Lousy Marketing -- Not Lousy Cars -- Killed Detroit

Long before the CEOs of the Big Three hopped aboard their private jets, they presided over the biggest marketing failure in American history.

Many miles ago, long before Detroit started losing billions a month, it lost something even more important: its roadmap to the American unconscious.

So while we've heard all the arguments for the impending demise, it's high time we took Detroit's slow-motion suicide for what it is: a marketing failure, probably the biggest one in history. It takes years of monumental incompetence to squander the biggest, deepest love affair the American consumer has ever had.

I wasn't surprised when Detroit's million-dollar men cranked up their corporate jets on Friday, popping warm nuts while strategizing about how to land some cold cash.

That 360-horsepower blunder--which may very well have sealed the fate of the Big Three--capped off decades of marketing incompetence.

Car companies have so many levels of creative approval that even a crash dummy would have trouble surviving the process.

The image destruction started when their brands began to exhibit the worst kind of corporatist behavior, summoning up dark memories of the tobacco industry. They battled against every safety initiative, starting with mandatory seat belts. They tried to beat back higher CAFE standards. They lobbied against electric cars and alternative fuel.

As consumers were increasingly making purchase decisions based on the practices of the company behind the product, the domestic auto industry became a loathsome choice.

Detroit's bad actions hurt it with a huge part of the market--the more than 30 million people in Richard Florida's "Creative Class" who work with ideas, live in urban areas, and are more progressive. Even the more traditional consumers who stuck with American cars felt abandoned.

The jerks running the companies didn't help. Your CEO is a marketing statement, and in an era of visionary leaders celebrated by the media--other than Lee Iacocca, who retired in 1979--the guys running the show were overcompensated, colorless zeroes.

From 1974 through 2000, GM was piloted by Tom Murphy, Roger Smith, Bob Stempel, and John Smith, failures whose names are recalled only as poster guys for deck-chair rearrangement.

As these weak-kneed leaders came under pressure for their practices and products, they turned psychologically inward. It all culminated with Michael Moore's Roger and Me in 1989, a national display of corporate paranoia. An industry whose birthright was independence came to represent villainous bureaucracy.

And in a colossal marketing mistake that scraped away any chance for individuality, Detroit's legions of PR firms continued to let its brands be bundled as the Big Three. Can you imagine Apple permitting itself to be bundled with Dell and HP this way?

Ironically, though, as its reputation plummeted, Detroit's cars actually improved. The Detroit Free Press notes that Consumer Reports recently found that "Ford's reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers." And J.D. Power ranked Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Mercury, Pontiac, and Lincoln brands' overall quality as high or higher than that of Acura, Audi, BMW, Honda, Nissan, and Volvo.

This is an epic advertising failure, attributable to Detroit's stubbornness and arrogance. The Big Three kept working with a small group of the biggest and most boring ad agencies, refusing, until recently, to work with anyone who didn't have car experience. Leo Burnett has worked with GM since the 1930s; J. Walter Thompson has worked with Ford for more than 60 years.

I've worked in advertising for a while--thankfully, never on a car account. And I will tell you that it's well-known in the industry that working with Detroit is torture. The Big Three's demand for mediocrity is legendary. They have formulaic rules--the "running shot" of the car has to be a certain length in every commercial--and they have so many levels of creative approval that even a crash dummy would have trouble surviving the process intact.

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Marketing dives deeper into cyberspace

Friday, November 28, 2008
Business First of Columbus - by Paul E. Kostyu

A trivia game popular on college campuses in the 1990s challenged players to connect any actor with movie star Kevin Bacon in as few links – called degrees – as possible. The game played on the concept that we live in a small world.

Guess what? The world is getting smaller, at least figuratively.

With the rise of social media, think YouTube and Facebook, people are finding ways to connect in fewer and fewer degrees. Springboarding off of that is the concept of viral marketing, which used to happen by word of mouth and now is happening especially through social media.

Viral marketing and advertising – unlike traditional advertising seen in newspapers, television and heard on radio – promotes a brand over the Internet or other technology and spreads like a good virus, said Doug Ross, chairman of the marketing and communications master’s degree program at Franklin University.

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NIKE Commercials from different countries

Here are some of NIKE's ad campaigns for different countries. Can you tell which one goes with which country? What are the benefits of using a localized approach for marketing in sports wear and footwear throughout the world?

My opinion is that you are more likely to buy sporting goods from a company if they hit on a certain nationalization appeal to your country. This includes using sports stars or evoking memories of national pride in their commercials, whether it be the world cup, a world famous athlete from your country or whatever it is particularly effective.

Countries include: United States, England, Spain, France, Russia and Germany













NIKE's youtube page

United Colors of Benetton

A couple weeks ago Professor Robles mentioned the Ad campaign that Benetton runs. It directs attention to issues that are totally unrelated to the product they are selling. Is this effective? Is it promoting something other than clothes?

Click on the title to go to their site and look at all of their ad campaigns.

Here are some pictures I found interesting:

What is International Marketing?

Because we are almost in the last week of classes I felt a review slide was necessary. Here is a webpage that I found that pretty much sums up the whole class in a few helpful and meaningful quotes.

The following are just introductions to a more detailed section of the webpage, the list of links can be found by clicking on the title if you want to read more about a certain subject, the website is very helpful.

What is International Marketing?

At its simplest level, international marketing involves the firm in making one or more marketing mix decisions across national boundaries. At its most complex level, it involves the firm in establishing manufacturing facilities overseas and coordinating marketing strategies across the globe.

Doole and Lowe (2001).

Note: Doole and Lowe differentiate between international marketing (simple mix changes) and global marketing (more complex and extensive).

International Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of a company's goods and services to consumers or users in more than one nation for a profit.

Cateora and Ghauri (1999)

Note: Cateora and Ghauri consider international marketing in the absence of global marketing.

International marketing is the application of marketing orientation and marketing capabilities to international business.

Muhlbacher, Helmuth, and Dahringer (2006)

Note: Muhlbacher et al consider international marketing in relation to marketing orientation and competences (see also Global Marketing).

The international market goes beyond the export marketer and becomes more involved in the marketing environment in the countries in which it is doing business.

Keegan (2002)

Note: Keegan's definition is typical of those that see international marketing a one stage of an internationalisation process.
What is Global Marketing?

Global marketing refers to marketing activities coordinated and integrated across multiple country markets.

Johansson (2000)

Note: Jonny K. Johansson defines global marketing as a bigger brother to international marketing i.e. more of an extension.

. . . The result is a global approach to international marketing. Rather than focusing on country markets, that is, the differences due to the physical location of customers groups, managers concentrate on product markets, that is, groups of customers seeking shared benefits or to be served with the same technology, emphasizing their similarities regardless of geographic areas in which they are located.

Muhlbacher, Helmuth, and Dahringer (2006)

Note: Muhlbacher et al delineate international marketing (adapted) and global marketing (standardised).

Global/transnational marketing focuses upon leveraging a company's assets, experience and products globally and upon adapting to what is truly unique and different in each country.

Keegan (2002)

Note: Keegan takes a strategic, corporate overview to define the transnational nature of global marketing.

So, as with many other elements of marketing, there is no single definition of international marketing, and there could be some confusion about where international marketing begins and global marketing ends. These lessons will assume that both terms are interchangeable, and will define international marketing as follows:

International marketing is simply the application of marketing principles to more than one country.


Environment analysis for international marketing.

One of the fundamental steps that needs to be taken prior to beginning international marketing is the environmental analysis. Of course there are many tools on Marketing Teacher that would prove useful at this stage such as lessons on the marketing environment, PEST Analysis, SWOT Analysis, POWER SWOT and Five Forces Analysis. However, the very specific and unique nature of each individual nation needs to be looked into. Below we consider the nature of an international PEST Analysis, and the influence of tariff and non-tariff barriers.


An International PEST Analysis.

PEST is a well-known and widely applied tool when considering the external nature of the domestic market. However, it is equally as useful when applied to the nature of the international marketing environment.

International PEST Analysis would consider:

* How easy will it be to move from purely domestic to international marketing?
* Would your business benefit from inward foreign investment?
* What is the nature of competition within each individual market, and how will
companies from other nations compete when you meet with them head-to-head in
unfamiliar countries?
* Many other factors that are specific to your organization or industry.


What is the influence of culture on international marketing?

Culture is the way that we do things around here. Culture could relate to a country (national culture), a distinct section of the community (sub-culture), or an organization (corporate culture). It is widely accepted that you are not born with a culture, and that it is learned. So, culture includes all that we have learned in relation to values and norms, customs and traditions, beliefs and religions, rituals and artefacts (i.e. tangible symbols of a culture, such as the Sydney Opera House or the Great Wall of China).


How to Enter a Foreign Market.

This lesson gives an outline of the way in which an organization should select which foreign to enter. The International Marketing Entry Evaluation Process is a five stage process, and its purpose is to gauge which international market or markets offer the best opportunities for our products or services to succeed. The five steps are Country Identification, Preliminary Screening, In-Depth Screening, Final Selection and Direct Experience. Let's take a look at each step in turn.


How does an organization enter an overseas market?
Background

A mode of entry into an international market is the channel which your organization employs to gain entry to a new international market. This lesson considers a number of key alternatives, but recognizes that alteratives are many and diverse. Here you will be consider modes of entry into international markets such as the Internet, Exporting, Licensing, International Agents, International Distributors, Strategic Alliances, Joint Ventures, Overseas Manufacture and International Sales Subsidiaries. Finally we consider the Stages of Internationalization.

It is worth noting that not all authorities on international marketing agree as to which mode of entry sits where. For example, some see franchising as a stand alone mode, whilst others see franchising as part of licensing. In reality, the most important point is that you consider all useful modes of entry into international markets - over and above which pigeon-hole it fits into. If in doubt, always clarify your tutor's preferred view.


Media Choices for International Marketing

Marketing communications in international markets needs to be conducted with care. This lesson will consider some of the key issues that you need to take into account when promoting products or services in overseas markets. There will be influences upon your media choice, cultural issues to be considered, as well as the media choices themselves - personal selling, advertising, and others.
Influences upon International Media Choice.

There are a number of factors that will impact upon choice and availability of media such as:

* The nature and level of competition for marcoms channels in your target market.
* Whether or not there is a rich variety of media in your target market.
* The level of economic development in your target market (for example, in remote
regions of Africa there would be no mains electricity on which to run TVs or
radios).
* The availability of other local resources to assist you with your campaign will
also need to be investigated (for example, sales people or local advertising
expertise).
* Local laws may not allow specific content or references to be made in adverts
(for example, it is not acceptable to show naked legs in adverts displayed in
Muslim countries).
* And of course a lot depends upon the purpose of the international campaign in
the first place. What are your international marketing communications objectives?


How should we set prices for international markets?

This lesson considers the basics of pricing for international marketing. As with all of the international marketing lessons, every country and culture within it will influence price. So here we are going to look at some of the common influences upon pricing decision-making, the impact of grey markets, international approaches to pricing, and more mainstream marketing approaches to pricing that can be applied to an international context.


Standardization versus Adaptation.

As you will see from this website, product is a focal element of the marketing mix. When considering the nature of products and services in international marketing, the same models apply such as:

* Product Life Cycle (PLC) - products could be at different points in the PLC in
various nations, possibly creating new opportunities.
* Ansoff's Matrix - market development could mean that an existing product is
marketed in a new international market.
* Three Levels of a Product - marketers would consider the local market's need for
core, actual and augmented products.
* Internet Marketing and Product - how do eMarketers make product decisions?

However, international product decision-making often centres around the standardization versus adaptation debate. Essentially, do we market the same, standard product in an international market or segment, or do we localize it, and adapted it so that it pleases local tastes? Here are some of the advantages and disadvantage of standardization.

Advertising With a Cause

Do you think this advertising is more effective than just showing the product? Are you more likely to buy this product than another similar product because it is better or because it has a cause behind it?

To learn more about their campaign click on the title.

Barack Obama becomes celebrity sportswear endorser

From Times Online
November 27, 2008

Hannah Strange

Tiger Woods costs $20 million a year. David Beckham, £10m. In these troubled economic times, sportswear manufacturers may find themselves having to reevaluate such costly celebrity endorsements, but fortunately for them the world's most popular gym fanatic has stepped in to offer his services. Cost: $0 for four years, with the possibility to extend in 2012.

The media fascination with Barack Obama's sporting antics is a boon for makers of leading athletic brands, which the president-elect has been pictured wearing on frequent trips to the gym and basketball court. The current presidential favourite appears to be Nike, the famous tick spotted on Mr Obama's attire so regularly that one would be forgiven for suspecting a product placement deal.

Not so, says Nike, but nevertheless the company is pleased that so stylish a figure favours its products.

"We don't make a point of giving the president-elect any products for free, but we're glad that he has such good taste in sportswear, whether he's working it out or taking it easy," Nike spokesman Charlie Brooks unashamedly told The Times.

When Mr Obama strolled down a Hawaii beach in August, it was a Nike t-shirt that he wore. When he showed off his basketball skills in a school challenge in April, his trainers bore the distinctive logo. On occasions he has turned himself into a veritable walking billboard, sporting Nike from head-to-toe.

However the President-Elect has been careful not to show too much favour to the Portland-based brand. Perhaps a little controversially, the Japanese brand ASICS seems to have recently replaced Nike as Mr Obama's footwear of choice. Pictures of post-election gym trips have shown him wearing the ASICSGel Nimbus 10, a new model which retails for around $120 (£80).

ASICS, less well known in the States than its domestic rivals, described itself as "thrilled" with the endorsement.

Eóin Treacy of ASICS UK said: "Barack Obama is said to pick only the best and brightest for his team and he's certainly done that with his footwear."

The North Face, the California-based outdoor wear company, has also benefited from a presidential endorsement. Pictures of Mr Obama in one of their fleece jackets were splashed across the pages of the world's newspapers after he wore it to take his daughters to school just five days after his election victory; he was pictured wearing it again on a gym trip the following week.

Such photo opportunities can be worth millions to sportswear companies, according to branding experts.

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Creative advertisements from around the world

Sometimes advertisements have to be eye catching to be successful. Here are some examples.

To see more click on the title.

In Slump, Vegas Pushes Escapism

(Newser) – Las Vegas has enthusiastically promoted itself to travelers interested in pastimes other than gambling in recent years, but now that economic woes are tightening leisure budgets, Sin City is taking a hit, reports Advertising Age. With visitor volume and gaming revenue down, casinos are scrambling to respond. One has a less-than-subtle new slogan: "Shut up & play."

Hotels are slashing room rates, and the big names on the Strip are emphasizing service and focusing on wealthy customers. Other hotels have begun relying more on loyalty programs and direct mailing to draw in guests. And the tourism bureau has a new slogan, too: "Crazy times call for crazy fun."

Wall Street Journal Invades News York Times' Ad Turf

By Sarah Rabil

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The Wall Street Journal is invading the New York Times' advertising turf as competition intensifies in a souring U.S. economy.

Saks Inc., a Times advertiser since 1924, recently chose to promote a new Chanel boutique and made-to-measure men's suits in the Journal. Owner Rupert Murdoch's expansion of general news coverage and a new lifestyle magazine are starting to attract wealthy consumers and create ad space for retailers, said Milton Pedraza, chief executive officer of Luxury Institute LLC.

``They certainly have become a significant part of the advertising mix for luxury brands where they were not before,'' said Pedraza, whose New York research group tracks the market for the most expensive lines of consumer goods and services. ``They're definitely stealing advertising dollars.''

Italian fashion label Dolce & Gabbana SpA and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA have also started advertising in the Journal as Murdoch, 77, seeks to overtake the Times. Both newspapers are fighting for a piece of a shrinking U.S. ad market with spending set to contract 6.8 percent next year to $150 billion, according to a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. estimate. Murdoch is also pressing the fight online.

New York Times Co. cut its dividend yesterday by almost three-fourths as revenue crumbles. The flagship newspaper will probably ``moderate'' ad rate increases for next year and is discussing discounts with advertisers, chief advertising officer Denise Warren said in an interview before the announcement.

``Given what's going on with the economy, we want to be careful,'' she said.

Close Watch

The Times is also expanding financial news coverage, executive editor Bill Keller said. While Keller says the newspapers aren't locked in a ``mano-a-mano death struggle,'' he can name more than 25 business stories where the Times beat its New York rival this year.

``When somebody says he's willing to spend the bank to become the new version of the New York Times, you watch them closely,'' Keller said in an interview. The Journal is the first newspaper he reads every morning after the Times.

Keller isn't the only one eyeing the competition. Michael Rooney, the Journal's chief revenue officer, said he flips through the Times everyday to see who's advertising and instructs sales people to contact potential clients.

News Corp. has the resources to keep investing in the Journal, said Wachovia Capital Markets analyst John Janedis. The Times hasn't been as aggressive, he said.

``If this becomes a prolonged recession, it becomes an advertising war, and it becomes who can tough it out longer,'' New York-based Janedis said.

Ad Plunge

Ad revenue at the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune and their Web sites fell 15 percent in October to $113.9 million, the company said yesterday. Luxury accounts for more than 10 percent of ad sales within that unit. News Corp. doesn't break out financial information for the Journal.

Class A shares of News Corp., which acquired Journal-owner Dow Jones & Co. last year for $5.2 billion, have lost 70 percent this year on the New York Stock Exchange and rose 13 percent to $6.19 at 4:15 p.m. today. New York Times, also down 70 percent for the year, slid 6.6 percent to $5.34.

The Journal is only offering set discounts for bulk, new advertiser or repeat-purchase deals, Rooney said. The publication plans to raise rates for 2009 because of expanded coverage, more subscribers and other investments, Rooney said.

``We will increase rates next year,'' he said. ``We'll do that because we're investing in our product.''

The average individually paid circulation of the Journal rose 2.4 percent to 1.4 million as of September from a year ago, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The Times' slid 5.5 percent to 858,985 on that basis.

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For Luxury Brands, Less Money to Spend on Ads

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
Published: November 23, 2008

Gold was raining from above for luxury brands in the good old days of 2007.

Tradema of America distributes Girard-Perregaux watches in the United States and is slashing its ad budget by 20 percent.

Last December, the designer Marc Jacobs held his annual holiday party for 800 guests, including revelers from Vogue, W, and Harper’s Bazaar, in the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. With the theme of Arabian Nights, Mr. Jacobs had arranged for tableaux vivants, contortionists, five open bars, bare-chested women bedecked in gold necklaces, bare-chested men balancing candelabras on their heads and, at one point, a shower of gold glitter poured over the guests.

Mr. Jacobs has held the party for each of the last 18 years, but on Nov. 4, a short e-mail message was sent out by his business partner, Robert Duffy: “Due to the financial climate, I had to make the decision to cancel the 2008 holiday party.”

After getting through most of this year unscathed, luxury brands are suffering. Rich consumers who were relatively insulated from the economic downturn continued spending, but that has changed in the last few months. While luxury spending began to fall slightly from June, in October alone, it dropped 20.1 percent, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, which estimates consumer spending in the retail and service sectors.

That drop-off means more bad news for magazines and newspapers in the United States that had grown increasingly dependent on luxury advertising.

Ad pages at the top luxury magazines fell 22 percent year over year for the December issues, according to Media Industry Newsletter. Vogue, for example, dropped from 284 pages last December, to 221 pages this December, while Food & Wine went from 160 pages to 126, according to the newsletter.

That has meant cutbacks at publishers. In October, Condé Nast announced it would reduce Men’s Vogue from 10 issues a year to two, reduce the number of issues of Condé Nast Portfolio and cut magazine budgets by 5 percent. Niche Media, which publishes Gotham and Hamptons, laid off some employees and closed a shelter magazine. American Express Publishing, which owns Departures, Travel & Leisure and Food & Wine, is laying off 4 percent of its staff.

“It’s definitely an environment that most have never seen,” said Ed Ventimiglia, the publisher of Departures. “Everyone is very concerned and somewhat confused as to what they should do.”

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In 2d crack at China market, Dunkin' Donuts alters recipe

link to video

The sweet potato doughnuts are a dead giveaway: This is no ordinary Dunkin' Donuts.

And it was no ordinary store opening in Shanghai yesterday for the Massachusetts chain. Dancers in lion costumes exorcised evil spirits and summoned luck and fortune. Hundreds of customers lined up for their first chance at Dunkin's offerings at the new shop, a two-story venue with couches and cushy chairs.

The new store heralds the chain's return to China after giving up on the market a decade ago. Foreign companies have long coveted the opportunity to sell products to the world's most populous country, but not everyone has succeeded. Trying to cater to 1.3 billion consumers can be daunting, and bureaucratic hurdles there only make it harder.

When Dunkin' opened its first store there in 1994, the doughnut chain struggled. Its treats were too sweet; it underestimated the challenge of converting a nation of tea drinkers to coffee; and, inexplicably, Dunkin' chose as a local partner an aerospace firm that had no experience running restaurants. By the late 1990s, Dunkin' had retreated.

Now Dunkin' is back because China is simply too big to ignore. The company plans to open 100 stores in Shanghai over the next 10 years, another 50 stores in the Guangdong region to the south, and potentially thousands more across the country. Dunkin', in the midst of a nationwide expansion in America, has 6,143 US stores and nearly 2,400 international shops, earning about $5.3 billion in sales worldwide last year.

"The single biggest potential we have outside the US is China," Tony Pavese, chief operations officer for Dunkin' international, said in a phone interview from Shanghai, where he helped cut the ribbon at the new store. "It's a milestone."

Retail analysts say companies have labored for years to understand how to make it in this irresistible but incredibly complex marketplace. Whirlpool Corp. is on its third attempt after losing millions on two failed joint ventures in China to sell its dishwashers, refrigerators, and washing machines.

After spending millions to establish a presence in China, online auction house eBay Inc. shut its main website in China and tried again with a joint venture with a local Internet company. Kraft Foods Inc. had to remake its iconic Oreo into a chocolate-covered wafer cookie in order to appeal to Chinese consumers.

"There is a saying that in China, 'everything is possible, and nothing is easy,' " said Dennis Lombardi, executive vice president of food service strategies for WD Partners, a development firm.

Dunkin's failure when it first entered China has made executives particularly sensitive about getting it right this time. First, it found a local partner - Mercuries & Associates - that operates numerous shopping centers and restaurants throughout Asia, and knows the ins and outs of getting permits and passing inspections.

Smart Car vs. Mini Car

The Smart Car has only one true competitor in the United States, and it's a hybrid. In fact the top tier hybrids, like the Toyota Prius are in league of their own. For instance the Prius has great storage capacity; comfortable seating for 4-5 passengers and its fuel efficiency is the best on the market today. The Smart Car can not compete with a hybrid, simply because it isn't a hybrid. The Smart Car's only true competitor in the United States is the Mini Cooper. Both the Mini Cooper and the Smart Car have small frames and give good gas mileage. Both cars have limited storage capacity and have small engines.

After some analysis I have deduced that the Mini Cooper is the better car, and the safer car. The Mini Cooper has a higher top speed, accelerates faster, has more storage capacity, and it can travel further off of one full tank. The Smart Car has better fuel efficiency, but not by much. The Smart Car is smaller in length and width, but not by staggering amount. It is also important to note that the standard parking spot is 18 feet long. Both vehicles would allow the driver to park in more areas than the average making both cars convenient to have in a congested city. Although the Mini Cooper is more than $6000 more expensive, I feel like Americans would be willing to pay more for a compact car that has better safety ratings and more storage capacity. It is also important to note that Americans generally are speed driven and the fact that Mini Cooper allows its driver to reach speeds over 100 miles per hour is another huge factor that makes the Mini Cooper a better fit for Americans. My explanation for why the Smart Car has a lot of popularity right now is, because it’s new and different. However, it’s not practical for most Americans. I foresee the Smart Car phasing out of the American automobile market in five years.

take a look at http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/safercar/menuitem.94b0130be143aeb342252f0835a67789/?vgnextoid=68adf2905bf54110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCRD

Celebrities in Japanese Commercials

Japanese commercials have the habit of using American celebrities with their indirect adveritising, where most of the commercials that involve them relate nothing to what the product does.

As you can see when you watch these commercials they are do things very differently. I believe commercials offer a unique window into a culture and the Japanese commercials are no exception. You at once get to see how companies and often entire industries treat their customers. You see how the customers are handled and approached. The differences between North American and Japanese commercials are often significant, sometimes strangely similar, and not infrequently a mix of both.

I often think that Japanese commercials are very surreal, and it would appear to my untrained eye that this is due in no small part to the Japanese belief that, as a general rule, direct confrontation should be avoided. Unlike in North America you won't see any "we're better than the leading competition" or "Cleans whiter than Brand X and costs less!" in a Japanese commercial. Without this battery of carefully worded and often misleading data, Japanese commercials are forced to rely solely on visual and emotional impact to sell a product. This causes the commercials to be indirect and off topic, somewhat like Japanese business dealings. They don't care at ALL whether their commercials are grounded in reality. The sequence of sounds and images are often completely based in artistic fantasy, or use images completely unrelated to the product. Almost all of the commercials have no mention of the company, product or services until the very end. Catchy tunes, visual effects, and imagery are reccuring effects in the commercials. Some believe in Japanese culture that you should not have a lot to say, if you do, you are thought to be weird, self centered or interested; this is shown in the commercials by no mention about the product, and in some commercials there is no dialogue at all.

But this is how their commercials work. Please leave your comments below.



Here is a website that lists and shows all the commercials its called Panderers in Japan

There is also this site that lists this bloggers top 21 favorite Japanese Panderer ads

Here are some of my favorites:











From the Movie "Lost in Translation"









What do you think about these ads? Do you think the extraordinary cost of of the commercials are worth the final product?

Multi Channel Marketing Institute

http://www.gomultichannel.com/index.html

Which Marketing Channel Do You Use?

By: Derek Both

There are so many marketing channels you can choose from, whether it is online or offline. What marketing channel do you use? What works for you? Are you looking for more ways to market your business and get the word out about your products and/or services? This article will show you several marketing channels you can choose from, and find out which ones work the best for you. Sometimes, you just have to plan to use a particular marketing channel and then put your all into it. Over time, the results will show you which ones to stick with.

Marketing communications have been around since businesses have. It is just a method to get your potential customers and clients interested in your business, to get to know your business name, products, mission, services, etc. Marketing is a way to get your potential customers and clients to walk through that door or click on your website. From there, it is all about sales. However, you can also choose several marketing methods that are inside your store or on your website.

Direct marketing is extremely important. There are several different ways to direct market. According to Wikipedia, direct marketing is used when measurable leads, sales, or traffic (retail or web) are the objective. A direct marketing effort is undertaken to generate a specific response -- which can be tracked and measured.

There are many channels to choose from when using direct marketing, including the following:

- Newspapers
- Magazines
- TV
- Mail
- Email
- Websites
- Radio
- Billboard

Direct marketing is basically when you are advertising to a certain group of potential customers and you ask them to call you, visit your website, or come into your store. That is the first step in making a sale.

Direct mail marketing can be done two different ways. One, for example, if you want to advertise locally, you could send out postcards, flyers, etc. to every resident in your area or town. If you want to target your existing customers or potential customers you can send the mail to all of them.

Email marketing can be a little tricky because of all of the spam programs out there, and people getting ultimately frustrated about potential spam messages. However, you can use email marketing in a safe and possibly effective way. You can use opt-in emails to send out messages to market your business, and it has been very successful for many web businesses.

No matter what form of marketing you choose to use, make sure you first weigh the pros and cons of each one. One of the biggest cons can be the cost. Is it worth choosing a certain direct marketing method for the cost? The pros can be your increase in sales, website hits and more. You will also need a way to track every direct marketing method you choose so you can see which ones are doing what. Once you find a marketing plan that works for you, you will be on your way to direct marketing success!

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

www.dmglimited.co.uk/ is a Direct Mail List Broker, offering many options in relation to marketing channels

ADVERTISING SENSITIVITY AND INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN THE INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Ashish Chandra, Xavier University of Louisiana
Ron Cheek, Morehead State University
Usha Kiran Rai, Banaras Hindu University

ABSTRACT
In order to survive in this highly competitive global marketplace, it is extremely essential for organizations to have an effective integrated marketing communication plan in place. Having a knowledge about the various types of markets that exist in the world, and in particular in Asia which is perhaps the most rapidly growing market, will help achieve this objective. This paper provides us an overview of the role of technology in integrated marketing communications and also how marketing communications should be carried out in the Asian market.

to read more click on the title

2008 Marketing ROI and Measurements Study

Published by Lenskold Group and sponsored by Kneebone

For highlights of the 2008 Study, view the press release (click here).

Download the full 2008 Marketing ROI & Measurement Report (registration required for free access to the report).

Some select charts from the report:

Marketers with ROI Discipline Pull Ahead while Data Access and Measurement Abilities Hold Others Back

Lenskold Group & Kneebone release 2008 Marketing ROI & Measurements Study with insights into the influence of data, intelligence, metrics and measurement abilities on marketing effectiveness and efficiency.

For Immediate Release

Manasquan, NJ, June 23, 2008 - Companies with highly effective and efficient marketing report higher use of ROI and profitability metrics, greater strengths in the ability to measure marketing performance, and better access to critical information for marketing analysis. And these high performance companies are much more likely to be outgrowing their competition. The fourth annual Marketing ROI and Measurements study conducted by Lenskold Group and sponsored by Kneebone also indicates that the marketing community generally perceives more weaknesses than strengths in terms of measurement abilities.

More marketers provided negative ratings on the measurement abilities examined than positive ratings. This included basic capabilities such as their ability to measure the incremental impact of marketing (32% positive ratings, 35% negative ratings with the balance remaining neutral) and the ability to diagnose performance gaps (26% positive vs. 44% negative). Companies with highly effective and efficient marketing positively rated their measurement abilities at two to three times the levels of the overall marketing community.

Perceptions on their ability to access critical information were more positive than measurement abilities, with the exception of data that tended to be under marketing’s control. Surprisingly, marketers reported having better access to information such as sales and financial data than for detailed information on marketing spend, contact history, and marketing response/lead data. Clearly marketing is holding its own performance back with its lack of automation and discipline to capture information that can be analyzed to measure and improve performance. Access to these forms of marketing data was rated much more highly by companies that have highly effective and efficient marketing.

Other key findings from the Lenskold Group/Kneebone 2008 Marketing ROI & Measurements Study include:

• While overall adoption may be slow, commitment to ROI and measurement capabilities remain high as 75% of all marketers indicate that their company has made at least some progress. Roughly a third (36%) have improved their measurements of marketing impact on sales and 29% have applied measurements to improve the profitability of marketing.

• Companies using marketing ROI and profitability metrics to assess their marketing performance were more likely to report having somewhat or highly effective and efficient marketing (79%) compared to those companies using just non-financial, traditional marketing metrics (42%).

• Over half of those companies with highly effective and efficient marketing use ROI and profitability metrics to assess the effectiveness of their marketing (53% vs. the overall rate of 26%).

• The most common approach to planning and budgeting was through top-down objectives, targets, and annual budget allocation, used by 38% overall. Companies using ROI and profitability metrics had a much higher use of rolling plans continuously updated with current forecasts and marketing adjustments. Companies using only traditional metrics and those growing slower than their competitors were more likely to use planning and budget allocations based on slight modifications to prior year plans.

• More than half (52%) of marketers report that their marketing budget is below the level necessary to achieve their goals. Companies with highly effective and efficient marketing were less likely to report having insufficient budget (34%).

• Companies that have initiated modeling/analytics with outsourced partners showed much higher positive ratings on their ability to measure the incremental impact of marketing (51% vs. 29% overall) and diagnosing performance gaps (43% vs. 25% overall).

“High performance marketing organizations are demonstrating the benefits of good measurements, ROI analyses, and insights,” said Jim Lenskold. “They are more effective, more efficient, and outgrowing their competitors. This type of progress raises the credibility and value of marketing overall.”

The full 45-page report with detailed findings and recommendations is available at www.lenskold.com/trendstudy. The report also includes a sponsor commentary from Kneebone (www.kneebone.com), a company specializing in providing marketing organizations with improved financial effectiveness. In addition, a special section of the research survey was conducted with B2B marketers on the topic of lead generation marketing. The B2B Lead Generation ROI and Performance Evaluation report with those results, prepared by Lenskold Group for MarketingProfs, will be released separately at www.marketingprofs.com.

for more info click on the title

Good Question Raised on Marketing News Blog

Your Turn – Pick Marketing Hits & Misses of 2008

We’ve begun planning and researching for our year-end issue of Marketing News which will include a look at marketing hits and misses for 2008. What would you put in each of those categories?

Did Barack Obama score a hit with his 30-minute TV buy on several networks, attracting on the order of 33 million viewers?

How about john McCain and his use of Joe the Plumber? Or maybe the biggest marketing hit of the year politically should be credited to Saturday Night Life which scored a ratings comeback thanks to Tina Fey aka Sarah Palin. I watched some of those and was struck by how unfunny some of the non-political skits were. The show still isn’t as good as it once was, in my opinion.

What about marketing hits in other areas? With the economy such a mess now it’s sometimes hard to think about what happened earlier this year, so help us out with your thoughts. What was the big consumer good product marketing hit of the year? How about in BtoB or marketing research breakthroughs?

Branding the London 2012 Olympic Games

Brand protection information


The value of the London 2012 brand is vital to the funding of the Games.

You can help support London 2012 by understanding and respecting the need to protect the brand, and by not using our emblems or otherwise creating an association with the Games unless you are sure you are entitled to do so.

The FAQs below give an overview of why the London 2012 Organising Committee must protect its brand, what our legal rights are, and what you should and should not do in relation to our brand.

We have also produced the following documents which you may find useful - see 'related publications'.

Frequently asked questions
Why is protecting the London 2012 brand so important?
The hundreds of millions of pounds necessary to organise the Games must be raised by the London 2012 Organising Committee from the private sector – by selling sponsorship, official merchandise and tickets.

To raise the necessary revenue, the London 2012 Organising Committee must be able to give its sponsors an exclusive association to London 2012 and the Olympic and Paralympic movements in the UK. As such we must prevent other companies undertaking unauthorised activities which damage our sponsors’ exclusive rights.

If anyone could use the 'Games' Marks' (see below) for free, or otherwise create an association with the Games, sponsors and merchandise licensees would not want to invest in the Games.

Similarly, uncontrolled or free use of the brand could damage its reputation and prestige.

click title to follow link to hear more questions

Supply Chain: Creating the Value Managed Enterprise

Test drive: The Smart car is revolutionary

Smart Car Links

A Smart Car site for the US


Another Smart Car site for America:


What Wikipedia has to say about the Smart Car:


Nice little article on the Smart car:


Smart Car: How Smart Is It?


Smart Car, Dumb Marketing

Impact of RFID technology on supply chain management

Delivery: Logistics and supply chain management

Global-supply management requires integrated, inclusive, real-time technology

Supply Siders

By Bob Evans
InformationWeek
January 13, 2003 12:00 AM (From the January 13, 2003 issue)

Archimedes, a guy who bought into leverage way before the concept became fashionable, reportedly summed up the power of the idea this way: "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."

A couple of thousand years later, businesses of all sizes--from global corporations to small specialty manufacturers--are trying to redefine their relationships with their suppliers to lower costs, raise quality, increase speed, and reduce risk. In so doing, they're applying some Archimedean thinking as they attempt to move beyond the tactical realms of purchasing, procurement, and sourcing and into the more strategic area some analysts and observers are referring to as global-supply management.

More of the article:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/development/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=6500177

Link to a Global Supply Management Corporation

http://www.globalsupplymanagement.com/dvd.html

Marketing Video: Summary of how to price a product

Is it time for a globally standardized price?

SourceESB

September 6, 2006


Is it Time for Global Standard Pricing on Components?


Do the prices you pay for components change when you shift production from North America to Asia? This is apparently a common and frustrating experience for component buyers. A product that is designed in North America or Europe often gets shifted to Asia for volume production. But if the price of the components changes as the production shifts across the world, the economic validity of the product might be in jeopardy.

A number of large component buyers and distributors have started voicing concerns about global pricing. Their request? They want the components industry to standardize the price for the parts wherever they are purchased around the world. “Sometimes we have trouble getting the same costs when production moves around the globe,” says George Richter, VP of SSG product management for Arrow Electronics Inc. in Melville, N.Y. “If a customer is bidding on my contract, I want to be able to tell that customer they will have the same cost when they move to Asia.”

Without standardized global pricing, the cost of components can be a mystery as the manufacturing of a product shifts to Asia. “Sometimes we have to wait until the production actually moves to Asia before we get answers about pricing,” says Richter. “So we have trouble giving our customer seamless, unified pricing. If there was a consistent pricing strategy from the supplier, we could assure our customer we can support the product with the same price.”

More at http://www.sourceesb.com/configurable/article20060906.html

Should there be a standardized prize for products?

Global Brands

When you hear the term global brands what do you think of?? Leave your responses and I'll tally them and see if there are any patterns

Building A Global Brand - Janine Allis, Boost Juice

Janine Allis' Boost Juice chain of juice and smoothie outlets was already successful but still growing five years ago when she first appeared on Business Essentials. These days, it has more than 150 stores across Australia but the growth now is in international markets. Boost Juice is in five countries and expanding further.

Best Global Brands

Best Global Brands
How the BusinessWeek/Interbrand Top 100 companies are using their brands to fuel expansion

Slide Show >>

Not long ago, Motorola saw itself the same way its customers did: as a tech-driven seller of products, not a brand. The success of the RAZR changed all that. By ringing the consumer's bell, the hot-selling mobile phone validated a new strategy, internally dubbed MOTOME. Suddenly Motorola (MOT ) was a company that had rediscovered its identity as a major consumer brand.

The key, says global marketing head George Neill, who came to the company last year from Apple (AAPL ), was to think of the brand as providing experiences to consumers, not just hardware. "We're focused on giving access to what people want -- music, video, Internet -- wherever customers roam." That translated into an 18% gain in the company's global brand value on this year's BusinessWeek/Interbrand Annual Ranking of the 100 Top Global Brands. The phonemaker, adds Interbrand Group CEO Jez Frampton, is "redefining the place people make for the Motorola brand in their lives."

This year's list is brimming with hot brands such as Motorola that are crafting new and surprising ways to branch into entirely new product arenas. Hyundai is launching a premium sedan. Google (GOOG ) is wading into selling ad time on the radio. Others are revving up their brand's goodwill value to dodge problems, as McDonald's (MCD ) is doing with its health and fitness marketing to counter concerns about junk food.

Article continued:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_32/b3996410.htm

Access to top 100 list