Nureen's Marketing Blog

As my last blog post I thought it would be funny to search on google images “funny advertisements”, and I came across an interesting promotion for BMW.



I could not stop laughing! I always wondered what guys really were thinking… But I find that this advertisement is very effective in the fact that I knew it was BMW by the shape of the car in the front and I don’t even like cars!! Having good promotions are ideal and especially when you can communicate your product benefits. In this ad i believe that the male is an extremely good looking fellow who has the “ultimate attraction” towards BMW cars, implying to its market of men that BMW cars are like a dream come true and can be attainable. It is like a fantasy situation with an attractive girl and man, however, instead of living in the moment, the man is thinking about cars instead of what is readily in front of him promoting the fact that all men think about having a BMW. I like this ad because I just thought it was interesting, entertaining, and extremely sexy! 🙂

As I was going through my fellow classmates’ blogs, I stumbled across my fellow peer Morgan Krechel’s Blog (http://morgank1.blogspot.com/)  about Avion Tequila. I watch Entourage religiously and I was very surprised to find out the Avion Tequila is in fact real. Needless to say his views on the tequila was of extreme dislike, I will be one of those individuals who will buy a bottle to satisfy my urge or trying the liquor because of its great publicity on Entourage. This just goes to show that yes a product might not be of superior quality, but if publicized in the right way, will become highly profitable.

There is evidence which proves how highly popular shows, people, and just the entertainment industry in general can market products just by reference. Gwen Stefani can show up wearing a dress made of garbage and it will become a new trend because of her fan base of loyal followers and she is an idol for so many individuals.  As in my earlier blog from Don Perignon , with the right idols promoting a product, the fans will follow. Avion Tequila will continue to be profitable as long as Entourage is still in the limelight and fans are willing to pay the price for a few hours of “fame”.

With time some events, products, or ideas do not need to be marketed any longer, people just know. When I think of a tissue, I will use the word Kleenex interchangeably, or any laundry detergent as tide, but how is it just known that Wednesday is Pit night? I have never seen a poster, sign, or any sort of marketing for those nights yet every single student at UBC knows about them. I have heard about those nights since before I even went to UBC! Is Wednesday at the Pit a tradition? I know my uncle who graduated from UBC in 1990 used to DJ at the pit on Wednesdays! That was like before we were born!

The way the Pit runs just reminds me of the importance of marketing through word of mouth and loyal customers. Wednesdays are a tradition since almost every single UBC student has to go at least once in within their 4 years. Since I have never heard any negative comments, I do not believe there is too much undesirable customer behaviour with negative word of mouth. More like if there is one loyal customer they force their friends to go and so even if you do not like the pit you still end up going.

I was watching Sex and the City 2 for about the millionth time this weekend and I just got to thinking that as soon as you think of Sex and the City you automatically think of sex, a city, and a cosmopolitan. Carrie and the girls have “introduced a whole new generation of drinkers…to the fabulous world of the cocktail.”  (http://ohgo.sh/archive/sex-and-the-city-the-cosmopolitan/) From reading a blog based on trying drinks that have been featured in the show and movies alike, the cosmopolitan is definitely the most epic. It has started a trend in drinking. It is rare to find a group of girls who go out and are lounging by the bar not drinking a cosmo.

The cosmopolitan is a product, however Sex and the City is the brand which differentiates the Cosmo from other cocktails. As girls go out for a night, they are looking for that experience which they have seen so many times on the infamous series. With drinking cosmos it satisfies their vision of the night.

The problem being that since cosmopolitans and Sex and the city are closely related, there is high chance of post-purchase dissonance. If a girl had too many drinks, had an unsatisfactory night, or a drink that is not consistent with her previous drinks, that could change her perception on the show. Since the cocktail drink is now world renowned, (I know this because me and my sister have had cosmos with a few girls in a small bar in a remote part of Greece and the bar tender knew what it was!) there is a high chance that the drink is not made identically at every location available. Although there maybe some women who will react unfavourably, there is a large population that are completely loyal to Sex and the City and since Carrie Bradshaw’s favourite drink is the cosmopolitan, so is theirs.

Personally, I love cosmopolitans and the main reason why I tried it is because of one of my favourite tv series. I wanted the experience of going downtown with my closest girl friends and have an amazing time just like the show. What can I say? I a complete loyal fan of Sex and the City!

Belvedere Vodka is like many other alcohols in the way they promote themselves using social media. Since this is a world where the organizations with the new technological advances have the power and the other companies which do not adapt to new trends i.e. social media, are suffering terribly. In marketing alcohols, however, governments have certain regulations on how they can promote certain drinks. As my friend has mentioned on his blog a few weeks ago (https://blogs.ubc.ca/kevingrewal/) Belvedere has found a way to brand themselves without breaking any government advertising law.  With a grand prize of cash and a “dream job” as a Global Ambassador for the vodka, Belvedere has gained “unregulated advertisement”.

Alcohols should be able to promote their product, however, by having drunk individuals drinking their vodka and displaying it for the world to see is not ideal promotion. It creates great controversy for younger audiences who are under-aged and have great accessibility to the internet and are able to see these videos on youtube and facebook. They are being influenced to drink at an earlier age with all the “unregulated advertisement” on the internet. Although it may be excellent for the firms with almost free publicity, it harms the youth who are exposed to these videos. They may believe that the way the videos are aimed at showing the uniqueness, creativity and passion for drinking Belvedere, it promotes a more desirable image for youth to consume the drink. I think that in this new era, even these free promotional videos should be regulated.

As any other Vancouverite, I watch the Canuck games religiously. I love the cool hockey commercials and the Molson Canadian ads in between periods, but to be honest I am not really fond of the Coors Light commercials. I know their target market are men from ages 19 to 33 but really why do they have to do the whole Mystery Mansion and have pictures of half naked women running around in costumes of almost every guys sex fantasy?

Coors Light has an interesting positioning strategy. They are differentiating themselves by having every Average Joe who buys their beer a chance to potentially go to this special Mystery Mansion and score with some of the sexiest women in the world and live the ultimate fantasy. Although only a limited amount of men actually attain the shivering can and win a chance of a lifetime, it has created a huge jump in sales for the organization. And to get the attention of men of that age, or any man in general, all they need are pictures of hot women in bikinis and guys doing super cool tricks down a mountain. Can you get any stereotypically manlier than sports, beer and women?

Yet maybe thats the reason for the new marketing strategy, to create a manlier beer since Coors is a LIGHT beer. Most men’s perception of light beer is a girlly chick drink. Coors is trying to change the attitiude of the Light image and get men, which is a more profitable segment, to purchase this light beer.  How very interesting…

In all honesty, how much would you pay for a bottle of booze? You can only drink it once, and almost anything will do the job, so really how much would you willingly pay? Well I know the more money I have the more I am going to be willing to spend, but that is just the way it is. The more money you have the more money you will spend on anything. And yet there is a certain class to drinking better vodka than Smirnoff or $5 bottles of wine, and the taste is normally better too.

But what about champagne? You only drink it on special occasions so is it ok to spend more money on one bottle?  Dom Perignon is one of the most expensive bottles of champagne and is definitely one of the most well known. If Jay-Z can rap about sippin’ Dom Perignon on a yacht in Monaco, it has to be a luxury. Well the brew does take a minimum of 7 years to create and the higher vintages takes a bit longer at 30 years, which means there is no lack in quality. Except why do so many huge artists and celebrities only seem to be drinking this one champagne?

Dom Perignon is not only a bubbly wine from the region of Champagne, France, it is a symbol of luxury, money, and entertainment. There seems to be no substitute for the champagne. No average Joe really knows how much a bottle really is, but if someone can casually say “Yeah, I was drinking Dom Perignon all night” you know they have cash. I have never seen any commercials or magazine advertisements, I know about this drink from complete word of mouth and celebrity watch. I never even realised that certain celebrities really do increase the value of certain products just by being seen using them. It really is pure publicity at its finest.

This past summer I went on vacation to Greece, and across the world is where I learned about Tiger. I had never even heard about it, but the longer I stayed in Greece I saw the brand everywhere. I could not believe that something so popular across the world I had never even heard mentioned at home. I did not even know if we even sold the beer at our local liquor stores. After some research, however, Tiger brand is a very respectable and well known beer, and has won 40 plus international awards. It is actually the first truly international Asian beer.

They main reason for choosing this brand to discuss is the fact that I think their logo is super amazing. From the name Tiger, to the colours of the label, the beer just looks interesting. There are even hidden symbols within the “Tiger” name. The i is like a 1 which stands for Tiger’s ambition to be a world-leading beer; the g is shaped as an 8 which is an auspicious number in many East Asia cultures and; the e is shaped as if smiling. The colours chosen are specifically designed to heighten the quality of the beer. The blue represents the purest refreshing water used; the amber symbolized the quality of the ingredients and does not let the beer age too fast; and the gold represents the superiority of quality and the medals Tiger has won throughout the years. Futhermore, the commericals are super funny, and I chose my favorite one to share.

Have you ever heard of the most interesting man in the world? Whenever he swims dolphins appear. If ever you ask him for directions you will arrive at your destination 5min early. Aliens have asked him if he could probe them. Yes everyone he is the most interesting man in the world and he does not drink beer often but when he does he only drinks Dos Equis. Are you sure you have never heard of him?

I have seen the Dos Equis commercials a few times, and honestly I think they are pretty funny. They always have a fit looking elderly man with a few young beautiful women. They explain to the viewers some of the most amazing experiences that could happen to a person, happen to him. He is adventurous, entertaining, and courageous but the only beer he drinks is Dos Equis, therefore if you want to be as interesting as him, you have to drink the same beer.

As I was doing some research on the Dos Equis website, they have dedicated the theme of their entire marketing strategy surrounding the “Most Interesting Man in the World”. As you enter the website the page is called “The Most Interesting Academy” and apparently there different strategies to be interesting. They have courses called “the Art of the Bluff”, “Command of the Animal Kingdom”, “Rites of Passage”. 

There target audience is middle aged men, ages 30 plus who are striving for that exhilarating adrenalin rush to fuel their life. Men you want to be classy and confident. All they need are some courses to be an Interesting Man at the Interesting Academy and always drink Dos Equis.

Stay Thirsty, my friends

When buying liquor do you ever choose your beer on whether it is imported or domestic? Or would you rather spend the extra two bucks for a better tasting beer? Molson Canadian’s entire marketing strategy is to get Canadians to buy Canadian beer. Since we have some of the most fertile land in the entire world, why buy any other beer when the best of the best is in your backyard.  

 Molson has commercials that make you laugh, smile, and want to yell “Why yes I am Canadian!” But how do they do this? After doing some research and watching some sweet Molson commercials on youtube I realised that all the videos have some common elements. 

1. The cheesy music is one of my favourite parts of the videos. It always starts off slow and gets faster and faster once they get you all excited. The music completely pumps you up and flows with the themes of the video perfectly.
2. The scenic pictures are gorgeous, but really how often do many Canadians or Vancouverites take in the mountains surrounding them? Molson gives pride to Canadians for having these natural landscapes that the world truly envies. They are showing their target audience that they should feel pride in their country.
3. Oh and I can’t forget about HOCKEY! Every single commercial has to reinforce the fact that Canadians created the best sport in the entire world. The commercials embrace the fact that the weather may get a “few” degrees below zero, but when that ice is frozen the ice skates come out and the true hockey fans are home.
4. The clichés are pure comedy. When the spokes man talks about USA VS CANADA, it registers that you will always be proud to not be American.  Oh and to remind everyone that we do not live in igloos, but we are manly enough that if we wanted to, we could.

Molson Canadian takes nationalism to an extreme in their commercials, but have you ever gone to a party where there wasn’t a single bottle of the beer there? Their commercials influence their consumers with the fun, adventurous, domestic beer grown right in their home town.  Especially when the Winter Olympics just happened here in Vancouver this past year, Canadian nationalism is at an all time high.  Molson Canadian is responsible for representing Canadian Nationalism in every bar, club, POITS and always reminds me that I AM CANADIAN.