Hand to Hand

        Recently while at work I was asked by a customer to see our battery section. Unfortunately for the customers the batteries are located behind the cashier work station and are only within the cashiers reach. As I assisted in pointing out the size of battery they required in various brands, the consumer constantly kept asking for the brand Duracell. Despite their initial request of the cheapest choice, which would have been a no name brand, the customer insisted on Duracell.

     Along with Duracell there were few other battery choices such as Energizer and Panasonic. According to The Top Ten website, Duracell is in second place, after Energizer, for cheaper no name brand that the store was selling. Please see The Top Ten link above.  

                When I informed the customer that Duracell was much more expensive and had more batteries in the pack than they were requesting, they once again insisted it was what they wanted. This got me thinking, why are some customers so loyal to a brand, when the other brands offer similar products at a lesser price.

One marketing campaign video comes into my mind right away when I think of Duracell. Earlier this year in Montreal, Quebec Duracell set up an intriguing public display. The display was a functional bus shelter alongside a road.  This campaign took place during winter and it appears in the video that participants were cold. The idea of the campaign was to have a human chain or connection within the bus shelter, with a contact point on each side of the shelter. When a full circuit or connection was made, it would turn a heating system on within the bus shelter.  I interpreted it as, would rather touch hands with a stranger to create heat or stay in the cold alone. It was a surprisingly memorable campaign although short and not on a global scale.

   My interaction with the customer buying Duracell batteries reminded me of a concept called brand personality. This term refers to a set of traits which are attributed to a product as if it were a person (Solomon, 2014).  Sometimes creating strong brand or product personality is more important than the product or service offered. For Duracell, its brand is supposed to be seen as long-lasting, compact and durable (Procter & Gamble, 2014). These are features of someone you would be able to trust and rely on to do the job or follow through. Perhaps, the consumer buying batteries in the store did not want to be associated to a cheaper not as well-known brand and wanted to purchase something they categorize as more dependable, despite the products being very similar in design.

            Personally, there are some products which I give a brand personality too that influences my consumption patterns. It could be as large as giving a brand personality to the University I an enrolled at or as small as giving traits to certain toothpaste brands which makes me go back to the same brand each time. For example, Crest toothpaste has words such as healthy and beautiful in its slogan which are traits I associate to it, while another toothpaste such as Arm and Hammer simply reminds me of baking soda. I would much rather be healthy than think about baking soda every time I brush my teeth.  So the question is, is the product brand more important than the product itself?

References:

Solomon, White, Dalh. "Consumer Behaviour ." 293. Pearson, 2014.

            Procter & Gamble. “AboutUs.” Company History 2014.

           This topic (Brand Personality) is part of Chapter 6 - Personality, Lifestyles and Values.

Scrolling to New Heights

     Imagine rather than analyzing a static website page for information, you are able to get an in depth view of a product or of how something was created with a more interactive approach. 

         A concept I stumbled across is called parallax scrolling. Parallax scrolling if a form of computer graphics techniques which create a unique illusion to the viewer. It works by having background images move at a different speed than the foreground images, creating an astonishing sight when scrolling up or down on the page. The first time I came across this design technique was for Sony USA, Be Moved (Sony Website). 

           Not only did Sony create an engaging site for viewers but they went to the extent of incorporating their own products giving readers an in-sight scoop of the products components. Throughout the site there are videos, gifs, information on products and photos to elaborate more on each product, which becomes assembled as you scroll through. If the reader is to scroll through without stopping, the page almost seems to turn into a video.

               E-commerce, also known as electronic commerce, is the future of marketing. From multi-national to local organizations, more businesses are making a presence online whether it be a company website, forum, blog or other outlets of social media such as Facebook or Twitter. Sony is not the only company to take a company website to the next level. Upon more research I have also discovered another great example of parallax scrolling (Journey Website). The website Journey gives the readers an inside view of the computer generated imagery (CGI) techniques used to create the film Life of Pi. View the link provided to view the site.

              One thing both the Sony and Journey site have in common is the purpose to sell their products. With Sony they attempt to sell the consumers their technologies such as phones, gaming consoles and hardware. Journey on the other hand ended their parallax scrolling with several options for consumers to purchase the film Life of Pi. Are consumers more willing to purchase a product if the site incorporates new technologies to showcase the products?

             Parallax scrolling however is not only a marketing tool for organizations to gain profits. Some organizations are using the method to create awareness in a more interactive and appeal way for consumers. Take the company called Nice and Serious, who partnered with Waterwise to create a parallax site for water consumption (Everylastdrop Website). The site gives readers information and statistics about water consumption. 

            Like all marketing tools, there are always pros and cons. The pros in this instance are the visually appealing creations made, allows the creators to present all information on one page rather than having readers navigate themselves and the options for innovation are endless.  The disadvantages however are that since it is a more advanced form of technology, the concept may not work on all browsers may frustrate readers and takes more animation on the creator’s side.  
            Not only does an e-commerce tool like this allow organization to reach out to target markets, but the companies who take hold of the techniques can gain a competitive advantage on a global scale (Solomon, 2014). For example, in the recent past there was a decreasing demand for the movie store Block Busters, due to the new technological age. Consumers were no longer going into the store to purchase films but were now going online to get the same product for less hassle, with sites such as Journey shown above. As a result, Block Busters went out of business and selling moving online has become a growing trend. E-commerce can make the companies who embrace it stronger but threaten the companies who cannot grasp the technological generation.

          There are fears attached to e-commerce for consumer, for example the violation of privacy. If a consumer were to visit the Journey website and decided to purchase the film, would their personal information such as banking details be released? The consumer has to decide if they think the organization has enough security before they make a purchase. Therefore there are still obstacles companies using e-commerce tools must watch out for (Solomon, 2014). 

           Personally, I enjoy this new marketing method and find it to be very effective. I was much more engaged with the site and wanted to learn more about it and the products. The vivid images, creative use of space and movement capture and keep the attention of readers, including myself. Although I made no purchases on these sites, I would be more inclined to go back to these sites to make purchase as their site have a lasting impression. 

           Due to the nature of the younger generation who are born in the technological world, marketers are continuously trying to grab the short attention span of these individuals. I have only found parallax scrolling on a number of sites and does not seem to be a mass marketing tool at this time. Do you think parallax scrolling is an effective way for marketers to grab the attention of the younger target market?

References

Solomon, White, Dalh. "Consumer Behaviour : Buying, Having and Being, Sixth Canadian Edition." 293. Pearson, 2014.

This topic (E-Commerce) is part of Chapter 10 - Buying and Disposing.