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.

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