Research Topic
The role digital media played in the success story of Warby Parker, an American e-commerce startup specialising in prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses which achieved a $1.2 billion valuation in less than 10 years.
Research Questions
Prior to the advent of Warby Parker, the eyewear market was dominated by the world’s largest eyewear company, the Italian eyeglass conglomerate Luxottica. How did Warby Parker, a startup brand founded by four business school students, take off and disrupt a monopolistic company with up to 80% market share in the United States (Denning 2016)? What does the success of Warby Parker tell us about the underlying issue of the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry? How did digital media enable Warby Parker’s direct-to-consumer business model? How did the universalised usage of the Internet and digital media facilitate the rapid growth of Warby Parker? How did Warby Parker construct its brand image and build its brand
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Warby Parker certainly holds the unicorn status. The company’s favourable outcome has long been under the spotlight, and has thereby generated a plethora of articles analysing its basis of success. However, these reviews and commentaries share a general focus on Warby Parker’s branding, marketing, and advertising techniques, with infrequent discussion on the rationale behind through the perspective of media studies. While it is recognised that Warby Parker utilised the Internet to circumvent the traditional channels of CPG supply chain, and cleverly capitalised on various social media platforms while adopting novel ideas to communicate and engage with its audience, most articles failed to explicate the theoretical grounds for the practicability of such business model, cultural branding, and strategic
The three chapters assigned to be read out of Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Making of the American Mass Market, a novel by Susan Strasser, outline the consumer culture of the United States around the end of 19th century, following the conclusion of the civil war. The chapters work chronologically and describe the rapid evolution of companies’ production, advertising and branding techniques. The reading also hits some of the main goods introduced at the time, most of which we still use today, and the troubles that companies faced convincing the public to invest in (purchase) their product for the first time. The problem with introducing thousands of products that no one had ever heard of? Most people will naturally pick the safe bet when spending
Challenges the company may face are the risk of being eliminated by more experienced, better marketed competitors, low demand for its merchandise, and expensive marketing and distribution. Known that Signet Group, Tiffany & Company, and Zales Corporation occupy the majority of the American market, Foxy Originals must establish its brand on the strength of its superior designs and lower price tags. Various Canadian customers have supported Foxy Originals due to their pride in Canadian products. But the US market purchase products exclusively according to fashion trends. In addition to the challenge, initial market examination suggests 50% of Foxy Originals’ designs do not charm to American consumers. Half the stock’s inadequate appeal, marketing and distribution budgets related with forming the brand, obtaining shelf space, reaching-out to buyers, and attaining market share could prove too much for Foxy Originals to manage and succeed
Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone (aka Madonna) is one of the most influential American Icons in the 21st century. She uses her sexuality and feminine characteristics to convey her beliefs to the public. She started a trend among youngster “wannabes” during the mid 80s (Cengage, 2003). These youngsters adopted Madonna’s messy hairdo and bold wardrobe such as lacy undergarments fully expresses the female sexuality and seductiveness. In this report, we will analyze Madonna’s career as an entertainer from the perspective of the Product life cycle and evaluate Madonna as a brand. A product life cycle describes how a product goes through the stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
In the 1997 article Listening to Khakis, published in the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell effectively paints a vivid picture of the thought and science that goes into advertising campaigns. Gladwell begins his paper by focusing on the Dockers’ advertising campaign for their line of adult male khaki pants, which he labels as extremely successful. This campaign was the first line of successful fashion advertisements aimed directly toward adult males (Gladwell, 1997). This campaign was cunningly simple and showed only males wearing the pants being advertised with the background noise filled with men having a casual conversation (Gladwell, 1997). This tactic was used because studies showed that Dockers’ target market felt an absence in adult male friendships. (Gladwell, 1997). The simplicity of the advertisements was accentuated as to not to deter possible customers by creating a fashion based ad because, based on Gladwell’s multiple interviews of advertising experts, males shy away from being viewed as fashion forward or “trying to hard” (Gladwell, 1997).
Warby parker is a directly marketing to and catering to young adults and fashion forward individuals. While it is not limiting themselves to other demographics this customer base is cater to both on the website and in the store fronts. With Print and digital advertising that shows attractive, young Geek-Chee models. These advertisements are catering towards a curtain customer preference but the style and the advertisement can appeal to a larger customer base. The Warby Parker was founded on the idea of quality eyewear at an affordable price, which focusing on price and quality would have mass appeal. Well the store fronts are marketing to the city and the community members. Select location covey the
In 2010 there were 53.8 million searches about eyeglasses, 70.9 million searches about sunglasses. Customers who bought eyeglasses online were satisfied 90.4%. (48.1% excellent, 42.3% good). 60% of US consumers discover new brands or product through social media, 59 percent use social media to learn about unfamiliar brands or products, 46% are strongly influenced in their purchase decisions by opinions in social media 39% refer to social media before making purchase decisions. Warby Parker is a quite small penetrating brand in a big eyewear market.
In “The man behind Abercrombie and Fitch.” An interview conducted by Benoit Denizet-Lewis displays a glimpse into the life of Mike Jeffries and his views of his company only hiring “good-looking” people and targeting “good-looking” people to wear his clothes. This has been done in order to force his audience to recognize that the issue of acceptance one’s peers and exclusion of a community mentioned by Mike Jeffries, is a result of cultural perceptions and individual self-image. Denizet-Lewis skillfully shows that while Jeffries remarks of not wanting the “not-so-popular” kids to shop in his stores, it poses a question to consumers asking what change in our attitudes will come or if there will be any change at all. Thus comes the issue of how consumers today have a shift in the reasoning behind why one buys clothing and the motivating factors that influence one to buy certain clothing. Denizet-Lewis also demonstrates the different messages that controversial advertisements and statements affect different groups of people and how what they project is really what people desire, though deemed by many people as unacceptable or inappropriate. The author also examines how in the news media, the image has become more important than the message and how images have taken precedent over actual issues and character. As a result of this, various communities have formed by the construct of selling to “beautiful people” and how popular appeal has become an extension of a person.
Hank Williams was arguably the most influential country music star of all time. Though his life of fame was short-lived, his legend continues to live among millions of fans. Hank was the first legendary country music singer, and he was an innovator of his time. Hank helped country music spread from the rural south to other parts of the nation. Hank was launched to fame with many songs such as “Your Cheatin Heart,” “Jambalaya,” and “Cold, Cold Heart.” The legacy of Hank Williams continues to influence country music fans worldwide.
...er retailers have followed their methods and philosophy, e.g American apparel have used similar marketing techniques to create a ‘sexy’ image, while Jack Wills have positioned themselves as the ‘British version of Abercrombie’.
Amos, Silas. "Champions of Designs: MTV." Editorial. Marketing 30 May 2012: 20. Ebscohost.com. Marketingmagazine.co.uk. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Swinton, J. (n.d). How Burberry's digital strategy is boosting brand value. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/partner-zone-brand-union/burberry-digital-strategy-brand. Last accessed 20th March 2014.
Nike is one of the most influential businesses in the world today. According to Forbes.com, Nike is the twenty-fourth most valuable brands in the world and it carries over in the way they advertise. The popular swoosh sells itself, but the media plays a valuable role in how they get their message to the public. When analyzing a few print advertisements, we see how the messages are communicated and how the media interprets what the advertisement means.
Over the last decade, product marketing and ways through which communication takes place between manufacturers and consumers has changed tremendously (Belch & Belch 2004). Due to the technological revolutions and the rise of innovations such as the mobile phones and the internet, control over information has shifted apparently from the manufacturer's hands to the hands of consumers (Belch & Belch 2004). The market environment has also changed due to globalization of marketing strategies, loss of confidence in media advertising, increased reliance on targeted communication methods, and media fragmentation and so on (Belch & Belch 2004).
SEX: Pompey doesn’t avoid the topic of sex, and tells the audience that she enjoys sex: “But oh how I have enjoyed sex I do enjoy myself so much I cannot pass it over” (136). She feels bad for the “cenobites” who can’t enjoy sex, or the girls who save themselves for one person, and end up pregnant (137). Pompey talks about how differently sex is seen between people; those who see it as a good thing and those that see it as bad. One particular story Pompey shares is about Miss Hogmanimy, who was supposed to instruct young women about how babies are born.
Research can be defined as a systematic method through which new knowledge is discovered. No matter what topic is being studied or analyzed, the value of research lies in how well it is designed and carried out. There are several types of research which include: surveys, interviews, content analysis and focus groups. As an advertiser it is important not only to be aware of your surroundings, but what goes on in people’s minds. Individuals’ needs and wants are not only essential but the base of an advertisement’s success. The purpose of this essay is to conduct my own research about a company that has transcended barriers such as race, disabilities, and gender with a phrase that has sparked interest, innovation and motivation all over the world: “Just Do It”. Since the 1980’s Nike has not only become one of the leading sports brands, but a corporation that learned just how to convey a message and reach their target consumers through successful advertisement. The question is: What is portrayed through Nike’s advertisement and slogans? How has this helped sales, and how far has advertisement pushed its success? The objective of this research paper is to find and understand in-depth answers to these questions that bring a