I think no one would disagree that having a brand is important. It gives us an idea what kind of product/service that we are getting. However, it also rises a controversial issue that, as a customer, what we should really value, just the brand name or what this brand name can give us.

Brand name sometimes is very powerful; it is very good at telling people that you need me and you should have me, which can lead us to forget what we really should concern about. In some cases, we don’t even care the product itself, and the reason that we purchased it is just because this product is from this brand because it represents popular, fashion or high status. I asked some of my friends who like to purchase luxurious brand. Why are you willing to buy a $300 T-shirt dollars which is no difference with $20 ones. They told me that this T-shirt is from X brand.

To illustrate the idea that some people purchase status and not products, in China, some people go to Starbucks and use the brand’s logo to signal to others that they belong to a higher social class, they have a higher status than most. Some people who can really not afford this lifestyle will buy a coffee and re-use the cup by filling it with water or cheaper coffee, not for the sake of being eco-friendly but to pretend that they too possess a higher status by pretending they can afford such way of living.

I just want to say that we are what we are; it will not change because you are wearing Prada or drinking Starbucks. Don’t fall into marketing traps.

Undeniably, advertisement is an effective way to promote your products. A good ad not only brings customers and increases sales volume but also it builds a company’s image and reputation in the long run. However, a bad ad can be a disaster; it actually can ruin the company within that 60 seconds or even shorter. In today’s blog, I would like to talk about the good example of ads, and I might talk about the bad one in my next blog’s entry. So here we go~~~~

Carlsberg stunts with bikers in cinema

I think this ad is very creative. At first, I thought it was a research experiment, and started to wonder why they did this experiment. Why did they let 148 bad guys sitting in the cinema and just left two empty seats for those couples? What information do they want to get from this? Until the end, I found out this is a beer commercial advertisement.

After finishing Tuesday’s class, I think it is a very good example of how marketing use aspirational influence in the advertisement. Beer’s major target market is man, and the ones who are not afraid of the bad guys and sit with them get the beer and cheers from the “bad guys” to celebrate their courage. In my opinion, this commercial implies that only brave and strong people deserve to celebrate with the Carlsberg’s beer. These are qualities that men are looking for. I think this is a brilliant idea not only catchy but that can also shape their brand image very well.