Case Study: The Effectiveness of Dove Real Beauty Sketches Campaign

The 3-minute advertisement of Dove launched in 2013 is a part of the company’s Real Beauty campaign. Dove is a beauty product company, a division of the FMCG giant Unilever. The advertisement named Dove Real Beauty Sketches is a video edited film of 3 minutes of an experiment that the company did. It invited a forensic sketch artist to draw the women. This artist sat is a separated space where he could not see the women. The Dove Real Beauty Sketches advertisement begins with a piece of soothing instrumental music. The sketch artist introduces himself. Then a female voice, presumably that of one of the participants, say that when they enter the hall, they can see someone sitting with a drafting board. Another participant informs the viewers that neither they nor the man can see each other. First, the women described themselves, and then strangers, who had been acquainted during Continue reading

Case Study: Starbucks Growth Strategy

In 1971, three academics, English Teacher Jerry Baldwin, History Teacher Zel Siegel and writer Gordon Bowker opened Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice in Touristy Pikes Place Market in Seattle. The three were inspired by entrepreneur Alfred Peet (whom they knew personally) to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment. The store did not offer fresh brewed coffee by the cup, but tasting samples were sometimes available. Siegel will wore a grocers apron, scooped out beans for customers while the other two kept their day jobs but came by at lunch or after work to help out. The store was an immediate success, with sales exceeding expectations, partly because of interest stirred by the favorable article in Seattle Times. Starbucks ordered its coffee-bean from Alfred Peet but later on the three partners bought their own used roaster setting up roasting operations in a nearby ramshackle building and developed their own blends and Continue reading

Case Study: Apple iMac Ad Campaign

In the late 1990s technology analysts speculated that Apple Computer, Inc.’s fate hinged on its new personal computer the iMac. Apple’s share of the worldwide desktop-computer market had plummeted since 1995, the last year the company had been profitable. Ever greater numbers of consumers were buying personal computers (PCs) that ran on Microsoft’s Windows operating system rather than Apple’s version. Although Apple had pioneered user-friendly computers, the company had not introduced a consumer-targeted computer since 1992. Hoping that its stylish new iMac would propel Apple back into this vast segment of the market, Apple released its iMac ad campaign. The iMac ad campaign consists of a series of seven television commercials. These commercials advance Apple Computers newest generation of personal computers: the iMac. The iMac is a personal computer that is an AIO unit (All In One) and is housed in a translucent white and green case. Apple has attempted Continue reading

Case Study: American Express “Do More” Advertising Campaign

American Express had built its reputation as a prestigious charge card. In 1976 the company began its famed ‘‘Do You Know Me?’’ campaign in which celebrities ranging from dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov to puppeteer Jim Henson appeared in ads that pictured them and an AmEx Green Card bearing their names. In 1987 the ‘‘Portraits’’ campaign followed a similar formula. By aligning the brand with stars, AmEx cultivated the notion that carrying one of its cards was more akin to joining an elite country club than making a financial transaction. As later ads sniffed, ‘‘membership has its privileges.’’ In the 1980s, however, AmEx’s careful positioning began to backfire. According to Brandweek, while AmEx ‘‘clung to its old, elite ways,’’ the credit card industry went through monumental changes. With so many cards vying for consumers’ attention, Visa and MasterCard (specifically, the member banks that comprised the Visa and MasterCard consortia) began to cross-market Continue reading

Case Study of LG: A Global Success Story Through Continuous Innovations

LG Electronics is a global leader in the production of electronics, telecommunications products and chemicals. The organization was started in Korea with the name ‘Lucky Chemical Industries’ in the year 1947. The focus at the time was on the manufacture of chemicals. However, the organization ventured into the electronics industry and by the year 1958, it was the largest producer of radios, color televisions and fans. In 1959, it changed its name to Goldstar as it began producing plastic items. Goldstar was the first company to produce a radio in Korea and it went on to produce other household electronic products. In addition, the company produced soaps, detergents and other hygiene products under the Lucky brand. In the year 1995, the company was named ‘LG’, which was the abbreviation of ‘Lucky Goldstar’. The company also uses the tagline, ‘Life’s Good’ in marketing the products. Today, LG Electronics is a global organization operating Continue reading

Corporate Branding Case Study: ‘Power of Dreams’ Campaign by Honda

In 2002 Honda Motor Company was the number-three Japanese automobile manufacturer in the world, behind Toyota and Nissan. While Honda’s automobile sales in Japan and the United States were considered strong, sales in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe were thought to be weak, even though automobile production in the United Kingdom had been ongoing for a decade. Further, Honda vehicle sales had been declining in these regions since 1998. In response to these problems Honda hired ad agency Wieden+Kennedy London office to create an advertising campaign that would directly address the issues. ‘‘The Power of Dreams,’’ released in 2002, was an omnipresent campaign in the United Kingdom and beyond, using television, direct mail, radio, posters, press, interactive television, cinema, magazines, motor shows, press launches, dealerships, postcards, beermats (coasters), and even traffic cones. It built upon Honda’s company slogan, ‘‘Yume No Chikara,’’ which was first endorsed in the 1940s by Continue reading