There is a shift in the mind-set of companies that are looking to maintain their market position or to grow their businesses. Brand extensions are the key. While this is nothing new, many companies are launching what I’ll call economy-based brand extensions. Companies like “Mercedes”:http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/ are selling inexpensive versions of their luxury cars; the airlines “Delta”:http://www.delta.com, “United”:http://www.united.com, and “Air Canada”:http://www.aircanada.ca are running scaled-down versions of their premium flights; and new beers born from leading brands are battling for market share in the economy beer segment.
These companies are attempting to target the cost-conscious consumers. (Let’s face it, who isn’t looking for name brand products at reasonable prices?) There are many forces at work in this complex mind-shift, which can be attributed to the impact of the big-box retailers such as “Costco”:http://www.costco.com and “Walmart”:http://www.walmart.com, skyrocketing gas prices, and the changing attitudes of middle and upper-class shoppers who are now openly flaunting their bargain-hunting skills. These factors are having a significant impact on all brands.
There is nothing new about using price as a lure to attract cost-conscious consumers. Online and traditional coupons and point-of-sale promotions have been staples of the shopping experience for years. But, why is this change happening at such an increased rate?
Category: Kevin Krossing
You may not have heard, but “McDonald’s”:http://www.mcdonalds.com/ “is”:http://design.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000893049496/ “in”:http://www.myfashionlife.com/index.php?p=667 “talks”:http://poplicks.com/2005/07/mcdonalds-you-got-billions-billions.html “with”:http://www.canuckflack.com/archives/000908.html “some”: of the most influential purveyors of “hip” around – namely P. Diddy, Tom Hilfiger, and Russell Simmons to name a few – with the plan to re-envision their employee uniforms.
Comments closedRecently, I worked with a client to review a marketing strategy developed by their agency. The client wasn’t satisfied with the agency’s approach to their business challenges or the value proposition they had created to use in their marketing campaign.
The value proposition had to communicate to the target customer segment(s) why they should buy the product, why it was better than competitive products, and how the company that makes the product is trustworthy and reliable.
As I analyzed the client’s situation, their marketing aspirations, and the agency’s strategic recommendations, it became obvious that the client’s value proposition had not been clearly defined. As a result, the campaign did not position the client’s company or product as being unique. This was a problem because, as we all know, sameness doesn’t sell.