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In Amelia Lak’s blog post, she talks about the “bleeding billboards” in New Zealand. It was fascinating. However, compared to her I actually really like the billboards and feel that the message of safe driving will resonate with many drivers for a very long time. These billboards will “bleed” out of a little boy when the rain falls to warn people that thousands of innocent lives are lost every year due to reckless driving, especially in rough weather conditions. Amelia expresses that she feels that this campaign won’t be effective after awhile, but for me I believe that no matter how many times people are exposed to this billboard, they will still feel a chill down their spine. By them having an image of a little naive boy, instead of a scruffy adult allows the marketers to drive the message home and play on something that I like to call FEAR MARKETING. People usually respond very well in times of fear and horror, it is no wonder that the New Zealand city was able to achieve zero deaths in the easter holiday once the campaign was launched.

There are many other types of examples that use fear marketing. The government shows pictures of sickly looking smokers, schools bring in past drug addicts to share horrifying stories, parents warn their children about alcohol intoxication and all of this is to deter or prevent unhealthy and dangerous behaviour. Humans are funny, we seem to receive messages better when we’re frightened than when the same messages are conveyed in a positive way. Like the smoking example, we are disgusted when we see black lungs and rotten teeth; thus, we won’t smoke. However, if we are exposed to an add that shows a healthy person living a long and happy life we are less able to grasp the message that if we don’t smoke this is what our life could potentially be like.

So in conclusion, we are more willing to say no to certain behaviour when we know the dangers and negative consequences that follow than if we’re presented with the positives of not going in that direction.

An extreme Australian anti-smoking ad. Personally, I definitely will not go anywhere near cigarettes after this ad

I came across an interesting blog post by my classmate Anita Chang where she links to an external article that talks about Facebook’s new concept that will defeat Google’s Gmail. As Anita mentioned, the promotional video created by Facebook has striking similarities to the one that we saw in class about how simple Google-docs is; thus, I personally feel that it was a pretty shallow move by the social network to be boasting about their new concept but copying their opponent’s idea because it shows very little innovation and creativity. Also, probably due the bias I already had, I felt that the video wasn’t effective at all and for a Facebook user myself I actually got more confused with all the ways I can now message and connect with someone.

However, what I did appreciate from the video was the fact that Facebook is placing emphasis on messages feeling more like conversations because that is definitely one of the biggest flaws about emails as they do come across very formal and structured. The video then goes on about all the different ways that one can communicate with others and this is where I got a little skeptical with their idea as people use different forms of communication dependent on the people thy’re communicating with and their purpose. For me Facebook is where I will message and chat with my family and friends, but I will never dare send an email to my employer through Facebook because it comes across extremely unprofessional; furthermore, some people would like to protect their privacy by having the ability to email their colleagues without allowing them go through their personal information on Facebook. As a result, I think Facebook has a good concept but it’s rather unpractical and it will be pretty difficult to interrupt the norm of emailing in people’s lives. So I disagree with Anita on the fact that this will be a successful launch  as Facebook’s current promotions have not yet convinced me, a current and adaptable Facebook user, and will probably not convince the majority of the population either.

Just a little additional comment to this post is that I find it quite ironic that Facebook is finding all these complicated ways to improve its messaging system to sound more like a conversation when its own Facebook chat has an enormous reputation for being a failure – constant disconnections, unable to see whether one is typing, small conversation space etc. I would appreciate it more if they could fix what Facebook chat is expected to do instead of finding all these complicated ways to beat Gmail.

“How to Build Your Business by Walking Away from Sale” was an interesting blog on Copyblogger and it is extremely relevant to the insane shopping spree that I had this weekend. Grauer talks about how companies should not only be sales-oriented, even during times of heavy discount promotions, because customers could experience buyer’s remorse if their purchase did not satisfy them (the shoes were a size too small, the t-shirt was not their style); thus companies might be able to increase revenue for the day, but lose that customer forever after that. Instead, she suggests that sales people should be honest to their customers and not persuade, manipulate, or force them to buy products that they don’t necessarily want. Maybe this is the kind of “short-term pain, but long-term gain” that we usually refer to. She then presents a few suggestions on how she thinks firms will be ale to minimize the regret that customers experience after a purchase.

I really enjoyed this article because I went to Metrotown yesterday and Urban Behaviour had a crazy 50% sale off EVERY item, so obviously there was a tremendous amount of people scramming for clothes. However, the point that I want to highlight on was this one sales person that kept screaming “50% off! You know you want to come in!” At first it was entertaining, but after 10 minutes or so it just got annoying. All she did was stand at the door and pulled people in, I have to admit she was pretty good at that, but she didn’t bother helping the customers that were already inside and have the intention to make a purchase. People needed sizes – no one was there to help, people needed fitting rooms – no one was there to assist, people had some questions – no one was there to answer. So I didn’t understand why that sales girl couldn’t be where she was needed most. I am sure that after that sales day, many people – like me – were a little frustrated and unsatisfied by Urban Behaviour’s service. Despite it being a very popular store, the heavy sales might have actually hurt them instead.

Nevertheless, the bad service experience was made up by the ridiculous value that I got for an incredibly low price. So maybe for me, only price matters and thus my post-purchase dissonance got a lot smaller when I got home. But not everyone is like me and so Urban Bahviour should look over the tips provided by Grauer to make sure that the items people bought was the right fit!

I’m sure many people must have heard about the “flight-story-of-the-week”. Qantas, a major Australian airline company, took a major blow this week with its A380 superjumbo plane that was heading for Australia from Singapore. Just 20 minutes after the take-off the plane had to turn back to Singapore as one of the four engines started “shooting out white smoke” and only after the safe-landing did passengers actually realise how serious the damage was as the whole engine was completely wrecked. Unfortunately, a few days later another one of Qantas’ A380 planes experienced some problems too.

It’s evident that these two recent events took a toll on Qantas’ sales as passengers throughout the world were loosing faith in this airline. However, what I found impressive was that even though there was so many negative comments directed at Qantas, they didn’t focus on that and instead immediately tried to find away to retain its customers. They got Hollywood celebrity, John Travolta to reinforce the fact that Qantas is still the best airline by having him fly his own Boeing plane and talk to the media about how much faith he has in the Qantas planes. As a result, Qantas used a well-respected reference person to reassure its consumers that their planes are in top-shape and to remind them that Qantas is still one of the best airlines.

Personally, I have to applaud Qantas for handling the situation in a calm and efficient manner because it is unfortunate the such events occurred, but what matters to me the most – as a consumer – is that the airline doesn’t dwell on the failures of the past but finds ways to remind me why I should continue to fly with it.

If I go to Australia one day, I’m definitely going to fly with Qantas.

I recently ran across this advert as my friend on Facebook liked it and it became an instant hit within our group. At first, I was laughing to it too – it was witty and humorous. However, when I thought more about it it just didn’t feel right. I mean if every parent thought that way, that whenever their child becomes a little  difficult they should regret having the child, then many parents will actually feel negatively about their child. Yes, contraception is a big topic today but was it necessary for the condom marketers to choose this particular (unethical) strategy? Could they not have rather made people aware of the different STDs that could be transmitted during unsafe sex? Personally, I did get a little offended because I know in many parts of the world, children are still being abused and taken advantage of and this ad did not help break that struggle, but rather it re-enforced the idea that they are still inferior.

I definitely needed a break from studying both Econ and Accounting, I still have NO IDEA why they decided to put these two midterms one after the other…

Anyways, as I was browsing around YouTube I found this extremely awesome video

When I first saw it I was amazed, then I had to watch it about 3 or 4 times again because it was just so catchy 🙂 I think this was an extremely creative marketing strategy, especially in today’s society as the internet and technology have really limited us to have personal contact with one another – and even though businesses are definitely able to reach more people now than before, many consumers are lacking the feeling of being important and special in the eyes of these businesses.

This was definitely a great promotional idea from Coke as it provided one-on-one contact with consumers, gave out free Coke bottles, and it’s a strategy that not many companies have used before. As a result, Coke is really trying to influence the factors that come into play when consumers make their decisions on which beverage to buy. Coke wants to change the attitude of consumers towards its brand – that it’s still a popular and trendy beverage. It also uses a reference group, of young and talented singers, to try capture an even larger target market than it currently has. And lastly, this catchy song will allow Coke to be a part of the consumers’ retrieval sets when they’re looking for drinks, and ultimately be the brand that they purchase from their evoked set.

This video actually made me really happy!

But now it’s back to studying =[

Who knew that font type is so important? I personally do not identify brands or companies solely based on the type of font that they use (or maybe I just don’t realize that I do), until I came across several discussions on Gap’s new logo – and that’s when I was fascinated!

The Gap brand is extremely well-known all over the world as it has been dominating the retail industry ever since the 1900’s. Unfortunately, over the past decade their sales growth has been slow and many other clothing brands are surpassing them. Despite this, many people have been accustomed to Gap’s traditional logo; therefore, when they decided to completely  rebrand themselves with a new logo about a week or so ago many consumers went frantic. The new logo had the last two letters written in lower case, it used the Helvectia font, and written in black with a white background and a little blue box on the side.  The strongest response actually came from social media users where they demanded the return of the original logo because they felt that the new logo did not represent the brand that they loved and it even simply just looked like a Windows clipart.

As a result of such a negative responses, the company made a U-turn and went back to the old logo. The North American Gap Brand manager admitted that their new rebranding was a disaster and that they will learn from this experience. And voila, we have our favourite Gap logo back!

After reading all the articles and keeping up with the news, I was actually very surprised that such a well-established company would do something so mindless and even ridiculous. Then I thought again and maybe it was actually part of their marketing strategy to bring back its loyal consumers and capture the attention of those that don’t know them. This might have probably been a reminding for the consumers that even though there are loads of other brands out their available, Gap is still one of the best and that they can trust in their products because they can trust in their brand. If this was the case, the I have to admit that it was a great strategy due to the reactions and responses that they managed to receive.

Gap should just remember that their logo is their brand, their brand is their identity, their identity is attached with millions and millions of consumers; so one move on fooling with their brand could potentially cause them to lose everything.

Justin Bieber, Michelle Phan, and Peter Chao – what would they have in common as one sings, one showcases make-up techniques, and the other talks about all kinds of random topics? Well it’s easy because these three YouTubers became worldwide celebrities! It seems that the current trend to capture attention is through social media sites like Youtube; not only will tons of people watch your videos, but A-list stars and top companies like Usher and Lancome will notice you and offer you a contract worth millions.

YouTube has provided many ordinary people the platform to showcase themselves, with very little risks – no capital needed, no labour needed,  and no advertising needed. Thus, I feel as though young people today are able to uncover their talents and market it to the world. As a result, companies are strategically using this phenomenon to sell their products as they know that consumers are more likely to buy something when they have a relevant group or role model that they confide in.

-Girls, start brushing up on your make-up… with Lancome

– J.C –

Alright, so I was sitting in my room last night pondering about what I should write in this first entry. After a while I got restless and frustrated so I decided to take a mini-break from homework and turned to my guilty pleasure – Gossip Girl, and that’s when I relaized what this post could totally be about 🙂

Gossip Girl is an extremely popular show for teenagers and young adults right now as it captures the glamourous life that every girl dreams of, characters that many people want to be, and drama that compels all to keep watching.

Gossip Girl has been known for its scandalous, yet witty marketing strategies. Back in 2008, GG launched its first season ad campaign “OMFG” and it got everyone noticing.Though it did gain some positive responses, many were critical; as a result, the first season’s ratings weren’t as high as expected. However, GG came back with a bang and twisted the critics’ responses in a tongue-in-cheek-way. They used quotes such as “Mind-blowingly inappropriate” and “Every parent’s nightmare” for Season 2’s campaign. I thought this was extremely smart as they twisted all the negative comments and gained popularity by capturing the attention of all.  The ads are extremely provocative, but it really does reach out to the groups that watch Gossip Girl because essentially this element is a highlight on the show. Through such careful strategic marketing methods, Gossip Girl was named “Best. Show. Ever” by Newyork Magazine.

And thus GG remains to be my favourite show

xoxo

– J.C –