Hi-Tec Case Study

1. A unique selling proposition is a feature on a product not offered by competitors that gives it an edge in the marketplace.

2.  Hi-Tec's values are proud, honest, fun and hungry, as they want to deliver more than the competition, deliver on their promises, work creatively to provide solutions and a constant desire to improve products. They want to combine these values to put together a unique product and they want to do it differently than their competition.

3. For the junior market, they make the footwear durable with prices to attract parents. For outdoor sports, they use products with water repellent technologies and for specialist sports, they attach athletes to the products so that the brand is linked with achievement.

4. They are effective as they are hitting all the biggest forms of advertising, television, press advertisements, banner advertising and billboards. They are all suited to the audience they want, so they advertise during sports and relevant retailers, to get to the people who may want to. It's effective, but there's not a lot of detail to suggest exactly where the advertising is.

5. The benefits of the viral campaign are that the video has millions of views, as well as millions of people talking about it on Facebook and Twitter, as well as press coverage from many different media outlets such as The Sun and The Guardian. It also gave them a 10 times return on investment. The best way to build on this would be to do a sequel, with their next equipment, with the same people, which would give it a sense of continuity.

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Digital Communications Trends

McDonald's is the largest fast food restaurant in the world, serving 68 million customers daily in 119 countries around the world, they also have a lot in the way of digital communications. McDonald's is a heavy user of regular online advertising, such as banner ads, pop-ups and search ads. In March 2008, McDonald's used over 295 million ads on the internet. McDonald's is also big on Mobile Communications, making its website mobile friendly and an easy to use app that features a restaurant locator. McDonald's also has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and others for many countries. McDonalds has used Consumer Generated content before, in 2011, they offered a trip to Germany to a person who can the best video related to the McRib. It was to Germany because that's the only location where McDonald's serves the McRib year round. This year, McDonald's experimented in Viral Marketing, when they planted some seeds in the shape of the golden arches on a side of a road in California. It's illegal to remove because it's made out of the state flower.

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7 Main Types of Promotion

1.  Personal Selling


Avon is a company that has members of the public going door to door, selling merchandise. Upon each sale, the representative gets a commission. An advantage is the added personality, since the neighbourhood Avon seller is most likely a friend, and since they are not actually affiliated with the company, they will give you their honest opinion on how the products treat you. A disadvantage is the difficulty in finding new clients. People may not like the intrusion of a person trying to sell something in their home, they may find it rude.

2. Direct Marketing
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McDonalds sends direct mail coupons to homes that provide deals on their food. An advantage is that it can get people into your restaurant and more likely to buy more things. A disadvantage is that the vast majority of people perceive it as junk mail and throw it out and do not pay attention to it.

3. Advertising
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Advertising takes many forms, from TV spots, to magazine pages to billboards, it's the most well known form of promotion.An advantage is that it's the easiest type of promotion to get across, there are many different ways to get your message out there, you can also explain what your business is better. A disadvantage is that many people perceive ads as intrusive and annoying, and thus block them out at any chance they have.

4. Public Relations

Public Relations is the act of reaching out to third party sources and media ventures to represent themselves as a reputable company. An advantage is that you get to create a relationship with your customers, and how they represent themselves, and the types of activities and causes they support. A disadvantage is that it can be expensive and time consuming, and people may perceive it as disingenuous.

5. Sponsorship


An advantage of sponsorship is that your company and name could be seen by millions of people, and thus give your a large base of awareness. A disadvantage is that it can be really expensive, and if you advertise during a certain show or event, you may have to deal with the reputation given to you by that event or show.

6. Sales Promotion

A sales promotion is a a special short term technique to encourage customers to spend their money at the place of business. This can include contests like McDonald's Monopoly, Flyers, Special events etc. An advantage is that it can possibly provide a large short term boost to income, and it may retain many new customers. A disadvantage is that if it doesn't provide a new customer base, it could end up being very expensive.

7. Digital Communications
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Digital Communications is the act of using the internet, cell phone or digital device to promote the product. An advantage is that it's probably the best way currently to reach people, since a lot of people are using the internet. A disadvantage is that it's easy to rely only on digital, while ignoring the other areas.

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The Price is Not Right

Curry's Art Store Limited

Curry's is a chain of nine art supply stores based out of Toronto. They were ordered to pay $60,000 fines for their deceptive pricing practices. They advertised a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price and a "Curry's" prices, but it was shown that they had never sold it at the Manufacturer's price, thus they were duping consumers into believing that they had saved money, when they never could have paid a higher price for the item at that store. Under the act, stores must sell a reasonable quantity of an item at its regular price before a sale price can be advertised. Along with the fines, Curry has to print notices in all its stores, ensure all future pricing complies and develop a program to ensure compliance.

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Example of Online Advertising

The Million Dollar Homepage was an idea created in 2005 by Alex Tew in order to raise money for his college tuition. He made $1,000,000 by selling 1,000,000 pixels of advertising on his website in less than five months. He sold every single pixel and spawned many imitators, like millionpennyhomepage.com, the pixelwars.com and milliondollargolfpage.com. This is an example of banner ads, as well as viral marketing, as there was a lot of word of mouth about it.

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Extension Strategies

1. Improving the quality of the product

Cottonelle not only improved the softness and satisfaction of the product, they also changed the entire brand image, creating an image of extreme elegance.

2. Converting non-users

Ford  has featured ads in which they let a person use a Ford vehicle for a week for free to see if they would like to use it.

3. New Flavours and Scents

While Kit Kat has released flavours like Chunky, Peanut Butter and White Chocolate in North America, they are a lot more adventurous in Japan where they have flavours like Cheese, Aloe Vera and Gold. As well, they have region specific flavours.

4. Improved Style

A&W Restaurants have updated their style of restaurant in order to keep up with trends and styles over the years.

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Product Life Cycles

Fad

Tamagotchi is the one of the original virtual pet games. Created in Japan in 1996, they were wildly popular in North America from 1997-1999. Tamagotchis are still around, but have not been as popular since then. I think they were popular, because a lot of children can't have pets, so this was something they could have to make them feel like they were taking care of something. Also, as a video game, children might have liked the challenge of taking care of an animal, and the fun of the other features. It's been theorized the downfall in popularity was due to the gameplay of taking care of the animal, as if the animal is ignored for six hours, it dies. That lead to schools banning the devices, due to distractions.

Long Lasting Product

Arm and Hammer Baking Soda has been sold since 1867. It's lasted so long because there's so many uses for it, as well as the fact that Baking Soda is such a simple product, that it's always been needed and always will be needed. You can't invent something to replace it as it's a product that's completely pure. Also, Arm and Hammer is a pretty well known and trusted brand name, and when people buy baking soda, they're going to go with the one they know the best.
Tech Device

The Playstation 2 was the sequel to Sony's first game console and is the best selling game console of all time selling 153 million as of November 2011, being released in 2001. While the Playstation 3 was released in 2006, new games are still being released and Sony won't quit support until they stop. It's lasted such a long time because they were the first to introduce online gaming, and secured game exclusives from the start. Over time, it became a pretty cheap option compared to all the other consoles, so that if someone needed a cheap entertainment option quickly, the Playstation 2 has you covered.

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Luxury Brands- Ferrari

Ferrari is an Italian sports car company founded in 1929 by Enzo Ferrari. The company sells cars for street and consumer use, as well as Formula One racing, and others. The price ranges from $150,000-$350,000. They sell their products at specific dealers, as well as online. The target market is older adults, who are now able to afford a car such as this, and have been imagining exactly what they want. Many celebrities own a Ferrai, such as Kim Kardashian, Nicholas Cage and Tommy Hilfiger.

It appeals to me, because they are really cool cars. They are well made, and they have a really good reputation for being reliable. And who doesn't like to go really fast? People are willing to splurge because of the reputation, as well as the fact that they've probably worked hard all their life thinking of buying such a car and they want to reward themselves with the actual thing.

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Product Planning

Product Mix:

Product Line

Product Item

Product Depth: Compliments
Health
Thermometers
Allergy
Scissors
Vitamin Planners
Acetominaphin
Food:
Bakery
Baking Supplies
Beverages
Dairy
International
Lunch
Meals
Meats
Seafood
Snacks
Home and Garden
Air Fresheners
Laundry Detergents
Garbage Bags
Paper Towels
Bleach
Facial Care
Baby Food
Pet Food

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Google
Strengths
Has the designation of being the most popular search engine in the world
Most search results
Wide variety of features
Satisfied employees
Smart People
Free Products
Lots of money
Established in the lexicon
Available worldwide
Weaknesses
Controversies over privacy issues
Perceptions of a monopoly
Opportunities
Have the means to create any service they want
More software for the Android
Threats
Pressure from China
SOPA, PIPA and ACTA
Bing is trying to be better

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Mass Marketing vs. Niche Marketing

Mass Marketers

1. Tim Hortons

2. Old Navy

3. McDonald's

4. Chapters

5. Canadian Tire

6. The Bay

7. Coca Cola

8. PetroCanada

9. Toyota

10. Toshiba

Niche Marketing

1. Starbucks

2. Four Loko

3. Gamestop

4. Alienware

5. KFC

6. Long John Silver's

7. The Brick

8. Bath and Body Works

9. ESPN

10. Comic King

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Know your competitors

1. If I decided to make my own business, I would research my competitors by reading any articles I could find on them, business profiles are abundant. I would also buy their product or use their service, in order to get the experience of using it and know what I'm up against. Finally, I'd conduct surveys in order to know the market share.
2. You could look out for competitors by analysing the trends going on in your area.When a cost of a particular good is low, then it's possible people might want to get into business using that good. As well, if something becomes trendy, then people will want to provide those services.

3. Trade fairs are businesses who trade goods and services between each other, with no cash exchanged
4 1. Features
2. Providers
3. Battery Life
4. App Stores
5. Demographics
5. 1. Type of customers
2. Price
3. Advertising

1. Read this article and answer the questions below in a blog post titled ‘Know your competitors’.

a.     If you were going into business for yourself, describe 3 ways you would personally research your competitors.

b.     How could you look out for competitors that are not already in business?

c.      What do you think trade fairs are?

d.     List the top 5 things you think a tech business such as RIM (Blackberry) would need to know about their competitors.

e.     Describe 3 things you can learn about your competitors to make your business better.

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Spread the Net

Spread the net is a net profit organization that sells nets for $10 to children in Africa to protect against malaria, thus if you donate $10, you save a child. Spread the Net is most notable for partnering with the Rick Mercer Report to get schools involved. Basically, if your school raises the most money for Spread the Net in Canada, Rick Mercer will shoot his show at your school. They also have a very strong Twitter and Facebook presence, thus underlining their aim to get youth involved. They haven't done much more advertising and they don't seem to have many events

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Different Types of Competition

                                                                Classification of Competitors- Tv Networks

Market Leader- CTV, Canada's most watched network. As it has all the highest rated American shows as well as its own high rated content. It holds the record for the highest rated telecast in Canadian television, with the Hockey Gold Medal final of the 2010 Olympics

Market Challenger- Global, CBC- Not quite as popular, but, still ranks up there with the popular programs. They probably will not reach the heights of CTV.

Market Follower- CityTv- Smaller, located in markets around the larger cities, and isn't all that widely viewed as much as the other networks are, as well, has a large mix of both Canadian and American programming.

Market Nicher- SPACE, Family, OLN, Slice- Reaching smaller audiences, but have more specialized programming, that keep people watching. 

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Google has been the most dominant search engine for over ten years, but Bing has come rather recently to challenge them, but the thing is, Google just does what they do better. Google isn't really trying to fill a niche, by being the most dominant search engine on the internet, they're marketing to literally everyone, except for people who don't have computers, but chances are they will still encounter at some point in their lives. Bing's marketing however, seems to be pointed toward people who are way too overwhelmed by Google. I'm not sure these people actually exist, I mean, Google does give you a lot of results, but unless you get panic attacks from literally anything, Google should not be that difficult for you. As well, it's fashioned itself into an actual word, and I'm pretty sure Bing isn't going to. Neither of them cost anything, but Google does offer free phone calls through Gmail to anywhere in the US and Canada. Google's users can be extremely loyal, as it will often be the only search engine they use, and they're likely to use Google's other features, like Gmail, Translate, Maps, etc. If Bing actually does get the users they're marketing to, they're probably not going to use it that much, as they're probably not the type of people who use the internet all that often. Google hasn't really promoted the site all that much, they do a lot of viral marketing, though I can't remember one they've done recently. Bing is a bit more interesting, as they're one of three companies to have their logo featured on a WNBA team's jersey, it's prominently featured on the Seattle Storm's jerseys. Finally, Google has a better perceived quality, and real quality, as  I'm always satisfied with their search results, and I love Gmail and their documents. Edge goes to Google.

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Millenials

As a member of the Millenial generation, there are a lot of broad generalizations that people make about my group, and thus by extension. I do have a tendency to be more liberal, as there is more I agree with on both social and economic issues. I am the product of baby boomers, though on the later side, 1954 and 1958 respectively. I do use email and IM, but am not much into texting, having only recently acquired a cell phone, which was a hand-me-down when she got an iPhone. I do use Facebook and Twitter, both I find having useful qualities that outweigh the arguments that they're completely useless. I am a Christian, but I do tend to be skeptical of my religion, as I consider myself Non-Denominational. I find flash mobs and internet memes annoying, and I don't see myself getting into an MMORPG. I have owned an iPod for four years, and I'm a big internet multitasker. I enjoy a lot of culture from other eras, and am perfectly willing to try anything my parents liked. There are things that are true, and some are not

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Toyota Ad Blitz

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Consumer Profile

Your Consumer Profile:

Segmentation Factor	Specifically:	How you would be described?
Demographics	Age	16
	Gender	Male
	Income	<$3000
	Family Life Cycle	Living with birth parents
	Other?
Psychographics	Lifestyle	Fan of comedy, social media, science fiction, big internet user. Work at KFC and write about school sports
	Taste in Music	Mostly listen to podcasts
	Attitude towards health	Try to eat as healthily as possible
	Celeb you most admire	Neil Degrasse Tyson
	Sports/fitness involvement	Play football and shot put
	Extracurricular activities	Interact Club, Boy Scouts
	Other?
Geographics	Urban, Suburban, Rural	Urban in regards to Napanee
Behavioural iPod Touch (you may want to think of a particular product that you use often or is new to you)	Benefits sought	Productivity and entertainment
	Loyalty	Second iPod that I’ve bought
	Usage	Use whenever I have extra time, or when working
	Occasions	Productive time
	User Status	Regular
	Other?

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Product in High Demand

The television has come a long way lately. The high definition TV has been in high demand ever since they came out, and manufacturers just haven't stopped innovating. They've been developing over the years, but Smart TVs are becoming more and more popular as the internet gets more ubiquitous. Services like Netflix and Hulu has made it more and more easier to access content from the internet, which has been the premier way to get content as more and more people abandon their cable or satellite subscriptions. Whenever you see a commercial for a Smart Tv, they always look slick and interesting, and I figure that's why may be more popular.

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Coke vs. Pepsi, Who's got the better marketing?

Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola are two of the biggest businesses in the world, and consequently, two of the biggest marketing entities in the world. They have amassed an empire of beverages that include soft drinks, sports drinks, tea, coffee and juices. But which one is better? In my opinion, Coca Cola does a better job, and here's why.

First of all, there's the promotions, we have to look at how they handled their Super Bowl ads. Pepsi aimed for spectacle, which had a commercial with Elton John, Flava Flav and X Factor winner Melanie Amaro, when I watched the ad, I was let wondering who this person going against Elton John was, and I'm assuming many other people were, as it had usual ratings of 12.4 million people. Now that's a good rating, but it's not quite American Idol level, and I don't believe it reached the cultural landscape like American Idol has. As well, the commercial was just kind of hokey, and they tried too hard. Coca Cola on the other hand, played it safe, and went with their iconic polar bears. They weren't my favourite ads, but I did enjoy it, and it was effective. Then there's what they're doing with social media, Pepsi isn't doing anything special, but Coca Cola has a Twitter account for their inventor, John Pemberton, who died in 1888. These types of things are why Twitter exists, and I enjoy the tweets. As well, the rewards program is very extensive. Next, there's the price. Coca Cola's products are lower than Pepsi's by 25 to 50 cents, at least online. Lastly, Coca Cola's products are available in 191 countries while Pepsi is only in 80. The fact that Coca Cola is that extensive shows that Coca Cola is such a recognizable brand

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