The product of the ad is called “Avon Musk” and is a four-piece set consisting of cologne, an after-shave conditioner, 2-in-1 hair and body wash, and antiperspirant deodorant. It appears that the original value of this set is $29.49, but the ad is selling it at $18. Avon makes it a point to make their prices noticeable to be able to reach the more price-conscious consumer. Avon’s target demographic is obviously aimed towards men. They’re trying to pry at a man’s sense of pride and sense of masculinity. Men with a little extra money to spend and especially young image-conscious men, would be most susceptible to this kind of advertising. I’d imagine those ambitious and bright men in the middle class would buy this product to emulate this person of high status, the ideal they’re striving for.
The four products are the main focus, which is indicated by the fact that it is the biggest object and is in the center of the ad. Avon’s choice of color palette for this product consists of black, white, and blues. Black is a color used to represent the product’s aura of sophistication, mystery, power, and sexuality. White symbolizes perfection and cleanliness. When black and white are mixed together, it symbolizes a very dynamic contrast of raw and powerful energy with a sense of peace and softness. The added blues give a touch of calmness and security to the sharp contrast between the blacks and blues. Specifically, the lighter shades of blue, noticed in the cologne, are used to give more healing and softness to the ad, which is similar to the reenergizing feeling of taking a shower after a long day. The streaks of darker blue, used in the after-shave cream; hair and body wash; and deodorant, are used to represent a sense of seriousness and intellect. Rather than the more aggressive and wild facet of masculinity, the product is selling the image of a matured masculinity that has gained control over his instinct and uses it to protect.
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Along with the product comes a shirtless model in the top left corner of the page. Despite not being in the center, it is still a close second to the focus of the ad. He’s supposed to be the embodiment of what powerful masculinity is. The model in the ad gives off a certain intensity and focus. The background of the model’s portrait is blurred out to give him a very distinct presence.
This is further emphasized by the up-close perspective of the shot. He does not give a direct gaze towards the up-closed camera, which would be a sign of shyness and respect. However, this gaze is used to make sure that his power isn’t exactly directed toward the audience. If his facial hair had been ungroomed and he looked straight into the camera, he’d looked powerful but intimidating. Which would be contrary to the sophisticated masculinity this ad presents. Instead, they had to portray his power by bringing attention to one feature: his musculature. A very stocky and well-built physique is one of the obvious markers of strength, as it takes discipline and effort to attain this image. With the use of lighting and sweat, they made sure that every muscle was easy to see. The lighting makes his head cast a shadow over hid his left shoulder while making part of his broad shoulders and upper chest shine when used with the sweat. His pecs are covered with more beady sweat droplets that separate them from the other muscles.
The top right consists of the words “Powerful Masculinity” in all caps and with the word POWERFUL bolded. Of course, this brings more attention to the concept of power. There’s a vague claim that this will make give a man masculine power since the concept of power and masculinity varies from culture to culture and from individual to individual. Even then, no matter what definition you use, any man would feel a sense of insecurity if they were deemed as emasculated or weak. It’s quite obvious that with the use of the model, it’s being used to attack a man’s sense of security in his manhood. Women’s selection of partners emphasizes a potential partner’s ability to provide some sort of protection and stability. Consequently, it leads to competition amongst other males to prove who could reach that potential.
Social Media Platforms And Communication
Situational Analysis
Maersk Line: B2B Social Media: “It’s Communication, Not Marketing” defines the presentation of a social media platform by the biggest container shipping company in the world. Nina Skyum-Nielsen is the current coordinator. When they launched, they became active on other social media platforms, including Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, and YouTube. They created a social media home base for Maersk Line that was called Maersk Line Social. In that line, they were able to publish stories casually about their company. In this case, there are organized aspects of how the program was launched but also the pressures faced by the marketing department to better mix the social media operations into the company’s more basic marketing efforts.
Strengths
There were many strengths and advantages in this case. For instance, using B2B in social media can lead to potential consumers, brand awareness, established leadership, and multiple demographics. Nina’s predecessor, Wichmann, had different plans and strategies for the social media platform. He wanted to have his audience be more engaged, whether the posts were positive or negative. With a budget of 10,000, Maersk got approximately four times the amount of feedback on Facebook compared to its competitor. With B2B marketing, you can connect businesses with their consumers and improve business-to-business distributors.
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Weakness
On the other hand, Nina Skyum-Nielsen did face challenges. Having a goal in mind before launching into strategies is what helps in the future. Many B2B companies gamble into social media without a strategy and then get unsatisfied with their results. Some business-to-business companies can see social media as just an attachment. Low volume can be another weakness. The struggle in the transportation and logistics area has grown a lot in the last decade, so the volumes of business have decreased significantly. Also, high costs of operations. With an increasing network, the costs of operations of the company position a serious challenge to the business.
Opportunities
Opportunities could still occur. Authenticity and transparency are significant when implementing a B2B social media strategy. You can possibly outsource certain things, such as developing your social media strategy. You can also create graphics and shoot videos, but make sure the voices come from internal subject experts. If you do more yourself, it’s better. Maersk was more about sharing themes than knowledge. Also, the growth in logistics can be another opportunity. In the logistics area, there are many new technologies. These technologies can help customers reduce their costs and help logistics companies rationalize their operations.
Threats
There’s always some sort of risk in any business-to-business area. Maersk faces competition such as Gati China Ocean Shipping Company and United Parcel Service. Emerging countries can have more growth. There can be more risk, though, such as hitting the marine life in their line of work. They could hurt the animals, then their business faces an outage from the public and be impacted in a negative way.
Assumptions & Missing Information
The social media and adverting team must remain in constant communication with their employees, customers, fans, and experts. If the social media team is increased and mixed, it can widen the company’s marketing efforts. Wichmann learned this when he was selling his containers through social media. He started with Facebook, then expanded. Facebook caught the eyes of customers. Instagram also emerged, along with Twitter and LinkedIn, as news outlets, visual communication, and updates. These social media platforms helped the customers be more active and helped improve any products or services, which was the goal. YouTube was also a main video platform. With an increase in budget and power, they can stay ahead of social media trends and continue to apply their communication with clients, and increase revenues.
Problem Definition
A main concern with Maersk is hurting marine life. It’s a bad look for their business and publicity. What will happen if they see their profits decline or lose tons of money because of an accident? Also, how effective social media platforms can be a problem. LinkedIn was more effective than Facebook and Twitter.
Development of Alternatives
- There can be more attention to those weaker social media platforms.
- Facebook could interact with its participants since it wasn’t as effective.
- Look at the concept of organizational listening in order to determine Maersk Line’s ability to include their customers in their communication on Facebook.
- Use Instagram’s filters for brand recognition.
- Use direct marketing techniques through social media.
Evaluation of Alternatives & Recommendations
These social media platforms provided better answers for the company and quick customer service. The customers were able to answer other customer service questions. Wichmann thought their numbers were normal and referred to that numbers were his method. He also compared Facebook to other brands such as Disney, Ford, Mcdonald’s, and Legos.