Selling to the penniless

I just returned from a half-month trip in Vietnam and had the most amazing time. My host during my stay in Hue City was a former Unilever brand manager. We visited the market, and he pointed out these shampoo packets, designed for cash-strapped people who cannot afford to buy whole bottles.



Customer needs exist in all levels of the economic pyramid. There is value to be created as long as the needs are identified and met.

Flying buffet

JetBlue is offering an All-You-Can-Jet Pass for $599, valid for any domestic flights within a one-month period.



This is not a new pricing concept, as round-the-world tickets have been around for a while.

With tickets from San Francisco to New York costing close to $300 round trip, at first glance $599 seems like a good deal. Of course, in this economy, consumers are not doing much leisure traveling, especially since hotels and local transportation costs can add up quickly. Travelers who would benefit the most from this deal are the ones with out-of-town relatives or friends with whom they can stay while visiting.

Is it really a good deal? An average round-trip ticket probably costs around $200. One would have to make at least three trips to make the pass worth it. Even a travel lover like me would think twice before planning more than three trips in a four-week period.

So...what is the value proposition? Perhaps it is the spontaneity the pass would provide. As long as seats are available, a pass holder can book a flight only three days in advance. But then again, how valuable is spontaneity when the pass is valid for a restrictive one-month period? And what is the likelihood that seats would be available when I want to fly?

At this price point, I don't think the All-You-Can-Jet pass adds much value to consumers, but that is not the end of the story. Let's not forget about the buzz and the resulting brand image boost, since the pass does seem like a good deal at first glance.

Can a company win something for offering next-to-zero-value to its customers?

Of course. This All-You-Can-Jet pass is but one example of commercial innovation.

Getting noticed

Grabbing attention is important, but sometimes companies try too hard and it becomes gimmicky.

This ad by Ben & Jerry's (in Downtown Berkeley's BART station) does a good job:



It features an upside-down image not just to grab attention, but to introduce its new Flipped Out ice-cream. Well done!

Try me! Look at me!

I went to the San Francisco Marathon last weekend to see my friend Arnold cross the finish line. The whole area was a marketing galore!







Event marketing is a great way for brands to have personal interactions with their target consumers. Besides giving away free samples to these consumers, brands associate themselves with the event's "values," which in this case are fitness, determination, strength, endurance....

As private labels steal market share from national brands, it is becoming even more important for name brands to build these emotional connections with consumers. Event marketing is an excellent way for brands to "touch" consumers outside of the retail environment.

Only the good stuff!

My friend Zach had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago. I've been doing some grocery shopping for him. We communicate mostly through texting:

i am going to supermarket do you need something?

i do need mustard, thanks! i usually get the gulden's spicy kind.

that's it? do you not eat fruits or drink milk?

i don't eat much fruit... i do need milk though. and cookies! those nestle tollhouse chocolate chip ones that are next to the eggs?

i see the cookies they are out are you willing to try the safeway brand?

oh, no way! only the good stuff! ;-) nestle tollhouse are the best... i can wait.

I almost laughed out loud. People like Zach provide job security for brand marketers everywhere.

And then there are those who don't care for the good stuff...



Safeway-brand chocolate bars, sitting next to Ghirardelli.

If you're in the mood for gourmet chocolate, would you pay $3.69 for the "good stuff" or $2 for, um, the Safeway Select kind?

I would've laughed two years ago, but looking at the classy packaging of the Safeway Select chocolate--"Milk Chocolate with Nibbed Hazelnuts," "Product of Switzerland"--Ghirardelli is not the clear winner here.

Safeway Select, well done! Store brands in the US will eventually be powerful like their counterparts in Europe.

What does credit crunch look like?

Yesterday I walked into a Safeway, and my eyes screamed, "credit crunch!!!!!"



The image was like this for many categories, not just yogurt. Are there not other ways retailers can compete against each other?

New shopping experiences? Innovative store brands? Friendly cashiers?

Trying to go viral

I've been helping my classmates Thomas and Norberto on getting buzz for their customized-cereal startup MojaMix.

Alex, I'll take Marketing for one-hundred.

The activity entrepreneurs engage in when there is no marketing budget.

What is social media marketing?

We're trying everything. Contacting bloggers, building a large Twitter following, Facebook fan pages, weekly giveaways, coupon codes,....

Being a skeptic of Twitter, my mission has been to grow the number of Facebook fans for the MojaMix page. It hasn't been easy.

Keeping people interested and engaged using Facebook fan pages is quite straightforward. The companies who are doing a good job at this include Jamba Juice and Starbucks. But how do we get people to join the fan page in the first place?

Yesterday was my birthday. Armed with 800 Facebook friends, I tried to go viral with my status update:



I got over 40 "likes," which is a record high for me.

No, Oprah's assistant did not call. Although I grew the number of MojaMix fans by 11%, it was hardly viral.

Alas, it was a fun experiment. Onto the next idea...

We all scream for ice-cream!

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing John's $1 scoop ice-cream!

Every time I walk by this sign in downtown Berkeley, I think to myself: What's the catch? Why is it so cheap? Is the ice-cream crappy?

Yesterday I finally went in, after seeing many people streaming out of the store happily eating ice-cream.

There was no catch! The flavor selection was vast, and the ice-cream was fantastic. One big scoop of it on top of a sugar cone for a dollar!

Many people were in the store waiting for ice-cream. Some expressed their bewilderment in words, "wow, this is ingenious!"

Have marketers been working so hard thinking up convoluted promotion schemes that now what is considered ingenious is something so simple?

Bundling, buy-one-get-one-free, buy-one-get-second-one-half-off,.... People these days know that they're all "tricks" to get them to buy more. Yes, people will buy more and profits will be healthy.

But that leaves room for competitors who catch on to people's yearning for simplicity in life.

i text, u text, we all text...

...for free samples?

I was flying back to the Bay Area from New York last week. When the complimentary beverages came, I put down my tray and gasped.



Airplane-tray ads! Love at first sight.

Broadly speaking, people sitting on a plane engage in five groups of activities:

1. Sleep
2. Read (book/laptop)
3. Eat/drink
4. Listen to music/watch movie
5. Stare into space

Since FAA regulations and airline policies put a damper* on most activities, amount of time spent by passengers on staring into space is surprisingly high. What a good place to put an ad!

The "clusters" looked appetizing; the copy was convincing. But, the call for action was a bit, shall I say, impractical?

"Be The First To Try It! When you land, text CLUSTERS to 467467 to receive your FREE sample of Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters."

Did someone forget that tray-up-and-seat-upright drill passengers have to perform as the plane is landing? I had every intention of texting for my free sample upon landing, but when I was finally allowed to turn on my cell phone, I have completely forgotten about the offer.

Maybe that was the point--use the word FREE to grab attention on the plane, forget the sampling, and then wait for people to show up in the supermarket aisle.

Regardless, I quite like the idea of ShopText. Want to respond to an ad right away? Just send a text to the number given.

With ShopText, consumers can buy or request samples easily, with just a few taps on the cell phone. In turn, companies can better track which ads are working, real time.

It is a clever idea, though perhaps not in an airplane setting.

*Do I really have to turn off my MP3 player when the plane is taking off?