CareWatch – Feel SAFE.

Introduction

This assignment describes an advertisement presenting a product called CareWatch. The advertisement is described and analyzed with relations to relevant theories.

Target Audience

The product is targeted to both genders in almost all kind of ages. However, some people will be too young for using the product.

Brand position statement

“To people who want to feel safe and keep track of their vital parameters, using the user-friendly CareWatch with its unique abilities is the perfect solution.”

Description of the video

The advertisement should be available via the following link:

• CareWatch video advertisement

The advertisement starts by presenting a picture of the product, CareWatch. Here the logo is available and the slogan is presented as well; Feel SAFE.

In the advertisement, you see two people sitting together in a classroom. The younger person is looking at his computer and is impressed because he has just read about a new fancy product. Therefore, he read the article loud for the other person, an elderly man.

While the young guy is reading about the new product, suddenly the elderly man gets a heart attack. When the heart attack occurs the elderly guy falls down from his chair without the young guy noticing it. When the young guy is finished with reading about the product, he finds out that the elderly guy has got a heart attack and then the clip ends. Afterwards, a new clip is presented with the face of the elderly guy. He says that he is dead at the moment and he probably wouldn’t have died if he had the CareWatch.

The advertisement ends by presenting another picture of the product where the price is stated and it says that the product is recommended by experts.

Thoughts behind the video

We chose to make a video like this as it shows a typical reason for buying the CareWatch. Additionally, the watch is primarily useful for elderly people as they are representing the main target group and it was why an elderly person is used as an actor. The advertisement ends with a call to action, so people actually are also going to buy the product when they have seen the advertisement.

The length of the video is 1:06 minutes as we would try to make it as short as possible. The reason for this is that it is preferable according to an article available on thenextweb.com[1]. In relation to this article, our advertisement fit to the category called ‘Tutorials/Explainers (45-90 sec)’ and here is exactly what we focused on: “45-90 seconds is long enough to make your crowd be interested in what your product does and get a sense of feeling how it works. don’t try to show all the features, just highlight the cool ones and make it look simple.”

Aristotle’s theories

The advertisement is mostly related to pathos. The reason for this is that pathos is about suffering or experience. It is a communication technique that shows feeling of sympathy or sorrow that affects emotions or feelings. Pathos can be expressed with words, pictures, or sensory details.

In our advertisement we show the customer how necessary it is to feel safe in any time and situation. It is also important that they can get information about their health status, for example heartbeat. However, that’s not all the benefits you can keep track of. You can also monitor your diabetes and blood pressure and be reminded when something is wrong. The products show when your levels are too high or too low and give a sign when something is not well. Therefore, we apply on the customer attitude, mainly for old persons, because they have more time to react with this watch and they can use the emergency function.

Social judgment

The advertisement is made by using the Social Judgement Theory[2]. In this theory, the essential part is to understand the person’s attitude toward a particular subject. In this case, the people are the customers and by getting an understanding of them, it is easier to know what to highlight when trying to marketing and get their attention.

We haven’t made the analysis of a big group of customers, but instead we have predicted what we think they will react most on. Therefore, we have chosen to focus on fear as it probably will make a lot of people thinking about buying the product. Therefore, the theory is a useful tool to get knowledge about what there is the best way to get the customers attention and what to avoid.

If you know have easy it is to persuade a person, you have a better basis for what there will be the best way to convince the customers to buy the product instead of just spending money on other things. So the knowledge of the audience is the key part to focus on when using this theory and this understanding should be obtained through the use of a questionnaire.

Social influence

Social influence is the change in behavior that one person causes in another, as a result of the way the changed person perceives themselves in relationship to the influencer, other people and society in general[3].

Three areas of social influence are conformity, compliance and obedience. Conformity is changing how you behave to be more like others. Compliance is where a person does something that they are asked to do by another. Obedience is different from compliance as it is obeying an order from someone that you accept as an authority figure. In compliance, you have some choice. In obedience, you believe that you do not have a choice.

Our strategy is mostly focused on the obedience strategy, because the old person accepts an authority figure. CareWatch is linked with hospitals, pharmacies and insurance companies. It should be possible to buy the product at your doctor because he or she can help by showing how to use the product, which also is the case for the hospitals and pharmacies. The most elderly people have trust in their doctors and pharmacist, so when they recommend it, the people feel more that the product is necessary and will buy it.

Moreover, famous old people, who are respected and liked by the common people, will also be used. The celebrities will appear with the product, which hopefully will attract more customers, because the famous people are a symbol of product quality.

[1] http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2014/05/02/optimal-length-video-marketing-content-short-possible/

[2] http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/social_judgment.htm

[3] http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/social_influence.htm

OhBoy

OhBoy

Marketing project 3

By Victor Severijns, Jonathan Kenji & Liangyi Ye (Lillian)

4th December 2014

Our target as a company is to provide a convenient, healthy and innovative way of eating, while growing effectively and efficiently together with our customer base.

Our logo realizes a clear reference to San Francisco, a modern and vibrant city much like our product and target audience. We believe OhBoy will be appealing to a large group of people, especially teens and young adults. They will embrace the taste of change immediately. Afterward, we want to focus on the working class, as they will benefit from our product the most during hasty lunch breaks.

Ethos

The Aristotle theory chosen to persuade our target audience is ethos. By applying the authority figure of the International Health Corporation we create a sense of credibility to our potential customers; this health approach was chosen because of the new health trend among the population. People are no longer satisfied with any kind of food. Thus, we advertise OhBoy as an organic product. The Health Corporation is mentioned to eliminate any further mistrust. Apart from ethos we also used pathos. We did this by showing a situation that people can easily relate to: we all get agitated when we spill our food, especially in public, So we used people‘s emotions to make our product desirable to the public.

In addition to the ethos and pathos approach we used the narrative paradigm. In order to influence our target audience through narration, the main benefit of the product is explained in a subjective way. Also, the explanation of how to use the product and what the disadvantages are of not using it provide good reasons for the viewer to try the product without saying it directly. We also think the narrative paradigm is a good approach because of the nature of the product we’re advertising. It’s simple. Therefore, the commercial is simple and, more importantly, relatable. We show a common problem and advertise a simple solution. Another reason to use the narrative paradigm is that OhBoy is a brand-new product. This means that for our first commercial our top priority is to let people know what OhBoy is and in what situation it can help you. Later on, once we’ve gained more customers and more brand recognition, different advertising strategies will most likely be used.

Aside from advertising through commercials, our current marketing strategy also aims to invite people to try OhBoy, see what they like about our product and what they would like to improve. We also encourage them to share their experiences with OhBoy on the social media (using the hashtag #OhBoy) in order to gain brand recognition. We already have a contract with Walgreen’s and at the same time we are working intensively with Subway and Chipotle to see if and how soon OhBoy can be introduced to their customers.

Link to our commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lskBKnEt1gY

Case Study: McDonald’s

Who has never heard McDonald’s? This company is well-known for fast food and the first company that established the standardization of fast customer services, manual as well as multi-store network, all of which impacted on the business field, especially, fast food industry. It is amazing contribution that recently the reference rate of exchange, which is called “Big Mac Index”, has been started to use to see the economy all over the world. McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) Chief Executive Officer Don Thompson said the company that now serves some 70 million customers a day worldwide has at various times during its history faced questions about whether it is still relevant to consumers, who are now craving more fresh and unprocessed food. These days, however, the sales of McDonald’s are decreasing gradually. On 21^st, October in 2014, McDonald’s Corp. (MCD), the world’s largest restaurant chain, has announced that the third-quarter net profit fell 30 percent, which is $1.7 billion, as U.S. sales slumped for the fourth straight quarter. And also 30 percent of net profit which is $1 billion comparing with that of last year fell in this third-quarter.

What has led them to suffer from the management? There are some internal issues. One of them is the increase of competition. In addition to existing fast food rivals like Burger King and Starbucks, there are new rivals which is called fast casual food like Chipotle. The customer rotation of Chipotle is faster than McDonald due to the lower number of options. Chipotle, known for using pricier antibiotic-free meats and organic produce, are taking a bite out of McDonald’s market share. A several days ago, Chipotle reported an eye-popping 19.8 percent gain in third-quarter, same-restaurant sales. Other fast food companies launched new products. Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW) recently started selling a 10-pack of chicken nuggets for $1.49, while Wendy’s Co. is touting pulled-pork sandwiches. These components cause McDonald’s not only to get, but also to keep fewer customers. On the other hand, McDonald’s needs to respond to the rise in price of ingredients and labor costs. They have had no choice but to raise the price of hamburgers because they don’t have any good solution so far. Finally, the sales in existing branches decreased 3.3%.  Labor costs seem to be the more difficult issue to solve. On 4^th November, workers for fast food demonstrated to make the company pay more than $15 per an hour for them 150 places in America. McDonald’s is the biggest target because it has most branches in America.

These are also external issues, one of which is the use of rotten chicken imported from China to Japan. Also, Japanese branches sell new products with more expensive prices than that the company decided in advance. These facts let customers embrace disbelief of security and trust, which has resulted in decreasing the sales which accounts for 25% in Japan. The most net profit in Asia is generated in Australia and Japan, so this problem gave the company serious damage. The sales in August is one-quarter than same month last year. Totally, McDonald’s Asian sales fell about 10%. In Russia, McDonald has gotten difficulty in selling their food due to the political issue in Ukraine. Four branches have been closed as the response to the American economic sanctions to Russia. In addition, recent economic crisis in Europe caused McDonald’s Europe sales to fall 1.4%.

Chief Executive Officer Don Thompson said in a statement.

“The internal factors and external headwinds have proven more formidable than expected and will continue into the fourth quarter,” Thompson said in the statement. “These significant challenges call for equally significant changes in the way we do business.”

To win more diners, McDonald’s said today it’s trying a new global strategy that includes investing in store remodeling and technology as well as mobile ordering and payments. Sales were hurt in China and Japan after a probe into meat supplier OSI Group LLC caused food shortages. The affected markets make up about 10 percent of consolidated revenue, McDonald’s said in August. The supplier issue reduced profit in the quarter by 15 cents a share. The company also is facing pressure in Russia, where hundreds of its stores are being inspected by consumer-safety regulators. Russian courts have temporarily closed nine restaurants, McDonald’s said in a statement on its Russian corporate website. Closings there and in Ukraine reduced profit by 1 cent a share.

In conclusion, it is true that there are some tough issues including politics, but McDonald’s still has great chance to overcome current conditions. It is time to radically reconsider the company itself if they really want to get back into the competitiveness. Otherwise, it is just going to go bankrupt and many people are going to lose jobs, which makes the society disorder. That’s why they should approach those issues not only for McDonald’s.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-21/mcdonald-s-profit-drops-30-as-u-s-sales-slump.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/10/21/mcdonalds-fast-food-restaurants-earnings/17652697/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-mcdonalds-earnings-20141021-story.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/mcdonalds-reports-30-drop-third-quarter-profit-after-chinese-meat-scandal-1708829

McDonald’s Third-Quarter Profits Drop 30%

http://beforeitsnews.com/financial-markets/2014/10/mcdonalds-reports-30-q3-profit-drop-on-weak-u-s-china-markets-2782336.html

 

MOONBUCKS

DropBox -Project 2 Startup company

By Victor (Arne) & Liangyi ye

DropBox, Inc. is a relatively new company.it was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi as a Y Combinator startup. It was released in September

2008. Dropbox is selling a file hosting service.

It allows the consumers to not only save but also share their files through cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud and client software.

It is available in 16 languages and comes in more than 8 operating systems.

It is also accessible via folder, DropBox’s official website and mobile app. 

Drew Houston was determined to find funding for his idea.  So he turned to Y Combinator.

It offers seed money, advice and connections at two three-month programs per year. Typically, the investment is between US$20,000 and US$50,000. The application process is open to anyone, but highly competitive with acceptance rates of about 3%. In exchange for its services Y Combinator usually takes an equity of about 6%. So Houston defended his idea, highlighted its great potential and finally submitted an application for funding through Y Combinator’s  within the given deadline. He wasn’t the only one; other well-known companies that received funding through Y Combinator include Reddit and Airbnb.

What is remarkable is that Houston stated that if someone were to offer him 2 million dollars for his idea, he would not decline. This is ironic given the fact that DropBox is now worth a staggering 4 billion dollars. Recently DropBox did a round of crowdfunding and raised 350 million dollars, which implies that dropbox has now far outgrown its former startup status.

 

So why was DropBox so successful and why would we recommend an accelerator as a way of funding your startup? First of all, Houston had a great idea and took all the right risks in order to bring dropbox to life. From the beginning he had a number of engineers working for him to make dropbox compatible with all computer platforms and operating systems (android, IOS, microsoft…). What was great about his funding through Y Combinator was that he was able to raise money without having to give great equity to Y Combinator. If he had turned to an Angel Investor for example, he would have been forced to share a much larger percentage of his company. Instead, he was able to build up his company with the support of an accelerator with a strong reputation. He was so successful that Steve Jobs was interested in taking over DropBox. At this point however, Houston already felt confident that he could build his own empire. He went on and kept that promise.

A second advantage of turning than accelerator is that you have to infuse less money yourself, which allows you to do more with fewer risks. On top of that Y Combinator also solved Houston’s problem of having only one initial co-founder, Arash Ferdowsi (a fellow student), which meant a small cash input given the fact that they were both students.

 

To conclude with, new startups could definitely benefit from the help of an accelerator. Y Combinator is definitely not alone. In fact[,] the number of accelerators has been skyrocketing in the past few years. They can provide a considerable cash input in exchange for a relatively small part of your company. If you can present your idea in a professional manner and you have the skills to make your startup sprout, an accelerator is likely to acknowledge your efforts. 

An accelerator, however, can do more than funding alone. Because an accelerator is usually a company that is investing in multiple startups, they have plenty of experience and information to share with you. In some cases an accelerator will even pay for your education if they think it could benefit your startup. Although we do recommend seeking the help from an accelerator when starting a business, it is always wise to consider possible downsides. First of all you should consider if the accelerator you are approaching is the right  fit for your idea since every accelerator is different. Second of all you should not give away too much equity, as that might come back to haunt you during a second or third round of funding in a later stage of your company’s development. Lastly you should keep in mind that attending an accelerator might require you to relocate your company (DropBox for example relocated to Silicon Valley).

We hope this information has been helpful and provided you with information to get started with your own round of fundraising. Good luck!

Skyter

To those in search of a fun, cool and exciting life, Skyter brand provides the perfect combination of transportation and amusement using brand new technology that breaks limitations and ensures users a safe and exciting form of transportation.

Skyter is a brand selling alternative transportation devices. Namely, the most popular product in the brand’s portfolio is the Jet Board. The Jet Board looks like a combination of a surfboard and a skateboard. However, where skateboards have wheels, the Jet Board floats, and where the surf board can only be used in water, the Jet Board can be used on land as well. The board is able to float one meter above the ground, using ventilators to generate strong flows of air that lift the board into the air. To maximize safety for the user, the Jet Board features a leaning bar and pressure sensitive fans on the bottom make sure that every side of the board is evenly balanced. Maximum speed is 30 kilometers per hour. The unique floating feature enables users to ride the board anywhere, and it is also what makes Skyter very different from any other amusement/transportation brand.

The logo emphasizes the idea of flying – as easy as standing on a cloud – and the colors represent the element of fun and amusement the brand is supposed to give users when they purchase a Jet Board. The letters forming the word “Skyter” are slightly rough, which is supposed to symbolize the action element of the products sold by the brand. Furthermore, the name “Skyter” is a fusion of the words “sky” and “skater”, which points to what the brand makes: skateboards that are used above ground. In other words, it hints the floating feature.

Of course you can enjoy like exisiting boards, but these functions enable you to use Skyter as a tool of transportation. Our target audience is mainly young people. Our brands category is amusement.

The logo emphasizes the idea of flying which seeks to awaken customers’ imagination and tempt them to buy the product. Also, this lets them imagine an enjoyable life.

Our target audience is mainly young and adventurous people who look for alternative solutions and are willing to spend money.

The brand is different from other transportation and entertainment devices, allowing the users to get around fast and in a convenient, easy and fun way. Also, unlike normal skateboards, the fact that it is floating and pressure regulated on the sides makes it much safer to ride the Jet Board with minimum risks.

By choosing Skyter, users are provided with high-safety casual transportation that easily takes them around traffic jams the way a skateboard or a scooter might. Skyter’ technology is brand new and has never been seen before, which enables skaters  to get around even faster than before.

They can enjoy more in their life and if they combine with other transportation, they are able to go to your destination faster by avoiding traffic jam.

Our product appeals to young people, who are still not too worried about all the risks the world　has,　and　who　are interested in making every day an adventure.

Therefore,　naturally,　this is the segment whose attention we’re trying to catch. Because it is a brand offering products no one else has ever sold before, competition is limited, but the safety priority is there to maximize market penetration so that if competition should show up, Skyter would still be among the more popular brands to consider. In other words, it is a plan for customer retention before it is needed, so that when/if competition enters the market, we have made sure that we’re hard to compete with.

Skyter is an experiential brand, because customers expand their knowledge of our brand by experiencing what it is like, and whether they like it or not will depend on how they feel when they try the products in its portfolio. We will promote this by using TV commercials and YouTube, by cooperating with some sports brands: Nike, Adidas and so on. Also, we can demonstrate it and let potential customers try it in amusement parks to show them how Skyter works better than existing skateboards.

FLASHMOVE – Beyond The Infinite

Our company can be related to transportation. Like aviation, railroad, road or maritime transport, it includes the transportation of merchandises and people from one point to another. Therefore, we can connect our brand to brands that are familiar: American airlines provides aviation transportation, The Union pacific railroad, and The Crowley maritime corporation all try to achieve the same goal: to transport, to move objects, to help people travel…

However, it seems that this targeted goal is the single similar characteristic. This categorization highlights our brand’s strongest point of difference: speed and sensation.
Unlike to the other transportation mode, our company transport from one point to another instantly: this is teleportation. We offer you a transport threw the whole universe: you can go everywhere on earth and beyond it. We are faster; we can go farther while being environmentally friendly by using only solar power.

To all consumer, FLASHMOVE is the brand of faster, farther, safer transportation, which can transport everything, everywhere through the universe, stretching the boundaries of time and space. 

FLASHMOVE LOGO

The capacity of our teleportation machine is unlimited so our customer can be either a company or a person: A family can use it to go on vacation, a company or the government can use it for exportation or importation.
Our logo has a sober and sleek design and ensures to reach as many people and entities as possible. The black background express the infinite. The lightning involves speed, as does the circle that represents our FLASHMOVE engine. The sleek design implies accessibility and affordability. The mystery involved with our logo advertises the experiential aspect of our brand.

Who is our target?

FLASHMOVE targets everybody; consumers and companies that are both concerned about saving time: Everyone who has to deal with lost time as a result of travel: children, students, adults, and old people, whether they are homemaker or CEO.

Why we should be considered:

FLASHMOVE provides a fast way to transport yourself or anything else around the world and beyond it. Nevertheless, it is important to think about another feature:
We will change the world’s geography by reducing space and time. We define our service as the Internet of material.

Our engine will allow people to save time and enhance the enjoyment of life: FLASHMOVE will give you the opportunity to feel the amazing sensation of traveling thousands and thousands miles in only a few seconds. As the Concorde once ensured you fast trips, we can offer you speediest and our high-end brand can be appreciated every day. « Go or send what you want, where you want, when you want »: you can discover the world; improve social interactions and this only during the short free time of your lunch or during your few weeks of vacation.

Why FLASHMOVE should be chosen over competitive set:

Our competition base is to do everything the competitors offered but in a better way: faster, safer and funnier.
FLASHMOVE is by far, the fastest mode of transportation ever available.
Moreover, our service is available 24 hours a day, all year long. The snow, the fog, the waves or the rain, none is able to stop us providing you our high quality service.
We insure you the fastest but also safest way to travel or transport: thanks to our chemical discovery, we guarantee you that no damage can ever happen in any way: We cannot sink, crash, derail, or undergo any kind of accident.
You cannot lose your luggage or shipment nor suffer from motion sickness.

Our product is approachable for every single person and company: you can buy one of our engine with an annual plan to use it and insure a maintenance, or you can come in our numerous factories to use it.

How FLASHMOVE helps consumers accomplish their goals:

The company will help you reach your goals and even more : FLASHMOVE is the fastest way of transportation, and by saving time you have to think about the consequences. With more time you can more enjoy life because of the speed : go get a macaroon in Paris, go with your grand kids and  walk on the Chinese wall after their class, bring your wife to Venice, or make a world tour for new year’s eve! And you, sales manager: send your merchandize without losing time and money anymore. Earn the benefits of time control!
Beyond that, enjoy your travel: it will be the shortest you will ever live, but it will be the most memorable!
We can help you achieve goals you would not dare dreaming about.

The marketing theories used in the creation of FLASHMOVE:

Even if we are unique and offer an innovative product, we lay down our brand on a familiar category for consumers: transportation. Therefore, consumers can be familiar with our category and focused on our point of difference. They accept we can help them reach their goal, we don’t have to convince them about that: they are more conducive to be interested in our new product.  We express a benefits positioning: we base our position statement on our benefits positioning and on what we can offer to consumers: Our frame and our point of difference benefits are our brand’s position. As our point of difference is what distinguishes us from alternative offers, this is what we had to stay focused on.  The fastest is the benefit that motivates category consumption and out –shout the competition: we are a brand leaders, not a brand followers.

FLASHMOVE has the benefit to be functional and also experiential. The act of teleportation allows consumers to save precious time, but the fact of teleportation allows them to have an amazing experience: traveling faster than speed of sound.
Our FLASHMOVE promotion marketing strategy will play on diversity: the consumers’ variety, the several opportunities that our teleportation engine allow. We can promote our brand modelled on the logo: sober and sleek. We can show several examples of our product opportunity: a common person admiring different countries landscapes or the ease for a company to export/ import products.

OhBoy

Ediable tape OhBoyThe creation of a brand is the subject of this this marketing project. Therefore we are proud to present OhBoy, a fresh and innovative startup that will change your lunch break forever. OhBoy is an edible strap the can be wrapped around your burrito, taco or sandwich to make sure every ingredient stays in place. That means no more waste and a way much better lunch experience.

By Jonathan, Victor & Liang

OhBoy is organic, functional, innovative and above all incredibly tasty.  So far we have created 3 flavors. The first one is completely tasteless. But for those customers who are a little more adventurous we also have OhBoy Hot and Spicy and OhBoy Green. In the future, of course, we would like to expand our selection of flavors.

We are convinced that our project will take the food world by storm because there’s nothing like it.

Our target as a company is to provide a convenient, healthy and innovative way of eating, while growing effectively and efficiently together with our customer base. 

Our logo employs a clear reference to San Francisco, a modern and vibrant city much like our product and target audience. We believe OhBoy will be appealing to a large group of people, especially teens and young adults. They will embrace the taste of change immediately. Afterward, we want to focus on the working class, as they will benefit from our product the most during hasty lunch breaks. 

We aim for a business to business sales plan which will bring immediate brand recognition with it. Several food chains such as Subway and Chipotle have already shown great interest in our product. Once our product has been successfully implemented in those businesses, we will start selling it directly to the customers via supermarkets such as Safeway and Walgreen’s opening up an entire new market. During the entire process we will use the four P’s (product, place, price and promotion) as our guideline; while also applying Ansoffs Matrix and SWOT^_ to determine our future marketing strategies.

Our current marketing strategy, however, is to invite people to try OhBoy, see what they like about our product and what they would like to improve. We also invite them to share their experiences with OhBoy on the social media in order to gain brand recognition. At the same time we are working intensively with Subway and Chipotle to see if and how soon OhBoy can be introduced to their customers. 

To protect our brand and product from being copied we will register for patents in Europe, USA and other potential markets. To be able to adapt our product to other countries with cultural barriers and language barriers we would engage in a joint venture with another company that is dominant in the food industry in a specific country, by then we can earn trust from the costumers. 

Because we are a new brand launching a new product earning people’s trust is absolutely vital. Therefore, it is important to make them aware of our CSR (Corporate social responsibility) For instance our headquarter in San Francisco runs on 100% green energy and everything that goes out of our fabrics is recyclable and environmentally-friendly. On top of that we also donate to the food banks across the nation. We are also cooperating with The International Health Corporation to help the world to be a better place. By buying our product you are helping to feed America. 

CareWatch – The product you can’t live without!

Introduction

This assignment is presenting a product called CareWatch, which is a special watch that can help you feel safer in your daily life. Below is stated how the logo looks like, who the target group is, how the product is different from others and how the product would be marketed towards potential customers.

Brand position statement

“To people who want to feel safe and keep track of their vital parameters, by using the user-friendly CareWatch with unique abilities.“ 

Logo

The logo is chosen since it is presenting a heart, which symbolizes that the product is relevant for people who want to take care of their health. The colors red and blue are chosen as they show that the watch is relevant for both genders.

The red color symbolizes that the product is dealing with warm and positive feelings where the focus is on physical needs and the willing to survive^[1]. The color blue is symbolizing that the product can work as a helper or a kind of rescuer and supporting strong trusting relationship^[2].

Description of the brand

1)    Who is the target for brand use?

The product is targeted to both genders in almost all kind of ages; some people will be too young for using the product.

When that is said, the product is most relevant for elderly people as they most often deal with challenges regarding their health. The disease analysis and functions can help you keep track of diabetes and remind you when you have to take a dose, or if you want to track your blood pressure or heartbeat. However, the product can also be relevant for younger healthy people, who just want to feel safe and track the status of their bodies.

2)    Why should the brand be considered (i.e., to what category does the brand belong and what goal does it allow the target to achieve)?

People should consider using the CareWatch brand, because they can be conscious of their healthy. The product has an emergency function, so you never have to worry about whether something bad can happen.

Furthermore, it seems that the popularity of tracking your body status is rising in relation to an article from the New York Times^[3]. The article is more than 1½ year old, but the popularity of tracking bodily functions is probably still at least as popular as when the article was written.

Likewise, when looking at the picture below which is data based on a statistic from diabetes.org^[4] then it is showed that the evolution of diabetes will continue increasing in the future. The CareWatch is not only useful for people with diabetes, but the picture is still presenting a potential need for a lot of people in the future.

3)    Why should the brand be chosen over other alternatives in the competitive set?

The CareWatch is a unique product and you cannot find a product which can do the same for you. CareWatch is related to your doctor and other relevant people, for example your family, and they can therefore watch your data and health situation.

For the future, there might be competitors as for example the Apple Watch, but if that is going to happen, there will still be a lot of benefits in choosing the CareWatch. We have more information about the market and the customers, as we were first movers with this kind of product.

Moreover, the price of the product is also good because the product is going to be supported by either your insurance company or the state of your country, because they will like to pay a part of the price. The insurance company or state can save money, if you are using the product.

4)    How will choosing the brand help the target number accomplish their goal(s)?

The product is more than a watch. It is a combination of a traditional watch, a health tracker and the opportunity for emergency functions. The product is therefore satisfying a unique combination of common goals in a very easy way.

Type of brand

The brand is a functional one because it is satisfying a need and the quality and price are good. According to the book, a functional brand is:

“Functional brands connect with consumers by helping them achieve basic goals related to physical needs, such as the need for food, shelter, health or safety.”^[5]

The last two important words, health and safety, are exactly what the product is about and it is therefore a functional brand. The brand is meant to be a thing you cannot live without, as anyone want to feel safe and relaxed in their daily life.

Marketing strategy

The marketing will primarily be targeted elderly people, as this age group will likely represent the largest percentage of product sales. Because of this, we will make advertisements in media which are used by this group of people, for example, TV-programs, radio channels and newspapers.

Moreover, we will also use famous old people who are respected and liked by the common people. The celebrities will appear with the product, which hopefully will attract more customers, because the famous people are a symbol of product quality.

The product should also be linked with hospitals, pharmacies and insurance companies. It should be possible to buy the product at your doctor because he or she can help by showing how to use the product, which also is the case for the hospitals and pharmacies.

Lastly, it should also be possible to buy the product in electronic-markets and online through a web shop. The reason for this choice is that it probably will be more comfortable for younger people to buy the product in this way.

[1] – http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-red.html

[2] – http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-blue.html

[3] – http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/health/electronic-health-tracking-increasingly-common-researchers-say.html

[4] – http://professional.diabetes.org/SlideLibrary/slide-sets/management-of-hyperglycemia-in-type-2/slide_8.aspx

[5] – Calder, T., Kellogg on Marketing, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010, 2^nd edition, page 121.

Louboutin – A good shoe is one that doesn’t dress you, but undress you

Louboutin, a French luxury shoe label established by Christian Louboutin in 1991, is well known for its famous signature red sole. There are more than 70 boutiques spread across the world. The products of Louboutin can be bought via the official Louboutin website, selected department stores and the Louboutin boutiques.

The red soles

The signature red sole distinguishes the shoes from other shoe brands. The red sole has become a trademark and will be forever associated with the brand identity of Louboutin. Recently Louboutin won a lawsuit from Yves-Saint Laurent, who wanted to use the red sole image as well. The judge stated that the sole can only be red if the whole shoe is red, in any other case Louboutin has the exclusive right of using the red sole for its shoes.

Due to smart marketing – trademarking the red soles – Christian Louboutin managed to establish a strong brand and a strong brand image. An image that is associated with high fashion status and class.

As quoted by Christian Louboutin: “The shiny red color of the soles has no function other than the identity that they are mine. I selected the color because it is engaging, flirtatious, memorable and the color of passion.”

Christian Louboutin doesn’t believe in advertising because in his opinion he doesn’t need it, he lets the distinctive red color of the soles do the work for him, namely the product itself sells the shoes. Nevertheless in 2009 Christian Louboutin started using small advertising campaigns that resemble shoes as art. These advertisements do not appear on TV but only in some editorial magazines and selected department stores.

Target audience

The customer base of Christian Louboutin exists mostly out of wealthy people – prices of the shoes start at +/- 500$ – and celebrities. The core business exists of shoes and in 2003 the brand was extended with handbags and purses and in 2011 the first men’s footwear collection was launched. The most recent extension of the brand is nail polish, launched in July, 2014. With this latest extension they aim to broaden the customer base to less wealthy people – price of the nail polish is 50$.

The audience targeted through social media are mainly women of all ages who want to look sexy and beautiful and want to make their legs as long as possible.

Social media

The brand Louboutin is active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and a lot of people pin pictures of Louboutin on Pinterest. Louboutin uses social media to engage with his (loyal) fans across the world – to have a global presence – to keep them posted about new product releases and news features. Louboutin tries to tailor the social media to their customers in different parts of the world due to their customers distinctive usage patterns on social media and tries to take note of their consumer behavior.

Through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Louboutin tries to invite the consumers to share their opinions and thoughts instead of forcing them to buy the products – the use of a pull strategy instead of a push strategy. Louboutin tries to stay away from traditional marketing overload and uses attractive visuals. They try to avoid “stalking” their followers and place only a few posts, tweets,… a month.

On YouTube you can find interviews with Chrsitian Louboutin about his passion for shoes, the love for his work and his ongoing efforts in trying to make women feel confident, independent and strong.

The success of Louboutin is translated into digital superiority on social media. From a study conducted by the Digital Luxury Group, Louboutin is the most sought after shoe brand and generates the most Facebook and Twitter engagement.

Some of the aspects of the strategy of Louboutin can be applied on The Hyde Street Journal. It can be a good idea to post or tweet about news events on Facebook and Twitter and try to initiate a discussion, so that people can really take part in it and be able to share their opinions. Even making a movie and placing it on YouTube could raise the attention for the blog.

Sources

christianlouboutin.com

digitalluxurygroup.com

elle.com

facebook.com

instagram.com

nbcnewyork.com

newyorker.com

partialobjects.com

twitter.com

vogue.com

YouTube.com