Established in 1984 by Dietrich Mateschitz, Red Bull GmbH is a multinational company that was inspired by Mateschitz’s encounter with the original energy drink, Krating Daeng, in Thailand. Red Bull has gained worldwide recognition for its ability to enhance focus, concentration, and metabolism stimulation (Bized, 2008).
According to Mintel (2005), Red Bull is the top-selling energy drink worldwide, with annual sales surpassing one billion cans and capturing a 60% share of the global market in terms of volume. In the U.K., Red Bull’s sales volume increased from 85 million liters in 2003 to 113 million liters in 2005 (Mintel, 2005). The introduction of the sugar-free variety in 2004 significantly contributed to the brand’s value sales and solidified its position as the leading drink in its category (Mintel, 2005). Red Bull is categorized as a soft drink due to its absence of alcohol.
Red Bull, priced at 1.05 Pounds in the U.K., is considered a premium product that stands out from other energy drinks due to its quality and positive effects. It surpasses its competitors, like Lucozade, which offers various flavors in the energy drink market (Drawert). Mateschitz focused on below-the-line marketing tactics, especially viral marketing or word of mouth, to effectively promote the brand (Arlidge, 2004).
Red Bull sponsors a variety of events including windsurfing, snowboarding, cliff diving, break dancing, art shows, music concerts, video games, and other sporting and social events (Redbulletin, 2008). They offer four products: the original Red Bull can, a sugar-free version aimed at women, Red Bull cola, and Red Bull Energy Shots. The perception, attitudes, and reference groups of consumers are used to analyze their behavior towards Red Bull’s marketing activities.
In the beginning, Krating Daeng was consumed by factory workers and drivers in Thailand to stay awake during late working hours. However, when Red Bull was established by Mateschitz, the target audience shifted from factory workers to young professionals (Bized, 2008). Through innovative marketing strategies and minor product changes, Red Bull successfully positioned itself as a trendsetter and globally recognized brand among consumers (Arlidge, 2004).
Consumer perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting physical sensations such as sights, sounds, and smells (Solomon et al., p. 56). Red Bull influenced consumer perception through various activities like sampling and event sponsoring. They used Red Bull-branded cars to distribute energy drinks to individuals who needed a boost such as shift workers, truck drivers, and athletes. Additionally, they sponsored large-scale extreme sports events and competitions (Stefani, 2008; Kumar & Linguri; Desource; 2008). Spotting a Red Bull car stimulated consumers’ sense of sight.
The car was a combination of blue and silver colors, which matched the product itself. Additionally, a life-size red bull can was mounted on the car, generating initial interest and curiosity about the product. The sense of touch was engaged by distributing free red bull cans to the public. Rexam, one of the largest suppliers of beverage cans globally, earned $22 million from sales of Red Bull cans worth $147 million. The unique size and weight of the can, 8.3 ounces (235 grams) (Bized, 2008), created a sense of novelty for consumers compared to standard-sized cans.
Red Bull was one of the first to enter the energy drink market. Despite initial negative reactions to its taste, Red Bull’s innovative campaigns, including sponsoring extreme sports events and giving out freebies at sporting events, helped promote both their brand and a specific lifestyle. Consumers were attracted to this lifestyle and developed a preference for the drink due to its energy-boosting effects. Through extensive publicity and ongoing events and competitions, Red Bull established a strong brand image that captured consumer attention. This allowed for significant engagement with the brand, transforming it into more than just a product and distinguishing it from other energy drinks on the market. Moreover, Red Bull employed animated television commercials with the message – Red Bull Gives You Wings.
The advertisements use figurative language to show that drinking Red Bull gives consumers a substantial amount of energy, creating curiosity about the product. This enhances the initial impression of the product in consumers’ minds. Targeting the younger generation is advantageous for Red Bull as this group tends to be rebellious and nonconformist when selecting brands.
Red Bull effectively communicates its qualities, making it a suitable option for its target audience. This is evident in the diverse range of individuals who use Red Bull, as they rely on its utility and the advantages it offers as an energy drink. Nigel Trood, Red Bull UK’s managing director, states that people choose Red Bull when they require an energy boost, whether it be to combat fatigue or enhance concentration. Overall, Red Bull strives to be consumers’ preferred choice when seeking an energy boost.
“It is very much about people using it in lots of different ways…” (Goliath 2008). The Red Bull brand, with its slogan ‘Red Bull gives you wings,’ encompasses the various ways in which it can be utilized, appealing to the utilitarian function of the product. The consumption of Red Bull leads to an energized and alert feeling, satisfying consumers and generating a positive attitude towards the product. Moreover, the Red Bull brand specifically targets the Generation Y demographic, consisting of individuals born between the 1980’s and 1990’s (Bitze, 2008).”
When studying some of their characteristics, it becomes apparent that the value-expressive attitude is specifically tailored to appeal to Gen Y consumers. These consumers are known for being hip, cool, and trendy, as well as influential opinion leaders who willingly spend significant amounts of money on products that are perceived as popular. This consumer behavior allows them to establish a sense of uniqueness and self-identity. Red Bull recognizes this and places a strong emphasis on engaging with this consumer group through their involvement in social activities. One such example is the Red Bull Street Style competition, an annual event that takes place in various countries worldwide.
Contestants are selected to represent their country and the winner is crowned the Red Bull Street Style Champion for that year. The audience’s strong passion for these events gives the product a unique status compared to its competitors (Red Bull, 2009) (Solomon et al., 2006, p. 139). The Red Bull Street Style – London Final (Red Bull, 2009) showcases the consumer’s attitude as a mental or neutral state of readiness that influences their response to various objects and situations, shaped through experience (G.
According to Allport (1935, p. 810), the ABC model is used to illustrate the beliefs, behavior, and affects that consumers experience when purchasing a product. Red Bull targets individuals between the ages of 16 and 35 who are active, sporty, and hardworking. This demographic is at an experimental stage in life, seeking new experiences and being influenced by ethical groups (Drawert.com) (Solomon, et al., 2006, p. 140).
Instead of relying on traditional advertising methods, Mateschitz chose to prioritize Buzz marketing. Red Bull opted for influential individuals within communities to promote the brand’s message in places where the target audience could be reached. This approach effectively generated initial awareness and interest in the energy drink by promptly informing consumers about its benefits. Furthermore, free samples were distributed to enable consumers to evaluate and form their own opinions based on personal experience with the product.
Red Bull enhances its brand reputation by organizing diverse events that enable consumers to actively connect with their product. These engagements hold immense significance in influencing the consumer’s decision-making process, ultimately resulting in purchases or participation in the brand’s extensive range of activities. Buzz advertising, also referred to as “word of mouth” marketing, efficiently generates consumer engagement by motivating individuals to exchange information and experiences with others within their communities. This tactic has been executed on a large scale.
One of their techniques involved hiring university students as brand managers and providing them with free cases of Red Bull for parties. This led to a positive attitude towards the brand among this specific target segment (Kumar. Linguri) (Solomon, et all, 2006, p 140-141). Additionally, the product was introduced in clubs and bars, where the sales team convinced resellers to sell the energy drink. This strategy helped the brand gain recognition and immediate attention (Kenneth Hein, 2001).
Red Bull quickly became a popular beverage in these locations, often used as a mixer with other alcoholic drinks. This further boosted the brand’s popularity as consumers enjoyed the energizing and active effects it provided throughout the night. This lifestyle, which was characterized by risk and unpredictability, resonated well with Red Bull’s target audience. 4. Reference Groups: Red Bull consistently encourages consumers to associate themselves with a variety of activities, primarily related to various sports.
In this section, we will delve into the world of the ‘Red Bulletin’ – a magazine specifically designed for an active and driven audience who aim to be a part of this vast community. Not only is this magazine available online, but it is also distributed monthly with England’s ‘The Independent’ newspaper. The ‘Red Bulletin’ showcases various sports events and projects organized by Red Bull, providing insight into their stories and announcing competition winners.
Red Bull is known for its emphasis on brand management and goes beyond just sponsoring sports events; they take complete ownership of the event, giving them control over how their brand is associated with the sport (Russell, 2009). The Red Bulletin, their magazine, doesn’t use celebrities as brand ambassadors but rather focuses on featuring stories of competition winners in a dedicated section called ‘Heroes’. These are regular people who have achieved success through hard work, just like anyone else.
Using “real” people instead of celebrities is more realistic and persuasive. It causes consumers to identify more with the brand, resulting in a higher level of involvement. Red Bull’s marketing strategy revolves around selling an experience and a lifestyle by incorporating different local cultures. This encourages individuals to be seen as a Red Bull “Hero” (Redbulletin, 2008) (Solomon, et al., 2006, p. 351). In 2008, Redbulletin.com introduced a new technological development called Red Bulletin Print 2.0.
When the magazine is placed in front of a web camera connected to the internet, additional information related to the article will be displayed on top of the magazine. To experience this, only a web camera, web browser, and Red Bulletin Magazine are required. The incorporation of this technology encourages consumers to engage with the brand, providing them with an overall captivating experience (Red Bulletin, 2009). Red Bull maintains an active forum on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, where various events, online/offline competitions, and games are organized for brand enthusiasts.
Facebook organized an event called the Red Bull Stash, which involved hiding the Red Bull Energy Shot product in different places nationwide for people to discover. Fans of Red Bull were instructed to visit Facebook and input their postal code to receive hints about nearby secret locations. The brand urged fans to share their adventures, upload pictures and videos of their experience, and mention the names of those who successfully completed the competition along with their completion time. The ultimate reward was a trip to New York City to attend Red Bull’s renowned b-boy contest (Facebook, 2009).
Red Bull has a strong presence in the F1 Racing community. They have their own team and also sponsor young drivers through the Red Bull Junior Team. By recruiting David Coulthard, a former McLaren driver, as their team leader, they aim to create a positive image of their brand among F1 race fans and followers of Coulthard. This strategy is value-expressive as F1 Racing is a popular global sports event that attracts a large audience who idolize its drivers. When consumers hear about Red Bull’s involvement in F1 Racing, they start associating themselves with the characteristics of an F1 racer and aspire to be like them by purchasing Red Bull products (F1complete, Solomon et al., p. 351) (Red Bull Racing, 2006).
Red Bull’s success can be attributed to its strategic marketing approach and its ability to position itself as the leading energy drink. The brand has created a strong image associated with an adrenaline rush, which resonates positively with consumers. In every sporting sector it enters, Red Bull ensures it maintains total control and ownership, from obtaining the Formula 1 team to organizing extreme sports like Air Races, Music Events, and Rock Climbing, among others.
The company has successfully maintained an unconventional, edgy, and enthusiastic brand image. Although it should consider targeting the older age group, the current strategy has been financially successful. However, the company owes its overall success to the Generation Y consumer category. Additionally, the advertising campaign, featuring the catchy slogan “Red Bull gives you wings,” has effectively contributed to the brand’s witty image.
The company has become proficient in the buzz marketing strategy, recognizing the importance of engagement to generate excitement, which has always been a goal (Kumar. Linguri). In the last ten years, numerous energy drinks have emerged aiming to challenge Red Bull’s dominant market position. Consequently, the company responded by implementing an even more assertive marketing campaign in specific areas.
According to Red Bull (2009), the company asserts that it provides diverse health advantages such as enhancing performance, concentration, speed, and metabolism stimulation. It can be inferred that the company’s marketing efforts have effectively positioned it as the most prosperous energy drink in the market. This accomplishment can be credited to the company’s clever marketing tactics and consumers’ favorable perception of its brand image.
6. References:
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- Checkered Series Photography. 2008. Red Bull [online]. [Accessed 1st December 2009]. Available from: http://checkeredseriesphoto. com/
- Clients. html Red Bull. 2009. Red Bull Street Style-London Final [online]. [Accessed 1st December 2009]. Available from: ttp://www. redbull. co. uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Event/Red-Bull-Street-Style—London-Final-021242760791168
- Red Bulletin. 2009. Heroes web site [online]. [Accessed 1st December 2009]. Available from: http://en. redbulletin. com/heroes/ Websites Arlidge, John. December 5, 2004. [online]. How redbull woke up the teen market. (Accessed November 16, 2009). Available from: http://www. guardian. co. uk/media/2004/dec/05/advertising. formulaone
- A DOSE OF REALITY. October 16, 2009. [online] [Accessed December 7, 2009]. Available from: http://en. redbulletin. om/articles/a_dose_of_reality/ Bized website. 2009. [online]. (accessed November 14, 2009). Avaliable from: http://www. bized. co. uk/compfact/redbull/redbull11. htm Bized Website. 2009. [online].
- How does Redbull market its products. [Accessed November 14th, 2009]. Available from: http://www. bized. co. uk/compfact/redbull/redbull5. htm
- CASE STUDY-RED BULL: Running with bulls. September 14, 2007. [online] [Accessed 21st November, 2009]. Available from: http://goliath. ecnext. com/coms2/gi_0199-6957316/CASE-STUDY-RED-BULL-Running. html Kumar, Nirmalya.
- Linguri, Sophie. [online] Marketing to the no logo generation. [Accessed November 21st, 2009]. Available from: http://www. businessworld. in/index. php/Marketing-to-the-No-logo-generation. html
- Mateschitz, Dietrich. [online] ABOUT US. [Accessed December 01, 2009]. Available from: http://en. redbulletin. com/impressum/ MINTEL. 2009.
- Energy and Stimulant Drinks – UK – July 2005. London: Mintel International Group. Partners. [online] [Accessed December 01, 2009]. Available from: http://en. redbulletin. com/60/ Promar International. June 2001. online]
- Generation Y, Winning Snack Strategies. Management Summary. [Accessed December 1st 2009]. Avaliable from: http://www. promarinternational. com/pdfs/IndustryStrategicStudies/ConsumerInsights/GenYsnacksmanagementsummary. pdf
- Red Bull Stash. [online] (accessed December 07, 2009). Available from: http://www. facebook. com/redbull? v=app_123793864961#/redbull? v=wall Red Bulletin. [Online]. [Accessed 29th November 2009].
- Available from: http://en. redbulletin. com/ Red Bull Racing. (online). [Accessed December 5th 2009]. Avaliable from: ttp://www. f1complete. com/teams/rbr Scibetti, Russell. March 24, 2009. New direction of redbull sport marketing. [Accessed December 02, 2009]. Available from: http://www. thebusinessofsports. com/2009/03/24/new-direction-for-red-bull-sports-marketing/
- Stefani. 21st, October, 2008. [online]. Strategic Analysis Redbull. [Accessed 18th November, 2009] Available from: http://www. oppapers. com/essays/Red-Bull-Marketing-Strategy/169508 The macro environment. [online] (accessed November 21, 2009). Available from: http://www. drawert. com/red_bull_4. php Books
Company Background Of Kee Wah
Marketing mix is the set of controllable tactical marketing tools–product, price, place, and promotion–that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market Company Background Found in 1938, Kee Wah Bakery has grown from a small grocery shop to a household name renowned for its bakery products in over half a century, with outlets and business filaments that stretch from Hong Kong to Mainland China, Taiwan, North America and Japan. The brand now has now become a household name among locals, as well as other Asian communities around the world.
In terms of product range, aside from traditional bakery products such as mooncakes and bridal pastries, Kee Wah has also been continuously pushing the envelope of modern Chinese pastries by re-invention old-day favorites with modern touches, by incorporating new ingredients and tastes into a wide variety of traditional and innovative new products. Mission Statement Kee Wah is a traditional family operated company with modern management style that strives to preserve the long tradition of Chinese pastries while at the same time adheres to the philosophy of high quality and hygiene standard demanded by modern day customers.
All packaging we carefully designed to be both functional and stylish, by incorporating nostalgic oriental essences with modern elegance. The recently introduced Kee Gift series is a stepforward in design and marketing concept which caters to visiting tourists in an effort to introduce traditional Chinese pastries and bakery products to the international communities all over the world. “Hong Kong Kee Gift” Chinese traditional food culture had a far long history; Chinese assorted cakes especially play an important role in Chinese traditions. Hong Kong, a ell-known city of variety selections for Chinese and Western food, the city of east meets west. Other than inheriting traditional skills, Hong Kong also developed new ideas on top of traditional bakery, creating a unique culture of cuisine. Pineapple Shortcake, Butter Egg Roll, Winter-Melon Pastries Chinese Favorites In terms of regular product range, Kee Wah currently has more than 500 varieties of Chinese pastries, snacks and confectionaries, including traditional favorites such as Wife Cakes, Egg-rolls, Phoenix Cookies, Chinese Sweet Crispies, Pineapple Shortcakes, and Ginger Cookies.
Kee Wah has also been constantly pushing the envelop of traditional pastries further by adding new ingredients and flavors to these items. “Chinese Bridal Cakes It is a long Chinese tradition to give Chinese bridal cakes to respected and loved ones in a wedding as token of gratitude and appreciation. Kee Wah is the leading brand in the industry of Chinese Bridal cakes with a wide variety of traditional pastry products and gift certificates to choose from.
To satisfy the different needs of customers, Kee Wah also provides a wide range of customization options ranging from tastes, gift box designs to banquet souvenir, which can certainly add a personal flare to a wedding banquet. Kee Wah Mooncake With over 60 years of baking experience in Chinese pastry products, Kee Wah uses only the finest ingredients to satisfy the demand of our discerning customers – top grade yolks, pure peanut oil, premium lotus seeds, and etc…. Furthermore, Kee Wah also takes prides in its traditional baking techniques and elegant packaging.
These ingredients make Kee Wah’s Mooncake the ideal gifts during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Kee Wah spends $10m in bridal cake push Hong Kong – Kee Wah Bakery has invested more than HK$10 million to modernise the packaging of its bridal cakes and rolled out a campaign targeting young and affluent couples. As 2009 is a double spring (shuang chun) year in the Lunar calendar, the Chinese believe this is an auspicious year to get married. To coincide with this period, Kee Wah has rolled out a campaign to build awareness of its new look for its bridal cake product range.
The bakery hopes to remind women to share their happiness and announce their wedding by giving its bridal cakes to their friends and relatives, a custom that most Chinese still practice today. The creative of the ads featuring actress Annie Liu, play on the Chinese character “marry”, which is loosely translated as “to offer a home to a woman constitutes a marriage, forming a family”. The campaign includes TV spots in TVB and Cable TV, newspapers, weekly and bridal magazines, out-of-home in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, tram and outdoor billboards as well as in-store.
Banner ads are also placed in ESD Life wedding channels with a mini-site that will be launched later in the month. E’s Concept Communication provided PR for the campaign. In China, as well as Hong Kong, food is heavily laden with social and cultural meanings. In fact, cake making has a long history in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong has always been a place where East meets West. Breads, Western cakes and biscuits have been on the markets since early days. However, for a while, with Western-style cakes’ and breads’ growing popularity, traditional Chinese cakes had actually become less common for a while.
But nowadays, traditional-style Chinese cakes still attract/re-attract customers with their established reputation and new image, and a variety of Chinese wedding cakes produced by Kee Wah Chinese Bakery (KW) are still familiar to the people in Hong Kong. KW now manufactures their products with a unique Chinese traditional flavour and packaging – carrying special meanings and constitutes a powerful symbol of the spirit of the City. KW was originally founded in Hong Kong in 1938 by Mr. WONG Yip-wing (1911 – 1999). The Company is well known in Hong Kong and overseas for its signature products, e. g. the traditional Chinese bridalcakes and mooncakes, though a wide range of Chinese and KW’s Western delicacies is equally popular. In addition, the Bakery also offers a variety of Chinese favorites and delicacies, including traditional Chinese egg-rolls and pineapple paste cakes. In fact, the history of this multi-national bakery can be traced back to the pre-World War II period. The founder, Mr. WONG Yip-wing started the business as a humble tuck shop in the late 1930s with only three staff, selling only modest candies and loaning comic books to the youngsters. KW in its earlier decades was operating as a neighbourhood business.
The business continued but not without difficulties during the post World War II period in the 1940s and 1950s. With limited supply of ingredients and equipments, Mr. Wong and his dedicated staff started the business of making traditional Chinese pastry. Demands and expectations from customers were quite easy to meet those days when most people had to work hard to make their ends meet. Life in general was without much excessive. Unexpectedly, Mr. WONG was able to make the business a big success. KW’s business took on a new turn in the 1970s and 1980s when Hong Kong’s economy began to take off.
Traditional Chinese baked goods also began to shine a new light at that time. ———————————————————– Kee Wah Bakery has been a renowned household name for traditional and modern bakery products. With over 60-years experience in making Chinese pastries, Kee Wah provides a wide range of classic mooncakes and bridal cakes with top quality and elegant packaging. Apart from its signature mooncakes and bridal cakes, Kee Wah also produces homemade delicacies in different flavors, oven-fresh bread and bun everyday.
Some of the popular products are available in gift packs for friends and relatives during holidays. With summer fast waning and the autumn fruits making their way to market, it’s time to turn to one of my favorite holidays. The Mid-Autumn Festival or, as many of us call it, the Harvest Moon Festival, celebrates the brightest and fullest moon of the year. It was once a time for families to relax and enjoy finally the fruits of their summer labor. Nowadays, in that peculiar way modernization and urbanization has of thinning out traditions, people might simply exchange moon cakes or go out to eat at their favorite Chinese restaurant.
A few purists will try to hike up a hill for a midnight picnic with hot tea. Or, if you’re Andrea Nguyen, you spend days making your own moon cakes from scratch. Store-bought moon cakes are just like store-bought fruitcakes — tasteless insults to the real thing. I can attest to the difference between one of Andrea’s moon cakes and one of those brightly decorated, impulse-buy boxes that line the checkout counters at Asian markets this time of the year. Follow closely the four-page recipe in her cookbook, and you, too, can give friends and families one of these memorable treats.
Or, like me, stop at Kee Wah Bakery and stock up on “piggy basket” buns filled with sweetened lotus seed. At a couple of bucks each, you can get one for every sweet-toothed pork lover in your full-moon circle. I can never resist their gorgeous tins to hold diminutive mango and pineapple teacakes, my favorite flavors there. This year, I snagged a long, flat persimmon tin. In past years, I fell hard for a collectors’ series of smaller tins decorated with smiling monks sipping tea and Kee Wah Bakery is a much-loved Hong Kong chain that was founded in 1938 by Mr. Wong Yip Wing.
He started out by selling candies and loaning out comic books to kids; his shop quickly became known as “The Chamber of Dreams. ” Since then, it has grown into a famous chain that bakes up a wide range of high-quality treats. They are the place to go for hard-to-find favorites such as Portuguese egg tarts (think dan tat crossed with creme brulee); delicate, rolled tuiles; and excellent, homemade, Asian-style cookies (not too sweet) made with real butter. I also love their packaging for its elegant simplicity. The tins are optional; you receive them when you buy a set of cakes.
As their loyal fans immigrated to the US, Kee Wah opened bakeries in California. Their first foray east across the ocean popped up in Monterey Park, of course, then two other shops in San Gabriel and Rowland Heights expanded their Southern California options. More recently, Kee Wah’s bakeries in the Bay Area, two smack in the middle of Milipitas and one in Dublin, have brought their famous tea cakes, bridal cakes, moon cakes and Hong-Kong-style cookies, tarts and buns to Northern California Like other Hong Kong-style bakeries, it’s partly serve-yourself and partly a Western-style bakery where you point into the display case.
Grab a tray and a set of tongs, and then help yourself to the buns and cookies. Their staff will assist you with their special pastries and cakes. In the tradition of Asian service, complicated questions receive curt answers, so be sure to keep your expectations low if you’re using this as an educational fieldtrip without a Mandarin or Cantonese speaker at your side. Fortunately, it doesn’t take too much to figure out what you want to eat in a glass-walled bakery, and their clearly written, English-language signs should offer all the guidance you need to avoid allergy-inducing walnuts or vegetarian-unfriendly pork fluff.
Their walnut shortbread cookies will please the tamest eater, while their phoenix cookie with melon seeds, date seeds, sweet rice flour, and preserved bean curd should be interesting to the more adventurous. The Marketing Mix model (also known as the 4 P’s) can be used by marketers as a tool to assist in implementing the M. strategy. M. managers use this method to attempt to generate the optimal response in the target market by blending 4 (or 5, or 7) variables in an optimal way. It is important to understand that the MM principles are controllable variables.
The MM can be adjusted on a frequent basis to meet the changing needs of the target group and the other dynamics of the M. environment. |Product |Historically, the thinking was: a good product will sell itself. However|Functionality, Quality, Appearance, | | |there are no bad products anymore in today’s highly competitive markets. |Packaging, Brand, Service, Support, | | |Plus there are many laws giving customers the right to return products |Warranty | | |that he perceives as bad.
Therefore the question on product has become: | | | |does the organization create what its intended customers want? Define | | | |the characteristics of your product or service that meets the needs of | | | |your customers. | | |Price |How much are the intended customers willing to pay? Here we decide on a |List Price, Discounts, Financing, | | |pricing strategy – do not let it just happen!
Even if you decide not to |Leasing Options, Allowances, | | |charge for a service (a loss leader), you must realize that this is a | | | |conscious decision and forms part of the pricing strategy. Although | | | |competing on price is as old as mankind, the consumer is often still | | | |sensitive for price discounts and special offers. Price has also an | | | |irrational side: something that is expensive must be good.
Permanently | | | |competing on price is for many companies not a very sensible approach. | | |Place |Available at the right place, at the right time, in the right |Locations, Logistics, Channel | | |quantities? Some of the revolutions in business have come about by |members, Channel Motivation, Market | | |changing Place. Think of the internet and mobile telephones. Coverage, Service Levels, Internet, | | | |Mobile | |Promotion |(How) are the chosen target groups informed or educated about the |Advertising, Public Relations, | | |organization and its products? This includes all the weapons in the |Message, Direct Sales, Sales, Media,| | |marketing armory – advertising, selling, sales promotions, Public |Budget | | |Relations, etc.
While the other three P’s have lost much of there | | | |meaning in today’s markets, Promotion has become the most important P to| | | |focus on. | | Product The first element in the marketing mix is the product. A product is any combination of goods and services offered to satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. Thus, a product is anything tangible or intangible that can be offered for purchase or use by consumers.
A tangible product is one that consumers can actually touch, such as a computer. An intangible product is a service that cannot be touched, such as computer repair, income tax preparation, or an office call. Other examples of products include places and ideas. For example, the state tourism department in New Hampshire might promote New Hampshire as a great place to visit and by doing so stimulate the economy. Cities also promote themselves as great places to live and work. For example, the slogan touted by the Chamber of Commerce in San Bernardino, California, is “It’s a great day in San Bernardino. The idea of wearing seat belts has been promoted as a way of saving lives, as has the idea of recycling to help reduce the amount of garbage placed in landfills. Typically, a product is divided into three basic levels. The first level is often called the core product, what the consumer actually buys in terms of benefits. For example, consumers don’t just buy trucks. Rather, consumers buy the benefit that trucks offer, like being able to get around in deep snow in the winter. Next is the second level, or actual product, that is built around the core product.
The actual product consists of the brand name, features, packaging, parts, and styling. These components provided the benefits to consumers that they seek at the first level. The final, or third, level of the product is the augmented component. The augmented component includes additional services and benefits that surround the first two levels of the product. Examples of augmented product components are technical assistance in operating the product and service agreements. Products are classified by how long they can be used—durability—and their tangibility.
Products that can be used repeatedly over a long period of time are called durable goods. Examples of durable goods include automobiles, furniture, and houses. By contrast, goods that are normally used or consumed quickly are called nondurable goods. Some examples of nondurable goods are food, soap, and soft drinks. In addition, services are activities and benefits that are also involved in the exchange process but are intangible because they cannot be held or touched. Examples of intangible services included eye exams and automobile repair. Another way to categorize products is by their users.
Products are classified as either consumer or industrial goods. Consumer goods are purchased by final consumers for their personal consumption. Final consumers are sometimes called end users. The shopping patterns of consumers are also used to classify products. Products sold to the final consumer are arranged as follows: convenience, shopping, specialty, and unsought goods. Convenience goods are products and services that consumers buy frequently and with little effort. Most convenience goods are easily obtainable and low-priced, items such as bread, candy, milk, and shampoo.
Convenience goods can be further divided into staple, impulse, and emergency goods. Staple goods are products, such as bread and milk, that consumers buy on a consistent basis. Impulse goods like candy and magazines are products that require little planning or search effort because they are normally available in many places. Emergency goods are bought when consumers have a pressing need. An example of an emergency good would be a shovel during the first snowstorm of the winter. Shopping goods are those products that consumers compare during the selection and purchase process.
Typically, factors such as price, quality, style, and suitability are used as bases of comparison. With shopping goods, consumers usually take considerable time and effort in gathering information and making comparisons among products. Major appliances such as refrigerators and televisions are typical shopping goods. Shopping goods are further divided into uniform and nonuniform categories. Uniform shopping goods are those goods that are similar in quality but differ in price. Consumers will try to justify price differences by focusing on product features. Nonuniform goods are those goods that differ in both quality and price.
Specialty goods are products with distinctive characteristics or brand identification for which consumers expend exceptional buying effort. Specialty goods include specific brands and types of products. Typically, buyers do not compare specialty goods with other similar products because the products are unique. Unsought goods are those products or services that consumers are not readily aware of or do not normally consider buying. Life insurance policies and burial plots are examples of unsought goods. Often, unsought goods require considerable promotional efforts on the part of the seller in order to attract the interest of consumers.
Industrial goods are those products used in the production of other goods. Examples of industrial goods include accessory equipment, component parts, installations, operating supplies, raw materials, and services. Accessory equipment refers to movable items and small office equipment items that never become part of a final product. Office furniture and fax machines are examples of accessory equipment. Component parts are products that are turned into a component of the final product that does not require further processing. Component parts are frequently custom-made for the final product of which they will become a part.
For example, a computer chip could be produced by one manufacturer for use in computers of other manufacturers. Installations are capital goods that are usually very expensive but have a long useful life. Trucks, power generators, and mainframe computers are examples of installations. Operating supplies are similar to accessory equipment in that they do not become part of the finished product. Operating supplies include items necessary to maintain and operate the overall firm, such as cleaners, file folders, paper, and pens. Raw materials are goods sold in their original form before being processed for use in other products.
Crops, crude oil, iron ore, and logs are examples of raw materials in need of further processing before being used in products. The last category of industrial goods is services. Organizations sometimes require the use of services, just as individuals do. Examples of services sought by organizations include maintenance and repair and legal counsel. Price The second element in marketing mix is price. Price is simply the amount of money that consumers are willing to pay for a product or service. In earlier times, the price was determined through a barter process between sellers and purchasers.
In modern times, pricing methods and strategies have taken a number of forms. Pricing new products and pricing existing products require the use of different strategies. For example, when pricing a new product, businesses can use either market-penetration pricing or a price-skimming strategy. A market-penetration pricing strategy involves establishing a low product price to attract a large number of customers. By contrast, a price-skimming strategy is used when a high price is established in order to recover the cost of a new product development as quickly as possible.
Manufacturers of computers, videocassette recorders, and other technical items with high development costs frequently use a price-skimming strategy. Pricing objectives are established as a subset of an organization’s overall objectives. As a component of the overall business objectives, pricing objectives usually take one of four forms: profitability, volume, meeting the competition, and prestige. Profitability pricing objectives mean that the firm focuses mainly on maximizing its profit. Under profitability objectives, a company increases its prices so that additional revenue equals he increase in product production costs. Using volume pricing objectives, a company aims to maximize sales volume within a given specific profit margin. The focus of volume pricing objectives is on increasing sales rather than on an immediate increase in profits. Meeting the price level of competitors is another pricing strategy. With a meeting-the-competition pricing strategy, the focus is less on price and more on nonprice competition items such as location and service. With prestige pricing, products are priced high and consumers purchase them as status symbols.
In addition to the four basic pricing strategies, there are five price-adjustment strategies: discount pricing and allowances, discriminatory pricing, geographical pricing, promotional pricing, and psychological pricing. Discount pricing and allowances include cash discounts, functional discounts, seasonal discounts, trade-in allowances, and promotional allowances. Discriminatory pricing occurs when companies sell products or services at two or more prices. These price differences may be based on variables such as age of the customer, location of sale, organization membership, time of day, or season.
Geographical pricing is based on the location of the customers. Products may be priced differently in distinct regions of a target area because of demand differences. Promotional pricing happens when a company temporarily prices products below the list price or below cost. Products priced below cost are sometimes called loss leaders. The goal of promotional pricing is to increase short-term sales. Psychological pricing considers prices by looking at the psychological aspects of price. For example, consumers frequently perceive a relationship between product price and product quality. Promotion
Promotion is the third element in the marketing mix. Promotion is a communication process that takes place between a business and its various publics. Publics are those individuals and organizations that have an interest in what the business produces and offers for sale. Thus, in order to be effective, businesses need to plan promotional activities with the communication process in mind. The elements of the communication process are: sender, encoding, message, media, decoding, receiver, feedback, and noise. The sender refers to the business that is sending a promotional message to a potential customer.
Encoding involves putting a message or promotional activity into some form. Symbols are formed to represent the message. The sender transmits these symbols through some form of media. Media are methods the sender uses to transmit the message to the receiver. Decoding is the process by which the receiver translates the meaning of the symbols sent by the sender into a form that can be understood. The receiver is the intended recipient of the message. Feedback occurs when the receiver communicates back to the sender. Noise is anything that interferes with the communication process.
There are four basic promotion tools: advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling. Each promotion tool has its own unique characteristics and function. For instance, advertising is described as paid, nonpersonal communication by an organization using various media to reach its various publics. The purpose of advertising is to inform or persuade a targeted audience to purchase a product or service, visit a location, or adopt an idea. Advertising is also classified as to its intended purpose. The purpose of product advertising is to secure the purchase of the product by consumers.
The purpose of institutional advertising is to promote the image or philosophy of a company. Advertising can be further divided into six subcategories: pioneering, competitive, comparative, advocacy, reminder, and cooperative advertising. Pioneering advertising aims to develop primary demand for the product or product category. Competitive advertising seeks to develop demand for a specific product or service. Comparative advertising seeks to contrast one product or service with another. Advocacy advertising is an organizational approach designed to support socially responsible activities, causes, or messages such as helping feed the homeless.
Reminder advertising seeks to keep a product or company name in the mind of consumers by its repetitive nature. Cooperative advertising occurs when wholesalers and retailers work with product manufacturers to produce a single advertising campaign and share the costs. Advantages of advertising include the ability to reach a large group or audience at a relatively low cost per individual contacted. Further, advertising allows organizations to control the message, which means the message can be adapted to either a mass or a specific target audience.
Disadvantages of advertising include difficulty in measuring results and the inability to close sales because there is no personal contact between the organization and consumers. The second promotional tool is sales promotion. Sales promotions are short-term incentives used to encourage consumers to purchase a product or service. There are three basic categories of sales promotion: consumer, trade, and business. Consumer promotion tools include such items as free samples, coupons, rebates, price packs, premiums, patronage rewards, point-of-purchase coupons, contests, sweepstakes, and games.
Trade-promotion tools include discounts and allowances directed at wholesalers and retailers. Business-promotion tools include conventions and trade shows. Sales promotion has several advantages over other promotional tools in that it can produce a more immediate consumer response, attract more attention and create product awareness, measure the results, and increase short-term sales. Public relations is the third promotional tool. An organization builds positive public relations with various groups by obtaining favorable publicity, establishing a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.
Organizations have at their disposal a variety of tools, such as press releases, product publicity, official communications, lobbying, and counseling to develop image. Public relations tools are effective in developing a positive attitude toward the organization and can enhance the credibility of a product. Public relations activities have the drawback that they may not provide an accurate measure of their influence on sales as they are not directly involved with specific marketing goals. The last promotional tool is personal selling. Personal selling involves an interpersonal influence and information-exchange process.
There are seven general steps in the personal selling process: prospecting and qualifying, pre-approach, approach, presentation and demonstration, handling objections, closing, and follow-up. Personal selling does provide a measurement of effectiveness because a more immediate response is received by the salesperson from the customer. Another advantage of personal selling is that salespeople can shape the information presented to fit the needs of the customer. Disadvantages are the high cost per contact and dependence on the ability of the salesperson.
For a promotion to be effective, organizations should blend all four promotion tools together in order to achieve the promotional mix. The promotional mix can be influenced by a number of factors, including the product itself, the product life-cycle stage, and budget. Within the promotional mix there are two promotional strategies: pull and push. Pull strategy occurs when the manufacturer tries to establish final consumer demand and thus pull the product through the wholesalers and retailers. Advertising and sales promotion are most frequently used in a pulling strategy.
Pushing strategy, in contrast, occurs when a seller tries to develop demand through incentives to wholesalers and retailers, who in turn place the product in front of consumers. Place The fourth element of the marketing mix is place. Place refers to having the right product, in the right location, at the right time to be purchased by consumers. This proper placement of products is done through middle people called the channel of distribution. The channel of distribution is comprised of interdependent manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. These groups are involved with making a product or service available for use or consumption.
Each participant in the channel of distribution is concerned with three basic utilities: time, place, and possession. Time utility refers to having a product available at the time that will satisfy the needs of consumers. Place utility occurs when a firm provides satisfaction by locating products where they can be easily acquired by consumers. The last utility is possession utility, which means that wholesalers and retailers in the channel of distribution provide services to consumers with as few obstacles as possible. Channels of distribution operate by one of two methods: conventional distribution or a vertical marketing system.
In the conventional distribution channel, there can be one or more independent product manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers in a channel. The vertical marketing system requires that producers, wholesalers, and retailers to work together to avoid channel conflicts. How manufacturers store, handle, and move products to customers at the right time and at the right place is referred to as physical distribution. In considering physical distribution, manufacturers need to review issues such as distribution objectives, product transportation, and product warehousing.
Choosing the mode of transportation requires an understanding of each possible method: rail, truck, water, pipeline, and air. Rail transportation is typically used to ship farm products, minerals, sand, chemicals, and auto mobiles. Truck transportation is most suitable for transporting clothing, food, books, computers, and paper goods. Water transportation is good for oil, grain, sand, gravel, metallic ores, coal, and other heavy items. Pipeline transportation is best when shipping products such as oil or chemicals. Air transport works best when moving technical instruments, perishable products, and important documents.
Another issue of concern to manufacturers is the level of product distribution. Normally manufacturers select from one of three levels of distribution: intensive, selective, or exclusive. Intensive distribution occurs when manufacturers distribute products through all wholesalers or retailers that want to offer their products. Selective distribution occurs when manufacturers distribute products through a limited, select number of wholesalers and retailers. Under exclusive distribution, only a single wholesaler or retailer is allowed to sell the product in a specific geographic area.
Crow Lake – Thematic Development Of Setting
Every story, every novel and, in fact, every great literary work, shares one thing in common: a setting. These vivid compositions are exquisitely weaved around a place, time and social circumstance. The element of setting is used to create a specific atmosphere, and thus, helping to establish a desired mood. It provides valuable insight into the fundamental background of any storyline. In addition, the setting acts as a profound influence on plot progression and character development by compelling actions, internal and external conflicts, as well as the themes of a novel.
Mary Lawson’s Crow Lake, a moving story of family, love and tragedy, is no exception. Lawson effectively develops the themes of isolation, familial bonds and educational ambitions through brilliant usage of the settings: Crow Lake, the ponds, and the university, respectively. First of all, the theme of isolation is introduced and developed through the setting of Crow Lake. Set against the desolate terrain of northern Ontario, Crow Lake is a modest farming settlement that is “… linked to the outside world by one dusty road and the railroad tracks” (Lawson 9).
Lawson’s deceivingly simple depiction portrays Crow Lake’s only connection to the rest of the world as meager and dysfunctional; therefore illustrating the undeniable isolation and confinement instilled on the entire community. It is also described as having merely “… a dozen or so farms, a general store, and a few modest houses… ”(Lawson 9) in addition to the church and the school. The lack of businesses and amenities reflect an absence of urbanization, commercialization, industrialization, and technological realization. All of these reinforce Crow Lake to be segregated and disconnected from the rest of society.
The theme of isolation is also developed through the individual seclusion of every family in Crow Lake. For example, the Morrisons’ closest neighbours were the Pyes, who lived on a farm a mile away. This demonstrates the further isolation of each household within the grand-scale community. Hence, Lawson employs the setting of Crow Lake to effectively develop the theme of isolation. Secondly, the theme of familial relationships, specifically between Matt and Kate, is kindered and developed at the pond settings. Described as her most treasured childhood memories, Kate’s trips to the ponds with Matt started before she could even walk.
She carries the images of “… a boy… beside him a little girl… They are both lying perfectly still, chins resting on the backs of their hands. He is showing her things… he is telling her about them” (Lawson 5). Soon, the ponds become symbolic of the special bond shared by Matt and Kate. These visits ultimately survive the death of Matt and Kate’s parents, and provide a place of sanctuary to escape the pains of reality. Furthermore, the ponds it is where Matt teaches Kate about the water and the organisms: “The little girl nods, and the ends of her braids bob up and down…
She is completely absorbed” (Lawson 5). This is significant in strengthening their relationship because Matt is establishing the roots of knowledge in Kate, and planting the seeds of a career in biology. However, as the novel progresses, the tide turns, and the ponds evolve into a burden on Matt and Kate’s relationship. After Matt’s “betrayal”, Kate seemingly deemed the ponds as the scene of the crime. She painfully reminisces, “By the following September the ponds themselves would have been desecrated twice over, as far as I was concerned, and for some years after that I did not visit them at all” (Lawson 218).
For Kate, they serve as a constant reminder of the destruction of Matt’s future, and his happiness. Whereas the ponds were representative of Matt and Kate’s extraordinary relationship, now it has torn them apart. Therefore, the theme of familial bonds is established and intricately developed through the exceptional setting of the ponds. Lastly, Lawson uses the setting of a university to elaborate on the theme of educational pursuits.
Kate abides by Great-Grandmother Morrison’s quest for education and “passed [her] first-year exams at the top of the class, and had been told that if [she] continued in the same vein, [she] would be funded to do [her] Ph. D” (Lawson 187) The setting of the University of Toronto is effective in that it adds prestige and grandeur to Kate’s environment, and places further emphasis on her accomplishments. The vastly contrasting backdrops of the large city university and the remote community of Crow Lake provide distinctive and insightful discrepancies on the perspective of education.
As an assistant professor, Kate is shocked and appalled by the behaviour and manner of her students: “Why do kids come to university if they aren’t interested in learning?… they think it’s an easy option. They come for the beer and the parties… ” (Lawson, 82). This attitude is colossally opposite to everything she was ever taught in Crow Lake: knowledge is power, and education is sacred. As a result, Kate is able to experience the widely contrasted approaches from each setting, which acts as a reflective learning opportunity for her.
Furthermore, the university setting leads Kate to meet Daniel Crane who surprises her by gaining her admiration, and ultimately, love. This contributes to the theme of educational ambitions, as Kate is constantly learning from Daniel, not about academia, but about emotional and social intelligence: love, life, and open communication. He helps Kate reach the epiphany that she has been unfairly condemning Matt for 20 years, and Daniel will undoubtedly be instrumental in Kate’s on-going emotional development and growth.
Therefore, through the setting of the University of Toronto, Lawson cleverly develops the theme of educational aspirations. In conclusion, Lawson uses various settings to effectively develop the themes of the novel: isolation from Crow Lake, familial ties from the ponds, and the educational aspirations from the university. The remote farming settlement of Crow Lake established the theme of isolation, the ponds nurtured the theme of Matt and Kate’s sibling relationship, and the university developed the theme of on-going educational pursuits.
Mary Lawson’s Crow Lake is an effortless tale of hopes and failures, told with a narrative gift, voiced in soft prose that never diverts from the story. Ranging from a room to a community, from a planet to a galaxy – every story told in the history of the world has had a setting. The setting provides context for the story, establishes a required mood, and greatly influences all facets of a novel. Remembering the famous line: “In A Galaxy Far, Far Away… ”, the setting should most importantly, be an experience.