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goVERIZON.. and go90

VERIZON CAN HEAR US NOW!

Verizon’s New digital strategy is discussed in this article and it relates to strategic marketing concepts as the company is totally reinventing itself via targeting a new market. Verizon has purchased the company AOL, then the company experienced growth when Verizon’s AOL purchased what is called Millennial and mobile ad and app monetization company. A third Verizon released its Beta version of go90 which offers streaming tv content on mobile phones and also being able to create your own profile. Go90 is basically what every Millennial wishes to have in their life, an app like netflix, but with the option of personalization and being able to “follow” other go90 users. I consider this to be simply brilliant. This is ideal and attractive to the users who do not hold memberships with netflix, and hulu.

Simply this will work because go90 will simply cut the monthly costs of other streaming websites. Millennials will absolutely appreciate this and possibly cancel their other  subscriptions. However……. There is a catch. Verizon is offering this wonderful service at no cost but what’s in it for them? Verizon is waiting for consumers to love this app so much that they will  upgrade to more expensive data plans and that is simply brilliant because the content will soon be supported by ads. Verizon will initially have the costs of running this service but will make up for it in the long run. Verizon is experiencing Diversification with go90. They are introducing a new product (go90) to a new market (millennials). They looked at their business strategy and realized where to compete via the breakdown in age demographics and how to compete via this innovation in streaming service.  

Verizon looked deeper into their external analysis and saw that they were lacking millennial customers and via trends they were able to produce something to offer to this missing market. The trends for millennials would be the social media aspect of go90 where users can interact with others via likes reposts etc. simply adding the experience to the streaming service. Once millennials are able to associate an experience with Verizon’s Go90 I believe they will acquire larger numbers and have an impact on the market.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nelsongranados/2015/09/17/an-unexpected-disruptor-verizons-bold-digital-strategy/#6f439ed63fe7

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PIZZA FOR DINNER?

The article “One Million Pizzas a Day: How Domino’s Keeps It Fresh” touched on the firms many marketing concepts. Russell Weiner, the U.S president of Domino's, appeared on the Wharton Business Radio, and was willing to share the some insights about the company. I will discuss how it relates  to external and internal analysis and determining the unmet needs from its consumers. Sirus radio basically conducted an interview with Russell Weiner and he was very knowledgable and convinced of how Domino's has expanded as a company. Pizza is a family favorite and always a first choice among fast foods. From three small locations in Michigan, Domino's has grown into the second largest pizza franchise in the United States. Clearly the company has been implementing the correct strategic business strategies for a long time now.

Domino's now has a new ordering option where customers can order with the touch of a button, and in this case, with the touch of an emoji. I thought this was a phenomenal idea. However before beginning this innovation Dominoes had to do its research. They acknowledged that technology is changing and by this they were able to understand their consumers. Technology can often time can pose a threat to a company. With smartphones being on the rise and constantly climbing, Dominoes acted fast and introduced the app intuitive years ago. However NOW we see the smartphone presence even more with emoji ordering. This is an example of Dominoes product expansion. They are offering a new, creative, and simply effortless way for consumers to order a Domino’s pizza. Weiner is very wise and said something that I found to be extremely significant. “It’s super important to not just go spend in digital because that’s the latest and greatest thing. You want to know the ROI of every vehicle you’re advertising in.” This statement is fundamental to what a strategic company illustrates. Dominoes was aware of an unmet consumer need….however before going the extra step they had to analyze if the projected ROI would be attractive. Basically Domino's was intelligent enough to “not put all their eggs in one basket” Dominoes is also trend cautious. They know that with advancements in technology, smartphones and now even emojis they have to tackle each issue by constantly adapting and challenging their strategy to ensure that it remains relevant to the changing marketplace.

I believe that Domino's is very aware of its placement in the marketplace by constantly performing internal and external analysis. After reading this article I noticed just how ahead they are of the game and how their U.S President Ceo was very fond of the company Domaines has been riding a wave of global success and it won’t stop now.

source http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/160510a1_kwradio_weiner_dominos/

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WE THE FREE

Free People is a company that women all over the world rave about. I believe their strategy is fundamental to the growth of the brand. The idea where the strategy is to LIVE THE LIFESTYLE attracts trendy consumers, but also gains the attention of other women interested in bohemian fashion. The brand has become synonymous with boho-inspired looks, and the festival lifestyle. It is no secret that large-scale music festivals such as Coachella and SXSW have presented opportunities for music, clothing and art markets to increase their revenue. Free People, has taken the next step in offering an EXPERIENCE to consumers. When women shop and wear their clothes they can associate it with a memory from a music festival or just the thought of being “free”. Free people has taken it to the next step and has integrated product and content seamlessly. Their collections are all given a name such as Safari, Wind, and Melody making the association to the experience even more profound.Something that I really enjoyed was on their website the phrase “With the potential to style every piece dozens of ways, our latest line-up of modern boho clothes can go wherever your mood leads you.”As a loyal consumer to Free People, I related to this completely! The atmosphere of the store and quality of the clothing makes it an overall remarkable brand, one that is very difficult to imitate. They are very familiar with their consumers and target market.

FREE PEOPLE’S mission coincides perfectly when performing an analysis of the CUSTOMER’S motivations. FP ceo’s and marketing team had to address a few elements of segmentation, customer motivations and unmet needs to be effective in strategic market-planning. We see that FP consumers value the trendy options that the company offers. FP customers also have the objective to achieving a bohemian look, whether it is for a music festival or just for an everyday outfit. When addressing the biggest customers FP is a pricey line however, high quality, so we see women mid 20s buying from the company. The customers fall into groups based on motivations/ characteristics because of the look they are trying to achieve. One thing I found to be genius is the fact that Free People is a company that Urban Outfitters owns. If a consumer wants to achieve a more EDGY street look, chances are they will shop at Urban Outfitters. I believe that it is situational and based on the look will determine where the consumer shops. With being in the same portfolio, Urban Outfitters and Free People are two different brands but hipsters and edgy shoppers are the main target for both the companies.

What Urban Outfitters offers, Free People does not and Vise Versa. We see just how effective this is when analysing the scope of a business. Urban Outfitters is targeting women and men, while FP is only targeting WOMEN. Women with different needs and characteristics but still generating revenue from the root. FREE people has a business strategy where it knows exactly where to compete in vicinities of Urban outfitters, and HOW to compete offering an experience no other clothing line can.

Source : http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/9/7/free-store-people-square/

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Urban Outfitters beauty selection…..a game changer?

Urban Outfitters a company that many adore has gone above and beyond this time…. UO has offered more. Consumers can shop retail, home decor, music & tech, and now they can pick up their favorite beauty products. We are talking small indie brands, hard-to-find international pick ups and hipster favorites. Urban has been ramping up its skin-care, hair, makeup, and beauty inventory over a time period of 5 years. And in the article “Urban Outfitters: Niche Beauty for an Edgy Demographic” we see the many benefits of this expansion.

The urban CEO’s were very smart in opening this new market for the company. Targeting this edgy demographic has been successful in developing Growth platforms for the firm. Companies such as Uncle Harry’s and Cotton On have experienced national exposure because of Urban stocking their products. Subhadra Terhanian, director at Uncle Harry’s stated “We’re definitely growing a lot, but before Urban Outfitters, we didn’t really have the national exposure” It's striking to see that other brands are benefiting by being partnered with UO but also by their own online revenues. This is probably because when a consumer's favorite is sold out in stores they order online via the company's website. However, in some cases it can be believed that a consumer would have No prior knowledge of the brand had he/she not been a UO customer.

The scope of a business is defined by the products it offers and chooses not to offer (Aaker, 4).  In this case, Urban is offering products which are captivating, high quality, and difficult to find. Urban is NOT selling the standard Sephora, Estee’ Lauder and Olay products which especially hipster consumers tend to stray away of. The company is serving an edgy demographic, a market that is growing in numbers daily! Urban Outfitters teaming up with cedar & stone, Briogeo, TonyMoly, etc. is an example of product expansion. This is because it is bringing new products and innovation to existing markets! I believe that this is a prime example of changing the product marketing mix and the organization will achieve growth as it is seizing an opportunity many companies overlooked. The company has achieved success because “there’s no one else diving into the category quite the way Urban is doing it” (Collins 2).

To further continue this blog post, I visited the Urban Outfitters beauty shop at the headquarters in center city, Philadelphia. I was impressed to say the least, this was my first time taking a look at the beauty section and I fell in love. Products that I had been purchasing online from websites such as Net-A- Porter and ipsy.com were offered and there was the option to test the product before purchasing! As a consumer I completely shifted my purchasing decision and I will now take a look at Urban's selection before paying shipping and waiting somewhere else online. It is only a matter of time before Urban outfitters plans for retail EXPANSION. The beauty push seems to be working, and I am certain that when the company plans for expansion, the personal care sector will come along with it.

Source: http://wwd.com/business-news/retail/urban-outfitters-niche-beauty-10342864/

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Adios Amigo!

An ad from the Pintrest board that I chose to analyze was “The Most Interesting Man in the World Embarks on His Greatest Adventure Yet – Adios Amigo Dos Equis”. I will get right to the point with my critique of this commercial. There was way too much going on for a viewer to pick up on it being a beer commercial. It begins with a figure that I have never seen before, however his name is Jonathan Goldsmith. It was until after I did a Google search of Goldsmith that I found out that he is an iconic Dos Equis ad character. For someone who isn’t a typical beer drinker, like myself, it wouldn’t ring a bell instantly that it was a Dos Equis commercial after seeing this figure. However he is referred to, “The most interesting man in the world” this is completely misleading and I should add that it is also not credible. He is simply given this name by a beer company. For someone who appears in these commercials to be given such a noble title seems a bit immature. Dos Equis wants you to believe that the face of the company, Jonathan Goldsmith, is viewed as the most interesting man by everyone in the world.

These types of commercials have been known to usually be over the top, however this exceeded it to the point where it was confusing. I didn’t understand if it was religious commercial at first when I saw the Buddhist monks, or if involved a pageant of some sort with the female wearing the sash. My mind was going in different directions, and while watching this it was difficult to keep up. Also what I found to be bizarre was how it is obligatory that they include “Drink responsibly” to enjoy the beverage in moderation and not abuse the alcohol. However in this ad, they show a large missile being launched in the air and it makes the viewer think that “the greatest man on earth is embarking on his journey”, and “the greatest man on earth drinks Dos XX” as well. This is misleading and I believe it is dangerous that they show large machinery being operated in a commercial with alcohol in it. Also the main quote to take from this commercial is the saying “His only regret is not knowing what regret feels like” quite frankly, this was puzzling I believed it to be was cheesy as well.

I do not consider this is a good example of creative strategy, because the message that DOS xx was trying to communicate was difficult to capture. It wasn’t until the very end that the tangible product (attribute) was shown but to have picked up on that the viewer must have been paying attention for the whole 1:02. This commercial could have been executed so differently. As far as creative strategy goes, this commercial lacked, all aspects of divergence and the relevance could have been achieved in a better story line. In comparison to the Corona Find your beach campaign, where there were many elements of creative strategy this Dos XX ad was a disappointment.

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Nostalgia

After watching a few ads on professor Dynan’s pintrest I came across a very unique AD that I would like to analyze. HP’s “Jane” was one of a kind and came with a very important message. This commercial is about creativity lost and found. The woman in this commercial, who we can identify as Jane, has a creative spirit as a child and teenager but as her life goes on with collage and a corporate office job, Jane’s life becomes   dull and boring. However Jane’s creative side returns when she notices her daughter drawing an image on her doll as she once did. This gave Jane the idea to introduce her daughter to the HP 3D SPROUT printer.

The song used in this ad, is a cover of Supertramp's "Logical Song" however it is sung by a group of children. I thought this was unique and the lyrics to the song basically told the story as the video was streaming. I liked how Jane’s story had happy ending and even though she was an adult who missed her childhood, she could live it though her daughter and connect with her daughter via the 3D printer. I believe HP was targeting an adult demographic. But I also believe it was targeting a young adult demographic; I can speak to this on a personal level. We live in time where adults are forced to mature. People my age (early 20s) are somewhat afraid of growing up and not many of us want to spend our days in corporate offices for the rest of our lives. HP wants to voice the message that you don’t need to be a child to have a creative, imaginative side. That it is acceptable even for adults who have full time jobs to enjoy spending time with their children. In this story Jane used the HP 3D printer to foster her daughter’s creativity. I believe this was a great example of relevance in creative strategy. The commercial reflects the degree to which the various elements of the ad are meaningful, useful, and valuable to the consumer. 

This commercial showed the tangible item, attribute, and benefit functional. It gave a glimpse of how the daughter was dragging the pictures on the computer screen to the printer and how that eventually became a tangible item, a butterfly headband that she wore on her head. HD’s Sprout was unveiled in 2014 it lets anyone grab an object from the physical world, manipulate it in the digital world, and bring it back to life. This story was emotional, happy, and a story that many could relate to. I can see how this was included in Dynan’s creative strategy pin board, because HD was able to create an original, effective add that is relevant and understood by the target market.

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be a Go Pro hero

This is a commercial that popped up prior to watching a YouTube video and I am happy I came across it. Go pro uses the tag line “BE a hero” to connect to the target market and this commercial is a representation of just that. It tells a story about a fireman who enters a house and when he comes across a kitten he stops and makes it his priority to help restore the kittens health. He then puts an oxygen mask on the kitten and gives him water. This commercial made me smile, initially it was sad and I even believed the kitten was dead. However, once I saw it’s little’s paws moving and it meowing I instantly smiled.

I thought the use of the music choice of this ad was just genius. Upon entering the house the music is dramatic and scary and when the fireman comes across the wounded kitty the music turns into a lighter and softer tone. Then once the fireman brings the kitten to health the music is positive, optimistic and faster. The perspective of the camera was brilliant as well. It almost seems as if you are walking through the house. The picture quality is very crisp, and sharp while telling a story, Go Pro showcases its quality of camera and the features it has. Once the reader realizes that it’s a Go pro commercial one can infer they producers used the helmet mount to attach the camera to the fireman.

Go Pro can be targeting anyone in this inspiring Ad. From cat lovers to aspiring fire-men/fire-women. The point of this commercial is that it tells a hero’s story. In my opinion Go Pro has always had a strong IMC. This is because users have the ability to share their GO PRO story on their original website to win Video or Photo of the day, and to be featured on their social media sites. This is a great example of IMC because Go Pro takes user generated content to act as a form of marketing directly on their social media websites. All this information proves that once you have a strong brand message, content from customers will represent your brand and make it successful.

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....Whole Again

This commercial was played during the super bowl of 2013. This patriotic tribute to American soldiers was extremely sentimental and it reminded those watching that there are larger issues in the world than a football game. This commercial appeals to the viewer’s emotions at a time that is not expected. Considering that you’re watching an exciting football game and it catches you off guard because you’re not expecting to see something so captivating. Jeep did everything right in this commercial. They used a respectable and well-known figure to get across a sentimental message. Oprah Winfreys’ accomplishments as a global media leader and philanthropist have established her as one of the most respected and admired public figures today. Initially, you just see words on a black screen and then you hear Oprah’s voice and this grabbed my attention and kept me interested during the whole commercial. The opening statement “we wait, we hope, we pray” is unarguably the best way to begin this commercial in my opinion. Another thing I picked up on is how a jeep model isn’t shown until a minute into the ad. This is remarkable because you don’t realize that it is a jeep commercial until that very moment. Also I would like to add that right after the jeep is shown you see an American flag. This is an example of perfect positioning it shows just how much integrity the Jeep brand has to be giving this tribute to the American soldiers.        

 This ad was targeted towards AMERICANS. It showed a few models of the car showcasing the product itself. However the actual product, benefits, or features wasn’t the main focus of the ad. The objective was to voice an even greater message.

I did some research to find out if Jeep and a partnership with the US military and found that this commercials primary task was to introduce the Jeep brand’s “Operation SAFE Return” (OSR). I liked this ad because it kept things in perspective while also advertising different JEEP models. It also raised my curiosity enough to go online and look at the website, in my opinion this is what Jeep had in mind. Viewers would watch this commercial and wonder if there was some sort of partnership with JEEP and the US Military.

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Shoes of the century?

A Twitter article that I chose to analyze was “Nike's Self-Lacing Shoes Are Here, But They're Not What You Expect” written by Diana Budds at co.design. Budds provides information about what the Nike company has done and prepared for this shoe, she also writes about her thoughts after testing the shoe at the “Innovation for Everyone” event in New York City. This article was a little confusing to analyze because Budds is not releasing this Ad for NIKE but I will base my analysis on the photo provided in the article.

I will begin by saying, there was so much that NIKE could have done to promote this shoe more effectively. As a recurring NIKE customer, I have known about the plan NIKE had to release self-lacing shoes for a long time. And along with many others I have been waiting for the awesome advertisement that would have came with the campaign. In the past NIKE has been known to please with the motivational, sentimental, and compelling advertisements. As a print Ad this was simply not satisfying. In the past NIKE has included famous athletes in their ads. For example in the “Snow Day” commercial a viewer couldn’t look away because that commercial was so captivating. As far as positioning strategies this photo shows the tangible product and that is about it. It was disappointing to see no benefit strategy shown or functional, and usage/user strategy shown. Also it is difficult to pinpoint whom this is targeted for strictly because all you see it the product itself and no other attributes.

With all the hard work and dedication NIKE as been through to produce this product they should have followed the three qualities of successful advertising. This photo lacked 1. Information, 2. Rational stimulus, and 3. Emphasis. This is a huge change in the world of athletic shoes! Instead of just showing a shoe that doesn’t look any different than the previous models, Nike should have at least given some info as to the laces plan to tighten on their own.

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See Anew vision with Nordstrom

Nordstrom sought to introduce their spring collections with this advertisement, “See Anew”. In comparison to the other twitter article, I preferred this ad. From a viewers perspective, one can instantly notice that this is an happy commercial. The song choice, “Elementary lover” by Matthew Dear is very upbeat and joyful. When watching this, I started singing along and tapping my feet.  Also, I loved the use of imagery in this ad, the editing used as well. The ad opens up with the first design of a floral dress; this design by Ted Baker is my favorite from the collection. The dress looks very flowy and comfortable and as you can see the model dancing around, she seems to like it as well. In the second scene you see a pink dress with polka dots run in the middle of the screen to form the kaleidoscope image and to introduce the red picnic dress.

I intentionally watched this ad with two different viewpoints, a view point from a student and from an avid fashion follower. I was pleased to see the use of contemporary designs in a Spring commercial. Those who follow fashion would know that contemporary styles are often associated with Spring.

Women of all ages can connect to this because of the beautiful dresses and not to mention the positive and optimistic spirit of the campaign. This ad is appealing to women of all ages. Also this ad is also appealing to those who admire fashion trends like myself. Nordstrom knew exactly what they were doing and paired with noted filmmakers, the Tell No One duo. One thing I will add is, I believe that Nordstrom was targeting a younger demographic with the younger models and the use of sundresses. Also Nordstrom released a print add of this in the Vanity Fair and Vogue to target the older demographic. In my opinion this add increases the Nordstrom brand equity because it created an appealing message where once you become a Nordstrom shopper you will be happy. And “See anew” implies a new season “spring”, but it also implies with “see a new” vision with Nordstrom.

Nordstrom also provided a behind the scenes clip to show viewers how this ad was created. I was amazed at how intelligent the producers were in producing this ad. At first I thought it was simply edited via a computer after multiple shots. However I was shocked to see that they used mirrors to capture the kaleidoscope image of the model running through also what I had also believed to be edited via a computer were the flowers. But they were stapled on one by one on pieces of wood.