Consumerism

“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” I read this somewhere online, believed to be said by a consumer marketing guru. I just couldn't agree more to this statement. Now if we reflect on every product we have ever purchased, say for the iPhone, what was it that we really wanted? A phone to call others and be contacted? Or was it something else? Update: The man who said this analogy is Professor Theodore Levitt.

Marketing Colour (DSLR Cameras)

I've always been intrigued by new brands that emerge into the market, especially those that try to compete against a really saturated market. For example, what if there's a new giant fast good chain or a soda brand that is going to compete against Mcdonalds and Coca-cola? How is it possible from a business perspective? One example which caught my attention is the Sony Alpha DSLR.














By entering the market late (and also not being a camera specialist), I found that it was really a bold and courageous effort to compete against the market leaders of Nikon and Canon. I can't think of any other brand than Sony who would have the resources to rock the boat.  

DSLR Camera (Digital Single Lens Reflex) Timeline
Nikon launched 1999
Canon launched 2000
Sony launched 2006

Personally I am a Canon user (although I'm using an Olympus at the moment), but I am impressed with what Sony has done so far after half a decade and I believe the numbers speak for themselves. What I appreciate most is what they have done with the choice of their colour.












By just referring to the colour positioning, to me it implies that Sony has taken the best features out of Nikon and Canon and created the perfect camera. Beyond the actual functionality of the camera, I reckon that colour plays an enormous role as colour speaks its own language.

Thumbs up for Sony, all the best Kazuo Hirai for his new stewardship.

Ethical Marketing

In our modern society today, again I am about to mention that the landscape for businesses have become so much competitive. People are creating new ways everyday to differentiate their products from the others. Above the functions and benefits of a product, the experiential aspect has only began to emerge since the turn of the new century and we have seen some great examples.

One example of a business that lives and breathes by its ethical marketing principles is TOMS, the American based One for One shoe company. Its ethos is simple; with every pair of shoes purchased, they give a new pair of shoes to a child in need.

Lately I have been struggling to connect the dots as to how ethical marketing could be connected to the consumers by explaining how ethical marketing could involve the consumer to make an impact. My initial thoughts were as blank as to only claiming that my brand is ethical and is friendly to the environment, but how could I go beyond that?

We all know that there are children around the world that are suffer, especially children. In the case of TOMS, by communicating the health benefits that children and adults alike will gain from having the soles of their feet covered by using UNICEF's data—Every year, nearly 10 million children under the age of 5 die from largely preventable causes. This statement in turn goes a long way to imply that users can literally save a life of someone by preventing a deadly infection due to the cause of having nothing to protect their feet.

To summarize, it is important to understand user's values (most importantly the one that touches the heart), then using numbers (through research) would only mean something to them!

You see a gorgeous girl at a party

A lighter view on understanding the world of marketing in layman terms.
—

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, “I am very rich. Marry me!”
That’s Direct Marketing.
 
You see a gorgeous girl at a party. One of your friends goes up to her, points at you and says, “He’s very rich. Marry him.”
That’s Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, “Hi, I’m very rich. Marry me.”
That’s Telemarketing.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to her and pour her a drink. You open the door for her; pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, “By the way, I’m very rich. Will you marry me?”
That’s Public Relations.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. She walks up to you and says, “You are very rich.”
That’s Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me.” She gives you a nice hard slap to the face.
That’s Customer Feedback.

Market Segments

Lecture notes with Prof Myung Kyu Lee

Youth market

usually the entry market (mainly in car markets)
Strategically the most important segment
Especially for building long term customer loyalty
Habit is formed when one is young

Strategy:
Dream building/challenge/participation — Giving incencentive
Experience — Fast culture
Speed — Fast fashion

Silver market

Average age of the world is increasing, life expectancy is longer

TONK (two only no kids)
OPAL (old people with active life)

Designers can approach this through Universal Design (designing for everyone)
i.e. OXO Good Grip (designer made it for his wife who was suffering from arthritis)

Isetan departmental store has a Funeral service departmental for the Silver market

Kids market

World population growth is decreasing rapidly
Parents end up having either 1 or no kid
With 1 kid, they spoil the kid with everything!

Microtrends

Gold Miss market — Financial independent women who pass the marriageable age and choose to be single

Single families is over 4 million
Supermarkets sell items in smaller quantities

Marketing Strategies in Korea (considering the cultural factors)

Gurantee Marketing (tackling Korean's attitude of risk aversion)

DIY, warranty services, participatory strategies, i.e. delivery companies offering tracking services

Opinion Leadership Marketing (tackling Korean's attitude of Collectivism)
> a.k.a Word of Mouth communication or Buzz marketing
> i.e P&G has a 'tremor' group who are a prosumer group that leads the market for their products. Products are often tested on the 'tremor' group before officially rolling out
> Viral Marketing
> "Word-of-Mouse" communication

Kiehl relies solely on word-of-mouth to market their products. Product packaging often lack design, implying that the money saved on advertising and design is channeled to be used on charitable causes.

Social media platform

Blog marketing — Alpha bloggers / Power bloggers

Emotional Culture > Experiential/Emotional Marketing

Marketing

Lecture series with Prof MyongKyu Lee


Marketing Concept
1. Customer satisfaction
2. Differentiation

Market definition STP
Segment
Target Position

Matching Concept 4Ps
Product
Plane
Place
Promotion

—

Prof Lee mentioned the term Market Myopia and suggests that designers have to look at the market has to be as large as possible to gain larger profits. The example of Harley Davidson and Honda was used, suggesting that Honda found success with affordable motorcycles targeting at a broader market.

From a brand perspective, I would argue that Harley Davidson's focus towards it's target market has enabled them to become an 'inspiring brand'. I would imagine that it will be difficult to have the same traits of masochism and individualism if they had branched out to the mass market. Maybe they did with an entirely different brand? Ultimately business is about making money.

—

Societal/Ethical Marketing is about providing product benefits with a long term perspective in mind. i.e. Social enterprise TOMS shoes. How can McDonalds consider long term 'consumer convenience'?

—


New Product Development (differentiation)
> Idea Generation
> Idea Screening (screen criteria) Technical feasibility, Commcerial feasibility, Consumer welfare
> Idea Evaluation/Concept Testing (research)
> Development
> Marketing Strategy
> Commercialization

Fun fact: 3M = Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing

Elements of Good Design
> Creative/Original
> Aesthetic
> Functional
> Feasible
> Economical
> Fashionable
> User friendly/Ergonomic - Human Factors
> Consumer Well-being/Welfare

—


Assignment 1
1. Explain the idea (design)
2. Target Market (why?)
3. Promotion Strategy (how it's being sold)


Designer/Marketing perspective


Something new and innovative


Product design awards: IDEA, iF, reddot, Good Design Award


3-4 slides / 5-10 minutes presentation — due 29/03

Creating a New Category

So far, my thoughts on what I wish to work on is to develop a new traveling experience for tourist visiting Seoul. The Seoul Metro subway was identified as an area which opened several opportunities since the subway is the most convenient and common mode of transportation in Seoul.

The immediate thought coming to mind was to apply a Service or Universal design approach. Investigating existing point-of-sales and implementing new way finding systems are the default applications; but since my passion geared more towards Branding, I have been toying with the idea on apply a different approach to see if this may be a plausible solution.

Branding consists of many parts with marketing being one of them. For many reasons, the core reason for branding for coporations is simply to make money. Why? Because older methods are no longer applicable today. Traditional market research may have proved to be show positive results but how much resources would that require? Are there different methods to make money? Yes.

A principle in Branding is to be #1 in your category (Ries, A 2005). In other words, you cannot be the #1 brand without championing your category. i.e. you cannot create a Red Bull and be #1 without being the best energy drink. To cut the long story short. My thoughts are to consider tourism (the industry) as the market and apply a new concept using Branding to solve the brief.

The target audience has been identified and that's the tourist. So what if I identify a new category, creating the 'new tourist' and become the champion of this category? Applying diverging principles a tourist, what could I discover now?

Reference
The Origin of Brands: How Product Evolution Creates Endless Possibilities for New Brands, Al Ries 2005)