Alcoholic Marketing

http://soda-pops.blogspot.com/

(This blog is a response to the outside blog linked above)

As the blogger has noted, Coca-Cola has certainly reached to new levels in terms of ingenuity. Perhaps due to the futuristic design and public perception of the new product, the company could in fact increase overall brand awareness. I think in addition to this point, it is important to realize that providing a place to dispense all of its various products and flavors with easy access to the public, the company can gain recognition for the various relatively unknown brand flavors. The company has realized that there is no market for an outlet (such as Starbucks) serving their various drinks, and so have automized it and placed the product in the workplace, restaurants, etc.

There are very few people who enjoy their scotch, and coming across someone who appreciates scotch is few and far between. I believe that the Jameson scotch brand has certainly realized that they have a very small market segment. In particular, they predominantly consist of older, wealthier males; but that is not to exclude females. Personally, I know few women who drink scotch, but there is a market. The market perception of scotch is, as portrayed in this commercial, that it is a rugged man’s drink. Branding their product around this ideal, the Jameson scotch brand has built a very loyal and profitable market segment.

https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Response to Kevin Tseng’s blog on Old Spice,

As Kevin has noted in his blog on the recent viral advertisement campaign, there is something to these advertisements that captures the imagination. The viral campaign has gained an unprecedented level of media and societal attention. Perhaps this is due to their marketing strategy, and their ability to determine and reach their target market segments. Despite their excellent marketing strategy, the best kind of advertising is passed on by word-of-mouth. Social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter have had millions of hits regarding the campaigns, and as such, they have reached international media attention. There is no way that the Old Spice company could have done this through intensive marketing strategies.

Check out the youtube link, and you’ll see what I mean.

This series of John Smith beer commercials extend the premise of this blog. The intent of this blog, however, was to offer a perspective on beer adverts in international countries. I don’t believe that John Smith’s is sold in North America, but in the U.K., the product has established itself as one of the most competitive products on the market.

The company launched this campaign of commercials approximately ten years ago (don’t quote me on that one), in order to establish brand awareness in the British community. The commercials are evidently targeted for that particular market segment, as they have designed a personality for their brand. The product has a face behind it: that overweight, single, caring father who enjoys himself a good time. Having said that, what part of the Western world does not relate to that kind of branding on a certain level?

This blog marks a return to the original theme of my blog, alcoholic marketing. I believe this commercial to be somewhat confusing and not very amusing. It features absurdly dressed historic sugar plantation owners and loud explosions, but the point of the commercial is somewhat misconstrued. “The thinking man’s rum,” as the man states, shows no connection to destroying an alligator. But, perhaps that is the point of the commercial, which serves to offend the regular consumer of rum. In researching this commercial, I found that it also raised some controversy over the portrayal of animal cruelty. While this is unfortunate and I can sympathize with the producer of the commercial, as a marketer, you must be incredibly responsible in the messages that your commercial conveys.

https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/urw/lc5116011.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Jesse,

You do raise an important point here. Do the benefits of airing a Superbowl commercial outweigh the astronomical costs? I believe that this is often times very hit and miss, meaning that sometimes it is profitable, and other times, not so much. I think an important point to consider is the fact that year after year, we see companies in similar business sectors advertising their product. A perfect example would be Budweiser (as you’ve mentioned above). Bud Light, Heinekin, and many other direct competitors air commercials consistently during the Superbowl. They must be turning a profit if they keep coming back year after year.

A few weeks ago, I blogged on the Miller High Life commercial that lasted for 1 second. Check it out. It offers insight as to how these companies can cut costs of paying for these astounding airing costs.

Regards,

Matt

Think about how many people you know who drink coke? Do your parents drink coke? What about their friends? Personally, I have elder family members that were avid Coke fans, and have always seen Coke as a product consumed by all kinds of people. I’m beginning to realize that more and more, young adults and children will drink Coke at lunch, or in the morning. When I see my parents drink Coke, it is certainly once in a blue moon. I think Coke has realized their target segment and have established a marketing strategy directly related to that segment. In a generation where video-gaming has captivated the minds of teens and young adults alike, captivating this segment can be understandably difficult. This commercial, featuring the theme of the grossly violent video-game, Grand Theft Auto, shows the viewer a peaceful side of Coke in a growingly violent generation.

Drink Coke, and you will have a good day! This message will sell anyone, the problem is to get people to believe it.

This commercial advertises the popular energy drink Amp. The company has shown that they’ve identified their target segment and successfully positioned themselves within that target segment. The commercial features popular hockey goalkeepers yelling insults at each other with lightning fast response times, only throwing off one of the keepers yells an insult in a foreign language. Airing this kind of commercial in Western Canada, particularly Vancouver, is a very strategic decision by management. They are targeting avid hockey fans of a younger generation that are familiar with the explicative’s bantered between the goalkeepers. This commercial grabs the attention of this target segment, and then tells them that you can achieve lightning fast reaction times if they consume the featured energy drink.

This kid is a die-hard pepsi fan!

Perhaps a little unwisely, this Pepsi commercial seems to align a little too closely with its competition, who they identify as Coca-Cola. The problem with acknowledging who your competitor is in this manner is that it reminds the viewer that there is an alternative to Pepsi. Pepsi is spending advertising money to promote their company, no Coca-Cola as well. But this commercial is just another in a string of campaigns that directed against each other. This on-going feud between Pepsi and Coca-Cola has certainly not lost its spark in my mind, and with the ingenuity of those individuals creating commercials like these, I can’t see a time in the future when these bitter ads die out.

High Life 1 Second Commercial

For my first post, I would like to show you a commercial that I’ve remembered for a few years now, as one of the most memorable Superbowl commercials. Of the endless beer advertisements, that are usually hilarious, this one was not up to the calibre of the companys’ competitors commercials. Out of context, if you were to see this commercial in the breaks between the football game, you wouldn’t have even noticed the commercial. Miller High Life’s competitors paid the astronomical rates for the airing a commercial during the Superbowl, for multiple 30 second segments; Miller High Life paid for 1 second. The success of this advert, in my opinion, is due to the fact that they had previously launched a campaign over the radio featuring the loud, belligerent man promoting High Life Beer. By the time of the Superbowl, most people were familiar with the voice behind the campaign. This man yelling “High Life” for 1 second during the most watched television event in North America had an enormous payoff.