No coke…Pepsi.

I’m choosing to do my marketing research project on Pepsico. I remember growing up the Pepsi campaigns were what motivated me to get into advertising. From Michael Jackson to Britney to Kendell Jenner. Whether I agree with the direction they’re are going in with their marketing campaign doesn’t matter because they are making bank on their approach to use household names in their advertising.

I am interested in looking further into their past marketing techniques and how I can provide marketing research for future campaigns.

Morally Sound Marketing

Marketing departments can have a such a huge impact to how the general public views a product or company. In the words of Uncle Ben,

Understanding this power is important for any one entering into the Marketing world. You hold the power to influence so much, use it wisely. Every human should strive to be ethical and morally sound even and I believe AMA’s ethical standards are a good frame work.

• Honesty
  • Giving the consumer accurate information about a product and/or service
• Responsibility
  • Taking ownership for your marketing claims about a product and/or service
• Fairness
  • Represent the product and/or service clearly while marketing or advertising it
• Respect
  • Putting value in individuals differences and avoid stereotyping customers or depicting demographic groups (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation) in a negative or dehumanizing way.
• Transparency
  • Strive to communicate clearly to consumers
• Citizenship
  • Strive to protect the ecological environment in the execution of marketing campaigns and give back to communities

In our turbulent political and social climate, it is easy for marketing agencies to stereotype consumers such as dividing their demographic into 2 group. Our population is so diverse and it can’t so easily divided and when marketing agents do that –  they will not be effective. It good to understand subgroups within demographic groups and when you are able to market on a micro-level your campaign will that much more successful.

Following your moral “gut” is the first and foremost goal you should follow in the marketing. Marketing has such a pull on our lives with us being marketed to every second of the day.

Eat a Snickers…

Snickers had a big job to turn their brand around and become more popular. They created a campaign that would make their synonymous with hunger. Public relations and marketing need to work together to make an integrated campaign like this to work out.
By making the brand of Snickers be related to the word of hunger, they are solidifying their brand as something some one needs to satisfy a need. This is something that companies strive towards. Using celebrities to convey this message is smart and helps audience remember the campaign.

The difference between marketing and public relations is that the goals for marketing teams are to reach consumers and make them think, believe or do some kind of sales focused action. While public relations is about selling the company or brand through positively managing the communication channels between a company and its stakeholders.

I think that Snickers try to stretch themselves to thin. They expanded their campaign by changing their labels to other emotions:

source

By expanding to more than just hungry, it can cloud or muddle the message. I think it would have been more successful by using synonyms of hungry rather than effects of hungry.

S.M.A.R.T. Marketing

Goals, strategies, and tactics

• A goal is something a marketing department or campaign is striving towards.
• A strategy is a game plan organized for the goal set by the marketing department.
• Tactics are steps within the strategy that the marketing department.

Without setting a goal, strategy, and tactics put in place a marketing plan can not go anywhere.

As a marketing coordinator, all goals you set should be SMART:

Specific – Can the detail in the information sufficiently pinpoint problems or opportunities?
Measurable – Can a quantitative or qualitative attribute be applied to create a metric?
Actionable – Can the information be used to improve performance?
Relevant – Can the information be applied to the specific problem faced by the manager?
Time-related – Can the information be viewed through time to identify trends?

For example, you set a goal to increase revenue by setting objectives. After your objectives have been set a strategy is set in place. This is a comprehensive game plan for your marketing campaign. Next, tactics are listed. This is your game plan set into motion.

KPI (key performance indicators) are the traceable data that can be collected to prove that the goals, strategies, and tactics are taking an effect. These include but may not be limited to:

• Average daily/weekly/monthly engaged users for Facebook and Pinterest
• Average daily/weekly/monthly reach
• Average daily/weekly/monthly impressions
• Twitter and Instagram Followers
• YouTube Views & subscribers
• Open rate and click through rate on emails

 

Colgate-Palmolive:Ethically sound?

After some research I believe Colgate is a good candidate of being an ethically sound and “green-minded” company. Their core values puts an emphases on improving their employee’s health and reduce health risks as well as encouraging their families to live a healthier lifestyle. They strive to provide an environment that is safe with a goal of zero-lost time incidents. They provide education  and tools to their people to elevate financial awareness.  They have partnered animal shelters to help more than 2 million cats and dogs and have reach 60 million people to bring hand-washing awareness.

In their sustainability report in 2016 they talk about focusing on these issues:

 I believe that in this day in age it’s important for companies to not only be focused on making their employees lives better but also wanting to make the world a better place. They are committed to the following:

• Science-Based Goals
  • We will set science-based climate goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Energy Management and Investment
  • We will continue to improve our global Energy Management System and invest in
    planet-related improvements via our manufacturing capital program.
• Low-Carbon Energy
  • We will promote use of renewable energy and support development of low-carbon
    energy supply.
• Low-Carbon Products and Supply Chains
  • We will quantify greenhouse gas emissions throughout our value chain and focus on reducing the most significant emissions. Colgate will ensure responsible sourcing of the forest commodities associated with deforestation.
• Climate Resilience
  • We will integrate climate resiliency into our risk management processes.
• Collaboration and Disclosure
  • We will collaborate with stakeholders to demonstrate business leadership on
    climate. We are also committed to transparency and will publicly disclose our climate strategies and goals and report on our progress.

I believe this company has made quite a few of consciousness choices to be a better company. While I’m sure these choices will save their company I believe they are making these decisions because they care and want to set an example of their ethical and green choice.

 

References

“Sustainability.” Colgate-Palmolive Global Sustainability Initiatives, http://www.colgatepalmolive.com/en-us/core-values/sustainability.

Marvel vs. DC

As a self-proclaimed comic book geek, I jumped at the chance to discuss these 2 brands. I grew up with the golden years of Batman when Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton rule and when Burton’s vision for DC exploded the brand. He had just enough comic book appeal with the right amount of DC “darkness”. That being said DC has taken a dip in it’s mass appeal compared to it’s rival of Marvel.

While as a kid, I favored DC – I’ve grown to really enjoy the Marvel comics and movies that have followed in recent years. DC had cornered the market in the box office for so long but Marvel has made an extensive comeback. With the release of Iron Man in 2008, a domino effect moved this comic brand forward. After 18 movies released in the last 10 years, they have built a multi-million dollar business that generates viewership and repeat business. Marvel has recently bought by Disney which is insuring their success for future years. The reason why Marvel has been so successful is that it appeals not only just to adult adventure movie goers but also children. Toy companies have monopolized on creating toys focused Marvel superheros. Given the backing of Disney and the majority of toy companies favor toys focused on marvel character, this only further Marvel as a brand and the “top dog” compared to DC.

The issue with DC is that almost exclusively market to adults. with the reboot of Batman with Christian Bale and Ben Affleck and the Superman reboot, all the DC universes are dark and mature. While this is not a bad thing since it confronts very real political and social issues that adults understand more. While toy manufacturers try to market their DC superheros, it’s hard to do so when young children can’t go see the movies or at least they shouldn’t. I think how they could improve their mass appeal is to be more inclusive when it comes to their audiences. By making movies that appeal to a wider demographic, they maybe able to capture their past success but if continue to make hard-core films like Suicide Squad and Justice league. All of DC’s films are set in a very real world with relevant political views that mirror the real life political turbulence. Marvel’s universe, while still set in modern American, is “safe” universe because the end of the day the Avengers will also save the day.

 

Under Armour

• In the case study article, what market segments were identified and what segmentation strategies were implemented?

During the “I will What I Want” campaign, the target audience was woman. It was actually the largest and most expensive campaign centered around woman ever ran. They targeted athletes that were outside of the typical athlete.

• What do you believe are four to five key points to remember when implementing segmentation strategies?

The key point to remember when implementing segmentation strategies is understanding the under-utilized segments, understanding the your competition, using celebrity endorsement to your advantage, and how the “old time” of word of mouth can really have an impact to your campaign.

• Identify a new market segment that you have noticed recently (during your own shopping experience online, in a commercial ad, or in a secondary resource such as a magazine) that you believe would be a great market to explore. How might you create a segmentation strategy to reach this new market segment?

A new market segment that I have noticed is in the children’s section of toys and clothes. There are far more gender neutral terrain in these sections. Clothes for girls are not all pink and purple and they are marketing “engineering” toys that use to be for boys only to little girls as well. I think this a very moving and interesting turn our society has taken and recognizing not all boys want blue things.

1-2 Blog: Consumer Who? Consumer You!

• What type of consumer are you?

There are 2 kinds of buying I do is impulse buy and planned/research purchasing and usually it has to do with the monetary value of the product. Recently I was in the market for a new car. I downloaded the Autotrader app last summer and I’ve been monitoring the prices of 3 kinds of SUVs. I compared models and trim levels. I researched safety of each SUV and the colors that the manufacturers offered. It was a long 6 or 7 months of research. Finally when I spotted a deal that I knew was far below the market, I pounced. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I am grocery shopping. I have my handy list for the week but when I see the hot coco and marshmallows on the end cap, I immediately add them to my cart.

• What influences your buying decisions, and how?

Money and quality rule my buying decisions. I realized in my life that sometimes if spending a little bit more money on something it will last that much longer. When I first left my parents home, I bought all the fixing for my kitchen from dollar general. After about 6 months, my pots and pans were chipping their non-stick surface; my spatulas were melting from over use and my kitchen towels were fraying.  With the help of the internet and price comparing, I am far more successful at this than I was 10 years ago.

• Which stage actually leads to your purchasing decisions?

I would say I follow all 5 stages of consumer decision making. I recognize the need, research, seek alternatives, buy and most often leave reviews when there’s venue for reviews.

• When making a buying decision, how are you influenced by marketing research and marketing design?

As a marketing and graphic design major, I am highly influenced by these aspects of the product. I will go out of my way to purchase something with a good marketing campaign and design than over it’s counterpart.

• Do you experience any post-purchase behavior?

I think everyone has experienced post-purchase behavior. If you are not satisfied with a purchase there are a few avenues you can go do. You can throw it away, complain about it, or simply not use it. There have been quite a few times in my life that I have thrown something away because I dissatisfied with the product because I didn’t feel it worth my time to complain about the product.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton