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There is a fine line between getting peoples’ attention and irritating them, and this is something that marketers more than anyone else have to be accutely aware of. This post on Jim’s Marketing Blog discusses this issue.

I’m sure we’ve all been a victim of this: you receive a promotional email from some company which you can barely, if at all, remember signing up for. Then, days later, you receive ANOTHER email from the company. Are you more or less likely to open this second email? Did you even open the first email at all?

Althought his problem has been garnering significant attention, and thus slowly rectifying itself, in recent years, I’m sure we can all remember the days when email spam was just part of life. For some reason, marketers were falsely convinced that if you bombard consumers with the same message or promotion over and over, the response rate will increase. On the contrary, you will likely damage your company and brand image for good by pestering people with unwanted emails.

Jim’s blog post stresses “doing the right thing correctly”. Email marketing is a very viable tool for certain companies; however, abusing email will only lead to annoyance and possibly distrust from valued consumers. Email is now moving towards a more targeted approach in which promotions and messages are tailored to different types of consumers, ensuring that the right message gets to the right person to maximize the frequency of the message actually being absorbed. This is good news for us, as that means that the days of unwanted spam are coming to an end!

Advertisers are continuously looking for new and innovative ways to reach customers. As our world is becoming quickly more and more plugged in to the Internet and electronics, consumers are paying less attention to print, radio and tv advertising. This shift requires quick development of new online marketing techniques; case in point: paid product promotions by Youtube Beauty Gurus.

So what is a Youtube Beauty Guru? These are girls that spend a great deal of time filming everything from makeup tutorials to product reviews to clothing purchases and putting them on their Youtube channels. An incredible amount of teenagers and young women watch these videos daily for fashion and beauty tips. And a new trend has started among these beauty gurus: sponsored product videos (click here for an example).

In my opinion, this was a genius move on the part of cosmetic companies, as they spend an extremely low relative price and reach a huge market of specific, targeted consumers. By paying these beauty gurus to feature their product, or simply sending them the product itself for free, companies ensure that many young girls are able to watch these beauty gurus (who are often their idols) use the products and give positive reviews about them.

As this trend picks up steam, I can only imagine the placing that marketers will find to place products…..there’s a world of possibilities!

When Henry Angus first opened after the first stage of the new renovations, the CA Hall was a new and beautiful space for students to explore and enjoy. There was plenty of room to sit and chat at the Sauder Cafe or chill out on the black couches in the hall. But this space didn’t remain unexploited for long.

This is likely due to our business minds, but it wasn’t long before students realized what the central hall offered them: a high traffic area to aggressively promote clubs and events. Although I am all for involvement at Sauder, its my opinion that this oversaturation of information and opportunities is actually hindering ticket sales and student interest.

By crowding the promotional channels with too many messages and pressures from all sides, Sauder initiatives are actually catching themselves in a sort of prisonners’ dilemma: all inititatives are worse off if they all advertise, whereas they would be better off if neither advertised in this manner (in my opinion). Students are beginning to find these booths a nuisance and just a plain obstacle in their way, as opposed to being interested by them.

If clubs and conferences were to engage in more diversified promotional campaigns, focusing more on electronic communication, word-of-mouth and strategic placement of promotional material, I believe they would all be better off.

As The Marketing Blog discusses in this post, come the Christmas season, companies take an almost universal approach to marketing, one that plays on our feelings of warmth, love, and Xmas cheer. Rife throughout November and December advertisements are symbols that everyone, no matter their demographic, relates to christmas:

• The colours Red and Green
• Symbols like the xmas tree, baubles, wreaths, holly, turkey, christmas crackers (and the list goes on)
• Warmth
• Family
• Yuletide cheer

Companies incorporate these symbols into their promotions in a push to take full advantage of our feelings of giving and generosity during the season. This targeting is unique as it is not directed at a certain demographic or location, it is directed at a general human feeling.

Condoms are one of those shopping goods that are required by basically all men on the planet, and thus it seems that spending time and money designing and using unique and strategic packaging is not a good use of resources. Although there are several different types and sizes to choose from, condoms are pretty standard items and sell themselves for the most part. However, a relatively new company on the scene, One Condoms, has taken a unique approach to condom targeting and packaging.

One condoms “are the leading choice for fashionable, socially conscious individuals who crave maximum pleasure and expect their purchases to do good in the world around them”, states the company’s statement of strategic competitive advantage. Along with this targeting of the more social and status conscious individual, One has developed a unique packaging strategy which includes round condom wrappers and sleek metal carrying cases. Each condom in a pack of twelve features one of dozens of wrapper designs in bright colours and displaying witty, clever sayings.

By developing a unique approach to condom design and marketing, One will catch the eye of individuals looking to differentiate themselves in the world of the standard condom.

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.