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[ashley-pyne]

Lululemon's Resale Plan

Recently the consumer mindset has drastically shifted to focus on the importance of sustainability and the environment. Generation Z has a major influence on this shift due to their prioritization of environmental concerns. A major consumer trend that coincides with this is how thrifting and consignment stores are ranked in the top ten of teenager’s favorite brands. I find my friends and myself going out of our way to find brand names at cheaper prices wherever we can. Some businesses are utilizing this trend such as sites like Poshmark and Depop who only sell used products. How are retail stores going to compete with these businesses who resell top brands products at a discounted value? Lululemon and many other companies asked themselves this question and are creating another revenue stream to resell their items in order to compete.

Specifically, Lululemon is launching a trade-in program in California and Texas where customers can trade in gently used items in store or by mail in exchange for a Lululemon gift card. These items will then be sorted, cleaned, and sold online in Lululemon’s “Like New” business section. Lululemon plans to learn from the trade-in program by starting in two states and hoping to expand in the future. I believe that this is smart marketing strategy where they are able to test the resell business on a smaller scale before investing in the resources it takes to expand the business across country or even globally.

In the United States, the secondhand market generates about $30 billion in sales annually and is expected to continue to grow especially due to the high involvement of online resale. With this large second-hand market, how will Lululemon differentiate itself from other resale businesses in order to get consumers to sell back to Lululemon instead of somewhere else?

One advantage I believe that Lululemon has from other resale businesses is that they are offering a Lululemon gift card in return for gently used products. I would recommend to Lululemon to capitalize on the gift card and how products that do not meet quality standards will be recycled. These both give consumers more incentive to sell back to Lululemon due to self-interest and how they are being environmentally. I also believe that Lululemon has an extremely strong brand awareness that consumers who want the Lululemon brand but cannot afford the retail price can also go straight to Lululemon for cheaper options.

On the other hand, I believe that consumers picking other resale businesses instead of selling back to Lululemon is going to be a problem for Lululemon’s resale business. Many other businesses are strongly established in the second market where consumers already depend on selling their old products from those businesses. In addition, the trend of going to consignment stores and thrifting is impactful where going directly to the retailer defeats the purpose of finding unique discounted items. I imagine that Lululemon is going to have to rediscover a new marketing plan where they demonstrate the love for thrifting into their new resale business in order for it to be successful.

I would like to witness Lululemon have success in their “Like New” resale business because it makes them a more sustainable company and I believe the consumer trend in the importance of the environment is going to stay for a while. If they are able give consumers the experience people get from going to consignment shops and demonstrate their sustainability then I believe they will be successful.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/20/lululemon-to-launch-resale-pilot-for-shoppers-to-sell-buy-used-items.html

[ashley-pyne]

Molson Coors National Beer Day Run

Molson Coors announced on National Beer Day the launching of their first USDA-certified organic beer called Coors Pure. Molson Coors could not have picked a better day to launch where the day is entirely devoted to all thing’s beer. National Beer Day advertises any beer on that day since people will go out of their way to treat themselves to a drink. Molson Coors capitalized on this where beer enthusiasts were more likely to hear about their new launching and try Coors Pure firsthand. With this announcement, they also introduced a literal beer run for all runners and beer enthusiasts across the country to take part in on April 7th. The beer run is in the actual shape of the Coors Pure can and gives participants the chance to receive a free 12-pack of Coors Pure. The advertisement states that if you live in NYC, runners are able to run around Central Park, receive a t-shirt, and redeem their free 12-pack. If you do not live in NYC, then people can track their beer-can shaped run on a running app and screenshot it and email it to Coors Pure.

After learning about Molson Coors launching campaign for Coors Pure, it left me wondering if it will actually work. I feel as though there are two different perspectives that contradict one another with this marketing strategy.

One perspective is that Molson Coors capitalized on the consumer shift towards living a healthier lifestyle with the campaign for Coors Pure. Due to people being stuck inside during COVID-19, consumers everywhere are focusing on their physical and mental health. This can be shown through the global athleisure wear market size projected to grow to $257.1 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 6.7% from 2019 to 2026. As consumers are focusing on health, they are looking for alternative drinks with lower calories and more organic ingredients. I believe the Coors Pure acted strongly on this consumer trend and is why they pushed for their first organic beer to go hand-in-hand with a run. I recommend watching the video below because it clearly demonstrates how their main focus is on creating this status based on health.

This advertising strategy could be known as being very proactive because there are many benefits for consumers and for the company itself. It shows consumers that Molson Coors company cares for their health and is adapting their product portfolio to fit with the consumer’s needs. It also creates this brand reputation for Molson Coors that they are a healthier alternative to other beer brands. For example, the Coors Pure advertisement is very simple where it states the main ingredients of organic hops, organic barely, and water with emphasis on that it is “refreshingly simple” (shown below).

The other perspective that makes me question if this marketing strategy will actually work is that alcohol, especially beer, is not instinctually something consumers want to drink while focusing on their wellbeing. Beer has a reputation itself that it makes consumers feel full and bloated. I know myself that the last thing I want to do before or after working out is drink a beer. I would not before because alcohol dehydrates people and makes exercises more difficult. In addition, I would not want to drink a beer after a workout because it redacts all of the hard work I just put into the workout.

Although I do agree that Molson Coors marketing strategy geared towards health is strong in instances where people focusing on their wellbeing want a healthier alternative, I think there is still a strong market who will not adapt. I believe there will be a lot of health enthusiasts that will never adhere to this so-called healthy beer due to the fact beer drinking and health contradict one another.

https://kdvr.com/news/local/coors-pure-molson-coors-launches-first-certified-organic-beer-on-national-beer-day/

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"Let's White Claw"

White Claw, a major contributor to the consumer shift towards hard seltzers, has always relied on organic social media advertising instead of paying for it. As a college student, I have relied on the word-of-mouth for what new drinks to try out and White Claw has always capitalized on that. I find it very intriguing how White Claw’s laid-back social media marketing has been so influential for them while it has not for other companies in the beverage industry. The reason they have had so much success is due to that in the summer of 2019 there was a significant push in the hard seltzer’s industry where White Claw actually decreased media spending due to viral videos, memes, photos, and hashtags that went along with their company. A famous trend for the company called “White Claw Lifestyle” was spreading like wildfire which caused White Claw to contribute monumental growth in the hard seltzer industry by over $1 billion last year. White Claw’s loyal following provided more than 4 billion impressions in recent years and has made White Claw to be the leading hard seltzer brand in the industry.

As more competition from beverage industry giants such as Molson Coors Beverage Company and AB InBev expand their product portfolio into hard seltzers, can White Claw maintain their high success in the industry just through social media advertising? I believe that they cannot maintain this success just through social media advertising. The hard seltzer’s industry is at the beginning of the market growth stage in the product life cycle where it is expected from 2020 to 2027 to have a compound annual growth rate of 16.2%. In addition, new entrants are popping up everywhere such as Bud Light Seltzer’s, Truly’s, Corona Seltzer’s, and many more. These new entrants are also investing in paid marketing. For example, Coors Seltzer in the fall differentiated itself from competitors by connecting the brand around protecting the environment and Michelob Ultra promoted their hard seltzer’s during this past Super Bowl.

White Claw realized that the utilization of paid advertising has increased their competitor’s success which made them shift their marketing strategy into initiating a paid advertising campaign called “Let’s White Claw”. This campaign portrays in black-and-white ads that true fun comes with drinking White Claws.

I find that White Claw took too long to create this campaign because many other hard seltzer brands focus their campaign’s also around creating a fun and partying atmosphere when drinking their products. I recommend watching Bud Light Seltzer’s commercials where they dedicated the advertising to go along with a fun atmosphere that comes with drinking Bud Light Seltzer’s such as football games, tailgating, and laughing with people.

With this increased competition in paid brand advertising, will White Claw be able to uphold this fun-loving campaign that many other companies have used before them? From a Marketers perspective, I believe this brand’s transition may have come too late into the game to focus on their current “Let’s White Claw” campaign but will always have a strong relationship with their loyal customer base due to their large social media communication.

https://www.marketingdive.com/news/white-claw-a-brand-built-on-social-buzz-focuses-on-fans-in-first-global-c/597717/