EVALUATING THE SALES FORCE
3. How have trade shows changed in recent years? What is Vans’s main goal at trade
High scores on this poll indicate a preference for using coupons, which may indicate that you are a comparison shopper. If your score was low, you probably don’t see any economic ben- efits to using coupons, and you’re likely not a comparison shopper. Instead, you probably prefer to buy what you want regardless of any coupon promotion.
Marketing
& You Results
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Promotion and Communication Strategies
E N D O F P A R T 5
M a r k e t i n g M i s c u e
Dolce & Gabbana Pulls Ads
Dolce & Gabbana is a world-renowned luxury goods retailer. Founded in 1985 by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gab- bana, the Italian fashion house has operations in Luxembourg, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Rome, London, Paris, Barcelona, Düsseldorf, and Shanghai. With over 3,000 employees and a retail network of 87 stores and 11 factory outlets, the company reported 2006 year- ending sales of 1,151.3 million euros for its two brands, Dolce & Gabbana and D&G Dolce & Gabbana.
By early 2007, the company had begun receiving harsh criticism for some of its print ads. British ads appearing inThe Times and Daily Telegraph newspapers in October of 2006 were condemned publicly due to complaints that the ads glorified knife and gun crime. One of the advertise- ments showed two men threatening a man in a chair while another man lay on the floor with a head wound. The other ad focused upon two men supporting a wounded woman who was hold- ing a knife. The Advertising Standards Authority, an independent regulatory agency in the United Kingdom, reported that 166 people had complained about the ads.
Dolce & Gabbana responded to the complaints by say- ing that the pictures were designed to evoke the Napole- onic period of art, emphasizing the theatrical effects of the genre, and that the ads had appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. The company claimed that the ads had only drawn complaints within the United Kingdom.
Interestingly, the ad had been positioned opposite a story about knife violence. The Advertising Standards Authority agreed with the public outcry and said that the company had acted irresponsibly and that it had breached standards of good taste. However, the agency did not go so far as to ban the ads from publication.
A little more than a month after the exchange with the British advertising authority, a Dolce & Gabbana ad ap- peared in various magazines and newspapers that sparked worldwide controversy. The ad showed a woman clothed in a tight black dress and spiked heels lying on her back as a
bare-chested man held her down by the wrists. Four other men were pictured observing the scene. According to a Dolce
& Gabbana spokesperson, the ad was meant to portray an erotic dream or sexual game. The ad was promoting the company’s spring/summer 2007 ready-to-wear collection.
Critics claimed that the ad provoked images of gang rape and violence against women, particularly since the woman was portrayed with an unsmiling, blank look on her face, and the four male observers appeared to be sneering. After receiving complaints from the Women’s Institute of Spain and consumer advocates, Spain’s Labour and Social Affairs Ministry said that the ad should be illegal since it was humiliating to women. In supporting this claim, a spokesperson for the Spanish Labor Minis- try’s Women’s Institute said that the ad trivialized violence against women and that the ad might convince a violent person that he or she was justified in using force against
women. In response to the Spanish concerns, Dolce & Gabbana said that Spain was “behind
the times” and that it would pull all of its ad- vertising from Spain.
Authorities in other countries were not far behind that of Spain, however, in condemning what many saw as Dolce & Gabbana’s gang-rape ad. Thirteen Italian senators and the Italian minister for Equal Opportunity appealed to Italy’s Advertising Self-Discipline Institute to ban the ad. Additionally, the textile workers’ division of Italy’s largest trade union, CGIL, was set to boycott Dolce & Gabbana products on Interna- tional Women’s Day on March 8, 2008. The boycott was in conjunction with concerns raised by Amnesty International in Italy that the company was condoning violence against women. In the United States, the president of the National Organization for Women said that the ad provoked things that should not be provoked. Following the protests, Dolce
& Gabbana pulled the ad from further publication.
Q u e s t i o n s
1. While controversial, the ads created considerable buzz for Dolce & Gabbana. Given this, was the controversy a mistake?
2. Ad opponents suggested that Dolce & Gabbana was provoking/justifying violence in both of these ads. What is Dolce & Gabbana’s role in this social issue?
Sales Promotion and Personal Selling Chapter 18
C r i t i c a l T h i n k i n g C a s e
Vector Marketing Corporation—
Recruitment and Technology
Vector Marketing Corporation is a di- rect sales firm that markets Cutco Cutlery, a line of high quality kitchen cutlery, kitchen accessories, and sport- ing knives. Since its inception, Vector Marketing has offered college students and graduates career opportunities in direct selling and sales management. Historically, the company recruited sales representatives via direct mail campaigns and personal recommendations. How-
ever, the technological savviness of today’s young requires the company to adapt its methods so that it can attract sales representatives in the age of technology.
Vector Marketing Corporation
Vector Marketing is the sole dis- tributor of Cutco Cutlery. Made in Olean, New York, since 1949, Cutco is proud to be an American-made product with more than 15 million Cutco owners in
the United States. Both Vector Marketing and Cutco Cut- lery Corporation are wholly owned subsidiaries of Alcas Corporation.
With annual sales over $197 million, Vector Marketing has over 300 offices across the United States and Canada.
In the United States, the company is divided into six regions (Northeast, Midwest, Eastern, Central, Southwest, and Western). The company’s corporate vision is “to become the largest, most respected and widely recognized cutlery com- pany in the world.”
Career Progression
The company has a “promote from within” policy, which means that all office managers started as sales repre- sentatives and have developed the field experience and professional insight needed to develop talents in others.
Although the majority of Vector’s sales representatives are college students, the company does accept applications
from anyone over the age of 17. A representative’s primary activities include:
• Setting appointments with potential customers through personal contacts and referrals.
• Presenting Cutco products to prospective customers and taking orders.
• Reviewing personal performance with the local office manager through meetings and over the phone.
• Attending advanced training sessions and conferences that are regularly offered to increase knowledge and productivity.
There is no previous experience required for the entry level sales position. New representatives
participate in training, normally over three consecutive days, at a local Vector Mar- keting office. The initial training seminar is
designed to instill confidence in the trainee who may have lim-
ited work experience.
Qualified sales representa- tives have the opportunity to ad- vance into management roles while still pursuing their education. Vector Market- ing has a clear career path that provides advancement into positions with increasing responsibility.
Attracting Sales Representatives in the Age of Technology
Sales force training programs highlight the role technol- ogy can play when it comes to improving individual sales productivity. With Vector Marketing’s unique college stu- dent sales force, however, the company faces a different technology issue. That is, what is the best way to attract and recruit an age demographic that is essentially wedded to technology via their cell phones, PDAs, and computers?
Is direct mail a thing of the past with this demographic?
Q u e s t i o n s
1. Relate the steps in the selling process to the recruiting effort utilized by Vector Marketing.
2. Brainstorm some ways in which Vector Marketing could use technology to reach out to college students to interest them in its sales program.
P A R T
Pricing Concepts 567 Setting the Right Price 597
W H A T ’ S I N S I D E
Pricing
Decisions
6
C H A P T E R
19
L e a r n i n g O u t c o m e s