Marketing a Guide to the Fundamentals - Case Study Example

Introduction Research studies conducted by Botha, Bothma, and Geldenhuys, (2008), have indicated that the role of marketing has increasingly gained prominence more so for e-commerce business that operate via the online platform. According to Haegele (2001), these businesses rely on intensive marketing campaign in order to attract big traffic to their individual sites and based on the business model of e-commerce sites, the high number of visitors to the site directly translates to an increase in revenue for the business. However, Forsyth (2009) argued that the impact of a marketing programme largely depend on how well it emulates the audiences’ desires and even influence their decision making process, which are determined by the nature of planning that was conducted before the programme was implemented. Therefore, marketing programmes at times record huge success while at times they record failure depending on nature of planning prior to the implementation of the marketing programme. This particular paper will provide background information about a failed public marketing programme and core issues surrounding this failed marketing programme. The example of failed public marketing programme that will be discussed is the Groupon Super Bowl Advert, which was tilted as “Save the Money – Tibet,” and it was aired live on TV during the 2011 edition of the Super Bowl. Background of the Groupon Advert To begin with, Groupon is an e-commerce business that operates as a deal-of-the day website and acts as a marketplace for retailers and consumers who are looking for bargains or affordable deals on various products and services. Therefore, it relies on intensive marketing campaign that reaches a wide audience, who can then increase the traffic on the Groupon website. As part of its marketing programme in the year 2011, Groupon choose to air a 31-seconds advert during the Super Bowl match mainly because of the wide viewership the advert was posed to get, which hit a record of 111 million viewers (Riccobono, 2013). This advert was promoting the Himalayan Restaurant in Chicago, which offered Tibet delicacies such as fish curry at a discounted price to 200 potential customers. In addition, the advert was urging viewers to use the Groupon website to get the best deals in their respective towns, which would enable them to save their money. The Core Issues of the Failed Marketing Programme The advert first brought to the attention of the audience the beautiful attraction of Tibet and then the human rights violations that were taking place in Tibet to the extent that the culture of Tibetans was in jeopardy. After this part, the actor immediately jumped on to inform the viewers that despite their trouble, Tibetans are able to prepare one of the most delicious fish curry and that they should use the Groupon website in order to get half the price on Tibet foods that were on offer at the Himalayan Restaurant located in Chicago. This advert was a big flop as it received more criticism than praises. Moreover, the audience got a message other than the one the company was trying to put across. The main factor that contributed to the failure of this public marketing programme was the fact that it integrated the sufferings of the Tibetans to the deals that were being offered at the Himalayan Restaurant, as well as other bargain deals that were available on the Groupon website. This depicted the company as insensitive to the plight of people who were suffering in Tibet, and worse was the fact that it seemed to take advantage of the plight of Tibetans in order to promote Tibet foods that were offered at a discounted price at the Himalayan Restaurant. Most of the audience were annoyed by the fact that the advert just brushed over the plight of Tibetans and instead placed more emphasis on promoting foods that were on offer at the Himalayan Restaurant and the Groupon website. With reference to the writings by Ferrell and Hartline (2011), it is correct to argue that Groupon failed to achieve its desired objective because of poor marketing research. This is because the company proved to be unaware of the sensitivity of the Tibet issue and the fact that the audience cannot relate well with the marketing message that highlights the suffering of people whilst luring them to explore the services offered by the company. Conclusion In the introduction part, this paper pointed to the fact that an effective marketing programme must entail proper planning that will enable the marketers to devise an appropriate marketing message that uses the right words and even symbol (Luther, 2001). In case of poor marketing planning, the marketers are posed to end up with an advert that fails to capture the attention of the audience and even fail to convey the intended marketing message (Baker and Saren, 2010). The failed marketing campaign of Groupon during the 2011 Super Bowl that was watched by 111 million viewers, was simply caused by the fact that the advert began by highlighting the suffering of the Tibetans and without even giving the issue a much deeper thought as it was required, the advert swiftly transitioned to the topic of food. This was a bit insensitive and even suggested the fact that the millions of viewers were merely interested in food deals rather than the suffering of other people in the other parts of the world. The failed marketing programme equally damaged the reputation of the Groupon Company since the advert portrayed it as insensitive to the plight of Tibetans who were suffering. Moreover, the company appeared to be self-centred on its own agenda since it did not highlight the possible solutions that could help the Tibetans; rather, it focused on how to attract customers to the Himalayan Restaurant as well as the Groupon website. Perhaps the best strategy that the marketing programme could have employed is simply focus on the delicious taste of fish curries that are prepared at the Himalayan Restaurant rather than discuss the plight of Tibetians in an advert that was supposed to generate some craving among the millions of viewers for the delicacies that were offered at the Himalayan restaurant. This strategy could have ensured that the advert was simple and directly relayed the message that the company wanted to put across. Reference Baker, J, and Saren, M. (2010). Marketing theory: a student text. London, SAGE. Botha, A. R., Bothma, C. H., and Geldenhuys, P. (2008). Managing e-commerce in business. Cape Town, South Africa, Juta. Forsyth, P. (2009). Marketing: a guide to the fundamentals. New York, Bloomberg Press. Ferrell,C. and Hartline,D. (2011). Marketing strategy. Australia, South-Western Cengage Learning. Groupon Super Bowl Ad | Save the Money – Tibet. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFT2yjk0A. Accessed on [06.04.2014] Haegele, K. (2001). E-advertising and e-marketing: online opportunities. New York, Rosen Pub. Group Luther, W. M. (2001). The marketing plan: how to prepare and implement it. New York, AMACOM. Riccobono, A. (2013) International Business Times. Retrieved from: http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-2013-how-many-people-watched-baltimore-ravens-over-san-francisco-49ers-1060698. Accessed on [08.03.2014] . Read More