With the Winter Olympic ongoing, it is probably a good timing to discuss Olympics and Marketing (yes…not sports). First, lets consider the most immediate and direct impact on the tourism industry. With the sudden increase in demand, there is a fierce competition. Travel agencies, airlines, hotels, and others in the industry need to carefully consider what values the consumers are searching for, evaluate their competencies to providing, and come up with products that best satisfy the target consumers’ needs. After creating the right product, companies will then have to promote their products through the most effective media (perhaps TV commercials between sport events or advertisements on popular websites or blogs). Only then can companies fully utilize this precious opportunity.

Another important element of Marketing during the event is the sponsoring activities for contestants or TV broadcasts. Not only is it a great chance to appeal brands on an international scope,  but it may also be viewed as an opportunity for companies to expand their domestic consumers by showing their support for their home countries’ contestants.

Now, lets talk in a more zoom-out perspective. How does the Olympic help market a nation as a whole, in this case, Russia. Olympic is undoubtedly one of the greatest sports event nowadays. Therefore, it is a extremely valuable  opportunity to demonstrate its wealth and authority. A successful Olympic will not only strengthen Russia’s image as one of the strongest country in the world, but also secures prosperity of the tourism industry in the coming decade.

Once in a while, I hear people around me talking about the new iPhone and IPad they bought yesterday, telling me how wonderful they are and how glad they bought it. In school, I hear professors talking about how successful Apple is, from marketing to human resource perspectives. This often makes me wonder, what makes people so willing to purchase products of these prices without much hesitation.

My first experience with Apple’s product was an iPod shuffle I bought in elementary school. Although it only had 2GB of memory and only allowed users to play musics on shuffle, I thought it was easy to operate, light, and had a fashionable appearance. Since then, Apple had become the one brand I go to when looking for a media player. And soon afterwards, I purchased iPod Touch and iPhone. I appreciate not only the simplicity of the iOS system, but also the amount of APPs Apple provides.

So, what values does others see in Apple? For my generation, I believe that product design is definitely a prevailing factor. On the exterior, Apple products are thin, light, and comfortable to handle. They often come in black or white, and have unibody designs, simple yet elegant. They operate on iOS, providing user friendly interfaces with useful functions and a large store of applications. This operating system can be conveniently upgraded online, and the system enables content exchange between devices.

Of course, above are just some of the values I discovered. True value lies in the eye of consumers. Some may purchase Apple’s products simply because others do; some for the charisma of Steve Jobs; and some for their reputation. Regardless of the reasons, they demonstrated how successful Apple is in marketing its products.

Additional Information: http://techland.time.com/2012/05/07/six-reasons-why-apple-is-successful/