One of the most recent concerns of the modern global market, stealth ads play quite a big role in the world of marketing. Making people pay their attention to the specific products or companies, they enhance the selling rates in the given enterprise and thus create a specific trend. Because of their camouflage and the subtle influence, they produce the effect which is far stronger than any powerful ad can create.
There is no doubt that stealth ads are times more efficient than the usual ways of advertisement. One of the explanations is that a song is something that one can listen to for a number of times, which can be compared to hypnosis. In spite of the fact that the impact of such hypnosis is less tragic and traumatic than that of the traditional one, the ethical aspect of such means of advertising is seriously doubted.
According to the official data, the use of stealth ads has increased the sales volume almost fourteen times (Blair). On the one hand, such practice looks most innocent and suggests a breakthrough in the scale of the global market, which is, no doubts, very aspiring. Yet on the other hand is the controversal nature of such ads and the way they influence peoples actions.
According to Blair, the key idea of the stealth ads success is the fact that they do not look like ads . In terms of protection of consumers, this looks quite like the violation of consumers rights and even foisting certain goods on people.
With the disguise of a free-willed choice, this new invention of marketing can bring colossal benefit to millions of entrepreneurs, which will probably make the stealth ads one of the most popular means to advertise goods in the nearest future.
However, to be fair, it would be necessary to mention some advantages of the new invention. One of the most obvious pluses is that customers will be able to find out bout the novelties of the market just listening to music or watching a movie.
Nevertheless, the aesthetic pleasure of such pastime could become questionable; it is only now that the fans of the singers have to be sharp-eared enough to be able to read between the lines of the favourite songs (Smith). And, in addition, relying on such tricky psychological issues can be rather risky (Blair).
Another idea which can give a lot of food for thoughts is the chain management which is becoming increasingly widespread. Worked out in practice, this system has proved to be quite worthwhile. With help of this system, entrepreneurs will be able to satisfy the demand on the company products in a better way, reducing the costs spent on logistics and custom.
Because of its high dynamics and unceasing circulation of information, products and money supply between various stages, chain management proves efficient in the modern world of global marketing and the float of data. A good example of chain management is Microsoft Corporation.
Being the company whose product is spread literally all over the world, Microsoft Corporation uses the system of the chain management to provide the product supply anywhere in the world.
Combined with well-developed system of relationship management, it provides splendid results: millions of people choose exactly Microsoft Corporation when selecting the right software shell for their computers. Despite the fact that Microsoft has worthy competitors, it still holds the unquestionable leadership in the sphere of computers and everything that goes with them.
Thus, it is obvious that well-calculated chain management system combined with relationship management is bound to bring fruitful results. Although this approach has not been time-tested yet, it shows good potential. According to the world market prognoses, such scheme is going to be applied to every single enterprise soon.
Works Cited
Blair, Elizabeth. Stealth Ads: Theyre Effective and Priced to Move. NPR, 5 May 2005. Web.
Smith, Ethan, and Julie Jargon. Chew on This: Hit Song Is a Gum Jingle. The Wall Street Journal. n.d. Web.
Polaroid was a quite a successful company in the 70s and late 60s. The company underwent a lot of changes later. These changes, characterized by mergers and acquisitions, have reduced the company to a shell in the current world. Many scholars compare Polaroids stellar success and superb market-leading innovations to the current Apples.
The then CEO of the company draws a lot of comparison to the current Apple CEO Steve Jobs. This is a reflection of just how the company enjoyed unrivalled success in its industry during its heyday. The company specialized in making photography products. These products include cameras, films and others.
The company is trying a comeback after going under. It has employed the services of renowned celebrities such as Lady Gaga to market its products. Recently, the company launched a pair of cool glasses that can take digital photos. This intended comeback of Polaroid is subject to study of product development and the cycles that they take.
The company in itself was a product. It sold far and wide and in its home country, the United States, it was in favor of a sizeable number of consumers. That is not the case anymore. Other more innovative and successful companies in that field have sprung up. This has competition become unrivalled. Furthermore, quite a large market that the company served then has evolved to a different kind. This is in the advent of technology and changes in tastes and preferences.
Product Life Cycle Stage
In this study, the company is a product in itself. It undergoes stages that a normal product undergoes. Currently, the company is in the last stage of a product development cycle. In the times it enjoyed great success the company was in the growth and maturity stages.
Now it is in a decline stage. At this stage, there are many costs associated with a possible reentry to the market. The company has to come up with new products and rethink its strategies in the face of declining sales volume and prices (Box, 1983).
Michael Moore
The company CEO of an electronics company is faced by a challenging situation. He has to put off a possibility of laying-off workers. The only reprieve is a contract that the government is offering him. However, the contract has an unethical dimension that has got Moore thinking.
The contractors have offered to make sure the contract goes through if he gives them a 5% cash back rebate. This rebate should be stated in the contract. If he does not take the contract, he will end up laying-off workers and facing a possibility of his company going under.
This is an ethical issue in contracting. It can be labeled as corruption and fraud. In many countries, this can lead to possible blacklisting. It is a criminal offence in other countries with phenomenon jail terms.
In this particular country the need for favoritism so as to win some business advantage is common place. Moore is between a hard place and a rock. Does he go along and pay the 5% rebate or does he just do away with this golden opportunity. My advice would be that he seizes the opportunity.
This is because there will be little aftermath, if any, that will characterize the contracting. However, in the event that he ignores that contract on the basis of ethics, the aftermath will be a painful affair. This is because he will have to lay off staff since he cannot meet the costs of business.
Reference
Box, J. (1983). Extending Product Lifetime: Prospects and Opportunities. European Journal of Marketing, 17: 3449.
The Canhole promotion strategy will enhance overall Keystone Light brand engagement by way of facilitating interaction, acceptance, and sharing by consumers in line with the companys second objective. The innovative and engaging nature of the promotion will shift the way customers interact with Keystone Light and also add value, purposefulness and personality to the brand, hence helping the company to achieve this objective.
Internet and Social Networks
Cruisers can initiate a virtual format of Canhole, whereby membership and usage are rewarded through earning points which can later be exchanged for gifts, trips, cars and other rewards. This way, cruisers can use the game to create online communities with similar tastes and preferences. The company can encourage Cruisers to do so by availing precise data about the target audience in terms of needs, preferences, personality, as well as psychographic and behavioral variables. Lastly, the Maslows hierarchy of needs is applicable to this situation as it assists the Cruisers to identify the needs of the target audience, hence providing the online Canhole campaign with purpose, meaning and direction (Ward & Lasen, 2009).
Product Involvement
Available literature shows that product involvement relates to an established and long-lasting connection with a product or brand (Bruwer & Buller, 2013, p. 40). Consequently, the Canhole promotion can be used to ensure that consumers establish long-lasting relationship with the Keystone Light brand. Such a relationship will assist the company to increase the overall brand engagement, hence successfully achieving the second objective.
Cross Merchandising
The company can use beer magazines and water manufacturing companies to serve as cross merchandising opportunities for Canhole. Due to the extroverted and fun-loving personality, most Cruisers are likely to be fans of beer magazines to keep ahead of the latest trends in the social scene. Additionally, most Cruisers are likely to consume water in between drinking rounds and Canhole games to keep rehydrated. As such, the company can make use of these marketing opportunities not only to increase brand sales but also to enhance convenience and value addition (Hayer & MacInnis, 2008).
Cruisers Personality Traits
Ingenious the Cruiser demonstrates very smart and clever ways of beating the prevailing financial hardships to have fun.
Extrovert the Cruiser values friendship over all else and has developed a reasonable number of beer pyramids that are dependent on social occasions.
Fun-loving the Cruiser demonstrates a preference to share memorable experiences with buddies and also to crack jokes while drinking.
Question 6: Cruisers Psychographic Profile
Cruiser is a simple person with simple needs, although he likes to live and enjoy life to the fullest based on resourceful and inventive planning. He does not spend so much thinking about food and expensive lifestyles as he likes to live within his own means. However, he likes to hang out with his drinking peers and the intensity of these interactions increases during the summer. Cruiser values spontaneous, memorable experiences that are as a result of ingenuity and inventive social occasions, not mentioning that he is a free spirit who likes to crack jokes and act younger while enjoying his beer with buddies.
Segments
The three segments that are likely to include a large number of Cruisers are
up-and-comers,
blue-chip blues, and
white picket fences.
All these segments are in the middle-class, implying that they have some money to spend on social occasions though they still have a lot of responsibilities to meet. All consumers in the selected segments are young (<45 years), demonstrating that they may still be interested in having some good time with friends over a couple of beers. They have to spend their money resourcefully and inventively as they have to meet other expenses such as paying rent, implying that most eat out at fast food joints. This makes the ideal Cruiser.
References
Bruwer, J., & Buller, C. (2013). Product involvement, brand loyalty, and country-of-origin brand preferences of Japanese wine consumers. Journal of Wine Research, 24(1), 38-58.
Australian bank customers have had a very bad perception about the countrys banking sector. For instance, many customers believe that banks are closing branches to cut costs. This is a misconception as the country is ranked well with 25,000 banking access points per one million residents when compared to countries like UK, Singapore and France (Australian Bankers Association 2010, p. 8).
Customers should also know that the sector has real competition among various banks. After deregulation, transaction accounts are now available in 24 banks, 177 credit unions and 14 building societies (Australian Bankers Association 2010, p. 11). It should also be known that competition has reduced interest margins to less than 2% (Australian Bankers Association 2010, p. 13). Most of these customers believe that banking services are not affordable. This is a misconception as transaction fees accounts for only 1% of banks revenues (Australian Bankers Association 2010, p. 17).
Therefore, this will be communicated to different people and customers to do away with these misconceptions. In this case, TV will be effective in reaching a wide mass of people. This is because it is mostly accessible and adverts can be made appealing to different age groups (Westpac 2010, p. 8). Other forms of promotion will also be used to reach individual target groups. Public relations and sales promotion will give individual target groups the attention they deserve and in the process explain all they need to know. Personal selling is very interactive and can be tailor made to suit different interests.
Because there is a good advertising budget, all banks will be covered in this campaign as its an all industry affair (Australian Bankers Association 2010, p. 26). This will pull together their efforts in reaching a wide mass of people. Therefore, all banks will be required to input their contributions on the way forward.
Reference List
Australian Bankers Association., 2010. Fact sheets on banking industry. Web.
List and describe components of the promotional mix. Give example for each.
The promotional mix is part of 4Ps marketing mix, and it can be divided into personal and non-personal communication with the customer (Kurtz and Boone 445). In this case, personal selling implies having direct contact with the consumer, and it is often used by real-estate agents and insurance providers (Kurtz and Boone 445). As for non-personal communication, it includes sales promotion, advertising, and PR (Kurtz and Boone 445). Advertising is utilized by well-known brands, and one of the examples is the advertising of shampoo on TV. In turn, sales promotion is often used by restaurants and retailers, and it implies buy one get one free. Lastly, PR is presented by the companys press releases about particular situations and recognition in social media.
What factors affect the choice of promotion mix elements?
A variety of factors tends to affect the promotion mixs elements, including the available budget, organizational policies, type of the product and target market, and the actions of the competitors (Pride and Ferrell 375; Foxall 30). Some of the companies have a tendency to use all the promotional tools at the same time, but sometimes the factors mentioned above tend to limit their actions and choices. Firstly, the budget defines the available resources for the promotion activity, as different advertising instruments have various costs of the application. Furthermore, all other aspects mentioned above determine the companys competitiveness and success by reviewing the strategies of the competitors and evaluating the main features of the target market.
Cite some advertising appeals that promoters consider. What must marketers consider when choosing these?
Advertising appeals are critical for the attraction of the customers to the brand, and, in this case, humorous advertising appeals change the reaction and encourage liking of the product (Schiffman, Hansen and Kanuk 304). In turn, other aspects include emotionality related to sympathy, esteem, or recognition, eco-friendliness and rationality associated with safety, health, performance, earnings, and savings (Plessis 135). These matters are the most common appeals, which are utilized among the promoters as the adverting instruments.
Nonetheless, the primary aspect that the promoters have to consider while using these appeals is to find the balance between emotionality and rationality. The matters mentioned above are tricky and require sufficient investigation before the application. Otherwise, despite the effectiveness of these tools, their usage might create misconceptions about the brand and offend the feelings of the consumers. Consequently, it can be viewed as a reason for the generation of negative perceptions about the company and its products.
What is the difference between a push and a pull strategy? Give example for each.
The push and pull strategies are important aspects of the market penetration. Push strategy implies forcing the product into the market by using retailers and changing the consumers preferences with the assistance of discounts (Doole and Lowe 318). For example, different restaurants use coupons and two items for the price of one product/service to attract the customers to purchase their products. A similar approach is used by the producers of different items with the assistance of retailers. As for the pull strategy, it implies focusing on direct communication with the final consumer by evaluating his/her needs and introducing the product with the assistance of mass advertising (Doole and Lowe 318). As for the examples of the pull strategies, children watch the advertisements on the television and spot a delicious dessert. In this case, they ask their parents to purchase it, and this matter generates the demands in the stores.
Works Cited
Doole, Isobel, and Robin Lowe. International Marketing Strategy: Analysis Development and Implementation, London: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
Foxall, Gordon. The Routledge Companion to Consumer Behavior Analysis, London: Routledge, 2015. Print.
Kurtz, David, and Louis Boone. Contemporary Business, London: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Plessis, Danie. Introduction to Public Relations and Advertising, Lansdowne: JUTA Education Ltd, 2000. Print.
Pride, William and Oliver Ferrell. Marketing Express, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009. Print.
Schiffman, Leon, Harvard Hansen and Leslie Kanuk. Consumer Behavior: A European Outlook, Harlow: The Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Specific Goal: At the end of my speech, the audience will gain critical insights into various strategies for healthy eating.
Central Idea: Healthy eating is critically essential for good nutrition and health. It protects individuals from a wide range of chronic and non-communicable diseases and ensures improved memory and brain health.
Introduction
Did you know a significant majority of Americans do not eat healthy diets? More than 80% are not eating enough vegetables, whole grains, and fruits, while a third of American adults are obese (Blackstone et al., 2018). The leading cause of obesity is due to lack of sufficient knowledge on strategies for healthy eating.
Today, I have the opportunity to talk to you about the key strategies of healthy eating. Contrary to popular beliefs, eating healthy is not expensive and requires only a few simple tactics. Although I am not a nutritionist, my presentation is based on credible empirical evidence from a wide range of previously conducted research.
Today, I will discuss three strategies for healthy eating: I will first talk about the importance of making a food journal and planning meals and snacks for each week based on the available budget. Then, I will be discussing why serving meals regularly in smaller dishes is good for your body. Finally, I will be looking at why eating at home is better than eating out. Now that you are aware of the overview, let’s begin discussing my first point.
Body
It is critically important to make a food journal and plan meals and snacks for each week based on your available budget. A recent study revealed that it costs a little more per day to eat a healthy meal (Beets et al., 2018). Food journals are a cost-effective way of keeping track of how much you spend on food. Individuals who consistently keep food journals and plan their meals tend to stay healthy and eat balanced diets.A good food journal should contain more grains and at least one meatless meal in a weak while at the same time ensuring more fruits and vegetables. Planning meals, drinks, and snacks using food journals help one realize if they are consuming enough of each food group, promoting better nutrition. It is easier to determine if you react to certain foods by keeping a food diary. Writing down what you eat and how you feel after helps you realize your intolerance towards some ingredients or food choices.
A food journal or diary makes it easier to understand one’s eating habits and makes it easier to make changes to the diet and ensure healthy eating.Several studies concur that people who successfully keep food journals are likely to have balanced diets and maintain healthy weights (Reinders et al., 2017). Record-keeping helps one lose weight by informing them about their food choices and unhealthy eating habits to make necessary changes. Moreover, writing down the time and mood for the day when keeping a food journal can help identify triggers to unhealthy eating. Recognizing specific triggers will help you get rid of unhealthy eating habits.
Now that we’ve successfully discussed the importance of making a food journal and planning meals and snacks for each week based on the available budget, let’s talk about why serving meals in smaller dishes but regularly is good for your body.
Serving meals in smaller dishes but regularly is great for your body and general wellbeing. Smaller but regular meals help in controlling appetite while at the same time ensuring efficient metabolism. Studies have shown that individuals who serve larger dishes at once gain weight more than those who serve smaller and regular portions (Reinders et al., 2017). Small portions provide nutrients to the body throughout the day and stabilize blood sugar levels. Mini-meals also aid in improving one’s metabolism. A good metabolism increases energy levels making one very active and alert throughout the day.
Although making a food journal to plan weekly meals and serving smaller portions are great healthy eating strategies, it is vital to discuss why eating at home is better than eating out.
Frequently eating at home is crucial for an individual’s health and general wellbeing as it helps avoid fast or junk foods. Individuals who eat at home instead of eating in restaurants or hotels tend to control their foods’ ingredients, thereby enabling them to maintain a healthy diet (Leung et al., 2017). Having control over how your food is prepared helps avoid food allergies. Dining at home also results in significant cost savings on food as it is less expensive than eating in a restaurant. Dietary choices in hotels or restaurants are often limited, making eating out less healthy as most options are processed and sugary. Eating at home means one can control their calories which is significant in weight loss.
As I conclude my speech today, I would wish to leave you with this quote about the importance of eating healthy from the famous playwright ‘The Miser’ “One must eat to live, not live to eat.”
Conclusion
Healthy eating simply requires individuals to adopt a few cost-effective eating strategies. Today, we discussed three approaches that are essential in healthy eating. First, we discussed the importance of making a food journal and planning meals and snacks weekly based on the available budget. Then, we talked about why serving meals in smaller dishes but regularly is good for your body. Finally, we discussed why eating at home is better than eating out. I hope that you have learnt and gained some new critical insights regarding the strategies of eating healthy. Although it is sometimes difficult to achieve healthy eating, it is our responsibility to monitor our food consumption and ensure appropriate dietary intake.
This paper compares and contrasts the marketing and advertising strategies of Audi and BMW. Both companies are German-based and sell their products in the luxury car market. The two companies have a history of marketing and advertising rivalries that have manifested through public advertising wars (Kumar 9).
The same rivalry has manifested through the development and application of new technologies. This paper explores different aspects of their marketing strategies and promotional campaigns.
Comparison and Contrast of the two Marketing Strategies
According to Kotler (5), a company’s marketing strategy consists of four distinctive areas – product, place, promotion, and price. This section of the paper evaluates the marketing strategies of Audi and BMW based on this marketing framework.
BMW
For a long time, BMW has marketed itself as a luxury automobile brand (Klein 7). In line with this strategy, the company has continually targeted affluent people with a high disposable income because they can afford their cars (Johnson 9). BMW’s place strategy focuses on constructing different manufacturing plants in different markets (Johnson 9).
Through this strategy, the company does not import its cars from Germany because it manufactures them in their host’s location. Comparatively, the company’s pricing strategy centers on charging their customers a premium for improved value. This value has emerged from improved technology, luxury and the infusion of advanced car features (value-based pricing) (Klein 7).
Its promotion strategy has focused on positioning the BMW brand as a household name. To do so, the company has developed innovative advertisements (Johnson 6). In line with this strategy, the company has also sponsored high-profile events like the Olympics. Lastly, BMW’s product strategy has focused on developing cars (usually sedans) with sleek designs and high quality. Its products also have advanced technology, low gas mileage and a high performance (Klein 10).
AUDI
Similar to the BMW, Audi’s product strategy centers on providing its customers with high-tech, modern and quality vehicles (Kumar 5). In line with this strategy, the company strives to produce products with advanced technology. Its cars also have the latest features in automobile production. Audi’s slogan “truth of engineering” sums this product strategy.
The company’s price strategy aims to make the company’s cars affordable to many people. In this regard, Audi cars retail at average prices compared to its rivals, such as Mercedes Benz and BMW (Bhasin 3). However, the company has made sure that this pricing strategy strikes a careful balance with quality. Stated differently, although Audi cars are affordable, they have a high quality.
This is why Kumar (7) argues that although Audis may be relatively cheaper than its rivals, both brands observe the same level of quality in their car production processes. Audi’s promotion strategy has focused on presenting their cars as racing machines (Kumar 7).
The company believes that this strategy would show that the company’s cars are faster and better than others are (Bhasin 3). Lastly, Audi’s placement strategy highlights the company’s quest to avail its cars in major showrooms. This way, its customers could inspect the cars in their respective countries.
The table below compares the marketing strategies of both BMW and Audi
Marketing Component
BMW
Audi
Place
Manufacturing cars in hosts’ locations
Importing cars from Germany (its headquarters)
Price
High Prices (value-based pricing)
Average price
Promotion
Sponsoring high-profile events, such as the Olympics
Sponsoring racing events
Product
Provides its customers with high-tech, modern and quality vehicles
Provides its customers with high-tech, modern and quality vehicles
Marketing Information
In today’s fast-paced and competitive automotive market, carmakers need to gather useful marketing information that would set them apart from their competitors (Bhasin 3). In particular, Audi could use this advantage because its overall sales (globally) are lower than BMW’s (Kumar 7).
Particularly, the company should use marketing information to get a broader understanding of the global automobile market and identify untapped opportunities it could exploit. Furthermore, with a proper marketing information system in place, Audi could easily track and improve independent operation processes in its production processes (Bhasin 3).
This way, the company could easily establish a broader perspective not only of the global automobile market, but also of its independent processes, thereby facilitating improvements, which would give it a competitive advantage over its rivals.
Two uses for Consumer-Oriented promotions that could help one company in the short term and long term
Consumer-oriented promotions are useful to carmakers, both in the short term and long-term because competition in the global market is higher than ever before (Johnson 9). Such promotions may include price reductions, tax rebates, coupons and other inducements. Audi could benefit from such promotions to improve its competitive position in the market.
In the short-term, the company could retain more of its customers this way (Ray 4). For example, if it offers free after-sales service to its customers, the company could retain more customers in the cutthroat automobile market because its customers would be more appreciative of the extent that the company is going to earn their business.
In the long-term, consumer-oriented promotions could improve customer loyalty to the Audi brand (Ray 4). For example, when customers know that they could always get a good price for a high quality car (through rebates or sales); they are likely to develop a strong brand loyalty to the brand.
Analyze the Strategic Manner in which the leading company in this product group has made its pricing decisions by using one or more of the four pricing objectives
Some of the most common pricing objectives are increasing monetary sales, increasing returns on investment (ROI), maximizing long-run profit, maximizing short-term profit (Kotler 17). The key components of BMW’s pricing mix strive to meet two of the above-mentioned pricing objectives – increasing ROI and increasing monetary sales.
The company achieves these goals by adopting a premium-pricing model. Indeed, as Klein (13) observes, targeting high-end customers allows the company to charge a higher price for its units, thereby allowing the company to enjoy higher margins than its competitors. This way, it increases its monetary sales and ROI.
Suggest Two Actions that other Companies within the Same Product Group may take to differentiate themselves and gain a competitive Advantage
In a competitive market, companies have to differentiate themselves by adopting unique marketing strategies that would earn them a competitive advantage (Kotler 3). Many automakers, such as BMW, Audi, and Mercedes Benz, saturate the global luxury automobile market. Mercedes Benz competes directly and indirectly with the two companies discussed in this paper.
The company could differentiate itself by adopting a unique service model. According to Kobran (2), this strategy could help to show how Mercedes Benz is different from other luxury brand companies. The difference could emerge through a depiction of unique car manufacturing processes and its differences with other companies that operate in the same market segment.
To demonstrate how this advantage will differentiate Mercedes Benz from its competitors, Kobran says, “Companies that can demonstrate a more effective way to service their customers often gain a competitive advantage and a compelling way to differentiate” (3). Alternatively, Mercedes Benz could differentiate itself through technical expertise. This differentiating factor does not mean that the company should differentiate itself through technology only.
Instead, it could project itself as having a solution to a perennial problem among car buyers (Kobran 5). For example, it could present itself as the company that builds stable cars. Collectively, adopting unique car manufacturing processes and advancing its technical position in the automobile industry could help the company to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals such as BMW and Audi.
Define the most Effective Advertising Medium for a Company in the Selected Product Category
There are different types of advertising media used by different companies to promote their brands. The most common types of advertising media include television, radio, print publications, internet, direct mail, and sponsorships. Although these advertising strategies have different advantages and disadvantages, some of them are more effective in the automotive industry than others are (Ray 6).
The most effective advertising medium for promoting luxury car brands, such as BMW and Audi, is sponsorship. The justification for the advancement of this strategy is its focused nature (Kotler 15). For example, sponsoring motor events is likely to market a car brand among people who like cars. This way, car companies would be targeting specific and not general audiences.
Ray calls this type of marketing strategy “marketing with the end in mind” (5). Furthermore, sponsoring a car event taps into the emotional appeal of such events among potential customers who are passionate about cars (Kotler 16). Similarly, it is more relevant than other types of advertising, which marketers could use in the luxury automobile market, because it is relevant by reaching potential customers where they choose to be in.
Sponsorship is also more effective than other types of advertising in the automobile market because it is interactive (Kotler 16). Stated differently, while other types of advertising, such as television and radio, are monologue, sponsorship is a dialogue between sellers and potential buyers. Therefore, luxury carmakers, such as BMW and Audi are bound to benefit from the continuation of sponsorship as their main promotional strategy.
Conclusion
This paper has shown that BMW and Audi are rivals in the luxury automobile sector. They have different marketing strategies that have propelled them to leadership positions in the global automobile market. Their marketing strategies converge based on their promotional and product strategies. However, they differ in terms of their place and pricing strategies.
Since BMW has more sales numbers than Audi does, this paper proposes that the latter should exploit marketing data to gain a competitive advantage by gaining a broader perspective of its internal processes and identifying possible opportunities for improvement. This paper has also shown that other companies in the luxury brand segment could differentiate themselves in the market by adopting a unique service model and through improved technical expertise.
To wade through the cutthroat automobile industry, this paper also proposes that leading automobile brands should pursue sponsorship as the main advertising strategy because it is more interactive and focused, compared to other available strategies. This advertising strategy is likely to increase their sales numbers and earn them a competitive advantage over their rivals.
Works Cited
Bhasin, H. 8 Advantages of Marketing Information Systems. 2012. Web.
Johnson, R. BMW AG: Marketing Plan. 2015. Web.
Klein, A. Marketing Plan: BMW 1-series in Germany, London, UK: GRIN Verlag, 2007. Print.
The past one year has seen FRESH Company become seriously dedicated to laying solid business foundation in readiness to rolling out its new product line. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in the company’s broad based marketing as well as sales of its juice products.
Promotional Campaign Strategy
The company’s promotional campaigns should include its profile in all the marketing strategies that it adopts. The company’s operating philosophy is very important in attracting the attention of potential customers to the company and to purchase the company’s old and new products.
The company’s history is also very important in informing the customers of the company’s pre-existence and pre-operations as well as its products. The history should include highlights of the company’s products that have been in the market and should outline the special campaign programs that it had done previously.
The previous promotional campaigns should mention those activities that have impacted on the lives of the community and individuals in the community such as sponsorships, monetary rewards among others. The promotional campaigns should mention the company’s continued growth in providing quality and standardized goods as well as the latest developments in its production capability that has allowed it to come up with the new product line (Baack & Clow 9).
Advertisements that are targeted at creating awareness to the public on the company’s new product line should outline the unique qualities of each product which gives each an advantage over those that are already in the market. In the promotional campaigns, the company should adopt a marketing strategy that ensures that the public familiarizes with the company’s new brand, TAKE, as well as the specific products offered under the new brand, which are the orange juice, apple, blueberry and peach.
The unique features should outline the advantages that pregnant women, young mothers, athletes, population above the age of 35, as well as the urban young population of age 20-24 would obtain from each of the new products or all of them. It should mention the unique ingredients or qualities which make the TAKE brand have greater health advantages as compared to those that already exist in the market.
The new line of products should have been developed to improve the company’s current products in the market as well as to bridge the quality and health gaps created by the present similar products in the market offered by other companies. The new line of products is therefore designed to reduce the health risks that are associated with current products which are presented to the public by other companies (Baack and Clow 8).
Advertisements on the new line of products should utilize both the traditional and the modern advertisement methods; and these should include newspapers, radio, television and the internet.
Advertisements through television, internet and the newspapers should present real people and pictures of pregnant women, young mothers, athletes, population above the age of 35, and the urban young population of age 20-24 with the representative of each demographic group advertizing the unique features and advantages associated with the new products.
The features should encompasses a wide range of the quality, health as well as the prestige gaps that are missing in the current similar products offered by other companies. This would create more brand awareness as well as greater attention to the new line of products (Baack & Clow 10).
FRESH Company has to consider the use of integrated marketing communication so as to create more awareness on the company’s brands and product goods.
The internet should provide more reliable means that would enable the company carry out promotional campaigns while at the same time giving it the opportunity to acquire vital information about the characteristics and demographics of its customers. This would help increase the company’s relationship with its customers as it would give them the chance to have direct communication between the management and the customers.
Positive customer relationship created through integrated marketing communication would help establish customer loyalty to the company’s brands. The internet would also give customers the opportunity to explore all the brands and the product goods offered by FRESH Company. This would help create awareness of the company’s products while giving the customers the opportunity to choose from the wide range of products offered in different brands.
The company should be able to use the internet to carry out surveys to determine the performance of its new line of products and its old brands as well as the overall performance of the company as viewed by the general public. This would enable the company evaluate its performance from the customers perspective and be able to understand whether the marketing strategies put in place are effective or not (Kumar 9).
Conclusion
Promotional campaigns for the new line of products offered by FRESH Company should focus on enabling customers understand that the company offering the TAKE brand has been in existence and that some of the products that they buy and use are from the company. It should employ an integrated marketing communication to enable the company achieve better customer relationship as well as customer loyalty.
Works Cited
Baack, Donald & Clow, Kenneth E. Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications, 3rd edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education. 2006. Print.
Kumar, MAM. Integrated Marketing. MICA Research Series, Vol. 1. India: Oxford University Press. 2004. Print.
Promotional items/gifts are articles of an organization which are often branded with the logo of that organization and used and used for communication and marketing purposes. Such items are given away to promote products and services of an organization.
Promotional products such as pens, coffee mugs, T-shirts and others with the name of a business imprinted on them are very effective when used for that purpose, (Huff 279). Recently, promotional products have been proved to be the best choice of promoting business enterprises’ image, products brands and services. In fact, various studies have come up with Statistics that support this fact. Moreover, they are the promotion alternatives compared to other traditional promotion strategies.
The major advantage of mostly used promotional items is that they can reach a wider market and they can be used on a daily basis by anyone for example, pens and key holders and others. Consequently, they are very effective and beneficial to business enterprises. However, though such products are the best option, it must be clear that other promotion methods such as trade shows, exhibitions, TV and Radio advertisements, internet sites and others are also effective and should not be ruled out. Therefore, this paper examines some of the benefits of promotional gifts which make them unique from other promotion strategies as illustrated by various studies. In addition it should be understood that these products can also be detrimental to the business if not used well. In view of that fact, it will also be prudent to focus on some of the harmful effects that can be caused by such items in this paper.
Promotion gifts are beneficial to a business in various aspects, which makes them a better option from the other promotion methodologies. To start with, these items are very effective in making the recipients remember the products and services of a company, (Hart et al. 38).
This fact is well illustrated by a study that was conducted in America in the year 2006 by researchers from university of Louisiana and university of Texas on effectiveness of promotional products compared to other traditional methods, (PPAIDIM, 2011). The study involved collection of data on responses by recipients of promotional items/gifts given by companies.
The findings of that research showed that approximately 76.1% of those given promotional gifts could recall the name of the business imprinted on these items. Surprisingly, they even could recall the names of those companies even after twelve months since when they were given. From these results it is easy to deduce that such gifts create visibility for a company which can lead to traffic and eventually help to increase level of sales.
Those findings also illustrate the importance of putting the name and contacts of a firm on the items. Such approach will ensure that when clients want to contact the company, they have ready details from the items. In addition, these items facilitate the recipients to be seeing the name of the firm regularly. Therefore, these items serve as a reminder to the clients and this helps to keep long-lived connection.
Another benefit of promotional items is that they help to create a good impression or image of a company, its products and services to clients, (Hart, T. et al. 38). This can be confirmed by the findings of the research illustrated earlier that was conducted by researchers from university of Louisiana and university of Texas, (PPAIDIM, 2011). Statistics derived from this study showed that those respondents who had been offered with gifts were likely to recommend the donor companies compared to those who had relieved nothing.
Significantly, that group had a more positive image which was evident from their comments. These facts explain that use of promotional items do not only give a firm a corporate image but they also enable it to build lasting relationships with would be clients. Consequently, the recipients of these items are likely to talk more about your business and the quality of your services, (Hart et al. 38).
It has been found out that most clients find promotion gifts very useful. Consequently, they form emotional attachment to them eventually to the products and services of the firm offering them those gifts. As such, they foster a sense of goodwill in the client’s mind. In the year 2004, a study had been conducted by L. J Marketing Research on the impact of promotional gifts on performance of business in America, (PPAIDIM 2011).
The data collected from this research indicated that 75.4% of those who were given promotional items kept those items since they found them useful. Further, 73 % of the respondents who found the gifts indicated that they used them at least once every week. In addition, 45.2% of that group claimed to have been using the product at least once every day.
More interesting 52 % of the recipients did business with the advertisers who gave them the items afterwards. In short, those products are very useful in enhancing a sense of belonging to the recipients. Eventually, such clients feel emotionally indebted to the firm and always choose that firm among other similar firms. Therefore, the impact of promotional items is dipper than it seems to be on sight.
Promotional products help to reinforce the impact of other promotion strategies on the recipients. A good example is the findings of the study conducted by L. J Marketing Research. During that study, the researchers divided population from a certain region into three groups. They went to promote products of a certain company to the three groups.
That event involved trade shows where individuals form one group received two gifts each, those from the second group received one each and no gift was given for those from the third group, (PPAIDIM 2011). The researchers later measured the level of remembrance of three groups to the events of trade show and knowledge of the products that were being advertised.
The findings indicated that the group that was given two gifts was four times able to remember the event and all related details compared to the one that was not given gifts. In addition, respondents that were given gifts had goodwill towards the company while those who were not, the opposite were true.
Also there were significant differences between the first and the second group, the first group ranking higher in this aspect. This means that promotional gifts are very influential and more so when used conjunction with the other available advertisement methods. Therefore, it is recommendable for businesses to complement other advertisement methods with these means.
However, as Hart, T et al (38) explains, promotional items may have harmful impacts to the image of your business. This would happen if these items lead to detrimental effect to the recipient or to the environment. For example, mugs used as promotional items that have sharp edges may injure the user, usually a client or a potential client.
In such a case, the injured person will develop a bad image of all products associated with the logo on the mug. In fact, such a person is likely to preach against the products or services of your business. Similarly, shirts, pens and other items made from nylon and other inorganic materials could be injurious to the environment especially if they are thrown away for disposal. But if a company uses items that are not harmful, it will have ruled out possibility of the negative effect.
Secondly, promotional items can harm the image of a company if they last only for a short period of time and they get used. Such items create bad impression to the users towards the promotional items. They eventually equate such items to the products of your business. For example, if you give low value batteries as promotional items to promote an electronic sales business, this could prove more harm than good to your business.
Such batteries will get used after a very short period of time as it is used by a potential customer. Possibly, the client or potential client will have feeling that your electronic products are of such low value, (Huff 279). However, this will only require a company to make a wise choice of durable products. That way, its good image will not only be maintained, it will also improve.
Finally, promotion items may not be effective if they are not related to your business products or services. This calls for careful selection of such items. For example, use of mouse pads of a computer as gifts to advertise a computer sales business can be very fruitful. Similarly, choosing pens to promote a bookshop is a good option and can be very effective.
But choosing pens as promotion items to advertise the services of a restaurant may not very effective, (Huff 279). But this is easily treated through making a choice of items that are related to the brands of a company’s products. In short, these points explain that though promotional items have a wide range of benefits, they can cause more than good sometimes If not used well.
Conclusion
Promotional items can be quite beneficial if one wants to use them to promote your business. They will help circulate the name of the business while at the same time helping to draw customers to the business. Evidently, they are very influential in making the recipients remember about the business, its product brands and services. Secondly, they are very effective in enhancing a good image of the business to the recipients.
As such, they can be used to lure new clients to the business. In addition, they help to, maintain the existing clients. Remarkably, such products help the create sense of goodwill in the mindset of a client. Emotionally, the client feels obligated to purchase the products of that business enterprise other than form other similar business enterprises. Lastly, these items produce quite impressive results when combined with other methods of advertisements. They greatly support the impact of those methods.
Though these promotional items are largely beneficial, some circumstances have been examined in which they might be harmful to the business. This would happen if they are harmful to the user or the environment. Still, they can display a bad image of a firm if the are not durable. Finally, they may not be effective when they are not related to the products of a firm.
They thus fail to produce the desired result and end up being costly to the firm. Therefore, though promotional gifts may have harmful results, they are largely beneficial. As explained earlier, it should be understood that the other promotional methods such as tradeshows, exhibitions media advertisements and others are effective and cannot be ruled out. However, various no study indicates those strategies surpass the use of promotional gifts.
Works Cited
Hart, Ted, Capps, Adrienne and Bauer, Mathew. Nonprofit Guide to Going Green. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.
Huff, Priscilla. Make Your Business Survive and Thrive!: 100+ Proven Marketing Methods to Help You Beat the Odds and Build a Successful Small Or Home-Based Enterprise. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2006. Print.
Promotional Products Association International and Dynamic Image Marketing Systems (PPAIDIM). Power of promotional products, Dynamic Image Marketing Systems Inc, North California, USA. 2011. Web.
Concentrating on the changes in the assortment of the clothes in the line for men, Old Navy developed a new promotion strategy in order to attract the male target audience and influence the men’s purchasing behavior. Old Navy’s new promotion strategy is based on providing the advertisements with the help of online videos which can be watched in the Internet, and they are also available with the help of the modern mobile devices.
The choice of the medium to promote the new line of the clothes for men depends on the development of the contemporary trends in marketing and advertising and on the recent researches in the fields. The marketers of Old Navy chose to attract the 25-35-year-old male audience with the help of the gender-oriented video advertisements based on the ironical content.
The target audience of the new advertising campaign provided by Old Navy is young adult males whose age is between 25 and 35 years. The marketers’ choice can be discussed as rather controversial because of the opinions that the target audience of the advertisements which present definite clothes brands is often women.
However, Old Navy has conducted the research which results support the idea that today men are inclined to purchase definite items without women’s help (Behind the campaign, 2011). That is why, the orientation to the potential customers can be discussed as more effective than the orientation to the other public which can be interested in the products. In this situation women cannot be discussed as the target audience of the products which are promoted with the help of the Old Navy’s advertising campaign.
Nevertheless, in spite of the fact the direct orientation to the potential users of the products can become a rather effective promotion strategy, the problem is in the fact the real target audience of the advertisements with the help of which the male clothes is promoted also includes women. Women are traditionally discussed as the target audience of the clothes brands in spite of the division into female and male lines.
Thus, the marketers of Old Navy chose the progressive variant to determine the target audience of the products, and attract men as the customers whose purchasing behavior should be formed, but it is also necessary to focus on the traditional vision of the target audience within the industry. From this point, it is also important to refer to the women’s expectations from the presented products and their advertising.
The mobile media were chosen by Old Navy for providing the video advertisements. The marketers have discussed the modern tendencies according to which the young people of the age between 25 and 35 years prefer to get the information with the help of their mobile devices than with the help of television as the source. The young people who are 25-35-year-old are discussed in contemporary marketing as Millennials (Digital marketing, 2012).
Thus, this group of potential consumers should be examined with references to their reaction to advertising and to their expectations from the products promoted. Millennials are considered as the audience which cannot be persuaded with the help of traditional advertising strategies. To attract the attention of these young people to the definite product, it is necessary to use the source of information which is actively utilized by these persons.
From this point, TV advertisements cannot be discussed as effective in relation to this target audience because Millennials do not watch TV a lot, and they do not rely on the information presented in TV advertisements (Digital marketing, 2012). Discussing the situation from this perspective, it is possible to note that the decision to use online video advertisements which can be accessed with the help of mobile devices can be considered as the successful variant to reach the necessary audience.
Young men often use mobile devices, and they pay more attention to the information presented with the help of online video. That is why, the marketers’ assumptions were based on the idea that today mobile or digital media are more effective for attracting the potential consumers and forming their purchasing behavior.
The orientation to the potential consumers’ interests and habits is important in product marketing. Thus, these aspects and the marketers’ assumptions can be discussed as valid. However, the orientation to one main source in promoting definite products is not as successful as the usage of different methods or media.
It is possible to recommend developing the advertisements for the other media, as it is stated about the products’ promotion in publications (Behind the campaign, 2011). In spite of the fact it is significant to meet the interests of the determined target audience and reach it with the media familiar for them, it is also possible to determine the larger circle of the potential consumers and their interests in relation to the used sources of information.
To attract the target male audience, Old Navy has developed the creative campaign the effectiveness of which can be discussed from several perspectives. Having analyzed the role of the gender-neutral and gender-specific advertisements, the company’s marketers concentrated on gender-specific advertisements developed for drawing the men’s attention to the brand (Want to reach male shoppers?, 2011).
However, the reaction to the creative campaign based on the humorous content can be different. The marketers attract the audience’s attention to the fact that they chose to influence the male purchasing behavior directly because men know what they want to buy, and it is possible to draw their attention to the brand using video advertisements accessible with the help of mobile devices.
Nevertheless, the accent should be made on the fact that men know what they want to buy, and extremely creative advertisements can prevent the audience from concentrating on a product itself. The positive feature of Old Navy’s advertisements the content of which depends on humor is in attractiveness of the video for the audience because of the interesting content which can evoke definite positive emotions.
Humor and irony are often used in advertisements in order to stimulate the consumers’ reaction to the product and form their purchasing behavior. Nevertheless, the usage of humor in advertisements can influence the process of promotion negatively because of the content misinterpretation, the developed social stereotypes and prejudice, and because of the negative associations.
It is possible to propose the modifications to the chosen concept in order to decrease the possibility of evoking negative emotions and associations. Thus, it is necessary to avoid the aspects which provoke the controversial discussions within the society. In this case, it is the extreme concentration on men with the female qualities. Moreover, the overuse of humor in the advertisement prevents people from focusing on the promoted product because this product is rather difficult to be determined.