What makes you shop online?

The rate of online shopping is increasing dramatically with eBay and ASOS, as well as bricks and mortar retailers taking their stores online. I personally love shopping online, its generally cheaper, easier and is you don't have to leave the house!

Do you ever walk into a store and not purchase something because the shop assistants are rude, in-attentive, or un-helpful? I have. I walked into a store (which will remain unnamed) was not greeted, and when I asked a question, they shop assistant responded in a condescending 'you're an idiot for asking that' kind of way. This is not to say I don't enjoy shopping in store, I love walking around the shops for hours, but customer service does influence whether I purchase or not. Has customer service always been like this?

Or has the rise in online stores compromising the in-store experience and customer service?
A recent Choice survey says yes.
They put 10 retailers to the test including department stores, specialty retailers, discount department stores and franchises. The conducted a 'shadow shop' to observe customer service. Here are the results:

In-store experience comprises of a number of things including store layout, atmosphere, smells, sounds, colours and customer service. Customer service is a key component missing from online shopping, so it is vital for in-store retailers to master to ensure they do not loose customers to competing online retails. Many negatives of customer service have been outlined in the above survey including poor product knowledge and customer engagement. If you ask a shop assistant a question, you expect them to know the answer, is it really that hard to know about the products you are selling? In other industries workers are expected to have in-depth knowledge about their job, for example builders must know about tools, hairdressers must know how to cut hair, bartenders need to know in-depth knowledge about wine, and of course marketers must understand principles behind creating consumer value!
Why should people in retail be excused from knowing details about their job?

Have you ever not purchased from a store due to the in-store experience or customer service?
Do you think the rise in online stores is compromising customer service?

The Next Big Thing - Rivalry Ads

The Next Big Thing... Is it already here?

Samsung has released a new campaign ‘The Next Big Thing’ inattempt to combat the hype around the new iPhone 5. It follows the recent failof a series of Apple ads involving the Apple ‘Geniuses’.

http://adland.tv/content/apple-genius-ads-basically-telling-you-youre-not-genius

The Samsung ‘The Next Big Thing’ ad features a mock up of a typicalscene outside an Apple store before an iPhone release – deck chairs, longlines, excited nerds. The ad shows people discussing the new features of theiPhone (without specifically stating the word iPhone). Passers by are seenwalking with the latest Samsung Galaxy phone, and people in the line begin totalk, and ask questions. For those of you that haven’t seen it, here it is:

This advertising technique is common amongst rival brands,and can be both very effective and damaging to a brands image. Mentioninganother brand in your advertisement is always a risk, because it puts yourcompetitors brand in the mind of consumers. Unless done well, it can be asource of free advertising for your competitors. Brands often use rivalryadvertising as a means to emphasise the competitor’s flaws. It is a way for onebrand to challenge another.

Another common rivalry is Coke and Pepsi. There are a numberof ads that go back and forth between the two brands, where Coke makes fun ofPepsi, and vice versa. This is one of my favourite ads between Coke and Pepsi:

The Pepsi ad can be seen as more risky than the Samsung one,as it physically shows the competitors products. In the Samsung ad, it simplymakes reference to the line of people, which is assumed to be for the iPhone 5, the Applebrand is never mentioned.

Do you think this type of advertising is effective? or have any other examples. 

Is it more risky mentioning your competitor’s brand inyour ad?

Coke and Social Media

The Masters of Social Media

Coca Cola is a brand that has used social media very effectively. Aimee and I chose to do our instructional video on Coke's use of social media throughout their 'Share a Coke' promotion. The promotion began without any explanation, bottles began to have 1 of 150 names printed on the label, which created hype around the brand. People began asking questions on Twitter and Facebook. Coke then released a TVC promoting the campaign. They used Facebook to allow fans to create custom Coke cans, and both Facebook and Twitter lit up with excitement around the campaign. 

                       

Now, rather then me keep writing about what is in the video...

why don't you just watch it? here it is:

Let us know what you think!!

It's almost here.

The long awaited iPhone 5 is almost here. Apple sent out invitations last week for the latest keynote speech due to be held on September 12. Apple is well known for their secrecy with product releases, keeping consumers on their toes. It is rumored the new smart phone will have a bigger screen than previous iPhones as well as 4G connectivity. 

There has been numerous video and photo leeks circulating the internet, however nobody knows for sure what the new iPhone will look like. This is one of the videos circling, showing the new iPhone compared to the iPhone 4S, fake or not? you can decide: 

The hype around this new phone is crazy in the social media world, with the video above getting over 3 million views. Just 2 days to go and we will all know for sure. Lets hope nobody has just locked into a 2 year contract with an old iPhone!

Boss Hunting

“Boss Hunting” is an online community for sharing photos that are considered “Boss”. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, urban dictionary gives a (#debatably) great definition:

So, as per the definition, the page provides incredibly awesome, miraculous and great photos from women, hotels, beaches, cars, houses. If you haven't seen the page, check it out: www.facebook.com/bosshunting 

The site was first created as a Facebook page by an Australian boy, and now spreads to Twitter - www.twitter.com/bosshunting, Instagram - bhofficial and Tumblr - www.bosshunting.tumblr.com. With nearly 111 thousand Facebook “Likes” alone, the site has contact to a very large audience. 

Although the site first began as an outlet to share and comment on interesting and cool photos, I’ve begun to notice some small changes. It has become an outlet for advertising. Jack, the creator, allows anyone to email him photos, and he selects which ones he would like to share with his loyal Boss Hunting followers. 

The other day, 

I noticed this photo was uploaded:

Within minutes, the title was changed to this:

Notice a difference? Yes, a link to the website is now available – Free advertising for the Villa in Phuket, Thailand. So couldn't business owners send "boss" photos of their own resort or destination to Jack, with a website link for advertising purposes that will reach thousands of impressionable people, for free?

I am in no way saying I dis-like the page, I regularly look at and enjoy the photos posted. A personal example of the power of Boss Hunting, was a result of a post of a resort in Santorini, Greece:

I was in Santorini this year with a group of friends, and some sought out this resort, went to check it out, and ended up buying lunch there, due to Boss Hunting. The girls went to this resort simply to say "I went to that awesome resort that was on boss hunting the other day", and ended up spending money there.

Yes, it was only lunch, which would have added up to less then 100 euro, but I am sure there are people out there who have booked a resort because they became aware of it on Boss Hunting. Surely some of you have also been to a place because you saw it on Boss hunting? Did anyone else notice how some posts now have a link to the website?

Marketing Study Program

After today’s seminar, I thought it would be quite topical to write a post on my experience on the Monash Marketing Study Program (MMSP). The tour ran from January 7 - January 23, 2012. The amount we achieved in this short amount of time was crazy, but here is a short summary:

Hong Kong

Our first group activity in Hong Kong was a visit to Disney Land, it allowed everyone to get to know each other at the start of the trip. 

Our first company visit was Jack Morton, and what an interesting first visit. We heard from a number of speakers from companies within Jack Morton, such as Webber Shandwick and Future Brand. We were finished by 12.30pm so all headed to the IFC shopping mall for a shop. Our second company visit was DDB, where we heard about social media and the Chinese market. 3 short days, 2 company visits and 48 dumplings later, we were off to London.

London

Our first day in London was spent the day shopping in Oxford St, and enjoying an early dinner at a pub in Kensington. The next day was our first London company visit – Marks & Spencer. They presented great information about their Plan A initiative, and insight to the M & S brand as well as providing us with an M & S lunch. Next we headed to JC Decaux, who showed us what they did in the flesh via their outdoor showroom. On day three in London we had my personal favourite visit of the trip, Arsenal. We had a stadium tour, saw the Diamond Club and to the excitement of many of the girls, a tour of the change rooms. Our final visit was to Westfield, where we pretty much just got to shop and head home whenever we wanted. On the last night I met a friend from school living in Shoreditch to see her house and we went out for dinner nearby. After dinner we met some of her London friends in at a club Camden for a dance. Our last day in was a free day, so we went to Buckingham Palace and out for lunch, followed by a stroll through Kensington Park and Hyde Park.

Italy - Prato

In Italy we stayed 20 mins out of Florence, in Prato. It was a short but enjoyable visit, with only one company visit, to Monash Prato, and plenty of free time to enjoy the food and nightlife.

Barcelona

Barcelona, much like Italy was about the food and drink with our first company visit being to the Sant Antoni food Market. 

Next stop was the EADA business school where we heard from Camper and Disigual, two Spanish brands. We enjoyed lovely dinners each night as well as fun nights out with the group at the famous shot bar and beach front nightclubs.

Paris

Our company visit in Paris was to the L’Oreal factory, where yes, we got a few freebies. We then heard from their advertising agency McCann Worldgroup. As Paris was our last stop, we had a group dinner at a French restaurant. We only had two company visits so had time to fit in most of the sites before leaving.

After paris I met friends in Laos and Thailand and continued travelling for another 2 weeks.

As you can see, I could write pages and pages about this tour, because it truly was an experience of a lifetime. If you have any questions feel free to comment and ask me! Or if you're unsure if you should apply, APPLY! there is no commitment in applying at this stage.

Has CBA taken it too far?

The Commonwealth Bank has recently released a controversial ad, that played on terrorism as part of their sponsorship of the 2012 Olympics. It follows on from the series of ads featuring the characters C, A, N and T. It features the C, A and N characters reporting the T to security for having a suspicious backpack informing security they heard a ticking noise. For those of you who haven’t seen the ad, here it is:

http://media.theage.com.au/business/businessday/the-ad-cba-pulled-off-3522097.html

The ad was uploaded on YouTube on August 1, and was taken down soon after. A spokeswomen from CBA stated “The Commonwealth bank apologises for the video released to its YouTube Channel. We acknowledge some concerns were raised and the material was withdrawn this morning”.

The ad follows a series featuring the C, A, N, T characters including an ad staring James Magnussen.

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald comments on this ad [http://www.smh.com.au/olympics/swimming-london-2012/down-to-a-t--the-missile-and-the-message-20120730-239c2.html] saying it was a reminder of the swimmers shortcomings. 

The ad shows C, A, N following James, praising him, followed by the T raising doubts. The bank said they will continue to use athletes in follow up campaigns and do not plan to remove the James Magnussen ad in the lead up to future races.

In The Age article, the banks chief marketing officer alledgedly told another website that the terrorist ad was unauthorized. ‘It was unapproved video that got released. We’ve pulled it down’

Personally, I can see the angle CBA was going for in this ad, however due to the 2005 London bombings, I feel the ad may have taken it too far. There are so many other emotional appeals to provoke in media campaigns, terrorism is one that just shouldn't be touched.

Do you think CBA has taken the use of a comedic appeal to far? Or have people over-reacted?