Category: Blog

Marketing Post #2: People Are Dying, It’s Time for Shopping!

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Many companies know that in order to have successfully promote your products, you need to seize opportunities. So when Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc across the US, American Apparel leapt at the opportunity and chose to use one of the sure-fire channels of communication to reach their customers: the internet.

What exactly was American Apparel trying to communicate across? No, it had nothing to do with using the disaster to boost their image by urging people to donate to a relief fund, as many other companies jumped to do. Instead, they offered those who were stuck at home and ‘bored’ to discount codes for their online website.

The ad was met with criticism, and outrage from the public, especially when the death toll was climbing higher every hour during the hurricane. However, not only did American Apparel not apologize for their campaign, they went on to explain that it is “expensive to run a Made in USA brand like American Apparel,” so they were trying to make up for lost revenue.

They may have nailed it by getting an ad campaign up as soon as possible, seizing the situational opportunities of the hurricane, but in hindsight, did they really believe no one was going to get offended? The identified their target audience as those who were forced to stay home for safety reasons, but overlooked the fact that the US as a whole was panicking.

Another company who tried to make use of situational opportunities includes GAP. They chose to make a short tweet offering their concern for victims, but quickly moved on to promoting themselves not unlike what American Apparel did. However, they quickly tweeted an clarification to atone for their actions, which is more than can be said for in American Apparel’s case.

All the same, something can definitely be learned here. Sure, it is important to make use of any opportunities that come your way, but from what direction should you approach it?

Marketing Post #1: Fuel The Day!…With False Advertising?

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No matter how old you are, you must have had some sort of contact with Nutella: the chocolate hazelnut spread. Children and teens love it, and even adults indulge in it. Best of all, it is a chocolaty treat that is healthy, nutritious and an important part of a healthy breakfast! — At least according to Ferrero, the makers of Nutella. Sound too good to be true? Sadly, it is.

An outraged mother was shocked when she found out what she originally was led to believe was a healthy treat for her family turned out to have the “nutritional properties of a candy bar, with very high levels of refined sugar and saturated fat.” She then sued Ferrero (back in April, 2012), winning the claim.

Connie Evers, a consultant for Nutella was traced to be the source of the whole scandal: she began to depict the spread as a good breakfast companion for kids, misleading mothers to think it was as healthy as regular peanut butter, but was sure to be more attractive to their kids. This led to outrage, causing the company to have to quickly take action in attempts to ease discontent, and save their image.

My main concern for this issue is that children were pulled into this issue. There are commercials that not only show the satisfaction of other children their age consuming Nutella, but also made them believe this was healthy. This is unethical, and unacceptable, as children are too young to think beyond what is shown to them.

Appropriately, Nutella has settled the lawsuits with a $3 million (USD) payout, as well as promised they would stop labeling themselves as nutritious. However, it is obvious they still want to encourage their product as an essential breakfast companion (link to their Facebook page). Their new ads still suggests that it is a good spread, with no preservatives and colouring. So how exactly does this show that they are taking steps to mend their actions? Perhaps they believe they won’t need to. One can observe that a brand as strong as Nutella’s can easily move past the public’s scrutinizing gaze after a quick apology, and continue what they were doing.

Inspired by: 1, 2

Who Thought Clowns Were A Good Idea?

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Hey guys,

So as I was watching Supernatural (the TV show) the other day, they had a killer clown in one of their episodes. Even without this episode, I have always wondered: Who the hell though clowns were a good idea?!

Doing some digging around, I found out that they try to appeal to people wanting laughter and are meant to make a fool of themselves. A clown’s attributes include playfulness, lacking in respect with a sleeve full of surprises.  This sounds a lot like a medieval time jester to me, which some sites have said that they were the precursors to clowns.

It turns out that there are more than one type of clowns. (x)

1) Classic White-Face Clowns

Ronald fits into the whiteface category

2) Auguste Clowns

With a flesh colored base to their makeup

3) Character Clowns

They adopt a character of some kind

So I can probably explain the differences in these three main types of clowns, but I am not going to. Basically, from what I can tell, they all look kind of scary. Seriously, this is supposed to make people laugh? If I see past the clown makeup and costume, what they do may coax a laugh from me– better yet, they should just do funny stuff in a less scary costume and I am sure I will enjoy their skit/routine a lot more.

What I also cannot understand is how clowns made it to children’s birthdays. I guess some adults could not think of who better to amuse their kids than a man/woman dressed up in baggy, outlandish clothes, with a face full of makeup. See, I get the part about making balloon animals and making funny incidents happen, but again, the way clowns are typically presented do not appeal to me.

I think it is because clowns have their features exaggerated. Huge red smiles, raised eyebrows, the signature red nose– altogether it creates a mask, covering who is really behind all that makeup. It seems to say that with this mask on, they can do whatever they want and the consequences can be forgotten. Plus, their main aim is just to make you laugh, so they will do what they have to.

Maybe it is because I grew up in a time where clowns are used quite frequently in horror movies and stories? We have Stephen King’s It, the Joker from Batman and then there are episodes from TV shows such as Supernatural. To me, clowns are just unsettling. I simply cannot find a picture of a clown that look genuinely nice and ‘funny’ to me. What are your thoughts?

I tried hard to find a picture of a cute clown. But I still think that they could have come up with something that looked less scary.

-Karen

My First Time Bar-hopping!

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Hey guys!

So I went bar-hopping for the first time today! What is bar-hopping? It is synonymous with pub crawling, and basically means exactly what its name entails: visiting different bars for drinks. You will have to put up with my grainy photos with terrible lighting. To be fair, I did the best I could given I was using an iPhone camera and pubs are not usually known for having the brightest lighting.

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The Storm Crow Tavern

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The Doctor Who table!!

We decided to hit up the Commercial Drive area first, since one of my friends worked near there. The first place we went to was the Storm Crow Tavern. This was not our first time there– actually, it was our third visit this month I think. The Storm Crow is this great little pub with cheap food (all their food items are $6 from what I remember), and a great atmosphere. There are board games that anyone can just grab and play when you are enjoying your drink, and the whole pub has a nerdy/geeky-esque decor. They play Star Trek on their TV, as well as other awesome geeky favourites. Their wall decorations are also awesome! There are signed photos from several of the Doctors, Game of Throne actors/actresses, and other fancy memorabilia! The washrooms also have World of Warcraft figurines to indicate which one is for males, and which one is for females. If it is not obvious, I love this place.

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I had a Screwdriver here, which I enjoy. Screwdrivers are great because the orange masks the taste of the vodka so well. I like alcohol, but I hate the taste of alcohol if that makes any sense.

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Food at St. Augustine’s

Our drinks at St. Augustine's. I had the one with the cherry garnish-- the Tequila Sunrise.

Our drinks at St. Augustine’s. I had the one with the cherry garnish– the Tequila Sunrise.

After Storm Crow, we went to St. Augustine’s, which was just down several blocks. We also ordered food here. I knew we were probably going to go to another pub, so I went for a salad and stole a slice of my friend’s pizza. 😛 I tried the Tequila Sunrise. It was pretty, but I thought that it did not mask the taste of the tequila very well, but I still ended up downing it. St. Augustine’s had good food, but of course, was pricier than Storm Crow. However, they have a huge selection of beers here. In all, the food was good, but soon enough we were off again.

Food at the Cove

Food at the Cove

Drinks at the Cove!

Drinks at the Cove!

We picked up the car, since our driver only had one drink so far, and he had time to let it wear off. We then headed to the Cove, which also had board games. I opted for some greasy food here and had their pulled pork poutine. For drinks, I first had their Dark and Stormy– only to realize I hate ginger beer. I have never had ginger beer before, but I thought I would like it since it was basically pop. I was wrong. I gave half of it to my friend to finish, and then ordered a Bloody Caesar. That was good. I have never had a Boody Mary before, but to me, a Caesars tasted like cold soup with hot sauce. Not in a bad way.

Overall, bar-hopping was fun, but exhausting. You get pretty buzzed from the drinks, and you know how a bit of alcohol makes you feel warm, nice, and sleepy? I really felt tired of it after switching over from our first pub, but we decided to keep going. We finished off with three pubs, which is not a lot, but for a first time, I thought it was decent. It was fun to settle down in various pubs, and sip on different drinks in a new atmosphere again and again. But like I said, it does get physically tiring.

It is now New Year’s Eve! I better hurry and make some resolutions (that I will ultimately fail, but they are fun to make regardless)! Feel free to recommend some bars/pubs around the Vancouver area that you particularly liked! I LOVE places with board games, because alcohol and board games mean only one thing: hilarity! So drop down some pub names below!

Cheers!

-Karen

Disney Princess And Villains – A New Look!

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Hey you guys!

I hope everyone’s Christmas/Holiday celebrations went well! I feel several pounds heavier, but it has been an enjoyable one! I was out Boxing Day shopping yesterday (and honestly, that could have been made into another blog post because there are so many comments that I have on the crazy consumerism that we see taking place on the 26th of December every year), and when I went to the Disney store, I noticed that they had beautiful Disney Villains stuff on sale! 

We all remember the evil stepmothers, the witches, and the scary old men that appear in Disney movies. In fact, they may not even have been human! Nothing comes to mind when I mention Disney’s villains? How about all the antagonists in each Disney Princess movie? Captain Hook? Scar from Lion King? Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmatians? Stromboli from Pinocchio? Hades from Hercules? The list goes on forever and you end up realizing that although you hated them for most of your childhood, they have been a big part of it as well. That is why I was delighted when I saw that Disney now has a Disney Villains branch of merchandise! 

They revamped a lot of the villains, such as giving Rapunzel’s stepmother a new dress– she now looks like an elegant lady. Ursula from the Little Mermaid also got a dress that reminisces her signature tentacles. I bought a leather notebook of Mother Gothel (Rapunzel’s stepmother) because I just could not resist! They were so pretty! And I could also justify buying a notebook…whereas walking out with one of the princess costumes? Not so much.

 Obviously, the Villain line is going to be making Disney some sweet money. The new designs and the idea of the fact that another aspect of our childhood is coming back to life will send Disney fans hurrying to get their hands on some of the merchandise. Plus, they have pretty much over exhausted the Disney Princesses, slapping their faces onto every pink item that they have. 

However, something interesting caught my eye as we were lining up to pay. I saw that not only did they make a new look for their villains, the original Disney Princesses have been revamped as well! We all remember Cinderella and her classic up-do for the ball, but she now has modern bangs falling from her bun. We also see Belle’s hairstyle getting a change, as she now has fuller looking hair that is done half up, half down. Ariel’s hair is more tame, and Aurora’s is also getting a perm or something. They have fixed her outdated front bangs, and gave them  more of a 21st century look! 

This is a lot more attractive to girls growing up in the modern day, and I guess they decided it was about time that the princesses got an updated look to match the changing times. At first, I was a bit offended that the classic princesses that I grew up with now look different, but I must say that I really like Cinderella and Aurora’s new look. I now see that they were definitely a bit behind on the times appearance wise, and hey, there is no rule saying that cartoon characters cannot change their looks! God knows how many times I have done the same trying to find my style! 

So I hope this made for an interesting read! See you guys soon!

-Karen