Meanderings

Shopping, Advertising in Australia and what it says to Tonga

Posted by: Samiuela LV Taufa on July 11, 2006 5:32:02 PM

We've been settling in for 2 weeks now, and it's great to be taking showers where you get as much hot water as you can take. A very interesting issue I've noticed in talking with Tongans here is the dominating influence (as I percieve) of the "Taimi 'o Tonga" on moulding perceptions of governance in Tonga.

In the short past, the Government of Tonga have attempted two responses, improving the official government website http://www.pmo.gov.to and initiating another government news site http://www.tonga-now.to. What can we see from this?

Web and Print for Toy Promotions

This week we're being bombarded with advertising from the three major department stores Big W, K-Mart, and Target. The 99+% effort of their promotion is through print advertising inserted in newspapers and dropped at our outdoor-mailbox.

Now, I'm really interested in the LeapPad range of childrens' toys for Ma'ata Ngalo'afe and Sisitoutai. We've ordered a whole range of LeapPad stuff http://www.leappad.com through Amazon and buy stuff each time we get into Australia. Of the range of toys available to kids, I think this range has the most consistently educational value. One of their products, "Leapster," we bought on our last trip retailing AUD$250.00 is now selling for around AUD$90 while the newer version Leapster L-Max is selling for around AUD$140.

http://www.bigw.com.au tells us that: BigW have a big range of stuff. The photographs on the website look much clearer than what's on the print advertising. Unfortunately, browsing the online catalog makes me think it doesn't have the LeapPad stuff I'm looking for, even though down at the local store I saw it on the shelf.

BAD: No pricing.

BAD: No online ordering.

http://www.kmart.com.au tells us that: KMart are having specials this week. The print catalog is the primary sale tool online, so clicking on pages brings up a copy of the print catalog. Hey, they even have a button so I can print my own copy of the catalog.

Special prices are given with the online catalog (again, because it is a straight copy of the print catalog.) Unfortunately it is a pain to browse through the online version.

I see that K-Mart has:

The Leapster L-Max on sale for $109, a saving of $40.
The Leapster and L-Max cartridges are on sale $10 off.

Good: Pricing Available.

BAD: No Online Ordering (although mail orders, fax orders available.)

http://www.target.com.au tells us that: We should be getting a catalog soon because they will be having a sale after next week and to prepare us, we can look at the online version of the catalog now.

BAD: No pricing,

BAD: No online orders.

I've walked the aisles at both K-Mart and BigW and their prices are exactly the same, but what has this got to do with Tonga (apart from the fact I wish we could have bought more LeapPad stuff while in Tonga?)

The importance of Print

Three large companies, making major money in a two week sale have largely focussed their promotional activities on print. Even the best/most-effective of the online catalogs (http://www.kmart.com.au) is designed for the user to print.

The Internet is a communications medium, for Tonga as for BigW, K-Mart, Target, the value of the medium is limited to the value of message being projected and the utility of the "Internet" for the message.

For department store sales, as well as news of Tonga, people prefer a printed copy. You really need to take that catalog with you to the store to make sure you can prove to the assistant that there is a contract between them and you that they need to supply the advertised product at the advertised price.

The majority of people department store sales are trying to reach are not looking at their internet (if they even have one) to find out the latest local sales.

The most effective way of reaching people about department store sales, is print catalogs in their hands.

The Internet savvy Tongans I've met browse different news related sites of Tonga such as http://www.matangitonga.to and http://www.planet-tonga.com but discussions tend to get deeper when it comes to articles printed and bought from the Taimi 'o Tonga and the Kele'a.

Rarely have I seen someone who actually checks government websites http://www.pmo.gov.to or http://www.tonga-now.to

Visit bTonga

What should Government do ?

Fix the problems with the Tonga Chronicle, Kalonikali Tonga.

What ever it is that is preventing the Kalonikali from making more print runs, selling overseas and getting more diverse news items diverse opinions, the Government needs to fix it.

Make the Kalonikali a viable news alternative for overseas Tongans and you might provide a balancing view. Otherwise, just forfeit the agenda for international Tongans.

For the truely masochistic news gatherer, the latest online news releases are readily found through the Search Engines' News Section as noted in the previous post.

Nomoa.com

Meanderings

Modules

Shopping, Advertising in Australia and what it says to Tonga

Web and Print for Toy Promotions

The importance of Print

What should Government do ?