Dan's Blog

After many years working at grocery stores and other retailers, I wouldn’t think that I would be a sucker for Point of Purchase marketing. However, whenever I go into a Safeway to buy my groceries and am faced with a huge lineup, I start to look around. What I find are all the items that make me say “why didn’t I have this on my shopping list” and “well, I guess I can get it … this time”. In reality, I never need that pack of gum, and “this time” turns into everytime!

However, becuase the purchase price of these items are so small, even a starving student like myself can convince myself that I might as well buy it, even if the trade off is one less beer that evening (probably for the best!). What amazes me about Point of Purchase marketing is how effective it is even though most consumers know its purpose and try to not fall for it.

When I go into Safeway to buy my chicken breasts and broccoli for dinner, I’m not thinking of the newest issue of GQ magazine, though once I flip through a couple pages while waiting in line, why not buy it right?

I recently left my pair of Dre Beat headphones on the bus on my way to school. I know what you’re all thinking (if anyone’s reading this), what an idiot. Dealing with this pain is hard enough when all I have to use is a pair iPod headphones that only has one working earbud, however everywhere I look I see Dre Beats!

 

VS

 

Not that hard to choose which set of headphone you would rather listen to. Enough of my bitterness. Dr. Dre has been an influencial producer in hip-hop since NWA and you could say he has good customer loyalty. Customers are listeners and rappers who pay for his CD’s and production, and his service is the production of music. So, when someone who knows so much about music and obviously has made a fortune producing good music creates a new way to listen to music, you should probably buy it, right? Thats what Dre hoped for, and he definitely didn’t fail to impress his target market because whenever you turn on a hip-hop music video, or watch a DJ mix music, there is almost always atleast one person wearing Beats By Dre.

I am a huge hip hop fan. Many people perceive hip hop or rap to be “noise” rather than music, but I think it’s more than that. Although there is a not of negativity in rap music, if you can see past the cursing and drug references, you may see what I see. And unlike the socialites who try their hand at singingautotuning, like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, most of rappers who make it come from nothing, not million dollar bank accounts.

To gain recognition in the modern hip hop world it is all about developing online presence. The Communication Process is very apparent in this aspect when it comes to hyping new releases for hip hop artists. One of my favourite artists right now, Mac Miller, a 19 year old kid from Pittsburgh just released his highly acclaimed mixtape titled Best Day Ever.

The Sender: Mac Miller. How he encoded his message is whats becoming more and more popular for rap artists. On twitter, Mac and his Most Dope Crew started trending #BDE, #BestDayEver and previously released singles #DonaldTrump and #SheSaid to build awareness and also released the artwork for the mixtape a couple days before the mixtape dropped. Mac Miller used UStream, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and many other online blogs to communicate the details of the mixtape, however used hip hop blogs and a website he created to deliver it. The receivers were fans and their response and feedback was nothing short of extraordinary. Datpiff.com, a popular mixtape website overloaded after the countdown to download the mixtape was up, which only one other rapper has ever done in the history of the site. As a receiver myself, I think Mac delivered on his promise of that day being the Best Day Ever.

My good friend and colleague Salim Visram recently blogged about personal branding. Funny he did that becuase he and I were watching Off The Record or OTR on TSN. Hosted by Michael Landsberg, the show hosts guests ranging from sports stars to officials, coaches, politicians and even entertainers. On this particular day, the panel was discussing the lack of NHL players connected through social media such as Twitter, and effective branding tool. The panel, consisting of ex-NHL players and coaches, went through a list of superstars like Jonathan Toews, Henrik Sedin, Roberto Luongo, and Jarome Iginla analyzing how even with a huge fan base each player has, they haven’t began utilizing social media to reach them. There is one NHL player creating a stir in the online world however, his name is Paul Bissonette and when you type that into Google Images, the first picture isn’t what you would expect from an NHL player.

All class from Paul (Biz Nasty) Bissonette

Though his NHL career is far from spectacular with 94 games played, 4 goals, 3 assists for a total of 7 points and 190 penalties in minutes (PIM). How does this guy have just under 55,000 followers? He’s funny. Something that the panel of OTR were also touching on. Humor is lacking in the NHL and I personally hope that other players follow in Biz Nasty‘s footsteps for a more interactive, enjoyable hockey experience.

It’s even landing him advertisements.

Now I may not have as much Bieber Fever as Rebecca Abel, seeming as her blog landed her in a CBC article. Also, I know I might get beaten up for posting this, but when I heard Biebs got a hair cut I was relieved. Personally, the 12 year-old “hair flip” cut was getting a little old. Then I began thinking about branding. Justin Bieber isn’t famous because he can sing, it’s his hair!!!

Justin’s old haircut

When the breaking news that The Biebs got a haircut surfaced, his Twitter account was overloaded with astonished fans and upset tweens. Justin Bieber totally switched his brand to give him a more mature look that the nearly 17 year-old should be sporting in my opinion.

The New-Do

Not to mention the fact that he is donating his hair to charity can make a regular Bieber hater respect him.

When I think about Blackberry smartphone users I come up with two categories, business people aaaaand everyone else. Although Research In Motion (RIM) presented the first Blackberry smartphone in 2002 as a business phone that “supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, Internet faxing, Web browsing and other wireless information services”  today in 2001, these phones do a lot more. 

First Blackberry Smartphone 5810

With the creation of Blackberry Messenger (BBM) and the ability of social media applications blackberry segmented their customer base into business people and trend following consumers. RIM targeted their business segment by adding features like the ability to view word documents, excel spreadsheets and powerpoints, and targeted “everybody else” with BBM, social media apps and “the cool-factor”. Although every new smartphone comes with all of these features, different phones cater to different segments. For example with the introduction of the new Blackberry Torch, the large touchscreen with sliding keyboard may not appeal to a business person who just want a compact all-in-one phone like the Blackberry Bold.

Blackberry Torch 9800 vs Blackberry Bold 9700

 Positioning is the least of RIMs worries. With advertisements that attract both segments, Blackberry smartphones fly off the shelves.

For the Business segment

and

For Everybody else.

 

For me, being a true starving student (yet somehow still gained the freshman 15 last year), purchasing items I want rather than need is very rare. After re-newing my contract at Copper Mountain Mine, I realized that I NEED a new car for this summer. After recognizing that I needed a car, I began thinking about all the different types of cars, however not neccesarily the makes and models I could afford. I thought about my dream car

The Audi R8

However I know that, with my budget, I could only afford a

1992 Honda Accord

For information, I searched many used car websites for good deals. Then I consulted my uncle, who is the manager of Surrey Honda in the used division. He was able to help evaluate my alternatives by giving me a few options other than the ’92 Accord. After checking out a few other types of cars, due to my budget and need for good fuel economy (I will be driving over 800km every week), we both decided on the same ’92 Honda Accord EXR. I purchased the car for a great price of $2,500. After purchasing the car I was ecstatic, not regretting my decision at all. The only disappointment was, my car didn’t have an “R8” on the back.

Oh well, maybe in a couple years…

 

After finding Rohit Bhargava’s Influential Marketing Blog on 5 Ideas From A Global Journey Through Beer Marketing, I noticed that Bhargava did not include any advertisements for my favourite beer, Canadian domestic beer. Not only does Canadian beer have the funniest marketing campaigns, I also believe that they have ads that encompass Canadian culture and our nation’s population very well. I decided to use the same frame work as Bhargava, however instead of sampling five different beers, I chose the most well known beer in Canada, Molson Canadian (hence the name).

1. Be Unique (Curved Hockey Stick)

The first thing that comes to mind when Canada is brought up is usually Hockey. Being Canada’s game, and Molson Canadian being Canada’s beer, Molson did a very good job in using Hockey in their marketing campaigns. No other Canadian beer uses Hockey in their advertisements, making Molson unique in that aspect. As you can see from the commercial below, Molson exploited the controversy of how much a hockey players stick can curve and made a serious debate humorous.

2. Demonstrate Loyalty (I Am Canadian)

I would say about 99.74% of Canadians are proud to Call themselves Canadian. That goes for Canadian corporations as well, especially beer. Canadian beer is a lot incomparable with American beer, Canadian beer being one million times better to be exact. Molson knows this and launched their “I Am Canadian” Campaign

3. Create Associations (Unwritten Code)

We have all heard the Canadian stereotypes, (where’s your pet beaver, what are you talking aboot, where’s your dog sled, etc.) and they get pretty annoying. However, there are some stereotypes, I prefer to call them character traits, that are well respected in the beer drinking, hockey playing Canadian population (approximately 79% of Canadians).

4. Foster Aspirations (I’m So Mad at My Boyfriend)

Everyone all know that Canadian women are the best looking in the world. What they don’t know is that you don’t need a European accent or a sports car to pick up our beautiful women. My friend and colleague Trevor Clarke was Shick’s 2008 Smoothest Man of the Year and he approves this message.

5. Reinforce Perceptions (Hockey Fight)

Finally, Russians may be tough, but remember back in the Summit Series? Oh right, we kicked the crap out of them! Canadians are probably the toughest men and women on and off the ice. The American in this advertisement found that out real quick.

With the exception of 808’s and Heartbreaks, I am a die hard Kanye West Fan. I love the music he writes, performs and produces. However, not everyone feels the same way as I do about him. Many people will have different opinions on Kanye, however when it comes to the music he creates only one title fits, genius. After the controversy with Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV awards, Kanye went into hiding, spurring rumors of suicide attempts. Nothing was heard from him until the release short music video for his single “Power“.  

Everybody looks forward to Fridays for the same reasons, end of the work week, parties, etc. Kanye West changed that in a huge way. He began what he called G.O.O.D. Fridays, named after his record label G.O.O.D. Music (Getting Out Our Dreams). Kanye released a new track every Friday online for FREE download beginning on August 20, 2010. For me, being a HUUUUGE Kanye West fan, this was unbelievable and had me counting down the days until a new track came out. Mr. West built up all this hype then announced his new album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” was going to be released in November of 2010. The track list came out and I realized that five of the 15 tracks had been released for free download during G.O.O.D. Fridays.

With the success of G.O.O.D. Fridays, other heavy hitters in the Music industry have followed in Kanye’s path. Swizz Beatz came out with Monster Mondays and Timbaland with Timbaland Thursdays just to name a few. It has seemed like Kanye has gone from Zero in 2009 to Hero in 2010 and will remain there until his next outburst. But I agree with Complex editor-in-chief Noah Callahan-Bever when he said 

“I think the thing with Kanye, he really just stuck to the same script, which is basically, Iove me or hate me but the music is gonna be so great you have to deal with me.”

I’ll deal with it.