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In this final blog post of the course I would like to reflect on the “It’s all in the package” blog by Roosa Rinne.

In her blog post, Roosa points out that packaging influences our decision when buying a product for the first time. All I can say is that I completely agree with her.

Unfortunately, many producers believe that the purpose of packaging is simply to contain and protect the product. They forget, however, that packaging functions as a promotion as well. As a result, the shelves in the retail stores are frequently packed with cheap, unattractive, and dull products. And I am not talking solely about the visual appeal. The quality of the package is what matters the most.

Roosa mentions an Axe product as an example of a bad packaging decision. Personally I would never purchase a product that looks and feels like this.

I think for a brand that tries to convey sex appeal and a cool image, this is not what you would want to wrap your products in. I mean, it just looks awkward and feels very cheap.

The conclusion is obvious. If you want your product to be successful? Design an attractive package with good quality materials for it. Even if the product itself is not a success, at least it will look good.

Today I would like to comment on Mackenzie Bowen’s blog “Is the premium price for 3D movies worth it?”

First of all I completely agree with Mackenzie that prices for 3D movies do not reflect the true value to consumers and that movie theaters often implement ineffective pricing strategies. The reason for this is that 3D movies do not equally benefit all consumers. People react differently and have different preferences. Thus, unlike the regular movies, the demand for 3D movies is changing frequently.

Moreover, 3D movies allow movie theaters to differentiate themselves from competitors. They provide consumers with this one-time Wow effect and once experienced many people lose interest.

That is why I would recommend movie theaters to be more customer oriented and emphasize the benefits derived from watching this type of movies in order to ensure higher customer satisfaction and increased sales.

As the market competition increases and markets are becoming more saturated so does the advertising intensity. Besides traditional methods companies choose electronic advertising media such as the Internet, e-mails, and interactive videos to convey the message to customers.

But, how to make sure that the audience/customer actually receives the message? Moreover, will the customer interpret the message according to sender’s expectations?

Perhaps, anyone who has ever watched YouTube videos has noticed the short (15 to 20 seconds) advertisements that are required to be viewed to be able to see the actual video. I bet I am not the only person who likes to watch videos on YouTube and who gets annoyed by these ads. And the thing is that it keeps showing you the same ad over and over again. I believe that forcing people to watch your advertisement is not the best way to promote your product. In fact, these ads often decrease customers’ interest rather than persuade them to buy the product. In addition, there is too much noise such as other advertisements, videos, and comments that distract from watching the ad and usually distort the impression of the ad.

Thus, I believe that YouTube advertisements are not very effective and are frequently frustrating.

In this blog I would like to reflect on a Canadian Marketing Blog “More choice is always better. Really?” by Dave Burns.

As the title of the blog suggests I will be talking about choice. In particular, I will try to answer whether more choice is actually better.  Most of us would probably without hesitation say that of course more choice is always better. This, however, is not always the case.

Let’s take, for instance, Wal-Mart. It offers a tremendous amount of products and competes almost in any industry we could possibly think of. Does this improve customer satisfaction and customer service? Not really. From my own experience as a consumer I would never go to a store (to buy a laptop for example) that sells anything from pet food to TVs and automobile tires. This is just not serious. When I want to buy something specific I go to a store that specializes particularly in that good and where I can get a reasonable advice from sales people.

Another brand I would like to mention is Zara, which is known for offering affordable clothing as well as for its outstanding supply chain management. Zara’s online store offers a choice of more than 150 shoes. I mean, really? Why would you want to sell so many, frankly speaking, not good-looking and of poor quality shoes?

The evidence suggests that many retailers alter their product mix in order to focus on providing better customer service. As such, the GAP is reducing the number of product lines by encompassing the old ones under its major product line.

The moral of the story is that certainly more choice is not always better. What’s better is focusing on the product quality and customer service.

Today, our dependency on technology is greatly increasing the demand for smartphones and other related devices. However, I would like to focus particularly on smartphones. The most common smartphone platforms are Android, iOS (Apple), and, of course, BlackBerry OS. Android phones are best known for their reliability and affordable prices. Apple iOS smartphones are distinct due to their great looks, build quality, and innovation. Finally, BlackBerry OS smartphones feature the great BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

The companies producing these smartphones have always tried to differentiate themselves by providing various services such as iTunes and App Store to the iPhone users and BBM to the BlackBerries. This, in turn, resulted in higher customer’s brand loyalty and better customer service. Each company targeted its particular market segments and was quite satisfied with this.

Recently, however, everything started to change. With the introduction of the iPhone4 and other touchscreen devices people started shifting away from BlackBerries with QWERTY keyboards. From my own experience and judging by what other people say, BlackBerries are just too boring and there is not much you can do with it. The only feature that helped BlackBerries to maintain its 27% market share was BlackBerry Messenger.

According, to the lately posted blog, BlackBerry is introducing BBM to iOS (iPhone) and Android platforms. WOW. The only thing that differentiated and kept people loyal to BlackBerries for so many years will now be available at its major competitors! Is this a wrong marketing move? Or do they actually going to charge a high premium for it? Time will show. Surely, there will be tremendous changes in consumer preferences.

This Audi R8 commercial is aimed at either already existing or potential customers who are familiar with the brand and its products. Audi hasn’t used prestige pricing since there is no price tag shown in this commercial, assuming that the viewers can figure out the price on their own. It really stands out from other car commercials since it doesn’t try to convey a tremendous amount of information regarding the end product. In contrast, its unique selling proposition simply states that Audi R8 is “The slowest car we’ve ever built”, leaving it up to the audience to decide what kind of car it actually is.

There’s no doubt that those who have previously driven an Audi or are somehow aware of its outstanding build quality would know that R8 is truly a masterpiece. Thus, Audi identified its potential market segments particularly for this sports car. Audi is primarily targeting wealthy men and women (from 20 to 40 years old), who are confident and are keen on driving fast, and who most likely don’t care about fuel consumption.  Audi differentiates itself from competitors by positioning R8 as a car that provides its owner with such a great experience for a much lower price (compared to other sports cars, of course).

Audi’s approach to promoting its products (including R8) is just terrific because as we all know actions really speak lauder than words.

In this blog I would like to share my views and observations on Apple’s products and strategy.

When most people think about Apple the first thing that comes to mind is perhaps the iPhone, or maybe MacBook, or maybe even Steve Jobs. As for me, Apple is always associated with innovative technology, brilliant product quality, market leadership, and of course a genius CEO.

The introduction of the first generation iPhone in summer 2007 completely redefined what Smartphones could do.  This brand extension was a tremendous success. Everyone was in love with the iPhone and the sales of the company greatly increased as a result. At that point the Smartphone industry was in the growing phase and thus Apple’s success led to higher competition. This caused large corporations such as Nokia and RIM to alter their positioning strategy by extending their product lines and perhaps targeting new market segments.

Similar scenario occured in the tablet computing industry. Prior to the introduction of the iPad there were no similar products available on the market. Now, however, Apple’s rivals are introducing their own versions of tablet computers.

Another aspect I would like to mention is Apple’s packaging decisions. They certainly have the most attractive and most efficient packaging ever. This move to a greener supply chain greatly benefits the company by reducing transportation costs and the world as whole by reducing paper use and emissions.

Clearly, Apple has gained a competitive advantage over its competitors. It is a trendsetter that continuosly amazes people.

Last year when GAP was going through financial difficulties associated with economic downfall it introduced a new marketing campaign designed to boost up the sales of the company. It was initiating a social and environmental awareness programs targeted towards young clientele.

Here is the deal. You could bring in any pair of old jeans to GAP and receive a 30% discount on any new item. You might be wondering why would GAP be willing to give you a 30% discount in exchange for your old pair of jeans? The answer is that GAP and Cotton Inc were launching a “Cotton. From Blue to Green” program. The old denim was converted into insulation material that was then donated to various communities. As a result of this campaign GAP received 270,000 pairs of jeans creating insulation material for 540 homes and greatly increasing sales of the company.

I think this is a great example of how a successfully implemented marketing strategy can tremendously improve corporate social responsibility, and benefit both consumers and the company.

On January 17, 2011 Apple announced that its CEO Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will be in charge of daily operations. Exactly two years ago when Jobs was on his second medical leave of absence Cook performed the same task just well. Despite this fact, investing public perceived the news as unfavorable for Apple, which negatively affected Apple stock (a 3.7% drop in price of AAPL).

Probably there has never been a more important CEO to the company than Steve Jobs is to Apple. Public communications of the company heavily rely on Steve Jobs. We are all used to seeing The Man in blue jeans and black t-shirt holding a new device and introducing it at Apple press conference. The whole marketing campaign is built around this Man.

Thus, the announcement of the leave of absence led to the shares of Apple being sold off. This in turn caused many disputes over the future of the company.

Can Apple survive without Steve Jobs? Time will show. What we can say for sure is that Steve Jobs has created a very strong brand with millions of supporters around the world and a company that makes our life just so much easier and enjoyable.

In the meanwhile, I wish a fast recovery to Steve Jobs.

There is a tremendous number of commercials shown on television and online. But which ones really get our attention and alter our perception of the product?

In creating various commercials companies often stretch the truth about their product. They bring to our attention some crazy statistics, which nobody really cares about. Marketing department believes that the more information they present, the better. They try to make commercials neither too short nor too long.  Otherwise, the audience won’t get the point or will simply lose interest while watching it.

But honestly, all of this creates identical and dull commercials, which have minor effects on the sales of a product. This is when creativity steps in. Creative advertisements have proven to be much more efficient.

I believe this commercial is one of the best I have ever seen. It truly stands out from the rest. It conveys its message in a special way that makes it extremely interesting to watch despite the fact that it is unusually long for a commercial. It has its unique selling proposition, which describes the philosophy of the company in a single line:
“To embrace a stranger as one’s own. It’s in our nature.” Shangri-la Hotels.

It’s amazing how cinematography and the use of words can create a meaningful advertisement with a long-lasting impact on consumers’ mind.