Women are from AMAZON, Men are from GEICO

so this is my article, :

Most Desired Brands by Gender: Women Are From Amazon, Men Are From Geico

its an interesting one- this company Buyology does a 6-year study on US brands to figure out thebuying patterns of the consumer. they listed the top 20 brands that were desired by women and another list telling the top20 brands desired by men. The article is not that long and i think it's fun to see if your favorite brands match up with your gender... =)

i thought it was interesting that they could figure out brand loyalty based on the gender and how some of these companies were targeting certain genders (like SONY with women). Some of the top brands for men were surprising to me... like Tide and Hallmark...
?:
-> are there any brands on the list that you are loyal to? {mines= Amazon.com/ford/sony)
->any brands on this list shock/surprise you?
->do you think brands are doing a good job reaching their target demographic(based on the list)?
letmeno if you have ?-comment -Concerns~

lovas...
anna*

Marketing to Women Blog: Dove to dump "Real Beauty" Campaign

Every ad in the marketing field portrays women as skinny, non-curvy, and size 2 women. Dove broke the norm with their "Real Women" campaign. However, Dove is dumping the "Real Women" campaign because it was felt as being being too "preachy" as stated in this blog.
http://www.wonderbranding.com/2011/03/hot-gossip-dove-to-dump-real-beauty-campaign/

I did some research and found two pictures from the Dove campaign:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8hNVS6ryeH8H7qrpTgGyqhwI-h1GXFlepY70ziLCKmTqzFo2rkrUhPu1Yuqgcuz020rBlHiHuZL6vsxkA1zPPdkwGhNmUSPWpGJBEUg0ohcrYPmJik_QdYmfHYGJknSFPnWzyiFZyLaw/s1600/dove1.jpg
http://www.ad-review.co.uk/assets/media/press/emmasweet_1286629196.jpg


1) As a woman, how feel about the ads that portray women as skinny, non-curvy and size two? What do you think about the Dove "Real Women" ads posted above?

2) After seeing the Dove "Real Women" ads and reading the blog posting do you agree with the statement that the ads were to "preachy"?

3) How can marketers advertise women and men better so that people aren't offended by the ads portraying people as "perfect" or turned off by the too realistic pictures as shown in the Dove "Real Women" campaign?

Kraft Spiffs Up Its Old Brands

Kraft Foods Inc. is using twitter, Facebook, and new edgy ads to boost sales on mac and cheese, miracle whip and Athenos hummus. In the commercial for Athenos hummus, Kraft has a Greek grandmother tell a party hostess she looks like a prostitute. In another commercial a Greek grandmother calls a stay-at-home dad a “wife” and tells a co-habiting unmarried couple they are going to hell. Here are the links for these videos on you tube:

http://youtu.be/JmD-wDEeOds - yia yia relationships

http://youtu.be/We3MxsWdqOc - yia yia on fashion

http://youtu.be/x9LinzE_85I - yia yia on parenting

Do you think these commercials are affective to the target market? Do you think this these commercials are offensive or funny?

Would you want to go out and buy a tub of Athenos hummus?

In Kraft’s old ads they relied on advertising of moms making lunch for kids and dads demonstrating how to dunk Oreo cookies. Do you think they should have stuck with “family oriented” commercials?

Kraft has plans for a contest in which divorcing couples can win money to pay for their split if it resulted from their differences over Miracle Whip. They also have plans of an offer of $25,000 toward a couple wedding if they submit the best story on how they will manage their differences on Miracle Whip.

Do you think it is appropriate for Kraft to fund a divorce?

The link to the article is: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450604576416051591186240.html

Storytelling to help your career

The article that I chose for this week is entitled "Storytelling to help your career." I found this article on CNN and decided to share this with our class as I think it closely relates to what we worked on the first week of class: self-marketing. Like Dr. Mishra said, I believe that self-marketing is a skill that requires developing, but is extremely important. This article expands a little more on a certain aspect of self-marketing, storytelling. Storytelling is something that we all may think we know how to do well, but this article provides a little bit of a different spin, along with some advice. After reading this article, how well do you think you are able to storytell? Do you agree/disagree with this article's take on storytelling? Are there any other suggestions/comments you would like to add to the article?
Thanks,
Maggy

The article can be found at:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/06/29/career.storytelling.cb/index.html?hpt=li_c2

Happy Social Media Day!

Today is Social Media Day.

What does this mean to you?

Do you remember our world without social media?

Do you think marketing is doing enough to embrace social media? Could it do more?

Where do you think the future of social media is going?

Every year, millions of people, some who don't even like football, tune in to watch the Super Bowl if for no other reason than the commercials. There are post Super Bowl shows not to showcase the game itself, but the best commercials of that year. This past Super Bowl, Doritos did multiple commercials, one of them won the "Crash the Super Bowl" ad contest. I think this commercial is effective for multiple reasons. The first and most obvious being that it uses humor. Almost every commercial that airs during the Super Bowl is intended to make the audience laugh. If this is such an effective strategy, why don't companies use it on their day to day advertising? Think about it, you probably remember companies, brands, and products that had a really funny commercial air. Next time you went to the store and you saw that product next to another, would you be more likely to pick it?

Given that it's one of the most watched programs every year, it makes sense for companies to pay insane amounts for their ads to run during the Super Bowl. My thought is that companies should put this kind of thought and effort into their commercials that run on a daily basis. As it is now, most of us probably completely tune out, change channels, or skip commercials altogether. I know that if more commercials used humor in advertising, I would be a lot more inclined to actually sit and watch the commercials instead of fast forwarding through them, thank you DVR.

Outrage Over Diet Pepsi 'Skinny Can'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5Ik3OfhZs

I thought this video was very interesting. There is controversy over whether Fashion week was portraying to woman that to be beautiful and confident you need to be skinny. But it was also argued that this can is the same size and shape of the familiar Red Bull can and there should exist no such controversy.

What is your opinion on this "skinny can" that was introduced to celebrate fashion week?

Do you think by making the size of the can taller and skinnier portrays the ideal size of fashion models being tall and skinny?

How else do you think they could have celebrated fashion week through the use of Pepsi's brand name that would have eliminated the controversy of idealizing a woman's shape and size?

Does Employee Morale Influences Marketing Efforts?

Have you ever been told that the doing the right thing is wrong? Maybe not in so many words. How many of us have had bosses and just shook our heads when they didn’t get it? Have you ever experienced “double talk?” I’ve worked for several bosses like the one being attributed to in this blog. He not only undervalues his customers, but he undervalues his employees. This blog caught my attention. It was one small simple act of kindness for a loyal customer and the Bossman said “No,” thereby undermining an employee’s value.

I’m watching a paradigm shift in the workforce and it’s very positive. I’ve had my share of crummy bosses that abuse their employees. It’s nice to know that there are companies out there making a change for the better. I for one am excited to be re-entering the paid workforce with the goal of working for a company that appreciates and values their employees in actions as well as words.

http://www.wonderbranding.com/2011/05/are-you-choking-your-employees-from-experiencing-success/

Questions:

1. Do you think this Company, or even the Bossman, has a good marketing plan? As an employee, how would you go enlightening your boss to the errors of his way?

2. Does employee morale really make a difference in the customer’s opinion of the company? Does employee morale effect the company’s marketing efforts? What would you do if you had a boss like this? If you were the boss, what would you do to improve morale among the employees?

3. Would other customers care if this company gifted the family a certificate to dinner out for one night? Should the company boast its ability to make such gifts, or should it give such gifts modestly? Why?

4. If you were the person working for this company and came up with the idea, would you try to get fellow employees to make a donation to a gift card for this family after being denied by Bossman?

Apple iPad 2 TV Ad

Here is a link to a commercial advertising Apple's iPad 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um4gLMZDXkA

I picked this commercial because I thought it was very effective to get many people interested in the iPad 2. Apple goes through and shows how the iPad 2 can be used in everyday life for all different people: doctors, teachers, CEOs, parents, kids, etc... I think this is an effective marketing strategy that other companies can take a lesson from. Apple is specifically stating who their target market is, there is no guessing involved. They are targeting most people and showing that the iPad 2 can really be used for almost anyone in their everyday life. Some people who have heard about the iPad may think "Oh when would I ever use that?" Once people see the commercial they can see all of the many things that the iPad 2 allows users to do and they may be more inclined to want to get an iPad.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think Apple's commercial was effective? Did it make you want an iPad 2?

2. Do you think Apple targeted enough people through their ad? Was there any type of person left out?

3. Could Apple have done anything differently in advertising the iPad 2?

Google Takes on Facebook

The company, Google, is launching a new social networking website called Google+ that is similar to Facebook.  Although this idea is a bit different from Facebook because you get to "share just the right things with just the right people."  This is so the people that you didn't want to know your business but you still want them to be your "friend" on the website, don't have to see what you are posting.

Google recently started viewing Facebook as a new, next major rival in online advertising.  Over the past year, there has been quite a debate on if Google could succeed in social networking.

Here is the article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576413992112605886.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

1) Do you think this new idea from Google is going to succeed?
2) What is their target market?
3) Do you think it will honestly "out-do" Facebook? And what could be some possible improvements to possibly be better than Facebook?

Restaurant Oberservations

Yesterday I had lunch at Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery in Chapel Hill. It was my friend's birthday and she wanted to go there for lunch. I took some mental notes as I looked around the restaurant on some observations.

1. I noticed most people in the restaurant looked like they were there for lunch or business lunches. There were lots of men in suits and they seemed to be talking business. There were also older couples having lunch. There were also lots of country club women lunching together.

2. The demographics of the staff didn't match the demographics of the customers at all. Most of the staff was college age. Most of the customers looked to be 50+. The table I was sitting at had customers who were the youngest it seemed except for one family that was there with young kids. There were a few other college age students as customers but they were sitting with older adults who could have been their parents or people they worked with. Also the majority of customers were white. I don't even recall seeing someone of a different race while I was there. The staff however was multi-ethnic, made up of whites, blacks and Asians.

3. I didn't notice any background music because the restaurant is open and there is an outdoor section connected with the indoor and so I don't think there was any music due to the outdoors background.

4. The set-up of the restaurant was very cool with the outdoors having stunning views of Franklin Street and Chapel Hill. The restaurant is nice and felt "country club-ish" which reflects their menu and prices.

Wonder Branding Blog

I found a great blog on Forbes.com. The blog is called: Wonder Branding News & Views on the Female Customer. Here is a link. The blog is written by Michele Miller. She is really funny and her posts have some comedy in them to make reading about marketing more entertaining.

The post I found most interesting was a past post on how girl scouts always make a sale. The title of the post is: How the Girl Scouts are Forcing You to buy Cookies...and Make you like it. Here is a link to that post.

The post talks about how Girl Scouts are now saying if people are trying to cut back and eat healthy yet want to still help the girl scouts they can now purchase a box to be sent to our troops overseas. Of course this is attracting people who feel like they can still help the girl scouts without getting the cookies for them self and also do a good deed for the troops. Of course a lot of people who then see the cookies end up buying a box for them self.

She also talks about a Northern California section of Girl Scouts who have created an APP for people to find cookies in their area making it easier for people to track down cookies. This is great for people who don't live in an area or neighborhood that has girl scouts selling door to door, I thought of apartment complexes filled mostly with college students. The chances of girl scouts coming to sell there are not as high but now people living in the apartments can just look at the app and track down a grocery store near them where cookies are being sold.

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think the Girl Scouts have a good marketing strategy by saying you can send a box to the troops?

2. If you were on a diet and didn't want to buy cookies for yourself would you buy a box for the troops so you would still help the girl scouts or would you be able to pass their table all together?

3. How effective do you think the mobile cookie app is? Would you use it to find cookies in your area?

Should Greenpeace pick on VW?

I found a new video I just had to share with you today. If you saw the Superbowl commercials, you might remember the VW commercial with the little boy who thought he was Darth Vader and who could make the family's VW turn on with his powers.

Read through this article from Brand Channel and look at the video from Greenpeace and let me know what you think about this.

Is Greenpeace going about this the right way?

Do they have a good point about CO2 emissions?

Should they be picking on VW?

Will consumers care enough to stay about from VWs?

3GTV in our grocery stores??

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/06/3gtv-launches-first-smart-grocery-store.html

This blogger, Cynthia Boris, discusses some of the perks of the new "Smart" grocery store and the benefits not only to the customer, but as a new way of marketing.  My first thought was it seems a little silly, but considering the effects of DVR (now I skip most commercials) as well as my ability to "unsubscribe" from email marketing, it may be the next best option for marketing these items.  And, while I may not find quick tips on creating new meals useful (in her example, she used adding salsa to mac n' cheese) since I plan my meals before leaving the house and as a foodie, I prefer more complicated and healthy meals, I do see the benefit or potential opportunities that can come with 3GTV capabilities such as being able to get coupons while I'm in the store or even watching cooking demonstrations, which I love! 

1.  What are your initial thoughts on "Smart" grocery stores?  Would you find this tool useful while shopping?

2. Do you see any possible problems or issues that may arise with this type of marketing? 

3.  What improvements or opportunities would you suggest to make 3GTV beneficial to the marketer and/or to the customer?

Coffee Shop Observation

So, I decided to take more time this morning as I made my Starbucks run.

There was a bit of a line as I waited to place my order, so that gave me time to jot down a few observations and then I sat and drank my coffee (which I don't normally do) to look around a bit more. This is what I noticed.

This is what people were doing at Starbucks:
*Standing in line
*studying
*socializing
*working on a laptop
*chatting

The demographics of the people working at Starbucks probably influenced the people who were customers at Starbucks. The staff ranged in age from 30s to 60s (although I know someone in their 20s was not there--she is on vacation this week). The staff is also multi-cultural. The manager is hispanic, the baristas were white and black and hispanic.

As a result, the demographics of customers matched the staff. We had mothers with children (2 pairs); college students studying; a set of ministers; about 1/3 men and 2/3 women; and the ethnic make-up of the customers matched the staff almost to a tee.

There was calming but upbeat music playing in the background--it was not enough to be distracting, but enough to put you in a happy mood.

The store is small, so most folks get their drinks and leave. Most seating is table and chairs, but I managed to snag one of the two comfy chairs as I sat and drank and observed.

I think the manger, Tanya, sets the happy mood in the store because she knows people's names and they know hers. She greets folks by name and it makes them feel like it is their store. This morning, she even had my drink rung up (grande, nonfat mocha) and ordered before I got up to the front of the line. Now that is a way to bring folks back!

What do you think? What did you observe?

adWEEK blog = AWEsome~

So this is my choice of a blog... Im really interested in ads so this was definitely the blog for me. Adweek show cases the most interesting articles and videos and top 10 funniest/craziest/etc. Ads of the year which I like. From the gaga-Barbie-nokia ad... To the 21 ads that make you miss the 80s to the 30 freakest ads of 2010.. what more could you want? this blog splits up their articles by technology/ advertising &branding/ television. ADfreak is my favorite section becasue it's all about different unique outrageous ad/ad campains going on like coca cola's green billboard made of plants... to absorb air pollution... neat uh?

i hope that you guys enjoy adweek.com as much as i do... theres lots to see lots to do

-> Do you guys have an interest in Ads?

-> you think savvy companies could use this blog to learn from other companies ads?

-> any comments? Questions? concerns?

please watch the barbie-nokia video it's outrageous... !!!!

lovas,

anna*

Remember your color?!

So, what did you think of the four-color exercise? Was it helpful in thinking about your own way of thinking about the world and your own gifts and talents? Hopefully it also helped you recognize that others have their own way of approaching information and people and that it is not always personal-it is just the way they are hard-wired.

There is an article on blackboard under course documents/blog readings about how GE decided to create a marketing department. GE had never had a formal marketing department and decided that engineering was not enough--they needed marketers to help them sell their products and went about developing this department in a very systematic manner.

Using the 4 colors we learned about on Monday, these are the types of marketing folks they decided they need. Do these describe you, based on the color you were Monday night?

The Customer's Not Always Right

I believe at some point in their lives everyone should have to work in retail or some form of customer service. I've been working in a pharmacy for three and half years and there's a lot of things I'd like to say to customers who get impatient because they think all you have to do is "slap a label on it" or expect you to help them while they're carrying on a conversation on their cell phone about their plans for later that evening. The Church of the Customer Blog gives a pretty good example of showing the customer who's really right in their blog, Kicking out unwanted customers, Alamo Drafthouse style.

The blog tells a little story about a small movie theatre in Austin, Texas called The Alamo Drafthouse. Apparently, it's one of the minority of businesses who have morals and rules that they actually reinforce. Instead of a friendly cartoonish reminder to turn your cell phones off like most theatres, they warn movie viewers to not talk or text on their cell phones or their "asses" will be kicked out. The Church of the Customer Blog posted a pretty funny video in this blog of the what the Alamo Drafthouse now plays as a warning to their customers.

I like that they seem unconventional and support the idea that "standing up for your principles and your best customers, at the expense of bad ones, is a smart loyalty strategy." I actually couldn't agree more. I feel like a lot of companies promote the saying, "the customer's always right," when we all know that the customer is almost always wrong. Why not call them out on their bullshit?

The "click and send" advantage of video marketing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijDTuxdqeGc

The "Click and Send" Advantage
As an intern at Keller Williams Realty, I attended numerous seminars on video marketing. Did you know that today only 1% of Real Estate agents are using video marketing? For this reason, it is an obvious advantage to video market yourself, or your business (not just in the Real Estate industry). An even better reason to video market....The "click and send" advantage! Video-sharing communities like "YouTube" provides viewers with simple buttons that allow you to e-mail, facebook, or tweet your favorite videos. I know everyone has seen the hilarious E-Trade commercials on TV that feature talking babies... E-Trade eventually got their own "YouTube channel" and some of their commercial/videos have over 2 million views!! Talk about a video marketing success story!

About this video:
The link above is our first attempt at video marketing which I created during the internship. Our goal was to make the video informational, but also fun, so that people would want to "click and send" it to their friends. The idea is that for each listing we create a character that resembles the home we are marketing. In this video "Miss Sparkles", a loud, and opinionated diva, is looking for a home that fits her personality. Therefore, we decided to have her look at a brand new home with upgraded features. Feel free to look at my other video marketing projects at www.youtube.com/kristinesells

Questions:

1. If you were video marketing for your particular job (or dream job) would you take a comical or serious approach in your videos? Why?

2. What benefits does video marketing have over TV/radio marketing? (besides the ease of sending)

3. In reference to the video I posted, did this make you more or less interested in finding out more about this home and real estate agent?

FDA Regulates Marketing of Sunscreen

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/science/15sun.html

Many of you have probably heard about the new FDA regulations on labeling sunscreen, which are to go into effect next year.  Above is an article with the details on what the new labels mean and how it will better benefit consumers when making decisions on how to protect themselves against harmful UVA and UVB rays.  The FDA also bans manufactureres from marketing their sunscreen products as "waterproof" or "sweatproof", which are misleading terms and proven to be false. 

1.  As a consumer, were you surprised by the misleading marketing used by suncreen manufacturers?  Were you aware of the effects of UVA versuses UVB rays or that sunscreens are not completely sweat or water proof?  How did this misleading information affect your purchases in the past?

2. Why do you think the FDA delayed regulating sunscreen for over 30 years?  Do you believe their new policies will be helpful to the public?  Do you forsee any problems with the new laws in labeling?

3.  Until now, manufacturers made claims of "sweatproof" and "waterproof" or SPF of over 50 to sell their products. How should sunscreen manufacturers market their products so as to beat out the competition in the future? 

Marketing Article: New Cigarette Warning Labels

Here is an article from Brand Channel posted this morning talking about the new graphic warning labels for cigarette packaging. The article can be found at this link:

The FDA has created nine new warning labels for cigarette packages that graphically show the effects of smoking instead of just printing the warning in small print. The ads show everything from rotting teeth, a dead body, diseased lungs, a baby surrounded by smoke, and other visuals that are disturbing to see. Obvisouly the purpose of the new labels is to scare people and shock people and hopefully get them to quit smoking.

Discussion Questions:

1. The FDA is obviously trying to convey the harmful effects of smoking to everyone. However, do you think that the new labels will be more effective to a specific age group?

2. Do you think people who smoke will be less likely to smoke after viewing the pictures on their cigarette packaging? If you currently smoke what is your take on the new labels? Do you think viewing those pictures will make you quit smoking?

3. There is no way to market cigarettes as being healthy. If you were in-charge of marketing for a cigarette company how would you market cigarettes now with the new label?

Swagger Wagon Commercial

We didn't have time for me to show you this commercial last night, but I wanted to show you an example of what I meant for this portion of the blog. Find a commercial or video you think is excellent and share it with the class.

This commercial for the Sienna minivan is much longer than the 30 second commercials we normally see on TV, but I think it holds people's attention the entire time.

1) Who is the target market for this commercial?

2) Is this effective in getting that target market to consider buying a minivan?

3) Is there anything they should have done differently with this commercial?

Beyond Viral- Video Post

Ever want you videos to go viral? Love watching viral videos? Well in this youtube video this guy, Kevin Nalty talks about his book ‘Beyond Viral’ and gives some advice on how to make your vid viral and how marketers should use youtube. I think that the concept of ‘viral video’ is interesting. And in this video Nalts talks about different ways of marketing on youtube- some are common sense, and some I really didn’t think about. I found this video interesting since advertising really is something im interested in, and I love watching videos on youtube, so yea I thought this was a good video to share and I think its really important if you have a company to try and start to use all the different avenues possible to get your product, brand, etc. out there... hope ya’ll enjoy and it’s not a boring interview… trust me! Have a good nite,

Lovas,

anna*

Beyond Viral - Video Marketing Strategies With Kevin "Nalts" Nalty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqT3QiVEBVU

?Questions?

Do you think that viral videos are a good form of marketing/advertising?

Do you think that companies should start (or increase) their advertising on youtube through ‘webstars’ (like Nalts mentions)?

Can you guys think of any examples of a youtube ‘webstar’ advertised for a company?

If you were planning on having your own company, do you think you would use this method of advertising?