Informal Communications Audit: K-Swiss - Assignment Example

Another ad features comedian Danny McBride as his alter-ego Kenny Powers displaying the “Tubes” line of K-Swiss shoes. Yet another ad shows UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones displaying a line of K-Swiss apparel.

One of the few ads on the home page that doesn’t feature a celebrity shows different colors of shoes and says “Customize with your favorite colors.” Additionally, the home page shows featured products, news & events, mixed media, and social media updates on the celebrities who promote the various products. K-Swiss chooses to use celebrities and athletes to target the market of consumers who are serious about performance in the sports they play. What they are basically saying to customers is something along the lines of “this high-performing athlete uses these specific shoes; therefore you should use them as well if you consider yourself a serious athlete.

” The message that they convey over and over is that they produce top quality shoes and apparel for top quality athletes. Also, the Kenny Powers commercials are very funny and have an effect of increasing brand awareness because people that wouldn’t otherwise be interested in a product get to know about that product simply because they enjoy watching the humorous commercials. K-Swiss promotions could actually be seen as meeting all four types of Maloney’s rewards that a customer expects.

Firstly, K-Swiss shoes are rational because they meet a need of athletes who desire high-performance as well as comfortable shoes. Secondly, the ability to customize colors makes them appeal to the senses and to the more casual buyer as well. Thirdly, they meet the social expectation because the buyer could choose to buy the brand to fit in with the other athletes and celebrities. Lastly, the shoes can satisfy a customer’s ego who wants to possess what the best athletes and celebrities have.