The Orcom Bug

I'm Krizzia. Here I share my adventures as an Organizational Communication major in the University of the Philippines Manila. |

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Branding, Trademark, Packaging, and Creative Materials + Last Meeting for OrCom 152 (10/5/2013)

For our last meeting in OrCom 152, we recapped our discussion on branding, trademark, packaging, and creative materials.

Personality, integrity, evolution, consistency, experience, and promise should be present in a brand.

Brand name  is a part of the brand that can be spoken.

Brand mark  is a part of the brand that cannot be spoken.

Brand identity is how the brand is perceived by the customers.

Brand equity is the value of the brand and company.

Co-branding is placing two different brands in the same product.

Trademark vs Copyright vs Patent

Trademark is the exclusive right to use a brand or part of a brand others are prohibited to use.

Copyright protects works of authorship like songs, books, etc.

Patent protects inventions of people.

This semester has taught me a lot about marketing and the concepts I need to remember about it so that I can apply it when I finally enter the corporate world. It may be our last meeting for OrCom 152 but I am looking forward to next semester where I learn about advertising on our OrCom 153.

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Segementation, Targeting, & Positioning, Branding, and Games (9/28/2013)

We had another jampacked meeting last Friday: group reporting on segmentation, targeting, and position; games; and discussion about branding.

A week before the meeting, our professor gave us a task: we were given four products and markets and we have to segment the market, choose our target, and position a brand of our choice in relation the insights of our target market. We then presented our work in class, while our other classmates critiqued our work. I was happy with our work because I think we were able to properly create a positioning statement for our brand lifted from the insights we gathered. The fact that Ma’am said we did a great job in making the target market, insights, and positioning statement “tuhog” made me really happy. It made feel that we did well.

Ma’am also reminded us that segmenting the target market is not only based on demographics (age, sex, income, etc.) but also the psychographics of the market (their preference, tastes, and behavior). The insights should also be addressed in the positioning statement of the brand. The brand’s identity should also be taken into consideration when making a positioning statement. For example, for a branded bag targeted for working moms, instead of just saying that it is a bag that can be used for work, it can also be positioned as a reward for hard work since it is very expensive.

After the presentations, we had another game. Our group has never won a game yet, so we were all determined to win this time. There were three categories: draw something, charades, or spell backwards. All the answers were terms we have discussed in previous meetings. At first, our group was again losing, but in the end we won. It was a very glorious moment because it’s the first time that we won in a game. J

Lastly, Ma’am discussed Branding. Branding is a name, term, symbol, design, or combination of these that identifies a product and differentiates it from the rest.

Branding has three purposes:

product identification

repeat sales

facilitates new product sales

Trademark is an exclusive right to use a brand or part of a brand others are prohibited to use without permission. Examples include the lion roaring sound of MGM, the contour shape bottle of Coke, Levi’s red color, Mountain Dew’s tagline Do the Dew, and abbreviations Coke, Bud, and McDo).

Ma’am also discussed the process of creating advertisements for print, radio, and television. There are three parties involved: the client,advertising agency, and the suppliers. Creating advertisements is a very long process that requires a lot of work from the conceptualization of the concept and the content, to the approval of the client, to the approval of special bodies like the Advertising Standard Council (ASC).  

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SWOT Analysis, Strategic Planning and Market Research (9/14/2013)

Last Saturday we had a group activity about SWOT analysis, and discussion about strategic planning and market research.

First thing we did in class was the SWOT activity. We chose a product and made a SWOT analysis of that product. We wrote the SWOT analysis in a cartolina, cut them, and then scrambled them. We then gave these strips of cartolina to another group and their challenge is to identify if the statements in the strips of paper were the product’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats. We reported our answers while the groups who made the SWOT checked if our answers were correct. I would love to show you what the strips of papers looked like when we posted them in front of the class – each group had creative ways of posting visual aids, apparently – but unfortnately, I wasn’t able to take a picture of our masterpieces.

The SWOT activity was very interesting because we had different groups had different understanding of the statements. For example, for our group, we wrote “a new product in the market” as a weakness because it meant that the product/brand has not established its self yet in the market. But for the other group, they classified it as a sting new meant being strength because being new meant it is something fresh and that people will be intrigued or curious about the product. In the end, I think it just depends on how the statement was worded and how it is interpreted. It is also about how you will look at it. You can look at being a new product as a disadvantage or you can turn it around and use it to your advantage. You can look at being a new product as unknown – a weakness of the product – or you can look at your brand as something new and fresh which makes it the product’s strength now. It is up to the marketers to determine features of products or services that they can view as a weakness or can be made into an advantage.

After the activity, we proceeded with the discussion of strategic planning. Part of strategic planning is consumer insighting – going deeper into the target market (what they feel, think, and do). It is the heart of the value proposition. Knowing and understand your target market’s perceptions, preferences, and behaviors is not simply done through assuming or trusting your gut feeling. It is not insight if it is merely observation. Questions should be asked directly to the consumers. Getting answers to these important consumer questions can be done through market research.  

Market research was already discussed in the previous post but new in addition, here are the three roles of market research:

Descriptive – factual statements

Diagnostic – explains data

Predictive – address “what if” questions

We also talked about the consumer decision making process.

Need recognition (e.g. “I’m hungry.”)

Information Search (“Where can I eat?” – enumeration of various fast food chains and restaurants)

Evaluation of Alternatives (“I would like something affordable but not fast food.” – eliminate all those who do not fit the criteria and then choose the best fit)

Purchase (buying food from the chosen restaurant)

Post Purchase Behavior (Was the food delicious? Was the service good? Will you eat there again?)

There are also different factors affecting the decision making of consumers: social, individual, cultural, and psychological.

Now, the challenge for marketers for their brand to be top-of-mind, share-of-wallet, and a constant part of the consumer decision making process. How can marketers achieve these three? With the right marketing mix – not just 4Ps but 8: product, place, price, promotion, planning, packaging, people, and perception.

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Ms. Danee Liz Torres’ Talk + Market Research (8/31/2013)

For last week’s meeting, our professor invited another speaker and BA Organizational Communication graduate who shared her work experiences after graduating. After the talk, we proceeded to the discussion of market research.

For the first part of the meeting, our guest speaker, Ms. Danee Liz Torres shared her experiences after graduating from the OrCom program. She shared how useful her OrCom skills were for her as she ventured to various careers. Here’s a short timeline of what her work experiences were:

1. Recruitment in a BPO

2. Stylist/Personal Shopper for Tyler

3. Radio DJ in RX 93.1

4. Tech-Lifestyle Journalist and Stylist in Gadget Magazine

5. Contributor in FHM and Men’s Health Magazine

6. Program Manager/Writer in the Asian Institute of Management

I was really inspired by Ms. Danee’s talk because she was able to be in so many fields of work but she was still able to use all her OrCom skills – interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, public relations, technical writing, marketing, argumentation, communication research, and events management –   in all of them. OrCom can really take you to so many places because of the various skills and specialties it can offer and Ms. Danee is a very good example of just how versatile OrCom majors can be. This is why I love the OrCom program – it makes you diverse and flexible; it does not box you in just one field.

After Ms. Danee’s talk, our professor proceeded with the discussion of market research. So what is market research? It is the implementation of subjective and objective research methods, whose aim is to collect information and analyze it. The information gathered from a market research is basically concerning about the behavior, attitude, and motivation of a particular target group. It constitutes the basis of what enables marketers to define and evaluate their strategies.  

There are two research designs employed in a market research. These are the qualitative and quantitative research designs.

Qualitative research design is used when the researchers do not know what to expect. It is used to go deeper into the issues of interest and explore nuances. Focus groups discussions, triads, and in-depth interviews are used to gather data for qualitative researches.

Quantitative research design, meanwhile,  is conclusive in its purpose as it tries to quantify the problem and understand how prevalent it is by looking for projectable results to a larger population. Surveys, online, phone or paper, points of purchase, and click streams are used for gathering data in quantitative researches. 

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Marketing Strategies + Marketing Plan (8/24/2013)

Like last meeting, last Saturday’s meeting was pretty jam packed. Reporting of the marketing strategies used by various industries was continued. For this week, the industries that my classmates reported on were FMCGs, Telecommunications, and Schools and Universities. After the reporting, our professor discussed the different parts of the marketing plan in detail. Before ending the class, we also had an activity where we had to identify the business and communication objectives and target markets of some newspaper ads.

Our classmates who reported on the FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) industry presented Coca-Cola as their example. They cited brand, celebrity, digital, social media, trade, and business-to-business marketing as some of the strategies Coca-Cola uses for marketing their products.

For Telecommunications, my classmates cited Globe Telecom’s, Smart Communications’, Bayan Telecommunications’, and PLDT’s marketing strategies. They cited personalized, digital, social media, promotional, SMS, above-the-line, and search marketing as the strategies used by all these companies.

The last reporters presented marketing strategies used by Schools and Universities. Some strategies used by this industry are outbound, above-the-line, online, promotional, direct, social media, viral, referral, article, and events marketing.

After all the reports were done, our professor proceeded to discussing parts of the marketing plan. The marketing plan had been discussed by three guest speakers already (first by George De La Rama and then by Marlo Carrasco and Chris Manguera) so Ma’am just did a recap of what we learned then added additional information about it. She integrated the talks of both guest speakers by combining what they discussed:

Scoping Phase = Problem

Selective Phase = Target Market

Understanding Phase = Customer Insight

Designing Phase = Big Idea and Execution

After the intergration and summarization of the previous talks, our professor discussed the marketing plan format we will use for our class requirement.

Basic Elements Marketing Plan

I. Situational Analysis

Environment Scan (regulatory, political, economic, social)

Corporate Review (mission, vision, 10-year plan, corporate strategy)

Product Category and Brand Review (general description, sales trends, distribution profile, pricing, packaging)

Competitive Analysis (competitor’s products, brand positioning, advertising, media spend)

II. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

III. Strategic Planning

Objectives.

Strategies

Targeting and Segmenting

Unique Selling Proposition

Positioning and Branding

IV. Marketing Mix

V. Control and Evaluation 

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Marketing Strategies Reporting + MarkProf Workshop + ORCOM 152 lessons recap (8/10/2013)

We did a lot for this week’s class. A group reported about the marketing strategies used by the hotel and recreation industry, two Orcom alumni gave us a workshop, and we played a game before the class ended.

Our classmates reported about the different marketing strategies used by Solaire Hotel and Casino. They discussed each marketing strategy Solaire uses: above-the-line, niche, drip, social media, promotional, viral and guerilla, and sports marketing. Solaire’s Brighter than the Sun trademark along with its use of the colors yellow, orange, and white for all their campaigns were examples of integrated marketing communication. Their strategies were all consistent with their message and theme.

Like I said, we had guest speakers again – Marlo Carrasco and Chris Manguera. This time, we knew who they were because they were part of the OrCom batch who graduated last March so they were our Kuyas. Aside from being Orcom alumni, they were also MarkProf alumni. They gave a workshop on the different lessons they learned from their MarkProf experience. It was cool and inspiring to see them again because just a few months ago, they were also students – OrCom majors in particular – in UP Manila and now they’re working for big and successful companies.

Kuya Marlo and Kuya Chris’ talk was entitled Are You Insighted? Turning Insights Into Big Ideas. First, they discussed their MarkProf experience and divided them into three: Screening, Training, and Opportunities After. According to them, the screening was a very extensive process. It involves an online application process, a marketing exam, group case study, profiling exam, group interview, and individual interview. If the applicant passes the screening process, he/she will be part of the MarkProf boot camp, which is the training process. Speakers from the marketing industry are invited to share their knowledge for seven Saturdays where students are also given case studies. The students are graded based on their participation (questions being asked to the speaker) and performance during the case studies. The final part of their MarkProf experience was the opportunities MarkProf introduced to them after their training. They were able to expand their networks and meet very brilliant people through their training. They also had no hard time securing jobs even before they graduate. According to them, by March they already had companies giving them job offers because they were part of MarkProf. After discussing their MarkProf experience, they shared how to formulate a marketing plan in five steps. This is one of the things they learned during their MarkProf boot camp.

Marketing Plan in Five Steps

1. Problem

What is the current situation?

What is causing the problem?

Sometimes, what is the competitor’s situation?

One problem = One marketing plan

2. Target Market

Demographics

Psychographics

Technographics (if applicable)

3. Consumer Insight

For understanding the target market

Deeper than psychographics

Human truth from human experience

Statements based on a deep understanding of customer attitudes and beliefs

Springboard for how the brand/product can be known to customers

4. Big Idea

Immortalizes insight into a campaign

Overall theme that guides you through execution

Has to be creative and relevant to the target market

5. Execution

Strategies and tactics of campaign

Message has to be consistent with the campaign

They illustrated the application of these five steps through case studies of different campaigns by brands such as Tang, Breeze, and Puma. They also gave us a chance to apply what we have learned from their talk by giving us a case study we could work on. It was very fun and collaborative.

This marketing campaign by Puma was one of the examples they gave us.

The whole discussion of the five steps in making a marketing plan also amazed me because these different campaigns are not just done randomly. Like what I already said in my previous posts, these campaigns are well though out and are not just based on gut feeling but on research.

After Kuya Marlo and Kuya Chris’ workshop, Maam Thea had us play a game of 4 Terms, 1 Word, a little twits to the famous app 4 Pics, 1 Word, as a form of review of all the things we have discussed so far. Our class was divided into two groups and we had to write down our answer on a piece of paper. All members must write the answer first before presenting it to Maam. Unfortunately, my team lost. It was really fun and it also helped me remember all the things we have learned so it was fine with me.

What jam-packed class last Saturday was! Maam Thea asked us to submit a marketing plan next meeting so I am really looking forward to applying all the marketing lessons I have learned. Hopefully, my marketing plan will turn out good.  

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MarkUp 2013: MarkProf Roadshow (7/27/2013)

We didn’t have classes last July 27th but we did attend a seminar by MarkProf entitled MarkUp 2013: MarkProf Roadshow. It was held at the UP Film Institute in the University of the Philippines Diliman. We listened to three speakers who shared about their experiences in the corporate world and useful information about digital marketing and consumer and shopping marketing.

Mr. Albet Buddahim was the first speaker during the seminar. He was from MarkProf Batch 2. He previously worked for Yehey and Proctor & Gamble. He is currently the digital director for Performics | Zenith Optimedia. He shared to us his secret to being able to rise above the rest even though he was a lot younger than his colleagues. He gave us tips on how to be a successful leader in the marketing industry which he based on his own personal experiences. His tips were:

 Leadership is about teamwork.

Create and shape the future.

Have a passion for excellence.

Always do the right thing no matter how hard it is.

 Build a legacy.

The second speaker was Mr. Emmanuel Cruz, who is part of the Unilever Customer Development Team since 2009. He discussed what customer marketing is, and some useful information about it that we need to keep in mind. According to Mr. Cruz, customer marketing is the link and heart between brands and customers. It is category and brand development in the customers, channels, and areas through the point of purchase. Here are some other important points he discussed:

Point of purchase is any place where the shopper makes a decision to purchase. It should have the right product in the right packaging, in the right position, in the right place, with the right price.

  Shopper vs Consumer: The shopper does the actual buying and purchasing decision. The consumer is the one using the product.

Category Growth Drives aim to grow the business through segmentation and focus (shopper and brand based strategies).

Brand Marketing: product, price, place, promotion; Customer Marketing: assortment, price, merch, promotion 

The third speaker was Mr. Paulo Campos, co-founder and managing director of Zalora Philippines. He explained the power of the Internet and the unique and innovative concept behind Zalora Philippines.

The Rise of Analytics. Marketing used to be based on gut-feeling but is now based on analytics (quantitative).

Three trends in e-commerce: 1) strong uptake of Internet users, 2) increase disposable income, and 3) rising trust in online transactions.

Zalora Philippines is an online fashion retailer. It is like a mall but online.

Different marketing strageties using the Internet include display advertising, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, and link building.

We also received certificates for attending the seminar. :)

The seminar was very informative and all the speakers had very interesting topics. The speakers’ experiences and achievements also served as an inspiration for me to work and strive harder. The lessons I have learned from the MarkProf Roadshow are ones that will certainly be useful for me when I finally become a marketer in the future.

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The Marketing Planning Process (7/20/2013)

For our meeting, we had two activities: we watched Dilbert and listened to a guest speaker.

Before we began the lecture for our class, our professor made us watch an episode of Dilbert. In the episode, the company Dilbert was working for decided to come up with a new product. Instead of conducting research and identifying the needs of their target market, they started with coming up with a name for their new product even though they still haven’t decided on what the product will be. It became a mess. They encountered all sorts of problems because they did not follow the correct marketing process.

At first I didn’t understand why we were watching Dilbert but as the episode progressed, it became surprisingly insightful and useful for our marketing class. It showed the importance of following the marketing process and formulating the marketing plan. The marketing process enables the marketers to have a guide which will increase the chances of their success in introducing a product or service that will be helpful to consumers and profitable to their company.

The marketing plan is a very important part of marketing. It serves as a guide that examines the business environment, explains the problems, threats and opportunities, elaborates the marketing strategy, and makes financial projections and budgets for projects conceptualized by companies. In making a marketing plan, it is very important that its elements are known and understood.

Like I said, for the second part of our meeting, our professor invited a guest speaker, Mr. George De La Rama, to explain to us the different elements of a marketing plan and marketing process.

Mr. De La Rama explained that according to Lee and Kotler, the marketing process has seven steps divided into four phases:

Scoping Phase

Step 1: Background, Purpose and Focus

Step 2: Situation Analysis (SWOT)

Selecting Phase

Step 3: Target Audience

Step 4: Objective and Goals

Understanding Phase

Step 5: Barriers, Benefits, and Competition

Designing Phase

Step 6: Positioning

Step 7: Marketing Mix: The Intervention Tools (4Ps)

He explained each step and gave us case studies showing the application of these steps in the Philippine setting to help us better understand the process. Here are some important points Mr. De La Rama expressed:

A marketing plan begins with an end in mind.

The company must maximize its strengths, minimize its weaknesses, take advantage of opportunities, and prepare for threats.

When selecting target audiences, the principle of the Low-Hanging Fruit should be taken into consideration. This principle means “a target that is easy to achieve or a problem that is easy to solve. It refers to the sale of consumer products or services that are easier to sell. A low-hanging fruit presents the most obvious opportunities because they are readily achievable and do not require a lot of effort” (www.investopedia.com).

Objectives must be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time specific (This is also the pattern we used for our Public Relations class so we were already familiar with it).

Benefits of the product or service should be highlighted. For target audiences to purchase or avail a product or service, they must perceive benefits equal to or greater than perceived costs (Exchange Theory).

Brand identity is how you want people to perceive the brand. Brand image is what customers think of the brand. Branding is the process of developing an intended brand identity.

The marketing mix is composed of 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion.

This meeting was very informative for me. It gave me a better understanding of what comprises a marketing plan. Hopefully this new knowledge will help me create my own marketing plan in the future.

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Marketing Strategies Used by Different Industries (7/6/2013)

Like what I’ve shared in one of my previous posts, we discussed the marketing and its different types and now, for our meeting last July 13, 2013, me and some of my classmates reported about the different marketing strategies used by different types of industries. We had five classifications: Airline/Travel Agencies, Hospital/Health Care, Telecommunications, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, and Hotels. 

Me and my groupmates were assigned to report on the different marketing strategies for airline companies so we were the first ones to report. I never really paid much attention on marketing done by airline companies which is why I was really amazed with our topic once I started researching for it. I have particularly been interested with the digital marketing strategies they apply. Like so many other industries, the airline industry has now harnessed the Internet, particularly social media, as part of its marketing strategy. Facebook pages and applications, Twitter pages, and websites are now more interactive and are used in more creative ways to attract more customers.

In our report, we showed Malaysia Airlines’ and Alaska Airlines’ Facebook apps that allows users to book flights online, check if their friends are on the flight, and invite friends to join them on their trip. Friends’ locations are also provided along with a route via their airline to get there, making travel easier for the users.

Another brilliant example is Virgin Airlines’ official website. Aside from the typical booking of flights online, the website is very informative because it gives you travel choices on a part of their website called “Inspire Me” depending on what you want to do – shopping trips, short vacations, honeymoon, and many others.

Ma’am Thea also explained to us the reason behind some marketing strategies used by airline companies like loyalty cards where they partner with other companies (e.g. Cebu Pacific and Citibank). It was really interesting because these strategies are not just done randomly, they were thought out well so that different markets can be reached by the companies.

Seeing how marketing for airline companies work, the reasons behind it, and the innovations being made amazed me. It made me realize just how brilliant marketing is. Marketers are constantly creating new and unique ways of promoting their products and services to their target markets. Now, I cannot wait to find out what strategies the other companies are utilizing. 

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Quill Awards Seminar (7/10/2013)

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) visited the University of the Philippines Manila last July 10, 2013 to impart some knowledge about their organization and The Philippine Student Quill Awards.

Many Organizational Communication majors attended the seminar which had two speakers from IABC: Mr. Earl Gamboa, who is an Orcom alumnus, and Ms. Ritzi Villarico Ronquillo, APR.

Ms. Ritzi Villarico Ronquillo is the president of IABC Philippines and the director of the International Executive Board and Trustee of the IABC Foundation. She shared some of her knowledge and experiences in IABC and how students like us can join The Philippine Student Quill Awards. Mr. Earl Gamboa, on the other hand, facilitated the open forum where students can ask questions about IABC and The Student Quill Awards.

IABC was established in 1970 and is currently based in San Francisco, California. It has over 14,000 members in over 80 countries. It is part of another organization called Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. IABC Philippines was established in September 23, 1983 and is included in the North Asia Region of IABC. It is the first and oldest chapter outside North America. IABC offers content, career, and communication excellence. They provide their members with learning opportunities through master classes and seminars and a global reach and global network through conferences here in the country and other parts of the world like Canada, North America, and Australia.

They gave out this back-to-back brochure which provides information about IABC, The Philippine Quill Award, and The Philippine Student Quill Awards. It was very informative especially if students/companies want to join the Quill Awards.

Ms. Ritzi and Mr. Earl encouraged us to submit entries for the 2nd Philippine Student Quill Awards. Categories include Social media/Technology, Publications, Writing, Communication Campaigns, Communication Creative, and Audiovisual. They discussed the judging process, the rules for joining and submitting entries, and even gave us some tips so we’ll know what to do.

Ms. Ritzi’s talk was very interesting because of all the experiences and achievements in IABC that she shared to us. She was able to make a mark internationally, being a member of IABC’s international executive board, and being a speaker in many of IABC’s world conferences. And in all of these, she was very proud of the Philippines and how she is able to represent our country in different parts of the world. The Student Quill Awards is also a very good way of recognizing brilliant students and encouraging them to pursue excellence in everything they do. It gives the students a venue for sharing their works and a way for these works to be noticed, critiqued, improved, and appreciated by the most accomplished and knowledgeable people in the business. One day (soon hopefully) OrCom majors like me will be able to do something similar. 

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Different Types of Marketing

A product or a service can be marketed to a target audience in many ways. Aside from the traditional way of marketing products (tv, radio, print ads), the Internet is now being used as a tool for marketing as well. Marketers are now finding more and more unique ways of reaching customers thus, giving birth to more types of marketing. There are probably more than a hundred types of marketing and here are just some of them (plus some examples):

Internet Marketing

Internet marketing is any marketing strategy that takes place online. It encompasses a variety of marketing forms like video advertisements, search engine marketing and e-mail marketing.

Dove Real Beauty Sketches

I stumbled upon this video a few months ago. It is an advertisement which Dove uploaded on video-sharing website, Youtube, which allowed users from the Internet to watch it on their computers. You can watch the video here.

Trade Show Marketing

Companies that want to reach a large number of potential customers can participate in public or private event. These are often a large investment to participate in, but these events allow companies to demonstrate new products and examine what is going on in the industry.

SuperSale Bazaar

I was able to go to one of these SuperSale bazaars last December. Many shops take advantage of big events like this in order to be known and to sell their products to their target market. 

Search Marketing

It is the way in which companies promote their business through paid placement on search engines like Google. Instead of increasing the organic search results that a website has, companies will pay to have their advertisements in the sponsored section of search engines. This is also known as Pay Per Click Advertising or PPC.

Google search

Companies pay Google to put their websites as paid search results for words related to their company, like for this screencap, where "online shopping" was searched and online shopping websites like Zalora and Ayos Dito appeared as ads which seem to be a part of the search results.

Youtube

  Direct Marketing

Its main goal is to send a message directly to consumers, without having to use any third party outlets. Examples of this include mail marketing, telemarketing and direct selling. This is often preferable because the results can be easily measured, giving the marketer a better understanding of the success of that campaign.

Direct Selling (Mary Kay, Avon, etc.)

Niche Marketing

When a product or service is not being readily supplied to a certain portion of a market, a company can focus their efforts on that group to address a need that isn't currently being addressed. This targeted marketing is successful because the marketer has identified a need that isn't being resolved by mainstream providers. Sometimes it is beneficial for a company to focus on a group instead of trying to compete in a larger market.

Baby Ultrasound Co.

This organization caters only to a certain portion of the market - pregnant women. They have identified pregnant women's needs like ultrasound and consultations and have decided to focus on catering to those special needs. 

Drip marketing

Drip marketing is the act of sending out scheduled targeted emails that are all coordinated to a specific goal of client conversion. The sender uses email marketing software that allows them to setup multiple emails at one time and let them “drip” over time. This sometimes includes phone calls to check in on the clients along the way.

MTV and VH1

I signed up in MTV's website a few years ago (to join a contest or vote somewhere, I can't really remember why) and I might have checked the option of receiving notifications and updates about MTV and VH1, which is a sister channel of MTV. Since then, I have been receiving emails about promos, new television shows, new music I can download, and other news related to their network. This emails I regularly receive are examples of MTV and VH1 applying the drip marketing strategy. 

Social Media Marketing

This provides a window to market a product or service on the Internet through different social networks. Companies can use these outlets for their marketing, customer service and sales. The most common and successful means of social media marketing are found on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and even company blogs.

Facebook ads

Many companies place ads on Facebook in order to promote their products and services to its users. Most of these ads also indicate users' friends who like the product, encouraging them to check out the product just as their friends did.

Referral Marketing

This relies on a company’s customers to refer new customers to that company. Also called word of mouth marketing, this is a more spontaneous way of receiving new business, and can not be solely relied on because results aren't very predictable. However, word of mouth is still a powerful part of a company’s efforts to bring in new business, especially in the social media community where communication travels freely.

Referrals on online forums

Many people visit online forums to ask other online users for recommendations for certain products or services. This is a good way of passing information about a company through word-of-mouth.

Promotional Marketing

This is a common form of marketing strategy that companies use to motivate a consumer to make an immediate decision and purchase their product. There are a number of ways that businesses will promote a product or service, including holding contests to win a prize, offering coupons for purchasing a product at a discount, and having samples of the product so people can experience it before they purchase.

Walter Mart discount coupons

Giving grocery shoppers discount coupons encourages them to visit the supermarket (in this case, Walter Mart) again when they need to buy groceries because of the savings they will get through the coupons.

Head & Shoulders (Procter & Gamble)

Buy one, take one promos motivate customers to purchase the product because it allows them to buy two products for the price of one, leading to more savings.

B2B Marketing

Business to bussiness marketing is any type of business, whether an organization, individual, government or other institution that markets to other businesses involved in this type of marketing.

LBC and Palawan Express

LBC and Palawan Express' partnership opened both companies to more customers.

Robinsons and MasterCard

Though they offer two different services and products,  tRobinsons and MasterCard both attracted customers to their repective companies through their partnership.

Mobile Marketing

Companies have been experimenting with the certain ways to reach consumers through their phones, especially with the rise of Apple’s iphone. Some ways to marketing a product or service through a mobile phone include SMS marketing, in-game marketing, banner marketing on different web pages and location based marketing.

Globe Telecom

Like other telecommunications companies, Globe applies mobile marketing, SMS marketing to be specific. Through text advisories being sent daily, Globe communicates their new promos and offerings to Globe users.

Personalized Marketing

The goal of this type of marketing is to create a unique offer for each individual customer. This form of marketing doesn’t work for every company, but certain ones can capitalize on their unique products and customer demographics to market to individuals

Globe My Super Plan

Globe's Best Ever My Super Plan allows customers to customize their own plans, making it more personalized and convenient. This attracts customers because it gives them freedom to choose what they want when they avail of Globe's plans. 

Trade Marketing

This is a type of marketing that entails increasing the demand at the wholesaler, retailer or distributor level and not the consumer.

Golden Fiesta, Milo, and Lucky Me

These are just some of the companies who apply trade marketing by distributing their products to supermarkets. They usually put up signs on supermarket shelves to catch the customers' attention. 

There you have it. Those are just some of the many types of marketing companies use today. As you can see, these types of marketing are everywhere. Companies make sure that their products and services reach their target markets, which is why they apply many strategies. All of these strategies, whether simple or grand, big or small, should be appreciated because these did merely come out of nowhere; these are projects that underwent several processes - research, analysis, creative thinking - before being implemented by brilliant marketers. 

[theorcombug-blog]

My Introduction to Marketing (6/22/2013)

Marketing, advertising, public relations - these are the three fields I always say whenever someone asks me what my future in Organizational Communication will be. I know there are a lot of other fields Orcom can lead me to - law, research, human resources, to name a few - but those three are always the ones off the top of my head. I already have a background on advertising and public relations, but what about marketing? I have never had a concrete background on marketing but after completing my internship, I can see myself working in that field. I know that if I want to pursue with this, I have to acquire a more solid foundation on marketing.

Luckily, one of our major courses for this semester is Communication Trends and Styles under Maam Thea Gutierrez and integrated marketing communication or IMC will be our main focus. I became really excited because everything I will learn from this course will be useful for my not-so-distant future. 

So, what is marketing?

Marketing is the discipline used by organizations to determine the products needed by customers and providing them these products with the right pricing and placement. It is not a mere aspect or department of an organization; it is the organization's philosophy.

Various types of marketing were also introduced to the class through a mini activity. Some of these types include direct, digital, trade, viral, trade show, mobile, personalized, B2B, sports, promotional, and search engine marketing. Having so many types of marketing just shows how marketers find so many ways to communicate products to customers. 

Because of the many types of marketing that emerged, many careers for marketers have surfaced as well. Marketers can be in social media marketing, public relations, sales, advertising, customer relationship management, market research, sports marketing, trade marketing, retail, events planning, and many others. But in order to be a successful, marketers should possess specific traits: business orientation, communication and people skills, inquisitive nature, and humility.

With all these new acquired knowledge, I have become more enlightened about what marketing is. In the coming weeks, I hope to become more equipped with lessons that I will make me ready for my future as a professional, hopefully a marketer, in the corporate world.