Month: November 2013

This is it. My final post for COMM 296: Intro to Marketing. It’s time for some self-reflection.

The designated topic for this post is a reflection on the group project which ultimately involved creating a video. If I could go back in time, what would I have done better?

First of all, our newly formed group needed to pick a company to research and explore from a marketing perspective. We ended up choosing Tata Motors, as none of us were familiar with the company and we were intrigued by the Tata Nano, which some of us were introduced to in COMM 101.

For the first two parts of the assignment, I would’ve contributed more overall. Due to reasons such as conflicting schedules and procrastination, I could’ve put in more effort than I did. If I would be able to go back in time, I would visit the CLC and look for more resources regarding Tata and its target market with the Nano.

The final part of the project involved making a video. When the media expert from the CLC came to talk to us, just the thought of planning, filming, and editing sounded like a huge time and effort investment. Many ideas were thrown here and there throughout the whole process, taking lots of time and effort.

Now, the things that I personally could’ve done better for the video project. If I could go back in time, I would like to participate more in the editing process. I would help the team and learn about video editing using Premiere Pro along the way. I would also brainstorm more sketches for the drawing part, as well as contribute more towards the content of the voice-over script.

It’s always good to end on a positive note. I would say that I did a pretty good job coming up with the idea of drawing out our ideas instead of acting. I also contributed in recording the voice-over and some of the drawing. Overall, our group put in lots of effort and time, and the final product, our video, is the result of hard work and creativity. Good work, team!

In memory of my Level 305 achievement on Candy Crush Saga, I have chosen to respond to Claire Choi’s blog post that explores the immense popularity and profitability behind the game.

A little bit of background info regarding my history with Candy Crush: I started playing earlier this year, and it became a part of my life. I would play it on the bus, when I’m eating, before class, after class, even before I go to sleep. Whenever I have time and lives, I would be playing Candy Crush. Why did I spend so much time of my life playing this game?

In her blog post, Claire mentions three principles of consumer behaviour with regards to the game. The first one is the liking principle. The interface itself is sweet and likeable. The candy within the game looks delicious, even without the deep voice saying it.

Every day, when I check my Facebook news feed, I always see Candy Crush posts. The consistency principle would also apply here. If your closest friends are playing the game, you would likely want to play too. With the number of people using Facebook these days, the marketing of the game reaches an audience that is very broad, making the social validation principle relevant here too.

The second principle she mentions is the reciprocity principle. It’s free to play, but power-ups and extra lives cost real money. Because the game is free to play at first, people may be more inclined to pay for power-ups in later levels. I think that the commitment principle may be a better application here, because once players have one foot in the Candy Crush door, it’ll be hard to step out.

The limited number of lives within a certain amount of time also relates to the scarcity principle. Players will value the game more when they cannot play on forever. They will also be enticed to pay for another life, which is priced at $0.99.

Candy Crush is able to appeal to 6 of 7 principles of consumer behaviour. Maybe that’s why people are unable to stop playing, even in class.

If you would like to play too…

Since it’s nearing the holiday season, I decided to read a blog about holiday marketing. I found a post titled “4 simple ways to engage holiday shoppers online” by Courtney Buchanan on the New School Marketing Blog on responsys.com. In her blog post, Courtney goes over some ways to attract the online customer during the holiday season.

The first tip she mentions is to embed videos in marketing emails. Videos can convey more information than just text and pictures, and companies can be more creative. If the video is well done, it may linger around in the consumer’s thoughts when they go about holiday shopping.

The second tip has to do with social media and public wish lists. There is a rising trend to advertise through social media due to the sheer size of the audience. The public wish list on Pinterest is a great way for retailers to get their product exposed and increase online sales without spending big bucks and precious time on extensive market research.

The third way to engage a customer is to turn marketing into games. This is a good way of interacting with customers and building a relationship with them. This will also attract attention from new customers who were just looking for some fun. I wouldn’t mind playing a fun game myself.

Last but not least is the countdown clock. This is similar to the scarcity principle that we learned about in class. People are more likely to see something as valuable when that something is limited and scarce. When there is a limited time for a sale, people will be more inclined to make a fast purchase and avoid missing a good deal. When they do make the purchase, the product itself will feel more valuable, like something “limited edition”.

The holidays are not just about people giving gifts to each other. With the rise of value-based marketing, the holidays are a great opportunity for companies to receive the gift of brand exposure and gain new, valuable customers.

“I’m going to open an account at Tangerine.” Right now, I cannot imagine anyone saying that. But that just might happen in the near future. According to this news article, ING Direct is going to take the namesake of a citrus fruit that I personally do enjoy eating. When Scotiabank acquired ING Direct in 2012, changing the name was part of the deal. I understand that the ING Direct lion was of an orange colour, but the question here is, why a fruit?

“Invest with Tangerine, it’ll be a sweet deal.” I’m already imagining what their new slogan would be (excuse the pun). Is ING Direct trying to become the Apple of the banking industry? I wonder how much market research went behind this name decision. The new name sounds “silly”, according to a commenter in the article. Will Tangerine achieve the brand awareness it needs to sustain a competitive advantage? Would consumers link Tangerine to forward, direct banking?

Maybe Scotiabank acquired ING Direct to eliminate competition. Some commenters in the article mentioned that ING Direct offers good customer service, and maybe Scotiabank is also trying to take advantage of that. Acquiring a competitor that excels in customer service may help Scotiabank itself increase customer loyalty. 1.8 million clients is a pretty big number, if you ask me.

Another thing that I’m curious about is the new logo. I doubt that the ING Direct orange lion would stick around after the name change. Would the logo be a tangerine? Would it stick around in consumer brains and fend off the competition? What I do know is that marketing costs may increase in order to communicate to savers and borrowers that ING Direct is now called Tangerine.

Whether Tangerine becomes the Apple of the banking industry is unknown as of now, but let’s just hope that Tangerine doesn’t end up like another fellow fruit, the Blackberry.

Tim Hortons is introducing a new blend of coffee, for the first time in its 49-year history. Why did Tim Hortons choose to increase its product depth now? It may be the intensifying competition from Starbucks and McDonald’s, or maybe the new blend is trying to meet a consumer need that was previously unaddressed.

From a consumer standpoint, Tim Hortons is the place to go for a “cheap, quick-serve morning fix”. However, the company’s vision is to be the “quality leader”, which may not be exactly aligned with consumer’s thoughts. In my opinion, the new blend is a way to attract attention and invite people to try Tim Hortons coffee with a different mindset.

Speaking of a different mindset, I recently watched a commercial showing the coffee-making process, from planting to brewing, in the form of a stop motion sand animation, using coffee grounds instead of sand. I did not recognize that it was a Tim Hortons commercial until the logo showed up. At first, I thought it was a commercial for some new gourmet coffee that was going to be in the trendy single-serve coffee makers. This story behind the quick and inexpensive Tim Hortons coffee did not seem too believable for me, but it did lead me to think about how Tim Hortons is trying to change its positioning in the market and work towards its vision of being a quality leader. But the real question is, will consumers see Tim Hortons in a new light?

Back to the new blend. What if the new dark roast just ends up moving customers away from the regular blend? There is a certain degree of risk to product diversification and increasing product depth. What puzzles me is why Tim Hortons would want to introduce a new dark roast blend after 49 years of (successfully) selling one blend. Whatever the reason, it has caught my attention, and I am willing to try a small double-double in dark roast, if the blend makes it to Vancouver.