Old Spice verses Axe - Which is More Effective - Research Paper Example

Section 1: Old Spice verses Axe: Which is more effective? Participants In order to find out which product is more effective out of old spice and axe, a research has been conducted. The respondents were asked different question related to the commercial of these products. Totaling of 10 respondents were selected ranging from ages 20 to 34. 6 of them were males while 4 of them were females. Results After analyzing the responses of participants, it has been found out the viewers give meaning to the commercials which they watch. These meanings are based upon their own personal characteristics. There were various variables related to these products which determine their effectiveness for instance masculinity in old spice and axe, femininity in old spice and axe, positioning of old spice and axe, sexuality in old spice and axe, randomness or absurdity in old spice and axe. Some of the respondents answered that sexuality is natural and therefore it is alright to use axe for these experiences while other respondents felt annoyed that these aspects must not be used for commercial advertising. Axe incorporates much higher tendency of sexuality in its commercials while old spice keeps it moderate. Perhaps due to this reason, the effectiveness and popularity of old spice is way higher than axe till date. Section 2: Product 1) Brand extension. What is the original branded product? Brand Extension is defined as that marketing strategy of a company in which the company uses the same brand name for different products. An example of Dove can be taken in this regard. The company uses the same brand name that is ‘Dove’ for all its products which include bar soap, face wash, hand wash, body wash, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, moisturizers, hair color etc. The original brand name is Dove which is used for the entire product range of the company. 2) Line extension. What is the original branded product? Line Extension is that marketing strategy where the company uses the same brand name for launching new variants of the existing products. In this case, the company can introduce new flavors, colors, sizes, forms, packaging, added ingredients etc. An example of ‘Maggi’ can be taken in this case. The company uses the same brand name for all the new variants it launch be it noodles, soups, flavorings anything. 3) Private brand. What store is it from? Private Brand are those products which are produced, marketed, distributed and controlled by retailers. There are famous example of Private Brand in U.K. the most popular examples are ASDA, Sainsbury, Tesco which produce, control and market products by their own names. There are number of products produced and marketed by these famous stores. 4) Multi-brand Strategy. Identify the two different brands and the company. Multi-Brand Strategy occurs when company markets two different brand names. The products are usually similar but competing and are produced by the same firm but under different or unrelated brand names. An example of Lexus can be taken in this case. Lexus became part of Toyota’s Multi-Brand Strategy. The company did not portray its brand name ‘Toyota’ with Lexus because the product ‘Lexus’ was aimed to target sophisticated and elite class. 5) Co-branded product. Identify the two different brands. Co-branded Product happens when a firm uses more than one brand name for a single product. Example includes Intel Inside chip which is used in Pentium computer for IBM computers. Section 3: Pricing  Pick out 10 grocery items. Find the price of your “basket” of items at three different stores. Which store had the best total price? Make sure the stores are different in type, for example, Wal-Mart, Safeway, 7-11 and Whole Foods are all different. What is the difference on each individual item? Make a chart or graph. Were any of the items on sale? What is the total difference in price? Why are the prices/totals different at the different stores?  The three supermarkets that have been selected in order to compare prices are Sainsbury, Tesco and ASDA. The list of grocery items that are selected for this purpose is mentioned in the table below. Grocery Items Sainsbury Tesco ASDA Cauliflower £1.20 £1.20 £1.19 Quaker Oat So Simple Sweet Cinnamon Flavor 99p 99p £1.00 Parsnip £1.00 £1.00 98p Trimmed Leeks £2.00 £1.70 £1.70 Clover £3.70 £3.70 £3.00 I can’t believe it’s not butter £2.75 £2.75 £2.00 Quaker Oat So Simple Sweet Cinnamon Flavor 99p 99p £1 Chosen by You Almond Slices £1 £1 £1 Growing Mint £1.79 £1.99 76p Semi Skimmed Milk 2 Pints  89p 89p 89p Plain Flour 90p 90p 90p Total £17.21 £17.11 £15.18 The above table clearly mentions that prices of some products are exactly same while there is a little difference in prices of other products. The reason that there are differences in price and total amount is that firms while competing with major competitors in market, opt for Competitive Pricing. Competitive Pricing is that strategy of Pricing where the firm cannot put the price by its own choice in fact it has to see the overall prevailing market price of that product or the price at which their competitor are selling products and then keeps the price accordingly. While having a look at the products of these prices, we found out that there were not much items on sale and very few products had sales on their prices. Section 4: Channels of distribution  What would be the fastest and least expensive way to deliver a two-pound box of chocolates (in perfect unmelted condition) to someone in Hagåtña? Document the process step by step. Explain the costs and time of at least three ways of delivering it. Make sure that the ways are different from each other and not just a different company doing the same thing. Explain how it will arrive without melting and be sure to factor the costs into your answer.  Ways of Delivering Chocolate without Melting There are numerous companies which manufactures and markets the products for keeping the products safe during shipment. Shipping chocolate can be another important issue to address. The company manufactures various products out of them, some are mentioned below. 1. Foil Bubble Stuff; this is a new technology which has been adopted by IPC (Insulated Products Corp). It keeps products like chocolates, pharmaceuticals, specialty fruits, flowers, herbs, seafood, cheese safe during the shipment procedure. In this method, a carton is insulated with foil in order to keep the products at required temperature and in safe form. 2. Dry Ice and Insulated Container; while shipping chocolate, dry ice and insulated container can work a great deal. It helps in keeping products fresh and safe. 3. Gel Packs; Gel Packs are another form of carrying good without getting spoiled or rotten. Chocolates can be carried through this way. First, then are packed in gel packs and after that, proper packaging is done in order to ship them safely and without melting. Section 5: Promotion  Find real life examples for each of the following: i. Samples: When Red Bull (Energy drink) was first introduced, the salesman and salesgirls of the company distributed various samples of red bulls’ cans in school, colleges and universities in order to attract youth. ii. Coupons: Companies which are willing to penetrate in the market opt this strategy. Example includes Pizza Hut. iii. Cash Refund Offers: Fast Track is the most popular brand for sunglasses, shoes, bags etc. It offers money back guarantee on some of its products. iv. Price Packs: It is referred to as reduction in Prices. Example includes walker chips. v. Premiums: Premium promotion is one in which customer gets something extra for their purchase. The most popular example is of McDonalds which offers premium toys to kids for their Happy Meal. vi. Advertising Specialties: Companies often offer promotional products in order provide familiarity with its brand name. these promotional products generally comprise of calendar, key chains, bags, t-shirts, mugs/cups, wall clocks etc. Example includes Days Inn Hotel. vii. Point Of Purchase Displays Or Demonstrations: There are various products which offer demonstrations in supermarket about that product. This strategy is very popular in beauty products. Olay is also one example of this type of promotion. viii. Contests (Or Games Or Sweepstakes): Maggi has offered various contests and games in Asian countries in order to promote the usage of their products. ix. Event Sponsorships: Number of companies take help and support of events such as World-cup, Olympics etc in order to promote their products. Almost every other company is involved in this strategy. Philips is also an example of this type of promotion. Section 6: Consumer Behavior and Segmentation  Find 2 recent articles about current social media trends. How are consumers using /responding to social media advertising?   Mangold and Faulds (2009) has recently debated on the topic of impact of social media on promotional mix. They state that emergence of social media has made it easier for one person to communicate their products to thousands and hundreds of people. Probably, this can be the only reason of huge success and popularity of social media these days. The reason for such success is that consumers provide large number of responses to the products and services offered by companies. These responses enable the company to target its audience and even sell it products online. The huge demand can be due to accessibility, convenience and approachability of customers. Mangold and Faulds (2009) considers social media as a hybrid promotional mix where companies can talk to their customers. They conclude that managers can provide tools such as blogs, social media tools, networking platform to their subordinates in order to engage with their customers. Another article included that for corporations, social media has become a way of messaging, branding and engaging with customers. The article further stated that leading brands are now finding their customer online. They aim for target audience, work hard to make high volumes and stream continously for feedback (PR NewsWire). Works Cited Mangold, W. Glynn and Faulds, David J. “Socialmedia: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix”. Business Horizons 52.4 (2009): 357–365. Print. PR NewsWire. "Mastering Marketing in Social Media." 2011. Web. 27 June 2012. < http://promotions.prnewswire.com/rs/prnewswire/images/wp_Mastering_Marketing_in_Social_Media.pdf> Appendix Link for Ads of Old Spice and Axe Old Spice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE Axe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tWZB7OUSU Questionnaire 1. Do you like the commercial? What specifically did you like about these commercials? 2. The commercial you just viewed have gained substantial popularity and attention of media. What do you think has made these commercials gain such an amount of popularity? 3. If you need to talk to you friends or family about these commercials? How would you explain it to them? 4. Do you think sexuality is required to sell products? Is it necessary? 5. Out of both axe and old spice, which brand do you think has utilized sexuality in the most adequate and sensitive way? 6. Are you comfortable with the idea of incorporating sexuality in commercials of products? 7. In future, what would be the most vivid thing which you would have remembered by watching these commercials? 8. What were the specific aspects of the commercials which influenced your thoughts and feelings? 9. Do these commercials impact you in interacting with other? If yes, then how? If not, then why? 10. Do you think these commercials had any impact on your reaction and behavior? Read More