IBM 3072 Midterm - Anthony Vercillo PDF

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IBM3072.01 Question1: There’s a saying that goes, All Marketers are Liars. Take a position as to whether or not you think this is true and back it up with specific examples. To start, my position is that not all marketers are liars, but rather the creative marketers are, in that they know how to twist their marketing techniques in a way that is true, but at the same time it is not. In going back to Seth Godin’s book, he explains that when marketing was first developing, there were only a few mediums in which marketers could relay their product to the public. However, as the Internet slowly came into play, digital marketing evolved into something that people would see and notice everywhere they went. Nowadays, many digital marketing is spread virally and through content sharing, which is very easy to do on social media. As Godin writes, “marketers are liars in the sense that marketers tell stories that consumers want to believe”, and this further gives consumers a reason to purchase the product because they see themselves better off with the product even though in reality, the product may not actually be what they thought initially. In a sense, marketers tell a story that always puts the customer first and this story is usually something that the customer can believe in. The funny part is that many customers actually prefer this method, of hearing what they want to hear, even if the truth may be a little bit spun out of place. For example, let’s take a look at Nike shoes. When customers buy the Nike shoes, do most of them really think about the complexities of the shoe, like the support, arch, wide toe, and other parts? The answer is most likely no. Most customers when buying these shoes, think of how they would look if they had these shoes on, and how cool they would be with the famous swoosh logo freshly seen on both shoes. That is why when Nike advertises on TV or on social media, they rarely point out the various aspects of the build of the shoe, but rather have celebrity athletes like LeBron James endorse the shoes and have clever slogans about it. Consumers who see these ads will imagine themselves as their idol wearing the

IBM3072.01 shoes, and will be excited about buying the product. With that in mind, successful marketers tell stories within their marketing that customers will most likely believe. Godin says that “the idea that marketing is lying, and that lying can be good or bad” pretty much sums up my position on this topic. The first impression that customers will have about the marketing story that companies provide is likely the impression that will stick with them for a long time, so companies need to stick to that particular story at all costs because that is how customers will base their perceptions on. As a result, the entire company needs to build around this story, and not just the top. It needs to be a top to bottom approach, and to make sure that other customers get the same positive first impression. However, there is a difference between spinning the story a little bit from outright spam or interruption, with promises that the company cannot keep. Companies need to make sure that their story is unique and can hook people in, but at the same time the modern marketer should feel the need to build attention, trust, and connection with potential clients. Like Godin said, “make things better by making better things”, and this can only be done through subtle lying, but lying that can still be accomplished by the company. Question 2: Why is defining the target market so critical to advertising and promotional

IBM3072.01 success? Provide a real world example of a defined target market. The target market is absolutely critical to advertising because not all the people in the world will be interested in the product that a company is trying to sell, but if that company focused its effort on a select group of people that have interests, there will be higher probability of increased income. In order to have success with a target market, however, there must be a few steps that companies should take. First, with the demographics, companies should take into account the age, occupation, race, religion, income, religious backgrounds, locations, and other factors when trying to advertise to a target market. Most of this information is online on different companies’ websites, so it is not too difficult to research and find. Next, is the process of isolating psychographics, which is all things related to the customers’ interest, attitudes, habits, values, beliefs of various things. Including this in researching target markets is very important because different traits such as personality and lifestyles deeply affect consumer decisions and perceptions. It is very useful in a way that marketing towards a customer’s deeper emotions and values can, in the end, pay off better than just marketing towards their age or income alone. Next, developing a list of five W’s and the “how” is critical in defining a target market. Through social media outlets, things such as age groups, time frames when people are on the app, which photos are engaging the audience the most, and other things, are answers to these W’s that gives the company a clearer insight on their target market. For the “how”, analytics on things like how customers pay and the method they use to pay are very important and tell a lot about the customer. As Professor V said in his lecture, painting a literal picture in my head about a certain target market can be very helpful in visualizing how to successfully market to a certain group. These visualizations put me in the customer’s shoes and really think about what I would like if I’m at the receiving end of a marketing attempt. Lastly is the use of perceptual mapping in

IBM3072.01 successfully marketing to a target market. Attempting to create a model of what customers think of the company’s products, brand, services, or ideas can help the company find out about certain issues before production gets too out of hand. The company’s perception on how well itself is doing versus what the customer actually thinks can be very different, so companies must make sure that they both fall hand in hand. For example, looking at this graphic on the right, we can see how a food company would utilize strategies to determine the best ways to reach out to a target market to buy their organic protein bars. Starting off with the obvious, marketers should not be targeting those that are not health conscious, and do not want to eat healthy bars, but should rather focus on people that would rather eat nutritious food. The target market would like health accounts on social media, and has multiple social media accounts. Most importantly, the target market would really like a very nutritious but affordable bar that can be eaten anytime if the person does not have enough time to cook up a full meal. Small strategies like these are why a target market is so important for a company’s success in marketing. Question 3: What are some of the keys to a Good Social Media Promotion. Provide 3 examples of excellent SM promos. According to the professor, there are five major keys that make a good social media promotion/advertisement. The first step is to research the best times to post content on social media.

IBM3072.01 Usually, companies should post around five times a week across 1-2 platforms, with some of these platforms being Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. Each platform should have a different style of posting, though, with posts on Instagram and Facebook having eye-catching pictures with well written captions, and posts on Tumblr and LinkedIn to be more of an informational post that can provide a lot of help. However, companies can switch it up and be unique, because trying new things evidently sets companies apart from each other. Hashtags are also important, as people can accidentally discover your company just by searching for terms related to your post. For the second step, it is crucial to post at the specific times during the day that people are the most active on social media, which is early in the morning, during lunch time, and after people eat dinner. The third step is to have a common color theme for everyone of your posts and content. The customers want to see consistency because that is how they will know they will get consistency in the products that they buy if it can start at the advertisement. Having a color common scheme can also make the brand stand out even more, as customers will be reminded by your brand every single time they see a certain color or even a certain phrase. The fourth step is to include actual promotions in the post. These promotions can be linked to the company website or customers can use the code right there on the social media platform, as some platforms actually allow people to buy products right then and there. This will allow the audience to be more engaged, as they can see that a certain product is on sale or there is a special incentive if they join a mailing list, for example. In addition, these promotions should be kept simple and concise. Companies should not litter their promos with words upon words, and just come up with something creative that customers could receive if they did a simple thing related to the brand. This way, the customer can focus on what is actually being presented.

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examples above are what successful companies have done to promote their brand through social media outlets using some of the keys that were pointed out above. Question 4: AIDA is the tried and true acronym that defines success in advertising. What does it stand for? Provide 2 examples of ads that follow this prescription for advertising success.

IBM3072.01 AIDA stands for awareness, interest, desire, and action. Many companies use this acronym as a model for writing classified ads to promote online or through other forms of promotion. For awareness, the product in the advertisement must first attract the customer’s attention, or in other words, to hook them in to read the rest of the advertisement. Many companies overlook this, thinking that the product itself will attract the customer, but the advertisement is just as important! The second step is interest in that the customer should feel a level of excitement from the promotion/product, and be even more focused on what the product is and what benefit it can have to them. This step is by far the hardest part because companies have to focus on the most important details only and not get sidetracked by other minor things that can be said later. The third step is to create desire within the customer. That is where the power of persuasion comes in handy. It is on the marketer to do the best he can to win over the customer through ultimate persuasion techniques, so that the customer will feel like he/she needs to buy that particular product over others. Marketers need to make the customers realize that they need the product. The fourth and final step is to get the customers to take action. The customers can think all they want about how they want to buy the product or how they would look with it, but that does not do the company any good if the customer does not end up buying anything. For online shopping, this would mean the check out process, with an example being that some websites have a timer window on how long the customer can stay in the checkout screen which makes the customer make their decision quicker. When the customer receives the product they ordered, then they will be satisfied (hopefully most of the time) and the company will make money.

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The two examples above showcase the perfect use of the AIDA model. For Canadian geographic, the various sizes of the text show how which ones are the most important. The “Hungry as a bear” line would really make me curious, as the picture of the bear is there, so it is a sort of play on words. After getting drawn into it, I would most likely read the other bits of text, and then if I really like it, I would purchase it. Similarly, the Theme parks advertisement is a lot more concise and lets the pictures do the talking. The holidays are the time when families come together and celebrate, so the picture shows a family riding on a donut tube thing, and it looks like they are having a lot of fun. There are also 7 day and 21 day passes, which would most likely present a good deal. Question 5: List at least 4 things you have learned so far in class and provide examples of their

IBM3072.01 application in the real world. The first thing that I have learned are the four elements of integrated marketing communications. These four elements are advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion. With advertising, many companies use social media through Instagram or Facebook, and in this step, identifying target markets and demographics are very important in order to advertise successfully. Public relations is something that companies use to form a relationship between the customer and the brand. Many of the common forms of these are featured articles, blogs, and partnerships.Sales promotion is being able to integrate the sales promotion aspect with all the other aspects of a company’s marketing plan that can improve a company’s advertising strategies. Lastly, personal selling is an old technique that is to physically meet up with a client to sell a product, and this requires a lot of personal skills and being able to really connect with the customer. An example of a company that utilities all of these aspects very well is Popeyes, with their incredible TV/Social media ads that leave me feeling hungry for some fried chicken, their amazing use of catering services during the pandemic, their awesome deals for the amazing spicy chicken sandwich, and their public relations skills, in which they give back to the community a lot even if they are a fast food place. The second thing I learned was the idea of being persistent when it comes to selling the product. It is important as a marketer to not give up if there is rejection from certain customers. Usually after the 2nd or 3rd call, there is a higher chance of success in selling products, as the customer will learn more about the product each time and have more time to think about how the product could benefit them. I also got a chance to think about this issue from both perspectives, namely from my own perspective whenever people try to contact me over and over again regarding a product, and I am really annoyed by it. Thus, it may work for some people, but at the

IBM3072.01 same time, it may not work for others, as it really depends on how that person operates when it comes to buying products. An example is Amazon sellers, how some of them encourage the buyer to leave good reviews over and over again, promising a coupon or something similar in return. The third thing I learned so far was the importance of branding for a new product or service. This included how many people always want to steal somebody’s work, so it is important to take advantage of copyrights and patents in order to get all the success for the product. A unique branding strategy will lead to profit and create revenue for the company. Branding can also provide customers with a unique perspective on the company, as if it is met with a positive reception, then customers will generally associate the brand with something that is good and worth their money. Branding also creates trust, and a relationship between the brand and the customer. Loyalty always comes with trust, and customers with a lot of loyalty will support the company even if it is going through some hard times. Most importantly, branding helps each company to stay focused on its goals and to give a sense of unity for all of its workers. The last thing I learned was the difference between cost leadership and the differentiation strategy. Cost leadership aims to be the leader in the lowest prices, while differentiation strategy is trying to be exclusive and to have higher prices as a result. Apple loves the differentiation strategy, as its products are unique and set apart from other companies and customers love to buy Apple products just for the brand and simplicity of its products. On the other hand, the dollar tree and 99 cent stores are examples of cost leadership, as their prices are so low that customers are just naturally drawn to them because of how much they can buy for such a low cost....