Month: January 2011

It has been another week of marketing class.  And with every class, I begin to really feel the hands on element of this course.  Perhaps it is because we got to meet up with our groups and have started to talk about our first assignment – but also because there is a section of marketing I find relevant to my personal interests.  I find marketing ideas or philosophies fascinating – especially when it is used for a charitable cause.  MADD, Stay Active and Anti-Bullying are only a few of the campaigns that have really secured a stance in the media.

Last night, as I was surfing through Youtube videos, another marketing strategy related light bulb went off in my head.  I was catching up and re-watching some of my favourite WongFu Production videos and  came across “The Allergy”.  The short video is a non-smoking campaign.  In short, the storyline is as follows: the main character is dating a very attractive girl.  However, there is a catch.  Every time he smokes, the smoke fumes cause her to turn into nothing but an odd looking little Asian boy – giving the main character every reason to quit smoking.  The video ends with the line – “what’s YOUR reason?”  This video demonstrates how marketing can be used for charitable ideas and initiatives.  WongFu Productions used their resources of humour and film production to send an important message to their target market – youth and young adults.  With the peer pressure that youth face today, they can often be pressured into smoking.  However, by using the right marketing tactics, WongFu managed to make smoking unattractive, “un-cool”, and most importantly – stupid.

Marketing has an immense amount of power and effect on consumers – so why not use that power and gear it toward a good cause!

I walked into my first Comm 296 class, a week and a half ago, thinking that marketing was only about posters, advertisements – and selling products only through these select channels.  But then it struck me that these aren’t the ONLY channels of marketing.  There are lots of times I stumbled upon a product or store and decided to purchase based solely on the appearance.  A prime example of this is Anthropologie – a store that I first came across a few years ago during a visit to Las Vegas.  Being a truly Vancouver based shopper, Anthropologie, even being quite  large retail chain, was a foreign brand to me.  But their prime location in Caesar’s Palace’s Forum Shops caught my eye right away – their window displays was full of detailing.  And within seconds of entering the store, I was mesmerized by the homey appearance and layout and the soothing fragrances that filled the store.  The clothes and the decorations complemented in each other.  The clothing section was like being in a huge walk in closet, the baths section was like being in a fully equipped bathroom.  In sense, the store felt like an elaborate version of what I dream my house to be in the future.  And with some further research, I learned that Anthropologie doesn’t have a marketing budget.  Rather, the money that would go toward marketing goes toward store decorations.  And that really confirmed the point that, marketing IS indeed everywhere.  It isn’t just posters or ads, its about finding anything about an item or service that has selling value.