Private Brands vs. National Brands which ones better?

Presidents Choice vs. Brand Name

When it comes down to private brands vs. national brands which one is better?

In my personal opinion is private brands are better, for some things at least. I personally love President’s choice products over the national brands. I love the variety of products that they sell and how delicious their recipes are.

On the other hand, there are some brands that you can’t buy the private label for, vs. the national label. For example; Heinz Ketchup and Miracle Whip Mayonnaise. In most cases national brands are better than private label, but in the case of presidents choice, it takes the cake.

Starbucks Brand Story

Starbucks has an interesting brand story. Howard Schultz created Starbucks in 1981. When Starbucks first opened it only had one location, in Seattle’s pike place market. Starbucks offered world renowned, fresh coffee. Starbucks got its name after Moby Dick.

The Starbucks of today was transformed because of Schultz travelling to Italy and seeing the experience at Italian coffee bars. He wanted to bring that “third place” atmosphere back to America. A third place means another place other than home or work to spend the majority of your time.

Starbucks is a different company than most because it cares about their employees, it cares about the quality of the coffee and it cares about everyone’s experience in the coffee house. Starbucks prides itself on its third place atmosphere by providing comfy chairs and couches, lots of tables, wireless internet, soft music, magazines and newspapers and friendly employees to help brighten up the customers day.

Dora the explorer.. 2.0

I know that this has been around for a while, but Dora the explorer has gotten a makeover. Sure, it was longtime coming, she did have to grow up but some people find her makeover offensive.

Dora 1.0 was average looking, she had a short bob cut, a pink tee-shirt, a backpack, shorts and a pair of running shoes. Dora 2.0 is much older looking, she looks about 12-13.. and is way more stylish. She is wearing leggings, flat shoes and a tunic shirt. She also has long hair and appears to be wearing minimal makeup.

The audience for Dora is young children ages 3-9. Dora 2.0 looks like she is around 12-13 years old.

Why change the brand character when the audience stays the same?

Brand Loyalty.. Blackberry Torch vs. iPhone4

Today I will be talking about brand loyalty. not just anyones brand loyalty, but MY brand loyalty, to APPLE.

I am a current user of a blackberry. and I love it. Well, the blackberry brand that is. As for my phone, well it has its own issues.

I have been having a lot of problems with it lately.. it has been running slow, dropping calls, low reception and turning off for no apparent reason. So, I have been thinking about getting a new phone.

I am torn between two choices.. the new blackberry Torch or the iPhone 4.

Both phones have been around for about two-three months in Canada and both have a lot of hype around them.

I have a few things to consider.. they both do the same thing essentially. They both have touch screens, they both run on 4G networks, they both have high-speed data and internet usage and they are both offered with my service provider. They are both relatively attractive looking, with a sleek design and black exterior. The main difference between the two is the blackberry torch has a slide out QWERTY keyboard. also the iPhone 4 has a video calling service..called facetime.

Both are features that I love. I am a avid apple user. In the past three years I have had a macbook pro, an iPod touch, an iPod nano, an iPod shuffle and now a Macbook. It is true that once you go mac, you can't go back.. but I just can't seem to find the right fit for my mobile phone.

Do I want to continue my brand loyalty to apple and get an iPhone or do I want to stay with my beloved blackberry?

Stay tuned!

Evian Water Spray.. whats the point?

Evian is known for its bottled water, but did you know it had bottled facial spray?

I don't know what the point of this brand product extension. Essentially, it is just water.

Evian Facial Spray "refreshes and tones on the go". It is said that it moisturizes dry skin, balances pH levels and makes skin look and feel younger.

Why doesn't Evian just stay in the bottled water business? This brand extension is strange because Evian makes bottled water, not facial skincare products.

Anyway, that is just my point of view on this brand extension!

-Chantal

Maynard's Most Wanted

Today's blog post is about Maynard's Candy.

Maynard’s is a brand of candy that is made by Cadbury. Maynard’s has many different types of candies ranging from chewy to sweet to sour. Their brand mission is to “inspire the child in all of us to chews to smile”.

I chose Maynard’s because I have noticed an interesting advertising/contest that is going on right now. The contest is called “Maynard’s most wanted”. The posters show one of may nards most popular candies such as Swedish berries, gummy bears, sour patch kids, fuzzy peaches and cherry bombs.

Each advertisement shows one of the characters. Each of their names has something to do with what kind of candy they are. Their names are “the Swede”-for Swedish berries, “biggie bear”-for gummy bears, “sour face”-for sour patch kids, “fuzzy Malone”-for fuzzy peaches and “jerry bomb”-for cherry bombs.

The contest is to find all five of maynards most wanted, take a photo of it with your phone and you could win a $25,000 reward.

This campaign is obviously aimed towards a younger demographic because it is surrounded by technology. As you must find the five maynards (they are located on buses, bus shelters and in daily newspapers (metro).) Then you take a photo of it. If you find all five maynards you could win $25,000.

This is a very commuter oriented campaign because of where the ads. are located. You can also enter on facebook by “liking” Maynard’s Canada on facebook.

I wanted to post about this campaign because I find it very interesting. Brand Positioning.