MRKT452 Consumer Behavior

This extremely short commercial does something that not a lot of commercial do. They chose to actually bring attention to the marketing aspects and call out the direction in which modern advertising has gone. I thing it’s great. It’s simple and captures the attention of the viewer. It did for me anyway. Let me know what you think.

This is P&G’s newest ad campaign, launched on April 17th for the upcoming London Summer Olympics. This is take #2 of their very famous ad “Proud Sponsors of Moms” launched in 2010 for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSn5Z7EC4ME). Since their ad was effective 2 years ago, why not make a second follow-up ad that draws back on this theme: it seems to be working for P&G so there is no reason to change their strategy. The most recent ad however is more touching than the original one: it makes people cry more as feelings of nostalgia are enlightened and they reflect on their own mothers. Several people have been sharing the ad on social media which shows that it is effective. They released it 3 weeks before Mother’s Day which makes sense. I would’ve waited 1 more week just because people don’t start thinking about holidays and gifts until 2 weeks before the event and I think that would’ve made the ad even more powerful; but maybe they didn’t want to associate their ad too much with Mother’s Day as it is an ad about P&G and the Olympics so it might be their way of distancing themselves. Overall great ad and great strategy!

- Yasmeen G

Skin care and cosmetics for men have been growing exponentially. It was first seen in Japan, then in Korea, and now, in China. Only this year, men skin care segment in China has reached US$1 billion, according to China P&G. Now that skin care and cosmetics are not only dedicated to women, marketing to men is essential to successfully capture this fast-growing opportunity. Knowing the American and European men are more reluctant to those products, how can marketers target these consumers?

We’ve seen many presentations on celebrity endorsements but I’ve been wondering how much these celebrities make when they promote a brand, so here are a few numbers from 2010 on Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, etc.

-Marie Turk

When there was the presentation on music used in advertising, I instantly remembered this spot that used to play when I was young in France. The music used is Glorious by Andreas Johnson and it became the ‘anthem’ for the company as it is constantly used in its TV spots and I think it is quite appropriate for the product: it is lively and energizing, a great way to start the day which is basically what the promo says about its product.

-Marie Turk

Hey guys! Here is a Nike advertisement that I wanted to share with you. I found it very original and quite funny, plus it is a perfect example to show that conveying positive feelings in your marketing messages (here it is love) is a strong tool (the video was posted on April 4th and has more than 1m views) and results in positive attitudes toward the brand. 

- Mathilde Leroy

MintChipChallenge (by MintChipChallenge)

WILL MINTCHIP MAKE DIGITAL CURRENCY MORE WIDESPREAD?

In class we talked about the idea of our smartphone becoming our wallet. Believe it or not, there will be a new virtual currency that you will be able to download on your iphone. 

What do you think about it? Is it going too far or is it convenient?

-Simon Blanchette-

How an iPad is made. The perception of the working conditions seem to be quite different from the reality. Consumers should have knowledge of all a product’s impacts so they can make informed decisions.