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I’m personally not a huge fan of pop, but when I do get it (most often when eating fast food), I’ll settle for Nestea. Why? Because in my mind, Nestea is refreshing, its healthier (maybe not by much) than carbonated drinks such as Coke/Pepsi and it seems to quench my first more. I believe there are many others out there that with opt for Nestea simply because its “tea”. Their marketing campaigns target younger audiences and make it easy for individuals to recognize their product and logo. Over the years, they’ve adopted a “COOL” slogan in order to especially attract consumers during hot summer months, giving off the message that their product quenches thirst better than other drinks. I think what they’ve done is a fine example of how one company can sell a product better simply through repackaging and redoing the look, while the internals stay exactly the same. This is probably also relatively inexpensive, and the brand image isn’t jeopardized since the logo has remained exactly the same. I’ll definitely keep drinking Nestea.

Doing the presentation group assignment definitely got me thinking about the Marketing Mix for a variety of companies. When we put a company to the 4 P’s test, it makes it easy to analyze what their strategy is and what is working versus what can be improved. I’m going to focus on Dell Computers today with the Marketing Mix.

Product: Dell specializes in personal computers and laptops, but recently they’ve branched out to include a variety of different consumer electronics. Although they still focus mainly on computers for everyday and business consumers.

Price: Dell has always emphasized value, but actually their product lines have a large range in terms of low-price to high-price products. They have something for everyone: the occasional web-surfer to the avid gamer who demands performance at the high monetary cost.

Place: Dell was one of the main companies who first started to really use an e-commerce platform to drive sales. Using an online interface, users can easily select which features they want on their machines and also makes it easy for Dell to analyze and process the information in an efficient manner.

Promotion: Dell emphasizes usability and reliability in their promotional campaigns. They have something for everyone and know how to strike deals and relationships with the consumer. To me, Dell does a great job of focusing on their product and what consumers want to get out of it – something that works without having to shell out a ridiculous amount of money to get what you need.

In class today we studied Google, through the Integrated Marketing Communication model. We also studied the AIDA model, which I think would definitely be applicable to Google as well.

Awareness: Commercials, YouTube advertising, Poster Boards and Trucks – Google is everywhere. They especially have a strong online footprint – when watching streaming video nowadays, many of you probably notice the 15-30 second ads in the beginning. Google takes advantage of this (I just saw one the other day, on Major League Baseball MLB.com).

Interest: Google tries to stir interest by making their ads clean, simple and straight to the point. They often have tutorials for their online systems, such as how to use the Gmail for email, or Google Earth for real-satellite views of cities and geography.

Desire: Google lets consumers know that their systems will benefit lives. Whether you want to make money from your site (Google Adsense), or find the quickest way to your destination (Google Maps) – Google’s services are designed to help consumers achieve everyday needs.

Action: Google lets consumers take action by providing easy access to their pages, giving trial programs such as AppEngine for computer software developers. Also, their services are interactive which means consumers can easily use their systems.

Adidas is a brand that has been around for a long time, as one of the leaders in sports and sport-celebrity fashion. In my opinion, the key to their success has been adapting to the changes of the market. For example, when suddenly the fashion trend was towards classics – they shipped out a new line of adidas originals which appealed especially to young trendy adults. Not only do they keep up with the trend, but by establishing a seemingly “higher class” internal line of clothing, they get to charge higher prices without too much added cost. Also, I think adidas has done a great job with targeting key famous sports figures – examples being Andy Murray and Caroline Wozniacki (long before she was world #1) in Tennis and Dwight Howard in basketball. They’re also obviously the greatest stakeholders in soccer/football.

I definitely believe Adidas is a company that knows its place in its environment – with a simple goal of providing quality sports clothing and equipment with a vision of letting athletes excel while utilizing their products. With a proven track record, willingness to morph with the market and superstars endorsing the products – its easy to see how they’ve come so far from being a pure sneaker brand to an athletics powerhouse.

One company that came to mind immediately when we did all the exercises in class on pricing is Abercrombie & Fitch. Being someone who likes their products, I thought it be interesting to do some analysis on their marketing strategy and pricing. Abercrombie typically targets young adults around 18 – 22 years old, and in their industry is on the higher end of the pricing spectrum compared to other companies such as American Eagle.

In class we talked about different sub brands under the same company that allow for some price/quality differentiation. In ANF’s case – they own the sub brand Hollister Co. which targets a slightly younger age group with the feel of being more casual and obviously a lower price. Even from the exterior of the stores its easy to tell which is the more luxury brand and which is the younger targeting brand.

Overall, this allows Abercrombie to not only reach out to a different target audiences, but charge a higher price for a product that doesn’t necessarily have higher quality and/or cost them more money to make. The differentiation between the parent and sub brands is clear as well to minimize internal competition.

Tim Horton’s seems to be constantly expanding their marketing campaigns everyday. From commercials to big roadside banner/poster ads and pictures at bus loops and skytrain stops, they are utilizing nearly every media to reach out to audiences. When a new product comes out, they are on the ball with pushing out new campaigns – an example was the triple chocolate donut / hot chocolate products that were recently introduced. What I especially like about Tim Horton’s way of doing advertising is that they know what kind of store they are (comfort, at home feeling), and cater to that audience specifically. With the YouTube link above it just adds to the homey, down to earth feeling that customers really enjoy and love. They also build around patriotism and heritage, as they were supporters during the Olympics. They know what they are (easily accessible, affordable) and what they are not (Starbuck’s specialty, higher pricing) and don’t infringe on market’s they don’t need to.

All in all, as a fan of their products myself – I believe it’s their marketing approach that has brought them constant lineups and business.

I’m sure lots of you have been hearing about the new Subway ads – $5 footlongs! I mean, a whole lot of food for just $5 is something that would catch the eye of many individuals. Especially after Subway is known for being a healthy alternative to fast food. If we were to apply the SWOT analysis on Subway, we’d be able to realize a lot of things about their approach to marketing.

Strengths: Very recognizable brand – amongst its competitors (McDonald’s, A&W, Burger King, Wendy’s etc.) they probably have by far the most healthy choices, emphasizing veggies and low fat sandwiches. Easily recognizable “Eat Fresh!” commercials.

Weaknesses: The actual nutritional value of their food may not be as good as people think – and when people think fast food they think about chowing down on a juicy burger and fries, not nibbling on some lettuce and tomato.

Opportunities: Subway could probably cross-brand with some known vegetable producers to come up with ideas like juice or even organic veggies in their sandwiches. This will even further strengthen their approach to healthy foods.

Threats: Increasing prices to vegetables and meats that Subway uses could push up prices – although they have some strong value picks on their menu, a lot of their sandwiches come at hefty prices compared to McDonald’s.

If you’ve been out and about the various public transit stops all across metro Vancouver, then you’ve surely seen one of the many banners sitting around promoting our home team. The Canucks’ marketing team surely knows how to grab your attention, get great snapshots of the best players in action, former Canuck legends and all time greats and make citizens fall in love with the team. In respective to specific marketing, they use slogans and catch phrases such as the famous “We are all Canucks” to essentially try and make the target market the entire population. And why not – Canucks currently boast the top record in all of the NHL.

When I myself see posters like this, I immediately think marketing. Big words describing the team. Sticking with the classic colour scheme. Large logo right smack dab in the centre. Staying consistent and true, catering to the audience’s needs – this is why Vancouver probably has one of the most loyal customer bases amongst the hockey teams in the NHL. And this is why even when it is not game day, you see individuals trotting out in the public in their Canucks apparel with their favourite player’s name on the back of their shirt.

If you are like me and watch TV or frequently pass by places with banners such as Skytrain stops then you’ve surely seen Telus Ads around. What I’ve noticed is that they have really picked their designs and layouts and stuck with it throughout the years. The slogan “the future is friendly” helps with their branding and image by adding a homey and comfortable atmosphere. Also, one of their most prominent and noticeable campaigns they have used is the portrayal of different animals. Some examples include the pigs and balloons from a few years ago and also the fish and hedgehogs of recent.

To help relate to the course, I will use the macroeconomic factors we studied in class to evaluate how Telus approaches marketing.

Social Issues: Consumers want more freedom and accessibility on the go. This is why Telus has gone with more solutions for mobile phones and 3G sticks for corporate users.

Technological Advances: The list goes on and on for Telus. From high definition and satellite TV to High Speed Internet and Smartphones, Telus does it all with keeping up with new advances in technology. With “Optik TV”, Telus markets itself through technical breakthroughs such as Fiber Optic Networks.

Economic Situation: Since the economy slowly came back, Telus has been once again introducing more premium features which will appeal to consumers with more cash to burn – This includes premium TV as mentioned.

Political/Regulatory Environment: Government plays an important role in making sure that ethics are understood – this has affected Telus since they are now using this as marketing to promote that they support corporate ethics.

Overall: Telus has succeeded greatly in keeping up with the latest technology while also understanding the current economic situation. On a branding side of things, they have made great steps in promoting themselves through online advertising and making their logo and slogan distinct and memorable.

Links & Sources:

Slides, Textbook, Logo from http://www.telus.com

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