In the world of marketing, consumers are constantly exposed to and offered a wide range of products offered by different companies who are fighting capture the the largest portion of their targeted market. Thus, companies are constantly trying to strand out amongst their competitors, create a niche for themselves and differentiate their brand. And how do they do this? One growingly popular strategy of colour association. Visual information is very often related to colour and this explains why consciously or unconsciously, we associate distinctive colours to certain products. For example green is associated with Starbucks, red is associated to Coca Cola, yellow and blue is associated to IKEA and so on. Of course, there are not enough colours in the world for each company to claim its own colour association and so, firms are beginning to turn to the legal system to claim their rights to a colour.

A great example of another company that has can be found on the Brand Channel’s blog post on how Cadbury, the well known British chocolate company has recently successfully registered purple (Pantone 2865c to be specific) as their trademark colour (on chocolate products only). Though Cadbury strongly believed in the colour as a powerful identification of their brand, it was definitely a legal struggle with competitors such as Nestle retaliating against this patent.

This seven year long fight Cadbury has put up was for good reason as it has essentially protected their brand image. As Christopher Wadlow, Ph.D. proposes in his book, The Law of Passing-off: Unfair Competition by Misrepresentation, “colours operate as powerful stimulants of memory, identification and loyalty” (2004). In light of this, Cadbury’s purpose is to take advantage of this powerful stimulate and claim the colour as officially theirs in the market. Their main concern was to ensure that it can be easily distinguished even by children too young to read. In doing so, they are eliminating having consumers mistakingly pick up the “fake” Cadbury chocolate bar wrapped in purple due to products of strikingly similar packaging in terms of colour, logo and text being shelved on the same shelf.

Cadbury is only one of the few companies that has jumped on the colour patenting bandwagon. Leading brands of the colour trademarking include Tiffany & Co.’s colour Tiffany Blue and T-Mobile’s colour magenta. While gaining the rights to a colour still remains to be a painfully long and difficult process, companies are realizing the importance of claiming their colour in order to protect their brand image.

McDonalds, the largest chain of fast food restaurants with its distinguished golden arch situated in a total of 119 countries, serving up to 64 million people around the globe daily. Adding onto Ramona Chung’s post on how this corporate franchise is as successful as it is, I find there’s more to it than its appeal to children and sponsorship for the Olympics (though those are undoubtedly factors that contribute to the success of McDonald’s).

Observing from McDonald’s ad campaigns, it is evident that the corporation segments it markets and caters their marketing to each one differently. What I can draw from their ads, they have four  general segments: Children (demographic), adults (demographic), athletes/healthy lifestyle (psychographic), and regional (geographic).

McDonald’s definitely has a strong market hold for younger kids with the novel Happy Meals and the toys that come with it, along with the in restaurant Play Places; its hard to find a child that doesn’t enjoy the McDonald’s experience. I know for me, as a kid, going to McDonald’s was always an exciting treat. Here’s an example of a Japanese McDonald’s commercial for kids in which the ad emphasizes the enthusiasm and excitement attributed to McDonald’s (it’s one of my favourites!)

Then there are the adults for which McDonald’s gears its ads to highlight the availability and convenience it offers.
An example of this is one that parents of new born babies can appreciate. In this case, McDonalds its really getting at identifying and fulfilling the needs of consumers.

And finally with McDonald’s prominent affiliation with the Olympics, there are (seemingly) health conscious food alternatives (offering new products such as at the McGrill and various types of salads) and ad campaigns for the active lifestyle group. When their ads feature world class athletes, consumer behaviour is effected through the social factor in which these endorsors become opinion leaders within their reference groups.

An additional segment I noticed with McDonald’s is its demographic focus. With locations all over the world, the corporation is placing themselves within hundreds of different cultures and the regular hamburger and fries that thrives in North American won’t necessarily fit the tastes for people in places such as India or Egypt. Thus, they strategically of localize products and promote them in order to effectively fit the needs of these different regions. For instance, in Singapore, a popular menu item is the McRice where burger buns are replaced for fried rice patties and in India, they offer the McCurry Pan.

Evidently, this powerhouse has gained its credit and success largely through its marketing and ability to effectively segment and target their desired markets and position themselves as the leading fast food restaurant in the industry.

Sources:
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/etc/medialib/aboutMcDonalds/investor_relations3.Par.56096.File.dat/2010%20Annual%20Report%20(print).pdf

A widely used marketing strategy that many companies turn to nowadays is to link themselves to non-profit organizations or philanthropic causes, publicizing their support for a good cause. A couple examples include M.A.C cosmetics’ AIDS campaign where 100%  of the purchases of their VIVA GLAM lipstick and lipglass will go towards the M.A.C AIDS fund, Dairy Queen’s annual Miracle Treat Day campaign contributing to the Children’s Miracle Network, and KFC’s Bucket for the Cure for breast cancer.

In Jessica’s post on cause related marketing, (https://blogs.ubc.ca/hyj1216/2011/09/26/cause-related-marketing/) she finds cause related marketing to “bring companies (sellers) and charitable organizations a win-win situation”. However, with more and more companies campaigning for all these different causes, trying to differentiate themselves from market competitors and add value attachment to their brand, they could be seeing the complete opposite and less favorable effect of ‘another company partnering up with another charity’.

While it’s great that important issues and causes are being recognized by larger corporations (whether it is being done out of genuine concern is a different story), it’s beginning to get repetitive. As a consumer, I’ll possibly be slightly more inclined to purchase that product that donates some small portion to a some charity, but it’s not likely change my attraction to that brand or product. Because there lacks an attachment or involvement with with these charitable organizations, cause related marketing makes little effective difference.

Cause-related marketing has only begun to trend within the last couple of decades and is now a prevalent strategy in the marketing sector. With such extreme competitive markets out there, companies need to again, be innovative with how they take their marketing strategy one step further in order for effective brand differentiation.

American Express, the company to have coined the term “cause related marketing” in 1983 tries to get ahead of the game by taking this strategy to another level. The company’s contribution to the community is delivered through their online initiative, “Member’s Project” where cardholders are able to get involved and play an active part in philanthropy. Amex not only supports the causes that are important to their cardholders (through project submissions and a voting for the various projects), but they also offer the opportunity for members to volunteer and share stories. Instead of simply having a non-profit/charitable organization to illuminate their reputation, Amex tries to reach out further to its customers through the bridging of collective corporate and consumer efforts together to make a difference.

http://www.facebook.com/membersproject?sk=app_144974848867080

Sources:
http://about.americanexpress.com/news/pr/2010/mp10.aspx

It’s that time of year again at UBC when booths are lined up in a row one after another, and along with it comes roll up banners propped up against each one and eager club representatives ready to snatch the attention of the next passerby. With Business Week having taken place two weeks ago and AMS Clubs Days that just wrapped up this past week, students have been bombarded with a plethora of propaganda from all these clubs that want you.

So how do these clubs do it? What is their strategy in promoting their cause and attempt at making it stand out from the hundreds of others? Everything from posters and banners to rehearsed selling pitches to free swag and snacks, and social media; it’s all a part of the marketing plan.

The club that stuck out to me the most both this year and last was the Chinese Varsity Club (more commonly known as CVC). Their signs are posted along the roads in every route coming into UBC; with that they’ve secured their presence amongst all the commuter students (who make up a vast majority of UBC’s enrollment). But it definitely doesn’t stop there. Balloons branded with their logo, loud music, humorous promotional videos and eye catching swag are only a few ways they attract mass crowds of students around their booth.

However, asides from their annual back to school marketing campaigns, there is definitely more to the club that makes CVC so successful. It has to do with the club’s long term establishment of 80 years and the distinctive impression it has developed over time. Like an established and trusted brand in a specific consumer market, CVC is a well established and renowned club amongst the UBC community.

With the club’s target market reaching out to all students of all ethnicities and backgrounds along with its interactive involvement with the members and its “focus on promoting student social wellness to all UBC students” (About) over the years, it’s no wonder that it continues to the be the largest social club on campus.

Works Cited
About Section. Web. 26 September, 2011.
<http://ubccvc.com/?page_id=264>

My name is Jennifer and I am a second year transfer from Arts. Although I am ethnically Chinese, my family comes from Burma (or formally known as Myanmar). Many people are unaware of this seemingly inconspicuous yet absolutely beautiful Southeast Asian country; and so, when they ask me where I’m from, I respond with a quick geography/anthropology lessons with abundant enthusiasm and passion about the mystical land of Burma. I’ve done it so many times that it’s become something like a polished pitch (marketing without even knowing it?). Just ask me and you’ll see :).

In terms of my career path, I actually have no idea where I’m headed. But I feel that with the people I meet, the opportunities I will have, and being surrounded with a new community of talented, driven and inspirational peers and professionals at Sauder this year, I will eventually find my way.
Something I wouldn’t mind sharing to the class is that if all else fails, I will pursue my childhood dream of opening up my very own Hello Kitty bakery cafe!

Asides from the fact that this course is a part of my STT, I think this will be a really great learning experience and I’m excited for it! As for my experience with marketing, I’m definitely on the receiving end as a consumer. Although I am quite indifferent to the innumerable advertisements that are always up in the faces of consumers, I do appreciate the humorous, clever, catchy or all over entertaining ones from time to time. Here’s an example

Catchy right? It grows on you, I swear!