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.