Month: October 2010

I just stumbled upon this post by Jackie Murchison on her marketing blog. Funnily enough, I was also at the meeting she talks about and was witness to the outraged protests from one of my fellow club execs. Hopefully I don’t need to post the culprit ad in question, as Jackie already has, but I will quickly summarize: a naked female is shown, clearly on her hands and knees, being shoved backwards and forwards, while a Guiness beer bottle is rested on her back. Now, anyone over the age of 12 can probably guess what is being implied. Is this sexist? Most definitely. But was this a stupid move for Guiness? Debatable, but I don’t think so at all.

Guiness is a brand for the manly man. Yes, I’m sure there are women who drink Guiness, but its target market is most likely the male in his late twenties to late forties, or even older than that. These men are not likely to be overly offended by ads such as this one, at least not enough to give up Guiness entirely. Because Guiness is such a well-established brand with major customer loyalty, it can afford to be risque. Another plus for Guiness, is that even though the ad was banned, it generated great publicity for them. When something is taboo, people like to talk about it. And people are sure talking about this ad, so Guiness has accomplished its mission.

Something that struck me almost as soon as I started school at Sauder, is the fact that many business principles and techniques learned in class can and should be applied to everyday, real-life situations. Even though most of us have not yet worked a full-time business job, there is no reason that these concepts should not be applied to situations we DO find ourselves in often, such as extracurricular activites and personal life decisions.

Segmentatin, Targeting and Positioning strategies have come into play for me in my role as Campus Ambassador Program Coordinator. The program, a CUS-initiative, sends Sauder students to local high schools to give presentations about Sauder, the aim being to help attract high calibre students to our business school. In managing the program, I am responsible, along with a team of execs, for marketing both the program and Sauder itself. The STP strategy came in handy last week as I was running training sessions for student presenters and giving them tips about how to market Sauder to high school students.

Targeting: Senior high school students concerned about post-secondary education at a top Canadian University

Positioning: Sauder is a world-class business school that will provide students with countless opportunities excel in their field of choice and gain experience in real-world situations through case-based learning. Sauder provides students with innumerable possibilities for involvement and student-enrichment, and is thus the best choice for an undergraduate business school in Canada.

Current society is obsessed with image. We find ourselves buying things more and more because they look good, not because they are necessarily functional or of great value to us. One great example is the Starbucks latte. Although many people love the taste, the main reason that one drops over $3 for a latte is the social stigma that comes with it: walking around with a Starbucks coffee cup in hand has become a symbol of stylishness and class. An even more arresting example is bottled water.

Water is water. There is only so much one can do to water to improve its quality and taste. And yet the prices of a bottle of water range from free from the tap, to $3.00.  This post by David Kiley takes the same confused, and slightly outraged, opinion that I do, in that water has been reduced from the sustainer of all life, to the next cool, trendy item for the image-obsessed citizen.

Bottled water companies purposefully target the upper class population, as they will be willing to spend the money to look cool. Voss water has successfully positioned itself as a sleek, modern choice for water. These strategies by bottled water companies were no doubt developed after an analysis of the macroenvironment had made clear the social trend of image and appearing wealthy.

It doesn’t take a marketing masters degree to determine that the target market for a children’s animated movie such as Shrek is elementary-school children. With such a product, the advertising should be tailored in such a way to engage and enthrall young kids: bright colours, loud commercials and fun toys and merchandise. Who could resist a big stuffed Donkey? However, for the latest installment in the Shrek saga–Shrek Forever After–it seems that marketers are taking a new approach, one that is likely aimed towards an older crowd.

ibelieveinadv.com recently featured the new Shrek poster campaign. The posters feature neutral colours, large colour-blocked designs and vague proposals to “Join the Ogre Army”. This campaign leaves it up to the viewer to make the connection, as no direct mention of Shrek is made. This higher-level advertisement interpretation would not be expected of Shrek’s usual audience, the elementary school child.

Marketers are likely attempting to capitalize on a section of the market linked to that of their primary market: parents of schoolchildren. Parents likely spend almost just as much time watching kids movies as the actual kids do. Also, it is up to parents to take their children to the movies, buy merchandise and thus drive the success of the product. By using a tailored campaign to catch the attention of parents, marketers will likely succeed in planting the idea in parents heads, which will then be grown to fruition by nagging from their children.

While perusing through classmates’ blogs, I came upon a post by Phil Gym that got me thinking, are commercials really as effective as companies believe?

Companies spend millions yearly on the development and airing of commercials, but are people actually listening? Despite companies’ best efforts to make mundane products like brooms and paper towels exciting with enthusiastic commentating, bright colours and dance routines, I find that the Millenium Generation, at least, has no time for these ads.

Although older generations tend to be more patient and engaged, the up-and-coming generations are living in a time-poor society: we have the urge to make use of every minute of our day. I don’t know about anyone else, but I barely have any interest in, let alone time for, commercials. I find myself constantly changing channels in an ongoing attempt to escape commercials.

In the next few years, it will likely become important for companies to reevaluate television marketing and how to get the most value for their big-bucks.