Lululemon hit rock bottom when the following occurred:

-CEO Christine Day resigned

-Recalls for see through pants

-Chip Wilson the founder of Lululemon blamed this on women wearing it possibly being too big (article here)

These three things all happened to Lululemon within the year and they not only hurt the brands image, but, also the brands stock price.

Now in an attempt to rejuvenate the brand, the new Lululemon CEO Laurent Potdevin hopes go expand internationally and tap into both the European market and Asian market. This is going to be a very risky move because it is a very competitive industry with competition such as The Gap coming out with much cheaper alternatives and Lululemon is a less known brand in those markets.

Lululemon has positioned themselves at the top of the yoga/athletic clothing market therefore charge a premium price for their apparel. It is unclear how the European and Asian market will react to the higher prices in comparison to competition. There is however, clearly a lot of potential for increased profits and global market share if the expansion works. Lululemon will be going to these international markets using “Direct Investment”. This is the highest risk strategy for international expansion, yet highest reward.

It will be very interesting to see how the Lululemon marketing team markets their product in these areas. Will they use similar marketing techniques as in North America? Will the brand be recognizable in these markets? If not, how will the justify the high prices on a brand that no one has heard of?  These are all very difficult tasks that the marketing team for Lululemon is going to face.

Will this move reward the stock holders and help revive the companies financial statements and possibly give the brand a better public image? Or will this move be the beginning of the end for the Canadian company?

After reading Jessi Hilton’s blog regarding Super Bowl commercials I remembered how great the golden retriever Budweiser commercial was!

Now what do puppies and beers have in common? Absolutely nothing. But everyone loves a cute puppy, and this immediately engages the viewers. The commercial is a heartfelt and dramatic story of a small golden retriever puppy who befriended a Clydesdale in a rural farm town.

The emotional song “Let Her Go” by Passenger added to the commercial’s story and helped capture viewers’ attention through familiarity because the song was a top hit at the time of the Superbowl.

The main reason this advertisement was so successful to me and apparently Jessi and others was because it had the ability to immediately engage the viewer. Typically when commercials come on I pay little interest to them and resort to my phone for entertainment during the two minute break, however, when I saw the cute little puppy I couldn’t turn away from the TV screen. The puppy and horse companionship along with the music captured my attention and I was honestly curious and interested in watching the story unfold. The moment the story climaxed and captured the viewer’s highest level of interest was the same moment Budweiser strategically revealed their image. This left a lasting impression on me.

I believe in today’s time-poor society, viewers need to be engaged immediately in a commercial or else they will move their attention onto their phones or other things. Budweiser was able to achieve this and the ad received praise and recognition from many of the viewers. My advice to advertisement campaigns is to focus on some of the seven principles of consumer behaviour to capture your target consumers’ attention. Consistency, commitment, authority, scarcity, reciprocity, social validation and liking are seven categories which can strategically influence your viewers and potential customers. Read more about these 7 principles in the chapter summary HERE and good luck in creating your next ad!