Evan Standerwick

While i was sitting at the table looking very business like suit and all, there were many others looking similar. We were at the UCM Christmas Banquet. One of the traditions is that different groups make videos and submit them all to one person.

Figures, this person was a mac, so all the PC users had to convert their files over to the “user friendly” mac format. However, despite being easy to use and the like, there were numerous tech problems when it came to playing all of these videos, this is when someone shouted ” Should have used a PC.” This got my mind thinking about the attack style ads that Mac had put out showing how “easy” mac was to use and then the second thought came; did this comment about PC’s influence anyones decisions about which one is “better?” This I am not sure about but, what i thought was neat was that Windows and PC’s as a whole were getting free advertising and promotion through the difficulties of the other.

All in all i think that it is interesting that these ads and what their style can weave themselves into our everyday lives.

Check out this YouTube compilation.

What are your thoughts?

So, i have been looking for restaurants to go out for dinner with friends and its not as easy as it looks. Restaurants market themselves through their exterior store front, as well as their atmosphere,servers, food style, decor and interior of their restaurants etc. I started out looking at just their store fronts during a walk down broadway and 4th and realized that a lot of these places, and some of the best places (in my opinion) do not have appealing store fronts, rather they are like a jewel in the rough. So, after consulting urbanspoon.com i found it much easier to see the quality of the food, service and experience to be had at each restaurant.

I just found this interesting considering what we have been talking about in class and i think that businesses need to establish themselves through their appearance.

After reading about different ways to solve problems and how to market different products and services, it got me thinking, are there preset criteria used to be an effective marketer? After surfing around i found a list of 10 ways to be an effective marketer in 2010. These sit well with me because they align with how I would market something (assuming i know what im doing). So im now going to do a “Don Cherry” style overview and my opinion their 2010 marketing trends.

Trust and transparency, if you dont have it, you will not succeed, the last thing somebody needs is another shady company or knock off trying to sell you something that you dont need and telling you that it is what you need.

Less interruption and more value added: create value for the product, but make sure its attainable. If you have this, the consumers attention is easier to grab, to make it easier, make the advertising easily viewable,(billboards, bus stops) this will get the thoughts into their mind and become part of their retrieval set.

Value: (OK kids,) remember that since the economic downturn, people are more price sensitive and are seeking deals/steals, so easiest way is to make a product seem like its worth more and price it at what people value it at, even a little less, although this will decrease shortrun profits, it might in the Long Run pay dividends with a long maturity stage.

SHOW ME, dont tell me: if i told you i had a million dollars in a jar, you wouldnt believe me, you would say show me! In the same way, if the product is amazing and has all these features, dont just tell people about it, SHOW THEM THE MONEY, this will gain their confidence and exemplify the quality of the product.

Social media, its here and not going away: I think there are laggards in marketing as well, people who refuse to adapt to changes in technology and “the times.” Social media will allow relatively inexpensive advertising and make it accessible to  many people. I say ride the wave and go as long as you can

Peace of mind: over time, there have been a lot of hardships but one time that (i think, i wasn’t there) is the late 60’s with peace love and happiness, in the same way, make the consumer feel like they made the right choice to let them sleep at night. If you are selling a car and dont offer a sufficient warranty, this might worry a buyer, but if you can instill a sense of peace with the product you will meet the needs of the consumer.

Its not about making profits, Relationships rule: Like Enterprise Rent-A-Car says in the textbook, get the customers satisfaction, make them loyal to the product and the profits will follow.

Online videos and mobile marketing: have you ever bumped into someone on campus or downtown that was on a cell phone? I have and it seems like if you can advertise there (where people spend a good chunk of their time, it would be effective. Besides u dont even have to wrry about being l8 or using 2 many characters to get the point across.

Focus: in the words of Bob Reenie “find something and be the best at it” dont try to dip into every market, the quality of the product will not be as good, if you can focus all your resources into one market it will be more effective.

Dont get lost in the clutter: I couldn’t even begin to count how much advertising i see in a day, so make sure that whatever you advertise is bold, stands out and is consistent. You must choose how to go about this, and then stick to it!

These are my thought on the 2010 marketing trends for 2010 hope they spark some discussion.

So, i was looking through and reading some of our classmates Phil Gym’s blog about the competition between iPhone 4 and the Samsung Galaxy S, which as a matter of fact distracted me for a half an hour looking and comparing the phones. This was especially interesting for two reasons. One being that i am looking for a new phone and these are both prospective choices, and second, the topic of branding and how i barely knew about the Galaxy S, yet could tell almost everything about the iPhone 4. I think this has to do with the branding and the amount of advertising which has reached myself as a consumer. Apple has invested a lot of resources into advertising and making their product known, i think also that since Apple is a current phenomenon, that the fact its an apple product automatically gets itself into the mind of consumers, whether they are pro apple or no apple consumers. Also, even though the samsung Galaxy S has all the same features for the most part, I dont think that the perceived  value is the same as the iPhone. It appears to be another copy of the iPhone. In accordance with what Phil has said about Apples marketing strategies and “brainwashing” us into buying an iPhone even though we dont know why we want one. Thats a scary thought that  Apple has that much power to make our evoked set limited to one or maybe two products. On a more ironic note, when Apple was up and coming, they used a spin off of the brainwashing in the novel 1984, hmmm have the tables turned?

So, i have been surfing through some blogs today scoping water day material and realizing that such a seemingly insignificant commodity is such a vital issue to the survival of so many people. I was really intrigued by the video posted on Elling Dahlen‘s Blog. Go check it out.

Monday night i went to the Canucks game against the Florida Panthers, and was bombarded with marketing and media. Marketing at the game was everywhere, the boards, the jumbotron, jerseys and different kiosks to name a few. The two things that struck me though, were the strategy that Rhino.ca took to promote themselves. Their logo and url are both simple and do not mention anything about what they do, in doing so, it attracted me to say ” hey, i wonder what these guys are all about,” and so i searched them when i got home and was greeted with a page that said… “welcome, we’ve been expecting you.”  This clever yet simple tactic draws on curiosity to go check out the site. This has been successful, i fell for it. Good on you Rhino for creating, with such simplicity, a powerful marketing strategy.

Secondly, the new rights to the building which belong to Rogers. The new Rogers Arena is paid advertising, what I found interesting was the conversations about how the name change feels weird. GM Place and the Garage are the names most people associate with the arena, but now GM is getting free publicity by the topics people are talking about.  Instead of paying lots of money to have your name associated with the arena, they are now getting the same or even more talk time than they have ever had before. I wonder how long this will last and if GM will see any benefits.

You think friends and connecting, i think a new business opportunity. Im sure that is what the CEO of facebook was thinking with his changes to the site.  After reading about the new groups function on duct tape marketing. What started out as a simple classroom connection project has become a world wide phenomenon. I think that with this comes a significant marketing opportunity. They started with their marketing to specific people by using info on your profile. An easy way to gain knowledge about the consumer, allowing specific tailoring of ads. For example i like music and im a university student, i am getting  ads related to different music companies (most of which are local) and different study abroad schools. I now wonder, how far will facebook go for marketing? My question is sort of answered with the new groups function, how people can organize contacts into different groups allowing them to send specific information privately. This is pretty cool considering it used to just be a bunch of harvard students trying to stay in touch. If we can create a new modification it can revolutionize how we communicate, just like facebook did.

Over the summer there has been a viral ad campaign. Old Spice commercials have been popping up here there and everywhere, from TV commercials, youtube videos and print ads. I have found these ads quite entertaining and  very convincing to the point where I have bought Old Spice products. It is also interesting how such a well known company has gone the way of social networking and free video advertising. This is, in my opinion a very effective way to promote a product while maintaining a minimal add budget.  On youtube they dont only post videos and ads but do personal replies to viewer comments which brings a large company down to the consumer level. Their videos are seen on https://www.youtube.com/user/OldSpice with varieties of videos but most importantly. . .

IM ON A HORSE!

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