alvinjblog

[alvinjblog]

On the topic of Fairness and the ethics of advertisements

This one is interesting because I had a conversation about this about the new marvel movies just the other day with some friends... A disclaimer, I can only see this from my point of view as an Asian American, and for sure I know others have it worse (Blacks, Hispanics, South Asians). 

As a person of Eastern Asian descent, and as an American who grew up in a primarily white hometown, there was always a demand to be white. I remember having a health class in high school, and we were asked to bring in healthy foods, and I brought in bitter melon, and nobody even wanted to get near it, but regular things like Triskets and broccoli were “normal”. Even within the media it always seemed to perpetuate stereotypes and the fact that whiteness was superior. This image from Fresh off the boat, with the kids wanting Lunchables really describes my childhood. 

According to Wikipedia, Asian Americans were shown in the workplace in 50% of print ads they were featured in, along with being represented as affluent, well educated individuals with high work ethic and had tended to be featured more often in advertising that promoted technology and business then other minorities. These advertisements only continue to confirm others bias’ that Asians are model minorities, and somehow not as normal as white people, that the only future for Asians lies in the highly educated, hard working, technical career paths. 

The marvel movie trailer recently came out, and me and some friends were talking about the trailers and the lack of Asian representation in super heroes. It’s quite a step forward, with a primarily Asian main cast and Shang-Chi as the first Asian Hero in Marvel phase 4. It’s a step forward from a pure white washing, like ghost in the shell, but of course he has to be a martial artist.

There’s a fine line that advertisements and media need to walk, but they also need to be conscious and fair about the stereotypes and societal structure that they perpetuate. This is something we as future workers need to take into account when creating and branding our products, as these advertisements are one sided communication tools that influence and shape the heuristics in our minds.  

[alvinjblog]

On the topic of diffusion (Can this guy stop talking about cars already?)

So we’re talking about product diffusion, and of course the first thing I can think of is the current diffusion of cars into electric vehicles. (Jokes on everybody else, this is the only thing I know) This is an “old to the world/ incremental improvement”. There are a few differentiating factors - Drive response, weight, refueling method, but overall the product itself is still very similar - it gets you from point A to point B in the same way your old combustion engine is running. 

So let’s analyze this - Did Tesla just pick the right time and miraculously create a diffused product? No. GM had tried and failed in the 2000s with the EV1s (To be fair, who is going to buy this car above?), in the early 1900s there was a 3 way fight for the title of car powerplant between gasoline, electric, and steam. So then why is the industry turning now? Let’s work through Rogers 5 Forces Factors. 

Relative Advantage - Now more then ever, EVs are on par or better with than the product they replace. Customers rave about the instant torque driving experience Advantage: EV Battery Capacity is now at the 300 Mile range magic Number (Where people are comfortable with Range Anxiety) Advantage: Tied You also get to drive in the HOV lane in California (An actual reason some of my friends bought EVs)

Compatibility - It walks like a car, it talks like a car, it is a car. The steering wheel is the same, the gas range is the same, and it is more responsive. Not only that I’ve always heard EVs described as “rocket ships”, they do feel that way when you hit the pedal. (They live up to the expectation!). Also they shot one into orbit. 

Complexity - People often think of Electric Vehicles as these incredibly complex machines, but in reality they are magnitudes less complex then Internal combustion engines. Less Maintenance is required as well, and it’s easier to plug and play (Literally!)

Trialability - with more and more people having electric vehicles people can trial these vehicles from their friends or neighbors. Let alone the dealerships that exist that allow you to just drive one whenever you want. 

Observability - EVs are synonymous with Tesla right now, Objectively there is no reason for their prestige or brand, poor fit, poor finish, poor interior quality, and the AutoPilot doesn’t deliver. But you still see them all over the place and there is a halo effect on them. 

Nobody has to be the inventor, they just need to get in at the right time.It takes some luck but also good skill to identify when diffused products are ready to be launched.  For every EV, there’s a Hydrogen Fuel cell. Have you ever heard of the Mirai? I didn’t think so. 

[alvinjblog]

Drinking and Driving?

I found it hilarious that the case had so many parallels to the auto industry. Toyota and Lexus was the first thing I also thought of when Concha y Toro was considering moving up in the premium market, as someone with a background from the auto industry. Though Wine and Cars are very different objects, their brands, owners, and perceptions are mirrored, they’re both in the end commodities. Something that rings very true is what Professor Gosline mentioned in the first class, the brand experience has to be consistent. 

Oddly enough, for awhile growing up I did not know Lexus was a Japanese brand let alone Toyota’s. I had always thought it was a European brand based on how it presented itself: it was never mentioned with Toyota, it was always advertised separately and the feel was always similar to European vehicles, a sense of superiority and luxury. This was very similar but the opposite when Toyota launched the Scion brand. Until I worked at Toyota I didn’t know that the Scion brand was a part of Toyota. In this situation I actually viewed it quite negatively and cheap, thinking the brand was for cheap kids. Whereas in reality the vehicles had Toyota quality and lower prices. It’s pretty amazing how brands can effect your perception of things even though under the hood they’re all the same car. 

Thinking through both strategies... 

Bottom up 

The problem with pursuing a bottom up strategy is similar to the perception of Chilean wines in Japan, the perception of the brand’s wine is already compromised, because its seen as a lower end brand. Something we’ve studied multiple times in other classes are luxury brands ability to move back upwards after pushing their own brand down stream, but that requires the heritage that these brands like Gucci used to have, something the upstart new world wine producers in Chile do not have. Despite Don Melchor and Almaviva being a high quality segment success, Concha y Toro were still considered basic wines. It’s very hard to shed a label of being cheap. 

Top Down 

Taking a prestigious brand, introducing cheaper models, and then having the consumer buy up as they grow up. BMW and Mercedes both did try this in the past, and both of them ended up pulling their cheaper offerings in the US. The 1 series was not sold after 2013, though Mercedes is bringing the A class to the US. The brand perception of Mercedes in the US vs Europe is always interesting too, where Mercedes are seen as more everyday vehicles, but almost strictly luxury in the US. There still isn’t a Mercedes/BMW below 35k ish in the US.

It may be best similar to auto companies to establish a completely different brand, and try to position them upstream. Though the products will still be the same, the perception will be very different. Consistency in a brand is key, and both the above strategies seem to forego this very important lesson. 

Ford may have bought Jaguar and Volvo to try and target the upper-class segment, but the company never let them keep their brand consistency after incorporating them into the greater company. instead, they produced cheap and terrible platform shared Fords, souring consumers outlooks on their brands.  

[alvinjblog]

Crouching tiger, Hidden nudge

It’s actually kind of crazy how we internalize these things. I never really thought about the differentiation between Mindful and Mindless nudges. Mindful nudges when in direct confrontation with something I see as a nuisance, and I’ll go out of my way to actively not do it (within reason of course). If someone tells me don’t cross the line, maybe ill inch my toe over it. But what really is eye opening is without thinking about your everyday choices, and relying on your “instinctual brain” you give away a lot of power to your choices to these mindless nudges every day. We as people definitely only have so much bandwidth to think things through, and as mentioned before we definitely rely on shortcuts which is where the power of mindless nudges come in. 

Breaking a successful mindless nudge down into a simple process:

Encouraging mindless Nudges 

when you’re encouraged it presents an option that seems reasonable at and the effort that it takes is minimal over not doing it.

Discouraging mindless Nudges 

the opposite, when the option has been presented in a way that seems to be more effort then it’s worth. 

The Mindless nudge really is “dangerous” because at face value it’s really not an important decision, but it’s influencing you with you thinking about it. When used properly, you can have things happen like mentioned in the article, having people unconsciously make the healthier choice because they’re too lazy to look up or reach. Or you can reduce the amount of food people eat by changing the presentation and making plates smaller.

The danger to me presents it self when we use mindless nudges for the potential of bad behavior. We could essentially clicker train humans to further confirm harmful biases. Is that what Facebook has been doing with advertising certain anti-factual groups? 

Well, I’ll probably try to actively guard myself against mindless nudges but who knows, maybe the nudge wanted me to guard against what it wanted to say and actually wanted me to do the opposite.

[alvinjblog]

Corona (Beer)

What do I think when I hear Corona? Well unfortunately in these times it’s not something good. But that’s a problem for Corona for a different time. The prior thought that pops into my head is the silhouette of people on the beach in Mexico, the one below. 

Since you can’t taste an advertisement it seems to be particularly effective to link it to an emotion, which is what Corona has done.  the Symbol of “Fun, Sun, Beach”. What they’ve also done particularly well is the brand consistency, as mentioned in the first class and in the case, the brand needs to give a consistent experience throughout, and by reserving all rights to approve advertising content, Modelo has done that. 

To me, the focus on an experience over product quality is really what differentiates Corona from Heineken, it’s mentioned that offsite is quickly becoming the more dominant option - for premium beers, the higher price, the exotic-ness lends itself in a persons mind to quality. This competes directly with Heinekens image - they’re all “premium”. But experience: Fun, Sun, Beach, sets itself apart from other beers. Heineken pivots away from the quality aspect as well towards the end of the 1990s towards experience as well: drinking beer is an experience.

Big companies have big inertias too. Heineken can try all it wants to rebrand itself into a fun experience, but it takes time for people to forget the previous 10 years of messaging. it’s definitely possible though. I think ABINBEV buys corona, probably because its so complementary to its existing assets - the experience is different then other beers regardless of what it actually tastes like.