The inventor of the $4 cup of coffee is seeing steep losses as its 2Q profit fell 77%. In order to recoup its losses, the coffee giant is looking to start a new marketing campaign. According to the SeattleTimes.com,  Starbucks will focus “on the quality, value and values that Starbucks offers,” Chief Executive Howard Schultz said during a conference call with analysts. “We’re confident that our voice and message will break through with current and future customers.”He wants to remind people what Starbucks stands for, and that most of its coffee drinks don’t cost $4. In a promotion beginning next week, it will sell 16-ounce iced coffee for less than $2.

Will Starbucks be able to survive the Great Recession with its “magic” marketing campaign? We’d like to hear your thoughts.

According a recent blog post on Restaurant Coaching Solutions, they outline the reasons why some businesses should wait to join the social media marketing bandwagon. According to the post:

Two Major Social Media Execution Gaps

1. Social Media Is More About The Social But Your Business Culture Isn’t.

2. The Pieces Just Don’t Seem To Fit

Figuring out if social media marketing will work for your business is tough, mostly because it involves trial and error and hiring the right people to get your information in the correct sites. Should you move beyond LinkedIn? Your own Ning site? We’d like to hear your thoughts.

 For the original post of the article mentioned, please click here.

According to The Chicago Tribune, Hollywood is expected to pay upwards of $1B dollars in a Summer marketing blitz this year. Tribune staff writer, Claudia Eller says, that despite a sharp decline in consumer spending and DVD sales that have long been the underpinning of the movie business, the studios are about to embark on the costliest summer for movie marketing campaigns they have ever pursued. A dozen big-budget pictures are set to crowd into theaters over the 16-week popcorn-movie season, many with worldwide marketing budgets that will top $100 million.

Do you think that Hollywood is banking on cheap(er) entertainment for a country in the midst of a deep recession–much like the “Golden Years” of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s?

I came across this presentation from Tim Stock in which he highlights the vulnerable side of luxury brands in 2009. Take a couple of moments to see it on slideshare.

In a recent article at Web Worker Daily, they take a look at inbound marketing.  Inbound marketing is a way for you to set yourself up so that the correct customers find you.  The article suggests search engine optimization, content and social media as a way to do this.  These are all more effective than the traditional methods of marketing.  What tips or techniques have you found that result in the best inbound marketing?

After only a few years, FOX has decided to shut down its youth focused film unit, Atomic Films.

According to Reuters,

During its brief history, Atomic had modest success with pictures such as “28 Weeks Later,” which grossed $45 million domestically, and “The Hills Have Eyes 2.” But it fell short with such recent films as “The Rocker,” “Miss March” and “12 Rounds.”

Is more bad news for the youth movie industry to come? Could marketing differently saved this unit?

Roger Dooley discusses in this post on the Future Lab blog that there is evidence that imagery of trees in green marketing actually has behavioral and psychological effects.

During his research Roger discovered that desk workers who did not have views of nature reported 23 percent more incidents of illness than those had had nature views outside of their desks.  In a different experiment settings of trees produced significant recovery to stress balances after only 5 minutes. Hospital patients who had views of trees also recovered more quickly than those who didn’t have any views. Most of these examples were taken from post-gazette now.

Marketers can learn a lot from this behavior as more and more companies are evolving towards green marketing and greener initiatives.

At the LA Times today, they take a look at the movie industry and how they’re having to change their marketing plan to reach potential movie goers through more mediums, all while contending with the woes of the current of economic recession.  They’re seeing fewer DVD sales, which used to account for a lot of profit.  They’re cutting back on lavish movie premiers, newspaper advertisements and the number of agencies that produce their trailers.  Many of the studios interviewed in the article have looked to the internet as a medium, and continue to believe that TV is the best way to reach their potential audiences.  Read the article here.

In a recent blog post, Chris Brogan explores the marketing campaign for One Laptop One Child. Brogan focuses his article on the issue of sending “clunky” laptops to third world countries in lieu of food and basic necessities in order to empower the children of these nations to compete in the digital age. 

He writes:

If you can empower with your products and services, choose that for your marketing. If you can spend dollars on things that help others, enable others, give the people who use your products and services something that allows them to do something meaningful, make that a spending priority.

We encourage you to read his full post here.

How is your marketing empowering?

By: Richard Parker, Datamonitor Consumer Markets, Senior Analyst

Consumers are showing signs of fatigue towards celebrity marketing. The cult of celebrity has reached a crossroads – over-exposed celebrities have saturated the market and aging populations mean that the growth audience is shrinking. Marketers must therefore pursue new tactics to avoid the pitfalls associated with celebrity-backed campaigns or celebrity-branded consumer packaged goods.

Within our modern consumer societies, the celebration of fame has witnessed a dramatic upsurge in recent years. Reality TV, celebrity gossip magazines and the Internet as a round-the-clock source of celebrity information have fed consumers’ celebrity hunger. This has converged with entertainment and sport industries eager to feed that hunger, creating a fertile ground for consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers to convey their messages via the celebrity medium.

However, this explosive phenomenon faces growing challenges. Many consumers are reaching saturation point, suffering from so-called “celebrity fatigue”. Consumer cynicism is piqued by celebrities endorsing too many disparate products, undermining both the individual’s and the brands’ credibility. Falling celebrity brand equity and scandals can directly hit endorsed brands’ fortunes and sometimes (as with Britney Spears’ past relationship with Pepsi) celebrity endorser’s own personal brand strength can overshadow that of the brand they are meant to be endorsing.

Products are emerging as the next generation of celebrities. Apple’s iPod and especially the iPhone have transcended mere product status and become iconic, with globally recognized identities and, indeed, personalities of their own. Richard Parker, Consumer Markets Senior Analyst at Datamonitor, comments: “consumers’ relationships with these celebrity-like branded products are based heavily on participation and interaction, two behaviors that are desired, but rarely achieved by everyday people in their relationships with actual celebrity idols.”

Datamonitor concludes that for celebrity branding to remain effective, marketers must make sure that celebrity campaigns are underpinned by a strong brand message or story – the celebrity can then add value rather than be used to make up for a lack of substance in the actual product. Credibility and authenticity are key: the personality of the celebrity must be in sync with the personality of the brand and the endorsement deal match the product with that celebrity’s particular appeal. Consumers are also increasingly viewing authenticity as a key determinant in their consumption behaviors and thus the most authentic celebrity-marketed brands are those where a celebrity themselves created them. Also, avoiding the craze for so-called “nonebrities”, the reality TV-fuelled breed of celebrity essentially famous for being famous who embody Andy Warhol’s comment that “in the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”, is crucial for brands looking to achieve longevity and avoid looking opportunistic or short-term in their strategic positioning.

Related Research:

The Cult of Celebrity: Exploring the implications for effective consumer packaged goods branding

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