Product Marketing and Its Effect in America.
11/10/2013 14:00
Product Marketing and Its Effect in America.
Americans like everything big – meals, homes, televisions, cars all have to be larger than life. The bigger the better. And marketing companies know how to cash in on this – getting us to want more so we buy more. Marketers allow us to think we have the choice, but do we?
Food.
Our obsession with ‘bigger, better, more’ is making us sick. Every year, 300 000 Americans die from complications attributed to their weight. Even though Paco Hill (author of The Call Mall) states: "As evolution and history have taught us, the quick and the smart often triumph over the big and the strong”, people are getting bigger. In particular, teenagers. A dream for marketers selling luxury items, teenagers are a consumer group with high amounts of disposable income. In the United States alone, during 2001, children aged twelve to nineteen spent more than $104 of their own money per week. This amounted to more than $172 billion, up from $122 billion in 1996. Almost $13 billon of this money was spent on the fast food industry alone. Behind merchandise, beauty products and entertainment goods, this makes fast food the fourth highest market for teenage spending. Marketers definitely recognise this consumer group, and the value of fast food spending. The food industry is the second highest spending industry in America, spending $36 billion annually on its marketing campaigns. 35% of primetime commercials are for fast food and other food products, making them the most heavily advertised products on children’s television. Therefore, it is obvious that teenagers are spending large sums of money, with a significant portion of it going to the fast food industry. Here, marketing works a charm.
Drink.
A national consumer survey shows that the majority of Americans want more product choices in low-calorie, sugar-free foods and beverages. Consumers know which brands represent comfort, style, quality, and ultimately, great values. This translates directly into consumer confidence and sales. The majority of consumers want additional diet soft drinks, low-calorie baked goods and frozen desserts.
Sodas are another of America’s grocery store favourites: consumers want to diversify their palates, and today, beverage companies recognise this. 50 years ago, there were only a few different flavours (cola and, if you’re lucky, a few other flavours) but today, there are no-calorie, low-calorie and mid-calorie, caffeinated and caffeine-free, tropical flavours as well as lemon-lime and root beer. Every taste and palate is catered for nowadays. However, more importantly, the non-carbonated drink market has really expanded. Drinkers of any age can be satisfied by the American Beverage Association members making fruit juices and fruit beverages. Bottled waters, ready-to-drink teas and coffees, sports drinks, energy drinks, and dairy drinks, all arrive on store shelves via the same distribution networks. In 2004, the first orange juices to effectively cut carbohydrates/sugars and calories made their debut, with Tropicana Light ‘n Healthy and Minute Maid Light, and they still taste the same as they should, too. Coca-Cola C2 and Pepsi Edge offered consumers a happy medium between diet and non-diet colas. 7 Up Plus also appeared, boasting added calcium, vitamin C and real fruit juice with less calories.
Homes.
Our home is now a reflection of our lifestyle – people want spiral staircases and vaulted ceilings, and 36% of people want a “home theatre”, rating it as ‘important’ or ‘very important’ in their new home (as reported in a marketing survey by the National Association of Home Builders). According to several real estate brokers, men usually ask if the house they’re inspecting has a room good enough to house a multiplex-size plasma screen television, or other big-screen t.v. This room, preferably in the basement (to maximise surround sound effects) is almost as important as a three-car garage. One of the things men and women agree on is the need for a home office.
This housing extravaganza has long term consequences, although they are as yet unclear. But, they could include an overuse of energy and, ironically, a drain on the wealth of the homeowner. ‘Bigger better more’ could drive us broke.
Shopping and Marketing.
For a long time now, Procter has determined how shoppers should perceive its products. From Gleem toothpaste ("For people who can't brush after every meal") to the Jif peanut butter we all know and love ("Choosy mothers choose Jif”). Marketers know that they are on a learning journey together with the consumer, watching as they are choosing when to tune in and when to tune out their advertising, using technology like digital video recorders and satellite radio. Consumers are starting to ‘own’ brands, and participate in their creation. Marketers need to learn to begin to let go, and embrace trends. Trends like customer-created commercials, and online communities built around their favorite products. Marketers no longer determine how shoppers view the products – consumers make up their own minds.
Research: Brands and Loyalty.
America's Research Group conducted a survey of shoppers for DSN Retailing Today, of 1,000 chief shopping decision makers between the ages of 20 and 59.
Specifically, the study focused on the following retail trade areas: Books; CE & Entertainment; Dollar; Drug; General Merchandise (mass); Home Improvement; Home Goods & Housewares; Membership Warehouse Clubs; Office Supplies; Pet Products; and Video/Software. It found, among other things, that four retail brands (Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, PetsMart and Sam's Club) have always maintained strong allegiance and loyalty in their categories. In areas also served by Target, Hollywood Video, Petco and Costco, respectively, these four were the choice of a huge shopping majority. Shoppers were loyal to their stores.
Staples, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dollar General, Best Buy, Lowe's and Walgreens, seven leading retailers, have seen success and dominance achieved at the expense of their competition. Customers who previously shopped at Office Depot, Borders, Linens 'N Things, Family Dollar, Circuit City, Home Depot and CVS, respectively, now spend their money at the seven leading retailers.
Increasingly, shoppers are choosing Sara Lee branded clothing as their first choice of apparel for their family – the leading brand, Hanes, is followed by Playtex[R] and L'eggs[R] in other leading brands of intimate apparel.
It makes good business sense to target marketing towards particular groups – such as the African-American community, even more so to target high-net-worth African Americans, and creating avenues to spend their money in a strategic manner. Marketing can drive certain people to buy certain products.
Store Brands.
American shoppers do not discriminate between store brands and regular brands – a new study by Ipsos-MORI shows that nationally, 70% of consumers believe that store brands are as good as (if not better than) their national brand counterparts. 40% now purchase store brands and nearly 50% admit that their typical shopping trolley contains a quarter store branded products. Furthermore, those who purchase store brands save an average of $15.8 billion each year (based on industry sales data). If a store puts a store label on an item, no matter what the merchandise, it is classed as a store brand product – be it the store’s own name or a brand name product manufactured exclusively for the store. Sometimes, a store may belong to a buying group of wholesalers. The group owns labels which are available to other members of the group – these labels are referred to as controlled labels. Almost any product that can be manufactured, distributed and sold in major supermarkets, drug chains and mass merchandisers can be store branded. This can include full lines of fresh, frozen and refrigerated food, canned and dry foods, snacks, ethnic specialties, pet foods, health and beauty care, over-the-counter drugs, cosmetics, household and laundry products, lawn and garden chemicals, paints, hardware, auto aftercare, stationery, and housewares.
The Kosher Food Market.
Today, the kosher food market is worth $9 billion. It grows approximately 15% each year – to compare, non-kosher food sales grow at approximately 4% annually, in American supermarkets. While only about 15% of American Jews keep kosher, surveys estimate between 5.2 and 6 million Jews in America. There is an average of 17 000 kosher products in American supermarkets. There are a large number of non-Jewish consumers of kosher foods: approximately 80%, in fact. These people eat kosher for a variety of reasons, including health reasons, vegetarians, lactose intolerance, and religious reasons (for example, Muslims and Seventh Day Adventists). This is a clear cut case of consumers driving the market. People, Jewish or not, want kosher – and it is delivered.
Global Manufacturing, Local Market.
Products sold in America, like LG mobile phones (by South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc), Adidas sneakers (from Germany's Adidas AG) and Lego toys (made by Denmark's Lego) are still popular with college students. However, U.S. college students made the mistake of thinking they were American, according to a study released on Friday. The largest number of respondents incorrectly thought that LG cell phones were an American product, although they did credit phones made by other companies to Japan. A plurality of respondents thought Nokia (from Finland) and Motorola (United States), were Japanese brands. Experts believe that ‘people have come to accept that products are manufactured all over the world’ and this is coupled with ‘indifference and lack of geographic knowledge’.
Marketing drives purchases, but purchases also drive marketing. The two are forever linked, with consumers both determining and being influenced by marketing campaigns.
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Cm_a The Contentlab
https://contentlab.webnode.com/
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