OMG! ITS THE FIRST STARBUCKS EVER!

So this weekend, I met my Dad in Seattle to go to a football game at Qwest. As all tourists do, my dad and I ask the concierge at the hotel for a good place to eat, and while giving up directions he mentioned that the first ever Starbucks was there too. Now obviously as a college student I have a large addiction to coffee, and well of course my place of choice is Starbucks. So my dad and I decided for novelty sake that we would go to the first ever Starbucks and grab a cup of joe. So first of all not only was there a crazy line, but whoever thought of this marketing scheme is a genius. After you wait probably about 10 minutes to actually get in the store, there is an insane amount of merchandize all based around the idea that its from the first ever starbucks store, like that is a feat in itself to get something from this first ever store. They even have a chart that you can pick from of all types of mugs and cups that they have in the back, all package and ready for you to to take home. Its pretty impressive. They have stuffed bears and original barista aprons. And the crazy thing is, every single person that went in, came out with a bag filled with the first starbucks goodies. And although I knew it was all a money grab, I ended up buying a "the first starbucks' travel cup".

A Blog About Things.

All throughout High School, and still to this day, I was obsessed with a show called America's Next Top Model. Every wednesday night, my mom and I would sit around the TV and decide who we thought was going home. When university rolled around, I started watching it online, and I found a link to this vlog on youtube about it that was done by 2 people analyzing the episode, and it turned out to be really funny. At the end of the video they linked to their website where they posted the videos every week. At first, I would just go on wednesday night after the episode aired and watched their videos and comments on the episode on their website. Then one day, while procrastinating from studying for my finals in first year, I decided to read different post they had put up during the week, some were about other shows that aired on prime time, but they had a lot of different posts about different types of products and what they thought of them. It started out just as a blog that 2 friends did together, and now has grown to where there is some serious advertising on their site, which I know they are totally getting paid for. It was extremely interesting watching this blog grow from a small two person blog on blogspot to a now fulling working website, with advertisements. It a pretty awesome website even if you don't like reality television, they go over some really cool products that I wouldn't have known about till I started reading this blog. And the best part, its a girl and a guy writing the blog, so they have something for both genders.
A Blog About Things

The Little Blue Box

The thing Tiffany's is known for the most, is not the quality of the product, or the many different jewelry designs they have to accommodate many different customers taste. The are most recognized by what their expensive jewelry comes in.... A little Blue Box.

Now its obviously not actually the fact of just owning the box, or that its made out of really good quality, and people will use it for other things. Its what this little blue box represents. It represents the quality you are getting, the high taste level that tiffany's is known for and most importantly, the high status it represents. The level of class and sophistication.

I went to an expensive private school in high school where I learnt to understand what getting a "tiffany's necklace from daddy" really meant. And how that if it didn't come in the little blue box, it wasn't worth getting as a present. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to get a tiffany's necklace from my Dad, but it just wasn't something I knew was important. I remember girls in high school would not put on the necklace until after they had brought it to school in the blue box, and have all the others girls see this box and show them what's inside.

Tiffany's is a prime example of how marketing something so simple as the package it comes in to create brand awareness. How something so simple can convey the brands place in the market, the culture surrounding the brand and the idea of the brand itself.

Customer Service

So easily in our highly automated, fast pace society does customer service get lost in the shadows. Now everything must have a predetermined set time and no longer can you just waltz right into a place and expect the same quality of service, or service at all.

That is, except apparently customer service at Mr. Lube. By playing on the growing annoyance of not being able to get service when you needed for Car Troubles, and having to make an appointment when sometimes you don't even know your car needs it, Mr. Lube has separated itself from its competitors. By keeping promises to its consumers that can get service even if you just walk into any Mr. Lube, no appointment required, its conveying a message that their consumers mean more then a highly structures system that may (or may not) end up in higher productivity.

Making Winter "Fabulous"

This week in class we started to discuss Segmenting a market, and then appealing to your segments needs. As I was just looking at online fashion magazines, I started to think, this is opportunity to both provide a service and good in one.

So I went on youtube and starting looking for fashion advertisements that had to do with Geographical Segmentation. I realized something that I had never really noticed before... How many apparel companies segment their markets based on the amount of seasons which location occurs.

I then came across this ad for Gap Coats. I investigated further and realized that this online magazine had high "viewership" in the Northern States, and mainly in the east coast. So the first thing I realized is that for this particular online ad, they were appealing to this geographical segment, those who need winter coats.

However, I quickly realized that was not the only thing they were using to segment their market... They were also, in this ad, particular, using psychological segmentation as well. The idea, that most customers of GAP want to look fashionable. So they took this good that they were marketing, and showed them step by step as to how to make is fashionable for the fall/winter seasons.

Joga TV

I was having a tough time with this post, trying to decide which video exactly to put up. Not because I was hard finding the right one to fit what I was trying to say about this amazing way Nike has reached its consumers, but it was the exact opposite, I had no idea which one to choose. So i decided to go with the first one.

Before Yoga TV, soccer equipment commercials were just that. Impressive soccer players, putting on whatever company's gear that they were sponsored by and shooting a goal (or saving one if it was for goalie stuff). It kind of got old, and boring, and predictable and all those things that you would expect from a typical commercial. Until one day, some one in the depths of the Nike Marketing offices (I'm just guessing, it potentially could have been anyone) thought of a new way to connect with their consumers. Talking about the game, what is loved, what is not.

By doing this Yoga TV become very popular among the soccer world. It was commericials you would find online and show your friends. It was something that you could watch on your own and enjoy.

In a way, Nike found a connection with its consumers. A way to share a whole culture that they were previously just those who provided the equipment, to now those who share the same ideals, and beliefs.

True CANADIAN

So, I'm not going to lie, the Molson Canadian commercials hit home every time I see them on TV (and the rare occasions I spend an hour or so looking at all the different ones on youtube). However, there was one commercial, one miraculous day during the olympics while working at the Molson Canadian Hockey House, that gave me goosebumps that have lasted the test of time.

"We know we have the best backyard in the world, and we get out on it and play whenever we get the chance". In just one sentence, Molson has been able to hit on two main points that make Canadians relate. 1) Patriotism again. I love Canada, and I brag about having the best landscape in the world. You were lying if you didn't at least believe this to some extent. But the second, the knockout punch if you will, the lifestyle that all Canadians love. There is a reason there is the lumberjack stereotype, or the toothless hockey player. Not to over generalize, but Canadians love the outdoors. I remember as a kid my summers always consisted of Camping and Hiking, and my winters always consisted of playing hockey/going skating on a frozen lake. Going snowboarding. This is not a rare thing for a child growing up in Canada to experience. In fact its the opposite, it's extremely common. Growing up loving the outdoors and the beautiful landscape, its hard not to consider it the Canadian Way, or a lifestyle.

Molson could have just put that statement in and I would have been hooked. However, the rest of the commercial has scenes of what people have grown up with. Frozen lake ice-hockey, camping, cottaging and rolling mountains.

MAC Vs PC: An ever growing rival.

Ah, the play on peoples emotional attachment to their computers. This is probably one of the best ways Apple, the creator of the Mac, could have advertised their computer to gain advantage over their main competitor PC. They do this by taking things that people would originally see as similarities between the two computer processing systems and change them to large differences. By differentiating their products, they can they make points to prove that a Mac is superior. Not only do their commercials compare the differences between macs and PCs but MAC also appeals to the younger demographic by using a Justin Long (a movie star) as a MAC and John Hodgman (a less-well known actor who has appeared on only 5 movies in small roles). MAC has chosen to appeal to the younger age group because those are the people buying their own laptops/home computers for the first time and thus less likely to have a preference to either a PC or a MAC.
However, when looking at these commercials, it is not only the differences that MAC is playing off of to create interest in their products. Since I was 16 years old, when I got my first laptop (which was not a MAC, however now I am converted) there was always talk of how MACs were a better computer. This turned from just having a better computer to MAC users becoming fans of the MAC itself. Weird, how that happened, but it did. Almost overnight people using MACs didn't just like them for their user friendliness, but actually got a sense of entitlement from using a their MAC laptop. In an article from Wired.com, Mac Loyalists: Don't Tread On Us, the article states that "mac loyalty is so well-known, its a cliche. Mac users are routinely referred to as Apple's faithful, Mac Zealots, members of the cult of Mac, Appleholics, Macheads, Maccies, Macolytes and Mac Addicts. The biannual Macworld conference is often compared to a religious revival, where Steve Jobs is worshipped like a rockstar or charismatic cult leader" (to read more go to http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2002/12/56575). So here is the question, why have mac users become so obsessed with the Mac itself. As a Mac Lover myself, I could say from personal experience, it is the ease of a mac. The absent fear of getting a computer virus, the longer warrantee policy and the automatic spell checker that I love about my mac, along with the beautiful template that it uses. However, if you ask other mac users they might state different reason. No matter the reason, Apple has picked up of the self-entitled feeling that all mac users have. The idea that their product is superior and will tell all their friends the same. And so came one of the smartest ad campaigns Apple could have ever chosen, play on that superiority and provide true reasons as to why.

Ah The Ease of Marketing Homework

So, here it goes, the first blog post for my Comm 296 homework.
I understand the premise of the whole blogging as homework thing, understanding social media, online advertisement, word of mouth marketing etc. However, blogs are suppose to be free thought, not forced, actually showing people what you think is cool not a "oh no, my first post is due tomorrow let me go onto YouTube and click the first ad I see". That's why I plan on actually following the social conduct of a blog. Yes of course for course credit I will make sure I have the bare minimum to pass the course, however for me this blog is much more.

I, a child of a technological father, have been reading blogs ever since I learnt how to search on google. I find the ever present thoughts of others, what they think are the most important thing for their viewers to see, extremely interesting. Really, all a blog is is a small company if you will, in an ever-expanding market. A tiny fish, in the huge ocean we call the internet. You know your viewers, or at least you are pretty sure what kind of people are reading your blog. After you have figured out your demographic you add information into your blog that would appeal to their lifestyle. Then you add a little bit of whatever vernacular your viewers use, throw in a whole bunch of pictures and BAM you got yourself a pretty successful blog. Hey, maybe at one point your blog will become so popular that people want to start advertising on your blog, and hey now you are getting payed for just typing on your computer, never actually having to leave your own home. It's pretty ingenious if you think about it.

So after that entire speech what am I trying to get at. I am saying that this blog is going to do exactly that. At first obviously the people reading my blog are just going to be the TAs, my classmates and my professor. However, like I said I plan on continuing this little blog past December, and add not only the stuff required for my marketing class, like weekly posts about advertisements, but as well anything else I deem awesome enough for me to spread the world. And hey, who knows, this blog could become as popular as perezhilton.com, however I promise I will not go the avenue of the stars, because really they are just people... who cares?