I wonder if he's ever tried to buy orange juice.
Tropicana branding disaster: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/pepsi_ta... and http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23adcol.htm...
Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
11–18 of 18 posts
Re: Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
#12A consumer who is proud that he can run on autopilot through a store, guided by brand association rather than rational thought? And proud of it? We have truly entered the next phase of consumerism.
I don't think it's about autopilot so much as (shampoo) brands missing a market. As a student, I'm an extremely scrupulous grocery shopper. I compare every item by price per unit, and ignore the pretty pictures on the label because I know they are faked anyway. When I'm shopping for shampoo, I feel just like the guy in the article. My heuristic now is to buy the largest, plainest looking bottle. But I still have to w…
Hair is naturally shiny if it is not dry.
Re: Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
#13I think we're interpreting this wrongly - this sounds like a piece of satire about consumerism and how marketing companies see their job and consumers. "Marketing trumps product quality, consumers operate solely on impulse, are insecure and clueless and don't care about price. It's Marketing's job to tell consumers what they need, without us they are lost!"
Re: Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
#14The shampoo aisle looks different if you have long hair.
Re: Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
#15When I shop for shampoo I look for two things: unscented, cheap as possible.
What cares what brand it is?
Re: Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
#16When I shop for shampoo I look for two things: unscented, cheap as possible. What cares what brand it is?
caring what brand it is helps when you have a hundred different kinds of shampoo to pick from. So me. I care what brand.
That said, all I want from the brand is to know they make decent shampoo that does the job without poisoning me, and offer unscented cheap shampoo. Their brand is simply a way for me to identify an easily locatable subset of shampoo that I can trust will posses a bottle meeting my desires.
Re: Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
#17I'm surprised he knew what brands of running shoes or tomato sauce he wanted. Confronted with a selection of functionally identical boxes at the supermarket or shoe store, I frequently stand stymied for several minutes. Eventually I realize that there is no efficient choice possible on the basis of packaging, and resort to making selections by unit price--or choosing a randomly distributed sample in hopes of remember…
If you have been a consumer long enough you realize certain brands tend to cater to your interests. In the case of shoes, there used to be a very very clear trend- Nike fit my feet how I wanted and fit what I wanted in a shoe. Now there is another trend to replace that one, as Nike shoes stopped matching what I wanted. Puma fills that category now.
It helps if you have a clear idea of what you want. I, for example, like extremely minimal shoes. Think like a ballet slipper, except a little more sturdy so it can put up with rocks and concrete and stuff.
Re: Buying shampoo: A cautionary tale about the failure of marketing
#18I look at ads to know what products are available (i.e. not at all), and then always buy the store's own brand. I can never tell the difference from usage, and its way cheaper