Month: March 2011

After reading an article on Canadian Business Online, “HMV Canada to remodel stores with bigger range of products, new interactive feel”, I was quite interested in HMV’s recent repositioning for the Canada division.

As the trend for online downloading and Internet streaming skyrocketed over the past decades, the music business has been stuck in a declining stage. Less and less people are buying CD’s when it took a matter of seconds to download a mp3 version of a song and sync it into their iPods. How does HMV cope with this?

They decided to go with a whole new approach by completely remodeling their current Toronto branches. “The redesigned locations will sell a wider variety of products like more t-shirts, video games and headphones, and will have new fixtures and colour schemes.” A type of product growth strategy, product development, HMV is brand extending by introducing these new products to their current market, in hope of also capturing new customers. This may allow HMV to generate more sales from their broadened customer base.

They are also “bring[ing] in more interactive guest environments and the (video) game section”. According to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, this is strategy accelerates the rate of adoption as it is it free to try out and those who don’t can observe the demos and demonstrations available. Creating such an interactive environment allows the customers to have a hands-on experience before purchasing, similarly to how Apple presents its products for customers to try out.

Let’s hope that HMV Canada’s remodeled stores are worth the expenses!

My life got a little more exciting after watching the following commercial in COMM 296 today:

Only a very small and simple device to chop up your food, yet it is that much more appealing. I actually want to purchase one after watching this infomercial. Why is that?

First of all, the entire commercial was short – only around 3 minutes long – but extremely effective. Vince, the speaker, speaks in a straightforward way and wins his customers’ interest and desire for the product with his direct approach. He gets straight to the point: people have problems chopping up their food (whether it is for stew, salad, pizza, breakfast-to-go, nuts, onions, and the list goes on…) and the Slap Chop is the quickest and easiest way to solve it. Their unique W-shaped blades and the fact that it’s so easy to take apart and wash differentiates the Slap Chop from all the other graters. The 3 minutes also includes interviews with real customers who share their positive feedback and opinions of the Slap Chop. Along with Vince’s hilarious, classic quotes (“Life’s hard enough as it is, you don’t need to cry anymore.”), we have an example of an excellent infomercial.

The company demonstrates the use of direct marketing (specifically, direct response) as their advertisement of the Slap Chop. The infomercial includes all the key information, demonstrations, and messages that is carried across to consumers, and consumers contact sellers directly to purchase the Slap Chop. There are no wholesalers, retailers, or agents in between, hence the term direct marketing. In addition, it combines with sales promotion, as consumers who purchase within the next 20 minutes get the free Graty on top of the Slap Chop for the same price. This definitely increases consumers’ desire and likelihood of purchasing the product.

I’m pretty sure with this infomercial, we can definitely make America skinny again, one SLAP at a time.

What is this ad really saying? According to this article, PepsiCo is really stirring up problems with their new “skinny can” Diet Pepsi. Although Pepsi is seemingly promoting the image of beautiful confident women, “critics say the packaging just reinforces dangerous stereotypes that women must resemble beanpoles to be attractive.” PepsiCo is re-positioning its Diet Pepsi to target women who search for a slimmer and more confident body, but its effectiveness has yet to be seen.

The pop beverage market is at the mature stage of the product life cycle, and in order to differentiate themselves from Coke or other leading brands in the monopolistic competition, PepsiCo must re-model its existing Diet Pepsi to obtain greater market share, aka. market penetration. To do this, PepsiCo decides to go with a new packaging for their Diet Pepsi. Instead of the expected plump round, 355 mL can, they create an attractive silver, slim can, promoted with beautiful, equally slim models in their advertisements everywhere. I must say, it is quite effective. Since is it skinnier, it’s easier for consumers to hold onto and extremely convenient/portable. However, we must consider consumers’ perceptions and attitudes towards this new packaged Diet Pepsi can. As critics say, it is conveying the message that in order to be attractive, confident, and beautiful, women must be as skinny as this new product. Even their slogan, “Get the skinny?”, helps promote this idea.

Will the pros over weigh the cons? Will this fresh new slim image of Diet Pepsi attract more consumers, or be shot down by critics and opinion leaders?

Just when you thought that you can’t get any better than the classic Nike shoes, think again.

Perhaps as a way to differentiate itself from head-to-head competitor, Adidas, Nike decides to target a whole new segment with a new product line, a method of diversification. As AdFreak describes in its blog, Nike’s new line of Internet-themed sneakers targets the “geeks” or “nerds”. Adidas had “hinted (or threatened, depending on your point of view) last year that they were planning something similar”, but Nike obtained the advantage of launching this new product first, hoping to gain the approval of the innovators and the early adopters.

But really, will this be a repeat of the “Air Jordan’s”? I think not. I would say Nike is trying hard to reposition and rid its “basketball shoes” image so that they can expand to a greater variety of people and segments. I might say they are quite successful, as their shoes have grown to be a popular and stylish fashion statement world-wide with their famous swoosh sign. However, Nike’s latest Internet-themed sneakers are really questionable. Their aim is to target the so-called “geeks” or “nerds”, but as AdFreak mentioned, “all the nerds […]display their nerd plumage through anime and webcomic merchandise” and rarely go out to purchase fashionable Nike shoes. They should have analyzed furthermore into this particular segment and their attractiveness/likelihood of purchasing a pair of $100+ shoes. Nike would probably have to charge a premium for these costly shoes, and nerds would be more likely to spend their money on anime character figurines than a pair of Twitter Nike shoes. In a nerd’s perspective, the costs definitely outweigh the benefits.

Nike, if you really want the nerds to jump into the bandwagon, perhaps try getting the characters to wear the Nike shoes to advertise instead of putting the characters and themes ON the shoes. Just saying.

Every child has an idol to look up to, whether it be their parents, celebrities, or public figures. For me? I look up to them:

The Disney Princesses.

How Stuff Works is equivalent to the second Wikipedia, but more in depth and with more explanations. I came upon this article, describing Disney’s marketing strategies for their famous Disney Princesses. So how does it work? How are they so successful with their storybooks, stationary, games and all other products?

I believe branding plays a significant role in the success of the Disney Princesses. Associated with the all-knowing Disney, the Disney Princesses target the young 3-5 year old girls and provide them with the magical experience of being a princess themselves. Over the years, Disney has developed a strong brand image of being “the happiest place on earth”, targeting a wide range of consumers from young children to adults. With the Disney Princesses, being linked with this strong Disney image is definitely an asset. Loyal consumers will trust in Disney’s products and select their products instead of competitors’. The popularity of Disney, known globally, can increase the Disney Princess products as well with such high brand awareness. The Disney Princesses line is a brand extension to Disney, but their overall success cannot be denied: “Disney Princess films are five of the top six Disney video releases of all time” and “$2.6 billion in box office revenue worldwide for Disney Princess animated films”.

Indeed, I am one of the many followers of the Disney Princesses (although I am almost 20). Disney and the Disney Princesses are part of my childhood, and they will always be perceived to bring me the happiest and most unforgettable experience in the magical world of Disney.