Come on Coca Cola

So whoever has sat next to me in a marketing, PR or advertising lecture would know I really do not like Coca Cola. It frustrates me that they are so creative and engaging with their advertising efforts and they are able to create such a big community. These ‘great’ ads are always examples in lectures and I always watch in annoyance and say “I really don’t like Coke”. Hence the opening sentence.

No thanks.

 

I dislike them because they are so good at marketing and because they are marketing such an unhealthy product to almost every single consumer in the world. I don’t see it as a fully ethical practice.

The Coca Cola Company’s Business Code of Conduct states five things at the beginning of the document;

• Act with integrity.
• Be honest.
• Follow the law.
• Comply with the Code.
• Be accountable.

They have well written and thorough documents on Corporate Governance Guidelines, Social Responsibility and Ethics. There is no official document by Coca Cola with information on sugar or a healthy balanced lifestyle.

I’m not saying that this company has to tell the world how bad sugar is, but I feel the benefits of a balanced lifestyle should be written in a report, available on their website.

When I search Coca Cola and healthy lifestyles I get articles, reports and blogs on how they donated money to health researchers to help with their work. Those professionals then also put out reports on how exercise is more important to stop obesity, that sugary drinks do not play a role in obesity and even one that stated diet coke was healthier than water!!! Help me…

These are just some of the articles and speculations that pop up. Even if they are not all 100% true (and I was a bit sceptical when reading some facts)  it isn’t picked up by bigger media platforms and Coca Cola doesn’t have to worry.

I think for their brand to be more ethical, they should clear up all rumors and speculations with an official document online. They say they want to be transparent, so they should be honest about all the work of the research they help fund. This would help them develop a clearer, stronger message and possibly make unimpressed consumers (like me) turn our attitudes and behaviours around.

After a bit more research I did find a useful page on their website, follow the link, which is in the right direction.

Just as a final point, Coca cola has amazing viral marketing potential! For example:

But I feel we are yet to see a campaign that really targets healthy lifestyles and balancing sugar intake. So until I see that in one of my lectures I am still not that bit a fan.

YAY veggies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judging by the Cover

So what would you rather choose?

A:      B:

Well firstly, if you are a uni student I would say  we would all choose A as it is cheaper! If they were the same price though what would you pick? The fancy one? The packaging has been carefully designed to draw us in. It makes us think good quality and taste. It is easily recognisable as premium and if it looks better than other brands on the shelves it is more likely to be picked.

It is such an important element for brands, as essentially consumers are judging every product by its cover. Even if a well established high quality brand suddenly started using less quality packaging and materials, their brand loyals would even question their purchase. It is all about perception.

I find it funny that this infographic is also an advertisement. We can’t escape them!

Tap Packaging Solutions  2015.

I did have a lot of fun researching packaging and products and it was easy to apply it all to my own shopping experiences! I definitely think vision and touch are the best sensory systems to target. These things are physical stimuli and someone’s inherent predisposition also plays a large role.

This example from below when I went shopping the other day is a perfect example of contrasts in vision and touch. So we all know Target has items that are a bit cheaper but imagine if you had no idea about either of these brands. How would you automatically perceive them?

Vision: The Target bag is flimsy and almost see through. The Country Road bag is thick, sturdy cardboard with a very minimal and simple design.

Touch: The Target bag is thin, the opposite to Country Road as the bag is thick with a textured cardboard and ribbon handles.

Some features of more premium packaging include; better quality printing and materials and a minimalistic design (Schiffman 2014). This is what is displayed in the example. We perceive these features with better quality as it costs more money to produce the packaging. I think it means the company has more money to spend on it and I also know if I spend more money on a brand I expect nicer packaging. Please wrap my items in tissue paper and tie a ribbon around it haha.

We may be seeking out the less premium brands, and packaging is a clue to what we may be after. This is how it can change consumers behaviours; The types of packaging, colours, writing and material can draw us to a product depending on what we think we are after. If something stands out whether it is cheaper or more premium we will be more likely to purchase it.

I also think that when you are in a store, if your purchase is given to you in a nicer quality bag or wrapped up, you build a better connection with the brand and that is the aim of many brands.

• Schiffman, L; O’Cass, A; Paladino, A and Carlson, J 2014, Consumer Behaviour, 6th edition.
• Azad, N & Hamdavipour, L. (2012). A study on effects of packaging characteristics on consumer’s purchasing confidence.Management Science Letters , 2(1), 397-402.

 

 

 

Brands that Snapchat

I still remember when I first heard about Snapchat. It was in one of my first BCM lectures in my first year of uni back in 2013. I could not wrap my head around the concept. Why would I possibly want to send a photo that only lasts 10 seconds?

It was still a few months before I finally got it, and here I am 3 years later in love with it. Snapchat has developed a lot in the last three years, with each new update I found myself liking every addition.

• Snapchat stories, perfect for capturing your night so you can reminisce (or cringe) the next morning.
• Filters, perfect for making us look that little bit better with black and white, for making people laugh, for procrastinating and for swapping your face with your friends!!

The only addition I may not like is this one, if it is true…

Lately I have noticed something, more and more brands and people with huge followers have taken to Snapchat as a means of marketing themselves. Now some brands I have seen, do it right and others are painful to watch..

Here are some examples:

• McDonalds

I actually first got the idea for this blog when I saw McDonalds had Snapchat and location based filters. McDonalds is one of the first brands that are paying to design their own filter (Kokalitcheva 2015). Click here to read an interesting short article on this new form of advertising.

I followed them and tested it out. I do not know why I am giving a thumbs up; they had a pretty pointless story. We are interested in how Snapchat affects consumer behaviour however. I was wondering how much it makes people go and buy McDonalds?

 

• Bondi Sands is another brand I followed on Snap Chat. They Have some useful pictures, and other times it is very uninspiring.

 

• Frank Body is very active across all social media platforms. So it seemed natural for it to have Snapchat. They have such a distinct style and they create snaps that are easily identifiable as theirs. They have visually appealing content and demonstrate the products often. It also is consistent with all their other marketing efforts; Cross-promoting content. It is one of the best ways to make Snapchat work effectively for a brand (Johnson 2015).

 

• Princess Polly is another. I feel it is pretty useful for clothing brands to use Snapchat, it is an easy way to quickly show how things look, and what is new. Princess Polly can go overboard, snapping every moment. That is just my opinion though, if you like that brand you could love to see every element.

 

Pros of brands using Snapchat:

• Relatable- I think this is one of the main reasons for brands to use this media. Especially if you have a target market of 14-24 year olds as this is the largest user age group!
• Informal yet informative- It is a relaxed way to send content to your followers.
• Personal- It can seem more personal to users as they get the messages directly. They can become more than a brand and form better connections with their market.
• Instant- Brands can take a picture and instantly send it out for 1000’s of users to see. It is a great way to see things as they happen.

Princess Polly is a good example at being personal and instant. They show all different aspects of their brand. As well as the clothes, they show the staff, the location, what they like to do, what music they like etc. and this creates a more personal relationship with the consumers as they feel they know more about the brand.

Cons:

• Buyers and potential buyers can see a lot of content but there is no direct link to a website to make purchases. People have to remember that product and go themselves to the site.
• There is a fine line between snapping well and then snapping too much, especially if you are not communicating useful or engaging images.

Bondi Sands is a good example of this. I know they mean to be helpful by posting ‘tanning tip’ videos. Butttt the videos only last 10 seconds and when they are going into a lot of detail and information it takes a very long time… I think YouTube videos are better suited to that style of information.

If we look at the positives of Snapchat and look at the brands that use it well, with interesting, engaging and informing snaps, how does this affect Consumer Behaviour?

Mainly I think it is about building relationships with the market and to really show the brand in an honest and authentic way. This increased credibility and links to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. People need friendship (social needs) and brands that Snapchat to their consumers are trying to create these. If consumers feel closer to a brand then that brand or product will move into the persons Evoked set. This will change their behaviour when they need something or go shopping as they think of that brand and purchase it over competitors. That purchasing behaviour is also an example of emotional motivation as they have that connection.

Lastly to change consumer behaviour, companies need to change the attitudes of their audience. By snapping them they can be funny and relatable which starts the attitude change. Some strategies for attitude change I have noticed with the brands above include; change the consumers beliefs of the brand and they often associate the product with an admired event or celebrity.

So if it is done correctly, snap away!!

…

Johnson, L 2015, ‘5 Ways Brands Are Standing Out and Building Audiences on Snapchat’, Adweek, p. 1.

Kokalitcheva, K 2015, Snapchat is tapping a brand new revenue source, Fortune.com, blog post, viewed 9th May 2016.