Jours Apres Lunes- lingerie for girls (from Iris’s blog)

After reading Iris Zhou’s blog on “Jours Apres Lunes”, a lingerie line for children, I was surprised that the values of the new generation have become so different. When I was an elementary student, I used to go to the playground and play with mud. Now little kids- especially girls- can’t seem to wait to become mature enough to do what adults do for fun such as dressing up and wearing makeup.

from 2008 New York Times article- pedicures and more at Eleanor’s primping party in Manhattan

What is scary is that companies like Jours Apres Lunes have noticed this change too and see children as a good target segment. I have seen girls about the age of ten getting their nails done in Tokyo. A 2008 New York Times article also brings up how there are now pedicures and make up kits available for children.

My concern here is how manipulative these children are. There is a high risk of companies who target such a segment to face marketing ethics. Should elementary girls be acting older wearing women lingerie and cosmetics? With current marketing strategies that use misleading advertisements of distorted conceptions of beauty, I believe this will lead the new generation to be even more self-conscious of their appearance. Suppose these marketing strategies continue. What will happen when this new generation becomes marketers? Generation after generation, due to technology and globalization, cultural values have diffused in both positive and negative ways that will affect the way we view the world and companies’ marketing strategies.

My parents generation could not have imagined pedicures and lingerie for children.Soon enough, I fear that there may be plastic surgeries and tattoos available for children where it actually affects a child physically. Before companies start targeting vulnerable children, companies should reconsider their marketing ethics all together.

<sources>

https://blogs.ubc.ca/irisyxzhou/

Cookpad Logo

A website company in Japan succeeded in getting over six million users (95.1% of which are women I might add) and dominate the market share- all without the help of advertisement. We’ve learned the importance of advertising for a firm’s success, so what happened in this case?

“Cookpad” is a website for users to share their own recipes for anyone to see. I believe the key to their success what that the owner of the company had a strong and clear mission statement- the first step to an effective market plan.

Sano Akimitsu, the owner of Cookpad, believed that cooking good meals make people secure and happy, creating a ripple of smiles. Therefore, he would only take actions that “brought people joy from cooking” and not make good choices, but the best. He had turned down tempting deals and offers from investors since they did not directly contribute to the mission statement. Sano knew that it was most important to connect and build trust with the users, and would always consider what is best for the customers. He focused on making the website as simple and useful as possible, and to keep a positive vibe on the website. This determination brought users to spread positive words about Cookpad and that is how it grew to the size it is today.

I was impressed how Sano did not take any of the offers because Cookpad has a lot of potential for profit. He knew that if Cookpad stopped fulfilling the ultimate goal, users would decrease and have an adverse effect on the company. Instead of costly advertisements, Sano held recipe contests and events for families to cook together which would teach them the joy of cooking. Before heavy advertisement, a company must have a clear vision of their purpose.

Uesaka, Toru. The Business of Cookpad: Six Million Female Supporters. Tokyo:Kadokawa SS Communications,2009