Month: March 2013

As Aino had mentioned in her post about apple adding value such as being able to “take notes in class, play games (many different kinds of game), edit video, etc.”. After reading that post, I completely agree with how Apple brings value with just more than the iPad itself but rather its wide range of applications available for Apple products.

Basically an application can be created by anyone, and upon approval and formalities with Apple, the app can be free or sold! Quite an interesting concept when it first game out and many people who satisfied a want/need made money with it.

But in my opinion, Apple makes more than just programs and technology gadgets. The Apple logo/branding itself adds value because it satisfies the want of people – whether it is the expensive (rich) image, the tech-savvy, or the need to belong.

So…that leads to my question – they’re are many different brands that also make tablets such as Samsung and Microsoft, why buy the iPad? What does the value that an iPad adds to you that the other brands can not?

Just a little while ago Mercedes Benz had announced the production of CLA class that is targeted towards the 20-30 and low 40s ages.

Mercedes had always (at least to me) seemed more of a luxury brand with an image focused on classy and comfort for the 35+ drivers out there but this new CLA car seems like a potential “want” even for me! With it’s aggressive sporty styling and it’s Apple Siri integration (hint hint Apple fans out there!), touch screen display and other cool geeky gadgets it really seems to be wanting a bigger piece of this market that BMW and Audi had dominated for quite some time.

Needless to say, Mercedes had recognized that the younger buyers (approx from our age 20s-35s) actually do hold enough buying power to generate more sales and profits for them. In my opinion cars are (generally speaking) the 2nd most expensive purchase a person will make (second to houses) and if a huge corporation like Mercedes thinks that the market is significant enough…then it is probably a good idea!

Anyone else like this car other than me? 🙂 I prefer the AMG model of the CLA though which sadly is a $15k increase in price tag 🙁

Soooo recently there has been a huge boom in the “meme” sites and some companies have also adopted it and attempted to turn it into effective advertising.During this time some businesses have tried to use it and some have incidentally succeeded in gaining publicity, for example the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Before the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S3, a fanboy had posted on the Samsung Canada’s Facebook page asking for a free phone – and he attached a picture of a dinosaur. The dinosaur didn’t have specific captions on it like most memes would have but Samsung Canada had replied politely and attached a picture of a kangaroo on a unicycle (in my opinion very close to a meme if not one already). This resulted in a ton of positive public publicity that Samsung actually produced a custom Galaxy S3 with the picture of his dinosaur embedded on the hardcover of the back (link at bottom).

Does this look like a permanent/long-term marketing strategy to anyone? Personally I think memes are quite interesting and with the endless possibilities and variations, they are here to stay. Since it is also shared across the internet from multiple sites such as 9gag and reddit, it also has a very high change of going viral. This almost seems like a untapped marketing strategy that has a lot of potential and is inexpensive that many new start-up companies should be considering. Opinions?