During my undergraduate study at University of Southampton the lecturer in a module showed us a video of how Tesco operates and market themselves in Korea. On Friday my lecturer in Customer Insight also showed that very same video. After watching the movie for the second time, I really started to ponder exactly why Tesco does not adopt the same marketing practices in UK.
In South Korea, Tesco has re-named themselves to Tesco Homeplus. However, it was not merely the name that they changed. They also completely transformed the ways in which they reach out to the consumers. Tesco created a virtual subway store to adjust to the Korean market. The cultural notions of Korea is completely unique and allows this innovation to work. Koreans are very busy people and have very long working hours. For them grocery shopping is rather a bother than an enjoyable experience. Owing to this, Tesco made the decision of letting the store come to the people. While Koreans are travelling back home from work they can shop in the subway while waiting for the train. The reason why this type of shopping experience is successful is because the virtual shop really creates the feeling of being inside a shop. There are pictures on the walls made to look like the shelves with groceries inside a real supermarket. Hence, the shopping experience is maintained. Travellers can place the order with their smartphone, which is very convenient and effortlessly. When the shoppers arrive home their groceries is on the way to be delivered at their home.
One might think that such an incredible innovative idea would work wonders in busy areas in UK as for example London. Then why does not Tesco create virtual shop in the London Underground? Londoners might be busy people as well, they work less working hours than Koreans. Arguably, the cultural elements of Korea are huge determinators of the decision to implement the virtual store. I would say that Londoners still enjoy the experience of going shopping in store compared to doing it virtually. Of course with the advent of such a shopping option, the virtual shop would probably receive a lot of popularity. However, in the long term they would miss walking around in the traditional stores and enjoying the experience. Some of my friends living in London has frequently told me that they like shopping in stores. They do not see it as a stressful part of the day, but rather enjoy the moment. Perhaps its due to their shorter working hours, but could also be because of some more underlying cultural notions.
Tesco made a clever move by approaching the Korean market in this way. They recognised the consumers needs and adapted an approach that suited the lifestyle. However, I doubt the virtual store could be as successful in UK. If it was a high probability that it would be profitable Tesco probably would have implemented already.
I was queuing for the self-checkout machine at McDonald's, which was far more popular than the traditional counter. After customers picked-up their meals, they walked off without giving the employees any eye contact or response to their greetings. This got me thinking about consumer culture, where there seems to be an increasing trend of consumer isolation, especially regarding online shopping. This post intends to consider the consequences of the online shopping trend and how marketers are handing the problem of social isolation.
I have often visited shops to escape loneliness. This is because shops provide an arena for social interaction, where a lot of the shopping experience is related to socialisation. Internet as a shopping medium has become increasingly prevalent (Kim, 2002). In online shopping, the social element is taken out of the shopping experience to a great extent. This could have adverse consequences as research has proven that internet usage has effects on social isolation (Eastin, 2002), where online shopping is related to increased depression (Stepanikova et al., 2010).
Online shopping can be seen as a positive development. It gives freedom and convenience by allowing consumers to shop whenever and wherever they like. Online shops offer consumers easy access to a wider range of products from a global market. Although there are concerns related to the privacy of online shopping, consumers might feel more anonymous and discreet in the purchase process. Online shops offer cheaper products and support in efficient price comparison.
Still, isolation regarding online activity is undeniable. Can we justify this isolation on the premises of giving consumers more convenience, better variety and lower prices of products? Perhaps we do not have to. Social interaction and a sense of community are increasingly fostered by shops as they present visitors with forums, chat rooms and comment sections. These solutions accommodate the need for socialisation in consumption experiences and are related to flow, an enjoyable experience where we are completely intrigued with browsing (Novak & Hoffman, 2009). I find online shops with such sections more pleasurable to visit as I do not feel completely disconnected from others. For instance, many online shops have comment sections where customers can provide feedback and recommendations to other consumers, which create conversations and interaction. Chatrooms providing interaction between consumers and the business also generates a sense of social interactivity, but the replies are often generated by computers. However, this superficial interaction without physical contact might not be sufficient to satisfy social needs.
(Screenshots: Ericdress.com)
Online shopping will continue to increase; especially as businesses has developed ways of bringing the social element into online consumption. Still, I think it's unlikely that physical stores will disappear as it creates an atmosphere, which online shopping cannot replicate. Traditional stores provide room for physical contact and socialisation to a far greater extent. Hopefully, physical stores will remain popular, as too much online consumption might contribute to the alienation and isolation of consumers. Do you agree? Please comment your views below.
References:
Eastin, M.S. (2002) Diffusion of E-commerce: An Analysis of the Adoption of Four E-commerce Activities. Telematics and Informations, 19 (3). Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736585301000053 [Accessed 12 November 2014].
Kim, Y. (2002) Consumer Value: An Application to Mall and Internet Shopping. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 30 (12). Available from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/09590550210453075 [Accessed 12 November 2014].
Novak, T.P. & Hoffman, D.L. (2009) Flow Online: Lessons Learned and Future Prospects. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 23 (1). Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1094996808000042 [Accessed 11 November 2014].
Stepanikova, I., Nie, N.H. & He, X. (2010) Time on the Internet at Home, Loneliness, and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Panel Time-Diary Data. Computers in Human Behaviour, 26 (3). Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563209001733. [Accessed 10 November 2014].
Picture Credit:
http://www.doesntgrowontrees.co.uk/online-versus-in-store-shopping/
(http://9gag.com/gag/aMbEq36)
Came across this picture while I was scrolling 9gag one morning. 9gag titled the post " Best. Marketing. Ever."
Yet, while I was thinking about the picture I had just seen, I recalled how my lecturer talked about something called ambient marketing in lecture earlier this week. He explained that ambient marketing refers to marketing which is put in unusual places to create humour and surprise. Although I have to admire the marketers cleverness, I question myself whether such a marketing technique is acceptable or if there should be standard that restrict marketers in this field. Is it acceptable to trick people like this
The concept of ambient is defined as something which exists in our environment. Earlier ambient marketing was basically to advertise outside as opposed to inside buildings. For instance billboards were acknowledged as typical ambient marketing. However, the meaning of ambient has completely transformed during the latest years (Thorson & Duffy, 2012). Today ambient marketing is advertising which is surprising and unexpected. To create such ambient adverts a lot of creativity is required.
Why is such ambient marketing so powerful? Well, ambient marketing will entice the consumers, give them something to talk about. The marketers does not merely rely on the number of people who actually see their ad, because ambient ads will drive the consumer to help in the marketing process. They are likely to tell their friends about it, thus create discussion and further interest. Moreover, if the advertisement was truly unexpected and clever it could perhaps lead consumers to even take photos of it and upload on social media.
In my opinion, ambient marketing is a effective marketing tool. Still, I would argue that if ambient marketing is over-used or appear too often in our environment it would loose its power. The power of ambient marketing is that it is not everywhere. If it was, people would expect to see something surprising every time they went outside of their own home, thus ambient marketing messages would not be unexpected anymore, but rather expected. In that case, to entice the customers would be a greater challenge than it is now, as the message would have to be VERY clever to differentiate itself and give the consumer something that overrides all the other adverts.
References
Thorson, E. & Duffy, M. (2012) Advertising Age: The principles of advertising and marketing communication at work. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you cannot have missed the Ice Bucket Challenge, which swept across social media channels during the summer. The viral marketing campaign was launched by ALS Association. It encouraged donations to support in the fight against ALS disease by having participants upload videos of themselves pouring ice water over their head. This blogpost will consider why the campaign became so successful, before reflecting on the negative consequences ALS experienced.
The campaign exploited a promotions model, acknowledged as the most solid strategy where people spread the marketing message without incentives (Klopper, 2002). ALS's campaign follows typical features for this model. For instance, it is funny, creative and highly personalised. The marketing message allowed participants to express, enhance or show off their personality, thus motivating involvement and reaching others at a personal-level. It incorporated aspects of game and competition by challenging others.
Another element that contributed to the Ice Bucket Challenge's success was how easy it was to pass on. Modern phones allow simple video recording and provides apps for social media sharing. Secondly, by utilising social media the message was able to scale quickly across geographical boarders. Participants were encouraged to nominate friends, which triggered an accumulative effect. Thirdly, the people were encouraged to share the video through social media platforms, where messages can spread quickly due to established human networks, often compromising hundreds of acquaintances. Moreover, the campaign exploited common and fundamental motivations, as it appealed to consumers wishes to be cool or popular by joining (Kopper, 2002). Lastly, the Ice Bucket challenge exploited the labour and resources of consumers to further transfer the marketing message. These five principles compromises an effective viral marketing strategy (Wilson, 2002), which gives reason for the campaigns remarkable success. The celebrity endorsement was also a huge success factor. As celebrities joined, it created the perception that by adopting their behaviour notions from celebrities would be transferred to participants.
Some reverse effects typical for viral marketing emerged. It became evident that the message was amended or the true meaning behind the marketing message got lost for many participants. Numerous recordings show the challenge without mentioning the fundraising, their donation nor showing any awareness of the disease. Hence, viral marketing will give power to the consumer, where the organisation loses control. A survey reveals that 53% of British participants did not donate (Saul, 2014). The campaign has received critique for triggering spamming, peer pressure, water waste and for being about vanity.
In conclusion, the success was grounded in the viral marketing strategy and celebrity endorsement. Viral marketing is a positive direction for our society as it helps level the playing-field. It supports smaller organisations with restricted marketing budgets to compete with big corporations. In the future, solutions are hopefully developed to help organisations cope with the negative consequences. What’s your view on the campaign? Did you participate?
References:
Kopper, H.B. (2002) Viral Marketing: A Powerful, but Dangerous Marketing Tool. South African Journal of Information Management, 4 (2). Available from: http://www.sajim.co.za/index.php/SAJIM/article/view/159 [Accessed 11th October 2014].
Saul, H. (2014) ALS ice bucket challenge: Over half of Brits polled did not donate to charity afterwards. Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/als-ice-bucket-challenge-over-half-of-brits-polled-did-not-donate-to-charity-afterwards-9696690.html [Accessed 9th October 2014].
Wilson, R. (2000) The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing. Web Marketing Today. Available from: http://library.softgenx.com/Children/marketing/ViralMarketing.pdf [Accessed 20th October 2014].
Picture Credit:
http://memegenerator.net/instance/53500946
Celebrity endorsement is a marketing technique frequently used in today' society. I am sure you all have seen endless advertisements where well-know celebrities are used in either posters or videoclips. Celebrities are used to support corporate or brand image, by playing on elements such as attractiveness, likeability and trustworthiness. Consumers believe that these elements can somehow be transferred to them by for instance using the specific product which the celebrity is marketing. Moreover, due to celebrities fame the advertisement will have high memorability. It will therefore help the advert to stick out from other promotions in cluttered environments. Accordingly, financial returns for the firm is strengthened (Erdogan, B.Z., 1999). Consumers are likely to get relational ties with celebrities as they associate closeness and even friendship with celebrities (White et al., 2009).
Although celebrity endorsement seems as a highly effective way to market products, it is related to great risks due to the dynamics that could be experienced. Celebrities are human beings, they can change their image, alter their behaviour and thereupon transform the societal perception of themselves. If this happens, it will have significant impact on the advertisement and could even transfer negative associations with a brand. White et al. (2009) explains how negative information concerning a celebrity can have a negative influence on the endorsed product due to the significant correlation between product and celebrity image.
To conclude, celebrity endorsement can be very powerful, however companies needs to consider the risks of endorsing products. They must carefully think which celebrity fits the notions that the company wants to transfer to the product but also pick a reliable celebrity. I think that celebrity endorsement is a clever way of marketing and that it will continue to remain prevalent in the future.
References:
Erdogan, Z.B. (1999) Celebrity Endorsement: A Literature Review. Journal of Marketing Management, 15 (4), Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1362/026725799784870379#.VGh2ita5aRs. [Accessed 20th October 2014].
White, D.W., Goddard, L. & Wilbur, N. (2009) The effects of negative information transference in the celebrity endorsement relationship. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 37 (4), Available from: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/09590550910948556 [Accessed 20th October 2014].
Men and women in advertisements are often presented through simplistic and stereotypical representation. Although gender representation in marketing has improved, negative portrayal is evident in the 21st century. This blogpost will reflect on how women and men are represented in contemporary marketing, before discussing the ethical issues and implications of these representations.
Gender representation has been a subject to change, and transformed drastically in the last century. Still, the sexualisation and exploitation of women in marketing is apparent. There is a notion that sex appeal sells in marketing (Reichert & Lambiase, 2006). For example, Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana exploited sexual imagery and controversial adverts to attract consumer attention (Picture 1 & 2). I can recall these images from when they were released as they are clearly sexually suggestive where harassment and victimisation of women is implied. Such adverts might trigger distorted attitudes, values and perceptions, which further have a negative effect on mental and physical health, especially for young girls (BBC, 2007).
Picture: 1
Picture: 2
Men have usually been portrayed to reflect notions of masculinity and dominance, which puts a pressure on men to act in accordance to these notions. Today gender equality is centralised and women are increasingly being brought into the public sphere and labour market. These change the concept of masculinity and feminise men as they are forced to take up some of the responsibility that used to belong to women. However, marketing still enhances traditional dominant masculine portrayals, which generates a discourse that does not correspond with norms in the modern world. Thus, this potentially leads to confusion concerning the performance of male roles in society.
Such gendered representations are of pressing matter. Marketers have the potential to exercise power, which can have a detrimental impact on human health and our social worlds. Marketing shapes society's perception of femininity and masculinity. This power comes with a responsibility, which marketing needs to consider more carefully. Recently, girls have been exposing themselves on social media by posting sexualised images. One can question whether this is an effect of the female objectification present in media and marketing, which further normalises and reinforces the sexualisation of women to male viewers. This issue has been on the ethical marketing agenda for quite some time. Still, its presence is still apparent and the marketplace has a long way to go to achieve “healthy” gender representation. In the future increased regulation of ethical marketing practices that protect consumers from gender distortions is needed. The influence of marketing on public health must be considered to a greater extent to assure that appropriate actions are taken.
Marketers possess excessive power to influence gender perception. There is a need for increased responsibility and ethical consideration to protect consumers’ health. The sexualisation of females and dominance of men that appear through marketing must be reduced through stricter regulations. Hopefully, marketing can portray men and women in a healthy way, thus positively impact individuals.
References:
BBC (2007) Sexualisation 'harms' young girls. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm [Accessed 8th October 2014].
Reichert, T. & Lambiase, J. (2006) Sex in Consumer Culture: The Erotic Content of Media and Marketing. New York: Routledge.
Picture Credit:
Picture 1: https://womenleadingchange.wordpress.com/tag/sexualisation/
Picture 2: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/lara-stone-new-calvin-klein-ad-banned-standards-board-image-promotes-violence-rape-article-1.188948
