Nintendo, a Japanese video game and consumer electronics company, is known for its memorable brand experiences to maintain the relevancy of the brand and reinforce its value to its consumers. A few months ago, the first Super Nintendo World opened up in Universal Studios Japan, located in Osaka. In the future, the company also plans to open additional parks in California, Singapore and Florida.
The interactive theme park features characters that consumers love and are familiar with, as well as attractions that mimic events in the brand’s Mario games. Characters such as Mario, Toad, Yoshi and Bowser are seen all over the park that visitors can recognize. Visitors can also jump, and punch “questions blocks” to collect virtual games, similarly to how Mario does. Visitors can also purchase wristbands that can be connected to a smartphone app, to track their progress on missions that are located all around the park.
Customers were concerned about the opening during the midst of the pandemic, but many felt safe after seeing the protocols that were put in place. Japanese borders are still closed, so sadly travelers won’t be able to attend the park just yet.
The way Nintendo utilizes its brand experiences to its advantage is a great example of how the brand nurtures its relationships with consumers and enhance its overall brand loyalty. By targeting consumers’ enjoyment, comfort, and security to its games, storylines and characters, consumers have become attached to Nintendo through brand familiarity. As many consumers have grown up playing the Mario games from childhood, there’s no doubt that there’ll be a feeling of nostalgia while visiting the park.
(*with apologies to Michael Jackson and the original Thriller lyrics)
Via your classmate Matt:
Youtuber / celebrity boxing has been making a splash in the sport in the past 2-3 years. Youtubers Jake and Logan Paul lead this storm, with major headlines featuring professional MMA and Boxing fighters such as Ben Askeran and Floyd Mayweather.
Triller for those who don’t know, is the primary Tiktokcompetitor. The platform consists of short form video content but has decided to attack this celebrity boxing trend head on. The Triller facilitated and sponsored event was a PPV Boxing event like no other. this event featured A-list celebrities such as Snoop-Dog, Pete Davidson, Mario Lopez, and Diplo to help host and provide commentary. In combination with an awkwardly placed 3-4 set music performances from names such as Doja Cat and Justin Bieber.
To accurately describe this event would be difficult, but a circus would be the closest thing to a one-word explanation. With oddly placed hosting and commentary, awkward music and unprofessional production of the actual fights, it’s hardly must-see viewing.
Triller’s brand character is not prominent in pop-culture today, as this can take years to build and often exemplifies the brand’s values. Since the app is so new, extraordinarily little character has been established. In terms of brand improvisation, Triller has shown its ability and willingness to dive into other industries, despite a lack of credentials and experience.
Triller does not know how to put on a boxing pay-per-view. But desipite sloppy production with little to no direction, the platform sold over one million programs and had unlimited amounts of publicity. This poses an important question: in 2021 is any publicity still good publicity? The non-stop stimulus both good and of this event made it remarkably memorable, and I believe as one of the first of its kind made a statement, whether or not it was one worth paying for.
Panera, a well-known food chain known for their soups and bread bowls, has recently come out with a line of swimwear.
You read that right. SWIMWEAR.
The company has stated that in a survey they conducted of 700 people, 70% of them said that hot weather does not stop them from eating soup, despite it being associated as a cold weather food. A recent Instagram post they created to announce the launch says, “Soup-in-the-summer people, we see you. And we’ve got something special for you. Hit the link in our bio to shop our Swim Soups Collection now!”
The collection has a one-piece swimsuit for women and swim trunks for men. The design is in panel’s signature olive green, with the word “SOUP” adorned on them. In addition to the swimsuits, Panera has also released a pool float in the shape of its famous bread bowl.
When I initially heard of this launch, I thought it was odd. I thought that the combination of swimwear and soup does not make sense, and swimwear in general seems so far off from Panera’s brand that I thought the line would fail. However, I was wrong. Despite only launching a few days ago, the whole collection is almost sold out. Despite my original thought that swimwear was so far out of the realm of Panera’s area of expertise that consumers would not buy it, after reading about how popular it is now, I believe it was a smart marketing move to show their dedicated soup-loving customers that they appreciate them.
Do you think that this is a smart marketing ploy? Or is this too far off from Panera’s brand meaning?
In the last two weeks some amazing advancements have transpired in the path towards private space exploration, writing a new chapter in the “Space Race.” On July 20th, billionaire and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, flew into space in his rocket Blue Origin. The flight was about 10 minutes long and caused a lot of backlash to Amazon and Jeff Bezos himself as many people are calling independent space travel unnecessary, expensive and a waste of money. Moreover, the flight costed millions of dollars that many critics are saying could go to Amazon’s workers and improve the company’s poor labour practices. Over 185,000 people signed a petition on Change.org to not allow Jeff Bezos back into the atmosphere during his flight.
Only 9 days earlier the world watched billionaire Richard Branson live out his childhood dream of space travel. He filmed his inspiring speech from a weightless aircraft encouraging many others to follow their dreams and to work hard. Many prominent figures in society have supported and funded these new types of innovations into private space exploration. Elon Musk wants to have commercial flights to Mars and his company SpaceX is on its way to making that a possibility.
This growing trend is bringing mixed opinions from society. Among other brand authors, comdian Jon Stewart–voice of popular culture and a comedic version of the news media–promoted his upcoming Apple TV Plus show “The Problem with Jon Stewart” with a skit roasting the billionaires and their one uppmanship. It begs the question: do billionaires have a responsibility to spend their money on world issues? If so, are they not allowed to spend their money on things they enjoy? Space travel has always been a controversial topic right back to the space race with the Soviet Union and the United States. Millions of dollars in financial investment, pollution, depletion of resources and time have always been motivating factors to not pursue space travel.
Moving forward, it looks like these private flights will become more normal to see and eventually attainable to individuals willing to pay for it. Regardless of where you stand on the matter it is time to accept that the new chapter of space travel has officially started, and it is only in time we will see its limits.
One of the most controversial Olympic Games is set to take place starting July 23rd. “Tokyo 2020” has been plagued with controversies, starting with the one-year delay of the games due to the COVID-10 pandemic. However, many still believe it is too early to hold the Olympics, with 70-80% of people in Japan believe the Olympics should not be held this summer 1. Many are questioning whether it is really time to bring the world back together. The Olympics are typically a time of celebration, and with many places around the world currently still in a state of emergency from the pandemic (including Japan!), it does not feel like a time to rejoice in sport.
On top of the COVID-19 concerns, Tokyo 2020 has been plagued by controversies relating to inclusivity. Banning afro swimming caps, ineligibility for transgender athletes, and restrictions relating to Black Lives Matter propaganda are some of the contentious issues associated with the Olympics so far.
What does this mean for brands? The Olympics is typically one of the largest opportunities for brands to showcase on a global scale. However, this year brands are faced with questions they never thought they would be answering about the Olympics. Among them, whether they want to be associated with The Olympics in the first place. Many are struggling with the potential negative brand associations with such a controversial event. While it could be an opportunity for brands on a large scale, it could also hurt a brand’s image depending on sentiment relating to the events.2 Some brands have chosen to go ahead with Olympic associations but in more subtle ways than usual. For example, Asics, who is the Olympics kit partner of the Japan team, only very briefly showed the Olympic rings in their recent commercial.3
The second decision they face if they do choose to advertise is what types of messages they should release. With half the world still battling the pandemic while others are finally getting back a sense of normalcy, the choice for brands is made harder by this divided public sentiment. One option is to ignore current events and continuing with regularly scheduled campaign themes. Another option is putting out messages of hope, which might seem worn out to some consumers throughout the pandemic. However, messages of normalcy returning can also be seen as tonedeaf to those countries still struggling. Many brands have chosen to create two campaigns with different messages and make a last-minute call on which they deem appropriate.3
With the games quickly approaching, brands will have to navigate these decisions on a global scale. Should they risk harming their brand image or pass up on a potential huge awareness opportunity?
read Rachel’s post “A Penalty Kick for Coke”…then this one via your classmate Maggie:
As noted in a post by my classmate Rachel, while at a press conference for the Euro 2020 football tournament, Cristiano Ronaldo removed two bottles of Coca-Cola from the podium in front of him and encouraged people to drink water instead. This was a controversial move, as Coke is a main sponsor of the Euro tournament and paid over $1B for the sponsorship opportunity. This incident generated a significant amount of publicity, but surprisingly, the brand that was able to capitalize on it wasn’t Coke or Ronaldo… it was IKEA.
Shortly after the press conference, IKEA advertised a reusable water bottle named after Ronaldo on its Instagram. This post earned over 14,000 likes, which is roughly 5x more than IKEA usually receives on a post.
Trying to take advantage of a recent news story can be incredibly successful (ie. IKEA) or can backfire significantly (see Griffin’s post on the Washington Capitals). In this case, I think IKEA was able to succeed for three key reasons:
1. Speed: Within 3 days of the incident, IKEA posted its response to Instagram. This ensured that it inserted itself into the conversation before the public’s attention moved onto the next big thing.
2. Aligned with established brand values: IKEA is a company that is known for its focus on sustainability. The company actively promotes its use of sustainable materials and its circular economy. As a result, promoting a reusable water bottle felt authentic and fit with IKEA’s brand.
3. Innocent Fun: IKEA’s use of humour was well received as this was not a serious issue, nor was it deeply divisive among the general public. Additionally, the target of the joke was a multibillion-dollar company instead of an individual person.
Overall, IKEA’s marketing department definitely scored “a goal” with this post.
There’s been a lot of outrage recently in the world of major league baseball (MLB), as everyone from fans to pundits to players have mocked the new rule that aims to eject “any pitcher who possesses or applies foreign substances.”1 Why would a rule aimed at competitive parity and at reducing cheating (which everyone seems to hate around the world) be so controversial? The answer lies in MLB’s long and muddled history with cheating (especially in recent years) and in their ever-decreasing viewership count, both of which have led the MLB to attempt to make rule changes to counteract these patterns.
And before you wonder how a rule change could be considered a brand change: the MLB, as a brand, is known as “America’s pastime.” It is also often considered the most traditional, slowest-paced, most boring major sport. This may have once been something to embrace, but currently young people just don’t like baseball as much as they once did. Indeed, just 7% of MLB’s viewers are under 182, leading some to proclaim it “a dying sport.”3 This is obviously not an ideal position for any organization, let alone a league with as much money at stake as the MLB. So, over the past few years, the League has introduced several rules aimed at speeding games up and making them more entertaining for younger generations. These include: pitch clocks, limited substitutions, replay review (which actually made the games longer and more boring, as it tends to), and automatically starting extra innings with a runner already in scoring position (2nd base).
However, despite all these efforts, and the shortened games that resulted, the brand re-positioning towards this younger demographic hasn’t been as successful as hoped. In my opinion, some of this may be due to the fact that baseball is the sport with the richest history of cheating and the sport where it is easiest to cheat.
In baseball there have been teams that have thrown games in order to make money (even the world series – the Chicago White Sox were known as ‘The Black Sox’ for a while as a result); doping scandals in which players took steroids to gain a competitive advantage (and broke records along the way, records that still stand despite their accepted cheating); pitchers using a foreign substance to make the ball move in unexpectable ways (sticky substances can give them better grip and control – this is what the new rule is aimed at eliminating); and of course, sign stealing. The most famous example of this was the trash-can hitting, World Series winning Houston Astros of a few years ago. However, despite all these players and teams being caught, MLB has adopted a laissez-faire approach to punishment: either a slap on the wrist, or no punishment at all.
While MLB appears to be trying to make strides, they keep shooting themselves in the foot with inconsistencies. Some of their rule-changes make the games shorter. Others longer. Some crackdown on minor instances of cheating. Others ignore major instances of cheating. Until MLB is able to find some consistency, I believe they will continue to fail and falter in their goal to draw in a younger audience, not only in viewership, but in younger players coming up, as little leagues across North America have seen ever-decreasing sign-up rates.4
Until things change for the better, baseball will continue to be (for many) unwatchable, a sport for an America that no longer exists.
While some movies and television shows like their product placements to be at least somewhat subtle, Subway seems to prefer that their brand be shown in an over-the-top manner. In all three of these cases (admittedly old), the Subway brand is not only visible, but is the focal point of the scene. If you haven’t already seen these Subway product placements, I highly recommend you do so.
The Hawaii Five-0 product placement just might be my favourite of all-time. In this 50-second scene, actor Taylor Wily is describing why he is eating Subway instead of making lunch at the shrimp truck he owns. The commercial (er, I mean scene) makes numerous references to the brand, some of which include:
Actor 1: “I’m trying to eat smarter, brother…these Subway sandwiches? So ono (delicious)”
Actor 2: “So you’re eating these to lose weight, is that right?
Actor 1: “That’s right. It worked for [former spokesman for Subway]Jared , and that boy was large! The best thing about it, they make it any way you want it. Check this one – Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki with jalapenos and banana peppers – and you put that with this turkey BLT…BAM! Some serious culinary fusion!”
In a time when fewer consumers were watching commercials on television, Subway was a pioneer to this style of obvious product advertising. Not only did the audience see the advertisement on the show, but it also sparked debate online and has been talked about for almost a decade now. While some described this as a “disaster” and “insulting,” most of the blowback was to CBS and Hawaii Five-0.
Subway, on the other hand, knew exactly what it were doing, building off of their past experience in this style of advertising to create a product placement for the ages.
Coca-Cola saw an abrupt hit of approximately $4 billion to their market value on June 14th, 2021 after famous soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo publicly threw some shade at the brand during a press conference. While taking questions ahead of a game against Hungary, Ronaldo can be seen pushing two sponsored Coke bottles out of the TV frame before exclaiming, “drink water!”
Ronaldo has always been known for being health-conscious and often makes it public that he does not drink any soft drinks. In the past he has noted that he gets upset when his son drinks Coca-Cola.
While Coca-Cola is likely to recover quickly from this drop in market value, the diss from Ronaldo may make sponsors reconsider their strategy. As we learned in class, brand integration (product placement) has become a very relevant way of showcasing a brand and its attributes. This emphasizes the need to carefully consider sponsorships and product placement to ensure it makes sense for all brand authors.
It should be remembered that brand sponsorships are highly lucrative, making it difficult for an organization to turn down. The UEFA organization that is being sponsored by Coca-Cola is even threatening to fine teams if their players remove product placements during press conferences. However, perhaps instead these brands and organizations should be collaborating to find a different way to activate the brand sponsorship and make alternative connections besides direct product placement.
This demonstrates that not only do celebrities and other public figures continue to have a huge influence on their followers’ attitudes towards brands, but consumers are also getting smarter. Consumers know when influencers are being authentic about the sponsorships they share, making it important for brands to carefully consider who they are partnering with.
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