Analysis of Havard Business School's Case UnMe Jeans: Branding in Web 2.0

1. UnMe Jeans :
Branding in Web 2.0
HAVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CASE
SHUBHAM VERMA
IIT GUWAHATI

2. What is
UnMe Jeans ?
Who is
Margaret Foley ?

3. UnMe Jeans is an Up-and-coming
players in junior denim market ,
designed especially for women.
Margaret Foley – Brand Manager
of UnMe Jeans

4. What is
the
present
situation ?

5. UnMe Jeans , an upcoming junior denim company targeted towards women
between age of 12 to 24 which tried to reach it’s target audience by traditional
media like TV ads and full page ads in magazines and newspaper
With the coming up of Web 2.0 , the time spent by consumers on these
traditional media has drastically reduced .Still the prices to purchase TV ads
rights had increased . There was also an advertising cluster and people were
skipping ads.
Foley’s struggle is to justify the money she was spending to advertise her brand
in traditional media .
Also , She had asked her advertising agency to investigate the for the best Web
2.0 option for better advertising for her brand.

6. Advertising industry
Traditional Web 2.0
v/s

7. Difference between UnMe and other brands
The UnME product line included fashion-forward jeans that teenage girls coveted for
their highly decorated designs featuring glitter, jewels, and metalwork . Girls who wore
UnME jeans tended to be social and taste leaders in their schools and communities and
valued the brand for its unique products, which were produced in small lot sizes, makin
each jean style a limited edition.
Present marketing strategy of UnMe Jeans
30-second television advertising spots on the most popular programs for teenage girls,
such as Gossip Girl, American Idol, and One Tree Hill; full-page magazine print advertisi
in beauty and fashion magazines; 60-second radio advertising spots on Top 40 radio
stations; a corporate website; online banner and display advertising on the most popul
websites for teenage girls; and on the search
engine Google.

8. Objectives
of the case

9. •Understanding the
importance of
communication
with the consumers

10. •To use analysis
methods to develop an
advertising strategy
for an upcoming
company at the time of
changing marketing
media scenario

11. What are the key
issues in the case ?

12. • Understanding the trends that were reducing the
effectiveness of the existing plan
• Understanding what is new in Web 2.0
• Were any of the emerging social media channels appropriate
for UnMe Jeans promotion ?
• What are the risks and benefits ?
• How could they substitute for existing plan ?
• What type of results can be expected ?

13. 3 TRENDS that were reducing
the effectiveness of the existing
media plan

14. Changing Consumer Habit1

15. 23 %online media
consumption
12 hours online
5% newspaper
3% magazines
10.6 hours TV

16. Difficulty in breaking the
advertisement clutter
2

17. 5,000 ad messages
each day

18. Advertisement
remembrance was at
all time lowest of 1%
to 3% Bob Barocci, president and CEO of the
Advertising Research Foundation

19. Turning of
customers out of
advertisements
3

20. Online
Advertisement
is the only
bright spot .
Growth of
online media is
six times the
traditional
media between
2006 to 2009 .
$21.4
industry

21. Banner
Ads
or
Display
Ads
Consumers
click
on it and
sent to the
advertiser
website
Click-through rate
have declined from
0.75% to 0.2%
Clutterwas making its way
into the online advertising
world as well.
Starcomstudy found that
click-through rates for
advertised brands fell as more
advertisements were featured
on a web page.

22. Search advertising
• Fastest growing
• 58% growth in 2006
• Click through rate 5% , greater
than banner ads

24. • Marketers have been SLOW in spending
to new media habits.
• Study by Prophet showed that a of
53%marketers acknowledged the
importance of incorporating emerging
media options into their media plans,
but 22%of them did so.

27. research showed
that Social Media
will explode from
$600 million
industry in 2007 to
$6.9 billion
industry in 2012.

28. Exhibit 4

29. 4 cultural values
of Web 2.0

30. Consumer Co
creation
Consumer co-creation gave
consumers the ability to
directly contribute to the
online conversation and
content that was available
on the web.

31. YouTube , a user generated video
sharing site , is a great example of
consumer co creation .
65,000
By end of 2007 , 73%Internet
users used it to watch videos

32. Advertising models
• Pre-roll advertisement, in which a viewer was forced to watch an ad before
they were able to view a video , was vehemently rejected .
• Participatory video ads, in which YouTube posted to its
home page and allowed viewers to choose if they would like to view them,
rate them, and discuss them with others, were more successful.
• In video advertising , an ad will appear at the bottom of the video and
• Brand channels , in which brands can create their own channel with their
videos and users can visit them and see their videos whenever they want.

34. Virtually connecting people
with each other which created a
sense of community.

35. Facebook and Myspace provided an opportunity to create their
profile and link with others and share their information with
each other

36. • Most visited page in U.S
in 2006
• 117 million users till
2008
• Sixth most trafficked
site of the world
• 80 million users till 2008

37. Digital Self Expression
Desire of people
to express their
identities online

38. Second life and Zwinktopia
Zwinktopia is the one of the best example of self expression ,
where people express themselves through avatars.

40. Are any of the emerging
social media channels
appropriate for UnMe
Jeans ?

41. High no. of
visitors ;
High growth
rate

42. TARGET
MARKET
for
UnMe
Jeans

43. TARGET
MARKET
for
UnMe
Jeans

44. TARGET MARKET
for UnMe Jeans
is the second highest
percentage in all
groups

45. Suggestions by Foley’s agency

46. Due to an explosive growth rate , extremely high
number of users and also high percentage of target
market customers on social networking sites , Foley
should integrate them in her advertising strategy especially
Facebook,YouTubeand Zwinktopia .

47. Companies that have already used these social
media options to advertise their products

48. What are the
Risks and Benefits ?

49. Advantages and disadvantages of Web 2.0 and each platform
Advantages
of Web 2.0

50. HUGE Target market available that
would help in brand awareness

51. COST
EFFECTIVE

52. TWO WAY
COMMUNICATION -
Direct Feeadback

53. Disadvantages
of Web 2.0

54. LACK OF CONTROL

55. Possibility of being a
FAD

56. ADVANTAGES
• One of the fastest growing sites.
• Widgets and feeds promote more
engagement.
• Acts like discussion forum for brands.
• Can create a huge following by
constructive discussion and
promotion stuffs
DISADVANTAGES
• Since user may view a lot of content
therefore the recall value may drop .
• Lack of control over the medium.
• Can also lead to negative promotion.

57. ADVANTAGES
• Large demographics available.
• Entertaining way of brand promotion
• High frequency of views per person
• Cost effective in long term basis.
• Brand channels , which can be visited
by viewers and voluntarily watch
the ads
DISADVANTAGES
• Lack of control
• Creativity and regular
updates required

58. ADVANTAGES
• Avatars , are the best way of self
expression in virtual world.
• Entertaining way of creating
brand awareness
• Separate brand channels for
promotion purposes.
• Cost effective in long term basis
DISADVANTAGES
• Lack of control
• Creativity and regular involvement
required
• Language and location restriction at
times.

59. How could they substitute for
the existing plan ?

61. Even though the ad
spending time with
online media was less
but the spent time is
the voluntary action of
the customer , and
hence it adds to the
remembrance value .

62. The new plan should be and integration of :
Traditional media + Web 2.0
Television Banner ads
Magazines Search Advertisement
Radio Facebook
Youtube
Zwinktopia

63. TARGET MARKET
for UnMe Jeans
is the second highest
percentage in all
groups.
Here , the target market is NOT
the largest contributor ,
therefore the advertising
budget should constitute LESS
portion on Zwinktopia(Similar
to Second Life) than on
Facebook and Youtube.

64. Sales
tv
magazine
radio
online banner
google search
zwinktopia
facebook
youtube
14%
7% 6%
35%
8%
7%
11%
14%
New Advertising budget(if all the three
could be selected)

65. Facebook plan
Advertisement
• Develop a brand profile page
• Independent women with unique style would be invited to befriend their profile
page.
• Purchase targeted banner advertising on Facebook, targeting women ages 12 to 24
with an interest in fashion
• Create a UnMe widget , that would encourage women to design their own pair of
jeans. Friends could click on the widget, view the design, make comments on it or
add their own design flourishes, and then forward it on to others.

66. Youtube plan Advertisement
• Three four-minute YouTube video ads that would collectively tell the
stories of teen girls who embodied the brand essence of UnME.
• Teen girls would be invited to upload videos about themselves or their
friends that showed how they forged their own unique identities and
how they promoted tolerance and appreciation for differences of
opinions and tastes.
• Adding videos and ads to their brand channel .

67. Zwinktopia plan Advertisement
• Agency would develop a line of virtual UnME Jeans that would be sold
to avatars on Zwinktopia through a virtual UnME Jeans retail store.
• Each special edition jean was released in the real world, UnME would
simultaneously release a virtual version of it to generate online buzz
about the product.
• Zwinkies would be invited to exert their creativity by designing their
own virtual UnME Jean products that they could then share with other
avatars.

68. Sales
tv
magazine
radio
online banner
google search
facebook
35%
7%
35%
10%
7%
New Advertising budget (if one of the
advertising media can be selected)
6%

69. Facebook would be the best social media to advertise
or promote UnMe Jeans because :
1) It is highest visited site on internet with a high growth rate and immensely high
number of profiles on the site . Amount of time spent is also quite high compared
to other sites
2) People and share photos , videos and express their views on all the things that
interests them which is a good way of promotion.
3) Widgets option on Facebook would help in further promotion.
4) People can discuss about their products on the profile page and give their views
to better the product
5) Can also purchase for banner ads and can also feature their products in
consumers news feed

70. What type of results are expected
from the new plan ?

71. Since a high no. of consumers from the target
market of UnMe Jeans are involved in some or the
other form of social networking site , UnMe will
surely benefit in their sales after integrating
Traditional media with Web 2.0 . It would increase
in their brand awareness and if right steps are taken
then they could possibly become a viral brand in the
young section of women.

72. "These slides were created by
Shubham Verma as part of an
internship done under the
guidance of Prof. Sameer Mathur
(www.IIMInternship.com)"