Apple Watch Market Segmentation

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Blog,

I know you are all on the edge of your seat in anticipation for the release of the newest Apple product, the Apple watch. The Apple watch is the latest edition to Apple’s fleet of tech products. Apple watch is sought to be the most high tech watch in the market, come its release in April 24. The iWatch comes with many new age features that separates itself from the competition, putting the iWatch into a league of it’s own. From health features such as heart rate monitoring to picture messaging, the iWatch can do it all.

Apple plans to release this revolutionary product in three segments, watch, watch sport and watch special edition. Also within these three segments apple is breaking them into sub-segments, with multiple designs for each segment. This makes sense for Apple to get the product into as many hands as possible, and as early as possible. The segmentation also give the consumer a diverse portfolio of options to purchase from. Apples price segmentation offers different product versions and prices attached to each version up front. In contrast to price skimming by using a single product with an initial high price. 

While the Apple watch is a new and innovative piece of technology, I don’t believe there's a big enough market for the watch to be successful. The product is a sub-segment in the smartwatch market because without an iPhone you cannot access the full potential of the watch. You have to first be a consumer of an iPhone to access the full potential of the watch. In order to fully enjoy the Apple watch you need to invest yourself into the brand. This is where Apple will see the bulk of their success, selling mostly to their brand loyal consumers

As far as competitors in the smartwatch market, Apple faces up against their usual rival, Samsung and their GEAR watch, as well as several other smartwatches making up the market. Although the GEAR watch is priced at $325, which is $200 dollars lower than the Apple watch price point, the GEAR is still a sub-segment of a market and only concerns Samsung Galaxy phone owners. The watch will be most popular with consumers who are brand loyal to apple and the techno geek demographic.

Is Green Coke Just a Marketing Gimmick?

Welcome Back Bloggers,

Today I am going to talk about Coca-Cola's recently new launch of Coke Life. Coca-Cola Life launched in the summer of 2014 in the United States and Europe. The company claims that the new product line offers a healthy alternative to regular Coca-Cola. Coke life is marketed as a lower calorie version of coke that contains zero artificial sweeteners and 60% of the calories that classic Coke has. The product is an initiative from Coca-Cola pushing to stop the global obesity epidemic. The soda is sold in green cans or in a recyclable plastic bottle. Critics have said although the company has marketed the soda to be, “healthy” the product is not conducive to the health of the consumer and is a marketing gimmick for the company.  

• As far as the nutrition value for Coke life, the 330ml can of soda contains 89 calories and is made with 22 grams of stevia leaf extract as a form of sugar

• Compared to a regular can of Coca- Cola which has 139 calories and 35 regular grams of sugar.

• Also Coca-Cola Life still contains colouring, caffeine, phosphoric acid and 19% of our recommended daily sugar intake.

Critics believe that the healthy green packaging of Coca-Cola life is misleading the consumer into thinking the beverage is healthy for you. So what is it that makes this soda, “healthy” in the mind of the consumer? The cans green color associates in our brain as “Go”, in contrast to Coke’s original red can, that our brain associates as, “Stop”. When the colors are next to each other the consumer is much more likely to choose the green healthy option rather than the red original product.

        

Coca-Cola’s life marketing campaign is a chance for the company to reach out to a different healthy demographic of soda drinkers. While the actual product itself itself shows no signs of ingredients that are beneficial to your health, the packaging makes to consumer believe that their are.

Elizabeth Haynes, president of Haynes & Co, which has done market research for major retailers and large hedge funds. She tells USA TODAY, "We haven't seen a product in the beverage space hitting on all cycles like this for years," Haynes & Co also reached out to several hundred consumers who remembered seeing Coca-Cola Life. After surveying the consumers their grades and reactions to Coke life were very high.

Get ready to start seeing a new color in the Coca-Cola product line because Coke Life is a huge hit.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/11/04/coca-cola-soft-drinks-coca-cola-life-coke-life-pepsi-true/18477965/

Patagonia promises "weed"?

Welcome Back Bloggers,

Everyone who is familiar with the company Patagonia, will know that the business is at the top of all socially responsible companies. Patagonia was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973. The company manufactures high-end outdoor clothing and is strongly involved in many environmental movements. In the end of 2014 Patagonia released their new and in some minds, questionable marketing campaign for their new wetsuits. The campaign was based to get surfers’ attention through the promise of weed.

In a new print ad Patagonia declares, “We have the best weed in town (and we’re giving it away)”:

It's not the weed that is currently being legalized in many states in the U.S. that is being made with Patagonia's new wetsuits, but rather a desert shrub, native to the Southwestern U.S. Luxuriously priced between $529 and $549, the company’s hardly giving these wetsuits away. The company is introducing a new way to make a wetsuit using renewable materials that are safer to the earths oceans. Patagonia based their brand around the idea of openly sourcing a rubber made from greener alternatives that will give the surf industry a break from the non-biodegradable, resource-intensive neoprene that wetsuits are currently made of.

Patagonia tells The New York Times, “It is one way Patagonia is trying to nudge along a sport that has not always been environmentally conscious despite its roots in the natural world. Patagonia executives are also convinced that the many years of development and testing they have supported have resulted in a revolutionary material that will wind up not only in wet suits but also in everyday items like sneakers and yoga mats.”

While Patagonia shows no indication that this "weed" has any mind-altering properties, the allusion is placed in the consumers head and is certainly an attention grabber. Currently, Patagonia makes their wetsuits from 60 percent “weed” or guayule and 40 percent neoprene. The company hopes that if their new biorubber catches on it will drive the costs down as they work towards cutting the neoprene out of their wetsuit entirely.

Patagonia tells The New York Times that, "When volume goes up, price goes down, and more surfers can choose to purchase less harmful suits. It’s good, smart business."

Patagonia has realized that surfers wetsuits are actually harmful to the environment. Surfing is a sport whose followers are extremely in touch and aware of their affect on the environment. Patagonia has discovered a niche in a market and intends to change the way that wetsuits are made entirely.

Success of Shred

Hello bloggers,

What are the keys to creating and marketing a successful business in the ski industry, in our current economy? Shred Optics is a great example of a company, who has been able to thrive in the competitive industry. Shred was founded by it’s owner, Ted Ligety in 2006. Ted is an American alpine ski racer, who has been the top skier and face of the U.S ski team for some time now. Ted’s rise to the top of ski world was a rough one to say the least. He never saw success in skiing until he was eighteen, which is late compared to athletes around him. Once he made it to the U.S ski team he won the olympic slalom in his first olympics ever. Ted currently has three olympic medals, six world championship medals, and 26 world cup wins since his debut in 2003.

Ted was always known as the racer who brings the most style to ski racing. Before starting Shred Optics Ted noticed that snowboarding and free riding had stolen some of what he called “the cool factor” from traditional skiing. Ted told The New York Times, “There was a big disconnect, and skiers were seen as old school,” Ligety said. “I knew that didn’t apply to me, so I wanted to show that we could merge the two worlds. I wanted kids to know that it’s cool to be in a ski race in the morning and to go play in the terrain park in the afternoon. It’s not one or the other.”
                                                        

Ligety started to wear brightly colored outfits and ended his races with a signature trick moves in the snow to bring more style into the sport. Ted’s radical style and oddly colored cloths were starting to gain attention quickly. Ted discovered a niche in the market and capitalized on it. With a European business partner, he started Shred in 2006 and aggressively marketed what were in then, radically designed helmets, goggles and other goods in florescent pink and orange. From then on Shred has flourished, and with the help of the free skiing and twin-tip movement, ski participation has made a comeback as the percentage of snowboarders on the slopes has declined.

Through Ted’s success as a rising star on the World Cup, he has only taken his company up with him. He's marketing his company every time he is on the slopes or in a race. Even with the pressure of competing on the top level in the World Cup Ted stays involved with all of Shreds operations. Ligety tells The New York Times, “I did it to make money, too,” he said with a chortle. “I’m very involved in Shred, constantly checking in on something. It takes a lot of time. But it has let me leverage who I am as an athlete into a product.”

Ted is an innovator in the ski industry and has taken his company Shred to new levels by doing radical things everyday.