Kevin's Marketing Blog :)

For local business, Google Places may be their greatest marketing tool. Since its launch nine months ago, Google Places has been helping local businesses. With Google Places, businesses are able to place their business on Google, making it easier for consumers to find them. In addition, from the consumer’s perspective some of these businesses were unfamiliar to them. By making these businesses known to them, however, they have a chance to make a sale by becoming part of the consumer’s evoked set during the decision making process. Google Places also conveniently offers business information too such as hours of operations and phone numbers, which makes the search for information easier for consumers. Another great feature Places intergrates is reviews. Having reviews is a great tool since it supplies consumers with more in depth information. A positive review may provide that final push to comsumers to pick that certain business. At the same time, local businesses must be aware of these reviews and strive to be at their best since a strong negative review could damage their image. The only thing businesses may have to pay for is Google Tags. Google Tags picks up on where Google Places left off and lets businesses post coupons with their listing. Having a coupons ties in with the promotional mix and can encourage consumers to visit a local business. In short, Google Places is a cost effective marketing tool considering that it can reach many customers at a cost of nearly zero per customer.

Note: This blog was a response to http://marketing-expert.blogspot.com/

In the auto industry, the brand BMW has become synonomous with luxury and class, while in the music world, Steinway and Sons has established itself as a pretigious manufacturer of top quality pianos. As part of the partnership between the two companies BMW has announced it will support Steinway and Sons’ international talent programme. The goal of this joint venture is to “promote and nurture young musicians at the national and international level.”

In honor of this event, BMW has introduced its special edition BMW Individual 7 Series Composition line. This new product is the result of collaboration between the two companies. The main selling point of these cars is its aesthetics. The interior has been beautifully designed and manufactured with top quality materials. In addition, the design perfectly coordinates between black and white to imitate the qualities of a keyboard.

The product is proof of the perfect partnership between BMW and Steinway and Sons. Although the companies are in two different industries, the partnership works well because they have similar brand images. Both companies want to be portrayed as classy and prestigious. Because of this, BMW and Steinway and Sons probably share the same psychographic and product-related consumer group with each other. As a result, this partnership may raise brand awareness of both comapnies within this consumer group. This will lead to increased interest of their products and higher sales levels.

http://www.bmwblog.com/2010/11/12/bmw-individual-7-series-composition-inspired-by-steinway-sons/

Sony has recently teamed up with Fuse marketing group to promote it’s Media Gallery software on its VAIO laptops. One of the things they will be doing is constructing three six feet tall media monsters, as seen in the video, and taking them across Canadian malls for people to see. These monsters are constructed from recycled computers, camcorders, wireless devices, and DVDs. In a way, these monsters have brought Sony’s marketing campaign to life, and demonstrate the usefulness of its Media Gallery Software. In addition, one of the things a six foot display will probably do is stir up discussion. Word of mouth marketing about the product will raise brand awareness and promote Sony’s brand image. As a result of all this discussion, consumer attitudes may change as well. For instance, if consumers believe their friends’ positive opinion on the laptop (cognitive), and they like Sony products (affective), then they may chose to buy a Sony VAIO laptop (behavioral). Finally by including a celebrity like Justin Timberlake in their ad, some consumers may see him as an aspirational social reference group and be more inclined to buy the product.

Before reading Queenie’s blog (https://blogs.ubc.ca/queeniema/) I’ve never really thought too much about companies’ Christmas advertising campaigns. Often at the start of November, malls will begin putting up Christmas decorations, radio stations will play Christmas carols, and of course Starbucks will bring out their red cups. All of this indicates that the holiday season has begun.

For many companies, the holiday season is their peak sales period. Therefore, advertising campaigns becomes essential to boosting sales. Much of a company’s advertising plays on the consumer’s emotions and the “Christmas Spirit.” For instance, department stores like the Bay will put up their Christmas decorations in November. The music they hear in their stores reminds them that Christmas is approaching. As a result, they begin to gain that “Christmas Spirit.” Christmas is probably the most expensive holiday because when people buy gifts they often relax their budget. Thus being reminded that it’s almost Christmas puts consumers in that state of mind and leads to increased sales for the company. This tactic plays on consumer emotions using situational factors.

One of the most valuable assets a company could have is its brand. A strong brand is one which many people recognize and understand what it represents. It also has a high perceived value where consumers see a product or service’s benefits as a fair trade off for its costs. Finally when consumers reflect on the brand, their minds must make conections with attributes that the company wants their brand to be associated with.  An organization may already have a strong brand, but over time as consumer preferences change rebranding becomes neccessary.

In the case of Madison, Wisconsin the city experienced problems during Halloween on State Street where students would crowd the street and cause as much trouble as they could. In response to this the city trained and sent more security to the area, but after this failed the city tried a new approach, rebranding.

One of the main purposes of the Halloween party was not only to have fun, but to cause as much trouble for the establishment as possible. The mayor recognized this and decided to call the event Freak Fest to allign with the people’s preferences. In addition the city decided to isolate the street by fencing it off from the rest of society and installing floodlights thus emphasizing the name Freak Fest and adding value to the consumers. The city also got pop band, Lifehouse to play a set at the event. I disagree with the city’s decision to do this because Lifehouse’s music does not suit the event. Something more appropriate to match the event’s objectives would be a heavy metal band.

Note: this was blog was a response to http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_45/b4202084038080.htm

It’s not everyday a sandwich makes headlines in the news. According to CTV news, “the Double Down became KFC’s most successful sandwich in the company’s history, with more than 10 million sold in a month.” For those of you who don’t know, the Double Down is a sandwich with two pieces of fried chicken instead of buns to sandwich together bacon, cheese, and KFC’s secret sauce. To some, just the thought of melting cheese and thick slices of bacon squeezed between two slabs of chicken would already sell itself, but in this case the real driver behind the Double Down’s success is marketing.

One of the key componenets of this campaign are the Double Down’s commercials. These commercials are targetted towards men and seem to send the “more is better” message and only a Double Down sandwich can satisfy a man’s hunger. To build upon this, KFC has even expanded their campaign to Facebook where they have an official page for the sandwich. In addition, they issued a challenge to “Take Down the Double Down” and have even created a “Wall of Fame” for people to brag about how many sandwiches they’ve eaten. Finally to take its campaign one step further, KFC does something probably no other fast food chain has done. In order to further appeal to male consumers, KFC paid  young female college students to hand out coupons while wearing tight track-suit bottoms with “Double Down” written on their butts. In the end, the creation of a community of Double Down followers and marketing tactics appealing to male tendencies are responsible for the Double Down’s success.

Note: this post is a response to http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20101018/double-down-kfc-101018/

From its humble beginnings in 1976, Apple has evolved into the world’s largest technology company. Apple’s primary product used to be its computers and laptops, but after the introduction of the iPod everything changed. The release of the iPod led to the release of a bunch of other products that built upon it, one of these is the iPhone.

The smartphone market is a competitive and rapidly growing market. In response to this Apple has gone from a “computer company that makes smartphones” to a “smartphone company that makes computers.” As a result Apple has re-positioned itself in the minds of its consumers. In their eyes smartphones are seen as  state of the art technology. Apple responds to this by incorporating smartphone features into its computers and laptops, which then further adds value to its products. This is a perfect example of how a firm becomes value driven. By evolving to meet customer demand, Apple achieves this.

http://www.financialpost.com/news/future+computing+mobile+Apple/3701004/story.html

Hey guys, an issue that has come up over and over again is Facebook and its privacy policies. So for this week’s blog I thought I’d comment on Chris’ Blog: blogs.ubc.ca/comm296scc102

The key ingredient of a successful marketing campaign is a vast source of information to base it upon. Currently, the largest database of information available is Facebook with over 500 million active users. Facebook is seen as a gold mine by marketers and is approximately worth 8 billion dollars, however, Facebook still choses not to sell its information. As a result, some people are puzzled by this failure to maximze profit as other credit card companies occasionally have sold their information in the past.

One reason Facebook chooses not to sell its information is because it’s considered to be private. Some would argue that information on Facebook is hardly private because almost anyone could get access to it. I disagree with this because not everyone will have access to your personal information if you take the responsibility to manage it. Facebook gives you the flexibility to manage how much infomation you want to share, whether if it’s just with friends or the entire world. If, however, you are one of those people that are paranoid about getting your information stolen I would have to agree with Chris in saying that Facebook is not the site for you as there are always risks when putting your information out there.

In addition although some credit cards have sold personal information in the past it would be highly improper if Facebook chose to do so. In Canada the Personal Information Protection and Electronic  Documents Act (PIPEDA) was enacted to protect the public from intentionally misuse of their information. PIPEDA demands that organizations disclose the use of their personal information and obtain consent if information is to be used. If Facebook chose to to break this law it would create a public relations nightmare. Facebook would lose many users including me.

So for this week, what I did for this blog was surf the web and look for some interesing ads. While browsing the internet, this particular ad jumped out at me. At a first glance, the ad may not seem to be too interesting, but under careful observation there’s a lot going on in the ad. The ad uses color to capture the viewer’s attention and uses two different themes, a nature and a space one to create contrast. The two themes seem to complement each other, and create harmony rather than tension. At the same time the two themes show off different personalities as well. In a way the ad is saying to show off your full personalty. Never let any part of it hide or dominate the other parts. We should present ourselves and display our personalty to the world. This message works perfectly because it ties in with Ray Ban’s slogan, “never hide.”

There’s not a whole lot that comes to mind right now, but my inspiration for this blog comes from simply looking around in my room and asking questions about the things I have:

Right now I’m drinking water, not from a cup, but from a bottle. Do I really need to drink water from a bottle? No, I could easily just take some from a tap and boil it. Is there a difference in taste between bottled water and tap water? There probably is, but I can’t taste it. If there’s no difference between the two, then why didn’t I just boil some water and save myself a dollar fifty? The answer to this is because I’m lazy and I didn’t want to wait fifteen minutes before the water boiled and cooled down.

I’m wearing a Guess tee and a pair of Levi’s. I’ve been to Walmart and seen some of their clothing. Some of the stuff there looks horrible, but there are a few items that look decent. Clothes are a necessity; their main fuction is to keep you warm. So why did I pay an extra fifty dollars for brand name clothing? I guess I like the image that Guess and Levi’s portrays and I get an unexplicable satisfaction in buying their clothes.

I look into my closet and see my Epiphone Les Paul. I love this guitar to death, but why didn’t I buy a Fender or an ESP? All three companies make great guitars, so why Epiphone?  My favourite guitarists right now are Slash and Jimmy Page. They exclusively use Les Pauls, so maybe if I play them too and practice really hard maybe I’ll be able to play like them some day.

All these examples have something in common; they involve an intangible benefit. Marketing creates value by creating a physical manifestation of our unsatistfied wants. A successful marketing campaign is one that can identify an unsatisfied desire and exploit it. By doing this, a company can create a huge competitive advantage.