Bruggers

Marketers sell benefits. It is our responsibility to show consumers how a product or service will better their lives; that is one thing no marketing student could graduate from the University of Iowa without knowing. Benefits like safety, comfort, and convenience raise the value of a product. But what if your benefit and your product are matched incorrectly?

My mind works the same way as any unsuspecting consumer. Marketing messages fly my way and I either react to them or I don't. However, as I begin to prepare to enter the real "career" world of marketing, I try to uncover the reasons behind my reactions to different messages. Why did that commercial frustrate me? What made me dislike that billboard? And the most recent: Why did that banner hanging from Brugger's ceiling make me feel like I was being lied to?

Oh yes, thats right, because I saw the word 'coffee' next to the price $129.00 and followed by the phrase, 'save money'.

What?! If I spend $129.00 in one day for coffee then I'm saving money? No, I'm not sure that a cup of coffee is worth that hefty of a price tag. I think you are lying to me and I don't like your deal because it doesn't make sense to me.

Yep, that is the conversation I had with myself when I read this banner at Bruggers today...



Because I have not fully graduated to the marketing world, I respond to messages like a normal consumer, but because of my education, I am able to evaluate my reaction as a marketer responding to a problem. Bruggers problem; they butchered the benefit/product matchup in this campaign. If I wanted to save money on coffee, I'd brew it myself. If I wanted to save time digging out my wallet, or searching for money, I'd pay once and be done. I think Bruggers might have been able to sell a few extra bottomless cups of coffee if they had stressed the convenience of the promotion or the time it saves.

Who knows, I don't even have my marketing degree yet. But, I am a consumer, and I know I did not feel like someone was giving me a good deal after I got done reading that banner. Just saying, maybe marketers should remember that people won't always get out their calculators to find out how much money they're saving. If it is the money-saving aspect they were going after, why not put the savings in concrete terms and offer consumers a number?

About Me

I'm Stephanie Grangaard and here are a few things I want to do:

graduate, learn everything I can about marketing, read tons of marketing and music blogs everyday, be an information sponge, thrive in my job, push myself harder, conquer challenges, rise to the top.

Also,
I love it when people tell me I can't do something, that just means I'll have to accomplish it.

Oh Hey Sprint!

What appeal does 'Flava Flave' (guy with the clock around his neck) have to your customers? Usually when companies use celebrities as spokespeople, they hope to leave the consumer feeling good about the brand (affect transfer). They at least hope to show consumers favorable social instances that occur when they use the product associated with a celebrity.

Here is a REAL reaction from a viewer, me:
~Flava Flav leaves a bad taste in my mouth
~His show, Flavor of Love: Trashy, Foul, Obnoxious

Good spokesperson Sprint!
You have successfully left me feeling that your brand is trashy, foul, and obnoxious. Well, not directly, but that is what I think when I see Flava Flav, which happens to be every time I see your commercials.

Sprint's YouTube account doesn't allow me to embedd the video so here is the link for the clear version of the commercial.
If its convience your after, view the bad version below



p.s. I'm not saying I hate Flava Flav, or didn't indluge in trash TV by watching a few episodes of Flavor of Love. I did watch it, which is why I'm confused about Sprint's choice. Is Flava Flav consistent with Sprint's message? For that matter, is he representative of Sprint's customers? I don't know, I don't work for Sprint, but their commercial's theme is the "Now Network", Flava Flav is NOT now.

Music's Role in Marketing

I'm an avid supporter of music being everywhere and exposing people new music each day. Naturally, I love it when companies use music in their commercials. Music tells a story. It evokes emotions that the marketer wants customers to feel while veiwing the commercial. The folks picking the music don't choose lightly, they know they've got to fit the background music to the attitudes & feelings that marketers want associated with the brand. The following commercial has taken full advantage of the effects of music.