Research - * The use of social media for marketing *

(Social media is defined as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.") Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_marketing

Marketing has grown and adapted to the technology used nowadays in order to get their message across to their audience. Social media is one of the most used ways on how marketing can be displayed online which is a way to gain attention for their good or service. On some social media site such as Facebook and Twitter; advertisements will come up in their feeds due to companies paying to do a single post to advertise their product.

It's one of the easiest and cheapest ways for companies to get advertise through the internet without having to do much. They rely on the audience that use social media in order to communicate with their friends to share their thoughts or wants for their good or service. 

An example would be a launch of a new TV series that's about to premiere such as "Chasing The Saturdays" by E! Entertainment. As the date got closer towards the first broadcast of the new series; they set up a account on two of the most popular social media sites of today which are Facebook and Twitter. They created a facebook page for the new show so they were able to keep track of the amount of people who were watching from Facebook and also a twitter page to keep track of the number of followers the show currently has. The point of creating the pages on social media networks was to keep the viewers of the show updated with when the next episode will be out and some exclusive news or behind-the-scene work for the show which was also a way to entice the audience to keep watching the show.

However, social media nowadays is majorly used by the younger generation. This can result to a problem that particular advertisements that show up on their feed will not appeal to their wants or tastes. An example would be an advert for cheap flights showing up on their feed. The company advertising the flights would've paid the social media site to send out the advert to everyones feed in a particular region but sometimes it can be age or gender. An 13 year old teenage girl receiving this type of advertisement would not see this as very attractive or appealing to their wants as an individual but then again it depends whether she may have a craving to go on holiday and thus may go on to persuade her parents and family to go on holiday while the flights are still cheap.

Research - Advertising in the media (Magazine)

GQ Magazine

A magazine which was formerly known as ‘Gentlemen’s Quarterly’ and they’re targeted at men aged between 20 to 30 years old. The contents of the magazine include fashion, style, food, movies, fitness, music, sex, travel, sports, technology and books which is what applies to the majority of men’s stereotypical personalities and hobbies.

The advertising for this magazine would be related to any of the contents mentioned such as food and technology. For example; they would put an ad about the latest Rolex watch since their targeted audience is young men who want the latest technology and fashion.

This magazine wouldn't be appropriate to advertise a perfume product targeted at teenage girls since this is an magazine targeted at young men and they wouldn't be interested in perfume or feminine fragrances for young girls thus the product wouldn't sell very well since it’s appealing to the wrong target audience.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GQ

Top of the Pops Magazine

A magazine that did compliment with the TV show 'Top of the Pops' until the show got cancelled in 2006. The magazine was a way to carry on the legacy and traditions preserved for the pop music genre. The content of the magazine includes chart information, celebrity gossip, fashion, beauty tips, quizzes, song lyrics and celebrity posters. The target audience of the magazine is most likely to be young girls ranging between the ages of 11 to 17 years old and they’re also into the music genre of pop and celebrities.

The advertising for this magazine would probably include perfumes and personal female essentials such as tampons. An example of a type of advert that might be found in the magazine is a whole-page ad for the one direction perfume.

This magazine would be appropriate to advertise a perfume product targeted at teenage girls since the target audience for the magazine and the perfume product are more or less very similar if not the same so adding an advert in the magazine for my perfume product would appeal to the readers more than adding an advert in GQ magazine.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_Pops_(magazine)

Vogue Magazine

A magazine revolving around the fashion industry and has been referred to by some of its readers as ‘The Fashion Bible’. I believe they have a target audience of young women between the ages of 21 to 35 years old. The contents of the magazine are mainly based on fashion and beauty but it also is said to have links between fashion to high society and class.

The advertising for this magazine would mainly consist of high-brand fashions and perfumes that are more elegant-looking. An example of a type of advert that may be found in the magazine is a whole page dedicated to a perfume by Lacoste.

This magazine would be appropriate to advertise a perfume product since it is an fashion magazine for women and perfumes is quite a typical feminine product. However, an perfume advert for a particular music artist may not appeal to the target audience for this magazine genre since most of the readers will be interested in the fashion styles and beauty within the magazine. The ad will also look out of place within the contents of the magazine since the perfume advert will focus on the music artist selling the perfume rather than the style of the perfume itself. 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vogue_(British_magazine)

Research - The affects of celebrity endorsement for marketing a product

Marketing for products nowadays aren't just going with the traditional techniques such as posters and massive billboards. There has been an increasing influence in the world of advertising where celebrities are being used to represent or endorse a product. By using celebrities, it's said they are supporting the celebrity if they're a fan of them or they see them as an icon in a particular area such as fashion thus, influenced by their fashion style. Celebrity endorsement is meant to increase the average amount on sales of the product but it depends on how popular and well-known the celebrity name is in the media. If the celebrity doesn't get a lot of media coverage then using that particular celebrity won't be worth using to endorse the product. 

An example of an celebrity endorsing a fashion brand is Kim Kardashian who also own Kardashian Kollection which is an fashion-line founded by herself and her sisters Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian. They had a partnership deal with Dorothy Perkins which was meant to promote the clothing-brand since they were the exclusive suppliers of the Kardashian Kollection fashion in the UK.

Using celebrity endorsement is quite risky since the celebrity name is meant to be embedded into the brand so it's memorable for consumers. Hence, consumers will remember the celebrity (depending on how popular they are in the media) as well as remember the particular brand their name is linked with. Dorothy Perkins took a risk when deciding to be the suppliers for the Kardashian Kollection in the UK. They believed by being the sole suppliers for their fashion-line, it would increase sales for their own brand-clothing. However, this may have helped boost their own sales a bit but the majority of consumers would only be going to Dorothy Perkins just for the Kardashian Kollection being sold there.

Source: http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/marketing-celebrity-endorsements-push-product/146023/

Research - A few marketing techniques used in the industry

There are a number of marketing techniques that are used to advertise and keep the public informed about the latest events from the company. A few of the techniques are social media, posters, television, launch parties, radio and on-line advertising.

Social Media

Companies nowadays often use social media in order to raise awareness online about new products or campaigns going on. An example would be L'oreal; paying twitter to advertise a specific tweet. It would be displayed on every UK's twitter timeline since they are an hair product from the UK thus only targeting the twitter accounts that are from the UK.


Poster

Posters for advertising a product are almost displayed anywhere and everywhere. From being stuck onto a window inside of a shop to being plastered on the side of a bus. They come in different sizes so the information displayed on the poster has to be relevant if the poster is small and the size of the font on a large poster has to be eye-catching yet clear to read.


Television

Television is one of the most common used resources of advertising in the modern world. They are able to broadcast across the country on numerous channels (depending on the business's target audience). There are some niche markets that watch on certain channels such as children usually go to the 'Pop' channel where most of the shows consist of cartoons. A business that sells 'My Little Pony' toys are most likely to advertise their product on 'Tiny Pop' and 'Pop' since their target demographic are little children aged between 3 to 8 years old.


Flyers/Leaflets

This is one of the cheapest techniques for marketing and it's quite simple to use. All the business has to do is create a leaflet containing the needed information of the product or service, key details in relation with the business (a simple logo of the company will suffice) and contact information. They can be handed out to people in person or advertised via social media. Some may even decide to stick them on lamp posts or put them under the window shields of cars. Even posting the leaflet through people's letterbox is a simple task to carry out.


Source Influence: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/11/small-business-marketing-techniques.asp

Target Audience Research - Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TQ85Z2K

Research - 5 products stereotypically targeted at teenage girls

There are products on the market that are typically targeted at teenage girls due to the fact it's a stereotypical concept of what the majority of girls would buy and also that it may appeal to them by how the products can be presented to them through different marketing techniques.

Make-up

Make-up is probably one of the most common products used to be targeted at teenage girls. This is simply due to the fact that they are curious since they may have a female role-model that wears make-up thus enhancing their appearance. Teenage girls who are wanting to experiment with make-up would certainly be interested in buying the product if it is cheap as well since it's affordable. Make-up may also be seen as a gateway into adulthood since it makes them look more grown-up hence they are seen as the cooler person among their friends since they look more maturer by wearing it. The audience may also be encourage by friends to wear make-up as so that they don't feel left out if they were going to start wearing it.

Perfume

Perfume is another most purchased product by teenage girls which depends on the brand and the specific scent for girls. They would mainly buy perfume if it's endorsed by a particular celebrity or the perfume is by the celebrity such the One Direction's 'Our Moment' perfume. This would mean that the perfume is targeted at teenage girls as well as fans of One Direction. Fans of the celebrity would usually represent their dedication to them by buying their products that are by them or have their faces on them which shows how the extents they'd go to supporting their role-model.

Stationary

Most teenage girls are usually in secondary school from year 7 to year 11 which means the majority of them would need stationary to use in school thus including the following items; pencil case, pens, pencils, rubber, ruler, etc. They may buy a set of stationary with a certain theme as a gift for their friend who is also a teenage girl. It's one of the cheapest gifts they may be able to get depending on the branding and the design. The majority of girls may find the gift very useful since they are able to appreciate the gift by using it in school especially if it's a particular stationary product that they want to show off to people in their class so that they would seen as cool.

Fashion

Another product that is probably mainly targeted at teenage girls since there are specific designs that can be in trend for their age group. However, they may be a bit too expensive for them to buy for themselves with pocket money (if they receive any) from their parents since it may be too low. Most teenage girls would want to keep up with the latest fashion trends such as when leggings became mainstream and more commonly used among their age group which could be due to the fact that it outlined certain areas of the body and it's cheap to buy.

Accessories

Just like clothing; teenage girls would want to keep up with the latest accessory that's and currently in trend. An example would be the 'nerd glasses' when they came into trend from around 2010 to 2012 since their audience thought looking geeky or nerdy makes them look cool. They are still currently in trend but now it's not as much of a big fad as it was in the past. As well as keeping up with the latest trend; they are cheap to buy and easy to create by popping out the lenses from 3D-cinema glasses.