Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins presented to 2,000 attendees at its NewFront presentation last week. The company announced its plans to created a more focused and competitive brand. Among them are to drop the “Plus” from “Hulu Plus,” stream all nine seasons of Seinfeld, and produce an array of original series in an attempt to join the ranks of its competitors Netflix and Amazon.
Category: Chapter 2 – Elements of Marketing Strategy; Planning; and Competition
A Series of Lawsuits Prompts SeaWorld to Launch Marketing Campaign Emphasizing Killer Whale Care
SeaWorld has faced intense criticism following the 2013 release of Blackfish, a documentary on the controversial captivity on killer whales. More recently, the company is faced with three class action lawsuits in as many weeks, causing SeaWorld to launch a marketing campaign focusing on the care of its killer whales.
“Scent Branding” Makes it Way to Federal Trademark Officials
The Wall Street Journal recently published an interesting article on companies that have tried to trademark aromas, some successfully and others not. In an increasingly cluttered and competitive environment, companies are doing whatever they can […]
Coca-Cola to Reintroduce Popular “Share a Coke” Campaign, This Time with More Names and Package Varieties
Coca-Cola is bringing back its successful “Share a Coke” initiative, first launched in Australia in 2011 and brought to the US in 2014. This time, the company will include over three times the names and expand its package varieties in an attempt to increase sales volume primarily from Millennials.
Heinz-Kraft Merger To Create Giant Company With Lean Marketing
The Heinz-Kraft merger announced Wednesday will form the fifth biggest food and beverage company worldwide. While the marketing budget will not take a big hit, the combined firm will implement a lean marketing strategy based on zero-based budgeting: spending money on advertising that is proven to work and generate a strong return on investment.
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” Receives 2015 Award for Most and Worst Product Placement, While “Lego Movie” Succeeds with Strongest Product Placement Impact
Featuring 55 brands, Transformers: Age of Extinction recently won both the 2014 Award for Achievement in Product Placement in a Single Film (that is, the most product placement) and Worst Product Placement by Brandcameo. It also tied for first in Unwanted Product Placement. The Lego Movie saw greater success, winning the 2014 Award for Product Placement Impact.
Marketing Managers Partnering with Ad Agencies Could Pose Unexpected Perils: Former Mediacom CEO Calls Attention to Ad Agency Kickbacks and Lack of Transparency
Former Mediacom CEO Jon Mandel recently presented that media agency rebates and kickbacks are widespread throughout the industry. By distributing ad money to best suit their own businesses as opposed to those of their clients, ad agencies are breaching their fiduciary duties to clients. They have been criticized for this lack of transparency.
Kellogg’s Faces Marketing Challenges as Consumer Preferences for Breakfast Foods Evolve
Kellogg’s U.S. morning-foods net sales fell 8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014—the division’s seventh consecutive quarterly decline. While this is partially explained by changing consumer trends, what does it say about the company’s marketing abilities?
Nurturing Customer Value: Investments in Content and Marketing for Amazon Prime Mean an Increase in Customers with a Tendency to Spend More
Amazon has increased its spending on the development of original content and the acquisition of exclusive content for Amazon Prime. Increased advertising as well has led to significant growth in memberships to the service which boasts a user base that spends on average more than double the amount than non-Prime users spend annually within Amazon. Customers of the service are potentially stickier to the brand as well as they expand the range of services they use that are provided by the organization.
Removing the “Veto Vote”: Considerations for Marketing to Groups
For marketers in the hospitality industry the “veto vote” can serve as a significant challenge as groups of consumers make decisions based on their fit with the needs of every group member.
Marketing Management 