Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Nov 17, 2009
Godiva Rides in a New Direction (New York Times)
Higher-end products don’t always suffer during a recession. Some do fine as their key target market often remains relatively unaffected by a slowing economy. One example is Godiva. Positioned as a higher-end chocolate brand, Godiva is launching a new promotional campaign that makes no mention of price or the popular “value” proposition that many products now promote. Instead, Godiva positions itself away from the mass market chocolates with an emotional appeal that states that even in bad economy it is sometimes worth splurging on a quality product.
… the campaign seeks to explain why Godiva is still worth buying during tough times, using an emotional appeal to make the case that a brief respite to indulge oneself — “the golden moment,” as it were — is as desirable now as it was when the Dow was at 14,000.
Compared to this promotional strategy, is Godiva’s positioning strategy likely to change again once the worldwide economy becomes healthy again?
Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Oct 27, 2009
Kids' Cereals Pour on the Sugar and Sodium (USA Today)
Here is a scathing research report that has some marketers in the U.S. scurrying for cover. Not only is it produced by a credible research center, it also has the resources to be well publicized (it was picked up by many media outlets). The report titled Evaluating the Nutrition Quality and Marketing of Children’s Cereal by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University challenges the marketing activates of major cereal manufacturers by looking at how they direct their marketing campaigns (see more about this research at this website). The results are not pretty for the manufacturers. The full report offers excellent insight into how cereal is marketed including a look at how promotional activities take place through television, in-store and Internet.
The average preschooler sees 642 cereal ads a year on TV. Most are for types with the worst nutrition ratings.
The report calls for U.S. government regulation for how cereal is promoted to children. What is the likelihood that this will happen?
Posted by: Paul.Christ
on Oct 13, 2009
Marketing on $700 a Year (BrandWeek)
This is an excellent story that discusses companies using low-cost marketing methods. It includes a look at how one start-up company, Mint.com, grew in just two years to be worth over $170 million while spending very little on marketing. Instead they (along with other companies mentioned in this story) use smart web tactics to get noticed and to spread the word. While Mint spent somewhat more than the $700 mentioned in the story title, considering their size they still grew the business on a relatively small marketing budget.
Thanks to new social media and communications technologies, partnered with adept PR strategies, Wells showed that building a so-called Web 2.5 brand doesn’t need to cost much these days—and the experience is liberating.
Are the marketing tactics used by the companies discussed in this story reasonable options for anyone starting an online business today or did these companies simply get in at just the right time when few other companies were using these tactics?