While reading Federico’s post about Steve Jobs, https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct, it got me thinking how important marketing is.  Steve Jobs and Apple were able to find at first a niche market and truly dive into it.  They segmented to users that wanted to be creative, passionate, and unique, like they were.  All points that Federico brought up that made him larger than Apple that made Jobs to be held in the highest regard. Contrast this to Microsoft and their CEO Bill Gates.

By picking out the segments that they did they were able to quickly develop a very intensive relationship with their users and create advocates for their company; willing to shout louder and on any domain than their competitors.  Steve Jobs made life more convenient for the world with many sexy products.  However Bill Gates definitely does not have the cachet or the appeal like Jobs does and I don’t think it is fair.  Gates decided to set his sights on actually helping people.  Gates’ foundation has spent over 25 billion dollars to help impoverished people all over the world live their life.

Both individuals created technological giants, and both advocated individuality, and to succeed in life even when things looked grim.  One was a marketing guru.

Marketing and the promotional activities have usually been
associated with waste.  Packaging and
advertisements are thrown in the trash with little thought of the
environment.  However a company,
GreenGraffiti is cleaning the filthy sidewalks and doing it with the help from
our favorite brands. I discovered them in an article on adweek.com http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/san-francisco-wants-advertisers-stop-cleaning-city-136183

They do ‘reverse graffiti’ essentially: it is using a
template on the dirty sidewalk and cleaning it.
This leaves an imprint of the logo in the sidewalk.  In a few weeks, the side walk gets dirty and the advertisement is gone. This form of marketing is exceptionally eco-friendly
and is cleaning up the sidewalks of our cities.
Instead of spending a significant amount of money on large billboard
signs around the train stations and on the side of buildings, it would be
etched in black and white right under our feet.
Every kid enjoys playing with chalk and writing on their driveway or
sidewalk.  That actually dirties the area.  In an age where the marketing
touchpoints have increasingly focused on social media, this kind of marketing
is a refreshing and sustainable marketing strategy that I hope is adopted
throughout the world.

I find it amazing with the little time we’ve spent in the class at how differently I see some aspects of the world.  For instance, in how companies target market.  In Diane Guo’s first post she talks about Molson Canadian beer and how ‘Canadian’ it is. (https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct)

Molson uses undifferentiated marketing very effectively.  Their target, the Canadian population and people desiring an experience of Canadian beer.  A very large market.  Compare that to Moosehead, which does more concentrated marketing, they focus on outdoors people and your “outer-self”.  Both large marketing campaigns yet it is safe to say Molson is winning.  This shows that an effective add campaign is more important than the truth.  Molson Coors Brewing Company is not the largest Canadian brewing company, because, it’s not Canadian.  The largest Canadian brewing company is actually Moosehead. However like Diane’s friends, most people consider a Molson Canadian the essence of Canada.

Moosehead might be better served taking a page out of our politicians marketing strategy book.  A few negatives adds to set the Canadian public straight on what is truly Canadian.  I am not suggesting as direct campaigns that call Molson an imposter, as they are an integral part of Canada’s brewing history, but to use more indirect methods and really playing up that they are a true uncompromised beer of Canada. I would be very interested in knowing if it would be effective and let Moosehead steal some of Molson’s market.

Although marketing is a new subject to me, I feel as though IKEA has one of the most effective marketing teams around. If you have not gone to IKEA or do not know what it is, they sell home furnishing products. All their products are sold individually. For example: if one buys a table, they must buy the tabletop, the legs, and screws for it; and then are required to put it together themselves. I have not seen another company like it. Yet they have been able to persuade their new costumers to quickly become advocates for them.

They have done this with their marketing mix. Their products are simple and functional. IKEA knows what the customer wants before they know. Because everything comes unessembled and many things are very inexpensive, it has also let IKEA create a more expensive line still seem very affordable. They keep the number of stores to a very low level but really promote online and telephone sales. The IKEA magazine was just as anticipated as the Sears Christmas catalog. Their two main promotion tactics are their stores, massive blue and yellow warehouses that are visible from blocks away and their commercials for their bi-yearly sales.

Even with the few purchases I have made from their, I quickly became an advocate for their practical furniture. It also lets you say ” I made it myself.”

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