Shaken Not Stirred

Shaken not stirred is how the iconic spy James Bond orders his martinis, I still don't know why Mr. Bond prefers martinis that way he never says. But I digress this post is not about James Bond, this post is about Blender Bottle and its recent success in the health industry. Blender Bottle is the market leader in "shaker" bottles that users can put their favorite supplements and liquid into. Due to its unique stainless steel wire mixing ball Blender Bottle mixes ingredients with ease. The bottle is simple to use, easy to clean, and only consists of three parts. The product is a hit with fitness enthusiasts and everyone else who has been to the gym for more than a week. It costs about $7 to $9 so it's relatively inexpensive in addition to this it's also fairly durable so you don't need to buy new ones all the time.

Why is Blender Bottle number in the industry? There are plenty of other bottles out there that do the same thing for less and look pretty much the same. A Lot of people would say that Blender Bottle is numero uno because they were the first to the supplement accessory industry. Whether or not this is true is up for debate I'm sure there were shaker cup companies before Blender Bottle came along. Afterall people have been working out for a pretty long time before Blender Bottle was a thing. In my eyes there are two things that pushed Blender Bottle to the top of the industry. It wasn't being early to the party that made them great, they showed up fashionably late with a thick wad of cash. This capital was the first step to success for them, they were able to out produce, out sell, and out market the competition.

Ahhhhh so that it's that's how the management team made millions off a metal wire ball and a plastic cup. They had a lot of money that's not a great success story. Guess what you're right it's not that great of a come up story. But what do you when your number everyone knows the guy in second place is working the hardest. This is where Blender Bottle put the final nail in the coffin. Rather than being complacent and spending all day counting their money management decided to be proactive. The key to their sustained success is their point of purchase displays in almost every nutrition shop in the nation. If you're new to working or want to get serious about it chances are your going to buy supplements at GNC or some other store. In all these stores right next to the register is a giant Blender Bottle filled with normal sized bottles. So you say to yourself why not? Everybody else has one it's only seven bucks and it's right here. These point of purchase are what is keeping Blender Bottle at the top of it's game. If a competitor wanted to topple Blender Bottle they should attack the point of purchase displays in as many health stores as they can.

Vice, The New Paperboy

Today’s post is about Vice and I'm not talking about the bad things that people do. I'm talking about Vice magazine which ironically is an online news service they also distribute a magazine. In recent years Vice has garnered a good deal of attention since joining YouTube in 2005. The Vice channel has 6,382,283 subscribers in contrast CNN's YouTube channel has 1,052,862. That being said CNN only joined the party last year, but that’s the point I’m trying to make. Vice was one of the first major news services to join YouTube and as a result they were able to carve out their territory without much competition.

Numbers and early entry are great and everything but eventually stories get boring and viewers get bored too. This is where Vice excels, Vice and its reporters in my opinion are all crazy they get right into the heart of a story they are always up close and personal with news. This is what sets them aside from other agencies. Their YouTube channel is littered with coverage from wars in the Middle East, drug cartels, and any other dangerous thing you can think of. They even have an episode where they try to buy a nuclear weapon on the black market. They cover stories that normal news agencies won’t cover and this draws viewers in. In all of these episodes the reporters are right in the action, getting shot or running from bullets. That’s what keeps the viewers interested, engaged, and coming back for more.

Now I heard about Vice through word of mouth and the first video I actually watched was about the conflict in Syria. As I scrolled through the channel I saw more videos similar in nature to the Syria video. Vice did a three part series on what Afghanistan is like now after the major conflict. There was another video were a reporter went to a remote region in Pakistan and bought handmade guns at an open air market. 

The videos seemed to carry an activist attitude which something that the millennial generation is known for. This activist voice combined with a large online presence is what has made Vice so popular so quickly. Millennials weren’t getting the news they wanted from other sources online Vice saw a gap in the market filled it and successfully promoted themselves at the same time. Vice could be characterized as the new kid in town who’s a bit edgy and gets into the occasional scuff but everyone knows his name. Ultimately this new kid bad boy attitude is the key to Vice’s success. 

MVMT Watches

MVMT watches is an up and coming watch brand headquartered in California that started in 2013. The founders got their initial startup capital through a crowdsourcing website called indiegogo, their campaign was the second highest funded that year. Since then the company has become a well known brand and has even graduated to the international level.
 
So what's so unique about MVMT? There are thousands of watch companies in the market and many clothing and fashion companies also produce watches as accessories. The market is highly saturated and extremely competitive, not to mention that the more prominent manufacturers have been around for some time. What makes MVMT unique is their approach to marketing and their distribution model.

MVMT has an extremely strong online presence in fact I don't think I've seen their ads outside of a computer or phone screen. This marketing strategy does several things for the company. Firstly it reaches lots of potential customers eyes, most commonly I see their ads on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and probably some other social media platforms. Some might say that advertising solely on social media is a poor business choice, but for MVMT it is not. Advertising on social media is great choice for a company if its target market is the younger more tech orientated with less disposable income.
Good news for MVMT that's their market young adults, generally millennials like myself. Were glued to our phones all day long and what do we look at? Social media what a surprise. We are the consumers that don't have a ton of money to blow on a nice watch, I know I wouldn't spent $600 on a watch right now. I'm broke most of the time but hey show me a good looking watch at a decent price and I might buy it.

This brings me into the second part of MVMT's strategy no brick and mortar stores. There is no intermediary between them and the end consumers, just a shipping company. This allows MVMT to reduce the final selling price of the watch and attract the consumers that it wants. No middle man like Macy's that needs to markup the price by %15. The company's founders say that MVMT's mission is to get rid of brand inflated prices and offer consumers a quality product with quality looks at lower prices. So far the plan is working for them, despite only have 20 employees last year they pulled in an estimated $5million in revenue. Not bad for a second year startup company in a saturated industry, so MVMT keep doing what your doing its working. (Maybe send me a watch if you this too)

Dove for Men?

Dove owned by Unilever is well known household brand that offers an extensive product mix for a soap company. The company manufactures other personal hygiene products as well. These include lotions, deodorants, and hair care products. They also recently launched a line of products directed towards men. 

When I first saw the ads I was a little confused they were good they got my attention but I wasn't sure I wanted to try it. I always remembered dove being a "girly" brand the commercials I always saw had women in them. But these new ones were way different, they had dads playing with kids in black and white. The commercials were different than anything else on the tube. Even after the show had finished I still remembered the commercial, and I thought to myself Dove's making men's products now? 

Dove is an industry leader in the hygiene business but its customer base is largely women. That's all well and good for Dove, but that puts some restraints on the company. Since its customer base is largely female it has to cater them more than others. This leads to a cycle that further cements its reputation as a women's beauty product company. But Paul isn't that what companies wanna do, don't they want more customers? Yes they do, however men make up about %50 of the market these days and yes we buy soap too. We buy soap, shaving cream, shampoo, and even deodorant every now and again. This is great news for Dove because they also make soap and related products, it is also bad news because Dove is mainly aimed at women. 

Personally I use the Beauty Bar from Dove. It's not very masculine compared to other men's soaps on the market like Old Spice and Axe. The packaging, name, and award from Allure magazine tip the average person off. The only real reason I use the bar soap is because it's the soap my mom bought and put in our houses bathrooms. It's the soap I grew up with and now that I'm out of the house I still buy it. With that being said I am an exception in the male soap demographic buying market more popular brands like Old Spice and Axe hold a controlling share. Just like Dove they sell other hygiene products and men buy them, I bought them up until recently.

The new Dove Men+Care campaign and products have shifted my purchasing habits. I used to buy Old Spice for the longest time because it smelled good and was pretty cheap. But now after the Men+Care commercials I buy Dove deodorant that’s more expensive and in my opinion smells better. Why this sudden change? The commercials got me intrigued and the packaging roped me in. The deodorant comes in a cool grey dispenser and has a simple clean look to it. No wild graphics or crazy logo, just words and a small Dove bird also in grey. So I tried it I broke from my habit bought it and haven’t switched for 2 years now. In my opinion the Men+Care launch was a success and the numbers evidently also agree with me. Dove’s sales are up and the Men+Care products are gaining more and more ground in the market. So kudos Dove and Unilever you have my support for making a great campaign and product to match.  

     

Febreze Freshens Up The Market

The air freshener market is rife with competition these days, but why it's just air freshener you don't really need it. If you're lazy and broke like me you only buy such luxuries when your parents are around. However Febreze, Glade and other air fresheners are like them are actually quite pleasant. For instance if you are the type of person that socializes and has people over, you might want to look into them. I find Febreze really nice, currently I’m looking at a 9.7 Oz aerosol can of Febreze Air Effects. The packaging is aesthetically pleasing, the colors complement each other well. On top of all of these great factors the title is my favorite part. Meadows & Rain is the title of this particular, unfortunately I haven’t had the chance of smelling both a meadow and rainfall at the same time. So I can’t say for sure that the title is completely accurate, however after just a few sprits I’m hooked.

If meadows and rain smell like something other than this can of Febreze they should probably re think their game plan. The scent is clean and sweet, more importantly it’s not over powering it doesn’t drown the room. It just makes it seem like your window is open and it’s raining out on your meadow.

All joking aside it does smell pretty good and consumers defiantly agree. In 2011 Febreze became the 24^th Proctor & Gamble brand to reach 1 billion dollars in sales globally. You read that right Proctor & Gamble have sold a billion dollars’ worth of better smelling air. The crazy part of this is that Febreze isn’t even number one in terms of market share. Currently S.C Johnson & Son Inc. and Reckitt Benckiser group hold the top two spots. S.C Johnson’s Glade holds the number one spot with a market share of 25.9% and Reckitt’s Air Wick brand comes in at number with 24.2% of the market. Febreze comes in slightly behind the big dogs with a 17% market share.

But Paul why aren’t you writing about the other two they’re clearing doing better? I’m writing about Febreze because out of the three brans mentioned it is the only one that showed growth. Glade’s market share fell by 2% from the previous year, and Air Wick’s share of the market stayed the same compared to last year. Febreze on the other hand showed a growth of 2.2% over the calendar year and is poised to keep growing. That’s good news for P&G considering the fact that the global market for air fresheners is estimated to be $7 billion.

Some sceptics may say that Febreze can it’s owe its success to P&G’s endless supply of money, however this is not the case. The management and marketing teams are the real heroes here. Febreze has had a great deal of success with its ads who doesn’t remember the blind fold ads (if you don’t you should start watching T.V.) In addition to this the Febreze product is constantly expanding and adding new scents all the time in hopes of reaching new consumers. So far the strategy seems to be working for Febreze and bathroom users around the world can breathe freely again knowing that Febreze is it on its way to the top.

Procter & Gamble's Tidal Wave

Most people these days wash their clothes unless you’ve chosen the path of a mountain man or something like that. Now what do you need to wash clothes? Back in the day washing clothes meant manual labor with something called a washboard, Huck Finn can tell you all about. Thanks to modern technology and a company called Procter & Gamble we now have something called laundry detergent. Detergent revolutionized laundry manual labor was no more, all you had to do was put your clothes in a machine hit the start button and walk away.

Tide was released in 1946 and was billed as the first heavy duty detergent, in 1949 it was released on a national scale. Tide quickly gained market share and was advertised as “Americas wash day favorite.” Tide quickly surpassed its competition and since its inception has maintained a tight grip on the detergent market.

Tide has maintained this tight grip over the detergent market by consistently adapting and innovating its products. Since its initial release Tide has continually added new products to its product line. Currently Tide offers its customers 51 different products ranging from its newest creation pods all the way to on the go stain removing pens. By constantly adding to its product line Tide has managed to stay two steps ahead of the competition. This generates a unique advantage for Tide not only are they the most trusted brand in the market. They are also first to add new products to their line, this leaves the competition scrambling to add a new product. All the while Tide is generating revenue of a product that other companies haven’t even developed yet.

This leg up on the competition grants the Tide brand a little bit of breathing room. You’d think management would take a vacation after all they are the number detergent brand. According to Statista.com Tide had sales of $1,195,000,000 in 2014 alone. The market runner up is gain detergent brand with only $545,900 in sales, Tide sales are nearly double the competitions. This kind of industry dominance is especially rare in the household good market where competition is generally very fierce.

Even with this level of dominance Tide and its management team are not letting up anytime soon. Another key to Tide’s continued success is its relentless advertising campaigns. In 2014 tide spent $142 million on advertising, that’s a lotta cash just to spend on advertising a detergent brand. So far the strategy has been working for Tide since it was first introduced to the public it has only grown in size and market share. 

The Roaming Gnome

When I write the word gnome two things come to mind for the average person. Number one is lawn gnomes the outdated and slightly creepy lawn decoration that all baby boomers seem to own. Second and more importantly is this guy. For those of you who don’t watch television that is the Travelocity roaming gnome. This gnome has been a staple in Travelocity’s commercials and have garnered the travel planning website a good deal of attention in past years.

It’s no doubt that the gnome campaign is successful, but I found myself asking why a lawn gnome? Of all the mascots for the campaign why did Travelocity pick something as obscure as a lawn gnome? After some googling and a few cups of coffee I discovered the origin of the roaming. According to various sources on the internet (Wikipedia) the roaming gnome supposedly started as a prank. The first recorded instance of this prank was found in the Sydney Morning Herald in September of 1986. The story goes that someone stole a gnome from a woman’s front lawn and left behind a cheeky note about being lonely and going off to see the world. The thief of the gnome sent it around the world and had friends take photographs of it at various famous landmarks. The gnome was eventually returned and since then the practical joke has been practiced by many others.

So the gnome idea does make sense, originally the gnome campaign was based around photos and videos of the gnome in various places around the world. These photo and video campaigns were featured on television, online, and on outdoor ads. These ads were pretty good and got customers to use Travelocity to plan their vacations and trips. However the campaign really took off when Travelocity incorporated social media into the marketing mix. In the winter of 2010 Travelocity rolled out ads that urged consumers to travel and get away during the winter. They incorporated Facebook and twitter into these ads and asked people to vote on what destination the gnome should travel too. Once the voting ended the gnome would go to said destination take photos and tweet about its time there. The great part about this campaign is that it got consumers to interact with the brand, this interaction helps to build trust between the two parties. Trust is vital to any company’s success and without a company will undoubtedly falter. The Travelocity roaming gnome campaign did an excellent job of building trust between the consumer and the company, and other companies should take note of their success. 

Crash and Burn of Amazon's Fire Phone

The Amazon Fire phone is a prime example of a company having good intentions but a ultimately a bad idea. Amazon released the Fire smart phone on July, 25 2014 it was priced at $199 and was poised to compete with Apple and Samsung smartphones. The specifications of the phone were up to par with the market. The Fire phone sports a 4.7 inch display with a resolution of 720 pixels by 1080 pixels, this screen size puts it on par with both the galaxy and iPhone smartphones. In addition to the rest of its specifications were competitive with the market. The phone packs a 2.2 gigahertz processor with four cores just like its competitors. The camera packed an impressive 13 megapixels which put it ahead of the iPhone and on par with the galaxy. It came with two gigabytes of RAM and came in either 32 gigabytes or 64 gigabytes storage configurations.

On paper the Fire phone was a legitimate competitor unfortunately the drawing board is often far different than reality. While the phones specifications were good its apps were not. This was the first and primary issue that users of the fire phone faced. Even the phone used android software it did not use the google app store known as google play. Instead it used Amazon’s propriety app store called Amazon apps. Google did not allow cross platforming between the play store and amazon apps, this meant that Fire phone users had very limited access to apps when the phone was first released. Although developers later stepped in and made more apps for the Amazon store, the damage was already done. Negative reviews regarding app accessibility hurt the Fire’s sales right out of the gate.

On top of all of this Amazon was entering an already highly saturated market. There were already a large number of smart phones and smart phone producers in the market and competition was fierce. In order for a new smart phone to stand out in the market it needs something that the competition doesn’t have. Unfortunately for the Fire phone it had what the competition had already, in other words it wasn’t it wasn’t anything special. The Fire phone lacked a definitive “it factor” that would distinguish it from the competition, it lacked any competitive advantage. In order to offset this problem Amazon attempted to undercut competitors pricing by setting the phones price at $199. Unfortunately for Amazon this tactic didn’t work and now the Fire phones are stacked up in warehouses around the country waiting to be recycled. 

Blood Lust for True Blood

True Blood is an HBO T.V. show that has garnered enormous success since its inception. Part of the reason why True Blood is so successful is and was because of its marketing campaign. I say was because the initial marketing campaign for the show was brilliant to say the least; it drew viewers in and built an aura of mystery around the show. I say is because the marketing campaign is still on going, and the makers of the show actively work with the viewers who contribute to the show.

The initial marketing campaign focused around advertisements for a drink called True Blood. The advertisements themselves were convoluted and in my opinion looked like advertisements for alcoholic beverages. In addition to this the advertisements had “vampire” under tones. The success of the campaign is largely due in part to the fact the viewers of the ads had no idea what they were looking at. The landing page for the online ads lead to a website that contained a tentative release date and virtually no info on the True Blood drink. The ads were released a few months before the show was supposed to air, this was crucial to the campaigns success. The mysterious ads drummed up consumer attention and created a buzz on the internet. Everywhere on the internet was filled with users asking questions about True Blood, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites were inundated with questions. Some people even made a forum specifically for True Blood before it was even released just to try and figure out what is was.

 

After months of agonizing waiting and speculation HBO finally stepped out into the day light and admitted they were responsible for the advertisements. They launched a more traditional advertising campaign and let the fans know that this was in fact a show about vampires. They sent Alan Ball who was a driving force behind the show to Comic-Con so that he could discuss the show with fans and drum up additional attention.

True Bloods success is also due in part to its ongoing efforts to involve fans in the creative process. They reached out to fans and the fans reached out back to them and created an elaborate back story and universe for the show. Fans created blogs and forums to keep track of what was going on in the show and what each character was doing. By allowing the viewers to help with the creative process HBO was able accomplish two things. First they were able to give viewers what they truly wanted, writers and executives listened to the viewers comments and based the show around their feedback. Secondly they were able to create a community based around the show. Loyal viewers who created content for the show obviously kept coming back to the show and without a doubt shared their content with friends and on social media. The True Blood marketing campaign was a truly innovative idea and the employees at HBO should give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done.  

Hello World

Hello and welcome to my new blog The 411 on Marketing 411. My name is Paul Erlic and I am senior at the University of Tampa; I plan on graduating with a degree in marketing which will hopefully lead to some gainful employment. The purpose of this blog is to share my thoughts on real world marketing situations and more importantly to receive feedback on my thoughts. Marketing has always captured my attention and from a very young age I was trying to sell anyone anything. The only problem I had was that I couldn't figure out the best way to do it. As I got older I learned more about advertising and its relationship to selling, as I dove deeper I learned more about advertisers and eventually marketers. The more I learned the more I was intrigued the topics were endless and full of content and real world examples, consumer behavior, branding strategy, market research, the list goes on. So I decided I wanted to go into marketing and changed my major from undecided to marketing. Given the fact that this blog is about marketing and not me I give you my marketing topic.

The Lexus hoverboard, for those of you that are too lazy to watch it, i'll give a brief synopsis of the video. The video is shot a skatepark and you guessed the main character is the hoverboard. The board is self extremely good looking, the metal and carbon fiber construction of the base is paired perfectly with a bamboo deck. The cinematography is top notch and the video is set to upbeat modern music that helps to convey a futuristic mood and attitude. My favorite part of the video is where they get a Back to the Future style shot of the board and its rider gliding seamlessly over a pool of water. Towards the end of the video the camera pans out and shows the board and the rider going down a ramp with a gap in the center. Out of that gap comes a brand new blue lexus and just as the car is going through the gap the the board and the rider jump right over the car and land on the adjacent ramp. The video ends and cuts to the Lexus logo and its tagline for the campaign "Amazing in Motion." My words don't do the video justice to get the full effect you really need to view it for yourself.

Obviously Lexus isn't going to commercially produce hoverboards although it would be pretty cool of them. Lexus is using the hoverboard as a promotional vehicle for their cars, and they are doing a superb job at it. In addition to the initial video Lexus released other videos that explain the story behind the board. These videos allow potential customers to get an inside view of Lexus and serve to build trust with consumers. These videos also show case Lexus's talent and dedication to design and aesthetics which is something that the company prides itself on. Lastly the videos add a sense of personality to Lexus customers can connect with the people that worked on the board; and the next time they see a Lexus add they can match a face to the company.