Category: Academic Life

Social Media Showdown

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As I mentioned in the last post, the MBA students in my Internet Marketing class this semester completed a social media project. In the project, they observed the social media efforts of two competing companies over the course of three consecutive weeks. It is not possible to repeat all the 20-page reports in a blog post, but I thought it may be fun for you to see which company within each pair was considered to be better. By better, I don’t mean what the companies have but instead what the companies do. In other words, we don’t use the sheer number of followers, fans, etc. as the judging criterion, as that can be easily skewed by the company’s existing market position. Instead, better is defined in the sense that the winning company is doing a better job interacting with and engaging consumers through these social media channels. In most cases, the social media channels observed were three of the following: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and company blog.

Before getting to the results, I’d like to thank the 21 students who put their hard work into the project and made this information possible. You guys/gals rock!

Now are you ready to see who won the showdown? Here you go!

IndustryOpponent 1Opponent 2Winner
AirlineDeltaAeroflotDelta (barely)
AutomobileAudiLexusAudi
AutomobileHondaToyotaToyota
CameraCannonNikonCanon
EntertainmentTiestoDavid GuettaTiesto
EntertainmentThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)Bellator Fighting ChampionshipUFC
FinancialTradeKingE*TradeE*Trade Baby
Food & BeveragesPizza HutDomino'sDomino's
Food & BeveragesPanera BreadSchlotzsky_sPanera Bread
Food & BeveragesRed BullMonster EnergyRed Bull
Food & BeveragesStarbucksGreen Mountain CoffeeTie
HealthWeightWatchersJenny CraigWeightWatchers
ITMicrosoftGoogleGoogle
ITNVidiaAMDNVidia
MediaMartha Steward WeddingThe KnotTie
Non-ProfitSaddleback ChurchFellowship ChurchSaddleback Church
Online ServiceMatch.comeHarmonyeHarmony
Online ServiceLiving SocialGrouponGroupon
SportsBillabongOneill'sTie
SportsNikeUnder ArmourNike, though both are doing a good job
SportsNFLMLBTie

Do you agree with the students’ observations? Please tell us what you think!

1 Point Per Dollar or 100 Points Per Dollar?

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When designing a loyalty program, have you ever wondered whether you should give customers 1 point for each dollar they spend and require 100 points for a free reward, or if it’s better to grant 10 points per dollar and require 1000 points for the reward? On the surface, these two setups require the exact same effort from consumers and should make no difference to the effectiveness of your program. But an article by Professor Rajesh Bagchi and graduate student Xingbo Li published in the Journal of Consumer Research says it’s not quite as straightforward as you may think. Which option is better depends on whether you have a straightforward single point structure or a mixed structure, and whether your focus is on encouraging low spenders or rewarding heavy buyers.

numbers
Photo by Flickr User twitchcraft | CC 2.0

Context

The authors conducted two lab experiments. The first experiment was based on a grocery store loyalty program and involved 246 undergraduate students. Various aspects of the loyalty program were manipulated, and the respondents reported how likely they would recommend the program to others and whether the program would increase their loyalty toward the store. In the second experiment, 375 student and non-student respondents made simulated purchases given a restaurant loyalty program. At the end of the simulation, they also reported their recommendation likelihood and perceived loyalty effect. Continue reading “1 Point Per Dollar or 100 Points Per Dollar?”

Best Practices — Old Spice Marketing Campaign

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This year is a good year for Old Spice. Starting with the “Smell Like a Man, Man campaign” followed by the successful Old Spice Man viral videos, the once quiet brand is now stirring up plenty of buzz among marketers and consumers alike. When I went to the Society for New Communications Research 5th Research Symposium earlier this month, I attended a session where Old Spice brand manager James Moorhead told the stories behind the recent marketing success. In this blog, I’d like to share some of what I learned with you.

Campaign Summary

The Old Spice marketing campaign is called “Smell Like a Man, Man”. So far, the campaign has gone through three phases:

Phase 1: Launched around the Superbowl time, it uses humorous vignettes featuring a sexy man to convey the brand’s role in the journey from a young man to full manhood. During that same time period, Dove was planning to launch a competing new men’s personal care product line Dove Men+Care on Superbowl. But Old Spice decided to launch its campaign “around” Superbowl rather than on Superbowl for cost efficiency and proper audience reach (more on that later). Below is a commercial from this phase.

Continue reading “Best Practices — Old Spice Marketing Campaign”