Month: October 2013

Statistics indicate “American women spend about $5 trillion annually…Over half of the U.S. GDP” (Consumer Electronics Association). Not surprisingly, when it comes to shopping, be it for new homes, computers, food, or automobiles – women certainly take charge.

It should not be surprising that 85% of consumer purchases are made my women. To illustrate a breakdown, 91% of new homes, 66% of PCs, 92% of vacations, 80% healthcare, 65% of new cards, 93% of food, and 93% pharmaceutical purchasing decisions are made by women. So I thought to myself, if women are purchasing a majority of household goods, how are products such as male deodorant and cologne able to speak to both genders? How are marketers effectively targeting and positioning their male-centric products to appeal to women?

Gillette has tackled this drawback by introducing a “What Women Want” campaign. This campaign promotes “metrosexuality” – heightening the interest in maintaining a well-groomed appearance for men. While primarily targeting men, Gillette’s campaign was launched with the intent to increase conversation between men and women, where women can help shape male grooming habits.  With great success, Gillette has redefined gender norms. After all, with “69% of American men saying that women influence how they style their body and hair,” I cannot see why women would not be considered a key market segment for Gillette.

Gillette Grooming Commercial

Sources: 

http://www.turnerpublishing.net/pdf/Women%20Purchasing%20Trends.pdf

http://www.she-conomy.com/report/marketing-to-women-quick-facts

http://www.canvas8.com/media/images/2013/04/11/12-04-13-gillette-title.jpg

Picture: http://www.canvas8.com/media/images/2013/04/11/12-04-13-gillette-title.jpg

Vancouverite, born and raised, I have come to appreciate our culture of Canuck bandwagoners, kale-munching activists, sushi fanatics, and yogis. Undeniably, our West Coast ways are peculiar.

Furthermore, we Vancouverites “enjoy” being active (or at least tell others that we are). What’s even more obscure about this whole fitness craze is the “recognizable, swirly “A” logo appearing so frequently on every booty, shoulder blade and ankle at the gym.”

In my opinion, while Lululemon was initially recognized as a vendor of overpriced workout gear, the company has certainly positioned their brand in the consumer mind as an icon of yoga culture – a status symbol. Who in their right mind ever imagined that a company selling sports bras and stretchy pants that eventually would reek of sweat could be valued at 10 billion dollars today? I vote no one.

How is Lululemon different from other retailers? Since 2007, Lululemon has continued to refine the depth of their core product line, with the CEO pledging to improve the fabrics and features of Lululemon’s products year-by-year. While such improvements rack up the cost factor, customers continue to demand their aesthetically pleasing, functional, and versatile products.

In today’s competitive industry, knock offs and various other designer brands (Nike, Underarmour, Addidas, etc.) offer alternative, quality options. However, I believe that Lululemon’s success can be attributed to their “scarcity” model. In the eyes of the consumer, Lululemon products are hot commodities – with little inventory – waiting to buy it the following week is not an option.

While Lululemon’s customers may be sweating to replenish their wallets after their costly purchases, Lululemon is keepin’ it dry!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mkxMQGG2z4

Sources:

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Vancouverite/8827087/story.html

http://theweek.com/article/index/226020/how-did-lululemon-become-a-10-billion-yoga-empire

As part of my portfolio as the Director of Academic Relations for the UBC Finance Club, I soon became aware that our goal of posting 3-5 social media posts per day can be extremely time consuming. As a student trapped in a 3-year contract with a slow blackberry and no data (how do I live, right?), posting in a timely manner was quite frankly, unmanageable.

Eager to save time and my sanity, I stumbled upon Hootsuite – “The leading social media dashboard to manage and measure your social networks.” Hootsuite functions in managing an array of social networks, including but not limited to: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress, Mixi, and Google+ Pages. With over 7 million satisfied users, this tool seemed essential.

In fact, if Hootsuite were an individual, it’d be the most efficient analytic in town. With talents ranging from monitoring/measuring your fan base, likes, and comments, Hootsuite allows you every opportunity to optimize your page’s virality. Additionally, historical comparisons help gage your progress over time. As an official partner in the Twitter Certified Analytics Program, Hootsuite tackles profile stats by comparing keywords over time with Twitter sentiment.

While Hootsuite was clearly convincing that it would provide my club with a more comprehensive picture of our participation in social spaces, one concern surfaced:  With all this great data at my fingertips, how can I share it with the rest of our club executives? How can it be aggregated and distributed to our marketing and visual media directors without too much extra work? Not surprisingly, Hootsuite makes this effortless! Hootsuite actually combines our social media analytics into daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly comprehensive reports, allowing for my team to be engaged at all times.

Thanks for existing, Hootsuite!