I recently read Denise’s blog post about branding for small companies with tight budgets. She briefly touches on some relatively low-cost methods for marketing a small company on a limited budget. In her post, she mentions YouTube videos as a way of advertising.

Every company’s ultimate goal is to create a positive brand image in consumers’ minds. To do this, a company must promote itself through effective advertising. Effective advertising is about selecting the medium that best suits your company’s budget and needs. As with any type of advertising there are pros and cons. A YouTube video can be powerful method of advertising because it can contain specific content catered to the product or service your company and is highly flexible and interactive in that you can constantly make new videos and update the content in the videos. Furthermore, it is interactive because people can leave comments and tell you what their thoughts are on your advertising medium. From those comments a company can figure out what they are doing well and what you can improve on. And the most obvious advantage is that it’s free!

However, there are cons of making YouTube videos as well. The primary issue with choosing the Internet as a medium of advertising is that the Internet is becoming cluttered. A link to your YouTube video is no longer just a link to your video. Rather, there is a multitude of other advertisements from other third parties. For example, sometimes when you click on a video, there is usually another 15-30 advertisement that plays before your video. Also, sometimes there are pop-up ads during the video. This can get distracting for the audience that you want to target because they may get annoyed and/or frustrated and may not interpret the message that you want to convey in your ad as well as you had hoped.

And indeed they do. A trip to Menchie’s never fails to bring a smile to my face. This popular frozen yogurt franchise with its myriad of yogurt flavors as wells as fruit, nut and candy toppings is always coming up with new and creative flavors such that every trip to Menchie’s is a unique and exciting experience.

The reason I love Menchie’s is because I get to make my own personal mix of frozen yogurt with the toppings that I love in the quantities that I like. Menchie’s creates value for me because it allows me to customize my frozen yogurt and that is what draws me to their store. I like being able to try a different concoction every time I step foot in the store and it is the originality and freshness of every trip that brings me back to Menchie’s time and time again.

Menchie’s would be a great example of micromarketing as its customers can get their yogurt tailored exactly the way they want it. Going to Menchie’s isn’t just about buying some frozen yogurt, it is an experience all in itself. Menchie’s also owes its success to excellent marketing in terms of place and product. Its stores boasts a friendly and inviting atmosphere, with signature pink, white and lime green walls. Their cute mascot as well as their cute bowls and spoons for holding the frozen yogurt are very good at attracting customers’ attention.

Moreover, the simplicity and convenience of buying frozen yogurt at Menchie’s – “mix, weigh, pay” adds consumer value to the Menchie’s experience. It is a place where students can stop by during a lunch break and parents can bring their kids there after picking them up from school. No matter what time of day, a quick stop at Menchie’s is sure to make you smile.