Marketing Explained !!!
A Professor at the SMU was explaining marketing concepts to the students
1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: 'I am very rich. Marry me!' - That's Direct Marketing
2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: 'He's very rich. Marry him.' -That's Advertising
3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: 'Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me!' - That's Telemarketing
4. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say:'By the way, I'm rich. Will you marry me?' - That's Public Relations
5. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says:'You are very rich! Can you marry me?' - That's Brand Recognition
6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: 'I am very rich. Marry me!' She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. - That's Customer Feedback
7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: 'I am very rich. Marry me!' And she introduces you to her husband. - That's demand and supply gap, do your market survey first
8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: 'I'm rich. Will you marry me?' and she goes with him - That's competition eating into your market share
9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: 'I'm rich, Marry me!' Your wife arrives. - That's restriction for entering new markets
Monday, March 17, 2008
Marketing Explained
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
McDonald's: Sales in Europe are ahead of those in the US
Gonna talk about this, but I've already taken some pills, need to go to bed now..will write another entry tomorrow when I have time.. come back again later if you are interested.
For McDonald's, a European redesign starts to pay off
By Julia Werdigier August 17, 2007
International Herald Tribune
LONDON: Taking a respite from an afternoon of shopping, Ita Clift sipped a cappuccino at a McDonald's on Edgeware Road, in northwest London. Though she said she rarely set foot in one of the many branches of the fast-food chain in London, Clift said she dropped in to this one for a quick boost of energy because the restaurant "looked so nice and sophisticated."
Sophisticated? McDonald's?
The Golden Arches are going upscale in Europe - and if you haven't seen a refurbished McDonald's yet, chances are you will see one by the end of this year. Aiming to create a more relaxed, restaurantlike experience in a sophisticated atmosphere, McDonald's is replacing bolted-down, plastic, yellow and white "furniture" with lime-green designer chairs and dark leather upholstery. It is the restaurant chain's biggest revamp in more than 20 years, and, together with its franchisees, it plans to spend more than €600 million, or $806.6 million, remodeling 1,280 of its European restaurants by the end of this year.
McDonald's is also introducing more healthful foods and items that cater to regional tastes, like café lattes. Hoping to attract young adults and professionals, in addition to its core customer base of moms and kids, the chain is also adding amenities like Internet access and rental iPods.
So far, the changes appear to be paying off. Sales in Europe are ahead of those in the United States. In the first half of this year, combined sales at Europe's 6,400 restaurants rose 15 percent to $4.1 billion, compared to a 6 percent increase in America, where McDonald's has 13,800 restaurants and sales were $3.9 billion. The strength of European currencies helped, but even without the lagging U.S. dollar, European revenue is rising faster in real terms than revenue in the United States.
"McDonald's is doing a great job in Europe, which has become an enormously important market for them," said Larry Miller, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York.
The chain now serves over 10 million customers a day in Europe, which contributes 36 percent to the company's operating income, making it the chain's second most profitable region after the United States.
The remodeling is also catching on in America, where McDonald's renovated about 6,000 of its restaurants. For now, the revamp is not spreading to Asia, where business is growing fast - sales are up 11 percent in the second quarter - but revenues are still a fraction of those in Europe and America ($852 million for the quarter that ended June 30).
In some ways the changes are moderate; in others, dramatic. McDonald's kept its trademark golden arches logo in Europe but got rid of the red accompanying it. Instead, restaurants feature a warm burgundy color. The pointy roofs are being phased out and replaced by simple olive green facades, and the bright neon lights in the restaurants were dimmed. French fries and cheeseburgers remain the best-selling items.
The original impetus for the makeover was a European sales slump in the late 1990s, brought on by concerns about obesity and European annoyance at unappealing décor and grumpy McDonald's staff. But the ideas for how to change came from Denis Hennequin, president of McDonald's Europe, the first non-American in that role.
As head of McDonald's restaurants in his native France in the late 1990s, Hennequin had searched for ways to make fast food more appealing to a nation that preferred slow-simmered cassoulets and likes to savor a meal.
"To make McDonald's and a Big Mac work in the country of slow food, we felt we had to pay more attention to space and showcasing," he said, seated in front of zebra print wallpaper in one of the remodeled London restaurants.
He was right. After refurbishment, on average, sales increased 4.5 percent at the upgraded restaurants in France. The new outlets were so successful that two years ago Hennequin was asked to do the same for the rest of Europe.
Some analysts say the new design works better in Europe than in the United States, where a majority of McDonald's customers prefer to eat in their cars or take their food home. "And they won't change their habits," said David Kolpak, an investment manager at Victory Capital Management in Cleveland, Ohio, who owns McDonald's shares in his portfolio.
But now the success of Hennequin's Europewide makeover comes with challenges of its own: How much can you upgrade its image before McDonald's isn't McDonald's?
"If you stretch the brand too much, it can snap," said Dean Crutchfield, director of marketing at Wolff Olins, a brand consultancy in New York.
Hennequin said he did not have a choice. "Re-imaging is essential in the competitive world of retail," he said. "We need to avoid aging faster than our customers." To do that he instructed the design studio he had set up in Paris to come up with nine different formats. Franchised restaurants, which account for about 64 percent of all European outlets, can then choose the design most appropriate for their location and clientele. The designs range from "purely simple," with minimalist decors in neutral colors, to "Qualité," featuring large pictures of lettuce and tomatoes and gleaming stainless steel kitchen utensils like meat grinders.
"The new ones are much more comfortable, less crammed and we love those chairs," said Shane Bogela, 16, referring to the redesigned stores and the "egg" chairs, designed by the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen, at a McDonald's in London.
A separate food factory in Munich is trying to come up with new menus for the different tastes in the 41 European countries, including Russia, in which McDonald's operates - a continuation of a process started in the 1980s, when the company started to offer beer in its German restaurants. In England, McDonald's has started to serve porridge for breakfast; in Portugal it offers soup; and in France, "cheese saga" - burgers with French cheeses.
Paying attention to local tastes has also helped McDonald's overcome some of the cultural hurdles it faced in Europe as a large American fast-food chain. "The problem in Europe," said Kolpak, of Victory Capital, "was the perception that any large U.S. brand has, which is bringing the American way of eating and marketing and invading the local culture."
While head of France, Hennequin experienced opposition to American corporations firsthand in 1999 when Jose Bové, the outspoken leader of a French farmer's union, organized a bulldozing of a McDonald's restaurant to protest the spread of American "hegemony." Hennequin reacted with a large advertising campaign promoting the American chain's use of local produce and its creation of local jobs.
While palates differ from country to country, design is more universal, Hennequin said. He admires strong brands that reinvent themselves to become more fashionable and appealing, like the Mini Cooper. In France he hired the same advertising agency as Apple.
"We would like to stay true to our roots," Hennequin said, "while moving forward."
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Creepy Pepsi Billboard Ad
Personally, I prefer Pepsi than Coca-cola. But this billboard ad really makes me sick!! It's already horrible when they turn the lips to red and blue, what's more horrible is the have to turn the face to grey!!
It reminds me that when Pepsi first tried to step in the coke market, they wanted to differentiate themselves to Coca-cola by changing the color of the coke... to blue! well.. it may work if they do that today, but not that many years ago when in people's mind 'blue liquid = mouth wash'. It was a failure of course and they had to change Pepsi to dark color, just like Coca-cola.
Seems to me that Pepsi doesn't have a good sense of using the right color in marketing.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Starbucks finally moves out from Forbidden City
Ever since Starbucks has its store opened at the Beijing Forbidden City in 2000, there have been complains and protests against the store of bringing foreign pop culture to the chinese traditional culture.
Starbucks had already tried lowering its profile by removing its exterior design but it didn't help. As an anchor for China Central TV's English Channel Rui Chenggang wrote earlier in his blog, Starbucks' presence "undermined the Forbidden City's solemnity and trampled over Chinese culture."
The store was already closed last Friday.
Details: Forbes
Friday, July 6, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
A Visit to McDonald's Today
Today after my personal finance test, I went to Ang Mo Kio for something.
I suddently wanted to have McDonald's as my lunch so I went to the one just outside Ang Mo Kio Hub (a shopping mall).
This is of course not the first time I visit the McDonald's in Singapore, but this time was quite special..
I think this branch is quite special...
Here's something I noticed:
Straws and sauces
We are all very used to get the straws right next to the cashier but this McDonald's doesn't provide straws right there.
Plus, the staff won't give you Ketchup with your food.
Instead they will point you to a little station quite near to the cashiers where u can get the straws, napkin, tomato sauce and chili sauce at one place, but all customers have to use that single place though..
Besides, you don't get small packages of ketchup and chili sauce.
Instead, you need to pump the sauce on small little plastic saucers provided.
so the flow will be..
you get your food from counter -> take your tray to the sauce station -> put down your tray -> pump the sauce u need and get straws and napkins -> get seated and enjoy.
dunno why they wanna do that.. to stuck all people into that tiny little station
and the station is located right in the middle between the main entrance and the counters which make the places so crowded.
also.. the station is too small that only one person can use at a time, people need to queue.. (so u need to queue TWICE before u can eat)
A special auntie staff
I got scold by this very special staff..
I dunno why people always like to scold me for no reason... hahaha..
What happened was.. after I got my food, I went to the station to try to get ketchup.
There was already another lady there getting her stuff. She put her tray on the table of the station which left me with not enough space for the whole tray, but I can still put down my tray.. so I put down, with part of the tray "not on the table"
The lady left.
I was picking up the plastic saucers when this special auntie came.
She said something very fast to me in Mandarin as I was picking up the saucers..
I freezed myself because it usually takes me a second to digest Mandarin..
I looked at her, she looks very angry.. and she was holding a napkin..
so I was guessing "am I suppose to use the napkin??"
well...
of course not..
she was actually scolding me for making the station so dirty...
well...
first... the station is not SO dirty.. there was only one drop of ketchup right below the pump..
second... I didn't even start pumping..........
the thing is... there was suppose a tray to hold those drip over sauce.. but she was washing it and when she came back she saw the "drop"
so she scold me...
actually I didn't respond her.. coz I dunno how to respond.. hahaha...
but then she suddently yell at me again!
remember part of my tray was not on the table??
she angrily put it back on the table and blame me and say "what if somebody hit it by accident...."
anyway... I took my stuff and quickly ran away.. hahaha
Use of wireless technology
Since I found this sauce station quite interesting.. I took a sit that can see the flow of customer and see how things go..
and I found another special thing from this McDonald's
Whenever there are 3 people in the queue at the counter, a staff will pop out and get the order from the 3rd customer using a wireless PDA
then the customer will get a ticket/receipt, when he/she reaches the counter, he/she shows the staff there with the ticket and pay and get their food.
hmm.. first I thought they do it to increase their efficiency.. but how??
I noticed that when the staff at the counter got the ticket, they check with the system to see what the customer ordered and then get the food.
it was quite different than what I thought the technology would be used...
I thought that the person who order wirelessly would get the food as soon as they approach the counter.. and this is not the case..
so.. maybe they do it just to keep the customer there?
I mean they make u order the food first and queue.. instead of queue first and order food..
so people is less likely to leave the queue..?
I'm not quite sure about it..
Location of counter
This McDonald's is quite big with lots of seats, but during my lunch, I saw many people entered and left immediately,
some of them even turned around outside the entrance..
Because they can see the queues at the counters even outside the store..
which is.. quite a stupid thing to do..
I can see at least 4 groups of people turned around by just looking outside the store and u could tell from their faces that they were scared by the queue
and actually the queue wasn't quite long.. the thing is the queue at counters + the people at the station... make it looked very crowded!
even worst is... there were so many choices of restaurant just next to it.. so people just leave.
WIFI "necessity"
All McDonald's in Singapore provide free WIFI connections, actually many cafes do so too..
One of my projects this semester was on Starbucks (always Starbucks! ).
One interesting finding was that customer think WIFI is good, but what they also want is power ports for their laptops!!
(yeah true!!! with that, people can stay in a cafe/McDonald's for the whole day with just a few bucks!)
The girl sitting next to me this afternoon was using her laptop all the way during my lunch..
I had a few look to her laptop and she was just watching videos from youtube..
so this question quickly came to my mind "how come she doesn't need to care about the battery?" at least she didn't look like she worries..
so I looked at her laptop again....
interestingly... I found that her laptop was actually plugged into a power port on the wall..
hmm... I wonder do all McDonald's here have power ports??
If so, next time I'll have group meetings there!!
last time I had a group meeting at Burger King and we had to finish it within an hour just because of the battery problem!!
Changing definition!!
Almost forget this one!
When I purchased my value meal.. I saw the menu up there saying "all meals come with Medium fries and SMALL drink"
The word "SMALL" is manually changed.. just a piece of paper sticked onto the billboard...
and what I got was the same size as usual...
so the previous Medium size now became Small...........
is it happening in other countries as well??
By the way..
I had a McSpicy value meal and the taste was fantastic.. (maybe it's because I haven't had Mac for so long.. )
The McDonald's at Singapore is quite expensive.. a value meal is around S$5.xx - $6.xx
The Big Breakfast was $4.xx
As I remember, it is more expensive than those in HK and AU..
oh... and they have one interesting burger here called "double filet-o-fish" with TWO fish filet!!
hmm.. but I don't really want that... hahhaa
but the locals seems quite happy with the idea!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
What will you get if you want to PAY for a Windows Vista?
This is my own experience. Of course I'm not saying that everyone will get this when they buy Windows... but if I had a choice, I would just BT and use it..
by the way... I still haven't got the software yet... coz they have just ACCEPTED me as their customer this afternoon! thank god!
The story began when I bought my new laptop on the 26th of January this year......
This very new laptop I bought is the Fujitsu Tablet Series T4215.
I chose Fujitsu becoz the last one I used was Fujitsu and I have been using it for almost 5 yrs and it NEVER hang for one single time.
I bought a new one only becoz I think this is my last year to use the good deal as a "student" so I betrayed my dearest old laptop, I sold it.
The new laptop comes with the Windows XP, but in the packaging of the laptop,
there is a small promotion card that said "Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Program"
Here.. please do remember it said "Express"
The program was not started when I bought the laptop, on the card, it said it started from "Windows Vista Launch" to 31 March 2007.
And there is no pricing of course...
But I'm quite interested in finding out how much will it cost me to upgrade.. so I decided to check the website on the promotion card.
I was happy to know that the redemption process can be done online!
But at that time (early Feb), I was waiting for my local credit card (I don't want to pay by HKD or AUD), so I didn't apply for it.
so I waited until Feb 13 until I got my credit card from local bank and tried to apply for the upgrade.
But.. the website was no longer working!!
so I emailed them and asked if the program is still running or not.
They actually replied me AN HOUR after I sent my email and asked me to try again the next day...
so I did it the next day, the valentine's day... and it seemed working..
BUT
It turned out that the online system didn't work properly.
After I key in all the details including my CREDIT details...
well...
I thought that maybe problems with the internet connection..
so I tried again..
and this is when the problem started.
There is so-called a COA code on every laptop they sold, somehow the system cannot verify my COA anymore since that moment.
so I emailed and asked what should I do?
well... what happened next?
I think the best way to tell is to just show the emails between me and the Fujitsu support...
so here it is..
From: Annie Tang
Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 2:28 PM
To: AsiaPac Support
Subject: upgrading to Windows Vista
Hi,
I've purchased a Fujitsu Laptop T4215 recently and noticed that I can get an upgrade to Windows Vista for around S$40 (forgot the exact amount when I browse the page few weeks ago) but I've found that your website is no longer working.. is the upgrade period already expired? (the information card I've got stated that the period ends late March)..
please advise if I can still get an upgrade or not. thanks a lot.
From: AsiaPac Support
To: Annie Tang
Sent: Tuesday, 13 February 2007 3:13:36
Subject: RE: upgrading to Windows Vista
Hi Annie,
We are sorry to inform you the currently the Web Site is down and Fujitsu is trying their very best to rectify the link. The last day of the Vista Upgrade registration is on 31st March 2007. You may wish to try again at a later time or tomorrow again.
Sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Regards
Fujitsu Support Centre.
From: Annie Tang
To: AsiaPac Support
Sent: Wednesday, 14 February 2007 5:24:40AM
Subject: Re: upgrading to Windows Vista
Hi again..
I've tried the web site again last nite and it looked like working so I tried to submit my request for the upgrade.. it works perfectly until last step.. after I input the details of my credit cards and click enter.. it turns out a page saying something error... and I didn't get any confirmation email of my order..so I tried again later.. but somehow it said it is not able to validate my COA number.. (which was ok before).. is there still problems with the web site or is there any problem with my laptop? (I bought the laptop from NUS Co-op on 26 Jan 2007 and registered online already)thanks again.Annie
To: MSTUPVISTAASIA@
Sent: Friday, 16 February 2007 2:56:11AM
Subject: ordering of Window Vista
Hi,
I've ordered an upgrade of Windows Vista few days ago and found that the status of my order become "cancelled" today. And I am not able to make another purchase coz it said it can't verify my COA number.....
could you please kindly check for me and advice me what to do?
the order number is : XXXXX
my laptop is T4215, just bought it from National University of Singapore CO-OP on 26 Jan and I've already registered online.thank you.
regards,
Annie
To: Annie
Sent: Friday, 16 February 2007 3:58:29PM
Subject: FW: ordering of Window Vista
Dear Annie Tang
Thank you for your support in the Upgrade Redemption Program.
We are currently looking into this matter.
Should you have any further enquiries, please contact us again.Best regards,
Upgrade Redemption Customer Support
To: Upgrade Redemption Support Center
Sent: Saturday, 3 March 2007 12:52:46AM
Subject: Re: ordering of Window Vista
Hi again,
just wanna know if there will be any follow-up to my case??
coz I'm still not able to purchase the Windows Vista from your website and I understand that the redemption program will be ended this month.
thanks
regards,
Annie
Sent: Monday, 5 March 2007 3:43:21PM
Dear Annie,
Thank you for your support in the Upgrade Redemption Program.
We regret to inform you that your order has been cancelled. This is most probably due to your COA number being corrupted. We are looking into this matter. Currently, Microsoft is running validation checks on all COA numbers. Please wait for 3 days before attempting to register online again. You will not be charged a second time. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Should you have any further enquiries, please contact us again.
Best regards,
Upgrade Redemption Customer Support
Ok, although I don't understand why my COA number is corrupted, at least I know I can try that again 3 days later, that's what they said...
so I waited again...
and not surprisingly.. I forgot again!! 3 days is too long to remember something......
It is not until 9 days after they told me to wait that I went to the website and tried again...
but again... not surprisingly... it didn't work..
so guess what? I emailed them again!
From: Annie Tang
To: Upgrade Redemption Support Center
Sent: Wednesday, 14 March 2007 2:21:38PM
Subject: Re: Upgrade Redemption Program Hi again,
As your advice, I didn't try register again until today.. which is already 9 days after your reply, but I still cannot get through that step.. can you tell me what I should do now?
regards,
Annie
To: MSTUPVISTAASIA
Sent: Friday, 23 March 2007 8:32:06PM
Subject: Fw: Upgrade Redemption Program
well...
Can someone just tell me, am I NOT ALLOWED to redeem the Window Vista upgrade so that I don't need to keep trying this stupid upgrade system every few days and still got rejected? And no one seems want to reply my enquiry anymore? I've been waiting from you guys for 9 days since my last email!
If u want to tell me I'm rejected by this upgrade scheme, why don't u just give me a reason and shut me up?
this email was sent on Friday night.. I thought the tone I used was impatient enough to get their attention
To: Annie
Sent: Tuesday, 27 March 2007 3:20:36PM
Subject: RE: Upgrade Redemption Program
Annie ,Sorry to keep you waiting . I've verified your order & confirm that you've successfully submitted one confirm order . You new order confirmation # is xxxxx . You should receive your order pretty soon as order has been pushed to back office for shipment . Thanks!
From: A
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 2:16 PM
To: V
Cc: 'foryou'
Subject: FW: Upgrade Redemption Program
Importance: High
Hi V,
Could you please look into this call immediately?
Customer is very impatient.
Thank you
Best Regards
A
-----Original Message-----
From: AsiaPac Support
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2007 2:07 PM
To: Ms. A; AsiaPac Support
Subject: FW: Upgrade Redemption ProgramPlease assist. Thanks.
Should you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanks and Best regards,
Mr. F
Assistant ManagerFrom:Annie Tang
(this is my original email)
So what happened to my email was.. it passed from the AM Mr F. --> Ms A --> Ms V
and.. I suddently got my problem solved!! which is very good, right??
ok..
I do appreciate their efficency (only for today)..
but.. is it necessary for me to know all the details on HOW they get this done?
especially when Ms A has a comment on me that "The customer is very impatient"???
are they telling me that, my problem is solved only becoz I'm too trouble??
why don't Ms V simply delete the internal communication before replying their customer???
do they think I will be happy knowing that?
well...
tell you the truth.
I don't feel bad at all after seeing their "comments".
I just learnt three things from this:
first:
Next time if I want their service, I need to sound like "impatient" to get them move!
never be nice to them!
second:
maybe I should consider BT next time, which cost me nothing in terms on money and time!
third:
an EXPRESS program... can takes up to 2 months.. and still hasn't come to the end
(I'm still waiting for the delivery, who knows what will happen?)
