Tag Archives: global marketing

by | Thursday, December 28, 2023 · 7:57 am

McDonald’s has a New Restaurant Concept Inspired by Aliens!

It’s widely acknowledged that McDonald’s is a top global brand with thousands of restaurants around the world. But now the company seem to be focused on additional places not just on the globe, but in the universe. It’s launching a new concept cafe called CosMc’s (get it? Cosmic?) that will be in a much smaller space and four drive-through lanes for to-go foods only.

CosMc’s has a much smaller footprint than the traditional McDonald’s restaurant and does not have a dining area, but does have four drive-through lanes and a menu heavily focused on drinks and snack sandwiches. No burgers and fries in sight.

The first CosMc’s location recently opened outside of Chicago. According to a  McDonald’s news release “CosMc’s menu is rooted in beverage exploration, with bold and unexpected flavor combinations…”

The menu features unique iced drinks with out-of-this-world flavor, and foods such as Egg McMuffin, small sandwiches, ice cream, and snacks. CosMc’s is focusing on the growing trend of consumers who want take-out food, not dine-in. According to market research firm Circana, only 14% of fast-food meals are eaten in-stores, with the rest going to take-out foods. And, when it comes to beverages, Starbucks estimated that roughly 75% of its U.S. beverage sales are from cold drinks.

CosMc’s claims to have served millions of aliens, but that might just be marketing hype (really?)

We’re ready to blast into outer space, iced drink in hand!

(Note – CosMc’s is named for an orange alien mascot shown in past McDonald’s ads who tried to transport McDonald’s food back to his home planet.)

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show video about CosMc’s: https://youtu.be/sGWGShv_UVA?si=1NPI4reQ6fxrcxsw
  2. Show CosMc’s website: https://cosmcs.com/
  3. What company is CosMc’s competing with using this menu?
  4. Discuss competition: Who are the direct competitors for this product? Indirect competitors?
  5. Divide students into teams. Have each team compare CosMc’s menu with a competitive menu. What are the points of difference (what makes CosMc’s menu different from competition)?
  6. Where can CosMc’s excel? Where can it fall short?

Source: Haddon, H. (6 December 2023). McDonald’s to launch CosMc’s, an alien-inspired restaurant serving slushes to-go. Wall Street Journal.

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by | Thursday, December 7, 2023 · 7:00 am

Skim’s Now Sells Shapewear for Men

If there was any doubt that shapewear for men was becoming a growing, and competitive category, then Kim Kardashian’s Skim brand has put the issue to rest. Skims has just added men’s boxers, briefs, t-shirts, tanks, and more to its product offering.

But what is shapewear? Briefly (no pun intended), shapewear is tight-fitting underwear that controls and shapes a figure. This is a significant industry segment that is estimated by market research firm Circana to reach nearly $6 billion in the last 12 months.

The latest trend in the industry today? The hottest trend in the shapewear industry are garments designed specifically for men. Just as for women, the men’s shapewear is intended to help men look their best under clothes.

The upmarket Skims brand is seizing an opportunity to bring higher-end products to men’s wear, long comminated by mass brands selling multi-packs and discount-priced items. Skims, along with several other higher-end brands, is taking a different approach, showing men there is a different level of comfort and performance for their under garments.

Skims is using star athletes to promote the brand, including soccer stars, NBA players, and NFL players in its ads. Sports is a good place to reach men who are looking for performance wear.

Skims launched in 2019 with women’s shapewear and lingerie and is expected to have revenues of $750 million this year. Skims also stated that it started its menswear line at the request of its female shoppers.

What will you buy?

 Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: Who has bought higher-end shapewear for themselves or others? Why?
  2. Discuss the stages in the product life cycle. What are the marketing objectives in each stage?
  3. Where is women’s shapewear on the PLC? Where is men’s shapewear?
  4. Show websites for men’s shapewear: Skims for Men: https://skims.com/pages/mens
  5. Spanx: https://spanx.com/collections/mens
  6. Core Wear: https://getcorewear.com/
  7. HisRoom: https://www.hisroom.com/
  8. Students may also look for additional manufacturers. What are the main marketing messages being used?
  9. Divide students into teams. Have each team draw a PLC and plot various clothing and accessories on the chart.
  10. What does it take to reposition a product on the PLC?

Source: Lieber, C. (23 October 2023). Kim Kardashian wants men to wear Skims, too. Wall Street Journal; Valinsky, J. (23 October 2023). Kim Kardashian is making Skims for men. CNN; other news sources.

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by | Friday, November 3, 2023 · 12:40 pm

Rebranding: Twitter Becomes “X”

Marketers love branding, and branding is a critical part of the marketing process. Branding is when an organization uses an image, name, design, or symbol to clearly identify its products. Brands help companies stand apart and help distinguish one product (or service) from another. We can picture brand icons in our minds – and these help us recall the product purpose and usage.

Think about it for a minute. If someone says “Nike” a consumer can easily picture the logo and the products that Nike offers. The same can be true of services. If we say “Facebook,” it quickly conjures an image of the Facebook logo and its services.

Brands also have personality linked to their icons and images. What do we mean by personality? It’s a set of human-type characteristics and we associate with a brand name. Again, think about Nike. What characteristics might you say Nike represents? Facebook?

In general terms, brand names should suggest the product benefits, be distinctive, fit the company image, be simple and even emotional.

So why did Twitter recently rebrand itself as “X” from its traditional blue bird? According to Elon Musk (new owner of Twitter) he wants to use Twitter as the basic foundation of an “everything app” known as “X.com.” X will eventually include audio, video, messaging, and even banking capabilities – none of which were part of Twitter. (Twitter has also filed to rename the company to X Corp.)

Mr. Musk has used “X” as other names for his companies. He had formerly run financial company PayPal which started as X.com, his space ship company also uses and X as in the name “SpaceX,” and a new artificial intelligence business is also includes an X in “xAI.” The overall corporate entity created to purchase and control Twitter also has an X as in “X Holdings.”

Will the branding change benefit the company? Time will tell.

P.S. Do we still say “tweeted” when posting on X?

 Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show video about the change from Twitter to X: https://www.wsj.com/video/elon-musk-rolls-out-new-x-logo-as-twitter-rebrands/0F91130A-ED9D-497B-A282-F26CCCF5DD91.html
  2. Show the website: https://twitter.com/
  3. Poll students: What are their favorite brands?
  4. Divide students into teams. Can each team draw the brand icon for these favorites?
  5. Also have students define the brand personalities for their favorite brands.
  6. Will Twitter’s rebranding help its standing as global brand?
  7. OPTIONAL: Show Interbrands’ Top Global Brands list: https://interbrand.com/best-global-brands/

Source: Corse, A., Eaton, C., and Purnell, N. (24 July 2023). Elon Musk replaces Twitter’s blue bird with an ‘X’. Wall Street Journal.; Scheiber, N., Mac, R. (23 July 2023). Elon Musk changes Twitter logo to an X. New York Times; other news sources.

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