Salim's Blog

This season I scored 65 goals and had almost 50 assists. I was a +56 with 22 penalty minutes. I won the Calder trophy, the Conn Smyth and of course the Stanley Cup with the Vancouver Canucks… on my Xbox in NHL11.  I stumbled across Joey Young’s blog “It’s in the game. Every. Single. Year” which got me thinking: why is it that despite owning every single NHL video game since 2002, every year I still feel I have to buy the newest one the day it comes out?

Joey raises a number of good points; in the video game industry, especially for sports games, when you develop a franchise there often isn’t very much you can do to improve upon the previous games. Tweaking rosters and adding small features is fine, but overall gameplay doesn’t really vary.

So why is it that sports games are among the most successful video games? EA Sports, the producers, push and pull sales strategies make all the difference. One effective use of a pull strategy, is allowing consumers to trade in their old NHL games to receive a discount on the new one. This caters to the hardcore fans and is a great way to ensure that people keep buying the new game. EA Sports also uses an effective push strategy by getting their retailers, as Joey points out, to offer midnight releases which serves to further hype up the games.

EA Sports NHL franchise has found a niche market which through their promotional and marketing efforts will always continue to be successful. Through adding on special features as well as continuing to promote to  their loyal fanbase, I have no doubt that I will be first in line when NHL12 is finally released.

F-Commerce. Sounds wrong doesn’t it? It did to me until I stumbled upon Kate Gyorgy’s blog. In case you were wondering, F-Commerce refers to Facebook-Commerce. I think we can all agree that Facebook is a dream come true for anyone looking to promote their brand. Simply create a page and then spam everyone you know to spread the word.

Truth is there is no way anyone can realize the true power of social media. Take the example of Rebecca Black. A thirteen year old unknown “pop star” who created a video and quite literally became an overnight sensation from the power of Youtube. These social media sites are gigantic, and grow continuously every day.

Facebook provides the ideal conversation grounds between manufacturer and consumer. In “liking” a brand, consumer’s provide direct feedback that can be used in manufacturer decisions for pricing, promotions, product or place.

Kate’s blog goes on to discuss how transactions within Facebook are now becoming more popular. “F-commerce” has led to not only the sale of virtual goods, but real tangible items as well. Through, for example, the Best Buy Facebook Page you are now able to shop, share, buy and discuss products all the while inadvertently giving Best Buy information regarding what consumers are looking for. Seems like a win-win to me.

Last year we saw the NHL launch a hugely successful marketing campaign for the playoffs. The “History Will Be Made” campaign generated viewership in excess of 300 million, and has returned for round two this year. It featured iconic moments from the history of the NHL playoffs, such as Steve Yzerman’s unforgettable series winning goal in the 1998 Western Conference finals with the tagline “History will be made in the NHL playoffs.”

While commercials for this year’s playoffs were not supposed to air until March 13th, two sneak-peeks were released earlier this week. The one below features the captain of the 2010 Stanley Cup champions, Jonathan Toews. After watching this commercial it is not difficult to see why this campaign was so successful. Anyone could relate to that 8 year-old boy, blowing out the candles on a cake, wishing to one day raise the Stanley Cup above his head; I certainly did. The commercial pulls at the affective part of the consumer psyche, and does so very effectively.

The NHL promises to release twenty more commercials between today and the first day of the playoffs, with a new commercial every day from April 14^th until the Stanley Cup is raised. I look forward to seeing how the NHL builds off the success of last year and what new events they feature in each commercial.

Two summers ago, I was working construction. One day, my boss asked me to carry a lot of stuff from his van to the site;  I could hardly see where I was going and sure enough I bumped into a stranger. The man helped me pick my stuff up, clapped me on the shoulder and smiled while I was embarrassed and apologized profusely. When I got back to the site my boss looked at me in amazement as he said, “Salim, that was Trevor Linden.”

I tell that story to anyone and everyone I can. I love watching people’s reactions. Almost certainly I get looks of amazement while people say “NO WAY!” If someone told me that story my reaction would be similar: utter disbelief that the person I am talking to bumped into Trevor Linden, the greatest leader to ever lace up skates for the Canucks, and didn’t ask for an autograph or at minimum a handshake.

Understandably, when I read this article yesterday, I did so with a giant smile on my face. It goes on to talk about Trevor’s personal “brand” and how by being an honest, caring, genuine person, both on and off the ice, Trevor has created a legacy that is second to none in Vancouver.

It is this level of personal branding that Sauder has tried to teach us, one which everyone dreams of achieving. By pushing students academically and personally, it gives them the opportunity to discover who they are at heart; and thereby develop their personal “brand”.

Trevor is the prototypical case that proves building a personal brand is not about what you can or can’t do, it’s about who you are.

The “Axe-Phase”. All boys who read this will undoubtedly shake their heads and laugh at that one. It happened to all of us, the awkward pubescent part of life, drowning ourselves in gallons upon gallons of Phoenix deodorant; those tiny, 6$ cans of nauseating perfume that everyone had to have. Knowing nothing about deodorant, the obvious choice had to be the one that looked the coolest, and no one can deny that Axe body spray cans definitely look cool.

Laugh as you will, you got to admit Unilever definitely got it right. It wasn’t the advertising for Axe that propelled them to the forefront of the body fragrance industry or the even sickly sweet smell; it was the cans. Axe is the definition of how effective packaging can influence the sale of a product. They made packages that were unique, and practically jumped off the shelves into your shopping cart. Even now, the actual purpose of deodorant has taken a back seat to looking cool when you whip out the sleek looking bottle of Axe from your gym bag. As the Marketing Deviant blog claims, “sometimes packaging is so important that it cost more than the product itself in order to lure the consumers to buy it.” This could not be truer in the case of Axe.

To read more from the Marketing Deviant blog, please click here.

Top Gear. It’s one of my favourite shows. Jeremy’s biting humour, James’ old-fashioned ways and Richard’s … Richard-ness – and then there are the cars. As most boys, I have been intrigued by fast cars since before I can remember and last Thursday I got to see the fastest. The Bugatti Veyron SuperSport. A 1200 horsepower, 16.4L W16 moster capable of reaching over 260mph (that’s a speed in excess of 430km/h!)

Then it struck me. Have you ever seen a TV advertisement for the Bugatti Veyron? An “official” Facebook page? A Twitter Account? Heck, a picture in a magazine? The answer is no. This is because for a car that costs a whopping $2.5 Million CDN, you aren’t targeting a typical audience. Someone who drives a Veyron could probably impulse-buy their own island so they would have no need to pay attention to conventional methods of marketing. This raises the question: If you can’t use typical marketing methods to attract your target market, what do you do to promote yourself?

The answer is simple – create a unique, high quality product that cannot be replicated. By breaking the official land-speed record for a road legal car, Bugatti has done just this. They have positioned themselves as the only choice for someone with a seriously deep pocket looking for a comically fast car. While you may think that these people exist only in theory, recent sales and production efforts for Bugatti’s Veyron have actually been rising. One day….

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t name two people who play for either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Green Bay Packers. I had to ask a friend which teams were playing in the Superbowl this Sunday. While you may be cluing in that I don’t really follow football, one thing I do know is that this Sunday we will bear witness to perhaps the most important day of the year for anyone in marketing (or football, I guess).

Airing commercials during the Superbowl has always been expensive. With Superbowl viewership estimated to be over 110 Million people this year, for the bargain price of $2.8 Million dollars, you too can own a 30 second time slot at some given point during the game. This begs the obvious question: for that amount of money, and the very real chance that your message may actually hurt your brand, is it worth it?

Companies spend millions on developing creative, memorable commercials for the Superbowl. The good ones create lasting impressions that promote their brand to an immense audience; the bad ones… not so much. The most memorable commercial for me was done by Snickers.

Annual events such as the Superbowl serve to underscore the importance of marketing for a firm’s survival. The mere fact that anyone is willing to spend almost $3 Million to promote their product in front of a bunch of football fans bolds, underlines and italicizes this fact (okay a lot of football fans). One thing is for sure, while I may not watch the game itself, I can’t wait to see the ads!

Aston Martin is producing a smart car. Take a second and let that sink in (Don’t worry, I shed a tear too). It was announced recently that the car has completed the concept stages and will go into official production, with the first models being shipped later this year. Named “the Cygnet” this Aston Martin features a 1.3L in-line 4 cylinder engine, producing a measly 98 horsepower.

The reason for this craziness is the European Union recently passed a bill forcing all car manufacturers to maintain a specified average for CO2 emissions across all their models. This posed a problem for Aston, who are well known for producing only big, thirsty, powerful machines, most of which are capable of reaching speeds in excess of 185 mph.

If you aren’t already shaking your head, please take the time to do so now. Famous for such cars as James Bond’s Vanquish, Aston is being forced into an entirely new arena with the Cygnet, one which may have a drastic impact on their brand reputation. They are now charged with the impossible task of effectively marketing this car. It starts at $50 000 and is essentially a $15 000 Toyota IQ with a leather gear lever and the Aston Martin badge.

This move is a gigantic gamble for Aston Martin. I could be greatly mistaken and the Cygnet may tap into a previously unexplored market. However, I feel the production of the Cygnet has all but ruined my inner 8 year old’s desire to one day drive an Aston Martin. Other consumers may feel the same and turn to rival manufacturers such as Bentley or Porsche with more of an exotic appeal. One thing is for certain, if James Bond steps out of a Cygnet, that will be the last straw.

True story: I have more pairs of skates than I do shoes. As you may discern, I’m a die-hard hockey fan and as such with the NHL All-Star game in less than two weeks to say I am excited would be a considerable understatement.

As the only major sports league struggling to attract American viewers, the All-Star game, one of the league’s marquee events, is a huge deal. Riding a recent wave of success in the form of an all-time record 6.6 million viewers for the leagues January 1st Winter Classic match-up of Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin (from the HBO series “Road to the Winter Classic”, the teams they play for really didn’t seem to matter), the NHL has gone into this year’s all-star game more determined than ever to increase their American fan base.  Solidifying their partnership with major American networks NBC, HBO and Versus, the NHL finally seems on the right track to increasing it’s major marketing flaw. The league’s partnership with comicbook-artist legend Stan Lee and the “Guardian Project” is further evidence of their attempt to attract a new crowd to hockey.

Finally, by requiring one player minimum from each team to attend the all-star game* the league has positioned itself to raise viewership in places like Atlanta and Florida, where teams are not as promising as places such as Detroit or even Vancouver.

All in all, January 30th should be an exciting game, I know I’ll be watching.

* With Jarome Iginla opting out of the All-star game for personal reasons Calgary was exempt from this rule – lets be honest they have no one else.