My blog on Yahoo

Check out my blog on Yahoo. It came up as the 1st hit for a search of Toyota Prius Promotion! Dan and Sheila came up as 2nd and 3rd hits!

Interesting Feed Post #2: Market Research & Off-beat Product Names

I found an article on Knowledge @ Wharton that gives a great example of how to use market research to influence branding strategies. The article discusses the appeal and popularity of products with off-beat names and discusses experiments conducted to determine how these names attract consumers.

Brand name selection (p. 293) begins with a careful review of the target market and proposed. Example names given in the article like "Trailer Park Red" nail polish, or "Tropical Rain Forest" as a crayon color give almost no description of the color, describe no benefit of the product and are not short or easy to remember, but they are distinctive and catchy and they work.

2 Marketing professors at Wharton and Boston College have done some very beneficial market research (p. 147) and collected good primary data (p. 149) to determine how ambiguous product names affect consumer behavior. A series of observational research (p. 151) experiments were used, including one that pitted common jelly bean names (blueberry blue, cherry red) against less common names (Moody blue, Florida red), and it turns out preference was given to less common names. (you can read the article for experimental details). The studies determined that one basic reason these product names work is because of their incongruency; when consumers encounter a product name that is incongruent with what the product actually offers, there is a sense of enjoyment and reward when the consumers figures out the connection!

These product names, the article points out, are probably only effective on consumer products (p. 280), probably convenience products and maybe some specialty products (p. 280) like food, cosmetics and fashion items. Off-beat products names would probably not work on products such as medical equipment (you probably wouldn't enjoy hearing a surgeon say, "please pass the Jason Voorhees scalpel"), or financial services. Also, the novelty of off-beat names will eventually wear off, so marketers must keep reinventing this strategy to keep consumers intrigued. The research generated some explanations and very useful research.

Toyota Team Post

Please check out the Toyota Team Post

My blog on Technorati

Here's a link for my blog that came up when I searched Toyota Prius promotion on Technorati:

http://www.technorati.com/search/toyota%20prius%20promotion

My blog on Google

My blog on google can be found here.

Promotion Topic Post #3: Direct-Mail Marketing - "Do Not Junk"

I came across this article from the St. Paul Pioneer Press that discusses the return of direct-mail marketing (p. 549). It seems that with all of the recent legislation pertaining to telemarketing (p. 549) and email spam (I think this form of direct marketing is not yet in the textbook, but I'm sure it will appear in the next edition), many companies are turned back towards old-reliable: the mailbox.

Apparently, direct-mail marketing has increased 12% since 1999. Two specific industries noted in the article known for direct-mail marketing are credit card mailing and mortgages. I am sure that many people, myself included, can support that claim for credit card mailings (I, personally, receive at least two offers per day for a credit card).

Direct-mail marketing is a $49 billion industry!! The book explains that direct-mail marketing accounts for 23% of all direct-marketing expenditures and 31% of direct-marketing sales. I found it very surprising to learn that direct-mail marketing actually costs more per thousand people reached than using mass media (i.e. tv, magazines). I wonder if the credit card companies know this???? If not, someone should tell them so I don't have to waste my time shredding so many credit card offers (since you can't just throw them in the trash unopened, or someone might take advantage of that offer for you)

Well, it seems the inevitable is happening: in addition to spam legislation and crackdowns and the "Do Not Call" List, consumer advocates are now pushing to create a "Do Not Junk" list for home mailboxes. I must say, as irritated as I get with so many credit card offers, junk mail doesn't bother me half as much as telemarketing or spam. A "Do Not Junk" list would probably be slightly difficult to get pushed-through. After all, it probably wouldn't be good public relations for yourself if you said, "...please don't send me any of those "Have you seen me?" missing-persons flyers."

Promotion Topic Post #2: Mentos - the Freshmaker

While conducting my research on the topic of Promotion, I began to wonder about the advertising strategies of many other products out there; products I've used or purchased, and wondered if the advertising strategy influenced my purchase. One bit of advertising that stuck out in my mind was those peculiar, funny, yet not so funny Mentos commercials from a few years back. We've all seen them: some person finds him/herself in a dilemma (i.e. a broken high-heel, unable to get a car out of a parking space b/c another car is parked too close, etc.), so he/she pops a Mentos candy, and BOO-YA, they figured out how to solve their problem. This is all played out to the tune of a very annoying, yet catchy song ("...with Mentos fresh and full of life..."). I started to think, wow, what a horrible advertising strategy for back then. These ads were certainly distinctive, but they were not meaningful and certainly not believable (advertising appeal, pg. 499). They seemed to be just some silly ads that were poorly executed (pg. 500).

Well, I decided to do some searching on this advertising strategy, that always seemed so oddly "out of date", yet stuck in your mind, and I came across a very informative post on a blog called Begging to Differ. The Post-ee, Greg, explains that most people think these peculiar commercials were filmed in another country, leading us all to believe that this ad campaign must be taken from some advertising archives where it worked in another country, but was poorly adapted for the U.S. (perhaps the candy-maker was unskilled in international advertising pg. 508). It turns out, some of these commercials were actually filmed in Los Angeles! The author of this post believes that the makers of Mentos are, in fact, marketing/promotion geniuses. He thinks that since Mentos could never compete with the BIG names, like Hershey's or M&M Mars with traditional advertising, an intentionally unconventional ad campaign was invented to market the product.

Everyone knows the Mentos commercials; we all remember them; we all know that song...so it seems they were doing something right. Using these "fantasy"-style situations combined with quirky music in the execution of the ad (pg. 501) really was a great way to promote a lesser-known candy!

Well, I haven't seen one of those Mentos commercials in quite some time, so I went to the Mentos website and it looks like a new (yet still peculiar) ad campaign was launched in 2003 entitled "Save Your Mouth for Mentos", with a commercial featuring a sheep riding a motorcycle. These seems quite odd, but again, I'll remember it.

Team Post #1: Promotion & The Toyota Prius

Toyota's marketing communications mix or "promotion mix" for the Prius is as innovative as the hybrid car itself (p. 467). The Toyota Prius was launched in Japan in 1997; available worldwide in 2000 and the "all-new Prius" came out in 2004. The promotion of the Prius can pretty much be broken down into Toyota's two major marketing campaigns for the 2000 worldwide launch and 2004 launch of the all new Prius.

An article from Automotive Intelligence explained that in 2000 Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), which has their own advertising department, teamed up with outside advertising agencies (p. 507) Saatchi & Saatchi and Oasis Advertising of New York to create an "integrated media plan" that consisted of broadcast and print advertising (their advertising media, p. 502) and also included some outdoor advertising (p. 504). The campaign's advertising objective was to both inform and persuade consumers about the Prius (p. 495): informing them of the comfort, convenience & performance of the Prius and persuading consumers to make the "intelligent choice" and buy the environmentally friendly car. The campaign also included some direct marketing (p. 543) that preceded the advertising campaign: Toyota announced the worldwide Prius launch on Earth Day in 2000 (how appropriate) where test-driving and purchasing information was made available. Shortly thereafter, Toyota launched a "purchasing website"; the only way to get a Prius at the time. Those that were targeted by the direct marketing were given early access to online ordering before the general public. Toyota communicated directly with the individual buyer and built a good relationship by offering those consumers the first opportunities to submit online purchase requests.

For the launch of the "all-new Prius" in 2004, Toyota teamed with Saatchi & Saatchi to again launch another fully integrated marketing/promotion campaign (check out details of this one here). This campaigned advertising objective focused more on persuading and reminding (p. 495) and was entitled "The Power to Move Forward." The adverstising appeal of this title and campaign was meaningful, believable and distinctive (p. 499) with prominent adverstising focused on meeting the customers needs and reminding consumers of the innovation of the Prius.

This included tv commercials featuring a wheel rolling through different lives with the message "Whereever you are headed in life, we'd be honored to help you get there"; one commercial featured during the Super Bowl depicted the Prius as a long overdue advancement in transportation comparable to Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon. These commmercials used a "fantasy"-type theme as a way to execute the advertising message (p. 501). The '04 campaign also featured print ads using Entertainment Weekly and Oprah Magazine as the media vehicles (p. 504).

Toyota also uses extensive Public Relations (p. 515) including press relations and public affairs (i.e. TMS addressing the recent complaints that the Prius engine stalls without warning, see Yahoo News for details). Toyota's website also serves as a good public relations vehicle giving extensive information on the Prius (and all vehicles in the Toyota fleet); financing options, dealer locations and the option to purchase a vehicle.

Obviously personal selling, p. 526 (car dealers, etc.) plays a huge part in promotion of the Prius since they have been available through dealers. Some other noteworthy ways that Toyota promotes the Prius is through trade shows (numerous autoshows), direct mail marketing (p. 549), (see this message about a Prius brochure), and occasional contest (p. 513) to Win a Prius!

Toyota is a great example of good integrated Marketing Communications/IMC (p. 469); they have carefully coordinated many different communication channels (advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and public relations and delivered a clear message that the Prius is moving the auto industry and the world, forward.

And, of course BLOGS play a large role in promoting the Prius. Numerous blogs exist to discuss all aspects of the vehicle such as Hybrid Car Blogs, John's Stuff and Autoblog. The web serves as a tremendous promotion tool for the Prius (and the Auto Industry in general). You can find discussion groups such as Prius Chat, and info from consumers on everything from Yahoo Auto to Epinions. Toyota should consider sponsoring a blog or two or becoming involved in the blogosphere more, because it is definitely an influential tool for autoshoppers.

Expanding on Classmate's Blog Entry Regarding NIKE

Tammy Gowans recently discussed an article on her blog regarding Nike's decision to pull their product(s) from Sear (which is now part of Kmart), citing "brand equity" protection as the reason.

I, for one, think Nike should reconsider this decision and look beyond brand equity and consider some other marketing possibilities. Case-in-point: the clothing line Isaac Mizrahi for Target. Target Stores (among many other marketing strategies), like Kmart, exercises differentiated marketing (pg. 252 of Kotler) where they target (literally) several market segments and design separate offers for each (incidentally, the textbook cites Nike as an example in this category).

In the 1990's Target Stores teamed up with high-fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi to produce a clothing line for the middle market and has had success. Teaming up with Isaac Mizrahi is an example of co-branding (pg. 295; when two established brand names are used on the same product). Target is a discount store; Isaac Mizrahi is a runway fashion designer very highly regarded in the fashion industry (brand equity included) and yet this pairing has been very successful.

See this article from CNNMoney on why high-fashion designers teaming with discount stores is a win-win situation: Designer: Such a Deal! The article states one reason for the success of Isaac Mizrahi for Target (and other designer/discount-store pairings) is that these discount stores have proven their value (a term heavily discussed in our text) with consumers having survived downtrends. Now, I realize that Kmart's value was jeopardized by declaring bankruptcy in 2002, but with the Sears acquisition one would think their "value" might be increasing again. So, maybe Nike should co-brand something with Kmart!

Target has also successfully c0-branded with other high-end designers such as Mossimo, Todd Oldham, Michael Graves & Cynthia Rowley. They have also taken the Isaac Mizrahi for Target name and in 2004, launched a home-line (this is brand extension, pg. 296, the use of a successful brand name to launch a new category). Target used this home product line as a re-invention of itself.

So, Nike should reconsider their decision. They should use their brand equity in conjunction with some other marketing strategies and see what's out there. The possibilities could be endless...

Promotion Posting #1: Mad Money with Jim Cramer - Booya!

I don't know much about the stock market; I can never remember the difference between a bull and bear market. But my husband on the other hand is a stock market whiz. For the past several weeks I noticed that he has gotten hooked on a new show about the stock market on CNBC called "Mad Money with Jim Cramer". On the tv I would hear some fast-talking man yelling words like "Booya" along with a plethora of sound effects including a bear or bull roaring and various other bells, buzzers and ticking sounds. After a few days I decided to sit down and watch this program of commentary and viewers calling in for advice on stocks. Well, it turns out that even if you have no interest in the stock market, this upbeat Jim Cramer on CNBC will get you interested.

So, I started to think about the show and how it relates to my Marketing Topic - Promotion...it seems to me that unlike other networks who are normally using promotional strategies to promote a TV show, CNBC seems to be using this show Mad Money to promote the "stock market".

I did some looking around and found a good article on Investors.com, the website for the publication Investor's Business Daily, about the show Mad Money and its supporter and critics (check out the article here).

Here's a quick breakdown of the show and what people think:
The host of the show Jim Cramer, (see Jim Cramer's Bio here) is a former Goldman Sachs Money Manager who launched a hedge fund (if you wish to what a "hedge fund" is check out a good definition @ Wisegeek.com...I didn't know what a hedge fund was either) and retired in 2000. He provides "unique stock-market insights" (with about a 360-horsepower personality) to viewer call-ins and his "buy", "sell" or "hold" recommendations to the callers are accompanied by some really obnoxious sound effects.
Supporters of the show like Jim's upbeat (way upbeat) personality because he provides good insight. Critics think his high-volume, high-energy charisma makes a mockery of investing.

Here is it's relation to MKTG 411:
I think that he and the show are a great promotional strategy. The show uses combination of personal selling and direct marketing (discussed in chapter 17 of Kotler, Armstrong; pgs. 526 & 543, respectively). The show itself is an example of Direct Response Television Marketing (pg. 553), which is a television show dedicated to selling a service or good. The service is personal financial trading advice that, if the advice turns out to be good, should make money for the investor.

Jim Cramer, the host, is doing some form of personal selling (pg. 526); he is a well-educated, well-trained professional who listens to callers and gives him/her a quick solution (Kotler, Armstrong's definition of a salesman). It is a fast-paced show that answers investing questions for a lot of people/"customers" (one feature of the show is the "The Lightning Round" where Cramer answers numerous calls in a few short minutes and he has knowledge of each and every stock that the the callers ask about). The "customers" (those who call in and any additional viewers) of the show then turn around and buy or sell their stock.

His personality and likeability seem to make the stock-market exciting. A quote in the article on Investors.com claims that, "No one has ever seen this on television before." And of course this works out great for the host network, CNBC (a news channel dedicated to business new programming), because the more people are interested in the stock market, the more they will watch this network for the latest on the market.

But, that's not all CNBC is doing...another promotional strategy being used is in relation to advertising frequency (pg. 503), the measure of how many times the average person in the target market is exposed to the message. CNBC airs Mad Money 3 times each day! The original daily broadcast at 6 p.m. (eastern time) is repeated two more times throughout the evening.

A breakdown of the promotion mix:
So, what we have here is a show with an eccentric host who brings excitement and creativity to investing while providing knowledge about stock and essentially promotes interest in the stock market. (CNBC's advertising message strategy is a creative concept that is meaningful and distinctive (pg. 499)) And....it is broadcast 3 times per day.

Sounds like a good promotional mix. It worked on me.
Boo-ya!

Interesting Feed Post #1: Men and Women and Cars

In doing some of my research for team Toyota and the topic of promotion I came across this article on CnnMoney entitled Top cars: men vs. women. This article supplied results from research done by NOP World, a global market research organization.

The article gave a quick overview/analysis of some consumer buying behavior in the automobile market and compared men to women; focusing mostly on men. The article pointed out that is very easy to figure out what men want in a car and how the concept of "perception" is used to market towards men. I found it to be rather obvious, but nevertheless, pretty hilarious that car manufacturers use the ideas of "selective attention" and "selective distortion" (pg. 193 of the textbook) to figure out how car drivers interpret what they see on a car. For instance, a Mustang GT with 4 headlights (2 headlights, 2 foglights) is perceived as being a more powerful car. 4 headlights are, indeed, available only on the V8-powered Mustang GT. Now, the V6-powered GT has 210 horsepower - not too shabby - but does not have 4 headlights. If it were sitting next to a V8 Mustang GT with 4 headlights, it would be quite clear which car has more power. Funny that men might equate more headlights with a more powerful engine.

Another example noted was that on their 2006 models, Dodge, who has stated they design and market cars for men, has made the "HEMI" decal on their cars larger so that powerful engine can be "seen" from afar. It is also rather funny to think that a large decal that reads "Hemi" could actually produce a "need recognition" for a powerful engine.

Not all of the article was amusing. As mentioned above, the research was conducted by NOP World. After reading the article and digesting the results I began to wonder what means they used to get this information. What type of marketing research was conducted? NOP's website cites 7 different research tools they used. I wonder which one was used.

It seems the Pontiac G6 convertible was number 1 on the list for women. How is a "yet-unreleased" vehicle number one on the list? This makes me skeptical about how representative the demographic could be for this research if a car that is not yet available makes number 1.

I am curious as to whether the auto industry or a specific manufacturer was seeking this data or if NOP conducted this research on their own.

Sorry, Toyota - the Prius did not appear on either top 10 list.

Prius Under Investigation

Fellow Toyota Teammates:
Check out this article from Forbes.com about the Toyota Prius being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because of complaints that the engine has been known to suddenly stall while driving at highway speeds. No mention of a recall, but it could result in one after the investigation is complete.