Karsten Lee's Blog

Through out this course they way I look at products in a store has changed. I look at them through the eye of the marketer and try and figure out why the company has released that specific product and if I think it will be successful or not based on the market they are targeting and how they are promoting to them.

It is quite interesting to hear about things in the news or see ads on the street and be able to think about the things that I learned about it this class and use them in a real life setting. I think that this is the way that material is really learned and this course has given me some tools to explore the different real life marketing strategies that are going on around us all the time.

My Professor Tamar has given life to her lectures by providing examples from her vast selection of experiences to show us how marketing has worked in real life settings. Case based learning, like this, is extremely beneficial to us students and helped us get a grasp on what Marketing is about.

Overall, I can now see that Marketing is around us all the time. No matter if you are going into an interview or walking in a mall, marketing exists. I now know how companies approach marketing strategies and use them to attract consumers. Commerce 296 was a truly valuable experience.

On April 1st 2013 YouTube released a video indicating that since its inception it had been a video competition all along and on April 1st 2013 at midnight is when the competition ended. At this time all videos on YouTube would be deleted and after a review of all video submissions they would release the winner in 10 years.

Now, clearly this is completely unreasonable and the video is quite sarcastic to say the least, but why do companies do this? Youtube is not the only company to pull a stunt like this. Google, YouTube’s owner, also has fooled Google users on April Fools, take “Google Nose,” for example.

What benefit does this actually bring to the company other than a laugh or too? I think that consumers often merely use tools like Google and YouTube with such ignorance of what is happening behind the scenes. Stunts like these give companies a chance to say “we  are people who like to have fun too!” It really gets people to start to connect more with the brand. Blogs and social networks explode with chatter about the crazy April fools prank that a company just did and helps raise brand awareness. It gets people to go check it out for themselves while immersing themselves in the service itself.

Yes, consumers are happy with the interaction they experience but is this creating value for companies like Google and YouTube? I think it is, services like Google and YouTube are no longer simply search engines but they are viewed as more interactive services that want to interact with their customers. Simply put, they are more alive.

Russ Martin comments on BlackBerry Takeover Ads and how marketers have been commenting that they aren’t entirely effective.

In this case Blackberry is practicing Market Development where they are attempting to grow into a new market (those who are currently using Androids and iPhones) opposed to their old market(Business based and Blackberry loyalists). The Ads targeting these groups, I believe, can be effective but lack timing as so many people have made the switch to either Android or iPhone.

Blackberry is having an extremely difficult time in bringing consumers over to their brand because they were simply too late. Over the past couple years BB(Blackberry) fans have been met with numerous disappointments year after year (i.e.. system crashes, firmware disappointments, etc.) have many have reluctantly made the switch to a much better operating phone. Though the Z10 has made some substantial strides for BB many Ex-fans have already invested in a new Android or iPhone and wont have the chance to switch back for at least another couple years.

I believe that this marketing campaign is all in vain due to the already saturated phone market with so many moving to the proven more functional Androids and iPhones. Blackberry should focus more on those who use them most and try to gain a larger market share in businesses who seem to have great use for their safe and secure system.

http://youtu.be/V8b1bE62GZc

Angus does a great job in bringing to light a somewhat spontaneous campaign by Audi in his post I #WantAnR8 Too!!. It’s always amazing to see how a small act can turn into something big.

Connecting with consumers is a large part of how people see a company’s brand. In this case Audi took it upon themselves to show they consumers that they are listening. Even though very few can afford a Audi R8, they have shown that anyone can drive this car by approaching random tweeters. I think that though this is an amazing feat on Audi’s part they have diluted the image of one of their top of the line cars. By showing that anyone can drive this car they are saying that its for more than just the rich when they are the only ones who can afford them. When you think of an Audi R8 you think “prestige” and not “random tweeter.” Though most evidence points to a successful PR feat. Audi should bear in mind that their R8 is a top of the line car that only a handful of people should own. They should ensure that throughout this campaign they can maintain this image so that they don’t loose the customers who would other wise purchase one.

Audi has shown what the power of media can do. With the growing social media scene, things like “Hashtag campaigns” and “online sweepstakes,” companies should look to Audi who has truly harnessed the power of social media to get their name out there, and have even gone to the point of using their hashtag in some of their commercial – a first in automobile ad history.

I am no football fan but the ads always amuse me. The Super Bowl is all about football but a huge part of the event is the advertisements. It seems like companies are going to great lengths to have ‘that’ commercial that everyone is going to be talking about for the weeks following the Super Bowl.

This year Pepsi did something interesting. Instead of focusing on the lasting impact (though I’m sure it still had an impact) they focused on engaging viewers in the week following the Super Bowl. They started off with an initial Advertisement that shows to friends getting an outrageous amount of supplies for a party that they are hosting, enough for you to wonder, ‘what is going down tonight?’ And that is exactly what they wanted viewers to think.

They end the commercial with a cliffhanger as the friends leave the store. They then go on to prompt people to watch the Second Ad during the Super Bowl.

Pepsi found a way to engage its customers by keeping their eyes out for the continuation of the commercial. They added a cinematic feel to the ad removing the feeling that a consumer gets when they know a company is just luring them in. This also will ensure the consumers upmost attention to the ad that aired on the Super Bowl making sure that no one ignores their message or misses it to go get another beer.

A unique and fun approach by Pepsi Cola advertising their new ‘Pepsi NEXT’!

Why do kids whine to their parents about not having the latest action figure or cool gadget? There is a simple answer: marketing directed at children. This issue has long been present as society has entered the Value-Based Marketing Era.

It is not right to take advantage of children who do not have the analytical skills to filter out information that adults would consider a scam or hoax. Joanna Pachner and Alicia Androich offer some solutions to mitigate this ethical issue while realizing that it can never totally be abolished.

Approaching companies with solutions on “doing the right thing” will not work. Marketers have found more and more cleaver ways to push an idea into your head regarding a product or a brand without you even knowing it. There is nothing stopping them from inventing new ways to attack the young consumer.

Advertising to children has proven to be effective especially with the introduction of mobile advertising. It is often the case that a 5 year old can navigate an iPhone with greater ease than their parents. This gives companies a chance to catch the child’s eye with a flashy ad revolving around a popular toy, and in no time the parent will have it downloaded to keep their kid quiet while they are doing grocery shopping.

In the end, it is all just business, however, companies need to ask themselves what they define as right and wrong.

(http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/marketer-news/kids-in-play-24973)