Tag Archives: competition

by | Tuesday, April 23, 2024 · 7:42 am

Tiger Woods Launches a New Brand – Sun Day Red

Even if you know very little about golf, you can probably recognize professional golfer Tiger Woods wearing his signature red Nike swoosh shirt …. Oops… I forgot, no more Nike shirts for Tiger, he ended that relationship a few months ago after 27 years of sponsorship.

Now, Woods is launching his new brand with TaylorMade Golf. But he still favors the red polo shirt for Sunday rounds. He’s even named his new brand “Sun Day Red” albeit with a tiger embroidered on the shirt instead of a swoosh. The tiger logo is composed of 15 stripes which is the number of championships won by Tiger Woods.

Sun Day Red will be marketed as a premium lifestyle brand for athletes, fans, and non-athletes alike, including apparel, hoodies, shoes, and cashmere sweaters. In essence, the company will be combining golf with fashion and leisure for lifestyle wear. Woods isn’t the only athlete to launch such a lifestyle brand; Roger Federer, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, and Venus and Serena Williams have also entered the marketplace with their own lifestyle/sports brands.

Products will be available online beginning in May, to be followed by international expansion. While pricey, the items are not extreme – polo shirts from $114 – $175, and cashmere sweaters $250 – $350. While TaylorMade does not yet have golf footwear, it’s reportedly under development.

Shall we get a tee time next Sunday?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss how professional athletes have started their own brands.
  2. Show website: https://www.sundayred.com/
  3. Discuss how to build and use a SWOT analysis grid: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (internal and external factors).
  4. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a professional athlete who also has a brand associated with them. (Include Tiger Woods as one of the athletic brands.)
  5. For each athlete, including Tiger Woods, direct the team to build a SWOT analysis grid.
    1. Strengths: what is the brand good at?
    1. Weaknesses: what needs work?
    1. Opportunities: what is going on in the marketplace?
    1. Threats: what should the brand be wary of?
  6. Based on the analysis, what are the issues and risks that might occur for each brand?
  7. Debrief by building SWOT analysis grid on the white board.

Source: Ferguson, D. (13 February 2024). Tiger Woods unveils Sun Day Red, a new apparel brand with TaylorMade. Associated Press; Hirsch, L. & Friedman, V. (12 February 2024). Tiger Woods introduces his new brand: Sun Day Red. New York Times.

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by | Thursday, April 11, 2024 · 7:22 am

Walmart Buys VIZIO to Grow Advertising

No longer content to be just a retail powerhouse, Walmart wants to expand into the advertising business and compete with online rival Amazon. To that end, Walmart is buying smart TV manufacturer VIZIO for $2.3 billion.

Why buy VIZIO? Mainly because VIZIO’s SmartCast Operating System will allow Walmart to connect with consumers using innovative entertainment. (Or should we say it will allow Walmart to advertise more easily.) VIZIO has more than 18 million accounts on SmartCast, which offers free, streamed content that is supported by ads. VIZIO’s advertising business has more than 500 direct advertiser relationships, including a number of Fortune 500 firms.

Today, Walmart does sell ads at its 10,500 physical stores and websites. But once it acquires VIZIO, Walmart will be able to sell ads through streaming services on televisions, similar to how Roku and Amazon operate.

Walmart stores serve 160 million visitors each week; a whopping 90% of all Americans shop at Walmart. And while Walmart’s advertising business generated revenue of $3.4 billion, that amount is less than one percent of its total retail sales. Compare this to Amazon which generates ad sales of about 15% of its total sales and the reason for the acquisition becomes clearer.

By buying VIZIO, Walmart keeps its valuable shopping data and gains operating systems and hardware that are used to deliver ads. It expands Walmart Connect, which brings advertising partners into contact with its extensive customer base through sponsored products ads.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the various approaches for promoting products.
  2. Show Vizio website: https://www.vizio.com/en/home
  3. Show Walmart Connect website: https://www.walmartconnect.com/
  4. Divide students into teams. Have each team analyze how Amazon and Walmart use sponsored ads to drive sales.
  5. In teams, have students develop a promotional plan that uses VIZIO to advertise.

Source: Meyersohn, N. (20 February 2024). Why Walmart is buying Vizio. CNN Business; Peiser, J. & Gregg, A. (20 February 2024). Walmart to buy TV maker Vizio for $2.3 billion to expand advertising. The Washington Post; other news sources

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by | Tuesday, April 9, 2024 · 7:19 am

Are Negative Ads a Positive Thing?

While advertisements comparing products are not unusual in the marketplace, seldom are these ads really negative about a competing product or service. By negative, we mean boldly stating information about a competitor’s weaknesses to make sure consumers think of it as inferior.

(However, political ads tend to be very negative. In this case, the campaigns from Candidate A are promoting the mistakes that Candidate B has made so that voters are aware of the weakness and will choose Candidate A.)

While most students will not know about much about the “Cola Wars” of the 1980s between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, those two companies went head-to-head to portray the other brand as tasteless. (Remember the “Pepsi Challenge”?) However, the focus on product deficiencies eventually led to lower consumer confidence in both brands.

McDonald’s took on Starbucks with a billboard campaign about pricing. In other words, why spend $4 on a coffee when McDonald’s sells coffee at a much lower price. And Mac took direct aim at PC inefficiencies with its “Get a Mac” campaign.

Another approach is the use of negative information in Public Service Announcements (PSA). For example, a PSA might show the very negative after effects of a drunk driving accident. It’s a warning though, not an ad designed to gain sales.

In general, highlighting a competitor’s weakness leads consumers to examine the similarities between products, negatively impacting the entire product category. After all, if Company A attacks Company B, then Company B will likely retaliate and attack Company A. And round it goes… Both companies lose.

What is your opinion?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the various approaches to advertising, including competitive advertising.
  2. When is competitive advertising good to do? When should it not be done?
  3. Divide students into teams. Have each team find examples of negative, competitive advertising (but not in politics).
  4. Show Pepsi Challenge ad: https://youtu.be/eiO_JES4yBY?si=cr0csSsSZJUBwsI2
  5. Show “Get a Mac” Mac vs. PC ads: https://youtu.be/0eEG5LVXdKo?si=Fzzd_tYsdMnZC3um
  6. Discuss with students why a negative ad approach was used.
  7. In teams, have students develop a negative ad comparing two alternatives.
  8. What are the risks? Rewards?
  9. Have each team discuss their negative ad to debrief the exercise.

Source: Bostanci, G. & Yildirim, P. (25 January 2024). Does negative advertising pay off for consumer brands? Wall Street Journal; Murray, S. (6 February 2024). Are attack ads effective? Knowledge at Wharton.

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