The Marketing Peg

Today during consumer behaviour class, there was a major discussion on the issue of RECYCLING. So why doesn't the government implement recycling in Singapore? Well, here are some of my views, including some of which were raised in class... 1) The awareness of recycling is low. Few understand the importance of it or even realize the benefits that will result from recycling . 2) Knowledge of recycling is low in certain market segments. Those who underwent proper education would probably understand how to separate metals from plastics from paper. But how about the older generation who doesn't know which is which? Even if they have the knowledge, they do not understand the method of recycling. For example, the "paper" segment doesn't mean that one can just throw their used tissue paper in. Also, for "plastics" those containers with food in them should be emptied out before recycling. But consumers do not know these factors involved. 3) Inconvenience. It i...

CSR has definitely become a norm for companies nowadays, as many have touched on, because it helps to build brand equity and enable consumers to have a more positive evaluation on the company. Many companies have "gone green" as a strategy to promote CSR and increase their brand equity. However, it is important to note that companies have to be strategic about "going green". Some companies have taken advantage of the benefits of "going green" in efforts to reverse the adverse effects of bad publicity generated for some prior reason. However, these companies would have to be careful because being labelled as a "greenwasher" is a huge possibility. For those who are in doubt, "greenwashing" is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtue by a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standi...

So, all the hype about Microsoft buying Yahoo! has kind of died down somtime ago. However, it seems that both of them are somewhat collaborating and coming up with something veerrryyyy interesting. No kidding: Collaborating I haven't checked my Yahoo email for sometime, and just today, I decided to log in. Then I briefly saw that an ex-colleague (no prizes for guessing which company =D) sent me an email. Excited to see what it was about, I clicked on it. All the excitement died down when I saw that the email was a default email inviting me to visit a certain website (a networking group). I was rolling my eyes and did not click on it. It was until some time later, when I rememebered that a while ago, my other ex-colleague sent me an email inviting me to Yahoo! Mash . Then it made me realize that this website could be another one of Yahoo!'s new products! Then the excitement soared again. Eager to see what new stuff they have come up with, I clicked on the link and it led me to t...

The first and foremost question would be: What are the benefits of marketing to the University community? The answer is simple. Firstly, holding your marketing activities in the University would allow a more specific target market . At least you know the age group and segment of the consumers who are affected by the marketing stimuli within the University. That way, if your product is for the age group which includes undergraduates, it is a more direct approach as compared to mass marketing. Or, if you'd like a even more niched target segment, for example, ladies who are interested in networking, then clubs like NUS 85 Broads Club would be relevant to approach. Having a more targeted segment also means less cost incurred. Instead of mass marketing to the public and competing with other advertisers out there, why not just directly bring the product/company to the school where your target segment can easily comprehend and digest? Apart from marketing, HR has some benefits to gain t...

In the past, we were all so focused on the traditional type of marketing. Usually with its main focus on products, and of course, the most popular strategy in marketing are the 4 Ps and how you manage them. The 4 Ps , they also mean product, price, promotion and place . I've been so familiar with that ever since my MKT1001 Principles of Marketing course in NUS. Never forgot about that. In my basic marketing class, I was taught of how to position the product. Many models such as the Ansoff Matrix was applied. Everything was about the product : How you should design the product , whether its functional, how much one should price it, what advertising strategies are needed to promote the product and where you should sell the product . The main focus was... the product . Then when I come to Copenhagen Business School and took my Advanced Service Marketing course, it is all about the service - the experience. Marketing has shifted into a new paradigm that involves the service . Everyt...

Yes... the girls whom we all oh-so familiar with - the Spice Girls - are back! =) I can vividly remember what a big hit they were. I bought all their cds, and I even bought their Spice World movie (and watched it umpteen times). Thinking of them would remind me of my teeny bopper years as a secondary school kid, still in braces, long skirt and horrifying skin. Haha. But the world can never forget the Spice girls. They were IT in the '90s. They still are, however, in everyone's minds though, because every time when there is news of any one of the girls, they would not only have their names published, but also their nickname as a Spice Girl. For example, Victoria Beckham (omg my favourite Spice Girl since) would always have an "aka Posh Spice" when news or stories about her are written. With these references, how can the world forget? In case you already forgot their names (heaven forbid)... here's the list. Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, Melanie "Spo...

So there's all the hype about the iPhone. I've seen the first generation ones... not very hot. And so were most of the comments online. The iPhone. Also discussed a case on it in class. The topic was whether the iPhone will hold out in the long run, especially with other strong mobile phone competitors already present, whose core competence is in manufacturing and designing mobile phones. But we can all understand why Apple is moving forward into the mobile industry. Because it clearly understands that iPod will sooner or later be replaced by mobile phones with great mp3 capabilities that will soon rival the iPod. So why not cannibalize yourself first rather than letting others kill your product in the long term? Anyway, the bottom line that my Global Strategic Management lecturer analysed, was not in favour of the iPhone. Reasons: iPhone is outrageously priced ... for a mobile phone nowadays. People in this generation are used to cheap and high quality phones, some even get th...