BOC Hawaiin Tropic

Hawaiin Tropic announced on the 23^rd of April 2013 that they will eliminate the bikini contest that has been running since 1983. The reason why the contest was eliminated was because it was not getting enough attention from women. Women make 70% of Hawaiin Tropic users and the reason for that is to be tan when summer comes around the corner. Danielle Duncan solution to this problem was to reinvent products that would appeal to today’s women. The contests were extremely popular among women during the 90’s because it was something new and appealing. After the 90’s the contests just slowly faded away and wasn’t not appealing to women but rather disgusted by the idea. The contests were catering more towards men which were not the people they had intended to target.  The brand will continue contests on Facebook rather than doing it on a beach where lots of men gather around to see these beautiful women.  The brand now will shift from tanning oil to sunblock “The modern Hawaiian Tropic woman,” quoted Danielle. The brands identity will now be more of understanding the importance of sun care to keep skin healthy while having fun with their family. Hawaiin Tropics good old day of undressing has gone out the window and has welcomed more clothing and covering up. In the meantime Hawaiin Tropic is looking for a new spokesman that will reflect the sensibility of the brand. The contest will continue on but in a different perspective which will offer the models to still be in the contest but without wearing a bikini. The requirements will only be a headshot and a brief essay on why they should be chosen and what qualities they have. The contest prize tarnished the brand image and was followed by sexual harassment lawsuits. “The bikini contests—staged a final time in Australia in 2012—were the last vestige of an era when men mattered more to advertisers”  which today the views for these contests are not as interesting as how they were back in the 90’s.

  

Sources: Weiss, Piper. "Hawaiian Tropic Bikini Pageants Are Officially Over, Thankfully." Yahoo News. N.p., 4 23 2013. Web. 24 Apr 2013. <http://shine.yahoo.com/beauty/hawaiian-tropic-bikini-pageants-are-officially-over--thankfully-191218701.html>.

Midterm Assignment: Sony

"Sony is an exciting and innovative global company with a unique range of buoperating in a variety of diverse marketplacehttp://www.sony.co.uk/hub/european-graduate-programme/3s."sinesses 
Sony has also been a well-loved brand since its early beginnings. Sony did not start with the name Sony; "originally called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyoalso known as Tokyo telecommunications Engineering Company". Sony was actually founded in 1946 by two intelligent men by the name of Maasura Ibuka and Akio Morita. For a living Maasura and Akio repaired radios as well as voltmeters back in the post-war Japanese economy. The first ever interesting invention by these two innovative men was the very first automatic rice cooker which had limited quantities made. 

Many have wondered where the name Sony came from and why they had chosen the name."Sony derives from the Latin word sonus meaning sound and the English word sonny-boy - a term used by the Americans in the 1950's to denote a bright youngster". The sound and quality that emitted out of the headphones was the main reason behind the name.

 The first ever product branded by Sony was the TR-55 transistor radio in 1955. 1958 Sony officially changed its name to Sony Corporation which was the very first step in becoming a powerful company. Sonys first headphones was invented back in 1979 when the first Walkman was created. Every person had to have this popular and amazing new product that provided lightweight headphones. The products debut price was $200 dollars back in 1979 while today you can enjoy many Sony headphones that range from $12 to $100. Sony headphones were created because during the 1970’s many headphones were heavy and often enormous for a headphone. Every headphone created was part of Sonys way of being a step ahead of other companies.

 During Sony's major success in the headphone industry another brand was fighting against Sony. Koss was also one of the most successful headphone companies during 1950’s."The company pioneered the stereo headphone in the 1950s" and was actually the first company to ever create the stereo headphones. Koss was a Sony competitor up until it filed for bankruptcy in 1980 which gave Sony the advantage of expanding its line of headphones as well as creating new products. Before its bankruptcy Koss was perceived as a quality headphone company and a brand that provided speakers for computers and audio technology. 

Why was Sony so popular among people? Sony was loved not for its products but rather more for innovative exciting ideas. Sony expanded more and provided not only headphones but also owned record labels and other appliances.  Sony headphones were one of pop culture’s most wanted and desired products. Every new color and model of headphones people had to own it as soon as it was released.  

 Sony was widely popular in America for quite a long period of time until it had hit its peak and eventually a strong powerful company was taken over. The ipod was then created and offered more options and exciting features. Sony had not created any new product to be in the game which led to the fall. Economic growth was held back and Sony let Apple beat it in the electronic industry. “For some people in Japan, Sony is already dead” stated Jake Adelstein in his article and while Sony is considered dead in Japan it is also dead in the U.S. Natural disasters also caused 10 plants in Japan to close which also led in the decrease of blu-ray discs, batteries, and other Sony products such as headphones. Sony had just fallen and had been beaten by Apple; today we still see Sony headphones and other products but they are not widely popular as how they were in the 1970’s.

http://www.sony.co.uk/hub/european-graduate-programme/3

http://www.sony.co.uk/article/id/1060176719725

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/what-is-sony-now-11172011.html

http://kotaku.com/5960411/how-sony-is-turning-into-a-ghost-in-japan-and-around-the-world

https://blog.sony.com/2010/08/flashback-friday-tps-l2-walkman-1979/

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7558a99e-f5ed-11e1-a6c2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2RMgaolmY

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/koss-corporation-history/

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7558a99e-f5ed-11e1-a6c2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2RMgaolmY                   

http://coolmaterial.com/roundup/history-of-headphones/

BOC Week 3: Apple Juice Scandal

Beech nut was found guilty for selling apple juice that contained no apple juice at all or only water mixed with sugar and artificial flavors. Niels L Hoyvald and John F. Lavery stood before the judge in Brooklyn’s courthouse with nothing to say. Thomas H. Roche a prosecutor of the case  had said “''a classic picture of corporate greed and irresponsibility.'’http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/24/magazine/into-the-mouths-of-babes.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm . The company also had pleaded guilty the last fall to 215 counts of violating the federal food and drug laws. Beech-Nut agreed to pay a 2 million fine which was by far the largest ever paid in violating laws. In a previous press release Beech-nut admitted that it had broken the trust of many people. Beech nut had intended poisoned the population by using these kind of ingredients that were not natural. The effort to save money and be wealthy by increasing their sales had backfired on them and decreased their sales by 2 million and on top of that had 1 year of sentence in prison for violating laws. Inspectors touring the cohttp://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/24/magazine/into-the-mouths-of-babes.html?pagewanted=all&src=pmmpanies in 1982 had suspicions that companies were not including their natural ingredients. Jerome LiCari was so devastated and worried that he decided to quit the company after pleading to bosses about the issues they had at hand before. Lacking the test to prove the purity of the apple juice, LiCari could not prove that the juice was tainted. http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/beech-nut-nutrition-corporation-history/. Through this scandal Beech-nut had significantly tarnished its reputation and had lost the trust of many consumers that trusted its brand http://www.clarksons.org/CrossCurrent/cc3206%20Pure%20Lies.htm. Today Beech-Nut still struggles to gain its target market back but still struggles today to gain the trust. It has tried multiple ways to promote their products and gain their value back from the 1980’s scandal. Now it is just a mere brand that has been forgotten about within the community.

EOC Chapt Questions week 2

1. Describe the relationship between branding and marketing. "Branding and marketing both play major roles when introducing a new product to the public. As described in the book “Marketing supports the development of brands in all of its stages; it plays an integral role in the creation of the emotional value through the shaping of the brand personality and then communicating it to the outside world through its various communication channels” Kaled K. Hameide. Fashion Branding Unraveled, 2011. The Art Institutes. Web. 17 April 2013 <http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/books/978-1-60901-792-7/id/fig2_3a-b>.  They are both categorized into external and internal marketing. Internal would be branding which is the process of using people within the company to come up with branding strategies to sell a product to people. External would be marketing the product outside the company and that includes posters, flyers, and other methods to market the product outside the company. Internal tools used would be emails, special events, internal newsletters, and word of mouth.  External tools would include flyers, posters, videos, and everything.

   

 2. How does the decision-making process differ between that of luxury brands and mass-market brands? “The trendsetters, these luxury products are characterized by a high level of creativity, craftsmanship, quality, and service, in return for a premium price. These groups of products can be either haute couture or ready-to-wear” Kaled K. Hameide. Fashion Branding Unraveled, 2011. The Art Institutes. Web. 17 April 2013 <http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/books/978-1-60901-792-7/S1.3/13>. The decision-making process with luxury brands is selecting different materials that are high caliber to sale to a certain target market without having to stray to another target. For mass market brands you have to consider people budget, moderate priced products that do not go over the budget. This process is more of a trend followers process how to come up with products that people follow.

   

 3. Explain the meaning of “brand identity” and highlight its role in the positioning strategy.” Brand IDENTITY can be simply described as the “meaning of the brand” Kaled K. Hameide. Fashion Branding Unraveled, 2011. The Art Institutes. Web. 17 April 2013 <http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/books/978-1-60901-792-7/S1.3/26>. Pretty much It is a a brands identity that expresses what the brand is about. It adds personalities to the brand so that if formulizes a character to a brand.  Positioning strategy is pretty much the same as the brand identity it creates personalities and establishes the lifestyle of a person through the personalities.

EOC:Chapt Questions Week 1

1. Explain in your own words why we need brands. "Whether these accusations are valid or not, the reality remains that branding is a major force in business, and brands play a very important role in our lives. And in the world of fashion, it is not any different"( Kaled K. Hameide. Fashion Branding Unraveled, 2011. The Art Institutes. Web. 17 April 2013 <http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/books/978-1-60901-792-7/id/ch1>.) . We need brands because they help create an identity for a certain product. It also helps differentiate each brand from other brands. We also need brands to classify what kind of person a person is as well. Branding also helps products from being copied and used for own profits. Brands are used in marketing and business literature from many different perspectives of different business professionals.

 2. The promise of value is an important element of any brand. Explain the concept and its relevance to the brand. “A promise is a contract, a guarantee, and a reducer of risk, so accordingly the PROMISE OF VALUE ensures that the values attributed to the brand will be delivered” Kaled K. Hameide. Fashion Branding Unraveled, 2011. The Art Institutes. Web. 17 April 2013 <http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/books/978-1-60901-792-7/S1.2/6>. Pretty much a brand is a promise that gives the consumer what they expect out of the product.  Values are the main reason for a purchase for all consumers. It makes the purchasing process more easier once a person identifies the promise the product offers.

   

 3. Innovation and consistency may seem to be two contradicting notions. What does each term mean in relevance to the brand, and how do these terms work together in defining it? Innovation enables brands to respond to changing customer needs.  Innovation also creates new business opportunities as well as many different features to improve business or product. Consistency would be another key factor when creating a brand. Consistency is constantly keeping up with the consumer and always updating new ways to improve a product or business which is where innovation then steps in. As said in the book “A brand needs to be in tune with the times, and in sync with customers' needs and aspirations. It needs to respond to economic, technological, and generational needs and developments” Kaled K. Hameide. Fashion Branding Unraveled, 2011. The Art Institutes. Web. 17 April 2013 <http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/books/978-1-60901-792-7/S1.2/15>.