Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Uncategorized category.
New Foods for the Lazy Consumer
There is a food marketing institue show in Las Vegas this week. Many companies are unveiling the latest and greatests food creations. Kraft Foods has developed 80 new products for the laziest American consumer. This is great… but I hate being called a lazy consumer. The one question I have in regards to these products is…. how healty are they? Are they better than driving through the golden arches? Alot of time the convenience of these packaged foods means high calories, high sugar, high fat which ultimately leads to obesity. Now here is the question. Why doesn’t Kraft get the blame for creating high fat foods like the fast food counter partner?
Check out the weblink to read more about a few of Kraft’s new products.
Help, I’m getting Greenwashed.
As Kermit the frog always said.. It’s not easy being Green… In this age of saving the enviroment and trying to reduce costs many companies are following the proper steps and are completely going Green– by recycling and finding ways to conserve energy and reducing wastes. Other companies are just jumping on the band wagon and advertising green initatives so they are in the race with the competition.
The FTC is reviewing new rules for companies to advertise environmentally friendly. Currently, its hard to determine whos sending the real green message and whose jumping on the bandwagon. The last set of rules created by the FTC was in 1998. The new rules are slated to be release by the end of the year. These rules may require companies to prove they are green. This should reduce alot of the compnies riding the greenwashing trend.
In the mean time, run acrossed a great website http://www.greenwashingindex.com/. This website is a great social marketing site that allows consumers to rate commercials in regards to greenwashing. The site refers the the ratings like golf–the lower the score the better. If the commercial has a high score it then has a high greenwashing effect on the consumer.
Also Check out. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?list=type&type=102
Stimulus Check Fight
When the announcement was made U.S. tax payers would receive additional money for filing 2007 taxes marketers began brain storming on how to lure customers to their businesses. The $600 dollar checks for single filers and $1200 check for married couples started to appear last week in addition to the numerous offers businesses are creating to . The article mentioned in total, some 130 million consumers are expected to benefit from the $152 billion measure, which will place checks in consumers’ hands between now and July.
So what are some of the retail marketers doing to catch customers?
Sears and KMART kicked off the campaign by offering consumers to spend their entire check on a gift card. The company will add a 10% bonus for choosing to use the check at their location.
Walmart is offering to cash checks for no charge. In addition to rolling back prices on certain products.
Home Depot has partnered with U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.) to encourage consumers to spend their rebates on energy-efficient products and services.
Kroger Co.is offering of free groceries. the supermarket will add a 10% bonus to gift cards purchased in $300 increments when shoppers use their stimulus checks.
These are just a few gimmicks draw consumers into the stores. Will it work? Only time will tell. Personally, I think many people will hold on to their checks and put it into savings/college funds/IRAs or pay off credit card debt. Only a handful of people will spend it on frivolous items.
Information from: http://adage.com/article?article_id=126829
fashion & golden arches
The Golden Arches has recently added their advertising to MySpace’s fashion TV. I have not experienced the site but after reading an article from Ad Age and looking at the pictures of the layout, I’m questioning the choice of product placement.
The fast-food giant choose to market its dollar menu. Now the last time I looked at the nutrition chart the saturated fat was out of this world. After watching high fashion with shoes costing more than my monthly apartment rent and super skinny models who have enjoyed the tic tac diet, who wants McD’s? Why not showcase grilled chicken or salads? It will be interesting to see if this advertising has any return for the fast-food giant.
Email Promotions
A long, long time ago, I was introduced to Uno’s pizza. I liked the pizza at the time, so I joined the email club. Most of the time I ignore the emails unless they have a catchy subject line. I opened the email tonight. After looking through the email, I’m wondering who comes up with the content? First of all the email is a bit long requiring some serious scrolling. Secondly, I’m trying to figure out a few ties-into the email.
As I scrolled down the page. The email shows a mini story about two NYU professors creating the Department of Sanitation Museum. (http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/releases/detail/205) Hmm. yummy. trash. I really want to eat a slice of pizza after hearing about trash art.
As i scrolled farther down, there is a box about Uno’s gift cards and a survey asking how large is your TV? Interesting–Not a big deal-its encouraging product.
The next box is about the the ugly #2 pencils used during grammer school. Apparently, the website introduces the reader to the diverse world of pencils. What brands come from around the word. http://www.brandnamepencils.com/ At this point I’m wondering how does this sell pizza?
The next box is a factoid. Chicago is the home of the Nabisco cookie factory. Apparently, in 1995 over 16 billion cookies had been made. I can understand the reference to the Oreo. There is probably some type of Oreo Milkshake or Dessert on the menu. –ok
The final box is a web link to the Bureau of Communications where you can choose a letter and email it to someone. The site has everything from a declaration of romantic intent to formal request to an invitation. http://www.bureauofcommunication.com. This is a great social marketing campaign but it comes way at the end of the email. How many people got this far in the email?
When I got to the end of the email I’m filled with questions. What was the thought behind this email? Do normal people have alot of time to visit all these links? Are they interested in these links? Did this email accomplish Uno’s objectives. Personally, I was not impressed with the email and I was not hungry after the thought of a trash museum.
Great Commercial
How many commercials have you watched that have made a lasting impression making you want to take action. I know personally, there have been very few.
I watched this commercial (see link below) around 8:30am at work and was ready to call it a day. I really wanted to play hooky and kick off my heals and head to the gym for a sweat session. Of ourse, I hung around the office until 5pm and then got my sweat on.
Three cheers for Nike with creating an impactful ad that uses great music and video footage to relay an impactful message. Let’s hope they continue the strength of the campaign.
Is It Really Ronald McDonald’s Fault?
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=28524&pageNo=1
First it was Tony the Tiger, then Cookie Monster and now Ronald McDonald is taking the blame for childhood obesity. The pressure is on the iconic marketing mascot to change his unhealthy image or face elimination. (per article link above)
The McDonald’s Corp has developed a game plan to showcase Ronald McDonald in ads that only include healthy foods-milk and apple slices. Will this help or hurt McDonald’s marketing efforts? When I think McDonalds I don’t think Apples–I think golden fries/chicken McNuggets- and the man wearing big red shoes.
Yes, its a shame fast food restaurants serve food that is unhealthy, but its not 100% the restaurant’s fault. The parents/care takers need to take responsibility and make the proper nutritional decisions for their children. Adults need to take five minutes and cut an apple or make a ham sandwich for their child and skip the processed foods caked with saturated fats. Believe it or not one of the articles from the link stated one out of 10 meals served is a happy meal.
Long live Ronald McDonald.
Social What?
A few years ago, I set up a facebook and myspace account to keep in-touch with friends after college graduation. I had no clue until 3 months ago when I started research for a grad school class that there was an acutal term for what I was doing called Social Networking. Upon further investigation I learned social networking is a component of social media.
So what is Social Media? It includes web sites that allow you to create an on-line social network (Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn ect) create, comment and view text, photos and videos (blogs, YouTube, Flickr) write or read reviews of products and discuss specific topics in depth (discussion boards).
It is evident people have adopted this new media through the millions of blog posts, uploaded videos and shared pictures. This phenomenon gives the average joe the ability to speak out and share their thoughts with people all over the world. Besides individuals, many companies have embraced this new marketing tool. For Example, Dove Beauty Brand (which makes soaps & lotions for women) has launched a site devoted to help younger girls discover their beauty not what the media hypes ups. http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/home.asp. Very empowering site. Target created a successful back-to-school campaign last year on Facebook. The page gave ideas to teens how to decorate with style.
Many other companies are in the social what? category. They either are clueless like I was a few months ago or they fear what the consumer will write and share about the company. Either way, social media isn’t going anywhere, if anything its going to mutiply. My suggestion to those companies would be to jump on the bandwagon and start slowly into the newage of marketing.
In-store events bring excitement and customers
After thumbing through the Sunday paper ads it is apparent retailers are competitive trying to offer the lowest price and the best selection. With retail stores around every corner, it is the consumer’s choice which retailer will win their business.
One way to stand apart from the competition is to host in-store events. These events can draw people into the store just for the event or add to a pre-determined shopping trip. I’ve listed the top five events that have benefited a furniture retailer in the Midwest. This sampling of events had an attendance of over 65,000 in 2007.
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Non Profit Organizations/Charity Events (Humane Society, Dream Factory, Sunflower House)Teaming with a nonprofit organization allows the organization to gain awareness to an audience it might not have typically reached. Have the organization bring information and representatives to talk about their organization. Encourage the group to have an interactive table with an enter to win, kids crafts/coloring or giveaways. These events will draw people to the booth allowing the representatives to talk about their organization.
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Casting Calls (team with a tv station for a reality show casting call)2007 The retailer hosted 2 national casting calls which brought over 9000 people to the store. People drove thousands of miles from California, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Illinois and Nebraska to name a few. They arrive days/hours before the event. This event brought great exposure to new customers outside the retailers advertising radius.
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Celebrity Appearances (professional athletes, celebrity chefs, actors, musicians) Celebrity appearances are expensive however, customers young and old enjoy meeting their idols in person. Try to tie in any products the celebrity might endorse to sell during their appearance for example: books, cds, accessories, ect
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Free Food Customers enjoy food free food. Offer a light lunch a hot dog or sandwich to customers between a specified time frame. Partner with local restaurants and allow the restaurant to pass out menus, coupons, ect. Customers will begin or end their shopping trip with a smile.
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Contests Use creativity and build your own contest: Dig for a diamond, Karaoke Contests, prize dig. When creating an event you have control over choosing the target audience. For example, a promotion digging for diamonds would appeal to a woman while a basketball contest with a grand prize of a TV would appeal to a male audience. Utilize vendors as resources for prizes or giveaways. These contests bring excitement and create a crowd while customers watch event participants.
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