For the video assignment portion of the marketing plan project, we chose to create a humorous and fictional story of how Lululemon was started by a young COMM 296 student.  Each scene has our main character “Bob” talking to various people about his start-up idea.  The different scenes each highlight one aspect of the marketing mix (price, product, place, promotion), and in the end the actual founder of Lululemon, Chip Wilson, steals his idea and starts the company.

In the video I play two characters: a mentor to Bob, and Kevin O’leary from Dragon’s Den.  As the mentor I give Bob some key advice about his pricing strategy and end the scene by throwing a lemon at him.  In the Dragon’s Den scene, Bob talks about his Lululemon products to four investors hoping that they invest in his company.  As Kevin, I have an impatient and condescending personality and make a low ball offer to acquire Lululemon.

Before this project, I had never done any sort of video so I found this to be a great learning experience.  Some key skills I was exposed to included writing scripts, filming techniques, acting skills, and video editing.  Mark Smith was very knowledgeable about all of the above and offered to teach us the basics while we were filming and editing.

I preferred this type of project much more than a presentation because of the new skills it exposed me to.  Additionally, it is a less stressful way to present information, and I think it achieves similar results in terms of learning potential.  Furthermore, the video project stimulated our creativity and brought us closer as a team.  In terms of analyzing the marketing mix of Lululemon, I think the video allowed us to present the information in a creative manner, which truly enriched the learning aspect of the project.

Vitto makes some excellent points about how Google is using a price skimming strategy with their Google Glass product.  Currently the $1500 price tag is meant to just target the innovators; however, the price should come down to focus on consumers in the near future.  Additionally, he states how this pricing strategy will have a long-term advantage because the first people to get it will sincerely be interested in this new market so they will review it very highly.  The high price for Google Glass could also be an indicator of quality.  Vitto also states that product is a “one-of-a-kind” but after doing some research it seems many people are companies and start-ups are jumping on the smart glasses bandwagon.  For example, a group of students from the Rochester Institute of Technology have created a product with similar capabilities, a better looking design, and for a price of $200.  With all these competitors trying to enter the market, when Google brings their price down to a consumer price level, they aren’t going to be able to charge monopolistic prices.  However, since Google has already established a loyal customer base, they may be able to charge a price slightly higher than the competition and still retain a high percentage of the market.

Going back to their price skimming strategy, it may backfire on Google because since consumers will likely know the manufacturing costs of the product they may feel like they are getting ripped off by paying in excess of $300.  It will be interesting to see what sort of pricing strategy Google decides to use once the product reaches the average consumer, but in the mean time, Google better keep a close eye on their competition and create some barriers to entry using intangible assets such as patents.

Sources: https://blogs.ubc.ca/vitotagle/2013/11/02/you-want-it-then-pay-the-price-external-blog-post/

http://medcitynews.com/2013/11/google-glass-less-expensive-competition/

In her blog post, Heidi Cohen explains how marketers can learn to target teens based on their behavior

First off, she explains how teens love to communicate with their friends with pictures and videos.  She then continues with her advice to marketers by suggesting they make it easy for teens to contact them to purchase or use their product, support teens’ communication to help them share photos of the company’s products and services, and supply WiFi to remove communication barriers.

Next, Cohen explains how many teens use their smart phones to do a variety of tasks, including homework, and how marketers can take advantage of this by creating smart phone apps and utilities that would appeal to teens.

Thirdly, Cohen reports how teens think cable is a waste of money because there are free (or very cheap) alternatives online and these online resources do not have ads.  She suggests that marketers integrate their ads to not interrupt entertainment.

Fourth, Cohen states that Facebook has reached a point where it is no longer cool because everyone has it, so now social media like Instagram, Vine, and SnapChat have become more popular among teens.  She suggests if marketers want to market to teens, don’t do it on Facebook.

Finally, she states that Teens are using apps more than ever to do shopping and create Christmas lists, so marketers should make it easy for teen shoppers to show their parents what products they want.

The most interesting thing I found about this blog post is the fact that teens are turning away from Facebook despite the social media site starting from teens and young adults.  Overall, I found this blog post to be interesting because it seems like teens are just a bunch of hipsters who want to set themselves apart from everyone else.

Source: http://heidicohen.com/5-things-marketers-can-learn-high-school-students/

Many food companies such as Nestle, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, and general mills have been marketing to children through advergames (online games using products).  Because kids are spending so much time online, it allows marketers to easily reach them and promote their products.  In these games, players generally take the role of an animated food product and must accomplish the goal given.

Even though companies agreed to only market healthy products to children, a study has shown that 95 % of meals and 78 % of snacks advertised through games exceeded the USDA and FDA for total fat content; sugar and salt were also issues.  The fact that companies continue to market their unhealthy products to kids during a time when the childhood obesity rate is increasing is a serious issue.  Once children are exposed to these unhealthy food advertisements they build a brand preference and are able to persuade their parents into buying these products.  Another problem is that even if these companies put a restriction on what age demographic could access the games, there really are no borders on the internet and children would still be able to access them.

Using advergames to target the children demographic is a very effective marketing strategy because it not only exposes them to the product, but engages them by forcing interaction between the user and the product.   Also, children are currently very engaged in online media and games which makes it one the best mediums to effectively market products to them.  Unfortunately, not all of these products are beneficial to the health of children.

Source:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/advertising-food-to-children-moves-from-tv-to-online-games/article14916729/

In their new commercial, Tim Horton’s tells the story of how their coffee grounds are produced in a rather unique way.  The story is told using coffee grounds that have been shaped to form very detailed pictures of environments that show the origin of their blend.  These pictures are then modified slightly in every frame to create a video all made from coffee grounds.

Check out the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IGg9Mlr_zY

The primary goal behind this campaign is to convey the quality of Tim Hortons’ brew to consumers and by presenting it in a very artistic way they are able to capture their target audience’s attention very effectively.  The ad will be run on television in Canada; however, Tim Hortons also wants to reach consumers through media.  They even created a “coffee filter” which edits a picture to look as if it were made out of coffee beans, and suggested that customers can show their love for Tim Hortons by turning their pictures into works of coffee art.

I think Tim Hortons’ ad campaign was very effective in showing the quality of their product because the story really convinces viewers that their coffee is created using the highest quality ingredients.  In my opinion it was wise of Tim Hortons to focus on quality because McDonald’s coffee market share is growing rapidly and Tim Hortons’ needs to show the quality of their products in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage.   I think the picture coffee filter may have taken the campaign a little too far, and I really don’t believe people would actually take the time to do this.  Overall, I think Tim Hortons’ convinced consumers that their coffee was superior to other competitors and accomplished their goal of showing the quality of their blend.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/gourmet-grounds-new-tim-hortons-campaign-tells-story-behind-the-coffee/article14717767/

Microsoft recently launched some ads that mocked Apple’s new IPhone 5C, however, their delivery of the ads didn’t go over very well with consumers.  The lengthy two minute ad is not only boring, but lacks the primary goal Microsoft was going for, humor.  Basically, the video advertisement consists of two Apple employees pitching the new IPhone features with a few men being portrayed as superiors.  Almost immediately after the videos were posted on YouTube under the Windows Phone account, criticism poured in about how terrible the ad was.  It was too-long, poorly acted, not humorous and almost went too far as some of the superiors in the video were speculated to resemble Steve Jobs and other executives of Apple.

“Dull,” in my opinion, pretty much sums up the whole ad campaign against the IPhone 5C.  In terms of marketing ethics, I would say Microsoft definitely crossed the line if the people in the video were meant as representations of previous executives of Apple.  However, I do not think that Microsoft intended for the people to look similar.  One thing that surprised me about the ad was how direct the attack was at Apple.  Normally, a subtle approach is taken to take hits at other competitors in a market, but Microsoft came right out by even calling their in-commercial product an IPhone.  In my opinion, this approach shifts the ad from a light joke to a strategic attack, and I think that Microsoft’s image suffered from it.  Obviously Microsoft realized that this was not the kind of attention they wanted and removed the videos shortly after release.  I think a more ethical strategy to take a stab at the IPhone would be something similar that of Samsung’s.

Check out the videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmGgH8XU8yk Microsoft’s Ads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJafiCKliA8 Samsung’s Ad

Source:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57602902-75/microsoft-pulls-fly-on-the-wall-anti-iphone-ads/