Saturday, October 17, 2009

Economical Success

This is a promotional interactional product launch by IWC (International Watch Company) in Marina Mall Abu Dhabi. Its nice to see that the economy is rising on different levels such as advertising for less know products in a big way.
I'd like to elaborate a little on this marketing stunt. Its rare to see a company put money into advertising a product that is not popular in this country. They would rather spend their marketing budget on promoting an already popular product/model or one expected to be popular.
Examples would be the daily Cartier , Rolex , Audemars Piguet , Van Cleef & Arpels and Chopard. These brands and have already established presence and secured either customer awareness or loyalty. Therefore advertising for these known brand/models is a marketing success. The message will reach the intended market and perhaps even attract unknowing consumer bystanders. Other examples would be Sadia Chicken , Pizza Hut/KFC and Friday's.
To pay money for advertising these brands/products for a company pose no threat. In fact in some cases they are not advertising anything , they are directly reminding the consumer of their product. A poster that says " Eat McDonald's Big Mac" is a reminder as opposed to an advertisement. The vast majority of end users are already very aware of the burger but need to be reminded of it due to the Whopper strategically offered by the competitor - Burger King.
Rarely do you see a company advertising for a less known line or model such as the Mercedes B series or the BMW 1 series. These brands at least advertise for their more popular models such as the BMW 5 and 7 series and the Mercedes C , E and S series. They advertise in mainstream media while other brands like Seat , Renault and Alpha Romeo barely spend marketing money unless its in media that is primarily accessed by the intended market of customer. A good example would be the high rate of Lulu Hypermarket ads in Gulf News / Khaleej Times newspapers that are primarily accessed that the large minority of the very temporary and probably soon to be replaced Indian workforce in the country.

So you can relate to my surprise when I see IWC promoting it's latest line of diver watches called Aqua Timer in Marina Mall Abu Dhabi. I can see such a tactic in Dubai Mall as it probably see more foreign customers than local and hence the chance of it's product being recognized doubles. But Rivoli (brand dealer but recently taken over by Dubai Investment Company part of Dubai Holding- good job DIC) chose to market in Abu Dhabi. I guess this is due to several factors such as the UAE's take on Globalization and the major influx of foreigners who are employed here.
I was disappointed with the sale executive, sure he looked the part by standing in a shortie wet suit but he had less than zero knowledge about the product. I should say zero but that would suggest he knew nothing whereas he was worse than that. He had less than zero knowledge because he provided false info about it. Hahaha that's hilarious. Illiterate employees usually choose to keep their mouth shut to avoid looking foolish as opposed to talking out of their asses about a product. He claimed that this is the only watch in the market to reach the waterproof rating stated at 3000 meters , false as Rolex released the Deep Sea - Sea Dweller rated at 4000 meters waterproof rating almost two years ago. There's a huge different between 3km and 4km underwater and "just released 3km" and already "saturated in the market for 2 years @ 4km". There were other similar ignorant statements but irrelevant to mention at this point. I guess he is the equivalent to the hot models they allocate to sell their products ( think about car exhibitions ).

Its relieving to know as have ascended to a more prosperous economic society.

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