Executive summary
The Esquire and Men Health magazines are commonly known in the United States, both Magazines talk about men issues, ranging from sports, sexuality, and politics. Other companies like Nivea use these magazines for promoting their products, this is because these magazines have a wide readability and can be accessed by very many people. Nivea used Esquire magazines to advertise for its products for men. The strategy was right though coupled with some issues, for example, in one of the adverts the company did not use copy and visuals adequately.
Introduction
Appendix one, Courtesy of Esquire magazine
Appendix two, courtesy of U.S health men magazine
Information on Magazines
Esquire magazine
The esquire magazine is one of the largest magazines on men’s issues in the United States. It has a wide circulation and a pass on readership of 5. The total monthly readership of the magazine is approximately 75,000-90,000 people (Esquire Magazine, 2009, p. 5). Its distribution rate is eleven times a year. The magazine is distributed via many platforms across the United States, for example, hotels, barbershops cafes and even book stores. The magazine tackles different topics that touch on masculinity; it assumes a very comprehensive and authoritative style when discussing some of the issues that affect men. This magazine costs 16dollars.
Men’s Health
The men health magazine is a Lifestyle magazine that covers issues that affect men; it is one of the best sources of information for the men who are immensely active in what they do (Mens Health, 2010, p. 7). This magazine talks about different topics that involve physical, mental, and emotional life of men. As an acclaimed best selling magazine, men health has continued to give the readers tools that they need so that they can be able to live their lives to the fullest. The men’s health magazine is sold for 4dollars across the country. The magazine readership is wide and covers an approximately sixty thousand men in the country.
Pest analysis for Nivea Company
Background
The Nivea brand is widely recognized in many parts of the world, the company mainly deals with skin care products. Nivea’s history can be dated back to the year 1911, since then, this company has extended influence in many parts of the world. Nivea Corporation is owned and operated by Beiersdorf. When the company first launched its Nivea for men products, it created a new ground by offering its aftershave balm product, this would be the first balm on the market that did not have alcohol, and it proved to be very popular among the different types of consumers worldwide.
PEST Analysis
| Political | Economical | Social | Technology |
| Many countries regulate media | Only consumers who can afford buy products | Consumers are more conscious of their skin | Media availability is key to patronize |
| Advertisement may be banned | Consumers have to accept product sophistication | People may be illiterate to understand advert | Media has to be available if alters promotion mix |
| Moral and religious value affect advertisements | Has set advertising set authorities | Lifestyle change affects promotion | Make products significant to consumer and less harmful to environment |
| Promotion to children in some countries is not allowed | Inflation could lead to strong dip in overall company sales | Different age groups utilize different products | Better technology can assist company to work with better process units |
Comments
Political
Nivea Company is obliged in the production of products that are safe. Safety assessments are used to ensure that are the produced goods are within the provided guidelines of different quality agencies within the countries of production (Crawford, 2010, p. 9). People who manufacture and distribute these products are fully responsible. They should ensure that products manufactured are safe. The trade policies in different countries around the world act as barriers to the company’s operations, in some countries, the government can impose huge taxes on the company this can affect the operations of the company (Bhargava, 2015, p. 12).
Economic
The companies adverts are supposed to be clear and should not in any mislead the consumer of the products (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008, p. 9). Products should be affordable to target consumers. It is worth noting that factors for example, unemployment and inflation can affect the purchase of the company products, and the volatile market place can sometimes result to difficult financial crisis in the company. Sometimes, the company may go though price pressures, some established competitors, for example, can cause this Vaseline (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008, p. 10).
Social
Many consumers are very conscious of the nature of their skin, therefore, they want quality, and if they detect that the products being advertised do not perform to the expected standards, they can simply turn away from purchasing the product (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008, p. 13). Many people want products that can enhance how they look, people want to have good skin textures (Crawford, 2010, p. 15). Change of lifestyle can also affect the purchase of the products by the consumers, for example, if the consumers have an interest in saving their beards then there is no need to buy the company products (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008).
Technology
Nivea is adapting quickly to the issue of technology, the company is now able to use technology in many ways (Evans & King, 2000, p. 14). Through the company’s research and development unit, the company is looking forward to come up with products that are more beneficial to the consumer. Use of media in advertising has proven to be a significant activity that has aided Nivea Company to boost products sales. Through print media, social media and use of TV, the company is now able to reach a diversified target consumer (Ries & Trout, 2008, p. 17).
Advertisements
Advertisement 1
Standardization
The advert is fairly standard because it hardly inspires result-oriented marketing. One functions of standardization is creation of a larger market base (Crawford, 2010, p. 18). In regards to the above advertisement, the advertisement does not create large market base. However, the advert uses a black American and it therefore positions itself as an advert for people with a specific physical appearance (Noble, 2000, p. 18).
Copy
The copy of the image states “re-civilize yourself”, though the message could have been intended for a worthy cause, its meaning was taken to be offensive and therefore the advert did not turn to be efficient for passing the message that it was intended to pass (Trompenaars & Williams, 2004, p. 34). The copy of the advert was taken as an insult against men of color commanding them to re-civilize them by using Nivea products. “Re-civilize yourself advert stands out as a racist remark. The advert continues to urge the men of color to look like they really care.
Visual
The advert feature a man holding another man’s face, from careful observation it looks like the man wants to throw he face that he is holding away. Besides the picture of the man is the advertised products, the advertisement uses blue and white colors to get its message across the divide. The man is standing on what could be best explained as a parking lot. The fact that the company has used a heavy built man is not an accident, this has been done to associate the product with being muscular, it also helps to define the target market for the product, and the product is specifically intended for men.
It is easy to identify the product that the advert is trying to sell at the first glance of the company, the advert is trying to sell shaving cream for men, the product has been predominantly displayed in the left side of the advertisement, this has made it to become noticeable. The roles that have been assigned to the man who is pictured in this picture appear to be stereotypical, this is because, and then advert seems to target the men of color by suggesting that they should be civilized. The model in the picture is wearing a gray sweatshirt, a blue trouser, their hair is nicely trimmed, and they have no beards, suggesting that they have already utilized the product. Relationship that models have with product is that of consumer and product relationship (Crawford, 2010, p. 4).
Message
The message that is displayed in this advert is that men should use Nivea products to make their appearances more appealing. The picture in the advert connects to the message by displaying a man who has already used a Nivea product. The advert claims seems to contend that men of color who keep long hairs should trim them and do away with their beards so that they can be accepted in the society. It is evident that society does not condone the behaviors of people who are considered to be uncivilized and it is for this purpose that the advert compares people who are not civilized to those who do not trim or cut their hair and beard. Considering that the Add was widely used in America a country that has dealt with racialism for a very long time then the context was wrong.
Media vehicle
The advert used the print media in form of magazines; Esquire magazines to reach its customers. One of the reasons that the advert used this strategy is because, Esquire is a men magazine, and the advert targets men. The fact that the magazine has a huge readability bases makes it suitable for reaching to a very wide base area of the target consumers. This magazine is not expensive it creates a big consumer access to Nivea.
Comments
Despite the immense success that the advert may have enjoyed in its initial positing, it is worth noting that the advert failed in some of the strategies that it used. In regards to the communication process model, it is significant for all the advertisers in a particular company to consider all the factors that impact on the process of communications. In this case, the advertisement did not pay much attention to the message that it could be sending to the people of color, this is evidenced by its ignorant use of a face and the blatant words that urge all the people of color to re-civilize themselves by using Nivea products. The content of the advert is sharp and does not help in solving the problem to which it was intended.
Advertisement 2
Standard
Characterized by its simplicity, this advert is standard and has helped to create result marketing. This promotion has been tailored in a way that inspires use of product to a wide audience in universal market scene.
Copy
In its copy form the advert image states that “don’t let the sensitive skin irritate you”; despite being simple, the message in the advert is straight to the point. It helps people know that products which are being advertised are a beauty product. The advert does not in any way use specifics to give its message; to a large extent this makes the advert more successful.
Visual
The magazine is published in the health magazine, it is possible to identify what the advert is trying to sell through the first glance, and this is because one can see that the advert is trying to sell the beauty products. Products being displayed are noticeable even more than other aspects of advertisement. The advert has featured a shirtless male, the overall ensemble of the male in the picture reflects the product, this is because the male face is smooth and this is one of the major objectives of the products. The advert suggests that the people who will buy the Nivea products will look just like the man in the audience. Advertisement models are central in relation to all products that are being advertised. The products are placed in front of the model
Message
The message that the advert is trying to pass is simple and straight to the point, according to the advert men should buy Nivea products at all times. The advert suggests that Nivea products are effective for the purpose of eliminating skin insensitivities among men.
Media vehicle
The advert used Men’s health magazine to get its message across. The reason for using the magazines was because of fact that many men read magazines and Nivea men adverts targets men. Men magazine have a huge readability and are not expensive, this makes them suitable for advertising the men products.
Comments
In consideration of the communication process model in promotion, the advert has identified the target population for the products; their target populations are men who are already shaving and have skin insensitivity issues (Jain, 2000, p. 23). The communication objective of adverts was to get men to purchase the products for use in shaving. Through creative strategies, adverts use young models to create an appealing site to products. The media plan that has been used by the advert is the print media (Trompenaars & Williams, 2004, p. 34).
Strategy – Right
The move for Nivea to carry its promotion activities for men’s products in men’s magazines is a good move; this is because they reach their preferred target consumers (Crawford, 2010, p. 23). However, the strategy used by Nivea Company to advertise its Nivea for men products in the first advertisement is not right, this because the advert does not in any way consider the cultural consequences that may result from it, this can have very detrimental consequences for the company (Varadarajan, 2009, p. 45). Second advert is by all means right; the fact that it is straight to point has made it efficient in the promotion of the product.
Recommendation
Nivea has made major milestones in the promotion of its products, however, despite the strands, it is important that the company consider some ways that can help them to increase the efficiency of their promotion activities (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008, p. 67). In regards to the first advertisement, the company should use promotion strategies that are not considered as racists. It is evident that strategies that are considered as violations of other people cultural heritage can spoil the good name of the company; to do this the company should study the culture of their consumers in depth (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008, p. 56).
The language used in the advertisement s should be experiential instead of being sharp and blatant, for example, in the first advertisement, it was wrong for the company to use the words “re-civilize yourself” in an advert (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008, p. 45). Experiential adverts can bring the brand to life and help the consumers to identify with the brand. Before a campaign find its way to the media, it is advisable for the company to monitor it, this can help in knowing the effects that it will have on the consumers. Promotional advert campaigns that have not been monitored can result in very detrimental consequences (Cant, Strydom, Oooste, & Duplesis, 2008, p. 78). The company should strive to get the promotional balance right, this will assist the company to create a very strong brand affinity among the men, it will also help in creating and maintaining, and consistent dialogue with all the men and this will help in driving the sales of the company (Trompenaars & Williams, 2004, p. 76).
The company should use the Nivea for men product to create a positive self image for all the men; for example, the company can offer to distribute its Nivea for men products after it posts an advert. Trials can boost men’s use of products. Promotions help in the creation of brand awareness and the customer familiarity with the product, therefore apart from the print media, the company should utilize other means to assist the customers specify their skin type and find the products that best suits them (Smith & Schultz, 2004, p. 34).
Conclusion
The success of any organization or business is dependent on the promotion activities of the particular company good promotion activities is a key in helping a company to reach to its target consumers. Nivea is a company that has been in existence for a very long time it has utilized different promotion activities to reach to its consumers. Print media in for of magazines is a rich way that can be utilized to advertise products, Nivea has specifically used Esquire and Men’s Health magazine to advertise for its Nivea for men products. One of the main reason the company used this advertising agents is because they are specifically made for men and therefore, advertising here would ensure that the company is able to reach its target market. It is significant to get it right in the advertising activities this is because; adverts communicate way too much information than the company may actually think.
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