McDonald’s has pretty much become the world’s most known fast-food chain. It has dominated the fast-food industry in many countries. As Raymond Tang mentioned in his blog (https://blogs.ubc.ca/raymondtang/), McDonalds is now quickly entering the Eastern Europe and Russia region. Yet, different countries have different cultures, and different cultures consumer different foods. This is where McDonalds does an excellent job to tailor to each culture.
For starters, in Muslim countries, McDonald does not carry any pork products, knowing that sales would be close to none. McDonalds does not only tailor to each culture, but enhances it as well. In Hawaii, although part of the 50 States, Hawaiians have their own culture and their own representation. Pineapples are fruits that are associated with Hawaii. In every McDonalds meal in Hawaii, you don’t just get a burger, a drink and large fries, but also a pack of freshly cut pineapples for dessert. It’s wonderful how McDonalds blends in with the culture of where its restaurant is located at.
In the Chinese market, there is a large demand for chicken wings and, awkwardly, Sausage Egg McMuffins. These two items are available throughout the day. McDonalds introduced chicken wings at numerous locations throughout Hong Kong and China knowing that the Chinese enjoy nibbling on their wings. As well, many Chinese people don’t eat beef for many reasons, including religious ones, therefore McDonalds offer the Sausage Egg McMuffin all day instead only for breakfast.
I believe that McDonald’s does a great job in placing themselves in foreign market. Their research seems extensive and proves effective.
The article briefly explains how the writer was flipping through the Reader’s Digest magazine and felt ever-so depressed because of the repetitive ads targeting baby-boomers. From arthritis relief pills to senior homes, the magazine was flooded with similar, depressing ads. The writer notes that marketing should go beyond mainstream stereotypical target markets, like how the Nintendo Wii focused on family rather than teenage gamers.
The link is one of Audi’s many marketing campaigns to distinguish it’s brand. Audi, for many years, although a luxury German automaker, has been seen a step below Merecedes Benz and BMW. Instead of listing all the standard features, safety ratings, and technological equipment like many competitors (like Lexus) do, Audi simply emphasizes on the Audi unique design with their motto “unmistakeably Audi”.
This link is another commercial for the same car. The midsize luxury SUV has always deemed to me more feminine. Woman, specifically “soccer moms”, are stereotypically known to drive these types of cars. This commercial not only makes the Audi Q5 stand out compared to the other vehicles, but notice how a man is driving it to pick up what seems to be his son. Audi very cleverly went beyond the stereotype and targeted more than just soccer moms, but “soccer dads”, and possibly even “work dads” as the man inside the Audi Q5 seems to be well groomed.
An effective way to make a marketing campaign stand out is to not follow the trend. Target consumers that would not necessarily stereotypically use the product, but may actually benefit if they do. But, as soon as one marketer starts this, everyone will follow almost immediately.
I would like to refer to Connie Li’s recent blog titled “The World Wide Web…… They Know What You Like!”
After Connie mentioned about the whole personal marketing scheme online, I did a little experiment myself. I took a good 20 minutes browsing around popular online shopping site from Future Shop (an electronics retailer) to Ssense.com (an online clothing retailer). Then I went ahead to start scrolling through my Facebook news feed, and to no surprise, the ads that appeared on the right side of the screen were from sites that I had just been to. Some ads were not from companies that I have visited online recently, but they sold similar products that I was in search for in different companies.
I have found this type of marketing not only for products or retail companies, but for even job recruitment. I have been searching for a part-time job recently and been browsing around online recruiting websites. Without realizing, Facebook suddenly appeared with more ads about different job opportunities.
I think this method of online marketing is very evolutionary. Most of us still think of online ads as pop-ups and are usually irrelevant. But now, ads are targeted towards the consumer. This is a very cost-efficient way of directing certain products/services to the specific target market it was designed for.
However, this all poses one question for me: Privacy. So all these marketers are able to track down information about the sites I have visited? Shouldn’t this be a major privacy concern? Are they allowed to go through my website history to to obtain information about which sites I have recently visited?
I think the biggest problem with this type of online marketing is the privacy issues. As Connie mentioned in her blog, she feels like they are “stalking” her.
Recent conflict with Hong Kong Residents (‘Hong Kongers’) and luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana has created an interest for me to talk about marketing in the luxury goods market sector and its affects in the growing demand for luxury good in the Chinese Market.
High-end luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, etc. has always marketed their products to be exclusive and only for those who are elegant, classy and enjoy a tasteful lifestyle. Furthermore, in order to charge a premium on these products, luxury brands must used genuine materials and quality craftsmanship, and most importantly an attentive group of staff to provide outstanding customer service.
Millionaires and even billionaires emerge everyday in china with the enormous amounts of ‘new money’ entering China, creating a brand new social class within the Chinese: the ‘nouveau riche’, the newly rich. With so much money circulating in the hands of these ‘nouveau riche’, they are eager to spend it on international luxury goods. Many large corporations such as Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) has realized the potential profit from these Chinese ‘nouveau riches’ and quickly signed multimillion dollar monthly leases to boutiques on the now infamous Canton Road in Hong Kong.
With intensive marketing within Asia, the more than 5 Louis Vuitton stores in Hong Kong, including the world’s 2nd largest flagship store on Canton Road, it is still not enough to reduce line ups to get into these prestigious stores. As these stores get busier, they fall short in providing a red-carpet customer service. Now, there luxury brands are filled with rude and discriminating sales associates who fight for customers who earn them the most commission.
This lack of customer service and the presence discriminatory attitude has led to a protest in Hong Kong in front of the Dolce & Gabbana store on Canton road.
Why shall we pay a premium to be discriminated in return?
