Month: November 2010

I was reading Derek Li’s blog and found some interesting points regarding the GM’s ad. In class, Tamar has shown us the characteristic of advertising which included information, persuasion, and reminder. I am going to remind you, blog readers, of the video introduced by GM and posted on UBC blog by Derek.

In those types of ad, where the company is trying to position itself, persuasion is one of the main criteria. Throughout the ad, GM has shown many examples in which people have failed because of various reasons. GM related all those examples to its own failure in order to prove that it is not the only person/company that “fell down”. Because the audience is better able to accept certain facts if they have personally experienced it, I believe that this persuasion strategy is very effective. Along with persuasion, GM also included the reminder aspect in its ad. Indeed, after 100 years of operations, customers will have to be reminded about the existence of GM; as our teacher would say: “Hey Folks, we are still out there!” Also, while watching the ad, I personally think that GM was trying to differentiate itself from other car companies by admitting its failure and emphasizing its rapid recovery. Today, a lot of organizations are still not ready to admit something, and would rather blame external factors to protect their images.  Finally, GM released the ad during thanksgiving and sent out a message to the government, consumers, and taxpayer in general to thank them for their support (directly or indirectly) which appealed to consumers’ compassion. With all that combined, GM successfully created an emotional video that could potentially attract new or lost customers.

I am posting this blog in response to Catherine Hsu’s blog.

She discussed several important issues about printing disturbing pictures on cigarettes’ packages. I totally agree with the fact that it is not really ethical to add those images to the packages. Also, I do not think that this will be very effective for several reasons. With all the information that we have today about the danger of smoking, no one should smoke because of its deadly consequences. People have had anti-smoking campaigns in order to promote non-smoking habits and many have tried to prevent smoking ages by going to schools and educating teenagers. Government have also tried to regulate the amount of tobacco inhaled by the population by imposing a tobacco tax on every cigarette purchased. Furthermore, most public places, such as restaurants or malls, have “no smoking” signs which have slowly limited cigarette consumption as it could be quite a hassle to get up and go outside to smoke.

Although we have noticed a drastic decrease in tobacco consumption over the past years, some people still ignore the consequences and keep cigarettes in their mouths. Because current smokers have been exposed to all types of anti-smoking ads, I believe that they have seen worst and more shocking pictures than those presented by Catherine. This is why I do not think that those pictures will have a strong impact on current smokers.

Ignoring the ethical issues, I, however, think that those types of pictures can be effective in developing countries such as China or Indonesia, where the general population is not yet aware of the effects of smoking. For example, in the following video, a baby started to smoke when he was only 3 years old and is currently having 40 cigarettes a day. It is evident that those people need more education regarding smoking and need more exposure on the consequences of cigarettes.

The other day, while getting my haircut, I thought about the Canadian’s growing service sector and its impact on future generations. As a result of high demand for services, most people today work for in the service sector. With the advancing technology, some tangible goods are no longer purchased in the stores but instead downloaded from online sources. The good example is music and DVDs that used to be only available in Disks. Consequently, some CD companies are going out of business (the HMV store in Oakridge).  Because the DVD player is a perfect complement for DISKs, it will soon be driven out of business due to the low demand for it. Another example of pure service is artists singing in concerts. What do you get from a concert? (besides losing several thousand cilias which could cause some hearing disabilities) Nothing! (in terms of tangible goods). Also, people today are willing to pay really high price to see two persons fight. In the summer of 2010, Vancouver hosted a UFC fight and tickets were sold out even before they were released to the general public. I would also categorize casino in the service sector as it only provided entertainment to customers. Although those kind of entertainments were already available in the past, only privileged families would have attended Chinese/Italian operas whereas today anyone can “afford” a concert ticket. I also think that with the growing service industry, more and more consumers will be reluctant to leave their houses because most goods will be directly delivered to their houses. Online education also exists and is becoming more popular because of multiple reasons such as time saving (commute time), cost saving, etc… Some friend even told me that, aside from food, they purchase everything online.

BMW is one of the most popular car brands in the world. This German car positions in the luxury side of the industry as it sets its price above average. Indeed, the cheapest sedan costs around $40,000 and the most expensive models are over $100,000. Over the years, BMW has built a strong brand and is, today, known as a reliable and expensive car. This car company targets consumers with high income, people who like to have a special status in society, and people who like speed. With this in mind, BMW uses high quality material and closely inspect their car after manufacture in order to ensure consumer satisfaction after purchase. Although BMW is now seen as a common car in Vancouver streets, it is still considered to be a luxury car to most people compared to its direct and indirect competitors.

On the other hand, most people would consider Honda to be cheap and reliable. It is relatively fuel efficient and a lot cheaper compared to BMW as the least expensive model can be purchased at $15,000. The Japanese brand targets low income consumer who want to save on gas and only need a car for its transportation purpose. Because of its reliability, general consumers would rank it as a cheap and good quality car.

Hyundai has long been an inexpensive and low quality car in the eyes of consumers. Because of its reputation, people would hesitate when buying a Hyundai due to its safety issues and lack of options. It is, however, trying to position itself as a high quality and cheap brand over the past years by trying to integrate options and improving the look of its cars in general.

Aston Martin or Lamborghini are companies that are profit oriented. Although I am uncertain about the  manufacturing cost, I am assuming that they earn a large margin on each car sold. The price of those cars can range anywhere from $200,000 to $400,000. Because of such high prices, it is evident that not everyone can afford it. Those companies rely on this rarity to create value which is directly associated with its price and product.

Car companies try to differentiate themselves from competitors by appealing to different consumers. People with higher income would generally prefer a “better” car while lower income customers would want a cheaper car that possesses minimum safety standards. Additionally, some companies have developed into the “green” market and developed hybrids while others ignored the consequences of pollution in order to preserve speed. Ironically, the most expensive cars are not those that provide greater benefits to the environment but those that pollute the most. In today’s society, where everyone thinks of sustainability, I believe that consumers will soon prioritize eco-friendly cars over fast cars.