Summary Of Bus 475 Week 9 Case Analysis
Case Analysis
BUS/475
September 2, 2013
Victor De Jesus
Case Analysis
In the case study titled Building a Megabrand Named Dwayne, the article focuses on the basketball player Dwayne Wade, and his business partnership with T-Mobile to create a cell phone called the Sidekick that will appeal to 20-somethings. This article explains how important the branding an item and advertising an item is to make the product a success. Dwayne Wade of course has help in the department of branding an marketing from his agent Henry Thomas, who states, he aims to transform his young client into one of the top 10 brands in sports, and with the help of a marketing strategist like Andrew Stroth, of Chicago’s CSMG Sports Ltd. Andrew states; the objective
is to create a global brand that transcends sports. “Forget his peers in the NBA; we want people to think of Dwayne Wade the same way they think of (David) Beckham, Jordan, and Tiger” (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). The way that Dwayne Wade surpassed the others and became a Megabrand was to team up with Google and develop Dwaynewade.com’s website to be a part of the fan’s daily lives. This site would be a fully interactive site built by Google with Google Search functions embedded. Fans would get customized mix of email, sports news feeds, flash games, and promotional methods (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). It is apparent that technology is vital to the success of marketing as the internet creates and generates immediate response. In every business venture no matter the organization there are strategies that have to be created and followed to make the product or service a success.
Generic Strategies The best strategy that goes with exhibit 7.4 is differentiation. Differentiation is a strategy that is designed to appeal customers for a particular product. “Because advertising plays a major role in a company’s development and differentiation of it brand, many strategists use celebrity spokespeople to represent their companies” (John A. Pearce, 2009) In this case the goal was to focus on a younger with the sidekick phone using basket player Dwayne Wade. The product was used in different marketing channels to successfully build an image to the target audience so the product can be sold.
Associated Risks According to Pearce and Robinson (2009), “Entrenchment in a specific product market tends to make a concentrating firm more adept than competitors at detecting new trends.” Dwayne Wade was not entrenched in the cellular phone industry; his primary focus previously was sports equipment and apparel. Wade’s Sidekick was released February 2007, less than six months prior to the first iPhone release. “[A]ny failure of such a firm to properly forecast major changes in its industry can result in extraordinary losses,” (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). Wade failed to accurately forecast major changes in the cellular phone industry and thus the Sidekick was not the success he had hoped it would be.
References
Pearce, J. A. II, & Robinson, R. B. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
BUS/475
September 2, 2013
Victor De Jesus
Case Analysis
In the case study titled Building a Megabrand Named Dwayne, the article focuses on the basketball player Dwayne Wade, and his business partnership with T-Mobile to create a cell phone called the Sidekick that will appeal to 20-somethings. This article explains how important the branding an item and advertising an item is to make the product a success. Dwayne Wade of course has help in the department of branding an marketing from his agent Henry Thomas, who states, he aims to transform his young client into one of the top 10 brands in sports, and with the help of a marketing strategist like Andrew Stroth, of Chicago’s CSMG Sports Ltd. Andrew states; the objective
is to create a global brand that transcends sports. “Forget his peers in the NBA; we want people to think of Dwayne Wade the same way they think of (David) Beckham, Jordan, and Tiger” (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). The way that Dwayne Wade surpassed the others and became a Megabrand was to team up with Google and develop Dwaynewade.com’s website to be a part of the fan’s daily lives. This site would be a fully interactive site built by Google with Google Search functions embedded. Fans would get customized mix of email, sports news feeds, flash games, and promotional methods (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). It is apparent that technology is vital to the success of marketing as the internet creates and generates immediate response. In every business venture no matter the organization there are strategies that have to be created and followed to make the product or service a success.
Generic Strategies The best strategy that goes with exhibit 7.4 is differentiation. Differentiation is a strategy that is designed to appeal customers for a particular product. “Because advertising plays a major role in a company’s development and differentiation of it brand, many strategists use celebrity spokespeople to represent their companies” (John A. Pearce, 2009) In this case the goal was to focus on a younger with the sidekick phone using basket player Dwayne Wade. The product was used in different marketing channels to successfully build an image to the target audience so the product can be sold.
Associated Risks According to Pearce and Robinson (2009), “Entrenchment in a specific product market tends to make a concentrating firm more adept than competitors at detecting new trends.” Dwayne Wade was not entrenched in the cellular phone industry; his primary focus previously was sports equipment and apparel. Wade’s Sidekick was released February 2007, less than six months prior to the first iPhone release. “[A]ny failure of such a firm to properly forecast major changes in its industry can result in extraordinary losses,” (Pearce & Robinson, 2009). Wade failed to accurately forecast major changes in the cellular phone industry and thus the Sidekick was not the success he had hoped it would be.
References
Pearce, J. A. II, & Robinson, R. B. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.