We live in an age where media doesn’t only mean TV and print. It includes everything, from social media and online videos to mobile apps and tablets. What this means is that companies have tons of options to reach consumers. Facebook and Youtube have been a great platform to reach consumers, and what with Instagram joining in on the ad game too, consumers have nowhere to hide!  I found some recent statistics online that suggest that the number of TV subscribers are starting to fall and the use of social media continues to rise. Digital media seems to be where it’s at.

I read in an article from the Business Insider that the amount of advertising money spent on TV ads by American marketers is 50% more than on digital media. This should probably change seeing as young people today spend less time watching cable TV and watch their videos and shows online instead. People are also increasingly using their phones and tablets more than their TVs. I can definitely vouch for this trend, as a student. Many of my friends, myself included, do not subscribe to cable TV. We watch all our shows online for free!

One of the most desirable means of advertising is online video. A good video will find its way around a large audience because consumers will share it amongst themselves for no cost to the company. Especially if it goes viral. Isn’t that ideal? Moreover I learnt recently that people are more likely to remember and recall brands and ads when videos have been recommended through social media channels. The Business Insider article stated that video advertising is now up to 13.2 billion monthly views in the U.S. alone. In my opinion, this is where the advertising money should be, where the consumers really are!

I recently came across a classmate’s blog about the unethical extent some companies are willing to go to in order to maintain high profits. Click here to read his post.

When I was at Safeway the other day doing my weekly grocery shopping, I read a label on the chips section that said ‘Special Offer! Get 4 for $12.’ And I thought to myself, “Great! There’s an offer on these chips. I’ll just buy 4 instead of 2 to maximize my value for money.” I thought I was saving a couple of bucks in the long run and I was satisfied with this great deal. But then while I was waiting in check out line I had the opportunity to read that bright yellow label again. And there it was. In VERY TINY font, “$3.00 per bag.”

That’s when I remembered my classmate’s blog post. Some companies are so profit oriented that they use deceptive pricing and promotion strategies to lure consumers to buy their products. In the Safeway example I just mentioned, if I had bought all 4 bags of chips, I wasn’t saving any money in the long run. It wasn’t really a special offer. It was just a brightly coloured piece of paper that made me think I was getting more for less. Obviously 4 bags of $3 each will cost me $12. That label was unnecessary and misleading. Many consumers fall prey to this sly tactic and I think it is very unfair.

In the UK, there have been quite a lot of issues regarding this promotion strategy. Several supermarkets signed a set of principles, agreeing to abstain from such practices and to use fair price promotions. However, supermarkets have still been deceiving customers with misleading offers and discounts where the bundled price is even more expensive than the individual prices! Now that’s just mean, wouldn’t you say?

So in class, we hear all about the importance of brands and how a name/logo can affect a consumer’s buying decisions. It is amazing to see how much value a brand creates for a product.  And it happens a lot more often than we realize. For example, how many of us judge the quality of a handbag based on the name engraved on it ? If there were two bags that looked exactly the same, I would probably pick the one I perceive as a better brand, like ‘Michael Kors’ over something like…”Aldo.” They’re both associated with good quality but Michael Kors is known for expensive designer wear and  high fashion. And if it makes me look rich and stylish, why not?

And then it got me wondering how many brands have actually been successful at representing the image they originally intended to. One big brand that has definitely done well is Apple. When most people think of Apple, they think of their classy ads, elegant design, and high prices. It is regarded as a desirable and trendy brand. Google too has established a great brand image. When you think of Google you think of huge banks of information and the source of everything you need to know. “Google” has even become a verb as in “Why don’t you google it?” That’s how good they are. On the other hand, there are brands that may be well-recognized but have failed to portray the image they were meant to. For example it was brought to my attention by a picture I found on the internet recently that the Pepsi brand has slowly slipped into the shadow of Coke. Rather than differentiating themselves and competing, it has become more of a second choice or a replacement for Coke. This is how brands go wrong. And it would take an amazing marketing strategy to turn it around. There’s a whole blog out there full of well-known logos and how they are usually perceived. Take a look, I think you’ll find it amusing.