Month: October 2010

I remember there was one question on our midterm that was about Coach sending handbags from it’s rivals to a celebrity. Why would Coach do that? The answer is very simple-Coach thinks the that celebrity does not match with its brand image. In other words, when that celebrity is carrying a Coach handbag, it potentially harms the reputation/impression that Coach has on its customers.

Companies are often very willing to have celebrities carrying or using its products. Why? Because it is a very effective yet not costly way to promote its products. Celebrities are always under spot light, and when fans or ordinary people see their idols wearing a certain brand of clothing for example, they will immediate know that this brand must be a great one and even develop the incentive to purchase one for themselves. Consequently, the brand becomes so easily recognized by a lot of people.

On the textbook, the author uses Christian Louboutin as an example of satisfying psychological needs. Louboutin is perceived as one of the most expensive shoes in the world, yet thousands of women are crazy about it despite its high price. Why? Because many celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Lindsay Lohan, and Victoria Beckham always wear them. As a result, the psychological need of feeling superior and confident is satisfied when there’s a pair of red sole shoes with you.

Therefore, the influence of celebrities can never be overlooked, because it is closely related to the sales of a company. In the mean time, a company should keep an eye on the most famous celebrities of what they are using, wearing, or carrying.

If I mention the term “fast food,” what pops up right away? The possible answers include, MacDonald, KFC, Burger King, A&W, and etc..

Here is another question: have you every consider Subway a kind of fast food? If your answer falls on the negative side, I think the position strategy utilized by Subway has succeeded. Although the sandwiches at Subway is technically a kind of fast food, given the little amount of time needed to prepare one, most people do not group Subway with other fast food, or rather junk food. Why? I believe it’s because of the positioning strategy used by Subway differentiates it from the junk food category.

Look at the company logo of Subway, you may find out that there are vegetable, such as tomato and lettuce in the background, which portrays Subway as a healthy and nutritious food. Beside the background of the logo, Subway also has a motto, “eat fresh,” which again stress on the healthiness and freshness of its products.

The target market of fast food companies are quite similar, because they all focus on the convenience they can provide to customers, who do not have much time  to spend on eating, but there are still differences among companies. The target consumer segment of Subway is those who do not have much time to spend on eating yet want healthier food. To achieve this, Subway provides numerous kinds of vegetables, meat, and dressings to meet the demand of customers. This also becomes there sustainable competitive strategy when few of it’s competitors offer similar service.

The planning and implementation of STP strategy has a significant impact on every firm, because if the application of STP is a success, the firm is very likely to make a lot of profit from it.

I was just reading my friend, Susan’s blog, and one of her post provoked my interest.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/susanz/2010/10/09/thinking-ahead/#content

In her post, she stressed on the importance of looking into the future to find opportunities, where firms can increase their revenue. Oct. 10th, 2010, which just passed away five days ago, was seen as one of the most meaningful date because of it’s uniqueness of 10-10-10. Specifically on Facebook, many users updated their statuses to content that is related to this 10-10-10. The number 10 is perceived as perfect because we often rate something out of ten. As a result, significant events such as wedding ceremonies, were all planned on this day.

In order for marketers to satisfy the needs of consumers, they need to think ahead and plan ahead to win over their competitors. I agree with Susan’s idea that marketers must have started working on their “10-10-10” project months or even years ago. For example, countless weddings were held on this day all over the world, firms/designers, such as Vera Wang, who is internationally famous for designing wedding gowns for celebrities, might have started their promotion a long time ago before the 10-10-10 approached.

Hilary Duff wearing Vera Wang for her wedding.

Recently I noticed that a lot of the TV commercials are about Halloween-Trick or Threat. For example, candy snack giants such as Mars and The Hershey Company have laughed a series of commercials advertising for their signature product such as M&M’S, Snickers, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Halloween is one of the few periods that the demand for candies increase dramatically. Consequently, firms want to apply their best strategy to utilize this once-a-year opportunity to make profit, and the planning and implementation must have started a long time ago.

I remember a quote, which says “life was so much simpler when apple and blackberry were just fruits.”

This funny quote metaphorically describes the situation of the mobile phone market, which is mostly dominated by iPhone-Apple and Blackberry-RIM. Although Apple and RIM see each other as their rival, I perceive their competition in a different way. I think Apple and RIM have their specific target groups of consumers, and because of that, their marketing strategies are disparate from each other.

First look at the appearance of their cellular phones:

iPhone: Innovative                                                                          Blackberry:Professional

On many of the iPhone commercials, Apple draws an emphasis on the different “apps” possessed by iPhones. The app categories vary from gaming such as “Angry Bird” to finance such as “CIBC Banking” to utilities such as weather forecast. On the contrary, RIM focuses on the relatively more ordinary feathers such as SMS, Emails and MP3 Player. In other words, iPhones are perceived more casually whereas Blackberry are used by professionals.

There is also another video clip, which depicts on rivalry between Apple and RIM. In this video, a “blackberry bullet” was shot at an apple and went all the way through the apple. The link to the video is below.

Blackberry takes a shot at Apple!

In response, Apple had another ad, Apple Hits Back!!, where the “blackberry bullet” was broken into pieces the moment it hits the apple.

Although, I am an iPhone user, I still consider a Blackberry as a choice after I get a job, because it DOES look so much more pro!