Though John Lewis is a UK retailer, their Christmas ads are so heart-warming that even viewers (like me) who are not familiar with the brand are intrigued by its ads.

Here is my personal favourite, the 2012 John Lewis Christmas ad, “The Journey”.

This ad begins in a family’s snow-covered garden, with children making a snowman and snowwoman. When the snowman has mysteriously disappears the next morning, the viewers are taken on a magical journey with the snowman across river, mountain, road and city. The mission of the snowman is revealed in the final scene and conveniently features John Lewis products in a subtle but powerful way.

Just as a comparison, here is the 2011 John Lewis Christmas Ad, “For gifts you can’t wait to give”.

This ad follows a little boy who impatiently counts down to Christmas from December 1st. Though it seems he is eagerly waiting for his presents to arrive on Christmas, the twist at the end wraps up the moral of the ad beautifully. As stated by JohnLewisRetail‘s youtube channel, “there is something even more wonderful than receiving the perfect gift, and that is knowing you have found the perfect gift for someone you love”. This ad effectively conveys the feeling of excitement and anticipation you get when you have found that perfect gift for someone and cannot wait for Christmas to come. And of course, the ad leaves a strong impression that the “perfect gift” exists at John Lewis.

After seeing many Christmas ads throughout the years, I have noticed a common theme. Most Christmas ads tend to portray family vignettes, love stories, and festive activities that relate back to the company’s products. However, since Christmas is widely known as the “shopping” and “gift-giving” season, many stores have special ads and promotions tailored towards this special season. Hence, ads these days have to significantly stand out in order to attract customers. I feel that the above two ads were very successful in attracting attention, sparking viewers’ interest and adding value to John Lewis’ product offerings.

While browsing through www.adweek.com, I had a great time reading Tim Nudd’s blog post – the “10 Best Commercials of 2012”. The post showcased 2012’s “most entertaining, intriguing, powerful and beautiful spots”. Out of the 10 featured ads, my favourite has to be the following:

Personally, I felt this video seemed more like a movie trailer than an ad (in a good way). By recreating the Three Little Pigs as a modern news story, I felt the ad was very successful in promoting and reminding viewers of The Guardian (a British national daily newspaper). This product-focused advertisement focused on The Guardian’s ability to deliver the whole picture on the best news stories and keep its readers at the centre of all the action. The two minute ad incorporated a fairytale with many modern news issues such as murder and financial issues, specifically mortgage payments. As described in Tim Nudd’s blog post, the ad portrays “reporters [chasing] every twist and turn, with help from readers across social media, vividly demonstrating the paper’s collaborative concept of open journalism”. The video also portrayed the role of social media in allowing readers in various locations to connect and share their thoughts on the typically controversial issues. Overall, this ad was very successful in attracting the viewers’ attention while effectively showcasing the features of the product (The Guardian).

Vitamin Water, with its various flavors such as defense, rescue, energy, and endurance, is clearly intending to portray itself as a healthy beverage. Interestingly, when Coca-Cola was accused for false advertising, the company retaliated by claiming that “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitamin Water was a healthy beverage“. Well, since Vitamin Water defines itself as “a great-tasting, active lifestyle hydrating beverage packed with vitamins and minerals to help get you through your day, it is no surprise that many consumers assumed that Vitamin Water is a “healthy” beverage.

Though there nutritional information is listed on every bottle, the serving size can be quite misleading. For example, the label shows that 1 serving size includes 13g of sugar. However, each bottle is actually 2.5 servings which results in a total of around 32g of sugar. Furthermore, the recommended dose is one or two bottles per day for adults, as needed. That could potentially total up to over  60g of sugar!

Relating back to the topic of ethics, there is nothing wrong with selling a drink with such high sugar content. For example, consumers know about Coca-Cola’s high sugar content and understand the health risks that may result from drinking too much of that beverage. In contrast, Vitamin Water was advertised in a way that promoted itself as a healthy alternative to pop drinks while it essentially contained as much sugar as Coca-Cola.

While consumers are becoming increasingly health concious, it makes sense for beverage companies to produce health orientated products. However, it does not give them a reason to use health as a marketing strategy if their product does not qualify as being healthy. If the product is truly beneficial to its consumers’ well-being, it is acceptable to promote its benefits to attract consumers. However, in the case of Vitamin Water, I feel it is unethical for the company to position their brand as “healthy and nutritional” while taking attention away from the drink’s high sugar content which may lead to potential health risks such as obesity.

Benedicta Chan‘s blog post on Nordstrom’s future expansion into Canada sparked my curiosity in regards to how competitors such as Holt Renfrew would react to the arrival of this high-end retailer.

Interestingly, according to this Vancouver Sun article, Holt Renfrew will soon launch a lower-priced chain called hr2 in the spring. The company stated that the “hr2 concept will offer designer goods at great value”. Though the new hr2 chain is more budget-friendly, this new line has stepped into direct competition with Nordstrom’s lower-priced Rack outlets. With the first hr2 store set to open in Montreal in March 2013, Holt Renfrew will be be able to introduce their products to Canadian consumers before Nordstrom’s big arrival in 2014.

In this CBC article, Blake Nordstrom said the reason for the delay in moving Nordstrom into the Canadian market was that “the company wanted to ensure it understood Canadian customers before taking the leap”. Since one of Nordstrom’s main goals is to provide outstanding customer service, it is vital that they fully understand their Canadian consumers in order to successfully deliver customer excellence. However, it is still too early to tell whether having a later launch date will put Nordstrom at a disadvantage in winning the hearts (and money) of its Canadian consumers.

– the new way to say yogurt

I was first introduced to IÖGO through their commercials on TV. However, I never thought too much about this new brand until I found it sitting on the shelves of my fridge today. I was pleasantly surprised at its natural taste and immediately went on  IÖGO’s website to learn more about the brand. Without surprise,  IÖGO’s yogurts are made without gelatin, artificial colours or flavours.

Created by Ultima Foods (with over 40 years of experience in the yogurt industry in Canada), IÖGO products are 100% Canadian. As a Canadian, the affective component of attitude will definitely cause me to gravitate towards this brand during my future visits to the grocery store.

Though people of all genders and ages consume yogurt, there is evidence of demographic segmentation (specifically age segmentation) in  IÖGO’s seven product lines. For example, IÖGO Nano is made primarily for children; it include fresh cheeses in cups and drinkable yogurts in mini-bottles with a spill-proof cap. This Canadian Grocer’s blog states that Iögo Nano was consumer tested; Ultima asked its employees to have their own children sample the Nano products and more than 200 kids aged 3 to 10 were involved in the test. In regards to research methods, this group of kids would be the sample. Company officials stated that 84% of the sample group approved of the product.

With over 40 different flavours, Ultima Foods is definitely keeping up with innovation. In response to customers’ concerns for the environment, Ultima Foods states that cardboard packagings recyclable as are the drinkable yogurt bottles and containers.

Without a doubt, Ultima Foods has made it clear that IÖGO is here to stay.

Photo Credit: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150792093663972&set=a.10150700530118972.417598.95672953971&type=3&theater

To those who have yet to discover the magic of Menchie’s, I have to emphasis that it’s not just a place that sells frozen yogurt.  From the moment you walk into the store to the moment you savor the last spoonful of delicious goodness, you won’t help but – smile! With superior customer service and more than 100 rotating flavors and 70 rotating toppings, the experience at Menchie’s is always welcoming and delightful. Therefore, I believe much of the company’s success results from its customer and product excellence.

Menchie’s mission statement is “we make you smile”. It is delivered through their 3-P principal: people (friendly customer service), place (unique and inviting store designs) and product (quality, variety, innovation).

Menchie’s has a few ways of maintaining customer loyalty. First of all, their quality and selection of frozen yogurt always leaves me wanting more (this also relates to product excellence). Before I even finish eating, I often find myself planning my next trip to the store. Secondly, Menchie’s offers a loyalty program that allows customers to collect smiles (points) towards rewards. Each member’s experience is further personalized through receiving a birthday gift close to their birthday.

I believe the company has a competitive advantage because they have a clear, distinctive brand image: to bring positive contributions to the world, one smile at a time. This positive image is reinforced through constant promotions and participation in community events and fundraisers. For example, they recently raised $234,307 for MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association). This relates to product excellence because the brand itself adds value to its products. When customers purchase Menchie’s frozen yogurt, they are also taking part in the company’s mission to make a positive difference in the world.