Recent Marketing and Communication Strategies by Shure

Marketing and Communication Strategies by Shure

 

figure 1, pulsarmedia

Recently years, Shure are always dedicated in making  new communication and marketing plans.

In order to developing and implementing a social content strategy to grow its fan base and increase social engagement across a wide range of industies, Shure has selected Allen & Gerritsen (a&g) to guide its social strategy. 

"Allen & gerritsen, with offices in Boston and Philadelphia, will be responsible for helping the Americas business unit of Shure develop and implement a social content strategy to grow its fan base and increase social engagement across a wide range of industries" (Faw, 2014).

Although it is the first social agency Shure cooperate with, it is not challenging and tough. According to Stephen Kohler, the senior director of marketing for the Americas business unit, said “It was almost as if they had been in the room with us all along – they knew our business and our challenges as well. We knew immediately that they were the right partner for us” (Faw, 2014).

In our view, A&G would be a perfect partner for Shure. As the global leader in design and manufacture of audio electronics, including headphones, Shure has to increase its brand images in order to gaining more market share, indeed, this is what A&G experts in. A&G could sparks and facilitate poweful conversations between customers and brands, in this way, it could help Shure that offering a closer relationship with consumers, "and constantly find new ways for brands to engage with their audiences in ways they never could have imagined"(n.d.). 

figure 2, Allen & Gerritsen

In addition, based on the concept and principle of Allen & Gerritsen, it supposes that inventiveness is the new creativity. "Creativity was king when advertising was simply the intersection of art and commerce. Today, advertising must live at a more dynamic intersection—one formed by roadways built on data. Analytics. Technology. Business strategy. And creativity" (n.d.). 

On the other hand, as the major headphone competitor of Shure, Beasts has already joined Allen & Gerritsen groups, and the roster of its brands includes Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Boston Celtics, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, City Year, Comcast XFINITY, Dietz & Watson, Friendly's, Monistat, e.p.t, Toyota Materials Handling, Sesame Workshop, SHURE, STAPLES Advantage, Sunoco, Toy State, Villanova University, & Waters. Almost all of those brands mentioned above are quite famous and influenced. 

What's more, as we mentioned previewsly, Shure incorporated opens new sales and office in Miami at the beginning of 2014.

figure 3, Shure

In order to controlling  America market more, even for Lation America, Shure decided to establish this department in Miami. "Latin America is a strategic region for the development of Shure business overseas" (Niles, 2014).

"Shure Associates in the Miami office will work directly with existing and potential distribution centers, dealers, partners and key users in Latin America, providing faster and more personalized service and support. The new office includes business development, sales, marketing communications, artist relations and market development teams" (Niles, 2014).

figure 4, Shure

Those behavios, no matter cooperate with A&G or set up a new department, are absolutely the signal for future development.












References

Niles. (2014, Jan 20). Shure Incorporated Opens Sales and Marketing Office in Miami. Shure. Retrieved from http://www.shure.com/americas/news-events/press-                     releases/shure-incorporated-opens-sales-and-marketing-office-in-miami

(n.d.). Allen & Gerritsen. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/company/allen-and-gerritsen

Faw, L. (2014, June 30). Shure Selects Allen & Gerritsen To Guide Social Strategy. MediaPost. Retrieved from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/229040/shure-selects-allen-gerritsen-to-guide-social-st.html

Bose's communication

Bose’s image is a key element of the group. 

Indeed, Bose cultivates the image of both high quality sound and design. Its last campaign determines its desire to reach young consumers and good sound. 

Bose also cultivates the appearance of its products often elegant and colorful helmets. They also want to be identified as simplicity and sobriety.

Bose communication is then forward on emotion by trying to create pro Bose consumer community, through values. The customers feels to belong to an image that seems close to its values.

Compared with its competitors, Bose really tries to be a company in whole, by opening its own stores, or having own booth at BOSE. It’s a strategy to be closer from its customers.

Strategy of Shure

Hello, everyone. Nice to see you again. Here I come again.

This time, I am going to introduce the strategy of Shure.

Shure, founded in 1925 in the United States, has always focused on the development and production of moving-iron earphones. It is considered to be the premium manufacturer of this type of earphone.

Then, how does Shure keep his reputation and get even better?

First, we need to see its products. On its official site, the phrase“THE MOST TRUSTED AUDIO PRODUCTS WORLDWIDE”can be seen very clearly. Then comes all the segments of its audio products. By clicking the “EARPHONES & HEADPHONES” button, we can only three types of products: SE earphones, headphones and accessories. This is its strategy of niche market. Shure just focus on the moving-iron technology based earphones and headphones. It is not like Sony who produces and sells all types of earphones and makes the consumers very difficult to choose. Shure's major consumers and targets are the professional fans, audio engineers and singers or music bands. Its products are always the first choices of these people.

As for the price, the ordinary consumers usually think Shure's products are expensive. I cannot deny it. But I want to clarify it. These years, Shure has already produced some basic product with its premium technology for the music lovers. It is true that the SE535LTD costs 549 dollars. But it also has the products like SE215 or SE 315 which cost 99 dollars and 199 dollars respectively. It is not realistic for Shure to sell its flagship product at a low price because it is made of the best material and best technology.

Shure's promotion strategy seems a little bit different. Because many of the professional singers and bands prefer to choose its products, they are doing a very good promotion to the public as they perform at a live concert. What’s more, on its Chinese site, we noticed there is an online “testing center” for the earphones where you can choose and test the earphones recommended according to your personal preference of music, listening habit and surrounding environments. This can help consumers greatly to choose the best product for themselves. Shure also launches a few advertisements which use the simple way to demonstrate its advanced and complex technology and structure of a product. Such an advertisement can make the consumers know the products better and get more interested.

People can buy Shure's products everywhere: official site, Amazon, the audio stores or even eBay. For those who don’t know about the details, Shure also prepare a search engine to locate the stores and partner distributors where its products are available.

Zhong Xia 

http://www.shure.com/americas/products

http://www.shure.com/americas/products/earphones-headphones

http://www.shure.com/americas/products/earphones-headphones/se-earphones/se215-sound-isolating-earphones

http://www.shure.com.cn/go/earphone/cn/index-en.html#/testcenter/?section=consumer&style=s6&type=b

http://www.shure.eu/meta_eu/where_to_buy

Bose Strategy (Marketing mixte)

In the headphone market, there may be different marketing strategy depending on the brand.

Bose strategy compared to its competitors is based primarily on the combinaison of quality and design of its product. Indeed the purpose of Bose is to create products combining high technology, simplicity and reduced size, to create sound systems that are easy to use and accessible to all consumers. The headset audio according to experts is based on a slim and sleek design with high quality technology to provide the best sound.

Therefore the price goes with that quality. Bose practice an upscale pricing. Prices range from € 150 to € 300.

Regarding distribution, Bose has both its own stores in major cities in France and in shopping mall. Bose also sells its products through major retailers (Fnac, Carrefour, Darty...)

Finally Bose brand communicates differently. Poster, online advertising or more recently TV spot, is made by the Bose.

For example, here a link to the last pub Bose: http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7p81/bose-soundtrue-and-freestyle-headphones-listen-for-yourself

Timothée Girardon

CELEBRITIES AT THE HEART OF THE COMMUNICATION OF BEATS BY DR. DRE

Hey!
As I promised, let’s tackle the communication and promotion strategy of the Beats’ company today!

Well … Apart from doing “classical” marketing such as press, TV spots, social media and so on, Beats has its own unique way for attracting its customers and creating brand awareness. 
Indeed, the brand’s strategy is first to “use” celebrities from the music industry to promote its products and so, playing on consumer emotions.

But, how?

To begin with, we can easily understand this strategy just by reading the name of the brand: Beats by Dr. Dre. The name of the creator itself is part of the brand name, in order to attract fans of this US rapper. Indeed, as its fan communities want to look like Dre, they will be more tempted to adopt the same thoughts, behaviors and purchases than their idol. This is especially so because Beats consumers are mainly young people who are more willing to be influenced by celebrities.
But the celebrity strategy is not only focused on the founder of the brand. Indeed, celebrities are also at the heart of Beats advertisements, as ambassadors of the brand. As an example, let’s take a look at the TV spot created by Beats for the Football Cup which is the perfect illustration of Beats communication strategy and celebrities: 

Beats went one step further regarding this strategy. Indeed, the brand has also developed limited editions of headphones in partnership with famous people: Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Kobe Bryant … 

In this way, the brand succeeded in creating more and more awareness and increased its demand for headphones. In fact, these stars are wearing the Beats headphone in their clips; you can see them in the tabloids, etc.


Beats is also promoting its headphones during big sport events, by practicing “ambush marketing”. This practice stems from its “celebrity strategy” as the brand is offering Beats headphones to the athletes, that they will probably wear during the event. For instance, the brand sent a headphone to each member of the UK and US teams during the Olympic Games of 2012. The goal of this action was to attract a new type of consumers and more precisely to target amateur sportsmen. 

Indeed, lately, we can observe through advertising that this target is at the heart of the brand strategy. The basketball player Lebron James and the tennis woman Serena Williams are the current ambassadors of the Beats headphones. 

All in all, we can see that the brand Beats is mainly recruiting its consumers through emotions. Surprisingly, although the brand claims for high sound quality, it does not explain in detail the features of the product that allows this quality in its ads. The only fact that famous singers and musicians are using the product is sufficient to convince and then engage the consumer.

But what are the strategies of Beats’ competitors? 

This will be our next topic!


Anaïs



Sources : 
https://www.google.fr/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=ambush%20marketing%20beats
http://fr.slideshare.net/WilliamBelle/beats-by-dr-dre-2012
http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2011/08/the-10-best-custom-celebrity-beats-by-dr-dre-headphones/

BEATS BY DR. DRE: A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGY

Now that we have a global vision of the different brands on the headphone market, let’s go further into the Beats strategy!

Beats by Dr. Dre is a recent brand as it was created six years ago, by the US rapper Dr. Dre and Jimmy Lovine, who was leading the record label Interscope Geffen A&M. And here is the reason why they decided to launch new products on the market: 

"People aren't hearing all the music. Artists and producers work hard in the studio perfecting their sound. But people can't really hear it with normal headphones. Most headphones can't handle the bass, the detail, the dynamics. Bottom line, the music doesn't move you. With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear, and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do." - Dr. Dre

Since then, the brand succeeded in becoming the leader on this market, with a market share of 50%.

But how do their success come from? 

First, the product itself is at the heart of the success of Beats strategy. Indeed, the brand created a new need for sound quality by claiming that the Beats headphones will allow people to hear music the way they should. In this way, they completely differentiated themselves from their competitors with an innovative USP: offering to the consumers a product used by professionals, and in particular the rapper Dr. Dre.
Besides, as we already explained in previous articles, the design of Beats headphones is the second main characteristics of this product. Consumers are not just buying a headphone but also a fashion accessory. To do so, the brand has developed colorful headphones, limited editions …and again, has succeeded in delivering a different offer in the market and in touching its target consumers: young people that are mainly listening hip hop music!
The following video is the perfect illustration of what the brand wants to highlight and who is its target. 

The price is also part of the brand strategy. The average price of Beats headphones is around 350€, which places the brand as a premium one. This pricing strategy goes hand in hand with the main claim of the product: high sound quality, and reinforces it. Indeed, the consumer will be more confident to buy an expensive product that claims to offer an incredible sound quality.
Furthermore, the pricing strategy is also related to the fashion side of the Beats headphone. The latter can be seen not only as a fashion but also a luxury product.

What about Beats distribution strategy?  The brand distributes its products through different types of channels, which makes the access quite easy. Headphones can be directly purchased on the own website of the company, but also on multimedia retailers stores & websites such as Fnac or Boulanger for instance.  This online distribution strategy is clearly adapted to their key target: teenagers and young adults. You can also find Beats headphones in Apple stores, as the brand has recently been purchased by the company. Finally, Beats has opened its flagship store in New York City, which not only aims at selling the products but mainly offering an experience area for the consumers. In fact, this store is a way to gather Beats fans and reinforce a consumer community. 

Beats Store, NYC

But what about Beats’ communication strategy to attract people and make its customers loyal to the brand?
We’ll see that in the next article ;)

Anaïs



Sources : 
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beats_Electronics
http://fr.beatsbydre.com/
http://fr.slideshare.net/WilliamBelle/beats-by-dr-dre-2012
 

The market competition

The headphones market has increased these last few years. Indeed this market has explosed to the detriment of the stereo. According to the GFK institute, the headphones‘s sales in France represents a turnover of 397 million euro in 2012.

This raise of the headphones market may be explained by several reasons.

In one hand, it’s the explosion of devices named « nomads », which are able to hear music anywhere that has truly run this market. Whether it’s the IPod, MP3, IPhone, or stereo systems, there is a fragmentation in the way of listening music.

In the other hand, it’s the fashion effects that make growth this market. Indeed the headphones have truly become fashion accessory since the consumer will sometime prefer a product that represents its value and the design. More over, some trends like « Silent Parties » where guests may listen the same music through headphones, and to dance in the silence without disturbing neighbours.

Faced with this growing market on a criterion of belonging to the consumer, each brand will then try to find its position in order to maximize its revenue. So each brand cultivates a style that is personal, totally original, and may unite around them a true community of fans.

Thus we can see the presence of five key brands sharing the headphones market. Beats is the leader in this market with over 50% of sales in the United States. And there is also Sony, Philips, Bose, Sheinnheiser.