Reflecting in Undies

As I wrap up the semester and this blog before I take off on a new adventure in Ireland, I thought, what better way to look at the aspects of marketing while relaxing on my couch in… my pajamas while watching the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Yeah, I’ll let them wear the undies in this blog.

But, seriously, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show is one of the largest internationally televised events. It is bigger than the Super bowl! And, it targets a larger audience also. The show itself was featured in London this year, and presented 47 models from all around the globe. Men drool over these angels and women just wish that they could be them. For this reason, other than children, the VS Fashion Show annually targets men and women of many varieties of market segments from over 200 countries around the world. Not only do people watch the show from the comfort of their own living rooms, but there are people also in the actual audience of the performance. Tickets go for roughly $15,000 a SEAT! Do you know what I could do with that kind of money as a college student?!

Speaking of price, although the pieces that the women model aren’t given a price, it is for very good reason. The infamous Dream Angels Fantasy Bras are being sold for 2 million dollars. That’s $2,000,000 American dollars! Some woman somewhere in this world will be very happy on Christmas morning that is for sure.

What is interesting about the promotion Victoria’s Secret uses is that it isn’t just all on the runway. During commercial breaks, along with sponsors who probably paid a hefty fee to get air time

during the show, VS showed some of their own commercials to promote product. One was a longer advertisement for all of the bras featured in the show with a distinct holiday theme, and the other was a shorter commercial featuring the new VS Fragrance out for the holiday season. Not only did they do these during the performance, Victoria’s Secret models arrived the day before the show in London and posed and signed autographs outside the London store, promoting it through the publicity. VS used the show itself, the advertisements, and direct marketing with the models in their promotional mix in order to appeal to the masses of people watching the event. Below is the commercial promoting their new fragrance, Heavenly.

The 2013 VS Fashion Show drew in 9.71 million viewers and a rating of 3.4 among key 18-to-49-year-olds. The ratings for this year will be out soon, so keep on the lookout! I found the Fashion Show a fitting way to reflect on this year of marketing because it is literally a fashion show marketing each of the fundamental 4 P’s Product, Place, Promotion, and Price while gorgeous women flaunt what their mothers gave them out on the runway.

 

I learned a lot more in this class that I wasn’t able to include in this reflection, but take a peek at my other posts to learn all the ins and outs of the marketing world! Check out http://rileystefano.blogspot.com  

The Controversay of the Clydesdales

A story that appeared last week in the Wall Street Journal suggested that Budweiser Beers would not be using their iconic Clydesdale horses in this year’s super bowl commercial. Instead, it was suggested that the company air a commercial targeted more towards the 21 to 27 year old age bracket due to the recent study stating that 44% of this age range of drinkers have never tried a Budweiser. Budweiser has been slowly falling out of the ranks as America’s #1 beer and marketers feel that much of this is due to the lack of younger consumers.

 The Wall Street Journal states that, “After years of developing marketing that appeals to all ages, AB In Bev (Budweiser’s parent company) plans to concentrate future Budweiser promotions exclusively on that age bracket. That means it won’t trot out the traditional Budweiser Clydesdales for this year’s holiday advertising. It means February’s Super Bowl ads will feature something more current than last year’s Fleetwood Mac.”

 Well, this created uproar. Clydesdales are the face of Budweiser beer. You know you’re watching a Budweiser commercial when you see the horses; the company doesn’t even need to show the beer or the logo in the ad for the consumer to know that it is a Budweiser commercial. The Clydesdale is Budweiser’s brand image, and it is what they are recognized for. The Clydesdales were "first introduced to the public on April 7, 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition. August A. Busch, Jr. presented the hitch as a gift to his father, August Anheuser Busch, Sr., who was guided outside the brewery by the ruse of being told his son had purchased a new car for him, but instead was greeted by the horses, pulling a red, white and gold beer wagon.The hitch proceeded to carry the first case of post-Prohibition beer from the St. Louis brewery in a special journey down Pestalozzi Street in St. Louis" (Wikipedia).Below is the first commercial aired with the Budweiser Clydesdales which aired in  1986 during Super Bowl XX.

 

 

Personally, as a 21 year old consumer, I don’t feel that the Clydesdales represent an older target segment; it shows tradition. Changing the mascot doesn’t change the taste of a beer. While it is true that Budweiser beer may appeal to an older demographic, that isn’t something that will change be reinventing the brand; what Budweiser needs to do is reposition their brand in the consumer’s minds so they see it as a beer for the younger target segment. Below is a great example of a Clydesdale commercial that I felt captured the heart of every age demographic. 

 

 Apparently, people agreed with me. According to New York Daily, Budweiser has announced that they will be using the horses in upcoming ads for Budweiser. They state that the article had it wrong and there was miscommunication, however we don’t know whether or not Budweiser simply chose to change the mascot bac or not due to the backlash.

Regardless, the Clydesdale, the iconic image of Budweiser since 1933, is here to stay and you will be sure to see it featured in one of the upcoming Budweiser holiday advertisements.

 

Black Friday Bust

Are you one of those who survive the crazed crowds of people to get deals on Black Friday? We spend an entire day being thankful for what we have and then four hours later people are trampling one another as they rush down the aisles to claim their merchandise during the biggest sale day of the year. This year in England, there were so many disputes during Black Friday that police had to get involved to break up the masses of shoppers. People were shoved to the ground, arguing over merchandise, and refusing to leave stores when they were told that items were out of stock. Below are some of the worst Black Friday disasters recorded.

Black Friday is arguably one of the most famous days for yield management pricing in stores. Yield Management Pricing is when stores charge different prices in order to maximize revenue for a given period of time. But the question is, is the madness really worth it? There have been arguments for years claiming that Black Friday is a hoax. Some say that stores jack up their prices on more expensive merchandise and then mark it as 20, 30, or 40% off the original price to make it seem as if the consumer is getting the best deal around.

 

According to Louis Ramirez of dealnews.com, there are 16 myths about Black Friday that consumers should know before venturing out into the chaos. The bold myths are the ones I found most prevalent and reasons to avoid the lines and insane opening hours.

1.      MYTH: Black Friday Sales Begin on Black Friday

2.      MYTH: Stores Have Ample Stock of Doorbusters

3.      MYTH: Doorbusters Are Available In-Store Only

4.      MYTH: In-store Black Friday Shopping is a Dangerous Contact Sport

5.      MYTH: Every Sale You Come Across on Black Friday is the Best of the Year

6.      MYTH: Nobody Will Beat Black Friday Prices

7.      MYTH: All of the Good Deals Are Printed in Black Friday Ads

8.      MYTH: Leaked Black Friday Ads Are Actual Leaks

9.      MYTH: You Have to Go to the Apple Store for Its Black Friday Sale

10.  MYTH: Designer and Luxury Goods Don't Go on Sale

11.  MYTH: If You Go Overboard on Black Friday, You Can Return Your Purchases

12.  MYTH: It's OK to Skip Cyber Monday if You Shopped on Black Friday

13.  MYTH: Deals Are Excellent Throughout Cyber Week

14.  MYTH: Once Processed, All Black Friday Orders Are Final

15.  MYTH: Your Credit Card Info is Secure

16.  MYTH: Bargain Bin Devices Are Always Cheap Quality

So, next time you are considering going out on Black Friday, think about these myths and maybe try sticking to the online shopping. A lot of times you’ll find that the deals online are just as good as in stores and most online retailers offer free shipping from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. So, avoid the lines, go online.

An Apple's Life Cycle

You know that feeling when a new product hits the market and you feel like you have to have it because it’s the next big thing? Yeah, we all get that feeling. It happened recently with the release of the all new Apple iPhone 6. It’s bigger, sleeker, and despite the rumors of its gymnastic-like bending skills, it’s the hottest product on the market right now. Do you even remember what the original iPhone looked like? I sure don’t. Or what about an iPod? Do you remember those things that you had before music could be put directly on your phone? Apple has gone through major changes in their product life cycles in their years, and I’m about to bring you back a bit to the products of our past.

First off though, the Product Life Cycle is defined as the stages a new product goes through in the marketplace: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline (Kerin).

 

The Apple iPhone 6 has just been introduced into the market along with its all new Apple Pay, and therefore it was considered to be in the introduction stage. This was occurring a few months ago when the iPhone 6 had yet to really hit the market and Apple was spending money on marketing their new product and teaching consumers about Apple Pay. At this stage in the game, marketers just want to get their products out there for consumers to simply be aware that it is being produced. Companies spend heavily on advertising in this stage also. At this point, because there is little to no competition, a lot of companies, like Apple, will use Price Skimming in order to set a high initial pricing help the company recover costs of development as well as capitalize on the price insensitivity of early buyers (Kerin).

 

As of now, the iPhone 6 has just hit the second stage of the

 

product life cycle, the growth stage. The product has now been introduced into the market and there have been rapid sales. The phones were flying off the shelf so quickly that at least in my hometown, there was a one month backorder if you wanted the new phone. This is the stage where competitors will also begin to emerge into the market. We should be on the look out to see which company will be next to create something similar to Apple Pay.

The next stage is the maturity stage of a product. The iPhone 5 has now officially reached this stage in development. When the iPhone 6 came out, it meant that the iPhone 5 became second best and began to drop out of the running. Purchases are slowing down rapidly as people now want the newest innovation. Marketing attention is directed toward holding on to market share through further product differentiation and finding new buyers.

And finally, we have the decline stage. In the decline stage of the life cycle, a company can choose to take two very different courses of action. The first is called harvesting in which a company retains the product but reduces marketing costs. This is the stage that the iPhone 4 and 4S has just hit due to the introduction of the 6. The second course of action is called deletion, or when the company drops the product from the company’s product line entirely. This is what has happened now to iPhones 2G and 3, the originals.

Who knows what Apple will invent next. But the more and more they invent, the further they push their current products down the line of the Product Life Cycle.

Branding Budweiser

 

What makes a brand memorable? When a company begins the process of choosing their brand name, they have to remember five keys elements to make their product or service more memorable than their competition. These five keys are…

1.      Should suggest that the product benefits

2.      Should  be memorable, distinctive, and positive

3.      Should fit the company or product image

4.      Should have no legal or regulatory restrictions

5.      Should be simple and emotional

(Kerin)

A brand name is described as any word, device (design, sound, shape, color) or combo of these used to distinguish a seller’s goods or services (Kerin).

 

One brand name that is easily recognizable and distinguishable in America is Budweiser beer. Budweiser was given its name by a brewer in the mid 1800’s named Adolphus Busch. Busch was the son of a German brewery and winery tycoon and decided in 1857 that he wanted to come to America to continue his father’s legacy and begin his own brand name. While in America, he married a woman named Lilian Anheuser and with the help of his father-in-law, Adolphus founded the Anheuser- Busch Co. brewery. In America, Adolphus wanted to make a beer that would appeal to all tastes and so he founded the Budweiser Lager Beer in 1876, establishing America’s first national beer brand (Budweiser.com).

The Budweiser brand is so popular today because of the brand personality they have established. We all know Budweiser for their Clydesdale horses and Super Bowl commercials. They have commercials and ads that show beer drinking as a community event that has sentimentality and celebration wrapped in one. Two commercials below show this brand personality with the emotional response Budweiser strives for. They are also a brand that uses marketing to their advantage. Recently, I was in a convenience store and they had a beer refrigerator that had a television as its door, showing Budweiser beer being poured in slow motion into an ice cold glass and the logo flashing across the screen. You could still see through the fridge, however, similar to a two way mirror. Although there were other beers in the fridge, a consumer’s mind is swayed by the projection to grab Budweiser brand because of the ad that they see upon approaching the fridge.

 

Today, according to Forbes, the Budweiser brand is worth $21.1 billion and is the 19^th world’s most valuable brand. “Budweiser (including Bud Light) is the biggest brand for Anheuser-Busch InBev. The global beer giant was created in 2008 when Belgium-based InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch. Bud is now the No. 3 beer brand in the U.S. behind Bud Light and Coors Light, as volume in the U.S. shrank for the 24th straight year in 2012. The brand has made strides internationally under AB InBev's watch. Budweiser sold outside the U.S. now represents 51% of global Bud volume driven by strong growth in China” (Forbes.com).

Budweiser has been around for about 150 years, and its popularity continues to grow. This is what happens when you brand your product so that it is memorable.

Viagra Ad for Women?

The marketing world is filled with ads for all sorts of products and services for all kinds of demographics of people. So, how do marketers decide who they want their audience to be when creating their advertisements?

There are a lot of factors that go into this fancy little world of market segmentation, which in simplest form means people who want to buy the same thing as the person that is just like them. And there are four ways to go about categorizing this; demographic (physical/ measurable attributes), geographic (where you live or work), psychographics (mental/ emotional attributes) and behavioral (actions/ attitudes). All of these factors have to go into just the process of deciding what to put into a commercial just to have the potential to reach the audience most willing to buy said product.

But, what would happen if marketers did the opposite of this? It has happened before. Think of Viagra. Yes I said Viagra; that little blue pill that men in their 50’s and beyond sometimes need to “get it up.” You would think that because this is a pill designed specifically for male use, commercials would segment their market and advertise specifically for men right? Well, apparently the marketers of Viagra didn’t think that was necessary.

Think about it, who do you think actually goes out and buys that little blue pill? Of course men are often times the consumers, but I am sure that there are some who would rather not be rung up at the counter with a box of Viagra in their hand.

Women! The wife who wants the sex life of her 20’s with the man of her dreams is also a consumer of the little blue pill. And Viagra capitalized on this. Viagra has in the past few weeks come out with the very first erectile dysfunction ad featuring a woman as the speaker. Recently, they have been pressured with outside competition such as Cialis and other products in Europe due to its patent expiration last year. Sales fell 8% and Viagra decided to take a new approach to boost their sales and this is what they have chosen.

 

So why is this effective? Women see someone like them discussing the issues that their “honey” is having in bed, losing the intimate moment that was about to take place. Then, not only does she speak directly to women, but for the first time ever, she uses the word erection in the commercial rather than saying just “ED” as men do in all previous ads. This commercial is still so new that there is no information on its effectiveness on sales, but I guess we will just have to see!

Market segmentation is huge in deciding how to represent a product in advertising. But, as our world changes and especially stereotypical gender rolls begin to reverse or equal out, we see that advertisements and product positioning are changing with the times.

Mah-keting

"Make Yah Ma Proud, Wear Yah Seatbelt." This native Bostonian sign flashes all along the sides of the city's highways. I was there this weekend visiting home, and I couldn't help noticing these comic signs with a very important meaning. You might recall the ones from the summer, even, that read, “Use Yah Blinkah” and the other, “Your LOL’s and OMG’s can Wait!” Boston and MassDOT has taken a new approach to reminding people of the law and safe driving. These signs may be witty and capitalize on our “wicked awesome” Boston accents, but they also contain a very important message marketed to all people: focus on the road!

These signs are a very creative and successful marketing strategy done by MassDOT to help enforce highway safety. By jazzing up this public service announcement, drivers get a laugh and actually pay attention to the signs that are flashing at them in big orange lights. The phrases stick in the heads of all drivers, and specifically New Englanders because we are known for our lack of “r’s” and thick accent.

Of course when we think marketing, we don’t think of how public service announcements act as advertisements. But what they are advertising to their viewers is what we, as moral, ethical, and responsible human beings, should do in order to better our world. A lot of the times, public service announcements, like the ones we see on T.V. have an impact on us in a very different sense. Think,

for example, of the non-smoking commercials. I know you’ve seen them, with the people who smoked their packs a day and now have holes in their throats they hold in order to talk. Or think of the ASPCA commercials that show all the emaciated dogs and cats and those faces that they zoom in on to show the sadness in their eyes. These public service announcements are negative, but still have a positive effect on many people because it encourages change.

MassDOT took a risk and did something very different with their marketing of highway safety advertisements. They involved comedy and it has stuck. People read and remember the signs on the side of the road because they are catchy and relevant to the large target market of Bostonians and New Englanders alike. MassDOT is currently taking submissions for any witty safety catch phrases you can think of. They constantly are switching them up to incorporate new laws, so if you happen to be driving through Boston, look for these clever advertisements. Keep Calm and Drive On.