amazon promotion

Final Amazon Team Posting

2005-06-22T23:11:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com Offers "Earth's Biggest Selection"

Promtions on Ebay, very cool!

2005-06-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

Coke Zero headed for shelves in June, taste preview hits eBay in April

Comments to classmates

2005-06-22T11:42:00.000-07:00

Alex, the class requires at least 6 comments to my classmates' or teammates' blogs. The following are blogs that I left comment on.

Comment to Xinkai Gong, "Intellectual Property in International Trade"

Comment to Claire, "Amazon's Latest Promotion - "A Show of Thanks" to Customers"

Comment to Maggie Jordan, "The Darth Vader Challenge"

Comment to Raj, "1st Team Post: Amazon.com and Global Markets"

Comment to Tammy, "Marketing/Tech. Blog Post/NIKE Says "NO" to Sears"

Comment to Alex Husted, "a real pickle for Vlasic"

Comment to Alex Husted, "Flexplay - the 48 hour, no return DVD"

Comment to David Gong, "pennsylvania tourism blogs"

Comment to Annamarie, "Expansion of post by Junko Husted of this Class"

Comment to Rachel, "Team Post #1: Amazon.com's Pricing Strategy"

Finding me on the web

2005-06-22T00:35:00.000-07:00

I was able to find my Amazon Promtion blog came out 1st place by using Google. Hope this will count for my extra points.

Blog to Blog Post #2, Is “Butcher Advertising” the future of marketing?

2005-06-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Elton John, the "Rocket Man", lends face to AirTran. “The image of the British pop Singer will begin appearing on more than 20 AirTran Airway jets to promote the launch of satellite radio” at each passenger seat. Elton John’s head on 717 is comparable in dimensions to the head of Statue of Liberty.”

You can hardly imagine that Sir Elton John, who is famous for his extravagance, would let a dirt-cheap airline to use his image. Actually, it is a partnership between XM Radio and AirTran. The unique feature or the irony of this collaboration is that XM, which Elton John endorsed all conventional advertising rights to, only allows AirTran to use Elton John’s image for the promotion, not his name, his music, his body, his voice or anything else.

XM was wise enough to let AirTran use the image only, and save Sir Elton’s new song “Answer in the Sky” to promote its own new digital portable receiver Delphi MyFi. Of course, with Americans’ obsession with fame and celebrity, AirTran got huge publicity and feedback from customers.

Is this the new marketing technique? Is this a new chapter to advertising using celebrities? You can butcher the celebrities into pieces and use them for different promotions, their name, their voice, image or any of the body parts sparately? Is this the new way to satisfy the needs for fame and celebrity and also to manage the advertising budget? Maybe some day we will see JoLo’s butt only on Calvin Klein’s underware?

My classmate, Maggy Jordan, she blogged about "Howard Stern and the Satellite Wars". The competitor of XM Radio, Sirius Radio signed, $500 million, the biggest broadcasting contract with Howard Stern. Even though Sirius’ plan for Howard Stern to justify to $500 million contract remains unrevealed, they might get some got some hints or lessons from XM by how they used the celebrity of Sir Elton John. Stay tuned and we will find out.

Blog to Blog Post #1: Becoming Blogophobia or Embracing the Blog

2005-06-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

Blogging has become a powerful communication medium day by day. Thank for this class and my professor Alex Brown, I got into blog recently. Blogging is a new world to me and I am still trying to figure it out. This article, Warning: Your clever little blog could get you fired was shocking to me.

Peter Whitney got fired because of his blog, "A boy, a dream, a box of muffin mix" because some notes about his friends, his life and his job. To me his blog is just like a diary, but the only difference is that Peter publish it, everybody can read it and he does not care people read about his life.

What happened to Peter, do you think it is a lesson to all the bloggers that we should stop blogging? Did Peter stop blogging because he got fired? Of course not.

Blog is not totally new. We have been using message board for years for opinions and resources. Blog is just a new form of message board in the 21st century. With the increase of individual bloggers day by day, many companies are embracing blog as their new model for business. Business week just lauched their own blog, of course, it causes various "Cheers And Sneers For The Blogosphere".

I learned from my classmate David Gong's Pennsylvania tourism blogs that his company is using blog for the promotion of tourism. However, his company uses filter to monitor and censor its blog for some legal issues. It is still easy for monitoring the company blog. Most concern lies how to monitor personal blogs of individuals inside or outside the company 24 hours a day. Blogger can blog away company's project, new products and some insider information.
maybe a potiential way to have an open dialogue with the customer, but some harm to the business can be done in short term. Any kind of information leak can cause damage to the company. But do not become blogophobic. As one of the telecommunications and technology lawyer says, "The law is trying to catch up with the technology. This is like what we saw a few years ago with employers passing polices about e-mail. Now we're seeing it with Web logs."

Blog maybe a potiential way to have an open dialogue with the customer, but some harm to the business can be done in short term.

Salads Days for Burger Joints

2005-06-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

With Americans worried about weight, restaurants are raking in the green stuff with light fare-- while selling more unhealthy items

Warner Home Video Strikes Back

2005-06-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

In recent years, China has been the world wide target of the piracy of intellectual properties, such as software, video games, movies, etc. Much has been said and little has been done on either side. This has aroused much agony in US and many companies have been trying to prevent the Chinese piracy, through legitimacy or political pressure on China or some other marketing strategies as the same day release. I think one of the most genius marketing idea is the recent Time Warner's press release of a joint venture video operation with China Audio Video (CAV).

The major reason for the piracy of USA movies is because of the price difference. In USA, the regular DVD price is from $10 to $30. But in China, you can get the pirate DVDs on the street at US$1 or US$1.5. I bought the first 3 seasons of the famous TV series "24" on the street in Shanghai for only US$6. But the DVD can only be played on our computer instead of on DVD player and the image is not as good as regular DVDs. In USA, I have to pay at least 1o times as much so the price difference makes me disregard these shortcomings of the pirated DVD. I think it is for the same reason that millions of Chinese are not willing to pay 10 times of the money to buy an imported DVD.

After this joint venture, the Warner's DVD price will only be about $1 higher than the pirated copy. However, the image quality will be much better and it will be totally legitmate. Because of the standard of life increase in China, I believe a lot of Chinese can afford the price difference and will start switching to Warner's new DVDs.

Just like General Motors has produced difference cars for "Purse, purpose and personality"(Kotler Armstrong, "Principles of Marketing", p252), Time Warner is making DVDs for different international market. They use the segmented pricing for differentiated market very well. I beleive sooner or later, I will see the pirated DVDs disappear from the streets in China.

Brand Translations in Chinese

2005-06-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

I read this article a while ago and it hit me that the brand translation is no easy job.

"Brand names help consumer identify products that might benifit them" and "branding can add value to a product". (Kotler Armstrong, "Principles of Marketing", p285) Coca-cola 可口可乐 has become a satisying and pervasive brand in China partly due to the good branding in Chinese. In Chinese, the pronunciation is "keko-kele" and it means as "tasty and pleasant". How can the consumer resist a soft drink that is tasty and pleasant?

In China, personally I think you can basically divide the brand translation into 3 ways.
1. Only by the meaning of word
For example, Nestle as 雀巢 (que chao), which means the nest of sparrow

2. Only by the using Chinese chararters with similar pronunciation to the brand, but the actual word does not have any meaning.
For example:
Macdonold as 麦当劳 (mai dang lao)
KFC as 肯德基(ken de ji)
Sony as 索尼 (sou ni)

3. Combine the pronunciation and brand interpretation together, by using Chinese characters with similar pronunciation and with actual meaning of the word.
For example:

Pizza Hut, as 必胜客 (bi shen ke), which means "always winning customer" or "the customer always wins" implying that the customer will get great value and taste from the food.
Mercedes-benz, as 奔驰 (ben chi), which means "run quickly and speed" implying the outstanding performance of the vehicle.
E-Bay, as 易趣 (yi qu), which means "easy hobby" or "easy and interesting" implying the major function of the site.
Budwesier, as 百威 (bai wei), which means "hundreds of power" to support the taste of the beer
Nike, as 耐克 (nai ke), which means " tolerance and overcoming" implying Nike's athletic image.
Estee Lauder, as 雅诗兰黛 (ya shi lang dai), which means "elegant poem" to symbolize the beautiful and elegant image of the cosmetic maker.

If you don't know how to brand the product in Chinese, my personal recommendation is to put words with similar pronunciation but without actaul meaning. This is the safest way to go. Please do not make the same mistake as Toyota Prado ( 霸道) because there is a proverb in China as one man's remedy can be another man's poison.

Second Introduction Post: Blog, Blog, Blog

2005-06-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

I started blogging because it is required by MKTG 411-Introduction to Marketing class. The course is required by the Wharton Programs for Working Professionals Business Essentials certificate program offered by The Wharton School. I have been assigned to be a "promotion expert" of Amazon.com.

I am not very computer oriented and had no idea what a "blog"was until this class. Contrary to my imagination, blogging is quite simple and straightforward. I have been telling friends and family about my blogging at school and how our teacher Mr. Alex Brown is a "preacher" for blogging.

My blog will be a spot for me to gather and share information about my Amazon promotion project. I am not learning basic marketing knowledge, but also learning a new marketing tool "blogging" in this class.

First Team Post, Amazon and Promotion

2005-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Amazon. com has not only become the biggest online retailers, but it also ranked second in terms of browser satisfaction. Amazon's promotional mix is very simple and straightforward, on-line direct marketing. By providing personalized stores and recommendations, Amazon becomes my Amazon and everybody's Amazon. The ultimate goal is to provide the customer's best on-line shopping experience.

Some critics criticize that Amazon is "lagging on basic retail techniques, because the e-mail enticements from Amazon are sporadic". You may get e-mails for reminder of Father's Day gift but not for Mother's Day. You will never get a wish list sales promotion from Amazon unlike some other on-line music or DVD retailer, eg. Columbiahouse.com. Amazon e-mails are all opt-in only. Amazon dropped their free shipping order amount from $45 per order to $25 only because it wants to match Barnes & Noble.

Amazon may not be a diligent on-line e-mail promoter, but compared to all the spam and excessive e-mail alerts that we get everyday, Amazon is the ultimate interactive on-line promotor. How can you economically draw customers to your website? Amazon's customer databases include comprehensive data of the customer’s purchasing and browsing history. When people use their myAmazon acount, it enables Amazon to provide extensive and tailored recommendations to the customers, personalized items ratings, and personalized new product promotions. Treasure box, for example, is a gold box on the right top corner of Amazon’s website. It usually contains special offers for random items for sale for limited 24 hours. This is not only a sales promotion, but also a way to identify the customer's interests for future personalized recommendations. "What is unique about Amazon is the ability to target and initiate suggestions ... and thus stimulate buying."

Personally, I prefer the personalization of myAmazon to the aggressive and unpersonalized email promotions of other online retailers. I am much more likely to look through Amazon’s recommendations than I am to open the countless emails I get from other stores.

a can of spam

2005-06-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

I just want to give a brief update to the class about the outcome of my unwise involvement with freebies. Right after the holiday and I went back to work and there were at least 30 spam e-mails in my inbox. Of course, there were from different survey companies, magazines, mortgage or credit cards, and even more e-mails offering freebies. More e-mails followed the day after.

I have been busy in unsubscribing all these e-mails in the past few days. The tricky part is that there are actual 2 links that I have to unsubscribe, one is the link from the advertising company, and the other is from the actual merchant who makes the offer. I have to make sure unsubscribe both if not there is still high chance for me to get endless spam.

After all, my personal recommendations are not to try getting the freebies. They are NOT free and you actually pay more than what you get.

Third Promtional Post: Ethics in International Advertising

2005-05-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Because of the complexity of international advertising, most international advertisers use the strategies as "think globally but act locally"(Kotler Armstrong, "Principles of Marketing", p508).The advertiser should be aware of the cultural, individual, and role differences, including those due to age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status.

There are numerous examples how well the advertisements are done, but still some can be blasphemy and insulting to that country's culture, people or history. A recent example is the advertisement for Toyota's Land Cruiser and Prado.

I would say that without taking the historical background into consideration, it is an excellent Chinese translation itself of "Prado" as well as using the Chinese stone lions as symbol that expresses the power and the performance of the automobile. It has a firm marketing grip on the local culture. However, in reality, the Chinese consumers found it humiliating and the word "Badao" which means "domineering" reminds Chinese people of the Japanese invasion in WWII. The scars still remain unhealed in China and also in other Asian countries.

Toyota is not the only one who disregard the ethics in advertising. If Nike had any ethical common sense, they would have created different versions of LeBron James ads. They might have let James learn Kong Fu from the Chinese Gong Fu master while the Kong Fu master learns basketball. Of course, Nivea should never have advertised their product using a nude model showering in front of thousands of people on the street especially when 94% of Thais are Buddist. In a similar case, Christina Aguilera should have put a different poster on the wall that does not describe Thailand as a poor country full of prostitution.

In international advertising, besides representing the product in the fair and honest manner, the ground rule is that you should respect the country, the people, the culture, the values and the religion. However, this is the biggest challenge. How can you not cross the thin line between honoring and humiliating, and treating the country with dignity and respect their rights? The advertiser should be aware of the cultural, individual, and role differences, including those due to age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status.

Second Promtional Post: How Nike Figured Out China

2005-05-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

I read this article a while ago in Time magazine. I could not forget what Nike founder Phil Knight said: "There are 2 billion feet out there, go get them!"
"Knight first traveled to China in 1980 and setup his first production line. However, he already saw China as a huge market more than a workshop." Nike's strategy was "Local for Local". Whenever Nike has the factory, Nike should have a market to sell.
I remember when I bought my first Nikes in 1988 while I was in college in Shanghai. It cost RMB69 Yuan (which was about $9, almost 1/3 about the average Shanghaiese monthly salary). Why did I buy them? Because they are a USA brand and everybody in Shanghai wanted a pair. It was the coolest, most stylish thing ever. Then, when I was in Japan, my brother begged me to bring Nikes back from Japan as a souvenir.
How did Nike capture the Chinese market? Besides the booming Chinese economy, Nike did it by capturing the attention of young generations, especially those little emperors of middle class families that are hungry for western culture, freedom, individualism and self expression. Nike uses one of the mass-communication tools, public relations(Kotler Armstrong, "Principles of Marketing", p515 to 519) brilliantly. As you have read in the article, Nike sponsored and outfitted various young sports teams and athletes, especially all new pro basketball and soccer leagues and opened sports facilities. Nike also made generous donations to Special Olympics of 87 schools in 20 provinces, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Dalian and Shenzhen. Knowing the young Chinese like NBA and admire Micheal Jordan, Nike arranged Jordan's Offical Trip to China with game and product promotions. "Nike's goal is to hook kids on Nike early and keep them for life."
As a result, "sales through the 1990s picked up 60% a year and last year reached estimated $300 million."

But this does not mean that Nike did a perfect job with Public Relations. The biggest blunder was the NBA star James LeBron's advertisement which got banned from Chinese media. I will blog this more in my next Blog about the "Ethics in International Advertising".

First Promtional Post: A Black Hole of Freebies

2005-05-30T13:07:00.000-07:00

Internet has become a more and more popular media for marketing promotion. You can download free gift certificates, coupons or even request free samples of products. The recent frenzy is that you can get a free iPod. There is an actual blog of how to get freebies. It gives you an explanation, instructions and information of how to get free electronics (such as iPod, flat screen TV or Playstation) and even how to get referral e-mail addresses. Many people tell their success stories on the blog of how they earned their prizes.

I wish I could brag about my triumph as well on my blog. However, unfortunately, I am one of those who got duped. This experience inspired me to share the story of on-line promotions with other bloggers.

Since my marketing project is about the promotion of Amazon, I went on Google, typed in "Amazon Promotion" and tried to find some good articles. One link said that I can get a free $50 gift certificate from amazon.com if I complete the survey. I thought "great", not only can I get a free gift certificate but also get some research done about amazon's direct marketing survery. Without noticing that the link was actaully a online survey company offering all sorts of freebies, I clicked the mouse. It said "Take the 3 minute survery now" and asked me to enter my e-mail address, zip code, and some other personal info. Then, I browsed through different pages of diversified promotions for freebies, including free cell phones, airline tickets, free trial of Netflex, magazines, tabacco, drugs, home improvement services, poetry, credit cards, etc. This promotion led me into more promotions of freebies. I said no to all the offers.
To make the story short, it took me 30 minutes to finish the whole thing and at the every end, I was disqualified to receive the gift certificate because I was not interested in subscribing to any of the services that they offered. I realized that the gift certificate is NOT FREE and it is not a GIFT certificate. I have to purchase something that they offer and give away some of my persaonal information.
I do not know how many other suckers got lost in these black holes of freebie promotions or how many succeeded. I am more concerned about those like me and the marketers that gave away freebies.
I am afraid that there will be thousands of e-mail spams waiting in my inbox after this goof. Maybe that is why some people have extra e-mail addresses. Also, I assume most of the people are like me: only focused on the freebies and not caring about anything else. How can the marketers capture useful data from people like me who will say anything to get a freebie?

First Post : About me

2005-05-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

My name is Junko Husted. All my family and friends call me Shunying. I am working at Edmund Optics, Inc. as a senior buyer. I was born in Shanghai, China and went to college in Tokyo, Japan. After graduation, I worked in the purchasing division of Edmund Optics Japan for 5 years. During my stay in Japan, I got my Japanese citizenship. In 2001, I was transferred to Edmund Optics’ headquarters located in Barrington, NJ. This was a big change in my life and I had some ups and downs. The downside was the apartment that I lived in collapsed and I lost everything I had. The upside was I met a nice guy, Alex and eventually became my husband. Overall, life is good.
I am responsible for all the procurement of lenses, prisms, beam splitters and other optics & positioning equipment from Japan, China and Singapore as well as some other domestic vendors. Two major reasons for my transfer were to centralizing the purchasing management from Japan to USA and also increase the mutual understanding between USA and Asian vendors. I am familiar with international procurement, especially three country trading. I love my work because I think I am contributing something to different countries and can use my language skills to interact with different people from different countries.
Because of the distance to China, I was not able to go back to see my parents and family as often as before, but we are still trying to get back once a year. Actually, we are arranging a trip with my husband's family to Shanghai, Beijing and some other cities this fall. It will be very exciting as usual, especially the dramatic changes in my homeland these years.

Amazon Introduces Amazon Wedding

2005-05-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Amazon Introduces Amazon Wedding, a One-Stop Destination for Registry and Wedding Planning.