Monthly Archives: October 2012

10/28/12

Red Bull, You Genius Son of a Bull

I was intrigued by the brief mention in class about the diversity of Red Bull’s activities. After some investigation, I have to say… I am quite impressed.

As a hopeful future marketing consultant, Red Bull was a very fascinating case study because it takes its marketing strategies outside of the box – innovative marketing tactics that are so innovative that hardly anyone minds the Red Bull propaganda. Which is awesome, because there is nothing more that customers hate than advertisements.

For example, instead of sponsoring an event like brands typically do, Red Bull hosts its own events – extreme sports events that embrace the energizing theme of its product. Previous events include Red Bull Joyride, which is featured in the photo at the top, and Red Bull Air Race, where world-scale pilots perform stunning stunts (ha!) before an audience of thousands. Such events captures people’s attention, hence raising overall awareness of the brand.

Another approach that Red Bull takes is engagement with its customers. And by engaging, I mean individual, word-of-mouth promotion. Red Bull Wing Teams are composed of students driving around in a Red Bull marked van, offering Red Bulls to people on the street. The company also supports young musicians through Red Bull Bedroom Jam and aspiring writers through Red Bull Reporter, appealing itself across the spectrum.These are only a few activities that I’ve come across in my research of Red Bull. The local scale of these projects build personal relationships with people, familiarizing the product for all the great opportunities it provides.

I’m gonna be honest here… Red Bull sounds like heaven for marketeers. Who else wants to apply with me?

 

Sources:

Red Bull International Official Website: http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/Red-Bull.com/001242745950125

Red Bull Joyride: http://www.redbull.ca/cs/Satellite/en_CA/Red-Bull-Joyride/001243006065584

Red Bull Air Race: http://www.redbullairrace.com/cs/Satellite/en_air/Official-Red-Bull-Air-Race-Homepage/001238611393596

Red Bull Wings Team: http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Red-Bull-Wings-Team/001242965768603

Red Bull Bedroom Jam: http://www.redbullbedroomjam.com.au/

Red Bull Reporter: http://www.redbullreporter.com/

Business Case Study: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/red-bull/engaging-consumers-through-word-of-mouth-marketing/word-of-mouth-wom.html#axzz2Ce1cE8tX

Photo from here.

10/9/12

RE: Ethics: Sexism in Advertisements.

Ava Zhang’s article, “Ethics: Sexism in Advertisements”, caught my attention not only because of the photo of boobs looming over it, but from my fascination  in how sexism plays a role in marketing.

In order to capture the buyer’s interest, a business must emphasize a feature of its product which connects with the buyer. In Nando‘s case, it was the word play from the new Double Chicken Breast Burger. The South African advertisement, released in 2008, featured a “dumb blonde” who struggles to reach the french fries concealed by her gigantic boobs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0atgOxcxqwE

Nando’s isn’t the only business who used sexism to enhance their advertisements. Then how about sexism against men?

When I searched “sexist advertisement” on YouTube, all videos discriminated against women and none against men. Yet I recall advertisements that portray men as horny beer-drinking hooligans or monotonous working fathers – practically mirroring the dumb blondes or cranky nagging mothers. Are such portrayals of men approved by society, whereas these portrayals of women are not? Advertisements have an undeniable influence on the perspective of sexism, indicating that businesses must take caution in how they portray each gender in the eyes of the buyer and, consequently, society as a whole.

 

Sources:

Ava Zhang’s article “Ethics: Sexism in Advertisements” (photo included): https://blogs.ubc.ca/avazhang/2012/10/09/ethics-sexism-in-advertisements/

Nando’s website: http://www.nandos.com/index1.html

Nando’s advertisement in 2008: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0atgOxcxqwE

YouTube search results for “sexist advertisement”: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sexist+advertisement&oq=sexist+adv&gs_l=youtube-reduced.3.0.35i39j0l3.65457.66616.0.67710.10.10.0.0.0.0.135.740.8j2.10.0…0.0…1ac.1.UMlRwJuCCNk

10/8/12

Social Media 101: jeffbullas.com

Owning and using an iPad is almost like driving and parking a BMW in your driveway. Being able to talk intelligently about Facebook and Twitter now means you are invited to cocktail parties.

These are the wise words of Jeff Bullas, writer and marketing consultant, on the power of social media. Along with rapid advancement in technology came social media, which share information and network with people around the world through online communities. Social media has become a popular and instantaneous marketing method, and play an essential role in today’s instantaneous and globalized community. And it’s all laid out on jeffbulla’s.com, a blog based entirely on social media.

Jeffbullas.com incorporates case studies to investigate the role of social media, from branding strategies of Google+ features to a how-to package on making a promotional media kit. The part that caught my eye, however, was Grade Your Marketing – a clever online tool in which you enter the urls of your website and two competitor websites to be “graded” based on traffic, leads and anlytics. I now know where to go for the tips and tricks to forming an effective marketing environment using social media.

 

Sources:

Jeffbullas.com (photo): http://www.jeffbullas.com/

Hubspot’s Marketing Grader: http://marketing.grader.com/?s=wsg

10/8/12

The Rising Power of Barriers to Entry

Porter’s Five Forces suggest that “barriers to entry” prevent the successful  emergence of businesses into a certain industry. One of the barriers to entry is expected retaliation, which is becoming increasingly problematic for many industries as our generation evolves.

As one of the largest industries in the world, oil manufacturers are faced with persistent retaliation from environmentalists. Unless oil manufacturers are able to juggle environmental friendliness with profitable extractions from Mother Earth, they’ll be having one tough time going about their business – just like Shell.

Last week, Shell’s lawsuit to ban the protest of Greenpeace environmentalists against Shell’s Arctic drilling program was rejected by a Dutch court. This acts as a setback to not only Shell for its future plans but for the power of the oil industry. Nowadays, oil manufacturers must consider the consequences of their actions beyond the aspects of business – there are a variety of environmental and social expectations that determine the reputation of the industry, under the sharp judgement of the entire world.

The outcome of this tug-of-war between Shell and Greenpeace will signify many things. Which emerging power has the greatest influence  – the industry or the voice of the community?

Sources:

Porter’s Five Forces: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml

Shell loses suit against Greenpeace (Photo): http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/10/05/shell-greenpeace-protest-suit.html

Shell website: http://www.shell.com/

Greenpeace website: http://www.savethearctic.org/

Shell in the Arctic: http://www.shell.com/home/content/future_energy/meeting_demand/arctic/?gclid=CPPltqad8bICFURxQgodQA4Alg

 

10/6/12

Oppa Product Positioning Style!

Product positioning targets customers by distinguishing the business within the market. Now let’s examine it through this year’s biggest hit: Gangnam Style by Psy. Despite it being Korean, a foreign language and culture to most, it ranked #1 on iTunes in 31 countries and received the most Likes in the history of YouTube. As a Korean, I couldn’t believe it when hundreds of students at Frosh were doing the trademark galloping dance together.

How did brand positioning create such remarkable results?

Initially, Psy didn’t expect any international success. He simply wrote a song that combines catchy music with funny, applicable references to the dynamic lifestyle in Gangnam, an urban district that has flourished recently. Instead of emphasizing a polished image like other Korea artists who have attempted to break into the American market, Psy’s points of difference lie in his crude character and shameless antics, providing pure entertainment and arousing curiosity about the Asian music industry. Although he’s not the first to create funny and catchy music, Psy distinguishes himself with a trademark dance which is easy to learn and recognize.

Now the question that remains is… how will product positioning play a role in the continuation of Psy’s success?

 

Sources:

Gangnam Style music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

Gangnam Style ranks #1 in 31 countries: http://www.allkpop.com/2012/09/psys-gangnam-style-ranks-1-on-itunes-in-31-countries

Gangnam Style breaks Guinness World Record for most YouTube Likes: http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/21/3370336/gangnam-style-youtube-likes-record

UBC Sauder Frosh 2012 Recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmzG2Z-oLtI&feature=player_embedded#!

Tour The Ritzy Seoul District That Inspired Viral Hit Gangnam Style: http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-seouls-district-of-gangnam-gu-2012-9?op=1#ixzz28WfKOwOo

Psy’s dance lesson for Britney Spears on Ellen Degeneres: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZmkU5Pg1sw