What You See is What You Get?

While browsing through TopRank Blog, I encountered an entry about how social media has overshadowed the value of PR professionals because of the easiness and accessibility of  social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. It is quite easy to sign up or download a social media account or tool, create a username and advertise away, but the question raised in this entry was if it was effective. Does it bring the same kind of quality one would hope for if an experienced professional was involved? Can tweeting about a promotion for one’s company really “influence business outcomes”?

I found those questions quite provoking because I always believed that social media was this new and upcoming component to marketing strategies that should be considered in all circumstances in order to stand a chance against competitors. We talk about it constantly in class. My position is that one can excel at marketing strategies purely through social media if the business has savvy people who know how to stir up the internet crowd. An example would be the owner of a green beauty spa and nail salon place called She to Shic. I met the owner, Erin, during a networking session last year and she does a majority of her sales promotion purely through Twitter! I followed the salon’s account  after because she sold the idea quite well to me. It was about parting every day quotes about health and beauty to her clients and then adding the occasional perk such as encouraging clients to tweet back for a discount on their next manicure. Sometimes the tweets would just be a reminder that Thursday is Mother and Daughter pedicure night.

In this example, Erin has a strong enough client base that knows where she is promoting the business and that’s where she is mainly focusing to advertise her business because it is free and convenient. I witnessed her tweet away while she was networking. For a start up company like She to Shic, social media serves as a great medium for marketing tactics. Erin may not be a PR pro, but she is quite good at making the most of her resources.

As for a large multi-million dollar company, of course social media is going to still be a factor for marketing, but they have the resources for lucrative campaigns and hiring consultants to develop strategies to influence sales. The value of a PR firm is higher to a company such as Honda because it is trying to reach a global crowd compared to a small local company that has a loyal customer base of probably just a certain area of Vancouver.

It was still an interesting blog and I do agree with the idea that you are not a social media consultant/expert if all you can do is login, push a few buttons and display a few quotes. There still has to be some strategy to it, but over all one cannot deny how social media really has turned the marketing world upside down and right side up (in a good way).

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I loved the post that Kristen Woo made about the bakery that specialized in making bridal themed cookies! She originally found out about the bakery from another classmate’s post, My Le. The intricate designs made me think of this of just more than an ordinary cookie. It was art! They were colourful, delectable, and almost too cute to eat.

I find that there are not enough companies out there to fill the niche of personified treats such as this bakery. I can imagine how difficult it might be to make the venture sustainable since the consumers are likely to be people who will place an order for a particular event and then never return. That doesn’t seem to be a challenge for Susan Lieu, COO of a little chocolate shop called Socola.

Aside from this being a success story reflecting the hard work of two educated sisters who are looking to express their passion for chocolate making, this is a great example of a small company capitalizing on their strongest marketing tactic- personal selling.

For a shop so little, a great deal of tourists and locals are pretty familiar with their work because of Susan’s and Wendy’s charismatic personality. One can feel them exude excitement and passion about their product, believe in their creations, and on top of that, their drive to accomplish ambitious goals are very refreshing to their patrons and new customers.

What a great way to personalize every interaction with customers and also “rub off” some positive energy to them.

These delightful drops of chocolates are infused with the best of the Western and East Asian ingredients including something as different as chocolate truffles and guava. So much attention to detail is evident through their packaging down to each design on the individual pieces of chocolate. Each of the pieces of chocolate have their stamped mascot on it, an alpaca. Looking at them make me feel as though I can reach through the screen to have a taste. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to go all the way down to San Fransisco to enjoy this experience.

I love the fact that there is a story behind this petite shop and not only that, their chocolates are of substance and filled with a great deal of love and passion. Bravo, Socola! I hope they continue to grow and spread their craft to more people. Visit them at their site and perhaps you’d like to make an order yourself.

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I struggled this week to find an engaging topic. I was reading through some magazines and I read some articles about how celebrities make an image for themselves. I guess it’s all about branding. I like to think that I brand myself quite well. I have a catch phrase. I always wear my hair down. I dress in particular outfits during midterms and finals season, and I am always first to tweet about the most awesome thing that happened on Glee.

Okay, maybe I haven’t gotten the whole branding thing down completely, but the almighty Madonna sure has. I don’t know if the younger generation is impacted by Madonna like my generation and the generation before, but she did pave the way for so many sucessful artists now…even Lady Gaga.

Why is she so great though? It’s all about marketing. Madonna knows how to reposition herself to make sure she grows with her audience and can attract more along the way. She was the Material Girl, then she went through the transformation into a woman comfortable with her sexuality, she sang with Britney Spears and caught the attention of Britney’s fan. Madonna wrote children’s books and read to them. She is in her 50’s and still dances in outfits that most younger artists can’t even pull off.

The point is she has experimented with so many personas and looks since her career. She is able to identifywhen her target market is changing and has made smooth changes that appeals to them along the way without making it seem like she is abandoning who she was before everytime she changes.

Now let’s look at firms. Companies that go under drastic changes when they have already established a name can sometimes run into that problem. Tiffany’s was an elite jewelry store that appealed to the upper class who could afford products and enjoy luxury. Wanting to expand sales, Tiffany’s came out with the line for teens including charm bracelets and Sweet 16 necklaces. It displeased some of the original consumers because the Tiffany’s image now looked like it was no longer as exclusive. Just an example of that kind of repositioning can tarnish a company’s reputation and how it is perceived.

Madonna, sure she’s probably criticized numerous times, but it just seems like she is a chameleon. There’s something that company’s wanting to reposition should learn from Madonna-know your consumers and act accordingly, but still retain the essence of your company without selling out.

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I attended an event put on by VanWIRE, Vancouver Women in Real Estate, earlier this week and realized that some of the things they were promoting required a lot of elaborate marketing campaigns. It was also mentioned by the presenters, all of which were Sauder alumni, that pairing the two options of marketing and real estate was a worthwhile choice. I had pondered about this for awhile and now that there has been some confirmation from people who have already done it, I think I might want to explore it a little more.

Real estate is an industry that entails so many opportunities especially in Vancouver, and with a marketing background, one could potentially find more work here and not be forced to move East.

The session touched on consumer behaviour of real estate marketing from how to approach a development project and create a feeling and a vision even before building the houses to attract potential buyers to creating elaborate ways to promote and sell not just building and houses, but homes. One of the developments that I know pretty well is Time at Walnut Grove. Growing up in Langley, I was aware of the Walnut Grove community and how it used to be secluded and filled with trees, but now that investors are seeing the potential of the land, a new development has been established.

It isn’t all about buying some land and then pitching a sign saying “House for Sale”. A great deal of effort is put in to establish the right market in order to promote the vision that will not only appeal to people visually, but emotionally as well. For Time, the market is for new home owners, people looking to come back home to Langley, and retired couples seeking a smaller space. Time has it’s own blog thanking and showcasing their new home owners, and features them with a short heart felt welcome to the community and to the start of a new, happy life.

I’ve noticed how the site shows personal stories of real home owners at Time. The couple, Ashley and Dylan, grew up in Langley, moved to Vancouver for a while, but are now back enjoying their home in this new community.

I think in a way that is custom marketing by displaying a particular family’s story and making it look attractive and inspiring for potential buyers interested in creating that same experience for themselves. Just looking at their down to earth pictures and reading their personal stories make me think of a home a little bit. Bravo, Parklane, bravo. I’m excited to have also made an appointment to meet with a representative from Parklane to explore more about entering this industry as well!

One my personal favourites about real estate marketing is the virtual home tours. I thought I’d include that for fun!

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How annoying would you rate your regular bag of chips? I personally would say, “What noise? I’m too busy munching away the snacks before anyone can complain.” Unfortunately, not all chip consumers are as involved in the munching experience as I am. Some do notice the level of noise their bags make and some do speak out about making it stop!

Frito Lay faced this exact problem with their Sun Chip line when they switched over to new bags.

So some noisy bags came onto the scene and upset some consumers. My first reaction is, “Why so picky?” One could technically just pour all the chips out into a large bowl and call it a chip affair for the night. Nonetheless, Frito Lay responded to the surprisingly large number of complaints by issuing a public apology for the new design and proceeded to take it off their shelves in the states. Frito Lay Canada decided not to.

The question is why are the bags so noisy to begin with? It is because they are eco-friendly bags that can expect to compost within 14 weeks of disposing it. A little noise for little less waste. Who doesn’t appreciate that? Frito Lay Canada has started to take advantage of this turn of events and decided to not give in to the consumers unruly complaints and actually taking the time to inform and create an educational campaign out of this. At this day and time of age, everyone is looking for ways to be “green” and to jump on the sustainable bandwagon.

I applaud Frito Lay Canada for not surrendering to their noisy bag complaints. It was after all a creation that took four years to perfect. Read more about what the public has written about this little dispute: click here.

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Suffering through a brutal cold this past week, I felt that it was necessary for me to share my woes through my tweets. After doing so, Negar’s Blog , my friend who is also taking introduction to marketing replies with a thoughtful reply and a recommendation for some Cold FX. I read the tweet with a smile and then a coughing fit.

After 15 minutes of receiving her tweet, I get another tweet that linked both my name and Negar’s. Turns out Cold FX somehow picked up on their name and thanked Negar for suggesting them to me. As a token of their appreciation, Cold FX provided her with a link for a four dollar coupon on their product.

This was the original tweet:What a great way to pick up on potential consumers and offering them a reward because they mentioned your company. Negar didn’t know if she typed the name correctly. I was more interested in finding out how they even located the tweet when none of us mentioned it formally through the tweeting method of placing @ in front of the name. Fifteen minutes to locate us is pretty good in my opinion. Perhaps if I mentioned Coach next time that I will receive some sort of perk as well…

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I was nostalgic for the younger years the other day when reminiscing with a high school friend and so I thought it would be nice to play one of our favourite albums by Tupac Shakur.  Looking at the album cover while listening to it, I noticed that the album was released years after Tupac’s death. Five years to be exact. I know that it is very public that these new albums are being released because Tupac stored a lot of work away without publishing them. Now that he has died, of course his label wants to cash in his work. That all makes sense except statistics shows that he is releasing more albums than artists who are alive such as Eminem and Pearl Jam.

Regardless of the truth, this is one lucrative marketing scheme is it not? It seems to work in favour of both the record label and Tupac (if he is in fact alive).

In a way this can be seen as “re-inventing” an image. Much like products that want to go under face lifts, Tupac allegedly dying has only made his popularity go up. Why? His fans are still his fans because he continues to crank out new material and it’s a pretty cool story wondering whether or not he is alive.

I like a good marketing campaign with a story behind it. It intrigues me and most of the time make me want to try out the product or service just because I’m that curious. It started with Trix, the cereal when I was younger. I always wanted to witness when that rabbit would finally get away with the cereal and when he would no longer hear, “silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!”

I never knew what happened to the rabbit and why the cereal was discontinued in Canada.

As for Tupac, I really hope he is in a better place. If he came back and told everyone it was just an extensive hoax…I just wouldn’t see him in that light anymore…

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This is my phone. I am really attached to it. I sometimes forget to put it away before bed and leave it on the pillow next to me. I’m sure a lot of people, even though they might be as in love with their phones as I am with mine, would say that they have an unexplained bond. They probably feel “naked” without the phone in their hands, or  feel a bit more socially awkward not having the device to play with when stuck in an uncomfortable situation.

Wouldn’t their unconditional bond with a device that can text, receive calls, and explore the internet be the perfect way to instant, effective marketing promotions?

I was buying shoes the other day when the sales associate informed me that if I texted 5 digits to a certain number that I would be able to receive 20% off my purchase for the rest of the month! How genius! Noposters, no hand outs or brochures. Just tell your customers to text and buy. I was sold and ended up buying 2 pairs of flats.

I googled around and found out that there are companies that facilitate this type of marketing. One particular is Club Texting www.clubtexting.com It’s like emailing, but instead people receive it through text. The above video demonstrates how one would go about setting up the texting feature. It outlines examples such as a restaurant scheduling special texts to valued customers with a promo code of some sort that only they would have access to while a general crowd would get a different message.  These texts can be customized down to personalizing each person’s name.

It’s quite neat and thoughtful and might just be the catalyst in someone’s decision on where to shop or eat for that day.

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What may  be one of the most annoying ways to market something to someone is through telemarketing. I’m sure we all have our own ways of blocking these calls, but sometimes one or two slip through. My experience with a telemarketing call got me into one pickle of a mess…

First of all, not only was this a telemarketing scheme, but it also included some personal marketing tactics. It took advantage of my coming of age, and considering the situation I was in, I gave in and accepted the offer.

It was a rainy afternoon in the summer and I had just lost my phone the night before. I received a call in the morning from the person who said he found it and would return it to me as soon as he arranged a ride. Waiting for his call as to when I should meet, I accidentally picked up on a bank’s offer for life insurance. I already knew that this bank was calling for me because my parents kept on telling me that some company was calling for me and needed to talk to me as soon as possible. Oblivious to the fact that they were trying to sell me insurance that I clearly didn’t need, I listened anyways. How the telemarketer knew my name and address, I had no idea. I thought banks were suppose to keep information private from third parties. The pitch was basically about how important it was for me to think about the future and to make sure that I was protected at all times. The telemarketer, he kept on repeating my name and reminded me that I was of legal age and could make decisions on my own without my parents.

At the moment, I was excited to hear how I was praised for being able to make my own decisions and for having the opportunity to do something adult as buy life insurance and not to mention that I had miraculously been contacted by someone who had found my precious phone. The catch with this insurance deal was that I had to pay $8.95 a month. I had one month trial period before the fees kick in, but I had to call in before the 10th of the month if I wanted to discontinue the service.

Lively with conversation as though he was my life long friend, customizing the subject and mentioning how I will soon start university and how I was beginning a new journey as an adult, the telemarketer painted a picture that somehow made me agree to the insurance agreement. I didn’t stop to think that I probably already have all those features with my parents. In the end I figured it out and called in before the 10th to get myself out, but having to go through the discontinuation process was three times longer than getting myself in.

I did get my phone in the end. I was never harmed in the time period that I had insurance, but I did become a victim of personalized marketing, a victim of situation factor for a) trying to get off the phone  to receive another call, but was too nice to just hang up and b) believing that I was being empowered by making such an important decision, and of course,  another victim of good old telemarketing.

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Have you ever watched one of those ads on tv about a new medical product that you should “ask your doctor about” and then when the commercial is over you think, “What should I ask my doctor about?”

It always follows a simple script of someone doing regular every day activity like gardening or just looking into the far distant by the window holding a coffee mug. There is a voice over of the person thinking about something really general like, “I wish I knew…” or “Now I don’t have to…” The scene then is filled with a translucent coloured background to showcase whatever the action was, but now briefly discusses the side effects of the product. The last line is always, “Ask your doctor if insert product is right for you.”

I did some brief research about this type of marketing. Is it genius? Is it annoying? I haven’t quite decided. They intrigue me, but almost all of the time I am so frustrated that I don’t know what these products are or even what their function is for. Should I know? And how do people who should know and would benefit from the product know they it is right for them when they may or may not know what the purpose of the product is? Do you see my curiosity there?

DRTV, also known is direct-response marketing on television, are most commonly displayed as infomercials such as hour long presentations about a product (Magic Bullet, beauty products on Shopping Channel) or 30-60 second commercials that focus on viewers to immediately respond by calling a number on the screen, going to a website, or like in the medical commercials, asking your doctor about the new product. So my next question is if the commercials state very vague facts about their target market like, “if you are a woman anywhere from 25-40”, will those women in that age group actually ask their doctors about the product that they have very limited knowledge about. If it isn’t quite clear, these products are shown so ambiguously on the commercials because they are new and want to draw attention. There are always side effects, and there is no gurantee that there will be results. Is that ethical? Do you believe that this is product driven, sales driven, or value driven?

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