Lulu Xu

Adweek recently discussed a new Demi Moore ad. In the ad, Moore – ordinarily rather gaunt at the age of 49 – doesn’t look an age over the prim and full cheeks of late 20’s. So much so, she’s been  cited as “a Madame Tussauds” wax figure (Hollywood Reporter).

Not an age over waxy perfect, and bearing an eerie resemblance to Sarah Jessica Parker (who, like many stars, presumably also enjoys two hours of Photoshop before any outing), Moore has been photographed and altered to the point where she is practically unrecognizable.

Once again, we are thrown into the gray area of advertising, where the products are overshadowed by their lavish and not entirely honest campaigns. While there is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with colouring a figure in this manner, it does beg the question – what are we buying into?

It sells something much more than a product, than a benefit; it taps into something deeper in the human psyche, and plants images of glamour and flare. It’s beautiful, certainly, and effective, often, but at the end of the day, it promotes illusions to push a want on consumers. There are all sorts of ways for this to backfire as well, such as in cases like these, where everything just seems too perfect, and publicity turns on both the celebrity and the product. Reception for this advertising campaign in the press has purportedly been mostly negative.

Put this in conjunction with the Dove Evolution ad seen in class, and we find a rather disturbing, and oddly disparaging view of where apparel advertising has gone.

Apple stock continues to rise, closing at a record high $522 per share today. There doesn’t seem to be an end to this monstrous ascent, with iPad hype rippling through the masses, practically through word of mouth alone.

As Lu Gao mentioned in her post, the Apple has successfully sold not only a product, but an experience. Apple products have low complexity, and are quickly adopted by users. The Apple stores are always well equipped, with many real, working products from the entire Apple line for the customers to try out. Apple very successfully works the Place element of its marketing mix, putting heavy emphasis on the look and feel of the stores, as well as accessibility. The Apple store has become as much of an icon as any of its products, offering the exact same quality and service no matter what the location.

Steve Jobs has made the claim that customers do not know what they want; his list of unconventional marketing strategies includes a blatant disregard for focus groups. However, Apple still manages to build relationships with its customers through extensive customer outreach, such as the Genius Bar and other services to ease the user into the Apple experience. Evidently, Jobs’ approach has left a lasting legacy which will undoubtedly continue to sell many products in the near future.

At the closing of 2006, Sony added the Playstation 3 to the seventh generation console race, joining Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (already a year ahead in the market) and Nintendo Wii. By far the more powerful console, with cutting edge technology like a Blu-Ray player, misdirected positioning and a fragmented, borderline-obnoxious ad campaign deterred this technological powerhouse from reaching consumers.

Sales were stagnant right out of the gate, and Sony posted an operating loss of $1.97 billion USD due to high product costs. SCEA’s head of marketing Peter Dille acknowledged in retrospect that “That whole campaign was really about power and the power the PS3 has. But what we found was that this whole positioning was a bit intimidating to people. Our research also showed that Sony could be perceived as arrogant.”

As Ramiro pointed out in his post, the PS3 is now a highly profitable and celebrated console, with two successful marketing campaigns under its name. The It Only Does Everything campaign focused in on families, effectively re-positioning itself as an all-in-one entertainment center.

The Campaign completely invigorated the PS3. Sony put a greater focus on price with a price drop, and promotion with a brand new marketing strategy. A redesign of the product form also helped to refresh the PS3’s image.

Building on the success of It Only Does Everything, Sony’s latest campaign Long Live Play is an homage to loyal consumers, and an honest look at the great gaming franchises behind Sony. It strikes a chord with Sony’s current customer base and will undoubtedly have consumers cheering for a long life for the Playstation 3.

‘Twas a sad day for Americans as their favourite distributor of artificial cakes and bread-stuffs bit the dust after suffering losses of $341 million its last fiscal year, tacking on to an existing debt of $994 million.

The ubiquity of Hostess Brands is legendary. In my younger years, I had been well acquainted with Wonderbread; it, having won over the hearts of parents and children alike, dominated cafeteria tables and grocery shelves. The Twinkie, while not so prominent in Canada, made its numerous cameos in TV and the media.

But alas, the giant falls.

One of the problems lies in their continual beating of a horse long dead in the marketing department. While the health-craze has swept the population and driven other junk food companies to rethink their image, Hostess has not been so keen on letting go of their gargantuan icon as America’s distributor of high-calorie foods, and the Twinkie continues to symbolize everything that the dieting nation is trying to shed: indulgence, tradition, and sugary-sweet mettle that survives a nuclear war but not a heartattack.

Being an icon doesn’t grant immunity. McDonalds learned that lesson, recognizing brand revitalization and marketing as a key focus during their decline and resurgence back in 2002; evidently, their push for a more health-conscious image has kept them modern and relevant. Some don’t learn though; this isn’t Hostess’ first time floundering the pages of Chapter 11.