Bowflex - Consumer Behavior

The Health and Fitness industry has exploded in the past few years. People find anyway they can to get into great shape, and have simple exercises that can be accomplished in a convienient time and place. The Bowflex company promotes its various home gyms through television commercials, internet advertisements, advertisements in Health and Fitness Magazine, and other various promotional locations.

"Bowflex home gyms can help you completely reshape your body. If you want to lose weight, get in great shape and feel great, a Bowflex home gym is for you. These revolutionary gyms deliver the gym-quality results you want in your own home" (http://www.bowflexhomegyms.com/)

Here is where I get a little confused about consumer's logic when purchasing this product. When I see Bowflex commercials and advertisements, I see the thin, muscular, and attractive people demonstrating the machines, and now I realize, that is how they get people to purchase this product. Consumers see individuals such as this and believe that if they were to use this machine like they state, (only 20 minutes a day) you can look like them as well. Is this true though?

Personally I know that it won't matter how much I workout, I will never look like the people in the commercials. I also dislike the fact that their product tries to tell consumers that using the machine is all you need to do to become healthy. I am a very strong believer in working out, but I think the Bowflex company needs to incorporate nutrition into their product as well. If they could bundle their product with other health and fitness regimes, I think they would see a dramatic increase in their sales, as well as an increase in their customer satisfaction.

Attached is a video of a consumer using one of the Bowflex products:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhoBsJIT7Cc

Free Grand Slam Breakfast at Denny's

With the American economy struggling, and cash being so tight for everyone, what could be better than giving away something for free. Denny's Restaurant took this type of advertising one step further.


During the 2009 Super Bowl, Denny's Restaurant purchased ads throughout the game announcing that they would be giving away "Free Grand Slam Breakfast" on February 3, 2009 from 6am until 2pm at all of their locations across the nation. The breakfast includes two eggs, two pancakes, two sausage patties, and two bacon slices, given away in a promotional stunt sure to draw news coverage.

Customers might think that Denny's is spending a fortune on them, but the biggest expense of all will likely be the Super Bowl spot. Thirty-second ads reportedly sold for up to $3 million. Denny's, which has 1,541 restaurants, predicts it will likely have served about 1,400 people per location the day of the promotion, more than five times the normal volume. Nationwide, the company expected about 1.5 million visitors between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., but it may have seen more than 2 million.


On February 3, 2009 at 5:00am, three of my friends and I all went to the Denny's Restaurant in Pullman, Washington and stood in line for our free breakfast. We were one of the first ones in line, and by the time we were seated at 6:00am the line was all the way outside and around the building.



I believe that playing their ads during the Super Bowl was an excellent marketing tool. Attending an event such as this just reminded customers that the restaurant is a place for good food and good value, and ultimately, people will go back and spend some money. Just incase you missed the commercial during the Super Bowl, here is a link the YouTube Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p96FC_fQrg0

Miller High Life Super Bowl Ad

As all of us saw in class, the Miller High Life Corporations has decided instead of spending $3 million for a 30 second advertisement during Super Bowl XLIII, they have decided to spend their $3 million in a more creative way. They have decided to market their product in one second. That's right, MillerCoors company will be premiering a one second ad during the Super Bowl on Sunday Feb. 1, 2009. This may seem like an unreasonable approach to marketing, but the buzz that the strategy has already received in incredible. I did a little research on Google. All I typed in was "1 second ad" and there were over 98 million hits. It has been incredible to see and hear peoples reactions to this webiste, and personally I think it is a wonderful marketing strategy. For the past few days I have been asking my friends to log on to the website (www.1secondad.com) to take a look and tell me what they thought about the commercials. So far, everyone has love them!

I have seen several 30 second ads over the years during the Super Bowl, and I have to agree that most are pretty funny. But I know that when people see the Miller commericals later today, they are really going to remember them! And I bet they will be talked about for the next few days to come.