What happened to the mini-van?

It’s hard to look back to 15 years ago, to the time when we were all in elementary school. A lot has changed since I learned how to “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” and since I was told that Y is (supposedly) only sometimes a vowel. Being a native of Winston-Salem, I have the privilege of being able to revisit the old stomping grounds from time to time and I was not surprised when my mom told me she drove past my elementary school one day to find it completely demolished. My childhood memories had been reduced to a pile of red bricks and cinder blocks

While I do retain a vivid flashback of breaking my arm playing basketball, there seems to be a plethora of other things that have been erased from my memory: Time outs, accidentally killing the class gold fish, and mini-vans.

There was a time when every family I knew owned a mini-van. My family used our teal blue Plymouth Voyager for hauling kids to soccer practice and hauling furniture to my grandmother’s house. Today, these versatile vehicles are almost obsolete.

I can understand how something becomes outdated when a more improved and functional model comes along, but the truth is, mini-vans can be considered superior vehicles on many different levels. For example, the Chevrolet Traverse (a crossover SUV) is slightly larger in length, width, and height than the Toyota Sienna (a mini-van). However, the Sienna has 43.6 cubic feet of space behind the third row of seats, compared to the Traverse’s 24.4 cubic feet. And although it may be cumbersome to deal with, the Sienna has a removable second row of seats, which significantly increases the amount of cargo room available. The Traverse’s second and third rows merely fold down. Not to mention, mini-vans consistently get better gas mileage than SUVs, which makes them better for the environment. In addition, mini-vans lack the stature and weight of an SUV, but they are less likely to roll over when making sharp turns.

So if the mini-van is the more economical and practical choice, how come there seems to be none on the roads these days?

I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point during my adolescent years, the mini-van not only became outdated, but it also became uncool. They became synonymous with the soccer mom stereotype. The mom who wears her bath robe to in the mornings while making rounds for the carpool and the one who wears her sweat pants to PTA meetings because she didn’t have enough time to change between walking to dog and returning those overdue VHS tapes to Blockbuster. On the flip side, these new age SUV moms seem to have it together. There is a certain persona and aura that surrounds the middle-age female suburbanite who drives an SUV. And it seems to be the exact opposite of the mini-van soccer mom.

When it comes time for me to buy a car so I can haul my 2.5 kids to school and soccer, I’m not sure whether or not the mini-van will be back in fashion, but I’m guessing that these commercials might have some influence on bringing back its swagger.

Swagger Wagon
Make It Rain

-Sarah Shelness, future soccer mom

Social Networking: A Growing Obsession

Social media sites have been growing exponentially in the past few years. With the development of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Friendster, etc. more and more users are logging on to keep in touch through these social media platforms. But who are those users? Most people think that Generation Y dominates the social media sites; however, that is not fully true. Of those aged 18-29 about 86 percent use a social media site, but the number of users is not growing as fast as other age segments. Users between 35 - 54 are among the highest percentage of users, 34 percent for the age range, on social media sites. But social media users over the age of fifty nearly doubled in the past year and users over the age of 65 grew 100 percent.  Those aged 50 and older are the fastest growing demographic of social media users.

I have found these statistics to be true within my own life. Recently, my grandmother and aunt created their own Facebook accounts. When I first heard this from my cousin, Natalie, I thought surely they wouldn’t add me. But in a matter of days I had the daunting friend request from both.  I let them sit there for a few days contemplating whether or not I wanted to be their Facebook friend. Now this may not sound very nice, but would you want your aunt and grandmother seeing your pictures, statuses, and wall posts at their convenience and be able to keep up with aspects of your life? Well in the end I accepted their friend requests and this is where the article rings true.

My aunt rarely pops up on my news feed which gives me hope that she is not on much but just wanted to see what social media is all about.  However, my grandmother has become obsessed with Facebook.  She has reconnected with old friends and family from who knows when, which is great for her. However, she insists on checking up on my Facebook fairly often.  If I was unaware she was checking then maybe I wouldn’t mind… but I know she checks because I get phone calls from my mother saying that my grandmother  said she saw I was tagged in pictures or saw that I went out or what not.  It becomes comical to see how long it takes for my mother to find out things through my grandmother. 

So you might remember that not too long ago a hurricane was approaching the North Carolina coast (not Forsyth County or anywhere near Wake Forest) and I received a notice that my grandmother had written on my wall.  The post went something like this… “CHRISSY, PREPARE FOR THE HURRICANE. BE SAFE!” As sweet as this is of her to want me to be safe, a phone call could have done the job. Also, I recently had a status update for Breast Cancer month that did not sound so appropriate but was for a good cause.  Needless to say, my grandmother was visiting my parents for the weekend and my mother was told I had an inappropriate status up. It took less than an hour for the news to travel. Maybe I’m just not used to the used to the idea of those over 65 using social media sites but reality has hit me. They do.

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandma! Keep up the social networking J

http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/08/users-over-50-are-fastest-growing-social-media-demographic.html

Chrissy Morerya is a senior BEM major and marketing concentration at Wake Forest University. 

The Sky’s the Limit for Product Placement

I recently saw Wall Street 2 in theaters.  Great movie, but I couldn’t help but get distracted by the number of products infiltrating the big screen.  I’m assuming I only did this because I’m a student of marketing, but I was practically playing “Where’s Waldo?” with the product placements during the movie.  In the movie, Gordon Gekko hosts a book signing at Borders, employees casually sipped Dunkin Donuts coffee on the trading floor, and Toyotas were the car of choice for Long Islanders. 

So, was I bothered by the product placement? Absolutely not.  I couldn’t help but think how true it was to Wall Street fashion: make money where there’s money to be made.  While there were a lot of products featured in the movie, some more obviously than others, it definitely did not take away from the plot of the movie.  The products fit with the situations, and since we live in a culture where brands are discussed and referenced all of the time, it did not seem too out of the ordinary for there to be so much talk and placement of brands.

In total, 42 brands were featured in Wall Street.  This got me thinking: when will enough be enough? 

At the rate we are going, I’m not sure product placement will ever subside.  I think this is in part because consumers are more aware they are being targeted by marketers than ever.  More and more brands are acknowledging the fact that they can’t act like they aren’t trying to sell something, because everyone knows they are.  Many brands are being honest with themselves and make it clear to their customers that they know they are marketing in an over-the-top manner.  Fortunately for marketers, consumers see this as comedic, not annoying.  Consumers like that they are “in” on the joke. For example, take Snapple in 30 Rock.   The overt product placement fits with Snapple’s not-so-serious persona.

Another example: Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video.  In the video, she makes sandwiches in a jail with Mayo, blatantly talks on a Virgin Mobile phone, and uses her Polaroid camera. In total, she had 10 products clearly displayed in her video.  Why did she do it?  Because she could. 

 

Gaining customer awareness will never get easier.  Consumers are filtering their e-mails better, zipping through commercials easier, and driving by billboards faster than ever.  I don’t foresee the product placement trend declining anytime soon. The one way I think product placement will change is how brands will be placed.  While the blatant placement is the trend for now, I am not sure if it will always resonate as funny with audiences.  I don’t think it will be long until all marketers will trend toward paradoxically stealthy, yet obvious placement strategies.  As long as movie producers get millions of dollars from selling time in movies, filmmakers and marketers will work to fit in as many products as possible.

Alison Henley is a senior Business & Enterprise Management major with a minor in Sociology.

Look for Mayhem

As I sit in the movie theatre with l10 other football players watching previews, a commercial takes the screen. Dean Winters appears standing on a tree saying “I am a random windstorm…shaky shaky” just as the tree limb collapses onto a car below.  The guys erupt in laughter and immediately Allstate has gripped its hold in the minds of these 110 young men.  Over the course of the next week, "shaky shaky" can be heard throughout the locker room as guys re-enact the commercial.  Allstate began these advertisements using Dean Winters as the dark ominous character of Mayhem who causes destruction in various ways.  In his commercials Dean assumes the role of young adults, storms, animals, and inanimate objects that cause damage in different ways. 

The hilarious Allstate Mayhem commercials have swept across the nation receiving great reviews from all I’ve spoken with.  Allstate is already well-known for their “good hands” slogan, but have searched for a way to reach younger crowds.  Allstate intelligently decided to shed the commercials where despair and gravity overcome the viewer.  No one wants to see grief and will quickly try to erase the depressing commercial from its memory.  Younger consumers especially do not like to be faced with doom and gloom. With the new array of funny Mayhem commercials it seems they have finally found the attention of the youth.   Teens and young adults generally are under the protective insurance of their parents where the decision lies solely in the hands of the parents.  Eventually the young adults are “cut off” from their parents and forced to live autonomously.  Allstate seeks to benefit from the ousting of the young adults by instilling their brand name through its advertising.  What better way to reach this target market than with humorous commercials depicting people in their age group.

When Allstate signs a young customer, they have the potential to bank revenue off of the customer for the remainder of his/her life, creating a continuous revenue stream through brand loyalty.  The Mayhem commercials call attention to the ridiculous behaviors of the millennial generation.  Our generation doesn’t take offense to the blatant mocking, but rather embraces it for its honesty and humor.  Over the past week I have seen several Allstate Mayhem commercials that point directly to my age group or those just below it.  Teenagers are hormonal and sex-crazed, often thinking irrationally because of the opposite sex.  Allstate exploits the well-known fact with its Mayhem these Mayhem commercials:

These television commercials clearly attack the illogical things young adults do when they should be focusing on driving.  Allstate creates Mayhem as the villain, but depicts themselves as the hero in the end that saves you from your foolish mistakes.  It leaves the viewer feeling that although I may do dumb things, Allstate will be there for me.  As a young person, we know we will make questionable choices, having the support of someone to face the aftermath of those decisions is a powerful tool of attraction.

            Whether you are actively searching for a new insurance provider or someone who has never had a single thought about insurance, the Allstate Mayhem commercials will remain in your memory when the question of who to choose for insurance arises.  

Words by Shane Popham.  Shane is a redshirt junior BEM major, whose favorite season is autumn because of football, apple fritters, cooler weather, and the changing colors of the leaves.

Oh, Muggles.

The first of the final Harry Potter movies will be released on November 19, 2010.  It is over a month away, and it is already creating a huge buzz at Wake Forest.  “Harry Potter and the Golden Pumpkin” has been chosen as the theme of this year’s Project Pumpkin.  Harry Potter is also one of the new courses that is being taught in the Experimental College.  I have already been approached by friends who want to order tickets to the movie’s midnight premier.  I was on Skype the other day with a friend that is studying abroad in London, and she complained that she could not find Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.  Student Union’s weekly Trivia Night brought in a record number of participants for tonight’s Harry Potter edition.  I actually waited in line for over thirty minutes to be seated in Shorty’s to participate.  I even had to convince my freshmen residents that it would not be a good idea to dress up for this event. 

My trivia team suffered a terrible loss.  I thought I was a dedicated fan because I have read all of the books, but I felt like an amateur when I met the competition.  A guy on the second place team has read every book and listened to all seven tapes at least 13 times.  The t-shirt he wore to trivia night said, “Your mother is a muggle.”  Two other girls were dueling on their iPhones while they waited to be seated.  I also overheard a few fans excitedly chatting about the new Harry Potter amusement park at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. 

What is it about Harry Potter that excites so many people?  Someone told me not long ago, “Harry and I grew up together.  We started snogging around the same time.”  I tried not to laugh, but I realized that it was true.  I read my first Harry Potter book in the fourth grade.  I am now a senior in college, and I am still getting excited to go see the new movie premier.  Still, why did we start reading Harry Potter?  I think it is about escapism.  Harry Potter offers an escape and fantasy world that cannot be rivaled by the Lord of the Rings or The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  Lord of the Rings was targeted too heavily to an older generation.  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (a classic movie and novel that, in my opinion, will never be outdated) were too reflective of the Great Depression.  Harry Potter on the other hand, has transcended generational gaps.  I can talk Harry Potter with my parent’s friends, my older sister’s friends, and the children I babysit.  The Harry Potter series has also survived some of the greatest economic fluctuations the global economy has ever seen.  When I was younger, it was about the fantasy of living in a magical world.  Now that I am looking for a job in a downtrodden economy it is more about the escape.  Debi Andrus, a marketing professor at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business completed a study about Harry Potter and remarked that, “Escapism is what all children and adults are looking for.  They want good to triumph over evil.”

New Harry Potter Movie

Nikiforuk, A. (2003). The real power of Harry and Frodo. Canadian Business, 76(2), 16. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.


-Leigh Vogedes

Free Chicken Fingers

Recently my roommate and I went to a local Hardee’s for lunch, intending to splurge on the unhealthiest meal possible.  This was only my second time visiting this particular Hardee’s and third time visiting Hardee’s period, so I had only begun to form an opinion about this restaurant.  To that point I had been impressed with the quality of the food as well as the friendly service, but I was not ready to name it one of my favorite fast food restaurants.  For fast food restaurants in particular, I believe it is critical to be in the consumers’ evoked set and more importantly one of the top three options that come to mind.  I believe for this to occur the restaurant must provide a consistent experience each time one visits any of its locations.  The food and service is never going to blow you away but it is critical that neither of these alienates you from returning to the restaurant.

On this occasion my friend and I ordered our food, got our drinks and went to the table so they could bring our food when it was ready.  A couple minutes passed and they brought my friends order out, promising me that my food would be out shortly.  As the minutes grew I waited and waited yet nobody came over with food.  Being a relatively new customer to Hardee’s, I grew increasingly disappointed and frustrated and soon was ready to give up on the fast food chain entirely.  However, before I was able to ask for my money back and storm out in dramatic fashion, the cashier saved the day by not only bringing my order, but also bringing out three free chicken tenders.  He apologized saying he thought someone had already been brought out.  I figured this was a lie and he just forgot, but either way I was satisfied with the free food.  While I was still annoyed at the delayed service I was pleased that they valued me enough as a customer to make the effort to make up for their error.

As pleased as I was that they put forth this effort, I did not realize until later exactly what a smart move this was from a marketing and customer service standpoint.  Obviously bringing me the free food adequately made up for having to wait so long in the first place, easing my irritation with the restaurant and fast food chain.  I did not realize until later that these were the “new hand-breaded chicken fingers” that I had seen advertised so heavily recently.  They took an opportunity to calm an irritated customer and market a new product.  I enjoyed the fingers and feel confident I will order them in the future.  Opportunities like this one should be capitalized more often by companies.  Receiving something for free, no matter how small, can often make a poor experience a positive one and if you have a chance to market a small or underselling product/service you can more than make up for the cost giving away the free product/service.  Not only did I leave that day satisfied, I tried and enjoyed their latest product and will likely order it in the future.  More companies should follow Hardee’s example and capitalize on such a strong marketing opportunity.

Cami Secret or not so Cami Secret.... that is the Question

The other day Joel and I were watching the Major League Baseball playoffs.  There were 3 games on television over the course of the evening, night, and early morning, so we were on the same channel all day.  After the final game, we stopped paying attention to what was on and continued doing work in our living room.  It had gotten to the hours of infomercials and one in particular caught our attention.

Having watched the first few seconds, I realized that I was not the target audience.  I could relate to none of the problems or scenarios, but for some reason I was drawn to the commercial.  I don’t know if it was because of the ingenuity of the product or the fact it made me laugh, but it kept my interest.  The product I am speaking of is the Cami Secret.

The basic gist of the product, for those of us who are guys, is this: Women in the workplace need to be cognizant of how revealing their tops are.  As a result there is often a struggle between “going-out” clothes and “wear to work” clothes.  It is expensive to buy different outfits and it can be uncomfortable to wear camisoles (female undershirts).  This product is the solution to all of these problems.  It is like a small bib that clips to a woman’s bra straps and appears to others to just be a camisole.  It can be adjusted to different heights to show off different amounts of skin, depending on circumstance and situation.

One of the major reasons I found this infomercial interesting is because I have always been curious about the effectiveness of infomercials.  Many normal or mainstream products I envision sell strongly, such as OxiClean or even the Snuggie, as you can find these products in many stores.  However the Slap Chop or Shamwow!, I have my doubts about.

This was the situation I came across when I saw the infomercial for Cami Secret.  Not being part of the target market made it even more difficult for me to decide whether this was a viable product or not.  Is this something someone would use?  What age group is it targeting?  Are there actually women watching this channel at this hour after the baseball game?  Suffice it to say, I still question this product and its functionality.

For any female reading this, please give me some feedback regarding the product.  Also, please don’t view me in a negative light as this ad might be a bit risqué for a class discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex6H6G34-DU

On another note, when searching for the infomercial on Youtube, I came across a very funny parody.  Keep in mind that the parody is misogynistic in nature, but if you can stomach it, you might get a laugh.

Jordan Jacobson is a senior at Wake Forest University.  He is graduating this Spring with a BS in Business and Enterprise Management with minors in both Psychology and Journalism.  He is particularly interested in consumer behavior and decision making.