Blog o' RAMA

The Apple iPhone-- A Marketing Mix Perspective

On Friday June 29, the Apple iPhone became available for sale at AT&T and Apple stores.  The news showed customers waiting in line to buy this device.  Even here in Rochester, NY as I drove by the AT&T store, a news crew was filming the line outside the store.
What is the buzz about the Apple iPhone?  Let's take a look at the marketing mix.

Product -- According to the description on the AT&T site, the iPhone combine three amazing products- a mobile phone, wide screen iPod, and a breakthrough internet device--into one small, lightweight, hand held device with the best e-mail ever on a mobile phone, full screen with browsing, multi touch screen, and applications.  It does look cool and is innovative but does it deliver on the hype?  Several reviews have been published, check them out to learn more on features and performance.

1-CNET editor's review

2- Businessweek.com's web exclusive Steven Levy's, At Last -the iPhone

3- USA Today's Edward Baig's Apple's iPhone Isn't Perfect But It's Worthy of the Hype

Blackberry and Treo users are not willing to give up their devices for now.  The iPhone doesn't seem to be equipped for enterprise systems right now.  Read more in a Businessweek.com article, Making the iPhones Better for Business.

Place -- AT&T is the exclusive carrier for the iPhone.  What is novel about the phone service activation strategy is that consumers sign up for AT&T cellular services via the internet on iTunes. Phones are sold in AT&T stores, Apple retail stores, and Apple online store.  Typically carriers make all the decisions on phone prices, how phones are marketed, and which services to offer. This time Apple defined the 16 services that the iPhone has and of course the sign up method on iTunes instead of through AT&T.

Promotion-- Typically Apple announces new products very close to the time when the product is available for sale.  Not this time-the iPhone hype has been buzzing for about 6 months when the iPhone announcement was made at Mac World.  The halo effect from its popular iPods will have a positive effect on some consumers' perceptions of the iPhone.    Apple had kept advertising to a minimum since the announcement in January.   According to Apple Insider, TB WA is the new agency of record handling the iPhone campaign.

Price -- The iPhone 4 GB version sells for $499 and the 8 GB version sells for $599.  Monthly phone service charges start at 59.99 and you have to sign up for a 2 year service agreement.   Read a Businessweek.com article, Taking the iPhone Apart to learn about a tear down analysis that estimates what it costs Apple to make the iPhone.
How have sales been for the iPhone?  Analysts estimate that during the first weekend of sales, between 500,000 and 700,000 phones were sold. Apple plans to sell 10 million phones in 2008.  Only time will tell if the iPhone meets Apple's sales and revenue expectations.

I had the chance to visit an Apple store to check out the iPhone.  It is a a cool looking device.  The touch screen and icons were easy to use and it was lightweight.  For those consumers that are innovators and early adopters and are willing to pay the price-- the iPhone may be the right device.   
In my opinion, I was enticed by the user interface but the price point is too high for me and I have other devices that have similar features.    What do you think about the iPhone?  Do you own an iPhone or know someone who owns one?
   

What's New With Corporate Blogs?

It's time to check out a couple of corporate blogs that have been active in the blogosphere for over 6 months.  Eastman Kodak and Dell are incorporating new ideas in their blogs.

In a previous post, I wrote about Kodak's A Thousand Words blog which made its debut in September 2006.  Kodak created a second blog called A Thousand Nerds in January 2007.  A Thousand Nerds blog is a place where Kodak scientists, researchers, and inventors share ideas and knowledge about digital imaging technology.  The post topics include cool new technology, innovation, employee experiences, and customer successes.  What is new on A Thousand Nerds -- Kodak's CEO, Antonio Perez became a blogger and wrote a post titled Notorious Decadence .  Kudos to Kodak for using the blog as a way for the CEO to join the conversation with customers.

Direct2Dell is Dell's blog which has been in existence since July 2006.  Dell continues to improve conversations with customers.   Recently Dell created Ideastorm an online community where customers can submit input and ideas on products and services.  Once they are posted others can vote to promote or demote these ideas.

Also Dell introduced a Spanish version of Direct2Dell called DellenDirecto in April 2007.  According to Dell, they created the blog for several reasons: Spanish is spoken by 330 million people around the world as a first language, Spanish has become the fourth most important language in the blogosphere, and Spanish speaking customers around the globe have a channel to communicate with Dell in Spanish.  Some of the posts are global and are the same as posted in the English version.  Others speak about Latin American operations and activities in Spain.  Kudos to Dell for reaching out to customers in another language. 

What are other bloggers saying about Kodak and Dell's blogs?  Mack Collier from The Viral Garden has initiated a new feature called Company Blog Checkup.  He reviewed Kodak's blogs and Dell's blogs recently.  What company blogs have you enjoyed reading lately?

What's in a Brand Name?

The other day I was driving by the Cingular store and the outdoor sign with the orange jack logo was gone.  It had been replaced by the blue AT&T sign.  It should not have surprised me since AT&T has been advertising this new change since the beginning of the year. 

The Cingular logo and brand name had been in existence for about 6 years.  According to brand identity consultants the Cingular brand name appeals more to youth than the AT&T brand.  But as long as AT&T delivers services that youth want, the brand name becomes secondary.  According to AT&T, the storefront rebranding phase resulted from research that indicates that consumer awareness of the AT&T brand name is high and is ahead of expectations.  AT&T's management hopes that a single brand name will convince customers that AT&T is a convenient single source to shop for all communications and entertainment, television, wireless, and high speed internet services.

By the way, the rebranding change is happening just before the launch of the Apple iPhone.  AT&T starts selling the phone at 6 pm on Friday, June 29 at 1,800 U.S. store locations.  I will write more about the iPhone in a future post.

More on As The Blogosphere Turns

In a recent post, As the Blogosphere Turns, I wrote about several interesting marketing and business blogs.  I said I would share some more and here is what I found.      

Hewlett Packard has several blogs including The Marketing Excellence Blog by Eric Kintz ,VP of Marketing.  He writes about key industry trends and best practices in building the future Marketing function in the technology industry. A recent post, Early Explorations of Facebook's Potential for Marketing, provides some key facts about Facebook.

Drew's Marketing Minute gives you quick snapshots of current marketing and branding topics.  His recent post, Wondering who is going to buy an iPhone, gives us a the profile of iPhone users from an online survey conducted Solutions Research Group.

Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch focuses on practical ideas for small business marketing.  His website has received recognition from Forbes and is a Harvard Business School featured marketing site.  Check out the site to see what catches your interest.

Marketing and business blogs continue to join the blogosphere everyday.  What blogs have you enjoyed reading lately?

Dell Dives Into the Retail Channel

In the past year Dell has had a plethora of corporate challenges- losing market share to HP, customer service problems, recall of over 4 million laptop battery packs manufactured by Sony, and a Securities and Exchange investigation of Dell's accounting and financial reporting.  Earlier this year Michael Dell took back the helm as CEO in order to execute Dell's transformation plan. According to Dell their transformation plan includes making a systematic effort to restore competitiveness to its core business, re-ignite growth, and build solutions critical to customer needs.

Dell's differentiator is its distribution strategy -a customer focused direct selling model-that is until now.  Times are changing and Dell announced they will be selling a new line of PCs at Walmart and laptops at the Sam's Club starting June 10, 2007. In addition, Dell is planning to create 10-20 key agreements with retailers around the world.  Dell did not disclose yet who these retailers would be.

This move into retail is one of Dell's attempt to think outside of the box in order to deliver on transformation plan.  I would be curious to see their business case.  The questions that pop up in my mind include: how much will Dell's profit be, how much channel margin is Walmart receiving, how much will their operating costs increase, how many units are they planning to sell, and are they trying to build up market share in the consumer segment at the expense of profit? 

Having worked with retail and direct distribution channels, I know that Dell has been crunching plenty of numbers to justify a distribution channel strategy change.  Wall Street analysts and stockholders will be keeping an eye on how well Dell does in retail and the impact on the bottom line.  Only time and consumer sales will tell how this strategy change works out. 

Advertising Success- The Caveman

I was reading the June issue of Fast Company and a catchy title jumped out- "Clan of the Caveman".  This article is about the Martin Agency who creates GEICO's advertising campaigns.  Their most successful campaign  is the caveman.  In one commercial, the caveman appears in a news segment defending his claims that the use of the "So easy a caveman can do it" line is offensive.  The caveman gets a few jabs in before being told that he sounds like he "woke up on the wrong side of the rock."

The caveman has become so popular that ABC has ordered a pilot for a comedy tentatively called "Caveman".  The sitcom features the characters used in the GEICO commercials as "they struggle with prejudice on a daily basis and to live the lives of normal thirty-somethings in 2007 Atlanta".

The Martin Agency has won several accolades in the past year as well as winning new accounts--Walmart, BF Goodrich, and Sirius Satellite Radio among others.  What is unique about this campaign strategy is that it may look like a branding campaign  but it is really a direct-response TV.  According to Mike Hughes, President and Creative Director, "We (the Martin Agency) are measured on inquiries and GEICO checks inquiries every minute." 

So GEICO makes sure they are measuring Return on Investment (ROI) and growth.  According to Ward, GEICO Marketing VP, "Of the four significant players in the insurance industry, GEICO is the only one that's growing double digits."  They attribute advertising as a significant contributor to this growth.

I can't wait to see what advertising the Martin Agency creates for Walmart.  What ads have you seen that you think are creative and leave an impression?

Keeping Current- A Marketer's ToolBox

When was the last time you attended a conference, a RAMA event, or participated in a web seminar?  If the answer is - not in a long time,  it's time to think about refreshing those business and marketing skills.  As marketers we need to keep our marketing and business skills current for several reasons-- 1) refresh traditional marketing skills,  2) learn new marketing skills that are related to new technologies and methods relevant to understanding and communicating with customers, and 3) obtain personal satisfaction in continuing professional development.

Many options are available to hone and learn new skills- conferences, local RAMA events, alumni seminars, web seminars, online training, and business newsletters.  Some options are free and others you have to pay.  I will share some resources that will help build up your marketing toolbox.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a good place to start.  According to the AMA, "AMA events give you access to leading marketing thinkers and instructors of strategic marketing conferences, hot topic briefings , hands-on workshops, and in depth training programs."  Also the AMA offers free and member only webcasts on a variety of topics.  An upcoming event that caught my attention is TechnoMarketing:Using the Tools and Technology of Tomorrow To Reach Your Customers Today.  Remember to check out the events that the RAMA chapter holds throughout the year.

MarketingProfs.com is is a web site that provides articles, case studies, and web seminars.  Some content is free and premium content is available for paid members.  According to MarketingProfs they "draw on both cutting edge marketing know-how of a broad array of analysts, marketing professionals, and professors who create marketing know-how and can bridge the gap between cutting edge theory and business practice".  Read a free article that talks about on Online-Offline Marketing:How Online and Offline Have Fused Into a Single Dialog.

Knowledge at Wharton is The Wharton Business School's Online business newsletter.  This is a free resource that covers analysis of current business trends, interviews with industry leaders and Wharton faculty, and articles based on the most recent business research.  Wireless Broadband Utopia: Are We There Yet? is an interesting article about the future of broadband wireless access.

These resources are some of the many choices you have to keep your skills up to date.  You will discover that with some investment and time you will reap the benefits-- being more knowledgeable and applying what you have learned in the workplace.  What courses or resources have you used that have helped refresh your skills?

Wegmans- A Winning Brand

Wegmans is at it again- winning awards!  Once again the proof is in the pudding that Wegmans stands out among other supermarket chains and delivers a superb customer experience.  Wegmans was ranked by Ethisphere Magazine as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies.  In assembling the 2007 rankings, the readers and researchers of Ethisphere examined more than 5,000 companies across 30 separate industries looking for true ethical leadership.  According to Ethisphere, "each of these companies embodies the true spirit of Ethisphere's credo: Good, Smart, Business, Profit."

In April 2007, the Food Network held its first ever Food Network Awards.  Wegmans won in the category SUPER Market- presented to the grocery chain that has changed the way we shop'. The other nominees were Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.  The nominees and winners were chosen by the Food Network Kitchens.  According to Colleen Wegman, President, " This award belongs to our people (employees).  By sharing their knowledge and providing incredible service, they have truly changed the way people shop." 

Having lived in other U.S. areas, I can compare the Wegmans shopping experience to other supermarket chains.  As a consumer and marketer, I believe Wegmans delivers on their unique value proposition - helping you make great meals easy.  The recipe for Wegmans' success is well stated on their web site, "better quality goods, a spectacular abundance of choice, restaurant quality-prepared foods, beautiful stores and displays, a nearly telepathic level of customer service."  I am curious to learn how they developed their telepathic powers! Whatever methods Wegmans uses to develop and deliver innovative products and services, it works.

Congratulations Wegmans on your well deserved awards!  We look forward to more innovative products and services. 

As the Blogosphere Turns

Blog o'RAMA is one of many marketing and business blogs in the blogosphere.  Do you ever wonder how many other marketing blogs exist in the blogosphere universe?  I used several search engines to check marketing blogs.  Technorati results-over 67,000 blogs and Google- over 978,389 results that mention marketing blogs.  These numbers continue to grow as you read this.  Ahh - so many blogs, so little time, what can one do?  I found several blogs that caught my attention.  In this post I will share some and in the future I'll share others.

One way to check out the popular marketing blogs is through the Viral Garden blog.  The Viral Garden lists the top 25 marketing blogs each week.  The list is written by Mack Collier and focuses on blogs that cover traditional marketing news and commentary, word of mouth ,and social media coverage.

Marketing Profs:Daily Fix is a group blog featuring news and commentary on marketing, advertising, and business related issues.  It is published daily and more than 50 industry experts contribute regularly.  Xerox, a Rochester based company, was featured in a post called Xerox:Walking the Walk with 'Customer Led -Innovation' written by Ted Mininni.

Forrester Research is an independent technology and market research company.  Forrester has half a dozen blogs.  Depending on your interests, some of the blogs may catch your attention more than others.  Two that caught my eye are Forrester's Marketing Blog and Charlene Li's Blog.  Charlene Li's  blog is the forum for an upcoming book written by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff from Forrester. The book is titled The Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. 

Of course as you use these blogs, you will find a collection of links to other blogs called blogrolls.  Typically blogrolls are found on the front page sidebar of most blogs.   This is a great source to find other interesting marketing and business blogs.  Before you know it you will be caught up in an infinite universe of blogs.  What are you favorite marketing and business blogs?

Target Markets-The Hispanic Market

Accurate identification and analysis of a target market is essential in creating an effective marketing strategy. Do you know the target markets your company serves?  Is the U.S. Hispanic market on your company's radar screen?   

The U.S. Hispanic population is a market that companies are targeting due to their buying power.  According to Jeff Humphreys, Director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, " Hispanics purchasing power is estimated to be $863.1 billion in 2007. By 2011, it will be almost $1.2 trillion".  Could the Hispanic market be lucrative for your company? Is this growing consumer segment part of your company's target market?   

A good way to start learning about the Hispanic market is to look at available secondary research and information.
I found several useful resources to learn about the Hispanic market.
Hispanic Trending a Latino Marketing and Advertising blog is written by Juan Guillermo Tornoe.  In my opinion, it is a great place to start understanding this growing segment.  This blog features news and commentaries related to Hispanic Marketing and Advertising.  Also, Juan includes a variety of of links to other informative Hispanic sites.  Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations web site and podcast offers a variety of topics written by many authors.  Specifically, I found an article, Still Not Targeting the Hispanic Market? , that highlights key items to consider when targeting the Hispanic market.

Dr. Felipe Korzenny founded the The Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State University in 2004.  The web site contains several research studies on specific topics.   I found an interesting paper on the  web site The Multicultural Marketing Equation : Media, Attitudes, Brand,and Spending. This paper reports findings on the degree to which multicultural marketing efforts can aim at cultural commonalities or whether these efforts must be culturally targeted.

The Pew Hispanic Center is a non-partisan research organization.  Its mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the entire nation.  The Center focuses on 8 key subject areas;demography, economics, education, identity,immigration, labor, politics, and remittances.  Findings on key subject areas are found on the web site in reports and fact sheets.  One of their recent reports, Latinos Online, provides findings of a telephone survey, conducted in Spanish and English to Hispanic adults over 18, asking about online usage.

These resources will be useful in understanding the Hispanic market.  Most likely, the next step is to conduct primary research to provide more data and information relevant to your product or service.  Once all research is done, you can begin developing a business case that details the potential of the Hispanic market.  What resources have you found useful in learning about the Hispanic market?