| |||||||||
| The Toronto-based grocery giant recently relaunched the iconic brand and its unmistakeable plain black printing on yellow packaging. Company officials say the move was made to coincide with no name’s 30th birthday, and refocusing on a no-frills value brand at a time when the economy is in freefall is obviously prudent. Three hundred products were repackaged during the first six weeks of the year—items such as bathroom tissue, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, ketchup and canned tomato sauce—and another 2,600, including pet food, paper plates and cereals, will be recast in the old-is-new-again packaging throughout the rest of 2009. (When no name was first born, it had just 16 products.) “Imagine going down a grocery aisle. There are so many colours. You’ll be able to spot no name almost immediately,” says David Primorac, Loblaw’s senior director of public relations. “We chose products that would be best suited to the economic conditions. We wanted to start with pantry items, everyday items.” He says no name’s packaging changes every few years, and the company’s marketing department decided the time was right to go retro. “We wanted to bring back the original color palette. It’s something recognizable and it’s easy for consumers. We’ve created a bit of a buzz around the packaging,” he says. The brand has always been associated with the color yellow, and all packaging is primarily that color complemented by a simple graphical layout. Over the years, the packaging has become more detailed, utilizing a no name logo and photography of the product. The company’s campaign includes advertisements starring CEO Galen Weston Jr. touting the money that can be saved by replacing national brands with no name ones in your shopping cart. “We’re saying, ‘if you need to control your monthly expenses, you can do it on your grocery bill. Look to no name, you’ll find similar quality products that will save you money,’” he says, noting a shopping cart of no name products is about 20 percent cheaper than a cart of corresponding national brands. “It’s also a call-out to our customers. We’re saying these are great, quality products. Why don’t you revisit what is considered the original economy powerhouse brand?” Primorac says no name is being targeted to, well, pretty much everybody. “People are price conscious, it doesn’t matter what their demographic or income level is. They’re paying attention to the financial situation in their own home. People who bought no name when it first came out, we think they’ll buy it again,” he says. Loblaw is putting its money where its mouth is by offering a money-back guarantee on all no name products if customers aren’t satisfied with their quality. Loblaw doesn’t release the recent marketshare figures of no name, but it’s generally considered to be between 10 and 20 percent of its sales. To give an indication of no name’s strength, one study showed Pampers used to have 85 percent market share before no name’s brand of diapers were launched. With the private label diapers on the scene, that number plummeted to 18 percent. Raj Manchanda, a marketing professor at the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, says many consumers will be willing to trade “down” to no name on products where there isn’t a lot of differentiation with national brands, such as pasta sauce, ketchup or dog food. The funny thing is, many leadings brands and their generic versions are made by the same manufacturer, he says. “Consumers may firmly believe (a particular) brand of dog food is the best because that’s the perception that has been created through marketing,” he says. “When price becomes so important, you’re willing to say, ‘maybe there isn’t any difference between apple juices.’” Manchanda says he likes Loblaw’s strategy of adding a little bit of excitement and a retro vibe to the shopping process. “Even though it’s not the most exciting packaging, it still breaks through the clutter and gets your attention. It reminds people about a value proposition,” he says. Manchanda says no name carries some significant cachet with consumers because they believe its products sell at the lowest price possible. No name won’t, however, have the same kind of brand proposition with higher-end products, such as perfume, because of the image consumers want to convey. “We buy perfume because it’s how we express ourselves and feel about ourselves. We’re making a personal statement,” he says. Surprisingly enough, there may even be some snob appeal to no name products for consumers who want to be perceived as savvy shoppers. “One of the reasons consumers use coupons isn’t just the savings but because they feel they’re smart and getting better prices than others. There could very well be an element of that (with no name),” Manchanda says.
| ||
 | ||
| Renée Alexander is a freelance business and lifestyle writer based in Winnipeg, Canada. |
The 7 Sample Secrets
French luxury group set to take control of Italian family owned jeweller in all-share deal
French luxury group LVMH, famous for its silk scarves, handbags and champagne, is to take control of the Italian family owned jewellery maker Bulgari at a time when the luxury market is booming again.
The Bulgari family has decided to tender its 50.43% stake in a share swap that will make it the second-biggest family shareholder in LVMH. The all-share deal brings together Bulgari watches and jewellery with LVMH's TAG Heuer, Zenith and Hublot brands. The world's largest luxury group, which owns 50 brands ranging from Christian Dior perfume to Louis Vuitton bags and Dom Pérignon, toasted a record 2010 recently.
The deal values Bulgari at €3.7bn (£3.18bn), a 60% uplift on Friday's close of €2.3bn.
Evolution Securities analyst Simon Hales said: "Financially then, the deal looks uninspiring for LVMH, but strategically it is an excellent move, bulking LVMH up in watches and jewelry, one of the fastest-growing areas of luxury. With the luxury industry in strong recovery mode, the financials will fall into place."
The watches and jewellery division is the fastest-growing of LVMH's main business groups, but remains the company's smallest, with €985m in revenues, less than 5% of LVMH's total. Bulgari, founded in 1884 by Sotirio Bulgari, makes nearly half of its revenues from jewellery, and a fifth from watch sales.
Bulgari's chief executive Francesco Trapani will join LVMH's executive committee and head up the merged watches and jewellery operations from the second half of 2011. Philippe Pascal, the current head of the division, is to be given a new role. The Bulgari family will be able to appoint two representatives to the LVMH board, while Paolo and Nicola Bulgari remain chairman and vice-chairman of Bulgari respectively.
Under the deal, hammered out over the weekend and announced by both companies on Monday, LVMH will issue 16.5m new shares in exchange for the 152.5m Bulgari shares held by the Bulgari family and the French firm will submit a public offer of €12.25 a share for the stock held by minority shareholders.
It has also emerged that Prada, the Italian family-owned fashion house known for its Miu Miu bags, is gearing up for a stock market flotation in Hong Kong, rather than Italy, because Asia is its fastest-growing region.
Last week, I bought these two new drinks from school shop. One is "Pepsi Mont Blanc" and another one is "Asahi tea, which is good to be drunk with oily food"
Social media isn’t only about using existing websites, but sometimes creating your own. To get a better handle on consumer feedback, Starbucks did just that with "My Starbucks Idea"
http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/ideaHome
The site allows users to submit suggestions to be voted on by Starbucks consumers, and the most popular suggestions are highlighted and reviewed. Starbucks then took it a step further and added an “Ideas in Action” blog that gives updates to users on the status of changes suggested...
By empowering their exceptionally web savvy consumer, Starbucks strengthens their campaign to add a personal touch to coffee.. :)
Lesson: Thinking of ways to build your company are great, but directly asking your consumers what they want, is better. Acting on that information and doing it publicly is key to the success of this campaign...
~TEJ~
It has been revealed that Facebook has acquired the Fb.com domain. This news comes just days before its special event, where it is set to reveal an overhauled version of Messages that works like e-mail. Facebook paid a cool $8.5 million, more than 42 times the amount the company originally paid for facebook.com.
In September, the American Farm Bureau sold the Fb.com domain to an undisclosed buyer. Looking up the domain’s whois reveals that MarkMonitor, a brand protection and domain management company, is the Fb.com’s registrar. However, Domain Name Wire has revealed that the domain’s whois has been updated to reflect that Facebook is the domain’s administrator.
A recent report from All Facebook claims that Facebook is using Fb.com internally, but doesn’t quite know what Facebook intends to do with it. At the same time, The New York Times and TechCrunch claim that the company’s impending Messages overhaul will utilize the Facebook.com domain for user e-mail accounts.
What does that mean for Fb.com? Most likely, Fb.com will become the e-mail domain of the company’s 1,400+ employees. Yahoo does something similar; its staff uses @yahoo-inc.com e-mail addresses instead @Yahoo.com in order to avoid confusion between its employees and the hundreds of millions of users of its e-mail service.
Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
Citric acid: 3 oz
Caffeine: 1 oz
Sugar: 30 (unclear quantity)
Water: 2.5 gal
Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
Vanilla: 1 oz
Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for color
The secret 7X flavor (use 2 oz of flavor to 5 gals syrup):
Alcohol: 8 oz
Orange oil: 20 drops
Lemon oil: 30 drops
Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
Coriander: 5 drops
Neroli: 10 drops
Cinnamon: 10 drops
According to a Yahoo news article, company historian Mark Pendergrast found the secret Coke recipe in a 1979 newspaper photo. We all know by now that Coke's competitive advantage is not in the taste/flavor. So if this is true is this still a big thing?
Narciss is a Thai-designed clothes shop located in Siamsquare, Bangkok. It had been more than 7 years since the establishment of Narciss.
Narciss offers dresses, blouses, shorts and skirts in girly and vintage style. All items are fine cut and mostly made by cotton and printed chiffon fabric. Narciss clothes are suitable for the lifestyle of newly graduated girls who have just started working because the design is suitable for wearing to work. Moreover, Narciss also has casual items for the activities on weekend and also the luxurious-looked dress for night party. Products of Narciss target to the upper-middle to high income level girls. Specifically, the price of a dress starts from 1,590 – 1,890 baht. A blouse costs 1,190 – 1,390 baht. A skirt and a pair of short is cost approximately 1,290 baht. A gala night dress is the most expensive product line which can cost up to 2,490 baht. (Multiple by 3 to convert into yen currency)
The first time I recognize Narciss brand was the time I started studying at Sasin. My close Sasin MBA friend, Jha, asked me to accompany with her to Siam Square to bring back her cloth that had been fixed. She introduced me to Khun Nok, the shop manager, who is a little woman with the nice, friendly and talkative characteristic. At that time, I was so impressed with the supportive guide from Khun Nok. After that, I continuously visit this shop to check for the new arrival items, if I have a chance to drop by Siam Square.
Time passes by; I have noticed many of my Sasin classmates are real fans of this shop. I am wondering why Narciss had never been in my mind and my surrounding environment at the time before studying at Sasin.
I think it's not just a product to make people falls in love with a brand, but it's the combination of service and all messages that customers are served at the touch point that establish the strong bond between the customers and a brand.
Ever wondered what is the competitive advantage of DELL? Well, in order to wonder… You should own a Dell Laptop! Or a desktop! Only then you’ll have a chance… Oops!! “many” chances to say.. WHAT THE DELL!!!
My Dell PC was born on August 6th , 2009 and even before completing its one year birthday, there were frequent hiccups and cries from my Dell baby! The Message was – “Your laptop’s battery life is getting expired! Please replace the battery!” And beneath that read another important one: “Replacement of battery would not be covered under Warranty!” The Customer service said the same!! So, I had to pay and buy another battery! Then came the hue and
cry from my Hard disk due to some bad sectors in the hard disk! So, I had to replace that too! What d Dell!?!?! Before the surfacing of such problems, I had bought a DELL Desktop for my home!
Even it contributed its own share of problems! Had to replace the Cd/DVD Disk drive…! Checked for bad sectors in the hard disk, through diagnostic test, and I had to replace my Desktop’s Hard Disk too! But this time, I am lucky.. Got it done before the Warranty expired! J I’m not alone in such world of D(h)ell!!! My friends in India after their experience with their DELLs tell me such similar experiences!! I wondered what made me buy Dell?? A lightning struck my mind and gave the answer --- DELL Direct!
What is it??
The primary method Dell uses in order to realize and sustain their competitive advantage is a distinctive, direct to consumer business model. The model is known as Dell Direct, this refers to their relations with their customers as being 'direct.' This model helps Dell focus on the price for performance, customization, service and support. Focusing on cost leadership has allowed Dell to sustain a competitive advantage in the PC market for the last few years. Additionally, Dell is able to differentiate itself from its competitors with its customized just-in time manufacturing. With this customization, Dell is able to offer customers more value for their money by abolishing intermediaries in their procurement, manufacturing and distribution processes. Dell's primary resources include the most up-to-date technology and IT tools that allow it to effectively move along their advanced supply chain and attain the value they are reaching for. Dell's value chain allows Dell and its suppliers to exchange information and interact with each other. The Internet, Dell's key IT factor in its success, results in lower costs to customers than other retailers because customers tell Dell precisely what they want and Dell builds PCs for the customer without experiencing inefficient resources in production. It is obvious that Dell's competitive advantage is due to its direct model success. Through Dell's IT performance, which combines its resources, its relationship with suppliers and its consumer communication capabilities, Dell has developed a big advantage over its competitors. So in order to purchase a Dell you must deal with them directly, there is no going to an outside retailer to buy a Dell. By doing this Dell can save the consumer a whole lot of money. Because of this competitive advantage Dell has been able to grow tremendously over the past few years!!!! But Dell… remember the basic fact, if the components are of not good quality and perish soon….. You are also bound to perish!!!!
-TEJ
I happened to watch some of the ‘Super Bowl’ ads and I fell in love with this ad the very moment I saw it two days ago! And I have been watching this/listening to this 1 minute ad for perhaps more than 60 minutes!! …… Sometimes, you do not know why you like or love something because there may not be reason for you to like/love it! When I thought about it, the voices in my heart started conversing with those of my head and after a long time, for the first time, my heart and head agreed on the same thing!! Is it because the ad touched my heart and set its footprint in my mind??… Okey! Enough of flowery words….Pls do Read ahead…. J (Prior to that, watch the ad below)
Are you reminded of any other ad?? If not, I am here to remind you.. It is poking fun at the popular Apple ad of 1984!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhsWzJo2sN4
MOTOROLA Xoom– Empower the People
Super Bowl ads get telecasted only during that tournament and so is this ad too!! When an ad appears somewhere in a cluster of ads on television, that ad would be able to sustain in the minds of the consumers when it is unique amongst the ads... An ad has to leave an impression in the minds of the consumers before the tournament ends….. and this ad, in my opinion, does that!
When most of the ads were funny, noisy, filled with voices or over-voices, this ad has no voices but just soft music with a love story on the surface, a combination along with the main concept of the ad that touches your heart and leaves footprints in your mind. Further, It’s the month of February – the month of cupid, the month of Valentine, the month of ‘love’ – Only few ads have used the concept of love and the love story used is completely different from the rest and thus stands out apart.
The ad accuses Apple of hypocrisy for its own famous Super Bowl ad and claims that "2011 is a lot like 1984" after what Apple did with the iPad.
Target: Trying to poke at Apple, it targets who are Apple’s skeptics which is a pretty substantial market.
Position: Positioning ‘Apple’ as the big bad authoritarian company that is ruling the technological world and Motorola XOOM is there to create a difference.
Message/Idea: “ Think Different! Be Different! Buy “our” device instead”. It’s telling people what value a product can add to your life!!
As mentioned before, on the surface of the ad, there is a love story, but in the process of getting there, it showcases the features of the device – Camera, GPS, its ability to send movies from one device to another, the smooth page animations for e-books, 3D Views (using Vector Graphics?) of buildings.
The ad opens with several homogenous, mindless drones who all look alike and use the same chuck of hardware. The standout -- a handsome young gentleman (The protagonist) using the ‘Xoom’ -- is even reading Orwell's 1984, probably using the Google e-books service. He tries to court a beautiful woman trapped in the Apple world. He uses the Xoom to help buy flowers and show a video to offer her love. She's 'liberated' from her Apple world by removing the white earbuds as she meets her would-be lover. The Xoom then becomes "the tablet to create a better world," as it has developed intuitive technology that would help people enrich their lives and then the ad ends with the logo “M” of Motorola becoming “Em” of Empowered. Does it mean that ‘Empowerment of people’ is a core value of Motorola?? Or Am I reading too much into the ad??!
And it also says that it is the world’s first Android 3.0 tablet.’ But I wonder why the product is named ‘Xoom’???
Ironically, the ad tells us to “Think Different”, “Be Different” by imitating (do I have to call it ‘inspiration’ rather?) the popular classic 1984 Apple’s commercial! But the message is sound, loud and clear!
I believe, this ad may really have an impact on the consumers who have an idea of buying Apple’s iPad! (You need an example?? – Its ME! )
Anyways, wish the sun shines bright on Motorola Xoom! J
By Rakesh Raman
If you’re aspiring to become a kinda Facebook celebrity, here are these 10 simple tips for you:
1. Your Photo: Initially, you may not have a good picture with you to use it on Facebook. Never mind. You can instead put a picture of your dog, cat, horse, mouse, or your spouse. And if you don’t have all of that, just ignore the photo box, and you’ll still appear – but like a ghost. It’s okay.
2. Interaction: Yes, if you are thinking big, interaction with your other Facebook friends is very important. But you need not worry if you can’t write something good on their “Walls.” Facebook has already made life easier for you. Just bombard others with artificial kisses, hearts, pillows, smiles, and other gifts that are readily available, free of cost.
3. Writing Posts: If you can, you must write your own posts. Hmm! Don’t know how to write? Why don’t you lift some quotations of famous people from here and there and paste them on your Facebook Wall?
4. Drag Readers. And if there are no takers for your write-ups, just shake up your buddies and force them to “Like” whatever you write. No? No one is interested? Then what stops you to press the “Like” for your own post? Just do it.
5. Like Others: If you want to win your friends’ favour, never forget to press the “Like” for their posts. No, you need not read all that ‘crap’ that they write. Just hit the “Like” button.
6. Wanna Say Somethin’: Your popularity will quickly shoot up if you could “Comment” along with your “Like” for others. Don’t know what to write in the comment box? Nothing to worry. You can use some quickfixers – wow, lol, )), hehehe, hahaha, etc. Yeah. It’s allowed.
7. Always Exist: You must always make your presence felt among your circles. Keep lurking at least in the chat box. Even if you’re sleeping there, your constant screen-presence is a must to take you to the level of stardom.
8. Work Hard: You need to burn the midnight oil to succeed. So you should adopt some follow-the-sun approach and always stay glued to Facebook even when others are sleeping. If the time is short, as a sincere aspirant, you should pray to the God to increase the number of hours in a day – from 24 to some 34, as you’ve to spend more time on Facebook. Who knows!
9. Chat: Invite as many friends as you can to chat with you. Uh-uh. Never worry if your chat is going in all directions without making any sense. Continue. In your chat sessions, sometimes there will be no questions; only answers. And sometimes no answers; only questions from both the sides. But Facebook chat is supposed to be like this. You just keep it up.
10. Ready for Fandom: If you feel, you’ve gained reasonable amount of reputation among your friends, you can quickly start calling them to become your fans. They must like your special page. Never feel let down if they don’t come. Keep sending them message after message.
Remember, you’ll be in a cutthroat land where you’ve to compete with millions. You’ve to be careful, as a toe out of line can simply throw you out of the race. So you must follow these tips sincerely if you want to kiss some real success on Facebook. Will you?
By Rakesh Raman, the managing editor of Raman Media Network.
This article was published on Raman Media Network in July 2010. Keeping in view its popularity and relevance, it’s being republished now. – Editor
REF: http://www.ramanmedianetwork.com/how-to-become-a-facebook-star-10-tips-2/
