I Fly High

Famous for its competitive low prices and free or low shipping costs, Amazon.com is planning to bring high-end fashion to our homes including brands like Michael Kors, Vivienne Westwood, Catherine Malandrino, Jack Spade and Tracy Reese and others. Amazon already sells some fashion through some its sites like the top shoe site Zappos.com, Endless.com, Shopbop.com and MyHabit.com.

To lure it’s customers to buy high end fashion online, Amazon is making a lot of effort in personalizing the site using the models who will spin and pose to show off the clothing and provide advice about each item to give shoppers the store like experience.

Amazon is launching their clothing store with a strong marketing campaign, including its first advertisement campaign ever. Considering it’s Amazon who has nailed its approach to shipping and rule nearly every other industry it integrates, it’s a matter of time that it significantly increases its customer and vendor database. I sure am looking forward to what it has in store for us consumers….

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The whole world these days is sucked into the “The Hunger Games” and I am no exception. After hearing so much about it (hats off to their brilliant Marketing), even though it’s not really my “type” of fiction, I thought of giving it a chance. I wanted to read the books to get the full flavor before going in the shortcut route and watch the movie. After the initial hesitation, I started enjoying the “games”. While reading it, I also started thinking about how this book teaches us some important lessons about successful marketing practices. These are some of the lessons one should learn from the exceptional story from Suzanne Collins:

It’s all about packaging: You can package the product well and make a very good impression about the brand. In the unveiling of Katniss and Peeta to the world, Cinna took a negative and turned it into a positive. Given that they were from District 12 (the poor mining district), Katniss wondered if they were to be dressed as miners or stripped naked and covered in coal dust. Instead, he made Katniss “the girl who was on fire,” right down to the synthetic flame of the headdress. And, when you’re competing against 11 other products on the global stage, it helps to be the one that’s on fire.

Flaunt your talents. Within a company, marketing can get lost in the mix if not communicated properly to everyone (Internally and Externally). That’s why it’s good to remember that if you’ve got the skills and your peers are ignoring you, make them notice. Or shoot right at their heads just like Katniss, who unleashed an arrow straight at the Gamemakers’ table, skewering an apple that sat before them in a pig’s mouth and pinned it to the wall. Your message needs to be communicated loud and clear, just like hers.

Make your own rules. Today, marketers have more opportunity than ever to share their brand with the world. This means taking risks, experimenting and making up new rules as they go. Like Katniss and Peeta, who threatened the Gamemakers with their poison berries, marketers need to consider drastic measures as the media mix continues to evolve daily.

Get the sponsors: It’s one thing to be edgy and a challenger brand, but you still need to be likable enough to have “supporters” (sponsors). Otherwise, you might end up trying to explain and coping with lost revenue. Katniss and Peeta received several gifts from their sponsors, which helped them survive.

Build strong partnerships: Having partnerships with other companies can strengthen your brand. Although you may not want to sync up with your competition, working with a complementary brand could help bring you a new audience. Although only one person was supposed to win the game, both Katniss and Peeta worked in harmony and came out victorious. The novel is full of instances where one could not have survived without the other

Connect with consumers: Today more than ever, it’s very important for a brand to emotionally connect with the right target audience. In her debut interview, Katniss was sold on emotions when she was told to talk about her family and her sister Prim, whom she loved dearly.

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In the efforts of changing their brand image, Burger King just launched a new star studded advertising campaign.  We knew that the brand was walking away from their King, but who knew they’d invest this kind of talent to announce their new line up of foods including smoothies, chicken entrees, and salads.

With “Exciting Things Are Happening at Burger King,” which showcases the line up of celebrity customers, BK is clearly indicating a new brand experience in their restaurants. It has added 10 new items to their menu like snack wraps, chicken strips, smoothies and frappe coffee drinks. The chain has slipped to number three in the fast food chain wars and it’s offering healthy snacks to compete with McDonald’s and Wendy’s. The new food items sure looks delicious and they are inviting new customers into a new and fresh brand experience.  It’ll be interesting to see if people line up for this new line up. I personally prefer BK over other fast food chains as it offers veggie burger and I’ll definitely try their new garden salad and smoothies.

Among others, these are the some of the spots that showcase each celebrity at their best. You can watch these commercials on BK website.

• Jay Leno kicks off the campaign and finds his own drive-thru lane to showcase the menu lineup.
• David Beckham heats up the front counter when he orders a cool, healthy Real Fruit Smoothie.
• Salma Hayek plays a diverse cast of BK customers, ordering Garden Fresh Salads, Crispy Chicken Snack Wraps and Crispy Chicken Strips, while showing off her acting chops in English and Spanish language ads.
• Sofia Vergara dons a BK uniform and spices up the kitchen, making a Garden Fresh Salad and Real Fruit Smoothie in Spanish language ads.

These star-studded ads are bound to generate awareness and buzz for the brand and highlight their new food in unique and refreshing ways. My personal favorite is David Beckham ad for obvious reasons. Which one’s yours?

As a part of the campaign, Burger King has also prepared a number of sampling trucks nationwide to promote their new menu. The trucks can be tracked on BK website, beginning April 18^th.

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