Not so mindless rambling

Well, I sort of had to for this COMM 296 class, considering that it constitutes my final grade. However, the truth is, while I started this blog involuntarily and without much excitement due to my lack of interest in visiting blogs, let alone blogging myself, the blog assignments have really challenged me to make connections between concepts learned in class and marketing works in real-life. Through doing research before writing, I stumbled across many fascinatingly creative marketing campaigns or ads that literally made me exclaim “Wow! That’s ingenious!”. Such encounters really inspired me, and got me thinking about the value of marketing in a business. Before going into COMM 296, I was never interested in marketing as I believed that marketing is just evil legitimized brainwashing. Researching and writing blog posts about marketing completely changed my mindset: I learned to appreciate the amount of work and heart that marketers put into their job, and how marketing can make a positive change in the society. Furthermore, in hindsight, I realized that as I tried to write an interesting blog post, look for relevant images to illustrate certain points, and come up with a catchy title for the post, I was actually practicing marketing myself: I was trying to cater to and catch the attention of the readers! There, you really can’t run away from marketing.

As for the marketing plan assignment, I think the biggest learning point for me was knowledge about the company that we chose. Tata Motors were not a popular choice, just by virtue of it being an Indian entity and not a North American one. Doing a project about such a company prompted to read up more about the previously unfamiliar industry and external environment, which I enjoyed. I also appreciated the format of assignment 3, which saved us from spending hours sitting through presentations.

That said, there are two suggestions that I have for the group project. Firstly, there should be an early or mid-point peer evaluation where we can give feedback and voice out concerns about the performance of other group members, and possibly receive intervention or support from the professor. Our group had a hard time accepting the fact that certain members will be less available and contribute less, and it was difficult for us to have to contain that bitterness till the peer evaluation at the very end of the course. Secondly, the deadlines for the assignments should be ideally before or one week after the major holidays. It may be just me, then again, who likes spending all their holidays on marketing assignments?

Let’s face it: These days, many people no longer watch the news or commercials on TV. Instead, they would go on Facebook and their news feeds will be inundated with the hottest news, and pages of the most popular brands. Facebook is the new TV. Hence, many companies have invested a fortune into social media marketing, in hope that they will have access to the vast population of Facebook users. However, how much of those investments actually translate to revenue or profit for the firms? Since I am not running any business (yet) with a social media component, I had not had a chance to calculate and appreciate the conversion rate and the monetary value of social media advertising, until I stumbled across this article on Business Insider, an online marketing magazine. It lists out the values of a Facebook like, as determined by various sources.

What I find interesting is that while the highest value placed on a Facebook like is $214. 81, another research group confirmed that it is virtually worthless i.e. its value is $0, as likes are more like potential energy that may not necessarily be valorized into profit. While I agree that not all Facebook users who clicked the “Like” button on the page of a particular brand will immediately go out there and purchase the product, I believe that there’s still value in garnering these likes. As we learned in class, the last A (Action) in the AIDA model many not necessarily be the decision to actually purchase the product. It can be recommending the product to someone, and wouldn’t you agree that liking that product on Facebook is as good as endorsing it, and recommending it to your Facebook friends (again, your “like” action will be all over your Facebook friends’ news feeds)? In addition, companies can use social media management tools, such as Hootsuite or Google Analytics to figure out what their Facebook fans are interested or engaged in, and this knowledge is unequivocally valuable in product development and promotion strategies.

So, the next time you like something on Facebook, be advised that eyes are watching you!

I mean, Hootsuite is watching you!

Here’s my confession: before coming to Canada not so long ago, I was not even aware that BlackBerry is a Canadian brand, and the name RIM was something completely foreign to me. Two years into my stay in Canada, now I can not only recognize these names, but also comprehend some BlackBerry’s lingo, such as BBM. However, it still frustrates me that my family and friends back in Asia have virtually no knowledge about this company, or if they know one thing or two, they believe it’s an American entity. They can’t be blamed though, after all, the name BlackBerry appears in far more Hollywood movies than in any Canadian productions. Thus, in my opinion, the recent developments in RIM’s marketing strategy, which include the release of the newest BlackBerry Z10, among other things, is a strategic, yet necessary move by the firm to reinforce its position in the smartphone market.

The new BlackBerry Z10

My classmate Karen Lee mentioned that RIM’s change of name is part of the promotion strategy. I wholeheartedly agree with this. I am also on the same page with Karen on how this name change will allow them to capitalize on their existing reputation. The company could afford to rebrand itself because of its existing strong brand. BlackBerry management knows that the consumers will not resist to this change to such an extent that they would replace their familiar product with one from the competitor. Thus, in my opinion, this name switch is simply a natural response of the company to many misconceptions or misidentifications on the consumers’ part that have been working to the company’s advantage. Making it easier for the customers to identify and refer to the company by taking on the household name will facilitate the decoding stage in the communication process between BlackBerry and its consumers, as well as increasing brand awareness (the first A in the AIDA model) among the market.

BlackBerry also named R&B diva Alicia Keys as its Global Creative Director. During her “initiation” speech, Alicia Keys affectionately referred to BlackBerry as the other end of her “long-term relationship”. Such celebrity endorsement will surely augment the interest and desire from the consumers for the product (the I and D in the AIDA model).

Alicia Keys at the release of BlackBerry Z10

That’s quite an impressive campaign. I’m curious to know how many consumers will actually be persuaded by these messages. To be honest, I don’t see myself switching from my Android phone to a BlackBerry any time soon.

Karen Lee’s Blog http://sittingatthecrossroads.wordpress.com/

I ran across this article on Business Insider Marketing, and was pleasantly enlightened on the subject of Augmented Reality (AR) Marketing. Augmented Reality uses computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphic, or GPS data to “augment” the elements of the real-world, allowing the customers to interact with the advertised brand through a modified view of reality. Upon the first glance of the different companies’ augmented reality campaigns (check out a few below), I, for a couple of minutes, genuinely believed that the clips are extracts of sci-fi Hollywood movies! As surreal as the technology is, AR is indeed very “real” to the viewers who are invited to try out a new product or service in ways that would have been impossible prior to the age of smart gadgets.

In my psychology class, we learned that if someone touches the piece of clothing he or she is contemplating buying, he or she will be more likely to buy it in the end, as the experience of actually touching and feeling it has a reinforcing effect on the pre-existing inclination to purchase. I believe that augmented reality marketing is no different: getting the customers to see things and feel things that such traditional modes of advertisement as TV, radio or print ads fail to deliver will definitely increase the customers’ desire for the product or service, if not create the desire in the first place.
I am not dismissing the value of traditional advertisements, nor am I saying that there’s no overlap between the two methods of marketing. Proof: Fanta has come up with an augmented reality campaign featuring an edible newspaper ad carrying the flavor of its drinks (see the copy below). When it comes to marketing, there is indeed no limit to creativity!

Fanta’s edible newspaper ad

Should any company want to challenge Coke’s and Pepsi’s positions in the soda drink industry, it would have to invest significant resources into its marketing campaign; even then, it’s no guarantee that such investments are worthwhile.

Sodastream- a company that sells soda-making machine- has successfully done just that.

Sodastream’s most recent ad, which was intended to be released as a Super Bowl 2013 ad, was banned by CBS. CBS was allegedly uncomfortable with the idea of the two most ubiquitous brands during the game-also the two big names that bring in a lot of ad revenues for the company- being “outsmarted”.

This anecdote is an interesting example of STP. Sodastream identified its main customer segment as regular soda drinkers who normally consume bottled soda from Coke and Pepsi, and planned to target this segment during the Super Bowl, whose audience is likely to overlap with their main customer segment. The ingenuity, however, lies in the firm’s marketing position and how it rolls out its ad without wasting millions on buying the airtime. The banned ad portrays Sodastream as a company that takes the high road- a soda-making machine that helps reduce use of plastic bottles, thus saves the Earth. Furthermore, Sodastream positions itself as directly against the biggest names in the industry- Coke and Pepsi- and it can’t do that any more explicitly (hence the ban).  This risky positioning strategy usually turns out to be unsuccessful due to the insurmountable inertia of the big brands. However, the facts that the banned ad was viewed and discussed on Youtube and other websites by millions of people even before the game, and that Sodastream posted its largest stock market gains to date suggest that Sodastream’s marketing tactic has been successful in more than one way.

This article in last week’s edition of the Guardian discussed the economic implications of rocketing quinoa sales in the Western world.

Quinoa a delectable and nutritious grain that is also high in protein and essential amino acids is touted, in marketing speak, the “miracle grain of the Andes”: it’s portrayed as not only a healthy substitute for meat, but also an ethical one, as the production process does not involve animal mistreatment.

The concern here is the fact that the rising demand for quinoa in first world countries has raised the price of this grain so excessively such that the poorer people in Peru and Bolivia, where quinoa used to their staple food, can no longer afford it.  Furthermore, to respond to overseas demand, lands that once produced a range of crops have turned into quinoa monoculture.

This scenario is sadly just another episode in the series of north-south exchange problems, where well-intentioned, yet pseudo-socially conscious consumers inadvertently drive poverty in countries producing their purportedly ethical goods. Other anecdotes include soya and asparagus, the production and consumption of which, rather than helping to save the planet through observing a less-or-no-meat diet, in fact inflicts more damage to the environment.

In my opinions, these stories are perfect examples of how marketing can exacerbate, or worse still, engender economic and social problems. Quinoa, soya and asparagus achieved their popularity in the Western world mainly thanks to effective marketing. In fact, not so long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain unheard of by the rest of the world! Businesses entrepreneurs who discovered the nutrition values of quinoa (or soya or asparagus, for this matter) realized the social trends in the western world, where people are becoming more concerned about their health and conscious about the ethical impact of their consumption, seized the opportunity to market this grain as a product that would satiate not only the consumers’ need to feed, but also their desire to lower their carbon “foodprint”. This marketing strategy successfully identified and took advantage of the characteristics of the macro- environment. However, what is conveniently omitted in any quinoa advertisement or promotion is how its production may negatively affect the quinoa-exporting countries, as mentioned above. After all, if your business is to sell quinoa, as long as there’s a demand for it, and the consumers actually believe that quinoa consumption is ethical, selling and buying quinoa seems to be a mutually “feel-good” and economically beneficial transaction.  Unfortunately, the more quinoa is demanded and sold, the more severely unaffordable it will become where it’s grown.

As the saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”, consumers’ ignorance is the main cause for this problem. I don’t expect quinoa-importing companies to mention the environmental and social impact of their purchase in their advertisement to the customers anytime soon. My hope is that the consumers in the Western world will be more informed about this issue. With the knowledge that their quinoa consumption may adversely impact the lives of millions of people in South America, they will be able to make a more conscious purchasing decision. As consumer behaviors shift to a more (truly) ethical direction, companies will feel the need to address and target at the customers’ concerns about equality. “Fair Trade quinoa” may become a common marketing term in time to come.

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