Month: November 2013

On the third, and final, part of our marketing plan assignment, we had to do make a video depicting the entire assignment as well as criticizing the current marketing mix and providing recommendations. The end result was a professionally-looking video, with very smooth transitions, clear dialogue, and appropriate settings for every scene. This was achieved through creativity, when coming up with the script, but most importantly through our team’s ability to bring forth innovative and logical recommendations made for Blackberry based on the difficult times they are facing.

Although the team had a good performance judging by the quality of the first and final part of the assignments, there are some areas for constructive criticism. Most time team meetings lacked an agenda and the members’ presence and productivity was not ideal. This loss of focus on effectiveness resulted in low performance which resulted in a weak second part of the assignment. In hindsight, therefore, we should have appointed a team leader to facilitate the division of tasks and to improve effectiveness through carefully monitoring each team member’s task.

The video part of the assignment portrayed the incredible team cohesiveness that our team had. We were able to shoot the entire video in a rather short period of time which showed that when following an agenda our team was very productive. In retrospect, however, I would have preferred starting the video shooting earlier to achieve the maximum possible video and sound quality.

Furthermore, I believed we made a great decision when choosing Blackberry since the company is currently undergoing lots of changes making our recommendations extremely relevant and useful. It was interesting having to make some additions and changes throughout the assignment as to adapt to current news updates.

After reading Adweek’s blog entry by David Gianatasio, I felt the urge to further comment on this new initiative by Google. Helpouts is a live video-chat network of more than 1000 experts on a variety of fields such as music, cooking, fitness, home repair and many others. The idea is very straight forward. People who don’t want to leave the comforts of their homes, can just go online and get free or paid tutoring for playing guitar, baking a cake, yoga lessons, etc.

David makes the case that Helpouts makes the relationship between humans and computers stronger than ever. Helpouts slogan is that they deliver customers with “real help from real people in real time”. Although I agree that the “real” component is clearly overstated, considering the fact that you’re interacting with a computer at the end of the day, I can’t help but notice that from a marketing perspective, Google’s marketing team is doing a great job.

Nowadays, in a digitally driven world, having a significant presence online is probably what matters the most in terms of being recognized worldwide. After all, it isn’t mere coincidence that companies all around the world use social media as a means to reach out to their target segments. Thus, this latest addition to Google’s product breadth makes the California-based company even more omnipresent online. Marketing excellence achieved through the expansion of its marketing mix to satisfy even more segments of its customer base.

Lets face it. Nowadays, it is seen as normal by society for human interaction to take place through an online medium, albeit this is not ideal, it is the reality. Like in any competitive industry, therefore, Google must seize every opportunity to remain on top of the game.

After reading Tim’s blogpost on unethical marketing by Audi, I couldn’t help but to agree with Tim on the fact that Audi pushed the ethical boundaries of marketing a bit to much. As the commercial suggests, driving an Audi with a “clean” diesel is supposed to be environmentally friendly. I have to say I was as confused as Tim. Is Audi’s marketing team trying to convey the idea that by buying a car, rather than a bike for example, we will be contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Out of respect to the environment, it would seem that purchasing an Audi diesel car is the best option. Deceptiveness at its maximum level!

Nowadays, it is the new trend for companies to portray the image of being environmentally friendly. Even though some companies are actually doing great work towards this good cause, many are only making fun of worried environmentalists and humans trying to follow sustainable practices. The “Green Police” as mentioned in the ad, is not pure fiction. They do exist. For example, New York officers working under the Department of Environmental Conservation are referred to as Green police. Thus, this kind of marketing is not only deceives consumers but also greatly disrespectful.

I don’t mean to say that every company around the world must sell green products or else. Government and other organizations are dedicated to regulate non-sustainable practices carried out by these companies. What I found quite wrong, however, is the fact that  ads similar to Audi’s “clean” diesel car are not regulated. It should raise great concern that even at a moment were global warming has been scientifically proven, there are companies who don’t take this real threat seriously and are only looking to profit from consumers’ who naively believe they’re purchasing “green” products.