Choose one of your favorite brands. In your initial discussion post, explain what about the brand makes it compelling to you. How does the company use marketing to communicate the brand? Identify at least one way that the company could improve its brand communications. What should the company consider to avoid unethical marketing? How could unethical marketing affect its brand?

In your responses to classmates, compare the brand that you chose with the brands that your classmates chose. How are they similar? Could the marketing professionals for the person, place, or thing learn from one another’s strategies or issues with brand identity?

To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric document.

I will need 2 responses done on classmates.

1st classmate

7-1 Discussion: Compelling Branding

Carlos Abreu posted Feb 18, 2020 3:57 PM

One of my favorite brands is Apple. I am an apple fanatic, I own or have owned everything from their laptops, phones, watches, and iPads. This brand is compelling to me because of the look and feel of their products, the software, and the durability (their laptops are known to be less susceptible to computer viruses.) “Apple promotes their products through commercials and print ads, focusing on how their products are different from competitors.” (Titan Web Marketing Solutions, 2016.) Another way they promote their new products is on their keynotes that they do every year. We all find ourselves tuning in to hear the latest details on the newest products as well as updates on the older models.

One thing that attracts me to the brand is the status of having their product. Most of the leading smartphones are priced higher than the rest due their innovative features and the appearance of the phone. When you have an Apple product in hand, it justifies the pricing of the item. One-way Apple could improve it’s brand communications is by redefining it. Apple has always had a simplistic approach when it comes to their commercials and advertisements that has worked for years. We all remember the iconic commercials with the iPods and how unique that experience was to Apple products.

Rather than responding to competitor advances, Apple needs to focus on how they can make it’s product a unique experience again. “Today, it feels like Apple isn’t leading its own destiny but responding to the marketplace by offering more hardware… rather than software experiences.” (Forbes, 2018.) They can possibly achieve this through consumer engagement to determine what needs can be met, in what way can they add to the lifestyle of it’s consumers. For years, users noticed that Apple products would deteriorate as you updated the device until it ultimately started to glitch and fail in anticipation of the release of a new product. This is a form of unethical marketing (Making false or unverified claims) the company should avoid. The product is marketed as innovative and powerful; however, it fails to be that way after an update or two. Eventually, “Apple released a message to its users on Thursday, addressing concerns about iPhones after the company confirmed it slowed certain models to protect aging batteries.” (Jen Kirby, 2013.) This affected the image of the brand and lost some trust among it’s consumers that were loyal to the brand.

References:

4 Powerful Ps You Need to Know About Apple’s Marketing Mix. (2016, November 9). Retrieved from https://titanwebmarketingsolutions.com/4-powerful-ps-need-know-apples-marketing-mix/

• Kirby, J. (2017, December 28). Apple admitted it’s slowing down certain iPhones. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2017/12/22/16807056/apple-slow-iphone-batteries
• Travlos, D. (2013, January 24). Three Things Apple Must Do to Regain It’s Momentum. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/darcytravlos/2013/01/24/three-things-apple-must-do-to-regain-its-momentum/#6273b83a639a

2nd classmate response needed

Week 7

Samantha Nei posted Feb 17, 2020 4:28 PM

My brand of choice for this week is Coach. I have several Coach handbags, sunglasses and shoes. I enjoy their products because they are high quality, more affordable than other names brands, and carry a good reputation. I receive emails and social media advertisements from them quite frequently, especially around Christmas time when they have sales or promotions.

Coach could use more advertising on TV or in print. I have a few magazines I read on a regular basis and I’ve never seen an ad for Coach.

Coach has several competitors in their same price category such as Michael Kors and Kate Spade. Coach will want to avoid saying anything negative about their competitors products, as this would be considered unethical marketing. It really turns me away when advertisers put down others in order to make themselves look better (political ads for example). Unethical marketing could affect how buyers perceive their reputation and may not continue to buy their products- there are so many other brands out there to choose from that this type of marketing strategy would hurt their bottom line.