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[kasieuddoh]

The ideal – The Media and the Narrative

I recall back in 2001, a year after the world ushered in the new millennium, Agbani Darego was crowned Miss World.

Miss World, the most prestigious beauty pageant back in the early 2000s, was the dream pageant to participate in by most young women around the world. To be crowned the winner, dare I say, was the ultimate dream.

The entire country rejoiced with excitement as Agbani Darego was crowned the winner of the Miss World, 2001. She was tall, thin and dark. And so, the ideal physique for young women in Nigeria was birthed that day. Every girl wanted to be tall and lean; I remember the nickname for myself and sisters was ‘Agbani’. The physique that did not fall into this category was regarded as inferior, never minding that the average Nigerian is average height and curvy (voluptuous).

Fast forward to a few years later when the consumption of Western media increased exponentially in the country; to be light skinned was glorified, to be dark skinned, well, you know how the story ends. Like India, the Nigerian skin care market is plagued with products to lighten your skin. Some clever marketing and branding experts have replaced the word ‘light’ to ‘youthful’ or ‘fresh’, but the image of a fair skin women remains.

Several independent bodies (and individuals alike) have begun to combat this narrative, “all skin tones should be celebrated, there isn’t an ideal”.

The Nigerian Actress, Beverly Naya, released the documentary titled ‘Skin’ (available on Netflix) to help combat this narrative. It received rave reviews, yet the problem persists.

The filters across various social media platforms rarely help as well; most altering the skin tone are geared towards lightening the skin.

It is a gradual process that cannot be changed over the course of a few years. Media consumption is a huge factor that will take several years to reflect a country’s true representation.

[kasieuddoh]

Application of Roger’s Five Factors

Sliced Peanut Butter

Relative Advantage: We can evaluate the advantage sliced peanut butter had in terms of convenience and in comparison, to existing products in the market, for instance, sliced cheese. It was evident that sliced peanut butter was more convenient and posed less of a hassle compared to applying the regular pasty version on sliced bread.

Compatibility: The inventor of sliced peanut butter wanted his product to go with jelly in making a PB&J sandwich, as evident in the interview. However, since sliced jelly did not have the moisture to be put on bread, it clear but one would still have to slab jelly the old-fashioned way on a sliced bread making the perceived convenience by the inventor, not evident. In addition to lack of compatibility, sliced bread comes in different length, width, and height. If the sole purpose of the sliced peanut butter was for the sandwich, it is unclear how the inventor was to solve the problem of disproportionality between sliced bread and sliced peanut butter.

Complexibility: In terms of complexity, the sliced peanut butter is as simple as an invention can get and did not require much education in terms of its use. However, sliced bread comes in different lengths and widths.

Trialability: This product is relatively easy to try to assess customers’ perception. Samples can be handed out in grocery stores and a small badge can be sold in a location to assess sales numbers.

Observability: This product can be best observed when having a meal with others e.g office lunch hours, school lunch hours, etc.

 Due to the product’s compatibility, there is a high probability of a low rate of diffusion.

 Collapsible Wheel

Relative Advantage: In this instance, I will assess the hypothesized convenience of this invention, as stated by the inventor. In terms of space, collapsing a wheel into an oblong shape (roughly half of its radius) will not make much of a difference. The space consumption of a regular bike is not limited to just the diameter of the wheels, but rather the length of the bike; something Brompton Bicycle Ltd has been able to accomplish.

Compatibility: This was a tricky factor to evaluate. I’m hoping to learn from my classmates.

Complexibility: Bikers may find it a bit challenging to operate and may have an unease in terms of the effect this collapse may have in the integrity of the tires and spokes. Here, education is required: online and on-sight demonstration as well as an educative pamphlet that comes with the purchase of the bike.

Trialability: I would assume an invention such as this will require frequent trials which may not be cost effective given the inventor’s target wholesale buyers (BMW, Audi, Porsche).

Observability: Since the inventor is targeting luxury car makers such as BMW, Audi and Porsche, I would assume the price point of a bike would be above the average of a regular bike in the market. Therefore, trialability may be limited to a certain demographic and may not be easily observed by other segments in the bike market.

 Due to all five factors, the rate of diffusion for this product will be low.

 Stave Jigsaw Puzzle

Relative Advantage: The advantage the stave has over regular jigsaw is its exclusivity (numbers produced + price point) and intense brain tease. This is not something the regular jigsaw in the market will offer a fan of jigsaw.

Compatibility: Across age groups and sex, you will find jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts. However, with the price point that comes with the stave, your demographic becomes smaller.

Complexibility: The complexity of the stave is one of its advantageous attributes. The more complex, the more the player welcomes the challenge.

Trialability: The rate of trialbility of the stave seems to be deliberately kept low to avoid increased product adaptation

Observability: Due to the relatively niche demographic, visibility of the stave is low. However, due to its exclusivity, when it is spotted by one who appreciates the product, it is celebrated.

 Due to this product’s Complexibility and (lack of) observability, the rate of diffusion will be low.

  Polytrack for Thoroughbreds

Relative Advantage: It is clear the advantage polytrack has over other racetracks: the thoroughbreds incur less impact injuries and the tracks can withstand the winter and rainy weather due to its high porosity.

Compatibility: In terms of compatibility, the polytracks looked like the conventional dirt tracks often used and would not look any different especially to television viewers. It also would not pose any health risks to the horses.

Complexibility: The product seems very low in Complexibility for the manufacturer. For the user (racetrack owners), there was no complexity as the product required installation from the manufacturer. Horses raced the same as always.

Trialability: Taking care of thoroughbreds is costly; installing a track which has the chance of keeping breeds in good health after racing seems like it has a good payoff. In this case, there is very little room for trialability due to the cost factor and the chances of failure from the already skeptical racing community.

Observability: The early adopters of this track were in England (the original home of Thoroughbred racing) who gave rave reviews. It was then easy for the American market to adapt to this new track.

 Due to this products observability and compatibility, the rate of diffusion will be high.

 Application of Roger’s Five Factors – Wholefoods (pre/post Amazon acquisition)

We want to evaluate the effect of the acquisition of Wholefoods has had on its brand. In our evaluation, we will include the five factors in assessing the competitive factors wholefoods had pre- and post-acquisition,  and evaluate if any changes have occurred in terms of (but not restricted to) customer loyalty amidst the growing and competitive natural foods market

[kasieuddoh]

Nudging (or not?) – the case of the Target store on Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA

My daily morning commute (between the hours of 7:30 and 8:45am) consists of walking by the Target store on Mass. Ave. So, I do most of my grocery shopping here. It is a relatively small store, but I do not explore other options other than what I have on my grocery list.

On a particular day (sometime last week), I walked into the store to pick up a few items and immediately noticed major changes that were being implemented in a rush. Several of the company’s staff were moving items, new shelfs were being constructed and the display of food items were moved around; it was almost a total chaos. However, due to this activity, I was forced to move around in the store looking for my usual items. But in the process, I discovered new items I’d never noticed and ended up spending over my budget.  

A few days after things begun to take shape in the store, I noticed that the fruit display was changed from its previous position to now facing directly, the self-check-out area which I use often. Needless to say, my fruit purchases increased. Prior to this, I would buy one fruit type per week. With this new display, I found my self doubling my purchases and increasing the variety.

[kasieuddoh]

Corona Beer

What are Heineken’s vulnerabilities and how could they be protected?

With declining sales reported in the US, some of Heineken’s vulnerabilities included brand perception, ad campaigns and change management. Heineken’s brand image of focusing only on product superiority did not seem to be appealing to young consumers. Its brand was perceived as smug and arrogant.  The company’s ad campaigns also focused on brand superiority and portrayed the Corona brand as cheap; its campaign strategy focused on the negatives of another brand. The mistake Heineken made here was assuming that it had control over another brand. There was also a number of change management within the company as Corona continuously gained traction and market share in the US.  Heineken should focus on building a brand image that is appealing to both young customers (in other to attract them) and its existing customers. The company should also focus on promoting its brand image and not a competitor; focusing on ad campaigns disapproving of its competitor re-enforces Heineken’s brand perception of arrogance. Heineken should also build a strong and stable marketing team who will focus on connecting the beer brand to the young customers.  

What do the Heineken and Corona brands mean in the minds of consumers, and how do these meanings differ in the minds of consumers?

The Heineken brand in the mind of users is “product quality” while Corona’s brand image is “fun in the sun on a beach in Mexico”. Heineken’s brand image to consumers has also been perceived as haughty, and to some of its distributors as unfriendly. Both brands differ in the minds of consumers in this way: Heineken is selling a product while Corona is selling an experience.

How do the advertising campaigns contribute to these meanings?

Heineken’s advertising campaigns concentrated on product quality at first. With the emergence of Corona into the US market, Heineken’s ad campaigns switched to attacking the image of its competitor as something cheap and not quite up to par as Heineken. It relied solely on the quality of its beer. Corona’s advertising campaign on the other hand sold an experience to its consumers. The videos were always shot in Mexico at the beach when it is sunny. Also noted is the avoidance of individual faces seen in their ad campaigns. They wanted the consumer to be the star of their own experience, that is, to imagine themselves on a sunny beach and they the focus. Corona’s strategy was to create an entire experience which appealed to its young consumers.

It is also worth noting the relationship Modela seemed to have with its importers and distributors. There was an alignment in terms of consistency with brand messaging across the US.

#2021SloanBrandingA