Month: February 2011

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10 min posts Reference to classmate's blog

Spongebob over Bieber

Source: http://thedailyzombies.blogspot.com/2011/01/massive-manic-hysteria-induced-by.html

I took a look at two other classmate’s blog posts: Benson’s followup post on his Superbowl Bieber Ad and Ansley’s post on a McDonald’s commercial featuring Spongebob toys.

The Best Buy one definitely did not live up to expectations. Like Benson mentioned, it was a “failed attempt at trying to be funny.” They tried to link Osbourne with the ‘old’ and Bieber with the ‘new’ but the script wasn’t very natural. I would add on that while Bieber is an aspirational social reference group for some, he is also a dissociative social reference group for many as well. I agree with Benson, overall, it didn’t communicate what value I would receive from Best Buy’s products and Buy Back program.

Source: http://celebrities.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=780340&showcomments=true

On the other hand, the McDonald’s commercial appealed very much to me even though I’m no longer a child, the target segment that Ansley pointed out. In fact, the children’s apparent and like Ansley said, exaggerated enthusiasm is infectious. This commercial rather made me like Spongebob a bit more, just from the sheer happiness, fun, and ingenuity.

I agree with Ansley’s points about the demographics variables for the segmentation. I’m sure parents would also be interested in buying these toys for their children for they seem both very affordable and very fun. I would also add that there are psychographic variables as well from the happy, fun, and potentially cool image that both kids and parents have as part of their self-concepts.  I also agree with Ansley that by bringing in technological improvements into the design of the toy, they’ve definitely appealed to the trend towards more techy gadgets. Beanie babies just aren’t enough anymore.

To add on to the commercial, McDonald’s also used aspirational reference group IMALU, a singer in Japan, according to the article, “IMALU announces a ‘special’ collaboration.”

IMALU, Spongebob Squarepants, and McDonald’s (Source: http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/01/imalu-announces-a-special-collaboration/)
Categories
10 min posts

sparklies, segmenting for strongly bonded carbon atoms

Source: www.tiffany.ca

I was reading Vivian Leung’s blog post “What a girl wants? What a girl needs?” earlier about diamonds and how big brand names like Tiffany & Co. influence the attitudes of consumers. I agree with Vivian, indeed, the woman in the video appears to have it all with her euphoric smile, a seemingly well-dressed man in the peripheral, a blue (a colour which is sometimes associated with royalty or luxury) ring box… the commercial appeals to many classic female desires and needs.

Diamonds, as everyone knows, are very pricey, but even then, they have various price range and sizes that can appeal to different segments. Focusing on diamond rings, here is a quick analysis of possible segment bases and variables:

Demographics: Age, marital status, and income are likely two key variables given that engagement and marriage rings have come to be seen mostly as a necessity in a girl’s life, and marriage in turn is highly associated with age. These days, though, it seems there is a little more variance in the age at which people get married. There is probably a common time in life where many people tend to get married again after a divorce as well. Income can be categorized into different segments for say those who might only be able to buy a simple band, or those who can afford to buy an intricate ring inset with a high clarity and beautifully cut diamond designed by someone famous.

Psychological: The way the diamond is perceived, for example, to add worth to the customer, or degree at which the customer perceives him or herself to need to have a diamond ring (or from a male perspective, likely to give one more than wear one himself), the attitudes that Vivian describes in her blog post, how diamonds can “define a woman’s social status, importance, and self-confidence.”

By segmenting their market using these bases and variables, companies can connect their research and analysis with ideas, leading to hopefully successful marketing.

Here’s an older commercial by DeBeers. “A Diamond is Forever”

YouTube Preview Image

And more recently, tying the strength of love with their “A Diamond is Forever” slogan as well as the design of the jewelry – the Everlon Collection which, unless burned in a fire, will last ever long! 🙂 Thus linking a diamond, one of the hardest materials in the world, with love and romance, intangible and seemingly soft and brilliant but also strong.

Source: http://www.adiamondisforever.com/downloads/Everlon_PaveRing_1024x768.jpg
Categories
10 min posts Reference to classmate's blog

Commercials: SuperBowl’s beliebing and Old Spice’s I’m on a horse.


Source: http://www.starandstyle.com/justin-bieber-and-ozzy-osbourne-starring-in-best-buy-super-bowl-commercial.html

On the 27th, my friend Benson wrote on his marketing blog about Super Bowl ads. His post was titled, “Superbowl ads: are they worth it?” Altogether, with Bieber and Osbourne, the commercial is sure to cost a lot. Will that be offset by benefits? Since Best Buy is going with it, it appears they’ve concluded it will.

This commercial will associate Best Buy with the Super Bowl as well as with Bieber and Osbourne and in turn, potentially the values associated with both. For example, Bieber’s youth, popularity, passion. If the commercial becomes well-received, it may enhance Best Buy’s brand.

Justin Bieber and the Best Buy SuperBowl Commercial
(Source: http://www.shoppingblog.com/blog/1261116)

When buying products, an interesting or memorable commercial (and posters, fliers, online postings) could push Best Buy into a Consumer’s retrieval set of possible choices. And if that memory was a positive one, push Best Buy into the evoked set and eventually be purchased. Once the commercial comes out, many Beliebers will likely watch it repeatedly just to see him and others might just to see what the fuss is about.

Another memorable series as Benson mentioned was the Old Spices. So far, I haven’t met anyone who actually bought Old Spice because of it. The commercial’s fun and seems slightly random (though in fact it links Old Spice to many values through the objects and scenery). Jason also wrote about it, mentioning that he hadn’t bought it despite sharing the commercial. In response to his question, I would say he’s not an advocate since he’s not actually promoting the product or brand (not quite bad word of mouth either). Most memorable for me personally was the end of one with “I’m on a horse.” The first thing that popped into mind was the idea of prince charming (I wouldn’t be surprised if that was what they aimed for anyways, the White Prince Charming).

“I’m on a horse.”
(Source: http://thegloss.com/culture/why-dont-old-men-like-the-old-spice-ads-is-it-because-they-are-bad-people/)

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