Yik Hin (Henry) Fung

link: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/10/20/target-aims-to-cater-to-canadian-tastes/

 

Target has announced that it will cater its new stores to the tastes of Canadians, as it plans to expand its operations to Canada. When I first looked at the title of this blog, I was wondering what Target could specifically do to “Canadianize” the shopping experience. After all, Canada and the U.S pretty much share the same culture. We listen to American music and we watch American television shows. It turns out that Target is trying to cater to the local demographics. One of the Target executives cited examples such as its California stores with Spanish-style architecture to show Target’s effort to localize its stores. While Target probably is going to change its architecture style in Canada, it is more focused on catering the food to the tastes of local ethnic groups. I would assume that Target would sell less Mexican foods and more Chinese and South Asian food in Canada, due to the difference in the demographics of minorities. Target is even contemplating on replacing Starbucks with Tim Hortons in its stores to further “Canadianize” itself. Personally, I think that is not necessary as Canadians probably enjoy Starbucks coffee as much as Americans do.

I have always wondered about the effectiveness of TV commercials. Some of us probably may have watched TV commercials where we have no ideas what it is trying to sell or promote. Interestingly enough, research has actually shown that we actually pay less attention to TV commercials that are creative and we pay more attention to those that are less entertaining. The explanation is that we the viewers would scrutinize the fact-base advertisement so that we can “counter-argue” the message. On the Other hand, we don’t pay as much attention to likeable commercials because they are more relaxing and we don’t have the need to “counter-argue” the message. Consequently, creative ones are actually more effective as they can more easily slip the message into our subconscious even though they don’t attract as much attention.

.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/7308221/Creative-television-adverts-make-us-more-susceptible-to-sales-messages.html

 

Comparing to other forms of advertising, TV commercials are often deemed to be one of the most effective ones. They are probably more effective than radio and newspaper advertisement because TV commercials can bring together both the visual and audio elements together to make the message more vivid.

 

However, studies have shown that its effectiveness is declining over the year as people spend more time surfing the internet rather than watching TV. According to a study conducted by McKinsey & Co., traditional TV is one-third as effective in 2010 as it was in 1990.

As well, the growing popularity with digital video recorders can threaten the TV advertisement industry. The digital video recorders allow viewers to fast-forward or skip the commercials.

With the change in people’s lifestyle, marketers have to develop new strategies or look elsewhere or promote their products and service

 

http://business.financialpost.com/2011/09/09/axe-kicks-it-up-a-notch-online/

 

 

AXE, a brand of male grooming products known for its notorious commercials where a crowd of women will flock to any guys who put on AXE body spray, is now launching the AXE channel (www.axe.ca/axechannel) along with Toronto ad agency CP+B Canada, Mindshare, and Harbinger Communications to further increase its online presence.

The AXE channel features articles and creative videos that are targeted at young male audience. It includes topics from bars in your city to find hipster girls to male fashion. The style of their channel shows a slight change in their positioning. Axe has been accused of sexism in the past because of its portray of women. The company is now planning to shift its advertisement style because of the changing values in society, such as gender equality.  Michael Murray, the creative director at CP+B Toronto, wanted to change his work because he believes that in today society, “The girl is very much equal to the guy, and often ends on top. So the work really reflects a change in society.”

 

It can be said that Axe is responding to the forces in the Macro environment, in this case, social forces.  Its ability to create entertaining videos in YouTube and generate millions of views is an example of how AXE took advantage of the technological forces. These videos are geared mainly towards younger segment of the male population and are quite popular as the videos appeal to their needs of attracting female partners. Having seen the Virgin Mobile ad last class where 2 men were kissing, I wonder if it would be possible for Axe to target the gay market. Though I doubt that would be a feasible idea as heterosexual males probably don’t want to use a personal grooming product that is associated with attracting homosexual men.