started out by providing canned fruits, especially pineapple slices, began increasing their product line by including juices and various other fruits such as melons and bananas.

Dole Canned Pineapples

Their main segment was pineapple lovers, but they wanted to expand their target market in order to get non-pineapple eaters to purchase their products. Dole decided to extend their brand to capture new segments by providing frozen fruit bars, fruit ice cream bars, sparkling juices and coolers. Dole wants to their brand to be associated with sunny days and the “Sunshine Lifestyle”, so their brand extension was accepted by consumers.

Juice Galore

Colgate Dinner

Some brands, however, aren’t so successful. Browsing through some other blogs, the biggest flops of all time can be counted down. Funny ones include Colgate Kitchen Entreees, which was not successful due to the fact that consumers do not associate Colgate toothpaste with tasty food.

Bic underwear

Bic, a company that produces many disposable items such as razors, pens and lighters, wanted to use a diversification strategy and created Bic underwear. Customers did not understand how this product related to Bic’s brand, and therefore did not buy this product.

100 Days at Opus Bar

100 days at Opus Bar was quite the experience. Nestled in the heart of Yaletown, it has created quite the hype for itself, fusing graffiti with cuisine to provide a unique experience. With their tag line of “Art+Food – Remixed,” 100 days is one of the first restaurants that is able to take Dine-Out Vancouver to a whole new level. With live DJ, iridescent pink and purple lighting, 100 days attracts an affluent crowd that is able to afford their $13 cocktails. The fact that they have a bar and a lively atmosphere creates a great environment. The loud music and warm temperature leads to consumers buying more drinks to cool off. The fact that there isn’t much standing space also creates an easy way for people to share appetizers without thinking to look at prices. The crowd is also able to pay up without breaking their wallets, so I believe Opus Bar is able to exploit this. By creating a see-and-be-seen bar where socialites can gather, Opus is able to capture their market of business people who want to get out and have a good time and are able to afford it.

Don’t you hate it when the product you need to buy is wrapped in such a complicated manner that you just end up thinking to yourself: “Why did I buy this in the first place?” Take for example the Oral-B toothbrush I bought the other day. It was sold in a sealed plastic package where there is no way to open it but by brute force. I’ve always wondered why some firms package their products in such a way to make it difficult for the consumer to open. Isn’t the packaging meant to benefit the consumer in the sense that they would WANT to buy the product because of it? The fact that the toothbrush was so hard to take out made me having some post-purchase dissonance thoughts. Albeit being a great toothbrush, in the end, the hardship and length of time it took me to open it might lead me to pick another toothbrush brand next time…

Why are horse products so expensive? I, myself, own a horse, and being a student is not the best way to buy all the horse products you need. Many may think that you don’t need much to ride a horse, but it’s quite the contrary. When my parents first bought my horse, I was astounded about the amount of expenses I had to lavish on Camaro.

Just look at this Stubben saddle.

Stubben Saddle

And how much would this leather good sell for? An astonishing $2995.00. Expensive much? That’s not all. Riding a horse, you must also buy a bridle.

The horse industry, and other famous horse product brands such as Shedrow, Stubben can price their products so high, yet have consumers buy them nonetheless. They’ve been quite successful in the fact that horse lovers are always willing to buy anything for their treasured horses. The horse niche market, also piggybacks on the dog industry as most horse riders also bring along their canine companions to the barn. Shedrow was then able to use this to also implement a dog blanket line.

Using the 4P’s of Marketing Mix, companies that specialize in products catered to horse lovers and their companions, are able to fully utilize their marketing mix. They price their products as high as the niche is willing to accept it, carry products that are essential and sometimes unnecessary for horses and their owners, place their stores and advertise around barns around the Lower Mainland and promote seasonal products a month before they are needed. So, a new line of winter blankets would be on sale in mid-fall. Nonetheless, I love my Camaro 🙂

SoSeems like everybody (at least 15-30 girls/women) seems to shop at Aritzia. I never quite understood how people can be attracted to the overly expensive clothes sold at this retail chain but also spend their hard-earned money to buy it!

Aritzia Logo

Though not a huge fan of Aritiza due to their sky-rocketing prices, I must commend them on being able to find such a good target market and fully exploiting it. Having followed the STP (Segmenting, Targeting, Positioning) to a tee, Aritzia was able to segment the market, by considering going into women’s fashion; targeting the age group of 15-30, who are either able to manipulate their parents into buying the clothes for them or having part-time to full-time jobs and the disposable income associated with it to fund these costly expenses; and Aritzia is finally able to position itself as a fashionable retail store with current styles at a higher than average price. They offer clothes by various designs that are tailored to their target market, and keep ordering from that line, such as Wilfred, if it does well.

As seen in www.businessoffashion.com, Josh Lutzker, a Principal at Berkshire Partners, explains: “[we] invested in Aritzia because of the strength of the management team, led by Brian Hill, and because of Aritzia’s outstanding position in the market. Aritizia’s connection with its consumers, the strenght of its product design and its excellence in store design and retail operations have all led to very strong retail economics and a unique opportunity for growth”.

The fact that Aritzia was able to capture their target market so distinctly by using the STP principles has definitely led to their success. The fact that females of that age group are very influenced by social media, peer pressure and mob mentality helps, too.

So many different brands to choose from, but in the end you’re simply satisfying your physiological with H2O, right? WRONG

Evian in particular, with its slogan of  “Live Young” targets an older clientele that would want purchase their water in order to enjoy the health benefits associated with Evian water. Their motto of  rejuvenation and youth is seen in various medias, thus creating a strong and focused target. This is also their specialization and product differentiation. The company keeps using this motto, as seen in their televised advertisement.

Searching through Evian’s website, they also offer their rich target market the opportunity to visit the Evian Spa, “a mecca for European society,” nestled in the Alps. This spa continues the idea that Evian water will help rejuvenate your body and mind as it offers “all the balance and purity of evian Natural Spring Water through the selection hydrotherapy, beauty and well-being treatments”. Evian not only sells water, but also a Facial Spray to help rejuvenate your skin on a tired day.

The fact that Evian offers so many amenities to their customers signifies that drinking Evian is not simply drinking water, it is a lifestyle. It symbolizes striving to be young and being able to do so without  cosmetic surgery, but through a natural and healthy way. There’s even a group of the Evian site entitled “Live Young Community” where customers can discuss their journey towards the similar goal.

I’d like to mention that Evian spelled backwards in Naive 🙂

I have always been an avid fan of Disney, especially of Disney on Ice where various Disney characters skate and perform on ice. I go every year, and what’s intrigued me the most is how Disney is able to price their products so high, yet still have plenty of consumers buy their items. Snow cones in Disney figure mugs are sold at $15 each, which I find quite expensive. I understand that it’s part of the experience, but considering how expensive tickets already are, do you really need a mug as well?

Disney has been able to capture their target market of not only kids but their parents as well as they’re the ones who ultimately pay. Although they may not be tweens,  they fit into the mould of what the textbook says about children and their market power: “much of their market power comes from tweens’ strong influence on family purchases”. Disney has had great success in their 4P’s of Promotion, Product, Price, Place: being able to price their products so high, yet giving the sense that the consumers are getting an even greater value for it. I guess “That’s the magic of Disney”.

As seen in his blog, http://www.rohitbhargava.com/, Rohit states that it’s important to “Create a Signature Event,” and I believe Disney has been able to do so very successfully with Disney on Ice showing at the Pacific Coliseum every year.

On top of selling mugs, the event sells gadgets with a spinning character on top lit by colorful lights. Costing as much as the mugs, these toys are stuffed into kids’ hands by vendors who play on the fact that parents will buy this novelty, no matter the price to make their children happy. Now that’s what I call Marketing. Did I mention that programs were $20?

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