Creative Audi Ad

 

I found this ad highly creative and nicely-done in communicating the brand message for superior road grip and manoeuvrability. A great way to convey legendary quattro technology by drawing a parallel with firm grip.

 

What do you think.? Let us know by commenting here.

 

Interesting OOH Advertisement

VW comes up with another creative outdoor  ad 🙂

The AMA Roundtable on the Emerging Ethnic Markets in Canada

It was good to see a full-house in the AMA round-table discussion on The Emerging Ethnic Markets in Canada: The Pioneers of Multicultural Marketing held in Toronto last week. It highlighted the interest in the multicultural and new-Canadians markets.

The panellists for the discussion were from the CPG, Market Research, Telecommunications and Banking sectors. Panellists shared their multicultural marketing approach that differed from each other based on the industry / category they represent. Rubicon Foods primarily focuses on other drivers than ethnicity to expand in Canadian market. Rogers caters to all major ethnic segments with cable TV as TV watching differs across cultures. The RBC engages new-Canadians and also promotes multiculturalism within for continued customer satisfaction and engagement.

There was also discussion on how marketers are still trying to get the multicultural marketing on the map. I think “multicultural marketing not on the map” is an effect and feel that it would be useful discussing the cause to this effect. Why the multicultural marketing has not received the recognition yet? Is it because,

My Popular Marketing & Business Articles

So far I have written more than 80 articles and posts on this and the CMA blog. A visitor to this blog asked which ones were the most visited / viewed. Following are the top five articles by number of visits. Click on the titles to read and do let me know what do you think about the ideas discussed in these articles by providing your comments here.

• Putting Multicultural Marketing On The Fast Track
• Highly Effective Communication Model
• SACHIN- A market to grow with
• Workplace Dynamics
• Designing Better Ads

Happy Reading and cheers,

Stay Simple, Stay Focused

Taking a leaf out of Steve Job’s commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, I have a marketing mantra, Stay Simple, Stay Focused. 

It is easier to lose focus, get tactical and into a trial and error mode amid the changed marketing landscape with fragmented media, tight marketing budgets, increasingly empowered consumers and treadmill-economies. Advertisers are concentrating on quick sales, reducing costs per se, keeping up with the Joneses (competitors) and then firefighting. I think these short-term approaches wouldn’t cut it. Instead, starting with a well thought-out, step by step annual marketing plan to reach end-objectives and then sticking to it keeps it simple and focused, with the eyes on the prize.

The key to success is to research your market, segment it, present differentiated and relevant products / services, take a calculated (not necessarily the shortest) route to market and communicate your offer solves the problems or adds value better than the competitors’. Market segmentation is imperative because consumers are closer (like a tribe) and more opinionated than before, thanks to the social media. Moreover, marketing implementation has to be step by step, like building a high-rise. As you can’t sow the seeds until you plow the field, similarly you can’t sell until you develop brand awareness, recall, trial and loyalty.

Fourth Anniversary of Marketing Mirror

Last month marked completion of four years for the Marketing Mirror. It also marked four years of self-expression and my two-cents’ worth on an area that I like to add value via big ideas and better practices. During this period I wrote 72 posts and articles for this blog (contributed few for the CMA blog and other publications as well) and received 122 comments. Several readers subscribed to Marketing Mirror during last few months.

Hats off to you, who visit this blog and provide comments on my articles. Imagine if you wouldn’t have provided comments and feedback, would I still be writing? Perhaps I would be :), but surely I would not be one happy camper.

Hyper-segmentation – a Caveat

We know from Marketing 101 that Marketing and market segmentation go hand-in-hand. Marketers start by segmenting the market to reach and connect with the customers with relevant products, communication, messages and media mix.  However, if the market segment is too broad, you lose the focus and relevance of the brand. If you cut it too tight, you lose the opportunity, economies of scale and profitability. Thus market segments should be balanced to be relevant and profitable.

Market segmentation is of jugular importance in multicultural marketing and there are 101 ways to segment multicultural markets. Few of these are: culture, language, religion, ethnicity, time in country, country of origin and more, and then sub-segmentation on the basis of age, gender, income, family size and education so on and so forth. This at times lends to hyper-segmentation, which I believe is expensive, time-consuming, prone to pitfalls and ineffective.

Canadian Muslims – Another market segment to grow with (via Marketing Mirror)

Market segmentation is the foundation for developing sound marketing strategies and successfully implementing marketing programs. It is especially vital for marketing in Canada that thrives on diversity, mosaic and multiculturalism. Anecdotally, immigrant groups in Canada retain their identity and likes & dislikes longer than in other countries, like the USA and Australia.  South Asians, East Asians and Afro-Canadians are some of the discrete … Read More

via Marketing Mirror

Is Call-to-Action Required?

Call-to-Action phrases like call today, visit us for discounts, or click to learn more are commonly used in advertising to encourage audience to act and buy products or services. How effective are these catchphrases? I haven’t seen a research that supports or discounts call to action verbs but I believe it has been overplayed.

Why would you tell customers to call, visit, click or do this or that? Nobody wants to be taught or spoken at. We live in knowledge economy. People realize their needs and wants and can look for it (thin market concept). Providing information through gentle and frequent reminders about benefits of your offer is more effective than hard sell. I think subtle messages that connect emotionally with the target market do a better job in increasing brand awareness and sales.

Do you think that Call-to-action has diminishing utility in knowledge economy? Please comment and let me know.

McDonald’s coffee versus Tim Hortons

McDonald’s is trying to make in-roads in the $22 billion coffee market with well-planned and well-timed free coffee giveaways. They are generating trial by encouraging customers to experience their premium blend coffee, an effective way to acquire customers, and their timing was perfect, coinciding with the launch of Roll up the Rim by Tim Hortons.  

Though McDonald’s coffee sales increased by 30% since they started free coffee giveaways and must have affected Tim’s sales during current Roll-up-the-ring, I am not sure if they gained market share from Tim Hortons.  There are three reasons for my premise:

– The Omnipresent brand: Tim Hortons is one of the top Canadian brand. It’s said that until you like ice hockey, Tim Hortons and snow, you are not a Canadian. Moreover, it has far more outlets than McDonald’s, which is so convenient to pick up a coffee on your way and move on.   

–  Habit: Coffee drinking is a well-ingrained habit and we know how difficult it is to change habits. It may take McDonald’s many more free coffee giveaways to reach there.

–  Price: Though not a critical factor in influencing brand choice, price is a consideration for heavy coffee drinkers. McDonald’s coffee is a costly than Tim’s.

One small thing, however, can influence a shift towards McDonald’s coffee, the Tim Horton’s lids – hard to secure in place and pops up while you take a sip, often hitting nose, creating nuisance. I love McDonald’s lid, these easily sit in the grove while you enjoy coffee.

Both are great marketing companies, so I am amazed why McDonald’s hasn’t leverage this competitive advantage in their communications yet and I wouldn’t be surprised if fixing the lids is in-works at Tim Horton’s.

Brand vs. Commodity

A discussion on the difference between a brand and a commodity is going on at one of my groups on LinkedIn. This discussion was initiated by Marco Monfils from Hungary. More than 150 comments have been made so far, highlighting marketing and sales professionals love for this topic. It is interesting that respondents presented their own definition and description of a brand and commodity, no author was quoted and the comments varied greatly. I noticed two significant trends as follows:

Second Anniversary

November 2009 marks two years of blogging on Marketing Mirror and it has been a fascinating and satisfying journey for me. I met with people who wanted to discuss my articles, spoke in forums, pursued my passion and provided value-addition to people around me.

This blog was started with a simple objective as follows:

My Favourite Brands

 Harley-Davidson: For over 100 years, Harley-Davidson has successfully targeted, satisfied perceived needs and touched the lives of its target market, that is, men and women of 40+ years. It understands its target market well. It cultivates emotional bond via innovative graphic advertising and classic conditioning through exposure to its ads, merchandising and branding. It fulfills the brand promise with consistent product quality and meets perceived needs for freedom and sense of achievement. Harley Davidson is an iconic brand with highest brand loyality from generations of customers.

Is Twitter a fad

Twitter is the buzz  word these days and possibly the fastest growing social platform. Results of a recent survey by Nielsen Online riased doubts on the long term potential of Twitter. I provided my two-cents worth on it few days ago. If you are interested in knowing more about Twitter’s status and future posibilities, click at the link below.

http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com/archives/2009/05/is_twitter_a_fad.html

 

Let us know what do you think by posting your comment on it.

Thank you,

Know Your Market

Marketers know how vital it is to understand the target market and its nuances for successfully positioning and marketing products and services. This becomes increasingly important in international markets, where cultural differences accentuate the significance of understanding consumer behaviour and markets. You may have heard stories about marketers and brands facing problems because of not respecting cultural differences and expected norms.

The following joke candidly depicts a similar situation!