Marketing of Old Spice & the Axe Effect - Research Paper Example

 Section 1: Marketing Research Select an ad for Old Spice and an ad for Axe. Design and conduct an experiment to determine which ad is more effective. Use a student (or friends) sample of 10 people where everyone answers the questions on the 2 ads. Develop your own measures of advertising effectiveness in this context. What are your results? Include a copy of the ads (or link) and your questions. The copy of the print ad for Old Spice that was used to determine advertising effectiveness, in contrast to the Axe advertisement is shown below: Source: StillAd Source: Design Your Way I asked 10 different people composed of students and friends and showed them the above print ads for Old Spice and for Axe. The basic question was: which one do you think is the most effective and why? The results are as follows: Of the ten participants, only one found the Old Spice ad effective in contrast to 9 who found Axe absolutely compelling. The reasons for selecting the Axe advertisement ranged from: the concept was funny and innovative; yet attractive indicating the effectiveness of the product in luring people (or in this advertisement, even mermaids) in its fragrance; the visual representation effectively addresses the slogan: “The Axe Effect” indicating that the extraordinary fragrant could bring mermaids of their domain to check what the fragrance was all about; there is a mysterious concept as brought about from using the mermaids as symbols of representation. On the contrary, the person who found Old Spice attractive indicated the reason for selecting this advertisement was its simplicity and adherence to its advertisement message: “Become one of the freshest smelling places on earth” [Stind]. The respondent indicated that although Axe’s advertisement was captivating, it was indicating a virtual impossibility. Overall, the market research results indicate that for advertisements to be effective, it takes a collaboration of the uniqueness and innovativeness of the concept, the slogan, the clarity of the message being relayed, and the impact it creates on the audience. Section 2: Product Interview someone who works for a retail store about how they choose which products the store sells. You will have to interview an owner or manager who is involved in the product decisions. A clerk at a store will not know how the products are picked. You can interview them about a particular product line (like snow boards or stuffed animals or soft drinks) or new products. This question should include some detail- not just “what people buy is what we keep”. How do they determine how popular a product has to be to be included? Do they have a target amount of time for it to sell before they take a new product off the shelves? Do they talk to sales representatives from companies? Do they go to trade shows? Give examples of the products that have been discontinued. Be specific. I got the chance to interview a manager of a local retail store, Mr. Jonathan Smith, who asked not to cite the name of the store (ABC Convenience Store, for simplicity and presentation) for confidentiality in divulging relevant information pertaining to product decisions. The focus of the interview was for new products. According to Mr. Smith, a new but appropriately advertised product (example a new beverage known to be produced by Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola) is first introduced through these organization’s distributors and marketing channels. The store gets to be stacked with promotional quotas as launching products; which would be appropriately advertised and promoted through posters, display ads, banners, and the like. Customers are therefore made aware through these promotional materials and campaigns and would be attracted to try these new products. For unknown manufacturers, these print ads help sell the products, in conjunction with point-of-sales promotions like taste tests and free trials. On the other hand, some products apparently get discontinued despite having a niche of patronizers, such as hair products (Wella) or the NXT Car Wash. The reasons why these products are taken out of the shelves are varied. Some manufacturers relay that they have improved the product and therefore new and upgraded products are more preferred; and some are not selling enough to cover the expenses of producing them. Section 3: Pricing Find three used items at a consignment store or ARC or garage sale or Craig’s List or Ebay that are still sold today. Find the same (or very similar item) item new. Compare the price. Is the price differential worth it to buy the new or the used product? (15 pts) One used item still on sale at Ebay is the Apple iPod Touch 2nd Generation which sells from a range of $45.69 to $64.99 [eBa12]. Apparently, the new product of the same specification was reportedly for sale at $170. Therefore, the difference is from $124.31 to $105.01. Other used items for sale on eBay are as follows: Product Used Price New Price Difference Acer Aspire 4520 $75 $449 $374 Playstation 3 $199.99 $250 $50.01 As such, people actually have different needs and wants and of course, depending on their financial resources. As evidenced from the number of people bidding for used items, apparently, there is still a market for used products due to the price differentials. Section 4: Channels of distribution Find the name of the store that has the greatest width and depth of chocolate. Width is the types of chocolates and depth is the number of different chocolates within each type of chocolates. Approximately how many chocolates does each store carry in which categories? Visit at least 3 stores (maximum of one of the stores may be online) and explain which stores you looked at and why you picked the one you did. The store with the greatest width and depth of chocolate products being offered is Daffin’s Candies located at Farrell, PA. It has six retail outlets and carries chocolate products in boxed candies (of 65 choices); milk chocolate molds, milk chocolate suckers, school novelties, shower and wedding items, and milk chocolate candy bars. This particular store was viewed online through its official website at http://www.daffins.com/. This store was hereby chosen to be viewed due to its historical wealth and depth of chocolate products offered [Daf12]. Another chocolate store that is known and visited before was the La Maison du Chocolat located at 30 Rockefeller Ctr. at 49th St. (Midtown West) and at1018 Madison Ave. at 78th St. (Upper East Side). This store is known for its excellent imported chocolates all made in France and flown to New York. Likewise, there is a cozy tea room in back of the Madison Avenue store that also serves excellent hot chocolate. Finally, the Jacques Torres store is another chocolate store that one remembers visiting before and offers diverse and excellent chocolates in diverse kinds. Located in six strategic locations (Amsterdam Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Hudson Street, Chelsea Market, the Ice Cream Shop located just beside the original Jacques Torres Chocolate store on Water Street, and Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Underpass (DUMBO). Their specialty is also their hot chocolates and chocolate chips and their bonbons in different flavors. One opted to visit this chocolate store due to its good ambiance and inviting atmosphere; in addition to one’s genuine love for chocolates. Section 5: Promotion Find an ad that represents each of the following types of cultural influence 1) Ethic group (Hispanic, Black, Asian, etc.) 2) age (baby boomers, generation X, etc.) 3) religion (Jewish, Muslim, Christian, etc.) 4) Geography (region, rural, suburban or urban, etc.) and 5) social class. Tell me which specific group it is targeted to (for example, black, Muslim, urban and upper middle class) and why you think so. Include a copy of a print ad or link for TV or radio. Source: Bayo Clothing The advertisement is targeted to mixed races (Chinese, African, Filipinos), women, of middle income class, adults, working class, and urban. As one could see, the advertisement from Bayo Clothing, a clothing and apparel organization, was reportedly intended to celebrate “nationality, heritage and personality mix” (Bayo Clothing par. 2). From the chosen models and from the slogans used, emphasis was placed on mixed cultures where the organization aimed to send the message that despite diversity in culture, the clothes manufactured by Bayo are applicable and equally enticing to women of various races. Section 6: Consumer Behavior and Segmentation Find 2 recent articles about current social media trends. How are consumers using /responding to social media advertising? Article 1: Six Social Media Trends for 2012 The article entitled “Six Social Media Trends for 2012” written by David Armano and publishes by the Harvard Business Review proffered pertinent issues relative to six predicted trends in social media, to wit: (1) convergence emergence; (2) the cult of influence; (3) gramification nation; (4) social sharing; (5) social television; (6) and the micro economy. Convergence emergence as a trend focused on integrating social life and feedback to advertisements posted by contemporary organizations. The cult of influence, on the other hand, indicates increasing effect of apparent parallel degrees of influence by virtually everyone who has access to the digital medium. Gramification nation exemplifies game-like applications in social media; while social sharing and television focuses on people’s ability to interact and share ideas, opinions, comments in more medium including watching television which remains a social act [Arm111]. And finally, Armano predicated that a more “social approach to solving business problems through a sort of micro-economy” through the interplay of consumers, business owners and other stakeholders who have expressed interests in social trends. These trends reflect how consumers respond and react to social media advertising through these six media trends. Article 2: A Print Focus on Social Media The article entitled “A Print Focus on Social Media” written by Jennifer Preston have reported that “four new monthly magazines advising business owners on how to use social media tools will go on sale on Monday. Each publication focuses on one of the major platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Google and LinkedIn” [Pre112]. As advised there are vast opportunities of using the print media format in reaching out to contemporary organizations that increasingly eye applications in the digital world. As such, increasing numbers of consumers have tapped digital forums and networking sites as sources of social media advertising. Copies of these articles could be viewed and printed from the URL addresses shown in the works cited page. Works Cited Stind: , (StillAd), eBa12: , (eBay), Daf12: , (Daffin's Candies), Arm111: , (Armano), Pre112: , (Preston par. 1), Read More