Maxim's MX Shabu Shabu

Just talked about Maxim's MX's new healthy menus in my recent post. I said that it could take healthy meals as the a long-term strategy to build a healthy fastfood restaurant positioning. Too bad that it's not going to do that. It has just launched a TVC about its "new" Shabu Shabu. Both Cafe de Coral and Fairwood have hotpot. Why copycat them ? This brand of fastfood chain need some prototype products or services to build a positioning. And positioning is about uniqueness and differentiation. There should be better ideas ...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Giordano's frog

Image
One student asked me why Giordano re-uses its frog logo from ages ago. I said I know don't know. Really ! Giordano is a value-for-money brand. If it prints its logo onto the T-shirts and jeans, be it the frog or anything that says "Giordano", will sales increase ? Probably not. Giordano is a brand you wear but you don't want to admit. It's not a brand like Nike or LV that can uplift your image after all. So if it puts the frog back onto its product, there may be adverse effect on its sales. I haven't visited its store at the time of writing but according to its website, it hasn't added back the frog to its products. I wouldn't do that either. So what is the point of having the frog back in its print and advertising materials ? To remind us of its good old days ?
Read more

Drinkazine Mugicha (Barley Tea)

Image
This is a fresh attempt in the boring FMCG market. It's a range of Mugicha. Ready-to-drink Mugicha may not be the newest product but the way it is marketed is quite new. At the beginning, just by looking at this ad, I thought it was just another consumer promotion. Then I visited its blog and I found out more. The brand name of this Mugicha is "DrinkaZine". The idea : "It Is A Drinkable Magazine! 以雜誌形式包裝，既是一支『解悶的飲料』，又是一本『解渴的雜誌』。" The labels are like magazines where you can drink and read at the same time. It's definitely a creative idea. My only worry is that if the product doesn't sell fast, its labels and hence the magazine contents can't be changed frequently enough to deliver the promise as a magazine. And I guess that's why it has a blog as the core communications channel. Its blog is pretty good as it carries relevant contents, projects an brand attitude and creates a community, all of which young consumers can associate with. I bet this...
Read more

PUMA Agitation watch

Image
This is a new line of sport watches from PUMA called Agitiation. You may fall from the chair like I did when you read the copies. I can understand the thinking behind the ad : when you sell a plastic watch at HK$550, you would just need to think about some catchy selling points for it. The biggest selling point of this watch is the strap. There are holes in the strap (so called cheese cut-out) to make the watch as light as 45 grams so that you can run faster ! What's more, there are so many colours to choose from. It doesn't matter whether you have a fair or tanned skin complexion ... there's one for you ... I bet this watch is produced and marketed under licence granted by the brand owner of PUMA. Too bad that the licence is given to the wrong hands. It's Ok if this watch doesn't sell as it is the business of the licensee after all. However, a BS ad like this may have negative image impact on the PUMA brand in a way.
Read more