Maggie Riddle

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Keeping Up With the Kardashian’s Kultural Appropriation

The dilemma of Fair & Lovely advertising the fairness attributes of its creams and lotions reminded me of the multiple PR fiascoes Kim Kardashian has had with cultural appropriation in her photo-shoots and cosmetic lines.

Kim Kardashian has been criticized multiple times for photographs where her makeup has been extremely darker than her natural skin color and/or the photo has been edited to make her appear darker. Fortunately, consumers have spoken out about this, with some even accusing her of wearing blackface, which has led to a public apology from Kardashian. These instances create quite the dichotomy for Kim, who has advocated for black people who were wrongfully accused to be released from prison and advocates for all skin tones in her shapewear collection (fun fact this line was originally poorly named Kim’s Kimonos). However, her continuous mishaps with darker skin tones begs the question of whether she is trying to monetize by associating herself with black culture.

Both Fair & Lovely and Kim K’s run-ins with culture highlight the platforms these brands have and the reach they have with the messages they push out. The content brands distribute via advertisements or social media posts tell a story that consumers desire and garner interest in a lifestyle or product. A brand must strike a balance when trying to tap into a culture by making sure what is being portrayed is accurate and looks the part, while at the same time not ostracizing customers who may not associate with that culture. Leveraging focus groups, in-depth interviews, and other market research initiatives can help brands have a pulse on the voice of their consumers and heard first-hand initial impressions customers from these cultures may have. At the very least, brands must take a step back and recognize the narrative their advertisements are portraying and identify that their messages may come across as monetizing off of cultures who historically have not been accepted in mainstream culture.

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If Your Customer Isn’t First, Your Business Is Last

Singapore Airlines (SIA) can deal with an industry crisis by sticking to what they know best – how to best serve their customers. Throughout their company history they differentiated themselves from the competition by offering topline services and a customer experience like none other. Learning how SIA continued to innovate the flying experience and gauging whether they should move forward with rolling out spacebeds or not after the uncertainty in the airline industry post-9/11, reminds me of which current businesses are ‘winning’ at continuing to be customer-obsessed during the current COVID crisis.

One company that reminds me of how in-tune they are with their customers amidst a crisis as SIA is with theirs is the boutique boxing gym I am a loyal member of called Everybody Fights. During a time when numerous businesses have been tone deaf in their communications or have lacked empathy at the financial burden some of their customers are facing, Everybody Fights has continued to service their members and gain more sweat enthusiasts in the process. At the beginning of COVID they became one of the first boutique gyms to begin offering free online classes via their Instagram Live stories, not because they wanted to lure consumers into becoming members, but because they genuinely understood the Boston fitness community needed them. From a strategy perspective that move seemed like the company would not gain any money from these Instagram viewers, however, they were creating long-term relationships that will serve them well in the long run. While Everybody Fights has evolved to feature come classes on free platforms and have moved others to an online, paid platform, they have adapted the content of each class based off the ever-changing needs of their customers during the COVID crisis. What at first was just an attempt to add normalcy back into the Boston fitness community has led to a variety of classes ranging from meditation, to meal prep, to even family workout classes, to serve the evolving needs of their ‘Fight Fam’ that had never existed before.

SIA and Everybody Fights both exemplify how businesses can continue to lead and ‘win’ during a crisis by listening to the needs of their core customers and adapting their products/services accordingly.

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Red, Red Wine, Stay Close to Me

Concha y Toro should take UB40’s advice in their song ‘Red, Red, Wine’ and focus on staying close to their core brand as they look to the future. Concha y Toro has made sure the quality of their wines is a top priority and should continue to offer consumers ‘value for their money’ by moving forward with a ‘top-down’ strategy. This strategy will help Concha y Toro leverage its prestigious high-end wines to expand in the basic segment, helping counteract the perception consumers have that Chilean wine is inferior to wines from ‘Old World’ countries.

Perception is everything in our society, with wine selection being no exception. While blind taste tests reveal that the average consumer is not a wine connoisseur, there is still a tendency for customers to steer towards wines that historically are known as being high-quality (e.g., produced in France, Italy, Spain). 

As an avid wine consumer, I will be the first to admit that I know nothing about the backgrounds of the wines I consume. However, if I am hosting a dinner party and want to impress guests, I will ‘splurge’ from my go-to Josh Cellars wine and purchase a wine from one of these regions to make it appear as though I know what I’m doing when it comes to purchasing wine. My lack of wine knowledge makes me rely on what others do, a consumer behavior that works against wines not from the ‘Old World’ wine countries such as Concha y Toro.

Wine from Chilean is not associated with high-quality in consumer’s minds, however Concha y Toro has a competitive advantage of being a Chilean wine company that does produce a high-quality product. By offering their quality wine at a lower price, they will be more likely to be picked up on a whim by a ‘basic’ consumer and facilitate an experience that will educate consumers on a wine outside of the ‘Old World’ countries. Offering their wine at a lower price would help bridge the disconnect consumers have with Chilean wine and help facilitate a positive association among consumers to help change the current perception of Chilean wine.

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Life’s a Beach, I’m Just Playin’ in the Sand…(with a Corona in my Hand)

Corona can overtake Heineken as the #1 imported beer brand in the U.S. if they continue to advertise the experience their beer offers to consumers and if they further differentiate themselves by playing up their Mexican heritage in marketing.

Corona is selling an experience, not a product. While Heineken’s marketing strategy has been to focus on its higher quality beer, Corona has sold a story. When consumers reach for a Corona, they are not reaching for a ‘premium imported beer’, they are reaching for an opportunity to ‘find their beach’ and escape their realities to a tropical destination of their choice. The emotions evoked when consumers associate Corona with a vacation are positive. This emotional response, combined with the fact that Corona has a satisfying taste, leaves consumers always wanting to come back for more PTO.

Additionally, Corona has stayed true to its Mexican roots throughout the years by never owning any breweries outside of Mexico and by focusing initial U.S. distribution to cities that bordered Mexico. The Mexican origin story of the Corona brand fits in nicely with the growing Hispanic population in the U.S. who choose Corona as their preferred imported beer. Highlighting their Mexican origin story, especially the fact that the majority of Corona’s management has stayed in the hands of the Mexican families, would play nicely to the growing Hispanic customer base in the U.S. Emphasizing Corona’s Mexican roots would also be a stark contrast with Heineken, a beer company in which there is little mention of its Dutch origins, and could further differentiate Corona from the competition.

Despite having a smaller advertising budget than Heineken, Corona does have a strong brand experience among consumers and an origin story that resonates with a growing customer segment in the U.S. These two factors could lead to Corona taking market share from Heineken and moving up to the #1 imported beer brand in the U.S.

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Put Your Hard Hat On: How Black and Decker Can Remodel its Brand

Black and Decker (B&D) is missing the mark when it comes to reaching the Professional-Tradesmen segment. Unlike the notoriety the Professional-Industrial segment gives B&W products and the brand recognition among the Consumer segment, the Professional-Tradesmen segment view B&D products as either too technical or inferior to their needs.

Despite having equal shelf space to B&D, competitors such as Makita are outperforming B&W due to their vast number of SKUs and range of distribution channels. Makita differentiates itself from B&D by offering unique color options such as Teal, making them stand out compared to the standard black and charcoal grey colors. Offering consumers in the Professional-Tradesmen segment the ability to personalize their tools via color choice leads their power tools to serve as an extension of their professional brand. Makita also distributes across a variety of channels including newly emerging retail distribution channels such as Home Depot, which aligns with the shopping behavior of this segment.

While B&D shares two professional segments – Industrial and Tradesmen – there are distinct differences between these segments. Professional-Industrials perceive B&D products being of high-quality, and one would assume this perception would translate to the Professional-Tradesmen segment. However, this latter segment views B&D products as too robust yet not sophisticated enough for their daily jobs. This gap highlights the opportunity for B&D to play-up their servicing of the power tools, a customer experience that is loved by those in the Professional-Industrial segment and could attract more Professional-Tradesmen. Additionally, B&D could look to educate the Professional-Tradesmen segment on their tools by collaborating with local retailers to develop a support program to help service tradesmen from start to finish on a project.

B&D is not currently hitting the nail on the head when it comes to gaining share with the Professional-Tradesmen segment, but further attempts to understand this segment and better serve their needs are within the realm of possibility for B&D.