Monthly Archives: February 2017

Courses

Commercial renewal project: Uniqlo Sports

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thLVrGg2Fnw

 

Uniqlo is one of the leading “fast-fashion” or SPA (specialty retailer of private label apparel) brands. It sells comfortable and affordable life-wear clothes. In April 2016, Uniqlo launched its sports brand called Uniqlo sports and aired the commercial of “Why are you wearing clothes?” As for the target, it appeales to the people who prefer wearing comfortable clothes. As for the message, it emphasizes that Uniqlo is not only for comfort but also for lifestyle and style. Although this commercial is not hated by many people, the scope of its target audience is too broad and the message is not clear. Therefore, we address these two issues in our new commercial.

Note that, different from the better established sports brands such as Nike or Adidas, people have virtually no idea about Uniqlo sports. This is because they have insufficient information about the innovative functionality of Uniqlo sports. Therefore, we aim to get people informed about Uniqlo sports in the new commercial.

Our proposed new message is sports-wear in daily life. We change the target audience to the age of 10s to 20s who like to play sports. Our sub-target is a group of people between 30s and 40s who like outdoor activities and enjoy wearing comfortable clothes. In our new commercial, we compared between two students; one wears daily clothes and the other one wears Uniqlo sports. When they both receive at the same time the identical message saying “Let’s play basketball,” the person who wore daily clothes goes back home, changes his uncomfortable clothes, and then comes back to the basketball stadium. However, the other person who wore Uniqlo sports did not have to make travel. We emphasize in the new commercial that if they go with Uniqlo sports, they can exercise whenever they want without changing to other sports wear.

 

 

Written by Gonord Oscar, Minji Kim, Euijong Kim, Namkyu Park, Dongwoo Lee, and Pardu Maria | Marketing Communication 2016 Fall | College of Business Administration, Kookmin University

 

 

Cases

Cow shaped cheese board

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About 6,700 cheese boards and cutting boards sell on the Amazon.com. Their prices vary between $5 and $370. Majority of them are rectanglular. However, not a few boards interesting shapes. At one of my favorite Canadian stores, West elm, I found a cow-shaped mini cheese board and cutting board. Its price was $22.

I bought this board mainly because it looked interesting to me. However, a board designer cut a significant portion of it to make it look like a cow, it was not useful to cut vegetables and fruits but ok for serving cheese. This is a typical situation that marketing researchers often study: a trade-off relationship between aesthetic appeal and practical utility. Does this trade-off work? Unfortunately, I do not know whether adding design flavor attracts other consumers or helps makers charge more. However, it successfully attracted at least one person who had virtually no interest in boards before. Probably, this funny-looking board will remind me of a Canadian store and bring much to share with my guests.

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Reference

Joo, J., & Chung, J. (2019). Are consumer design evaluations trustworthy? Archives of Design Research, 32(1), 47–59.

Background Designers often consider consumer design evaluations. However, whether consumer design evaluations are trustworthy has been rarely discussed. We propose that consumers equate the concept of design with the concept of uniqueness, which suggests that their design valuations are context dependent and unstable.

Methods We test our proposition by conducting one pilot study and three main studies. The pilot study examines which criteria consumers consider when evaluating a design. The three main studies test whether consumer design evaluations depend on the situation and unique products.

Results The results of the pilot study and three main studies demonstrate that subjects evaluated design using aesthetic and functional attributes and their design evaluations were based on the attributes that are not popular in a specific situation.

Conclusions This study contributes to the academic discussion of whether consumer design evaluations are stable. Our findings demonstrate that consumers construct design evaluations on the spot. Therefore, designers who have accumulated professional experience and knowledge, are recommended to follow their own design evaluations rather than the voice of customers.

Courses

Commercial renewal project: Oreo thins

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“Thinner, lighter, this is Oreo” This is the first sentence that appears in the Oreo Thins commercial in July 2016. It also says “slim and slender we want more and more,” suggesting that this new cookie targets at the people who used to hesitate to eat Oreo cookies for their high calories. Interestingly however, there is little difference between Oreo and Oreo Thins in terms of calorie: 245kcal and 220kcal.

We decide to modify the target of the commercial. Since there is no significant decrease in terms of calories, targeting only for ladies is inappropriate. We extend the target by including men. We also appeal the key advantage of Oreo Thins. Unlike the original Oreo, it does not need milk. Therefore, dunking or twisting is not needed. In sum, people can eat Oreo Thins elegantly.

 

 

Written by Léa Gagneux, Donghwi Kim, Hyoju Lee, Gunwoo Jung, Yunho Jung, and Yoosuk Jung | Marketing Communication 2016 Fall | College of Business Administration, Kookmin University

 

 

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Commercial renewal project: Corona

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The Corona brand is associated with relaxation and a temporary escape from stress. The original commercial attempts to show that through a man and a woman relaxing on an exotic, white sand beach somewhere in Mexico. The original ad does not seem to capture the product’s target market and fails to depict how everyday consumers can enjoy the product.

After watching the original commercial, we decided to change a couple of points. The cast that we included in our ad change attempts to better portray the profile of Corona’s target market. Not only do men account for over 80% of the product’s consumption, but Corona also attempts to target middle to high class males between the ages of 21-35 who lead professional or semi-professional lifestyles; we tried to capture this customer profile in our ad.

We also wanted to incorporate a sporting aspect into our ad because we think it’ll help us better communicate our message and better resonate with the product’s target market. Corona is associated with many sporting events, and can frequently be seen sponsoring events such as the US LPGA tour (golf), NASCAAR, and multiple soccer teams.

Finally, the scene of two coworkers playing basketball after a stressful day of work and relaxing on the bench while drinking a cold beer portrays the message that simply finding the time to relax with friends while drinking Corona can make you feel like you’re on vacation. We believe that most people will have a feeling of familiarity to a situation like this compared to relaxing on an exotic beach.

 

Written by Hyungjoon Kim, Dohoon Lee, Mina Cho, Padiya Edwardo, and Furusoba Michaela | Marketing Communication 2016 Fall | College of Business Administration, Kookmin University

 

 

Cases

Private Karaoke for two people

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I have long believed Asians go to Karaoke for team spirit. When a popular song appears on the screen, they show companisonship by standing up and singing all together. When a song is new, they start their own conversations with the next person. Regardless of whether they sing or talk, Karaoke is the place people confirm they are in the same camp.

 

 

However, I changed my belief about the function of Karaoke after having met a private Karaoke for two people in ShenZhen, China. This facility named as M-Bar is of the same size with a phone booth. This small place is not designed for comradeship or loyalty. Instead, it is designed for people to become absorbed in their own singing experience, the core feature of Karaoke. Although no one waits outside for their turns, a few passers by silently watch two people singing inside through the transparent windows. This facility shows the power of single households. Alternatively, different from my thoughts based on the Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory, Chinese may not be collectivist but individualist.