Alfredo Ceron
Chapter 14
This chapter discusses managing brands over geographic boundaries and market
segments. The book starts out with regionalization, which is when brands market to specific
regions based on what will sell best in those regions. The book uses the example of Macy’s
stocking more of a particular item that will have a great demand, such as stocking more smaller
sizes in an area where there are many Asians.
I also learned how brands market differently when it comes to demographics such as:
age, income, gender and race. For example, axe body spray targets younger demographics,
therefore they use sex appeal to market the youth. Another example of targeting an ethnic
group is the use of “Spanglish” by Southwest Airlines to market to Hispanics. The book does
note that marketing to these segments reinforces the idea that they are minorities or outsiders.
Or on the other hand, consumers not being targeted may feel alienated or distanced from the
company.
The book also mentions branding globally. I will focus more on the advantages and
disadvantages of creating global brands. The advantages were: Economies of Scale in
production and distribution, Lower market costs, power and scope, consistency in brand image,
ability to leverage good ides quickly and efficiently, uniformity of marketing practices. The
disadvantages were: differences in consumer needs, wants, and usage patterns for products,
differences in consumers response to branding elements, differences in consumer response to
marketing mix elements, differences in brand and product development and the competitive
environment, differences in the legal environment, differences in marketing institutions,
differences in administrative procedures.
I found it interesting to learn how brands market to a specific region without having to
do much. I like that all they had to do was to do research the demographic or buying patterns
about the particular area and stock their merchandise accordingly.
I thought it was also interesting to learn how marketing brands to a particular
demographic can have negative effects. I did not think it was possible for groups being
targeted feel, by being targeted, they were outsiders. I can see why it can be true but
personally, I would purchase a product if it were being targeted towards me using elements
from my culture. As someone that wants to go into Hispanic advertising, knowing this will
make me more cautious of how I market to Hispanics. I will try not to alienate people but
rather embrace the differences.
On the part about globalizations in brands, I thought it was interesting that most of the
advantages were causes of some of the disadvantages. The majority of the advantages had to
do a lot with saving money or minimizing the costs, while the disadvantages can cause the
brand to spend more money in a particular country or region.