IMC Hawks Blog

Category: Branding

  • Kraft, there’s more than just the blue box

    In the U.S., when most people hear Kraft they naturally may think macaroni and cheese because it dominates the market in the United States.  But in developing countries, macaroni and cheese doesn’t have the same popularity and in turn is mostly an afterthought for Kraft.

    For packaged food companies, it is a struggle to understand which products will be successful in emerging markets and how to appropriately market them internationally.  In these types of food packaging companies, there are challenges because food is typically seen as a large expression of culture.

    Mike Mazzeo, a professor of management and strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellog School of Management is speaking about food when he says “It’s much more clearly tied with culture, so it’s much more difficult to penetrate our products in their markets.”

    Another factor is that many countries already have strong local brands which are tough competition to food multinationals such as Kraft.

    “Kraft, maker of Oscar Mayer meats, Ritz crackers and other household brands, retooled its developing-market efforts three years ago, moving away from a scattershot approach.”

    Previously, Kraft was attempting to “plant flags all over the world” but now due to these challenges, Kraft has decided to change their campaign to focus on 10 “power” brands and 10 countries.  The aim here is to push brands that are most likely going to be easily translated across borders.

    One of Kraft’s power brands is Tang, a powdered-drink which gained popularity in the U.S. around the 1960s and 1970s.  Even though its popularity in the U.S. has dropped, in developing markets from Brazil to China, Tang has become an international success with $750 million in annual sales.

    In the article they stated, “Mac and cheese is iconic, but it’s not one of our 10 power brands,” Khosla said. That’s not the case for Tang, though, which is one of Kraft’s 10 power brands in developing countries, right up there with the powerhouse Oreo.”

    Kraft has learned the importance of focusing products and advertising around the specific culture your company is entering for the best results.  To see more specific examples of other major packaged food companies and their experiences internationally, follow the link to this article by Los Angeles Times.

    -Taylor Diehl

  • Marketing Over Seas

    Mindshare Media is an innovative media network corporation that functions not only in North America, but across the world. The many locations of  MindShareMedia offices include North America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asian Pacific. The company strives to enhance the way businesses interact and communicate with consumers and convey new, pioneering ideas in a unique way. The company claims “gaining a greater share of customers’ minds for our clients calls for smart ideas, but they are worth little without rapid decision-making, committed action and faultless execution,” which is always the goal of their employees.

    Upon visiting London in May of 2009, I had the opportunity to tour a Mindshare office and speak with a young professional who had been employed with the company for a few years. He described that the way the company conducted business was very laid back, yet professional, and focused on helping their clients cover new ground and break away from traditional audiences. He even discussed a current campaign Mindshare was working on with their client, Hanes underwear. The young man explained that employees of Mindshare developed a marketing strategy of displaying and simply stringing Hanes men’s underwear throughout the streets of London to gain attention from people passing by. This was just an example of how Mindshare takes their strategies to a new level.

    Current clients include Nike, LG and Virgin Mobile, and the Mindshare website provides many case studies to support their past and current clients. MindShare Media prides themselves on creating groundbreaking advertisement campaigns as well as overall promotional marketing strategies and tools. They have a very impressive website that is interactive and details their mission as a company, their services, as well as their new ideas of marketing for a particular product.

    The marketing strategies and overall communication tactics Mindshare employ are without a doubt worth exploring. Mindshare Media will only continue to grow as the global communication market shrinks and people are brought closer together with innovative ideas and resources such as the ones this company offers.

    Stephanie Saulsbury

    Lacey Inman

  • The Personality of Mayfaire

    Shopping, for some, is a means of buying the necessities for living.  For others shopping is a type of therapy to liberate unwanted stresses filling one’s life.  Both types of shoppers range from the highly uninterested penny pincher to the overindulgent impulse buyer.  Often times the uninterested prefer to shop quickly or online because of the shopping location and/or amount of people congregating under one rooftop.  No matter your preference, even if you dislike the ordinary retail atmosphere, almost anyone would be impressed with the type of leisure shopping available at Mayfaire Town Center simply for the feeling aroused when walking around.

    Located near Wrightsville Beach, NC, on Military Cutoff and Eastwood Roads, Mayfaire Town Center, better known as Mayfaire to locals, is a 400-acre PUD community filled with various retail shops, restaurants, and apartments/condos/hotels/homes packed with entertainment for many in the surrounding neighborhood.  Mayfaire is unlike any other shopping center in the area.  The town center offers a combination of specialty boutiques, recognizable shops, delicious cafes, casual and fine dining, and entertainment venues to meet anyone’s taste while maintaining the coastal atmosphere the Cape Fear residents love.   With its outdoor, old-fashioned downtown feel, shoppers can park close in proximity to their store’s location and walk among the numerous places to shop, dine and relax while enjoying the weather all the while.

    At first glance Mayfaire resembles a petite city within the small-town life of Wilmington.  Driving down the main drag excites new and old customers as they see the variety of shops and eateries sitting underneath inviting condos, all beautifully connected with matching bricks and attractive awnings.   While most indoor malls generate a hurried, confined space for customers to spend their money, Mayfaire is the exact opposite with a chicly laidback, upscale feel.  The personality Mayfaire creates is very inviting and comforting, allowing customers to stroll through stores, grab a bite to eat, and top their day trip off with an afternoon at the movies or listening to an outdoor concert and sipping southern sweet tea.  Customers can easily get lost in the vibe Mayfaire offers and forget they are merely shopping and feel they are experiencing an escape from typical retail to a higher quality of shopping.

    With over fifty assorted shops to choose from, Mayfaire offers just what every shopper wants and needs all in one place.  Mayfaire was specifically built to separate itself from other traditional strip and indoor malls and offer the community a finer place of shopping.  As the Marketing Director Paige McKenzie says, “Whether you spend one hour or one day indulging in the shopping choices at Mayfaire, you’ll see what I mean when we say we’re ‘anything but ordinary.’”

    -Allyson Corbin