Posts by Janna Chi:
Dec
1
In marketing blog, AdFreak, I chose to comment on the post “Macy’s Justin Bieber Black FridayAd Has Everybody Screaming for Some, It’s in Terror” by Gabriel Beltrone because the photo of Justine Bieber drew my attention. Even though Justin is not my idol at all, he is too popular which raises a question: is it a good promotion tactic to use popular singers?
Things always have two sides. A famous singer may has a lot of fans, at the same time, he/she usually also has many haters, just like Justin Bieber. Yet, this may lead to the success of promotion campaign. First, obviously their fans are going to support what their idol promote. On the other hand, although haters may create strong dislike of the advertisment, this is better than consumers being overwhelmed by advertisments and ignoring them.
As Gabriel Beltrone says, the screaming sounds in Macy’s Black Friay ad are annoying rather than attractive. Yet, this may create noises well. This is beacuse people who dislike something are often more likely to complain about it to others; therefore, more people would be aware of the ad.
Whether people like or dislike Justin Bieber, or the ad, this ad successfully creates a lot of noise.
Nov
9
Reflecting on Eli Chan’s post on Reaching for the Yellow Bag, I agree that some of the no name brands have low quality products but there must be some that are as good as the popular brands. I think the same way as Eli about how the yellow bag lowers the brand image of no name chips. I do not understand why the company has to design the bag this way. Packaging is the final way to promote the brand before consumers make the purchase. Shouldn’t the company use a better design for the bag to attract consumers? Won’t putting more colour on the packaging while using the same material cost about the same?
(Slightly different design can bring consumer different feeling towards the product.)
While a better desgin may attract consumers’ attention, a cheaper looking design has successfully positioned the chip in a “less for much less” niche. As Eli mentioned in the post, the economic downturn changes consumers’ purchasing behaviour. They are less willing to spend money on their favourite brands and go for what they think gives them the best deal. If the cheap yellow brand image is changed, there may be chance of losing this group of consumer because they are getting the wrong message of the brand position even when the price remains the same.
Perhaps creating a better packaging is not what serves the company’s goal because of the positioning of no name brand. Consumer psychology is very interesting; they may not go for the better looking product since they believe money is being wasted on the pretty packaging and they would rather have the company lower the price of the product.
Sometimes ugly packaging is good marketing. =)
Oct
7
After reading Kate Sun’s posting about google+, I think both sides have their points depending on how google continue to develop and market Google+. At first I agree with her point of view becuase I am an addicted Facebook user who won’t even think of getting a Google+ account. But at the same time, a lot of people are complaining about the Facebook privacy issue, and some even stop using Facebook. The article “Analysis: Some Facebook Privacy Issues Are Real, Some Are Not” talks about the Facebook privacy issue. Another complaint is that Facebook is changing and upgrading its interface too frequently. It was originally a good intention which aims to provide an easier and more convenient usage experience but many users find it’s cumbersome to adapt to the constant changes. As of July 2011, there are the following difference between Google+ and Facebook.
If Google+ can provide the same features that Facebook has without the problems, Google+ may have the ability to win the battle, especially when Google+ is supported by a fantastic company with abundant resources and leader position in many internet product and services.
Sep
18
In chapter 1, the concept of sustainable market has been introduced and the class discussed some examples of eco friendly companies and their marketing strategies. I personally think that no matter the intention- whether it is to build the positive image for the company, to get a share of the sustainable market and attract consumers or to educate the public and save the planet, it is beneficial to the environment and therefore is a positive trend.
The marketing strategies that provide a similiar message do not only appear in North America but all around the world. Besides the example we looked at class about ali baba pizza box, there is another product that sells on its eco friendly packaging in Hong Kong. The product is bottled water and the bottle uses 34% less plastic to make and can be squeezed into a smaller size which can save space up to 86% and make recycling easier.
At first, I was only aware of the Hong Kong advertisment which sells eco friendliness, but when I was finding the ad for this post, I came across Bonaqua’s ad for other countries. It is surprising for me that they are not selling the same point as Hong Kong.
This finding makes me understand that the green selling point in Hong Kong is only a marketing strategy for getting into the mainstream but not in other countries. If the company really wants to promote the message of envrionmental protection, shouldn’t it promote the message in countries that lack the awareness?
Apr
6
During this semester, I learned a lot of useful things about career from this class, for example, writing a strong resume and cover letter, performing in an interview, learning about strengths and weakness by doing the Strengths Quest and finally finding out what kind of job I am suitable for. I found out I am a includer, communicator and arranger; and I am also responsible and positive. When I was writing my resume, I realized that my work experiences are not wide enough and are not related to the job for which I was trying to apply. Moreover, the part time job experiences are also not helpful for the future career that I am planning to do. Therefore, I realized that I should start taking the 4th step, building my brand.
Another insight that I gained is the applicant’s attitude during all the steps in the application process is important. This kind of thing seems to be very common sense but is easily overlooked. If you have not thought about what would happen and be prepared before making a phone call, it is likely that you can never reach your intended contact person. Even a simple thing like handshake affects the first impression others have of you. In every step of the job search, I need to be careful and prepared. In this course, I learned many things that are important to my future career, from a simple thing like a handshake to mapping the whole career path.
Mar
23
From the past few years, I learn that time can change everything, but not for love.
I have a brother who is four years older than me. We are both international students. We have been living together alone since I was grade 8. Without my parent’s supervision, he acts as my guardian. I still remeber when I was young, when my brother had a date, he never left me home alone but brought me to the date. When I was hungry, no matter what time it was, he drove out just to buy food for me. Even though he always told me to do a lot of housework, he ended up finishing everything himself. However, we both grew up. He seems like he needs more private time than before. Especially after we moved to the new house, we always stay in our own bedroom. We talk less. He may go back to Hong Kong for good this year because he is going to graduate soon. Even though we are now less close, I believe that my brother still loves me just like before. No matter how far apart he will be from me in the future, he is definitely my most important person in my life and my love for him will never change.
Dec
2
If you want to buy discount products online, Overstock.com is a good choice. The idea behind this website is in its name, overstock. Companies which have surplus products can sell to Overstock.com. Nowadays, Overstock.com is expanding their business and becoming more and more popular. The reason for the expansion for the company is because plenty of companies do not do a good forecast before they produce or purchase products. For example, a new company which has no prior sales or production data to rely on will find it difficult to do forecasting while a company selling the same product over the years can have realistic sales forecast to guide their production. Yet, even for a company that has been in business for many years, if it introduces a new product, they usually do their forecast based on the old products, and such forecast may not be too accurate. In most cases, forecast is only a guess work. Nonetheless, companies cannot produce without forecasting. Therefore, it is very important to have a good forecasting team. The existence and success of Overstock.com prove that many companies lack a good forecasting team. Having accurate forecast is especially important any industry that depends on trends and styles, like the fashion industry. If a company fails in forecasting, it may lead to overstocking problem and financial loss. When such company does not have a solid finance, it may even go bankrupt.
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Bedding-Bath/1/dept.html?cid=132977&kid=1472559
Dec
2
I can almost guarantee that every University student has used Google’s services. Its most popular services are google search and google map. In 1998, Google was formed. In a relatively short time, it became the top search engine. I believe besides the good leadership in Google, a solid workforce is one of the key reasons behind the company’s success. Google employees are very satisfied. From an OB angle, when employees are satisfied, they will work harder and have loyalty to their company, which will increase the company’s productivity. We can easily understand why Google’s employees are happy by just looking at their work place. It is comfortable, colourful and casual. The ”Google way” has been established for many years. Even though the company has grown its business, it can still keep the company’s spirit till now; unlike another technology company, Hewlett Packard, which failed to continue with the HP culture and has poor leadership, and thus suffers the problem of staff dissatisfaction.
When I reseach on Google’s culture, their working environment and their culture attract me. In many companies, executives are only concerned about efficiency and ignores soft issues like company culture. Yet, Google’s success has proven that the culture of a company and team bulding are actually very important factors that can directly influence a company’s performance. Afterall, a company is a collection of people.
http://www.google.com/corporate/culture.html
Dec
2
Dec
2
When we talk about finance, the first person comes to my mind is Warren Buffett, a 77 old man who once passed Bill Gates and became the richest person in the world. In the class, We learned the basic about finance which is risk allocation, how stock prices are determined, how finance affect a company’s opperation. Buffett’s main business is investment in the stock market. He is an expert in risk assessment. He always has special insight to uncover the undervalue companies. After the financial crisis in 2008, many billionaires lost their fortune when their company’s stock lose their value. Yet, at the same time, Buffett’s company raise 20% in stock market. In the financial crisis, many companies went into bankruptcy or other financial troubles because of poor risk management. Sometime, even if the company has a correct market stragtegy, good products or a good leadership, the business can still fail because their financing and credit management are not appropriate. In this area, Buffett is unsurpassed. But sometimes people think that he is too conservative. The financial crisis proven that sometimes conservative is a good thing and they should show restraint in how fast a company expands and how aggressive they use in financing.