The matrix of marketing metrics

What is the need to evaluate the performance of marketing?

Being a fortune company, one would definitely  like to keep an eye on the performance of marketing activities implemented towards achieving business goals. The evaluation of marketing is based on the qualitative and  quantitative metrics which will further provide insights into the marketing strategy used by an organization. The data collected by a company  can help determine  whether the company has been successful in achieving its marketing objectives or not. If it did, then the same can be followed to garner success in the future. If not, modifications can be made to the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) in order to improve performance. 

Introduction to marketing metrics

Be it Nike, McDonald’s, Toyota or any other bigwig, each one of them is keen to employ different methodologies in order to measure the results of their marketing activities. Every company follows a set of metrics to identify whether the goods and services provided by them meet the needs of their customers and stakeholders or not. The measures used to identify these needs are known as marketing metrics. Marketers use these metrics to calculate the profit earnings comparing it with the expenditure done by the companies on its marketing activities.  Marketing metrics can be of many types namely; Financial, behavioral, memory, physical availability, customer profile. The marketing activity metrics are some common metrics used by the companies all over the world. Return on investment (ROI) which comes under the financial metrics is one of the most difficult tools to interpret and forecast as a small campaign with a high ROI can be worth far less in ‘$’ than a large campaign with a low ROI. 

 

For example, “Market share” metric which comes under behavioral metrics can be used to check the market  share of Coles as well as Wool worths and help them  find out the proportion used by them in the current market. Recently, it was found  in their marketing evaluation that both the brands are losing market share as they are facing tough competition with their European rival ALDI. Around 37% of shoppers visit at least one Coles, one Woolworths and one other supermarket over the same 4-week period. Only 20% of the shoppers are loyal to one brand according to Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine.

(NewsMediaWorks, 2016)

“Flybys” and other loyalty programs are rewarding and we know it,  but the real fact is that it is more rewarding for the company as opposed to the customer since flybys helps the company collect data of its customers including their personal details, buying habits i.e  whether a customer prefers taking, visiting hours, pet shopping, shopping for a newborn, buying vegetarian or non-vegetarian food, preference over other products and other useful information which helps the company to make changes to their marketing mix and plan investments next year’s marketing evaluation. The best loyalty programs are the ones which generate insights about their customers and utilize those insights to improve their marketing programs.

(Tedx talks, 2013)

Timely monitoring of different metrics by a firm can give competitive advantages over its rivals  and create more value for the brand and its shareholders. Marketing dashboards can also be useful in determining how well the company is doing in terms of customer and stakeholder based measures. Overall, it can be said that evaluation of marketing tactics by a firm can provide insights to help an organization perform well.

 

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References 

Tedx talks, (2013). Customer loyalty programmes… why bother! : Lance Walker at TEDxTeAro. [image] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EkiOwoLz-4 [Accessed 23 May 2016].

Motley Fool Australia. (2016). ALDI is stealing market share from Woolworths Limited. [online] Available at: http://www.fool.com.au/2016/04/15/aldi-is-stealing-market-share-from-woolworths-limited/ [Accessed 23 May 2016].

Heraldsun.com.au. (2016). Aldi’s mighty challenge to big two. [online] Available at: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/aldi-to-seize-more-market-share-from-coles-and-woolworths/news-story/ac33ebe273f607e214a0d034701fcae0 [Accessed 23 May 2016].

NewsMediaWorks. (2016). Woolworths & Coles lead the way in retail advertising. [online] Available at: http://www.newsmediaworks.com.au/woolworths-coles-lead-the-way-in-retail-advertising/ [Accessed 23 May 2016].

Marketing Evaluation. (2016). [image] Available at: http://catchfiremarketing.com/consulting-services/marketing-evaluation/ [Accessed 23 May 2016].

 

 

 

BEYOND THE FOUR WHEELS !!!

Volkswagen ICM.deppaksabu

Successful, memorable advertisement needs to figure out how to use tie the business of advertising to the creative of advertising, part of the basic foundation of integrated market communication (Završnik and Jerman, n.d.).  Integrated marketing communication has a crucial role in automobile industry and Volkswagen being one of the pioneer automotive manufacturers knows the importance of this. Volkswagen use different types of icm tools and promotional mix to communicate to their customers from the very   basic methods of direct marketing such as sending of brochures to their prospect and hot-a customers through mail they also send multimedia files in the form of DVDs and email to the targeted customers some can be their old customer and to the new customers who have expressed interest in the Volkswagen products. (Volkswagen.com.au, 2016)

Making use of the internet   

The marketers at Volkswagen knows that people spend a great deal of time surfing internet and it has turned out to be a perfect tool for integrated marketing and customers use  the internet to search for various products and are fully aware about the products even before coming to the dealership to make their purchase  or to enquire. The ads are placed in popular websites and blog sites these small advertisements are known as skybus, this links take the customers to the company website which shows various information of the products that Volkswagen offers their customers and also they show different kinds of options like dealing with the financing, the nearest dealerships. The web site also has a many interactive features like choosing the colour and various options and additional accessorise and price of the extra fittings .Volkswagen have also used social media platforms like facebook, twitter and instagram as a part of their social media marketing campaigning.  This types of marketing provides additional benefits to the company as this type of promotions are less expansive when compared to ads in YouTube, and TV commercials and the GRP( gross rating points) rating is very high for this type of promotions, GRP is calculated by multiplying the reach or percentage of the targeted audience that have seen the ad at least once (Iacobucci, n.d.)  with frequency, it is the average number of times the targeted audience saw the ad with in a set duration (Iacobucci, n.d.)  And marketers know that people who use the social Medias like facebook, twitter and instagram use this website every day. Another important website which the company use as a part of media advertising camping is YouTube the ads that come in YouTube also yield a  high percentage of GRP percentage as the number of people who use YouTube is very high.

TV commercials

Even with the advancement of internet and  today’s TV channel fragmentation, this medium still yields the largest reach in numbers. (Iacobucci, n.d.). The reach of Tv commercials is unparallel to any other kids of advertisements there is a growing concern regarding the expanse of TV commercials. Volkswagen has invested a huge amount for TV commercials all over the world.

Sponsorships

Event sponsorships are yet another type of promotions which Volkswagen dose they sponsor motor sports tennis and other types of sports and games these sports events have a huge number of people watching the events which will help in the promotion of the brand.

Billboards

Billboards are an age old method of promotions which companies have been using for a very long time even before the TV commercials and internet and Volkswagen have used these bill boards in efficient manner.

Reference

• Iacobucci, D. (n.d.). MM4.
• Završnik, B. and Jerman, D. (n.d.). Implementation of Integrated Marketing Communication on Market Performance of Brands in the Field of OTC Products. SSRN Electronic Journal.
• com.au. (2016). Service app < Volkswagen Technology & Service | VW Australia. [online] Available at: http://www.volkswagen.com.au/en/technology_and_service/service_app.html [Accessed 9 May 2016].

CELEB ENDORSEMENTS: Enhancing brand image or ruining it?

Branding is one of the most important aspects of marketing a product. Branding decisions take place before a product is launched in the market and also when a product needs to be reinvented. The logo, name, symbol, tag line, colour combination on the box are all very integral parts of Branding. Whenever a company is launching a new product, the idea behind it is to make the product more attractive and desirable to the buyers as compared to its competitors’ products. This can be achieved by obtaining a distinctive identity and tapping the uniqueness of their product. If a company does not aim at making their product unique, it is bound to get lost in a sea of “me too” products.

Today, use of celebrities as part of marketing strategy is a fairly common practice for major firms in supporting their brand image. For example if we choose a segment for sports products, public figures such as Shane Warne, Roger Federer, Michael Schumacher, Tiger Woods etc are associated with many different brands.

To enhance their brand’s public image, companies often employs celebrities as the face or ambassadors of their product to boost the sales and improve their standing in the market. A very good example of this is the way Adidas has been able to make a comeback in the sneaker market since the advent of its Yeezy collection which is designed by popular rapper, Kanye West. Nike was dominating the market up until 2010 with over 90% of the market but as of 2016, Adidas’s market share has gone up from 6-7% in 2010 to 30. Some people believe it is due to the design of the sneakers but the star power of Kanye West cannot be denied.

It is because masses idolise celebrities and when they are assured that a popular name uses a product, it affects their perception about the quality and style of a product. Trustworthiness and reliability towards a company’s products is also improved. Wearing what a famous personality wears will never go out of fashion.

Celebrity endorsements can also lead to damaging a company’s brand name when a star who falls out of favour with the public as a result of a wrongdoing or negative publicity or a personal scandal (e.g. Lance Armstrong and Oscar Pistorius). (McMahon, 2016)

Social media has been a major boost to celebrity endorsements. Many companies even pay up to US$10000 per tweet/post to celebrities who are active on networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote their brand online. It is a great way to generate buzz about a new product launch. Nowadays celebrities are taking a proactive role in product development and marketing.

Celebrities have segmented them into different products and put their names to fashion collections or in case of chefs and kitchen appliances which reflects the particular styles or values of celebrity. Most of the charities and NGOs cultivate relationship with celebrities because of their ability to increase public awareness of their causes due to which it encourages more donations from the public. (Research, 2014)

Celebrity endorsements are inherently unstable as endorsers are people and people make mistakes, so it has certain risks such as consumers may be sceptical as they are not sure that a celebrity really uses the products they endorse? The cost of paying celebrity to endorse the product is also quite high and the company might lose this money if they do not get the desired benefits.

Celebrity endorsements are quite profitable as celebrities enhance brand equity and increase name recognition which is really important for launching a new product. This helps in getting the necessary awareness for that product among the customers. A celebrity can build brand credibility and bring a distinctive personality to a company’s brand name.

 

REFERENCES

• • Ghodeswar, B. (2008). Building brand identity in competitive markets: a conceptual model. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 17(1), pp.4-12.
  • McMahon, J. (2016). The Price of Fame: Advantages & Risks When Using Celebrity Endorsements. [online] Market Research Firm | Brand Positioning | Business Growth Strategies| The Pert Group Blog. Available at: http://blog.thepertgroup.com/blog/2012/11/uncategorized/the-price-of-fame-advantages-risks-when-using-celebrity-endorsements/ [Accessed 28 Aug. 2016].
  • Research, E. (2014). The Power of Celebrity: Types of Celebrity Marketing – Euromonitor International Blog. [online] Euromonitor International Blog. Available at: http://blog.euromonitor.com/2014/05/the-power-of-celebrity-part-1-types-of-celebrity-marketing.html [Accessed 28 Aug. 2016].
  • Sweeney, R. (2012). ‘Brand ambassadors’ give your business a boost – Cincinnati Business Courier. [online] Cincinnati Business Courier. Available at: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2002/04/15/smallb3.html [Accessed 28 Aug. 2016].

The Pokemon Go hype train

Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm and that is just putting it mildly. The online traffic and buzz it has created is a whole new level of insanity. Tweets about the gaming app have taken over tweets about the Brexit. But what made it the overnight success story?!
This is perhaps the perfect example of how to target market segments. What the developers of the app have done is to take the growing concept of augmented reality and apply it to the real world through the use of the most popular anime of the past 50 years.
The makers have targeted teens and young adults considering that these are the people who have watched the cartoon in their childhood and given them a chance to relive their childhood.
Let’s take a look at how it became a trendsetter and how the game boosted the concept of augmented reality.

BBC even made an infographic about the number of calories (or sweets) you can burn playing the game. Although this could be an independent research but it also turned out to be a marketing campaign since it taps into the health conscious segment of the society.

BROADER OUTLOOK
The games use an application that even people who don’t play games on their smartphones are familiar with: Global Positioning System (GPS), which eliminates another adoption barrier for new users.
Use what most everyone is already using, and introduce a layer of technology that won’t take them too far out of their comfort zone. This reduces adoption barriers especially during early launch, when gathering critical mass is essential for word-of-mouth or “buzz” marketing.
It may be playing into a generation that grew up watching the cartoon, but it would not have gotten as expansive a market as it did if it did not also tap into a powerful human urge for treasure hunting. Casting the Pokémon characters as treasure that people could hunt allowed Pokémon GO to capture a new market: people who may not care for Pokémon, but love geocaching.
Everyone is talking about the buying power of Millennials, but Pokemon Go really demonstrates the impact Millennials can have on the success of a product. 25-35-year-old account for the majority of Pokemon Go players, which isn’t too surprising considering Pokemon was originally released in 1995, and 90s nostalgia is huge right now with Millennials. Pokemon Go also taps into the traits that make the Millennial generation tick – obsession with mobile technology, socialization, community, and new experiences.
After attracting these various different market segments, there is the obvious bandwagon effect which is critical to the success of any business plan.
The Pokémon Go phenomenon is not only about adopting technology or using new, cutting-edge features; it is also about designing a sticky experience that is enabled by the ways customers are changing.
In her recent report, Julie Ask says, “Digital business professionals must ensure that the services their customer uses are simple and contextually relevant.” Julie notes that using augmented reality to connect with consumers in the long term will be successful “as long as the experience drives the immediacy, simplicity, and context that consumers need.” Business leaders must track how their customers’ attitudes, demands, and desires evolve in order to innovate with appropriate speed, engage customers in context, and win consumers’ hearts faster than they can say “Pikachu.”

Pokémon Go left Twitter in the dust. Now it’s gunning for SnapChat (and Google Maps!)
So what’s next? At its current rate of growth, Pokémon GO is on track to pass Snapchat within a couple of days on Android.
Plus, as unbelievable as it sounds, Pokémon GO Android could surpass Google Maps itself as the largest user of Alphabet’s mapping data.

It’s too soon to call Pokémon GO a home run for Niantic and Nintendo
Despite what Nintendo’s share price might suggest, it’s too early to declare Pokémon GO a win for the business. Nintendo have a minority stake in Pokémon GO, and will pocket just a small slice of the game’s profits.
History hasn’t always been kind to games that generate tremendous hype. Back in 2012, Draw Something consumed the public consciousness for a few weeks before its user numbers dropped like a stone. Nintendo’s last mobile game, Miitomo, met a similar fate, finding early success that was ultimately unsustainable.

Various reasons of the astronomical success of Pokemon Go have been explained HERE and how it can stand the test of time like other Applications (WhatsApp, SnapChat etc) is up to the level of innovation and how frequently the makers keep updating it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Sharpencx. 2016. Consumer Behavior . [ONLINE] Available at: https://sharpencx.com/pokemon-go-consumer-behavior/. [Accessed 1 August 2016].
2. Smith, B. and Smith, B. (2016). Pokémon Go, augmented reality and the future of local marketing. [online] Search Engine Land. Available at: http://searchengineland.com/pokemon-go-augmented-reality-future-local-marketing-254015 [Accessed 1 Aug. 2016].
3. Splash Media. (2016). Healthcare Marketing and Pokémon GO Benefits. [online] Available at: https://splashmedia.com/digital-marketing-blog/healthcare-care-pokemon-go/ [Accessed 1 Aug. 2016].

4. Scott Bales. (2016). We’ve seen Pokemon GO Before – Scott Bales. [online] Available at: http://scottebales.com/weve-seen-pokemon-go/ [Accessed 1 Aug. 2016].

Existence and survival of BMW among the top fleet cluster.

 BMW cluster is a German company and maker of vehicles and motorcycles. BMW cluster is the parent company of BMW, Mini-Cooper and Rolls Royce automobile brands. BMW employs over one million staff spread over forty countries. BMW Group has worldwide subsidiaries and have their plants installed in European nation, the UK, the USA, Egypt, China, Republic of South Africa, Brazil etc. Marketing planning and strategy forms the muse of the success of the BMW Group. BMW cluster believes in maintaining core values as technology, innovation, performance, quality, dependability, exclusivity and client satisfaction. The corporate slogans of BMW cluster in English are “The final Driving Machine” and “Sheer Driving Pleasure”. BMW adopts a promoting campaign of targeting its customers. The promoting strategy of BMW additionally consists of a robust advertising strategy. Western Canadian Robotics Society has been BMW’s agency since 1979 and have created an excellent complete image for BMW by advertising campaigns as well as celebrated personalities like, Tom Cruise, Kirsty Gallacher, Tom Wood etc. The brands of BMW embrace BMW, Mini Cooper and Rolls Royce. The 3 brands represent themselves and are of superlative excellence. All of them have nice innovation ability and therefore the customers feel the very pleasure of driving with excellence and simplicity.

Additionally, BMW’s business strategy is to keep up outstanding complete image among customers. Advertising strategy of BMW is additionally a reason for BMW’s great complete image. This complete image of BMW has been engineered by victimisation over three hundred color advertisements. BMW have told that all advertisements have remained consistent on the substance utilised in the cars themselves. The 3 brands of BMW family are:

BMW; completely focuses on one factor, “Sheer Driving Pleasure”.

MINI is different; extroverted, spontaneous and in each respect one thing out of the standard and ideal for a society that’s young and unconventional.

In 2003, Rolls Royce became a part of BMW Group and is one of the most fascinating and standard complete vehicle among customers, “the luxury motor automobile par excellence”. The evaluation strategy that the BMW cluster adopts relies on many key trends. One most significant trend of BMW is labelled as “premium-taxation”.

Premium-taxation trend of BMW causes polarisation of markets. This trend triggers the customers to demand and pay abundant higher costs for the perceived quality.

A research was conducted during which those who used BMW cars were asked regarding why was the selection of their cars as BMW. Questionnaires turned out to completely different standard for those who used BMW cars.

Almost all of the folks had one opinion in common regarding the corporate i.e. all of them feel a sense of safety and luxury whilst driving a BMW automobile. Moreover, the distinctive brands of BMW and its performance and quality were additionally the explanations why they most well-liked BMW automobiles over alternative premium car makers like Mercedes, Audi, Ford, Lexus and so on.

A SWOT analysis helps see the varied Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of the BMW Group.

Strong promoting strategy.

Customer acknowledgement and sturdy brand image of BMW Group.

Strong complete image i.e. BMW, Mini Cooper and Rolls Royce.

In every two to three years BMW introduces its recreate of cars i.e. constant innovation and technology.

There is associate degree increasing variety of duplicate spare components of BMW and Mini Cooper.

The producing prices of BMW cars are terribly high as compared to its competitors. This is often additionally a reason for prime evaluation of BMW cars.

There is a chance for BMW cluster to extend more innovation and technology in their automobiles thanks to increasing competition in car business.

BMW ought to additionally look to form new collaboration with alternative automobile makers i.e. introducing new brands.

BMW family ought to additionally look to provide cheaper cars by new innovation and technology growth of the BMW cluster in Asia Pacific, Asia, Australia. Recession that has affected businesses in each a part of the planet thrives the BMW Group to keep up with identical level of innovation and performance. The growing competition within the industry with competitors of BMW embrace Mercedes, Audi, Jaguar, Ford, Lexus. The earnings of the BMW cluster are greenback dominated, therefore the increasing strength of monetary unit is another threat for the corporate. In Gregorian calendar month 2007, BMW cluster proclaimed their new strategic direction. By 2020, BMW cluster intends to more strengthen the position of the corporate by increasing volume of sales to over 2 million units in a year.

 

 

References

• The Nation. (2016). BMW Group Manufacturing Thailand sends zero waste to landfills – The Nation. [online] Available at: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/BMW-Group-Manufacturing-Thailand-sends-zero-waste–30290399.html [Accessed 24 Jul. 2016].
• Bmwgroup.com. (2016). BMW Group – THE NEXT 100 YEARS. [online] Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/next100.html [Accessed 24 Jul. 2016].
• Press.bmwgroup.com. (2016). BMW Group driving the transformation of individual mobility with its Strategy NUMBER ONE > Next. [online] Available at: https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0258269EN/bmw-group-driving-the-transformation-of-individual-mobility-with-its-strategy-number-one-next?language=en [Accessed 24 Jul. 2016].
• Bmwgroup.com. (2016). BMW Group – THE NEXT 100 YEARS. [online] Available at: https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/next100.html [Accessed 24 Jul. 2016].
• Babs, J. (2009). “The ultimate driving machine” – The perfect slogan?. [online] BMW BLOG. Available at: http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/11/04/the-ultimate-driving-machine-the-perfect-slogan/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2016].

Metrics that matter.

It has been said that “Technology will never replace a great story, but can enhance it by allowing marketers to plan, curate and distribute more effectively” (Yogel, 2015).

So that being the case, to deliver a truly effective content piece a balance between creative and science needs to be struck.

Creative content / socialmediatoday.com

Perhaps you’ve been in this situation before. Much creative effort is poured into a new content piece which aligns perfectly to your content strategy. The title is catchy and carefully curated imagery works beautifully with crafted copy.

But launch day comes and goes. The piece generates some leads with a good level of traffic, but in the end, it’s no better than the one that was posted a month ago.

It’s easy to just accept that outcome and stick with what you know because it feels that there is no benefit in going the extra mile. But look at the bigger picture.

“Without art, your brand’s marketing has no meaning and without science, it has no direction” (Hess, 2015).

It has been scientifically proven (by “real” scientists, not just marketers) that people are more likely to retain information when they have an emotional response to it (Hess, 2015). While creative content may not always impact short term results, over the long term it is necessary to truly connect with users on a human level. Considering a set of meaningful behavioural, marketing and memory metrics as part of the creative effort will provide a more tangible insight into how users are responding to it.

Analysing data / shutterstock.com

The word ‘meaningful’ is a critical factor in this context. Collecting appropriate data is one of the core elements of measuring marketing effectiveness, but data is nothing but numbers unless it is analysed meaningfully (Banasiewicz, 2013).

Behaviour metrics can help describe what people do. Marketing metrics help determine the effectiveness of the marketing promotion and memory metrics help understand user’s affinity towards the brand such as awareness, attitude and sentiment. And a mix of these can be used to paint a meaningful picture of how users consume a brand’s content.

Page view counts

This is a good measure of popularity and indicates whether your content succeeded, especially in comparison with other pages. If the aim is to build an audience and measure popularity, it’s relevant. But if a specific audience being targeted, the number of people viewing the content is less important than whether the right people are (Charlton, 2016).

Time on page

Like page view counts, time on page is another behaviour metric that can demonstrate how the content is being consumed in the manner it was planned. If people take the time to read it, that suggests it worked well and that the topic was interesting. Understanding why users aren’t sticking around can help craft better content to increase engagement metrics.

Social shares

Social shares / Blog.hubspot.com

The volume and velocity of content shares such as email forwards, tweets, likes, Linkedin shares, and the like, provides insight into how valuable the content is to the audience.

Brand reputation and awareness

How the content is shaping the user’s opinion of the brand can be determined through social monitoring tools and surveys. Outcomes can show whether the content is promoting the brand in a way that the user is recalling it and being left with a favourable impression.

Return on Investment

Did the content help build awareness of the brand or increased sales – whatever the end state behaviour was expected to be? Comparing the fiscal outcome to the cost of actually producing the content is one way to determine whether the effort is making financial sense and may deliver a long-term return.

Blog.oxforddictionaries.com

Rather than focusing on metrics that can measure business outcomes, sometimes vanity, or “feel good”, metrics, such as Facebook ‘likes’, are used to justify marketing spend (Marketo, 2011). Does knowing why so many people hit the like button explain what users are looking for? Perhaps not.

But as meaningless as vanity metric can be, catching an extra few Facebook likes along the way can’t hurt.

 

REFERENCES

Yoegel, R (2015) ‘Brand Storytelling and Technology’ eBook, Cero.com, viewed 8 June 2016 <http://view.ceros.com/ceros-marketing/brand-storytelling-technology/p/>

Banasiewicz, A (2013) ‘Marketing database analytics: Transforming data for competitive advantage.’ Taylor and Francis, 6 August, page 80-84.

Marketo (2011) ‘The definitive Guide to Marketing Mertrics and Analysis’ eBook, Marketo, viewed 9 June <http://www.surrey.ac.uk/Training/documents/definitive-guide-to-marketing-metrics-marketing-analytics.pdf>

Charlton G (2016) ‘25 useful metrics for content marketing success’ Search Engine Watch, 4 February, viewed 8 June <https://searchenginewatch.com/2016/02/04/25-metrics-to-measure-your-content-marketing-efforts/>

Hess B (2015) ‘The ROI of creative: Art & Science in Marketing’ Ceros, 19 November, viewed 12 June <https://www.ceros.com/blog/the-roi-of-creative-art-science-in-marketing/>

Rebuilding Lego in time for Christmas.

On average there are 86 pieces of Lego for every person on earth (Lego, 2016).

That’s 612 750 000 000 pieces of Lego. Seriously.

Half of which I sometimes think is on my 4 year olds bedroom floor.

And that’s the way many people instinctively see Lego. As a children’s toy.

With the world’s children spending 5 billion hours a year playing with Lego bricks (National Geographic, 2015), they are not wrong. But at one point, the company’s eyes were wide shut on who their customers really were.

Knowing the Customer.

Girl playing with lego / theguardian.co.uk

For over seventy years Lego has been a household name, however for a long time they took a single lens on their customer; that is, they did not talk, accept ideas or suggestions and continued creating products based on what they believed their consumers wanted (ONeil, 2010). This undesirable approach to organizational culture and behavior, which can contribute to IMC implementation failures (Otus et al, p 133), put the company in a precarious situation.

Faced with bankruptcy in 2004, Lego could no longer ignore the Retailers pleas to take another look at the changing market. Yes, children still loved Lego, but the company had missed a clear differentiator for the brand – it’s the only product on the market that actually grows up with the child without changing its form.

Refreshed marketing goals.

It took a decade, but with some renewed focus on the customer, Troy Taylor, Lego Australia Marketing Director, coins the company’s Christmas 2015 campaign as a “more integrated push” to “create more family traditions around building” (Micallef, 2015).

With the Brand in maturity, awareness has already permeated the market and customers had set attitudes (Iacobucci, p147). As such driving brand awareness was not a primary goal, customers needed to re-connect to Lego and change their attitude and ultimately change behaviour toward the product. Iacobucci suggests that in this context a cognitive advertising approach would not work – they already knew they could buy Lego, they just needed to be persuaded to change what they are buying it for (p147).

This understanding about how children and adults were using Lego, combined with a marketing effort to “get bricks in hands”, ultimately led to an emotional approach to advertising to get families back to building together (Micallef, 2015).

And what better time is there is Christmas to launch a campaign that aims to create new family rituals.

Making all customer touchpoints work together.                           

Cleverly, before Lego launched their mass Television campaign, they ran a social media promotion for families to submit their own Lego Tree Topper, of which the winners would appear in the Commercial. This approach immediately encouraged optimal behavior, and ingeniously drove word of mouth not only about the promotion, but for new uses of the product. In this context, Word of Mouth can be very rewarding because it brings in new customers – and new customers are hard to find. (Iacobucci, p173)

While TV had provided immediate reach to the campaign, Iacobucci suggests that a true IMC approach “is about integrating a brand message across any media, not just traditional advertising outlets” (p165), so complimentary mediums were needed to amplify the message.

The installation of a 10 metre tall Lego Christmas Tree was supported by an integrated campaign that ignited #LegoXmas through social media, public relations, activations and You Tube. A story was built in these channels using interesting and engaging content that culminated in the crowd pleasing tree reveal in Melbourne’s Federation Square.

A power not to be reckoned with.

Once LEGO realised that understanding their target market was critical within an integrated marketing communications plan, the Company rebuilt to become one of FORBES Most Powerful Brands in 2015 (Durkin, 2015).

So if the brand is here to stay, remind me again how to avoid stepping on all those little blocks on my 4 year olds bedroom floor?

 

 

REFERENCES

Lego (2016) Lego Facts Lego Education website, retrieved 14 May 2016 <https://education.lego.com/en-au/about-us/lego-education-worldwide/lego-facts>

National Geographic (2015) Lego Facts National Geographic 2 August, retrieved 14 May 2016 <http://www.natgeotv.com.au/history/lego-facts.aspx>

ONeil M. (2010) Then & Now: How Fans changed the face of Legos marketing strategy Social Times, 9 June, retrieved 14 May 2016 <http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/how-fans-changed-the-face-of-legos-marketing-strategy/15645>

M Otus & G Nilasy (2015) Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Why does it fail? An analysis of practitioner mental models exposes barriers of IMC Implementation Journal of Advertising Research, 1 June, pp132-145

Micallef R (2015) Lego builds on strategy; brings giant christmas tree to Melbourne AdNews, 20 November, retrieved 14 May 2016 <http://www.adnews.com.au/news/lego-builds-on-strategy-brings-giant-christmas-tree-to-melbourne&gt;

Iacobucci D. (2014) Marketing Management (MM4) South-Western, Cenage Learning, Mason USA, 4^th Edition, p145-181.

Durkin P (2015) Lego: brink of bankruptcy to 2015s Most Powerful Brand Financial Review, October 12, retrieved 14 May 2016 <http://www.afr.com/leadership/lego-brink-of-bankruptcy-to-2015s-most-powerful-brand-20151006-gk2bf3>

The dawn of the Kmart addict.

I heard recently that Westfarmers are rebranding their floundering Target stores under the Kmart brand.

And watch as #karget is born.

This breaks house of brands, Westfarmers, well-worn strategy of keeping their retail brands separate and actively competing with each other (Low, 2016).

For six years both brands have tried to differentiate themselves in a fiercely competitive retail market, but it seems Kmart is to have the last laugh (Hatch, 2015).

From a crumbling business verging on collapse five years ago (Harper, 2015), Kmart knew that to successfully sell products and cement long-terms loyalty, it had to reinvigorate its brand story and approach to product quality and customer service.

Guy Russo, Kmart Managing Director /AFR.com.au

Guy Russo, Kmart Managing Director, inherited a miss-guided business model, with too many products and a confusing price structure and turned the brand into a ‘profitable purveyor of cut-price chic’ (Harper, 2015).

So before an overhauled brand campaign was launched work was done in back of house.

Kmart moved away from in-store sales and reduced the number of suppliers, resulting in a dramatic drop of product lines from 50 000 to around 12 000. The immense savings now allows Kmart to keep prices low 365 days of the year.

Improving instore experience.

Kmart sits in the middle of the goods to services continuum (Iacobucci, 2014:69), where the company offers a mix of goods and services making the instore experience integral to satisfying customer expectations.

Within a tightly fought competitor set, service was a key differentiator for the Brand. Physical evidence are those things that are apparent to a customer used to judge the quality of the service (Smith & Saker, 1992) so it was critical is was managed well.

Kmart Rundle Mall Store / glamadelaide.com.au

When Russo took charge there was an immediate insistence on clean stores (Harper, 2015). The shop fit-outs were ageing and store layouts were confusing and unappealing. He set about making massive changes to stores, and as a result, a bold new store layout was launched that divides the store by rooms in the home rather than by categories. The approach is unique in the retail sector and is said to be “more intuitive, easy to navigate, and encourages some serious impulse buying” (Harper 2015).

New cut-price-chic product range.

Kmart Rebranded Product Catalogue / kmart.com.au

A shift in product offer was also identified as a key factor to enhancing customer satisfaction.

Driven by a top down approach (Iaobucci, 2014:91), the company saw the need for change when brand tracking showed that customers loved shopping the brand, but they were reluctant to tell others that they shopped there (Burrowes, 2013).

With a focus on “suburban street style” and a more streamlined “back to basics” product range (Burrowes, 2013), Kmart’s own store brand was introduced to replace many of the big brands.

Brand association overhaul.

The distinctive in-store physical space, new product range, along with the everyday low price strategy was gloriously launched to the market with a heavy marketing spend.

The heritage of the logo brought with it a high level of customer awareness, so it remained unchanged while the brand associations were evolved to enhance loyalty.

Marketing and advertising campaigns moved the brand away from targeting everyone, to speak specifically to mothers and the brand personality ignited through simplified TV spots featuring just a handful of products and a catchy pop song to draw attention to the low price strategy.

Social media has also been incredibly effective for the brand. “Kmart hacks” (Burrowes, 2013) and DIY home styling ideas trend often from content generated by women to share with like-minded Kmart fans.

The result has been the dawn of an authentic online community, shifting customer expectations of quality, and ultimately establishing Kmart as an aspirational brand.

Mr Goyder, Westfarmers Managing Director, said Kmart had won market share from “a broad range of competitors, not just Target” (Low, 2016) and he is convinced the two brands could grow at the same time.

I suppose time will tell. Long live #karget.

 

REFERENCES

Burrowes T (2013) ‘Making Kmart Irresistable’ Mumbrella, 10 September, viewed 20 May https://mumbrella.com.au/making-kmart-irresistible-177408

Harper J (2015) ‘Kmart chief Guy Russo is a man for all seasons’ Herald Sun, 24 December, viewed 10 May <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/kmart-chief-guy-russo-is-a-man-for-all-seasons/story-fni0dcne-1226789086424>

Hatch P. (2016)’Target and Kmart merger will lose sales to Big W, Westfarmers warned’ Sydney Morning Herald, 20 April, viewed 10 May http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/target-and-kmart-merger-will-lose-sales-to-big-w-wesfarmers-warned-20160419-go9stk.html#ixzz49fEA8aTi

Iacobucci D. (2014) ‘Marketing Management (MM4)’, South-Western, Cenage Learning, Mason USA, 4th Edition, p26-64.

Low C (2016) ‘Karget will lead to smaller Target and bigger Kmart’ Sydney Morning Herald , 21 April, viewed 14 May http://www.smh.com.au/business/retail/karget-will-lead-to-smaller-target-and-bigger-kmart-20160421-gobrlg.html#ixzz49fDpJeUw

Rubio N, Villasenor N & Oubina J (2015) ‘Consumer identification with store brands: differences between consumers according to their brand loyalty’, Business Research Quarterly, April-June, Vol, 18 Issue 2, p11-126.

Smith, G, Saker, J, 1992, “Developing Marketing Strategy in the Not-for-Profit Sector’, Library Management, vol. 13.4, no. 6.

Concerns of Airline

In recent years, with the growth of the economy, more and more people are willing to pay for their airline tickets to travel places far away from the departure location. But the price of air ticket is not stable and the there are various ways to buy it. The most favorable way is booking online. In order to get competitive advantages over other air companies. Many firms had set package of tickets is that twice return journey tickets. Customers always reserve ticket online before more than one or two month before the departure date so that they could get a big discount of price. The airline companies except set economy class also have business class and first class.

However, the price of air ticket setting contains many considerations. According to Clutterbuck (1994, p. 199) passengers always under the pressure to pay extra charge. The price of economy class is low but companies require many extra consumption such as adding baggage charge and if customers do not charge the baggage fee first then they will face to receive penalty for their baggage. And the extra charge almost equal to their price air ticket. In addition, Stavins (2001, p. 202) states that air ticket has price discrimination problems and airline firms refuse building standard of price. In another words, the price of first class is higher than business and economy class and the service between these three classes are obviously different, which leads price discrimination.

The following is a video of France airline to introduce the difference among classes

Furthermore, some marketers utilized quiet low price to attract consumers, which is infeasible. When customers ready to book or pay the ticket online the price will increase suddenly. So some website of air ticket is not reliable and marketers just intentionally induce passengers’ awareness.

http://www.qua.com/

From the strategy of price in marketing seems like it is fair for segmentation of different consumers. However, form the business ethical aspect the big gap of different price really exist potential negative impact on customers.

Form the view of customers airline companies actually need to be promoted. Taking Tiger, Virgin and Qantas three airline companies as the example. It is not difficult to realize that every time before boarding the airplane. The worker of Tiger takes a weighing instrument to filtrate people who over the limited weight and penalty them. For some customers who believe they pay less for their tickets. In fact, they pay more than they predict. Thus, tiger airline is weak compare with Virgin and Qantas. In some point of view, each firm has its own characteristics and different regulations. Oppositely, Virgin and Qantas provide better service and baggage is free.

 

From the experiences of people traveled could present another concern. According to Tellis (1988, p. 339) the elasticity of price is negative and wiser method are increasing quality and services. Consumers are sensitive to price change. Airline companies not well done with the price change strategy. During the period of festival, the price of ticket is much higher than normal period. Customers prefer traveling and ignore high ticket price.  By contract, when the demand of ticket is lower, companies reduce ticket price to maintain normal operating and stimulate sale volume.  As a consequence, airline companies should through offer better quality or services to improve ticket price rather than utilize busy period of festival to cheat money from consumers.

Suggest approaches to solve the considerations:

• Increasing quality of service
• Avoid using official website instead of virtual website
• Setting ticket price relevant stable
• Design special seat for special group of people and without extra charge

In conclusion, the price of airline mainly have three concerns are adding extra purchase, price discrimination to customers and elasticity of price is negative. Balancing ticket price and reducing the gap among classes.

 

 

Reference list:

 

Clutterbuck R, 1994, Terrorism in an Unstable World, Routledge, London and New York.

 

Stavins, J., 2001. Price discrimination in the airline market: The effect of market concentration. Review of Economics and Statistics, 83(1), pp.200-202.

 

Tellis, G.J., 1988. The price elasticity of selective demand: A meta-analysis of econometric models of sales. Journal of marketing research, pp.331-341.

by XIN FU

ID: 214382446

 

Brand Function and Strategies

What is brand?

According to Farquhar (1989, p. 24) brand is the bridge between value of product and the association of customers. In another words, brands is used as a tool of strategy which linked products though the name, symbol or colours (Schmitt, 1999, p. 57).  Generously brands equal to identification. Firms always obtain excellent reputation and the association of good quality of items from the brand. Brands also assist to enhance and improve competitive advantages over competitors.

Brand function

Brands benefits both firms and customers. First brands help consumers distinguish company ownership, easily make decisions and big brands serviced the status in the Society. Second brands contribute to companies establish reputation which induce the loyalty of buyer, though the extra good service and good quality allow companies add premium prices and it also cloud regards as an efficient tool developing new products. For example of luxury brand Dior. Dior is efficient achieve width of developing products. Dior targets at multiple products contains perfume, cosmetics, clothes, bags and watches.  When people heard of the name of Dior trigger the image of good quality of items and making people feel fashion and high status in society. As a consequence people are willing to pay the high price to gain high quality and good services. Which made very successful association from consumers.

 

Built and manage brand

However, built and manage brand equity is not easy.  Farquhar suggested there are three elements suggested by for Building a strong brand are as the following:

• A positive brand evaluation. (e.g. IKEA related to cheap and convenient furniture evaluated by customers )
• An easy way to let people generate awareness. (e.g. slogan of advertisement state is easily memory or link to product)
• The consistency of brand. (e.g. many products always update the cover of package).

Manage brand equity first should built a brand with good quality, which enhance positive evaluation generates and related to good product image. Second making easy ways for remembering and next following step is that increasing brand equity by inducing consumers’ behavioral experiences to reach the goal of promoting sale volume. Third launching new products with exist brands, which achieve the purpose of brand extension. (Farquhar 1989, p. 32)

Here is very good video to learn how to build a strong brand.

Maintaining quality of products and continuing creating ideas of delivering brands of items could not secure brand flourishing all the time even though some big brands. In recent days the bad news of dick smith had announced went bankrupt and many big car brand had been acquired.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/dick-smith-is-a-sad-wasteland-of-defeat-and-broken-dreams/

Strategy against recession

Business environment is changing all the time. Since the recession of global economy, some marketers had operate relevant leverages to fight recession.

Luxury brands are as the example. They divided people into three main segments are “absolute consumers”, “trigger consumers” and “bandwagon consumers”. First group of people who are real rich and buying luxury is their lifestyle. Second is the group which educated by professional and need to be respect by buying the high-end products and the last is that segment of customer who are admire the lifestyle of the rich and peruse trend of fashion. (Choi, 2009, p. 108)

Marketers utilising super high-quality and super high-end products to maintain the absolute consumers and enhance brand loyalty. At the same time, they focusing on the differentiation to service the small group of people. In addition, continuing creating accessibility to keep reputation is another essential strategy. (Choi, 2009, p. 109-110)

Thus, brand is one of key parts of both existing products and new products.

 

 

 

Reference list:

 

Schmitt, B., 1999. Experiential marketing. Journal of marketing management, 15(1-3), pp.53-67.

 

Choi, S.H., 2009. Global luxury brands’ strategies to fight recession. SERI Quarterly, 2(4), p.108.

 

Farquhar, P.H., 1989. Managing brand equity. Marketing research, 1(3).

 

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnSgHLBpOpw

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/dick-smith-is-a-sad-wasteland-of-defeat-and-broken-dreams/

 

 

by XIN FU

ID: 214382446

 

Multiple metrics matter

Marketers use a “dashboard” of financial, behavioral and mental metrics to evaluate the success of their marketing strategy.

Marketers use metrics to measure the effects of their activities. Marketing metrics can be defined as a “system that quantifies a trend, dynamic or characteristic. It can diagnose causes and help to project future events (Farris 2010:1).

Marketers need to be able to quantify what they do for a number of reasons. Firstly, marketing budgets account for approximately 10.2% of all spending by firms (Gartner research 2015). It is therefore a reasonable expectation of firms to expect marketers to be accountable for this expenditure. Secondly, measuring marketing activities allows marketers to have knowledge to make informed strategic decisions and decipher how well they are using current resources. In other words, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” (Farris 2010:3).

Data vs information vs knowledge

Marketing evaluation begins with the collection of data. The collection of data alone, however does not mean anything unless it is converted into information which can be interpreted by a human. Therefore, “one-way of thinking about the value of information is whether it creates knowledge or not” (Bendle 2016:6). Marketing evaluation needs to be able to convert information into knowledge, otherwise it is of no practical use in decision making.

Evaluating marketing

In a very simple view, the goal of marketing is to increase profitability by increasing sales (Iacobucci 2013:211). Measurement of marketing through financial metrics alone, however does not account for the broad scope of marketing activities. It does not take into account assets such as brand equity or customer behaviours such as loyalty, intention to purchase and satisfaction (Ambler and Roberts 2008:743). It also does not include what is going on in the mind of consumers such as mental associations they may have with brands. Marketers need to look beyond a finance only approach to a “multiple metric approach…which bring together the multiple measures seen by senior management into a clear, integrated and concise package” (Ambler Roberts 2008:743). This dashboard approach can vary between organisations, but what is important is that marketers are looking at multiple metrics (Iacobucci 2013:219).

The case of Woolworths

A great example of the multiple metric approach is evaluating the data in the case of Woolworths.

Woolworths dashboard

Woolworths continues to lead Australia’s supermarket sector in market share despite a recent decline.

Market share – comparative strength of a business relative to competitors (Farris 2010:28).	Woolworths 37.5% Coles 32.5% Aldi 12.1% IGA 9.7% (Roy Morgan 2016)
Brand equity – brands are assets and should be able to carry a financial value (Iacobucci 2013:87).	Woolworths is the second most valuable brand in Australia worth $10.5 million Coles is the eighth most valuable brand in Australia worth $6.5 million (businessinsider.com.au 2016)
Share of voice – quantifies the advertising presence of a brand (Bendle 2010:312).	Woolworths – 50.82% Coles – 24.27% Aldi – 11.95% IGA – 6.45% (Adnews 2016)
Customer loyalty – whether shoppers visit the same supermarket each time (Roy Morgan 2015)	77% of grocery shoppers visit at least two different supermarkets in a four week average Only 25% of regular Woolworths shoppers shop at Woolworths each time. Coles customers are a little less loyal at 24% (Roy Morgan 2015)
Profits – = sales revenue – costs (Iacobucci 2013:87).	Loss of $972.7 million in latest half year results (ABC News 2016)

Reviewing this data, we can see Woolworths have suffered a sizable decline in profitability in the last half-year result. However, if we were to focus on this one financial measure alone we would be misled. Most analysts would suggest the loss was due to its failing home improvement stores Masters, not its supermarket (ABC News 2016). It still has the largest market share in the industry, loudest share of voice in advertising and most valuable brand. On the down side, its customers are not as loyal as they could be.

When it comes to supermarket advertising, Woolworths dominates all comers.

In assessing a business, metrics, especially financial metrics are essential. But a multiple metrics approach shows that marketing decisions should be made based on all the relevant information.

References

Farris, P 2010, Marketing metrics : the definitive guide to measuring marketing performance, Upper Saddle River, N.J. : FT Press, c2010.

Bendle, NT 2016, Marketing metrics : the manager’s guide to measuring marketing performance, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey : Pearson Education, [2016].

https://www.gartner.com/doc/2984821/cmo-spend-survey–eye

Iacobucci, D 2013, MM4, Mason, Ohio : South-Western ; Andover : Cengage Learning [distributor], [2013].

Ambler, T, & Roberts, JH 2008, ‘Assessing marketing performance: don’t settle for a silver metric’, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 24, no. 7/8, pp. 733-750

http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6762-supermarket-sweep-aldis-share-of-aussie-market-still-rising-201604142258

http://www.adnews.com.au/news/coles-focuses-ad-spend-on-financial-services

http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6442-supermarket-loyalty-whats-that-201509072312

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/telstra-has-deposed-woolworths-as-australias-most-valuable-brand-2016-4

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-26/woolworths-reports-almost-$1-billion-loss/7202004

 

Written by amarg81