#6 – Reflections on Assignment

Posted on April 8, 2013 by nicholastan

I must admit, video making is literally a pain! And, that is maybe why I am not in the faculty of videography or anything related to that. However, it is still an enriching experience and we had fun!

No man’s an island. Especially with deadlines for most projects nearing, it definitely helped when teammates are able to lighten your workload. However, everyone should put in a similar amount of effort. T.E.A.M = Together Everyone Achieves More.

Through COMM296, I realised marketing is more than just advertisements and selling. In fact, a whole myriad of activities goes on behind an organization – from producing to reaching the market, every step has marketing involved. How to design and make the product, what ergonomical features should it have that consumers want, etc to how do we reach and deliver it to the market. Marketing should no longer be classified as a cost center, but rather an “indirect” profit center.

Price is no longer about the dollar amount, but rather, the perceived value. Of course, at the every bottom line, there is a monetary figure attached to it. But behind this figure, lies value. Product – who would have given so much thought about it? It is just an item we use isn’t it? I didn’t think that indepth about the so-called product lifecycle beforehand, but now, it is useful to know such stuff especially if I would want to start my own business in future.

It has been a wonderful learning experience! Thank you, Tamar!

#5 – Sitting on someone’s hairy butt!

Posted on March 21, 2013 by nicholastan

If You Don’t Use a Paper Toilet-Seat Cover, You’re Basically Sitting on Someone’s Hairy Butt

I personally felt that this ad was effective and delivered its message to the targeted audience. This ad is targeted at people who are concerned over the use of public toilets and the degree of sanitation. Marketing firms and departments use communication to target specific groups of consumers and influence them into buying a particular product. Advertising is a necessary form of communication for companies looking to promote their product or service to the consumer.

This timeless sales technique will often rely upon needing to capture the attention of consumers. Once advertisers capture a targeted consumer’s attention, they will often employ psychology in an attempt to coerce the individual to purchase a particular product. One such way of doing this is to make people want to fit in by showing the product or service as being popular with various peer groups. As in this case, the company is associating the product with hygiene level expected by consumers or consumers who are disgusted with the cleaniness of public washrooms.

#4 – Magical Marketing Lessons From Disney World

Posted on March 10, 2013 by nicholastan

If you have ever stepped into DisneyWorld, you will notice and be “swarmed” with a myraid of Disney branded stuffs! One of the most obvious marketing techniques that Disney uses is their all pervasive merchandising and branding. They have Disney everything! From bags, to clothes, to spoons, to water bottles, you name it. They have so much merchandise and it’s all totally integrated with everything else they do. They have rides related to their movies and they sell everything related to that movie right outside the ride. They get you in the mood, then ask you to buy!

Disney uses each interaction to reinforce the brand. For example, imagine the traumatic experience of parents being separated from their child in the Park. The “lost parents” area at Disneyland reminds us that: a. the kids are in charge, b. everyone is safe, c. even a terrifying event can be turned into fun.Disneyland doesn’t just provide rides and attractions; they provide an interactive theatre experience. It is an escape into an fairy-tale world. Their ride planners are called “Imagineers” and their staff are “Cast Members”. Disneyland doesn’t have “bad days”. They make every day feel special with parades, special characters and full ride service.

So what is the importance of Brand? To me, Disney = Childhood = Happiness. Thus, the Disney brand is something I would look forward to if I am feeling down. It has become so embedded into me that whenever I look at some Disney character, it brings back sweet childhood memories. This is Disney’s brand; it has been so deeply etched in me for the past 20 odd years. Even if Disney were to be involved in some kind of corporate scandal, their brand image would not be easily affected.

URL: http://www.rohitbhargava.com/2013/02/7-magical-marketing-lessons-from-disney-world.html

#3 – Peer Review [Vitaminwater — “Healthy” Beverage in Name (Ethical Issues)]

Posted on February 25, 2013 by nicholastan

URL: https://blogs.ubc.ca/xinma/2013/01/13/vitaminwater-healthy-beverage-in-name-ethical-issues/

While I am not a consumer of vitamin water, I have read about the controversies over this line of Coca Cola product. CocaCola is a mega company and have a whole range of different products to cater to different customers’ preference. After reading XinMa’s blogpost, it struck me on the contraversy that GSK faced in its Ribena product. GSK hit the headlines when it was reported that NZ students find almost no vitamin C in drink
and thus GlaxoSmithKline could face up to £1.1m fine. Two New Zealand schoolgirls humbled one of the world’s biggest food and drugs companies after their school science experiment found that their ready-to-drink Ribena contained almost no trace of vitamin C! FYI, Ribena’s advertising claims that “the blackcurrants in Ribena have four times the vitamin C of oranges!

GSK said the girls had tested the wrong product, and it was concentrated syrup which had four times the vitamin C of oranges. But when the commerce commission investigated, it found that although blackcurrants have more vitamin C than oranges, the same was not true of Ribena. It also said ready-to-drink Ribena contained no detectable level of vitamin C. This is a case of pure deceit and misrepresentation when the facts presented are contracdictory.This is a case of pure deceit and misrepresentation when the facts presented are contracdictory.

GSK is in court in Auckland today facing 15 charges relating to misleading advertising, risking fines of up to NZ$3m (£1.1m).

Thus, I do not agree fully that CocaCola is out to deceive consumers by any means of misrepresentation. The name “vitaminwater” could possibly mean that it is a liquid beverage that contains the vitamins that humans’ require. Generally speaking, “water” has different meanings – in this case, it is probably meant to be interpreted as “liquid” or “aqeous” solution. Given that the nutritional content was stated the product, consumers has the choice on whether to read it or not before purchase. There was no misrepresentation on the facts and the company should not be penalised for the “ignorance or carelessness of the consumers”.

#2 – STP – Singapore Airlines

Posted on February 5, 2013 by nicholastan

It is true that a firm’s resources is limited. Thus, the firm must make decisions on where, when and how to allocate its resources to various markets. Any economic decisions to segment an entire market depends on a myriad of factors. Segmentation bases may include, Geographics (region of a country), Demographics (age, gender, income), Psychographics (Lifestyle, Personality), etc. It is widely thought that segmentation is more of an art, than of science. The key idea of segmentation is to find targetable, actionable segments for a firm to allocate reasonable resources to, to achieve optimal results / returns.

For every segmented market to be deem as viable, it has to be identifiable, large enough to generate returns, stable, reachable and the consumers within that market segment should have similar demands. Firms then create different strategies (“differentiated strategies”) for every market segment that they would deem as viable. At the end of the day, it is all about creating value for the consumers. An overview is shown below:I love airlines and banks and coming from a country where our national airline is considered a 5-star airline, I personally do feel that they airfare they charge is relatively high as compared to their peers. Singapore Airlines (SIA) have always been regarded as a pioneer in the airline industry, be it in terms of performance and financial management or corporate governance. But what really set them apart from their competitors (in the eyes of consumers) is their standard of service and product, in this aspect, the aircraft. Ranging from more leg room to better quality food, their in-flight entertainment caters to all age groups. SIA has used traditional approach adopted by legacy carriers for segmentation. SIA focuses on 1) business travellers (“business class passengers”) and 2) the price sensitive leisure travellers (“economy class passengers”). These 2 different groups of consumers differ primarily on their preferences.

For the segment of business travellers, it’s believed that on an average in aviation industry elite travelers contribute up to 50% of revenue though they add up to less than 20% in passenger number (Brancatelli, 2009). Their needs and wants vary from the economy class passengers due to their purchasing power, higher income, lifestyle needs, etc. Thus, business travellers are given exclusive in-flight service with respect to variety of cuisines being served, exotic drinks and special seating comfort. The needs of economy class passengers cannot be ignored too. Meals in the economy class are a whole lot simpler, drinks are less expensive (for the airlines to purchase), but quality will never be compromised. Though this method of segmentation is traditional, and many airlines are also doing it, what sets SIA apart from the other airlines is how it target and position itself in the mind of consumers. (What do we think off when we say “fastfood” or “coffee”? Highly likely, it would be McDonalds / Burger King and Starbucks / CBTL.) To the different segments, SIA frequently launch various marketing activities to the various segmented market. However, these activities do not go undifferentiated!

SIA has positioned itself as an airline which offers great products and services; its healthy brand equity has really added value to Singapore Airlines and has arisen from the marketing strategies it has adopted. It adopts the tag-line, “Singapore Airlines – A Great Way to Fly”, in all its promotions to convey the quality of the Singapore Airlines brand. It also occasionally uses “A standard of service that even other airlines talk about”.

#1 – Unethical Marketing – Merck to pay $950 million for illegal marketing of Vioxx

Posted on January 16, 2013 by nicholastan

URL: http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/22/news/companies/merck_vioxx.cnnw/index.htm

Ethics in Marketing is abiding by a set of moral conduct, that primarily deals with the operations and regulations of marketing activities. In today’s environment, the main focus of the critical mass towards the multinational companies is on access to new patented and more expensive products.

There is no known curefor rheumatoid arthritis, but many different types of treatment can alleviate symptoms and/or modify the disease process. On a social perspective, sufferers of RA would more likely to seek any possible kinds of treatment to alleviate their pains. Recommendations of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), published in 2008, followed a trend in supporting earlier, more aggressive treatment of RA reflected substantial alleviation of symptoms for a rising percentage of patients. This is the primary driver to the marketing ploy by Merck. Economically, a rising demand would mean that big pharmaceutical companies could raise prices on their patented drugs – since demand would be inelastic against price for patients suffering from RA. Furthermore, doctors might be incentivised to push such drugs to patients as Merck claims that such drugs are effective. In the pharma industry, there are also many kinds of drugs which are marketed over the counter. Some of these drugs may not fully indicate the repercussions of consuming them. For e.g. Vioxx did not indicate that frequent consumption increases the risk of getting a cardiac arrest!

On a legal and public health safety perspective, I personally feel that advertisements placed by such big pharmaceutical companies should be approved by the relevant health authorities. This ensures that there is no hidden form of message being delivered and that the contents are not misrepresented. These advertisements should not instill fear in patients and locations where such advertisements are placed should be regulated.