Month: March 2011

I used to think PR is the easiest thing in the world. I mean how hard is it to answer an investors’ phone call? or read off a script at a press release. However, after our marketing class, I began to look more into this topic.

Photo from naturallyadvanced.wordpress.com

Little did I know PR includes a wide range of things: media relations, sponsorship, corporate communications and special events. This subject is so important, New York University (one of the most well known schools in the world) offers a Master of Science in Public Relations and Corporate Communication. When I saw this, I began to think of examples of when PR was crucial to a company.

One of the most well known (and notorious)  incident recently have been the BP oil spill, the largest oil spill in the history of all oil spills. During the peak of oil spill accident, BP  CEO Tony Haywood appeared to worldwide audience via TV. He said these words: “We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives. There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.” People found the fact that the CEO wanted his “life back” amidst of the horrendous damage absurd. In fact, the article that included this quote is titled:  “Top 15 Dumbest Quotes About the Gulf Oil Spill”. BP made a mistake by not having the proper safety and oil-spill-prevention equipments. However, Haywood added oil to the fire with his mindless and selfish comment. You would think that someone with an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from University of Edinburgh would know how to manage relationships between a firm and the media.

This incidence exemplifies the fact that not only is PR important to a firm’s future prospects, it is often overlooked. I would look forward to a PR when Sauder starts to offer one!

Obama/Biden campaign made history in 2008. By now, we should all know the results. Although at this point in time some of us expected more from Obama, we all voted (or would’ve wanted if we were Americans) for him.

Obama/Biden Campaign

Obama’s campaign was brilliant. He definitely understood the Promotion component of the 4P’s like the back of his hand. First, he chose to segment both the older and politically savvy population and younger population, who aren’t the most up-to-date on their politics. His ideals aligned with those of the older and die-hard politic followers, because he promoted various changes. Also, he won the hearts of younger adults through his GQ type charisma and flawless rhetorical skills. With both teams backing him up, he probably foreshadowed his victory.

Second, he was at right place at the right time. In 2008, major banks fell like dominoes and managers shredded numerous jobs. US experienced the worst economic during the Great Depression. Then, outcomes someone who was different and belonged to a different campaign than that which was in charge up until the crisis. Clearly all Obama had to say was “yes we can”, yes we can change that is.

Photo from Snapme.ca

Third, using American’s symbolic colours of blue, red and white as his campaign colours, he displayed a great deal of patriotism and love for his own country and the people within. Inevitably, this connected to all the people who needed some warmth and something else to concentration on other than looking for jobs.

Obama mastered the Promotion technique was able to win the presidential elections of the most influencing country of the world. Looks like marketing could be an interesting major…

I hope the first thing that comes to your mind when you saw the title of this post is not “why” is my brand equity worth $9342.56, but “how” in the world did I come up with that number. Well,  randomly pressing some Num keys on my keyboard didn’t too long for me. However, a well-known brand may just put in more effort in trying to compute the amount of their “brand equity”.

Brand equity is defined as “added valued in a product from a well-known, respected brand name” in class. Sure, consumers may see a highly valued good to possess a great deal of brand equity, but that’s somewhat psychological. Such value may be very arbitrary and may change over time and in different environments.

Because consumers are willing to pay additional prices for brand equity, as value lies the eye of the beholder, people may assume that consumers decide on the price of brand equity and not the suppliers. Well, they need to think again.

Photo from expressionforum.org

Ferrari, a car known for its decency, is one of the many companies out there that violates the rule “value lies in the eye of the beholder”. Why? because the company sets that value for consumers.

Balance sheet from Ferrari’s 2007 annual report.

I dug up a 2007 financial statement from the Ferrari company. Ferrari claims its Goodwill to be 2.7 bn euros, while the value of the total non-current assets is only 22 bn euros. This means that 12.3% of its long term assets are Goodwill. Goodwill in accounting term is “any excess of the cost over the fair value” and in marketing, the same definition can be translated to “brand equity”. The company seems to be suggesting that every time consumers purchase Ferrari’s, they will need to pay at least 12.3% more than the vehicle without the brand.

Interesting to think about. It may sound like a rip off, but I think I’ll go head and purchase one anyways.

After scanning through the “Recommended Readings” on COMM 296 Blog website, I came across an article: How Advertising Saved Art, Pixar And (Maybe) Creativity on Influential Marketing Blog. The articles addresses the fact that advertisements in marketing act as a vehicle for projection of art work. Pixar was near bankrupcy not too long ago. Near bankrupcy, it started to ads for other companies. Eventually, as people started to recogize Pixar’s work, the company started pursuing its ambition at full steam. The site also featured an award-winning Sony BRAVIA advertisement that looks like a piece of artwork.

I believe that art work and advertisements work in harmony and build off of each other. Taking Pixar as an example, as the company is specialied in the art of 3D graphics, it was able to showcase and express its art to the general public thanks to Tropicana and Listerine–the firms that hired Pixar to create ads. In this sense, an piece of advertisement promotes the product that is being sold, the company selling the product, as well as the company that produces the artwork. On the other hand, SonyBRAVIA’s advertisement exemplifies how artwork can enhance ads. Son’y “Balls” ad won an award thanks to its creativity and authencity. As a result, the ad becomes more prestigious and popular, attracting more audience. Once consumers take in the ad, the images and colours may stay in viewers’ minds. The Ad along with the lame musis certainity are stuck in my head! It is interesting to see how advertisements, an instrument of profit generation, work closely with artwork, an expression of emotions.