My team decided to analyze BlackBerry through the marketing assignments we were tasked with doing this semester in COMM 296, and I could not be happier with our choice! The current situation with BlackBerry is very interesting as the company is trying to turn itself around in order to once again become a profitable organization. While we were working our assignments, BlackBerry was actually releasing its device that was tasked with reviving the company, the Z10. Actively following how this story progressed in the news made the assignments a lot more interesting because given that they were releasing a new product, my team was able to see clearly how BlackBerry was marketing to its consumers and positioning itself.

My team decided to specifically analyze the Indonesian youth segment for our final project. We decided to choose this target market because Indonesia has been coined the “BlackBerry nation” as the company has been extremely successful there, and we felt that we could relate to the youth segment given that we were young adults ourselves. In addition, we did not feel that BlackBerry’s window of opportunity in North America was large enough for the company to focus on targeting in order to have a sustainable advantage going forward. I personally feel this way because the North American smartphone market has become saturated as Androids and iPhones have completely taken over.

The team experience I was able to take part in when completing these assignments was definitely enjoyable. My team members, Beverley See, Nick Parkhaev, Carol Huang, and Kyle Yoshida, were also coming up with interesting and unique ideas when discussing how to approach a particular assignment. It definitely provided strong evidence of a team’s ability to produce well thought out ideas that are of high quality, which is always great to be a part of!

As I was browsing the marketing blog AdWeek, I came across an interesting post on tax software brands and their battle for market share. Not only did this post remind me that I still need to file my taxes this year, it also brought up a couple of points I found to be really interesting.

First of all, the post talked about a recent commercial put out by TurboTax (embedded below) that received a lot of backlash from traditional tax service provider H&R Block as they took it as a direct hit. In my opinion, I would not argue with H&R Block in this situation. If you watch the commercial, it does seem like it is directly targeting H&R Block, but I do not necessarily think the commercial is bad; it’s just an attack at a competitor. TurboTax has its unique service that it offers its customers, and H&R Block gives people assurance that their taxes are being taken care of through human interaction. They are two different businesses, and I do not think that aggressive marketing techniques like this example are necessarily bad.

In addition, I thought the statistics the post mentioned were also interesting. It stated that the market shares of physical stores are down 19%, and that more than 37% of Americans have turned to software. To me, this definitely makes sense. With the rapid progression of technology and with the consumers moving more towards conducting their daily activities through the computer rather than in person, even the IRS is offering free software for individuals that have an income less than $57,000. To me, it appears that TurboTax is in a great position going forward, and through marketing techniques like this one where they clearly differentiate themselves from their competitors, I think that they can continue to seize market share.

Recently one of my classmates Lauren Telford wrote an interesting article on Lululemon’s recent public relations disaster, millions of dollars of inventory in the form of see-through pants. Lauren touched on a couple of topics that I found particularly interesting, specifically what Lulu will end up doing with the wasted inventory.

* This is where I would typically post a picture of the see-through pants. However, I have deemed them as inappropriate for my blog so please perform your own google search! *

One option would be to simply throw them out, which as Lauren pointed out may not be the best for their marketing strategy. Lululemon has marketed itself as a brand based on quality and sustainability; throwing millions of dollars worth of yoga pants in the trash does not provide much support for either aspect of this marketing claim. The other option would be to offload the pants to a discount retailer like Winners, but I strongly believe this would be an awful proposition. If they were to sell them to Winners to salvage this economic loss, these products would eventually be seen and purchased by consumers. This would prolong the exposure of this blunder while in my opinion it needs to be handled quickly and efficiently.

Throughout the years, Lululemon has invested considerable time and capital into promoting its marketing mix based on high quality and premium prices. The company was able to effectively convey this to consumers, but the market is now more competitive and it is more difficult to sustain a competitive advantage. Lululemon’s stock was down almost 9% this week, and I believe it was with good reason. Not only has the company wasted millions in inventory, but it has also suffered the opportunity cost of not selling these products. In addition, letting these kind of products get to market has trashed its marketing proposition, and it really makes me question Lululemon’s ability to demand premium prices for their products going forward.

McKayla Maroney is best known as the Olympic gymnast that was terribly unimpressed when she achieved only a silver medal in the Vault event at the London Summer Olympics. Since then, the picture of her reaction once she received her medal has gone viral online. Her popularity increased substantially as her picture resulted in the creation of an infamous Internet meme, an example of which is pictured below, and she has even performed her signature expression with Mr. Obama in the White House. Now, she is the newest spokesperson of Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), the huge underdog to Coca Cola and Pepsi.

 

 

I believe DPS getting Maroney on board as one of their spokespersons is a great tactic to position themselves favourably amongst Coke and Pepsi in the minds of the younger demographics. Maroney’s face has crossed millions of peoples’ computer screens, and she has even started acting on the CW show, Hart of Dixie. Needless to say, she is a popular girl with a lot of potential, and her saying that she is finally impressed with something will catch the attention of consumers.

 

 

Original article from Seeking Alpha

Maroney’s 7UP Ten Picture from Just Jared

 

 

Super Bowl commercials are arguably the most highly anticipated marketing materials that some companies produce, and none seem to stand out more than Budweiser. I believe they did a fantastic job at utilizing their one-minute of airtime this year by delivering a non-conventional ad for a beer company.

This year’s commercial, titled “Brotherhood,” was based on one of Budweiser’s key identifiers, the Budweiser Clydesdales. It depicted a story of a farmer raising a young foal from birth and their close-knit journey throughout the foal’s life. Later, the farmer decides to sell the foal to Budweiser, but he soon seems lost without his friend. Three years later, he becomes aware that the Budweiser Clydesdales are coming to Chicago, assumedly nearby, and he travels to Chicago and is fortunate enough to be reunited with his lost friend.

I believe this commercial really stands out from a marketing perspective for two reasons. First of all, not many advertisements are able to tell a significant story, especially not many this developed and emotional. This ad appeals to a much wider demographic because of this, and Budweiser is still able to achieve the brand and product placement it desires. In addition, at the end of the commercial there was a “call of action” when it asked the audience to “help name the baby Clydesdale seen in this commercial” via Twitter. Not only does this effective utilization of social media allow Budweiser to more effectively target the younger demographic, it also makes the advertisement have a more lasting impression on the consumer as many would be naturally curious about what the young horse would end up being called.

Budweiser spent north of $7-million on their commercial, but I believe they made most of it.

Source for Super Bowl commercial pricing.

It is not difficult to grasp the concept of marketing drives sales and sales drive business. However, it does seem to be considerably more difficult to comprehend what is right and wrong when considering the tactics used to create sales. This especially seems true for American Apparel considering the email blast, pictured below, they sent to their customers during Hurricane Sandy in the fall of 2012.

Hurricane Sandy was a ferocious storm that resulted in the death of over a 100 people, but to American Apparel it seems like it was nothing more than something to play off of in order to help spur sales. It is true that because of the storm many American Apparel stores in the Northeast United States had to be closed down, but that by no means makes it appropriate to release an ad so insensitive.

“In case you’re bored during the storm” is what I believe made this ad completely cross the line. The selfishness expressed by American Apparel could only have exacerbated the difficult situation people were going through. There are a variety of other approaches that could have been taken, such as pledging to donate a certain percentage of sales to go towards people affected by the disaster and including all Americans in the offer. Unfortunately, these alternative methods were completely ignored and the only people that were targeted were the ones being directly affected.

In my opinion, American Apparel should definitely be more cautious in their marketing tactics around world events that have such a drastic affect on millions of people. They try to promote their brand as an ethical one by producing its products in the USA, “sweatshop free,” but things like this advertisement will only have a negative impact on their brand and the overall image they portray to consumers.

Forbes article on American Apparel’s ad