Sunday, 6 March 2011
Marketing and the Boston Matrix
A business with a range of products has a portfolio of products. However, owning a product portfolio poses a problem for a business. It must decide how to allocate investment (e.g. in product development, promotion) across the portfolio.
A portfolio of products can be analysed using the Boston Group Consulting Matrix. This categorises the products into one of four different areas, based on:
Market share – does the product being sold have a low or high market share?
Market growth – are the numbers of potential customers in the market growing or not?
How does the Boston Matrix work? The four categories can be described as follows:
Stars are high growth products competing in markets where they are strong compared with the competition. Often Stars need heavy investment to sustain growth. Eventually growth will slow and, assuming they keep their market share, Stars will become Cash Cows
Cash cows are low-growth products with a high market share. These are mature, successful products with relatively little need for investment. They need to be managed for continued profit - so that they continue to generate the strong cash flows that the company needs for its Stars
Question marks are products with low market share operating in high growth markets. This suggests that they have potential, but may need substantial investment to grow market share at the expense of larger competitors. Management have to think hard about “Question Marks” - which ones should they invest in? Which ones should they allow to fail or shrink?
Unsurprisingly, the term “dogs” refers to products that have a low market share in unattractive, low-growth markets. Dogs may generate enough cash to break-even, but they are rarely, if ever, worth investing in. Dogs are usually sold or closed.
Ideally a business would prefer products in all categories (apart from Dogs!) to give it a balanced portfolio of products.
A portfolio of products can be analysed using the Boston Group Consulting Matrix. This categorises the products into one of four different areas, based on:
Market share – does the product being sold have a low or high market share?
Market growth – are the numbers of potential customers in the market growing or not?
How does the Boston Matrix work? The four categories can be described as follows:
Stars are high growth products competing in markets where they are strong compared with the competition. Often Stars need heavy investment to sustain growth. Eventually growth will slow and, assuming they keep their market share, Stars will become Cash Cows
Cash cows are low-growth products with a high market share. These are mature, successful products with relatively little need for investment. They need to be managed for continued profit - so that they continue to generate the strong cash flows that the company needs for its Stars
Question marks are products with low market share operating in high growth markets. This suggests that they have potential, but may need substantial investment to grow market share at the expense of larger competitors. Management have to think hard about “Question Marks” - which ones should they invest in? Which ones should they allow to fail or shrink?
Unsurprisingly, the term “dogs” refers to products that have a low market share in unattractive, low-growth markets. Dogs may generate enough cash to break-even, but they are rarely, if ever, worth investing in. Dogs are usually sold or closed.
Ideally a business would prefer products in all categories (apart from Dogs!) to give it a balanced portfolio of products.
More Advertising - Promotional Methods 2
Advertising presents or promotes the product to the target audience through media such as TV, radio, billboards to encourage them to buy.
When deciding which type of advertising to use – known as an advertisingmedium – a business needs to consider the following factors:
Reach of the media – nationally or locally, the number of potential customers it could reach.
Nature of the product – the media needs to reflect the image of the product; a recruitment ad would be placed in a trade magazine or newspaper but a lipstick ad would be shown on TV or women’s magazines.
Position in product life cycle – launch stage will need different advertising from extension strategies.
Cost of medium – radio cheaper than TV, but may want to consider cost per head if reaching a larger audience.
In the printed media, advertising can take two forms:
A classified advert is normally put into a newspaper by an individual and is expressed solely in words and numbers.
A display advert is where space is bought in the newspaper or magazine and can be filled with words and/or pictures.
Display adverts have more impact, but are more expensive.
Advertising can also be split into two main types:
Persuasive advertising - this tries to entice the customer to buy the product by informing them of the product benefit.
Informative advertising - this gives the customer information. Mostly done by the government (e.g. health campaigns, new welfare benefits).
Sometimes a business will employ an advertising agency to deal with its needs. An agency plans, organises and produces advertising campaigns for other businesses. The advantage of an agency managing the campaign is that it has the expertise a business may not have, e.g. copywriters, designers and media buyers.
Businesses need to be fully aware of the laws that govern advertising. The main law is the Trade Descriptions Act – goods advertised for sale must be as they are described. Also the advertising industry has its own Code of Practice, and is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority where complaints about the nature of advertising can be dealt with.
When deciding which type of advertising to use – known as an advertisingmedium – a business needs to consider the following factors:
Reach of the media – nationally or locally, the number of potential customers it could reach.
Nature of the product – the media needs to reflect the image of the product; a recruitment ad would be placed in a trade magazine or newspaper but a lipstick ad would be shown on TV or women’s magazines.
Position in product life cycle – launch stage will need different advertising from extension strategies.
Cost of medium – radio cheaper than TV, but may want to consider cost per head if reaching a larger audience.
In the printed media, advertising can take two forms:
A classified advert is normally put into a newspaper by an individual and is expressed solely in words and numbers.
A display advert is where space is bought in the newspaper or magazine and can be filled with words and/or pictures.
Display adverts have more impact, but are more expensive.
Advertising can also be split into two main types:
Persuasive advertising - this tries to entice the customer to buy the product by informing them of the product benefit.
Informative advertising - this gives the customer information. Mostly done by the government (e.g. health campaigns, new welfare benefits).
Sometimes a business will employ an advertising agency to deal with its needs. An agency plans, organises and produces advertising campaigns for other businesses. The advantage of an agency managing the campaign is that it has the expertise a business may not have, e.g. copywriters, designers and media buyers.
Businesses need to be fully aware of the laws that govern advertising. The main law is the Trade Descriptions Act – goods advertised for sale must be as they are described. Also the advertising industry has its own Code of Practice, and is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority where complaints about the nature of advertising can be dealt with.
Product Lifecycle
The product life cycle is an important concept in marketing because it describes the stages a product goes through from when it was first thought of until it finally is removed from the market. Not all products reach this final stage. Some continue to grow and others rise and fall.
The main stages of the product life cycle are:
Introduction – researching, developing and then launching the product.
Growth – when sales are increasing at their fastest rate.
Maturity – sales are near their highest, but the rate of growth is slowing down, e.g. new competitors in market or saturation.
Decline – final stage of the cycle, when sales begin to fall.
This can be illustrated by looking at the sales during the time period of the product.
A branded good can enjoy continuous growth, such as Microsoft, because the product is being constantly improved and advertised, and maintains a strong brand loyalty.
Extension strategies extend the life of the product before it goes into decline. Again businesses use marketing techniques to improve sales. Examples of the techniques are:
Advertising – try to gain a new audience or remind the current audience, e.g. the recent Kellogg’s Cornflakes adverts.
Price reduction – more attractive to customers.
Adding value – add new features to the current product, e.g. video messaging on mobile phones.
Explore new markets – try selling abroad, e.g. Robbie Williams trying to sell more records in the US.
New packaging – brightening up old packaging, or subtle changes such as putting crisps in foil packets or Seventies music compilations.
More Advertising - Promotional Methods
Promotion methods
Promotion is another 'P' of the marketing mix - promotion is about communicating, informing and developing an image (of the company or a product) with both current customers and potential customers.
Businesses promote themselves and products for a number of reasons:
-increase and maintain demand for their product(s)
-increase and maintain the market share of their product(s)
-'make noise' and raise awareness for their product(s)
-create or enhance a brand image
-Promotion methods
There are two advertising techniques businesses may use: Below the line (BTL) and Above the line (ATL). The technique and method a business decides to use to promote its product depends on a number of factors:
-the type of product
-their budget
-the product's stage in the product life cycle
-the target audience (who the business wants to reach)
-legal issues (whether a business is allowed to promote their product in a certain way, e.g. tobacco and drugs)
-Below the line (BTL) promotion
-Below the line promotion includes promotion methods which are more personal, traditional and allow the company control. They can include:
PR - public relations - when a business communicates directly with it's public through press releases and speaking at conferences
-Sales promotions - such as 50% extra free, buy one get one free or coupons and gifts
-Sponsorship - where a business will pay to be associated with another product, person or event. -Sportspersons are often sponsored by sports companies.
-Direct sales - when a representative of the business will visit potential customers
-Above the line (ABL) promotion
-Below the line promotion includes promotion methods using "mass media", for example TV and the internet. Such techniques are usually seen as impersonal, designed to reach as many people at as little cost as possible.
They can include:
TV, Radio and Cinema - allows businesses to target a large group of people
Newspapers - allow advertisers to reach specific groups of people
The web - allows businesses to reach a large international audience at a very low cost.
Outdoor/transport - advertisements on the side of busses, outside shops and on billboards enable
Promotion is another 'P' of the marketing mix - promotion is about communicating, informing and developing an image (of the company or a product) with both current customers and potential customers.
Businesses promote themselves and products for a number of reasons:
-increase and maintain demand for their product(s)
-increase and maintain the market share of their product(s)
-'make noise' and raise awareness for their product(s)
-create or enhance a brand image
-Promotion methods
There are two advertising techniques businesses may use: Below the line (BTL) and Above the line (ATL). The technique and method a business decides to use to promote its product depends on a number of factors:
-the type of product
-their budget
-the product's stage in the product life cycle
-the target audience (who the business wants to reach)
-legal issues (whether a business is allowed to promote their product in a certain way, e.g. tobacco and drugs)
-Below the line (BTL) promotion
-Below the line promotion includes promotion methods which are more personal, traditional and allow the company control. They can include:
PR - public relations - when a business communicates directly with it's public through press releases and speaking at conferences
-Sales promotions - such as 50% extra free, buy one get one free or coupons and gifts
-Sponsorship - where a business will pay to be associated with another product, person or event. -Sportspersons are often sponsored by sports companies.
-Direct sales - when a representative of the business will visit potential customers
-Above the line (ABL) promotion
-Below the line promotion includes promotion methods using "mass media", for example TV and the internet. Such techniques are usually seen as impersonal, designed to reach as many people at as little cost as possible.
They can include:
TV, Radio and Cinema - allows businesses to target a large group of people
Newspapers - allow advertisers to reach specific groups of people
The web - allows businesses to reach a large international audience at a very low cost.
Outdoor/transport - advertisements on the side of busses, outside shops and on billboards enable
Advertising fundementals
Advertising
Advertising is the most expensive of all the promotional activities undertaken by businesses. It can be carried out on television, at the cinema, on the radio, on posters, in newspapers, in magazines, and on the internet. Advertising can allow the business to easily reach a vast audience, to have a great impact on consumers and to reinforce other types of promotion that it is carrying out (e.g. competitions). Advertisements can generally fall into two categories:
informative advertisements - informative advertisements attempt to purely let the consumer know the availability of the product, its function and purpose and to inform the consumers about the characteristics of the product (e.g. Government information films).
persuasive advertisements - persuasive advertisements attempt to get the consumers to purchase the product, by emphasising certain aspects of the marketing mix (e.g. the taste, style and moving images). Another category of advertising is 'corporate advertising', where the business advertises its name and image, rather than any of its product range.
There are several criteria that must be met in order for an advertisement to be considered 'effective':
Firstly, it must reach the desired target audience (i.e. those consumers who are most likely to purchase the product- this can be discovered through market research).
Secondly, the advertisements must be attractive and appealing to the target audience (this can be done through using certain images, pictures, words and personalities).
Thirdly, the advertisements must create far more money through sales revenue than the business spends on the advertising campaign.
There are two bodies established by the government which monitor advertisements in the UK. The Advertising Standards Authority (A.S.A) monitors any advertisements in newspapers, magazines and posters, and ensures that they are true, decent, fair and legal'. Any complaints by consumers can lead to the advertisement being investigated and possibly banned from publication. The Independent Television Commission (I.T.C) monitors any advertisements on the radio, on television and at the cinema. Again, it has the powers to investigate any complaints about certain advertisements and ban the business from advertising in the future.
Advertising is the most expensive of all the promotional activities undertaken by businesses. It can be carried out on television, at the cinema, on the radio, on posters, in newspapers, in magazines, and on the internet. Advertising can allow the business to easily reach a vast audience, to have a great impact on consumers and to reinforce other types of promotion that it is carrying out (e.g. competitions). Advertisements can generally fall into two categories:
informative advertisements - informative advertisements attempt to purely let the consumer know the availability of the product, its function and purpose and to inform the consumers about the characteristics of the product (e.g. Government information films).
persuasive advertisements - persuasive advertisements attempt to get the consumers to purchase the product, by emphasising certain aspects of the marketing mix (e.g. the taste, style and moving images). Another category of advertising is 'corporate advertising', where the business advertises its name and image, rather than any of its product range.
There are several criteria that must be met in order for an advertisement to be considered 'effective':
Firstly, it must reach the desired target audience (i.e. those consumers who are most likely to purchase the product- this can be discovered through market research).
Secondly, the advertisements must be attractive and appealing to the target audience (this can be done through using certain images, pictures, words and personalities).
Thirdly, the advertisements must create far more money through sales revenue than the business spends on the advertising campaign.
There are two bodies established by the government which monitor advertisements in the UK. The Advertising Standards Authority (A.S.A) monitors any advertisements in newspapers, magazines and posters, and ensures that they are true, decent, fair and legal'. Any complaints by consumers can lead to the advertisement being investigated and possibly banned from publication. The Independent Television Commission (I.T.C) monitors any advertisements on the radio, on television and at the cinema. Again, it has the powers to investigate any complaints about certain advertisements and ban the business from advertising in the future.
Sony's 'It Only Does Everything' Campaign Paying Off
Speaking at the MI6 marketing conference in San Francisco last week, Peter Dille, SCEA's head of marketing, said the company's 'It Only Does Everything' PlayStation 3 advertisement campaign is working.
The ads, which feature fictional Sony executive Kevin Butler, were intended to highlight the PlayStation 3's features to consumers more clearly and inject some humor. Dille said console sales are going up and that consumers are more aware and educated about the PlayStation 3's offerings.
"The campaign is working to drive hardware sales," he said. "PlayStation 3 sales are up 184 percent in the three months following the price drop, and while a lot of that has to do with price itself, we know from research that consumers are more educated as well."
"Purchase intent went from 19 percent prior to the price drop, to 36 percent after this campaign started. And we've also tracked our competitors and they've fallen during the same time."
Dille also said fans can expect to see even more of Kevin Butler in future TV spots.
"You're going to continue to see Kevin Butler highlighting new content that is hitting the platform. That will include PlayStation Move later this year and also 3D," he added.
Reflecting on the company's early PlayStation 3 advertising, Dille candidly explained the abstract messaging, which included a crying baby doll in a white room, and why it wasn't the best move in highlighting the features of the console.
"We get questions about the white room and the baby ad quite a bit. That whole campaign was to get people to say 'What the [...]? I need to understand more about what this is,' " he said. "That whole campaign was really about power and the power the PS3 has. But what we found was that this whole positioning was a bit intimidating to people. Our research also showed that Sony could be perceived as arrogant."
What the [...] indeed, Sony.
Dille also said the company's initial campaign clearly wasn't working and that the worldwide economic downturn wasn't helping.
"We struggled with our messaging early on to clearly communicate the value proposition of the PlayStation 3," explained Dille. "Now I'd like to think that the best, crispiest messaging in the world really wouldn't have done a whole lot to sell a $600 game machine in a very horrendous economy."
He later explained the company's newest campaign offers a much clearer picture of PlayStation 3's features and puts the company in a much better position with its fans.
"With our campaign now, we kind of knocked off all those obstacles. The arrogance I think has gone away," Dille said. "We kind of gotten back to our mojo with the sense of humor that people came to know and love with early PlayStation advertising. I think it's just a more likable connection to the consumer."
The ads, which feature fictional Sony executive Kevin Butler, were intended to highlight the PlayStation 3's features to consumers more clearly and inject some humor. Dille said console sales are going up and that consumers are more aware and educated about the PlayStation 3's offerings.
"The campaign is working to drive hardware sales," he said. "PlayStation 3 sales are up 184 percent in the three months following the price drop, and while a lot of that has to do with price itself, we know from research that consumers are more educated as well."
"Purchase intent went from 19 percent prior to the price drop, to 36 percent after this campaign started. And we've also tracked our competitors and they've fallen during the same time."
Dille also said fans can expect to see even more of Kevin Butler in future TV spots.
"You're going to continue to see Kevin Butler highlighting new content that is hitting the platform. That will include PlayStation Move later this year and also 3D," he added.
Reflecting on the company's early PlayStation 3 advertising, Dille candidly explained the abstract messaging, which included a crying baby doll in a white room, and why it wasn't the best move in highlighting the features of the console.
"We get questions about the white room and the baby ad quite a bit. That whole campaign was to get people to say 'What the [...]? I need to understand more about what this is,' " he said. "That whole campaign was really about power and the power the PS3 has. But what we found was that this whole positioning was a bit intimidating to people. Our research also showed that Sony could be perceived as arrogant."
What the [...] indeed, Sony.
Dille also said the company's initial campaign clearly wasn't working and that the worldwide economic downturn wasn't helping.
"We struggled with our messaging early on to clearly communicate the value proposition of the PlayStation 3," explained Dille. "Now I'd like to think that the best, crispiest messaging in the world really wouldn't have done a whole lot to sell a $600 game machine in a very horrendous economy."
He later explained the company's newest campaign offers a much clearer picture of PlayStation 3's features and puts the company in a much better position with its fans.
"With our campaign now, we kind of knocked off all those obstacles. The arrogance I think has gone away," Dille said. "We kind of gotten back to our mojo with the sense of humor that people came to know and love with early PlayStation advertising. I think it's just a more likable connection to the consumer."
Industry history - X box Kinect overview
Launching in 2010, the revolutionary Kinect for Xbox 360 will fundamentally transform the way people play games, entertain and connect with others by introducing a new way to play – controller free. The state of the art technology utilises audio and video sensors to recognise peoples’ faces, track their body movements and gestures and understand their voices, making the user the controller.
Microsoft Kinect games transport people into a magical world of roaring rapids, mountain obstacles and fast race cars where users build friendships with tigers and use their entire bodies to drive racing carts. This extraordinary experience continues outside the world of games into that of movies, television shows and music. Users can instantly jump into a movie on 1080 HD by simply saying “Xbox, play” or effortlessly browse through millions of songs. With Kinect, people step right into thousands of sporting events on ESPN3, while Kinect Video enables them to connect with friends and family across the world, making chat on Xbox LIVE easier.
For advertisers, Kinect allows brands to reach consumers in a highly interactive environment. New advertising opportunities will become available as new titles launch on the platform. Chevrolet was the first automotive company to introduce a multiscreen campaign using Kinect technology for the launch of its new model, the Chevrolet Volt. Following the introduction of Kinect in the fall, users will be able to test drive the new Chevy Volt in “Kinect Joy Ride,” the first controller-free racing game from Microsoft Game Studios.
......... 07/07/10 - advertising.microsoft.com/
Microsoft Kinect games transport people into a magical world of roaring rapids, mountain obstacles and fast race cars where users build friendships with tigers and use their entire bodies to drive racing carts. This extraordinary experience continues outside the world of games into that of movies, television shows and music. Users can instantly jump into a movie on 1080 HD by simply saying “Xbox, play” or effortlessly browse through millions of songs. With Kinect, people step right into thousands of sporting events on ESPN3, while Kinect Video enables them to connect with friends and family across the world, making chat on Xbox LIVE easier.
For advertisers, Kinect allows brands to reach consumers in a highly interactive environment. New advertising opportunities will become available as new titles launch on the platform. Chevrolet was the first automotive company to introduce a multiscreen campaign using Kinect technology for the launch of its new model, the Chevrolet Volt. Following the introduction of Kinect in the fall, users will be able to test drive the new Chevy Volt in “Kinect Joy Ride,” the first controller-free racing game from Microsoft Game Studios.
......... 07/07/10 - advertising.microsoft.com/
Advertising Age Names Nintendo “Marketer Of The Year” - David Jenkins
Marketing and media magazine Advertising Age has named Nintendo of America as its “Marketer of the year”, just days after rival marketing publication BrandWeek named the company’s president Reggie Fils-Aime as its “Grand Marketer of the Year”.
In a glowing appraisal of the company, Advertising Age attributes the Wii and Nintendo DS with radically reviving Nintendo as a company and reinvigorating the video games industry as a whole, with by now commonplace comparisons to Apple.
The article spares particular praise for the Wii Ambassadors program that saw Nintendo targeting traditional non-gamers, including so-called “Alpha Moms”, to evangelize the product.
"Just look at the way people consume entertainment today. The idea that you would spend hours playing video games is just not real anymore," quotes the article of Robert Matthews, senior director of consumer marketing at Nintendo of America.
"A major insight that Nintendo had early on was that they saw that gamers were getting bored, even though they didn't know it yet," says Perrin Kaplan, outgoing vice president of marketing and corporate affairs at Nintendo of America.
Interestingly, much of the core marketing team is about to leave Nintendo of America, due to the relocation of marketing offices to New York and San Francisco. As well as Kaplan, director of public relations Beth Llewelyn and senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications George Harrison will both be leaving after long tenures at the company.
- David Jenkins
In a glowing appraisal of the company, Advertising Age attributes the Wii and Nintendo DS with radically reviving Nintendo as a company and reinvigorating the video games industry as a whole, with by now commonplace comparisons to Apple.
The article spares particular praise for the Wii Ambassadors program that saw Nintendo targeting traditional non-gamers, including so-called “Alpha Moms”, to evangelize the product.
"Just look at the way people consume entertainment today. The idea that you would spend hours playing video games is just not real anymore," quotes the article of Robert Matthews, senior director of consumer marketing at Nintendo of America.
"A major insight that Nintendo had early on was that they saw that gamers were getting bored, even though they didn't know it yet," says Perrin Kaplan, outgoing vice president of marketing and corporate affairs at Nintendo of America.
Interestingly, much of the core marketing team is about to leave Nintendo of America, due to the relocation of marketing offices to New York and San Francisco. As well as Kaplan, director of public relations Beth Llewelyn and senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications George Harrison will both be leaving after long tenures at the company.
- David Jenkins
Further research - Nintendo Wii - $200 million advertising campaign
In an effort to move out of last place in the gaming console wars -- behind Microsoft and Sony -- Nintendo is made one of its strongest marketing moves in years. They spent more than $200 million to advertise and market its next-generation Wii console.
The company went to what it called "unprecedented lengths" to let people see, feel and experience the Wii system. The marketing campaign was designed to convince the masses that the Wii can be enjoyed by more than just gamers.
"Our plan to market Wii broadly, with hands-on experiences, continues to pay off," said George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Wii introduces new ways to play, to expand both the appeal of games and the audience of gamers. Our marketing campaign is central to that."
Nintendo's concept of "gaming for the masses" is evident in every element of the marketing campaign. The company set up an online social networking community and scheduled sampling events in average people's homes. Urban gaming events, retail midnight madness promotions, multi-city music tours and hands-on play opportunities in malls nationwide.
There is something to be said for Nintendo's gaming for the masses marketing strategy, according to In-Stat Video Game Analyst Brian O'Rourke. The controller is similar to the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, he told TechNewsWorld -- that is, enormously complicated.
Nintendo has gone back to basics, he added. The movement of a user's hand on the joystick determines the action on screen, which is very intuitive.
"Anyone can pick up a Wii controller and play relatively well relatively quickly."
- Brian O'Rourke
Wii - TV add
Wii's central ad campaign follows two friendly Japanese men who are shown demonstrating the Wii's ease of use and playability. The TV spots also include a series of vignettes spoofing reality TV shows.
In other television initiatives, Comedy Central hosted a contest to give away a Wii every hour throughout Thanksgiving weekend. At the end of the weekend, the grand prize will be a Wii console and a Toyota Scion that is tricked out to look like a Wii.
The spots feature a family from Long Island that finds they enjoy playing a Wii together.
Nintendo's viral efforts have already payed off. Wii's MySpace page has attracted nearly a million page views from more than 200,000 unique visitors. Members have created Wii videos and posted thousands of messages in the forums.
In a 24-hour period in early November, Wii served as the centerpiece of a multipart "South Park" episode, appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, made People magazine's "Style Watch" gift guide issue, and was featured on a National Public Radio report about holiday gifts.
Will the flood of cash and strategic marketing measures pay off for Nintendo? The marketing certainly helps, O'Rourke noted, but what helps more is a solid console with a fair number of games available at launch.
"The combination of the fact that Nintendo's technology is a bit less expensive to develop and they have those big title characters -- like Mario and Zelda -- to depend on will help them succeed in the next generation."
- Brian O'Rourke
The company went to what it called "unprecedented lengths" to let people see, feel and experience the Wii system. The marketing campaign was designed to convince the masses that the Wii can be enjoyed by more than just gamers.
"Our plan to market Wii broadly, with hands-on experiences, continues to pay off," said George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Wii introduces new ways to play, to expand both the appeal of games and the audience of gamers. Our marketing campaign is central to that."
Nintendo's concept of "gaming for the masses" is evident in every element of the marketing campaign. The company set up an online social networking community and scheduled sampling events in average people's homes. Urban gaming events, retail midnight madness promotions, multi-city music tours and hands-on play opportunities in malls nationwide.
There is something to be said for Nintendo's gaming for the masses marketing strategy, according to In-Stat Video Game Analyst Brian O'Rourke. The controller is similar to the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, he told TechNewsWorld -- that is, enormously complicated.
Nintendo has gone back to basics, he added. The movement of a user's hand on the joystick determines the action on screen, which is very intuitive.
"Anyone can pick up a Wii controller and play relatively well relatively quickly."
- Brian O'Rourke
Wii - TV add
Wii's central ad campaign follows two friendly Japanese men who are shown demonstrating the Wii's ease of use and playability. The TV spots also include a series of vignettes spoofing reality TV shows.
In other television initiatives, Comedy Central hosted a contest to give away a Wii every hour throughout Thanksgiving weekend. At the end of the weekend, the grand prize will be a Wii console and a Toyota Scion that is tricked out to look like a Wii.
The spots feature a family from Long Island that finds they enjoy playing a Wii together.
Nintendo's viral efforts have already payed off. Wii's MySpace page has attracted nearly a million page views from more than 200,000 unique visitors. Members have created Wii videos and posted thousands of messages in the forums.
In a 24-hour period in early November, Wii served as the centerpiece of a multipart "South Park" episode, appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, made People magazine's "Style Watch" gift guide issue, and was featured on a National Public Radio report about holiday gifts.
Will the flood of cash and strategic marketing measures pay off for Nintendo? The marketing certainly helps, O'Rourke noted, but what helps more is a solid console with a fair number of games available at launch.
"The combination of the fact that Nintendo's technology is a bit less expensive to develop and they have those big title characters -- like Mario and Zelda -- to depend on will help them succeed in the next generation."
- Brian O'Rourke
Thursday, 3 March 2011
6 part plan - Marketing
6-Part plan that includes:
Purpose and Mission
Situational Analysis
Marketing Strategy and Objectives
Tactical Programs
Budgets, Performance Analysis and Implementation
Additional Consideration
This plan is aimed at individual products and product lines, however, it can be adapted fairly easily for use in planning one or more strategic business units (SBU). The page length suggested for each section represents a single-spaced typed format for a plan focused on a single product. Obviously for multi-product plans lengths will be somewhat longer.
It is assumed that anyone developing a Marketing Plan possesses a working understanding of marketing principles. If you do not, it is suggested you spend considerable time learning about basic marketing through the previous sections of the Principles of Marketing Tutorials.
The main body of the Marketing Plan often starts with the planner providing the rationale for the plan.
Offer a brief explanation for why this plan was produced
e.g., introduce new product, enter new markets, continue growth of existing product, yearly review and planning document, etc.
Suggest what may be done with the information contained in the plan
e.g., set targets to be achieved in the next year, represents a departmental report to be included in larger business or strategic plan, etc.
Purpose and Mission
Situational Analysis
Marketing Strategy and Objectives
Tactical Programs
Budgets, Performance Analysis and Implementation
Additional Consideration
This plan is aimed at individual products and product lines, however, it can be adapted fairly easily for use in planning one or more strategic business units (SBU). The page length suggested for each section represents a single-spaced typed format for a plan focused on a single product. Obviously for multi-product plans lengths will be somewhat longer.
It is assumed that anyone developing a Marketing Plan possesses a working understanding of marketing principles. If you do not, it is suggested you spend considerable time learning about basic marketing through the previous sections of the Principles of Marketing Tutorials.
The main body of the Marketing Plan often starts with the planner providing the rationale for the plan.
Offer a brief explanation for why this plan was produced
e.g., introduce new product, enter new markets, continue growth of existing product, yearly review and planning document, etc.
Suggest what may be done with the information contained in the plan
e.g., set targets to be achieved in the next year, represents a departmental report to be included in larger business or strategic plan, etc.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
+ / - Primary research Marketing
Marketing is perhaps the most important activity in a business because it has a direct effect on profitability and sales. Larger businesses will dedicate specific staff and departments for the purpose of marketing.
It is important to realise that marketing cannot be carried out in isolation from the rest of the business. For example:
The marketing section of a business needs to work closely with operations, research and development, finance and human resources to check their plans are possible.
Operations will need to use sales forecasts produced by the marketing department to plan their production schedules.
Sales forecasts will also be an important part of the budgets produced by the finance department, as well as the deployment of labour for the human resources department.
A research and development department will need to work very closely with the marketing department to understand the needs of the customers and to test outputs of the R&D section.
It is important to realise that marketing cannot be carried out in isolation from the rest of the business. For example:
The marketing section of a business needs to work closely with operations, research and development, finance and human resources to check their plans are possible.
Operations will need to use sales forecasts produced by the marketing department to plan their production schedules.
Sales forecasts will also be an important part of the budgets produced by the finance department, as well as the deployment of labour for the human resources department.
A research and development department will need to work very closely with the marketing department to understand the needs of the customers and to test outputs of the R&D section.
Situational analysis
Situational Analysis.
Designed to take a snapshot of where things stand at the time the plan is presented. It covers much of the same ground covered in the Preparing a Market Study tutorial, so those preparing a Marketing Plan should check this out as well.
This part of the Marketing Plan is extremely important and quite time consuming. For many, finding the metric needed in this section may be difficult, especially for those entering new markets. Anyone in need of numbers should look the Data Collection: Low-Cost Secondary Research tutorial, which may offer ideas for inexpensively locating the numbers Marketing Plan writers may need. For those who can afford to spend to locate marketing metrics, the Data Collection: High-Cost Secondary Research tutorial will also be of value.
The situational analysis covers the following key areas:
Current Products
Current Target Market
Current Distributor Network
Current Competitors
Financial Analysis
External Forces
Designed to take a snapshot of where things stand at the time the plan is presented. It covers much of the same ground covered in the Preparing a Market Study tutorial, so those preparing a Marketing Plan should check this out as well.
This part of the Marketing Plan is extremely important and quite time consuming. For many, finding the metric needed in this section may be difficult, especially for those entering new markets. Anyone in need of numbers should look the Data Collection: Low-Cost Secondary Research tutorial, which may offer ideas for inexpensively locating the numbers Marketing Plan writers may need. For those who can afford to spend to locate marketing metrics, the Data Collection: High-Cost Secondary Research tutorial will also be of value.
The situational analysis covers the following key areas:
Current Products
Current Target Market
Current Distributor Network
Current Competitors
Financial Analysis
External Forces
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