Monthly Archives: October 2014

by | Tuesday, October 21, 2014 · 3:59 am

Viral Videos in October, 2014

ViralOctober2014

Every week Advertising Age, in conjunction with company Visible Measures, publishes a list of the top performing videos. The weekly chart highlights viral video ads that appear on online video sites. Each ad measures viewership of brand-syndicated video clips as well as social video placements that are driven by viewers around the world. True Reach™ quantifies the total audience that has been exposed to a viral video campaign.

There are three key factors for viral video success:

  1. Reaching the tastemakers.
  2. Building a community of participation.
  3. Creating unexpectedness in the video.

Regardless of the type of product or service, the country of origin, or the type of message, what matters most to companies is reaching the audience in a way the both entertains and informs. Check out this week’s top videos and discuss how they address the factors for viral success.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Bring up Ad Age’s weekly Viral Video chart: http://www.visiblemeasures.com/adage
  2. Have students examine how the ads are measured by Visible Measures.
  3. Divide students into teams. Have each team select an ad on the top video chart and analyze the ad.
  4. Discuss: What is unusual? Who will it interest? What is the key message? How effective is the ad at getting the company’s brand and message across to viewers?
  5. In teams, have students design a viral video for a product of their choosing. What are the elements that are needed to go viral?

Source: Advertising Age, Visible Measures – weekly update

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by | Tuesday, October 7, 2014 · 2:47 pm

What Happens to Old Smartphones?

phones

Apple has already sold more than 10 million phones in the first week of availability, and BlackBerry has just launched its new phone as well. With all the new phones coming out on the market this fall, one wonders – what happens to all the old phones. Where do old phones go, do they have another life? And, how can we get money for our old phones?

Plenty of people sell their used cellphones, and usually it peaks when new models become available. One buyer of used phones is GameStop, a video game retailer that buys and sells used games and electronic equipment. During a recent trade-in event held following the new iPhone 6 launch, the company bought more than 15,000 devices, including recent iPhone 5 models.

Another company that buys used cellphones is EcoATM; it reported an 80% increase in iPhone trade-ins at its 1,100 kiosks. A third company, Gazelle, allows people to mail in their used smartphones and electronics for cash back or credit on Amazon.com. Gazelle reported that it was making 180 offers per minute in the week preceding the iPhone 6 launch and the iPhone 5 accounted for 38% of the devices being traded.

It’s nice to know that old equipment still has some life left for consumers.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show Web sites of companies that buy old smartphones: Gazelle at https://www.gazelle.com/trade-in; EcoATM at http://www.ecoatm.com/; GameStop at http://www.gamestop.com/
  2. Discuss the business model for buying and selling older models of smartphones.
  3. Who is the target market? What is the process for consumers?
  4. Divide students into teams. Have teams create a brief business plan for buying and selling old phones. Emphasize the 4Ps in the plan.
  5. Discuss the benefits of such programs, as well as the environmental impact of outdated electronics.

Source: New York Times

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by | Tuesday, October 7, 2014 · 2:39 pm

BlackBerry Has a Brand New Phone

Blackberry

Apple isn’t the only company with a new phone. BlackBerry released its new Passport phone this month as well. Competing directly with Apple and Samsung, the new phone has a square screen and a physical keyboard that doubles as a touch-sensitive swipe pad. But while Apple and Samsung phones are geared towards the personal market and video content, the new Passport phone is focused on work productivity.

BlackBerry’s target users appear to be the “power professionals” – people who are well-educated, well-paid, and employed in industries such as health care and finance which require more secure communications. The new phone is also being offered at a price lower than iPhone 6; Passport retails for $599 without a mobile plan compared to $649 for iPhone 6.

The question is whether BlackBerry can gain market share against its entrenched rivals.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss the importance of clearly defining a target market.
  2. Show BlackBerry’s Web site and products: http://us.blackberry.com/
  3. For BlackBerry’s Passport phone, what is the target market? How does this compare to the target market of Apple and Samsung?
  4. Divide students into teams and have each team develop a profile of a target market for Passport. Include demographics, psychographics, behaviors, values, attitudes, etc.
  5. What are the key differences in marketing to companies vs. individual consumers?
  6. Based on the target market profile, what makes this product unique for these customers?

Source: Bloomberg News, Wall Street Journal, other news sources

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