Alanna Hua

Comments on the blog posted by my classmate, Chiu, Candice

Posted on November 13, 2013

What I found the blog interesting is the similar pattern of marketing strategies I experienced not only here but also back in China. Watsons is a chain store selling various brands of cosmetic and health caring products. It enjoys the same status in China as Body Shop does here.

I still remember when I first stepped in Watsons, I was recommended to be a member of the store, which promised to provide me with incredible service and free gifts during the festival and my birthday every year. What was required obviously is my personal information. My name, birthday, email address, and phone number were recorded for the membership. In return, I got a moss green membership card and 10 percent off. Few weeks ago, when I was shopping with my friends in Sephora, the cashier also wanted me to join their membership. Once I joined, I got a free lipstick.

From then on, ads email fills my mailbox and I even don’t want to check my email every week simply because I totally know what will be waiting there for me, hundreds of ads email. I started to reflect what I did in the original years in my life. I have a stack of membership cards and gift cards of various stores. Is it a good way to keep their customers using this strategy? Honestly, it is. I cannot think about a better way then using the discount membership or gift card to attract customer who is willing to maker his purchase here. However, if the store sent me their product information every month not every week or even every two or three days, I will be really appreciate.

1)   http://www.watsons.com.hk/webhk/Home.do (picture)

2)   Links of the blog post of Candice Chiu:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/candicechiu/2013/11/13/free-lipstick-for-us-free-consumer-information-for-m-a-c/

Comments on the blog posted by my classmate, Zhang, Jiaxuan

Fido’s customer service

Posted on October 7, 2013

The title of this blog reminds me of few calls I received several weeks ago. Instead of Fido, I chose Rogers in the very beginning. The reason for this is simply because of the rumor I heard that the data service provided by Fido is not as stable as Rogers does, although it charges five dollar less.

From reading the blog Jiaxuan posted about the customer service call, I found the one I received is a little bit different from what she got. The man who was calling me basically reported and explained the usage information of the phone service to me. I know many people are very busy with their personal stuff like me who seldom check the usage information on Rogers website and that might be the reason why Mr. Rogers decide to make phone calls to his customers reminding them with their bills and try hard to build connections.

The man who was doing the phone call is extremely patient. I can feel it from his voice. I told him I have connected my bill account to my bank account, which makes it easier for me as I don’t have to pay the bill myself every month. I really appreciate what Rogers did for me since I have a better understanding of the bill information before the money transfer to my Rogers account.

Resources:

1)   http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/carriers/rogers/rogers-launches-21mbps-hspa-network/ (picture)

2)   links of the blog post of Jiaxuan Zhang:

Fido’s customer service

In July 2013, I was still in China preparing for my brand new university life in Vancouver. One day, I checked my Yahoo mail to see if there were any messages I missed from UBC. Surprisingly, I found there is few sentences said, “Please transfer your important e-mails to Alibaba’s Alimail and connect to its Aliyun mail service to receive e-mails till the end of 2014. The Yahoo China mail service is going to close soon.” Until that day, I suddenly realized that so-called “lifelong mail service” finally move towards an unpleasant end.

Recall to the ”lifelong mail service” first launched by Yahoo China in 2007, it seems more likely “a joke” since the lifelong service commitment only lasted for six years. I could still remember that day when I spent more than five hours searching information about Yahoo China mail service. The report showed that the shutdown of Yahoo China is not really a big surprise as it stopped its Chinese music, album and blog service gradually before the final closure in August 2013.

Many people complain because they used Yahoo China mail as their log in name signing up for a large number of websites. They have to change all of their user names and transfer their data to another mail service due to the shutdown of Yahoo China.

What make me reflect is why free services last for such a short time and then end its life easily? Nothing would come for free. That is the truth.

Resources:

1)   http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/18/yahoo-shuts-down-its-email-service-in-china/

2)   http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2423280,00.asp

3)   http://cqrbepaper.cqnews.net/cqrb/html/2013-08/20/content_1668603.htm

4)   http://www.tmtpost.com/57520.html (pictures)

There is no doubt that Microsoft Corporation is the best working place on earth. In October 2011, the result of Great Places to Work Institute released. Microsoft Corporation won the reward without any controversies.

Reward is a good way to recognize the company and drive it forwards to a better development in the future. After reading several articles talking about this amazing corporation, I started to think about what makes it outstanding during the fierce competition.

Microsoft Corporation offers great flexibility to its employees who are allowed to manage their time instead of simply following the rule. For instance, if an employee felt sick in the morning, he can take a rest at home during the daytime and come to work at night, which better fit the real situation. The company helps its employees achieve a work-life balance in terms of giving them freedom to organize their schedules and using technology in a smart way.

The company cares about the health of its employee both physically and mentally. There is even a health center established with advanced medical technology and wellness coaching programme. In addition to the medical care, the company also encourages every employee to contribute to the community instead of only caring about their own career. Communication together with collaboration forms a harmonious working environment and effective teamwork is largely performed as well. We see happy faces wearing on every member of this wonderful corporation and guess that is the reason why Microsoft Corporation is growing into the best place to work in the word at large.

Resources:

1)http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/emea/presscentre/pressreleases/multinationalworkplaceeurope2011.mspx

2)http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2011/10/27/microsoft-recognized-as-the-no-1-global-workplace-by-the-great-places-to-work-institute.aspx (picture)

3)http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2013/snapshots/75.html

As the first travel company that is female owned and operated in Ladakh, it is an internationally outstanding case of successful social entrepreneurship. Ladakh is one of the most beautiful and attractive places in northern India. This travel agency was fund by Thinlas Chorol, one of the most experienced guides in Ladakh.

Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company offers great opportunity to those women who stay at home having nothing interesting to do. It gathers more and more women who love their hometown and want to have a better life doing something benefit the society. Ladakhi women are trained to be tourists who work for the travel agency. It provides homestay, in which you can experience Ladakhi in a different way. The funder of this travel agency, Thinlas, aimed to encourage women to protect and develop their hometown in an environmentally friendly way. Fortunately, it works. The company highly contributed to the local economic growth, and proven that women deserve the same status as men have.

Gender issue has been raged as one of the most controversial ones in the recent society. People argue about why women cannot perform the same job better than men do. Ladakhi Women’s Travel Company positively pointed out the ability that women can independently live on their owns.

Resources:

1)   http://www.ladakhiwomenstravel.com (pictures)

2)   http://www.ladakhiwomenstravel.com/about.htm

3)   http://goindia.about.com/od/adventure/a/Thinlas-Chorol.htm (Interview with Thinlas Chorol)

I am quite interested in social entrepreneurship we discussed about in class these days. Thus, I did a bit research and find this blog talking about five successful examples.

Honestly, I was attracted when I first saw the name of this restaurant. Fifteen is one of the most successful and greatest social entrepreneurships in the world at large. It was fund by an English celebrity chef named Jamie Oliver, who started his business in 2002. Jamie said that at first, he built up the restaurant simply to benefit those disadvantaged youths who suffer from unemployment and cannot earn a living. Now, there are two other restaurants operate in Amsterdam and Cornwall.

Fifteen, a fabulous restaurant, serves delicious Italian food. The name of the restaurant was from the first fifteen young people who joined the Apprentice Programme. Jamie aimed to give a chance to those who need a new and fresh start to earn a better future. He taught them how to communicate; how to create good and healthy food; how to form a functional team working effectively. Fifteen is more about a simply catering; it is about friendship, family and a sense of belonging.

Moreover, Jamie Oliver started to broadcast on channel four, talking about the restaurant in seven-part programme, “ Jamie’s Kitchen.” You can watch all videos on YouTube and it’s free. I found this programme quite interesting and meaningful because young people like me are sometimes confused about future. Who I will become? What job I will take? Fifteen is really a good start to find the real interest and talent you didn’t find in original years in your life. I believe it will be a great experience being one of the “Fifteens.”

Resources:

1)http://blog.ringcentral.com/2012/02/5-successful-examples-of-social-entrepreneurship/ (external blogs about social entrepreneurship)

2) http://www.jamieoliver.com/the-fifteen-apprentice-programme/about/story (further blog readings about the story and pictures)

3) http://www.jamieoliver.com/the-fifteen-apprentice-programme/about/story (video about teamwork in Fifteen)

Many concerns have attracted by the business issue that the apple company treats different countries in distinct ways. In this year, many consumers in China complained about the warranty services provided by Apple stores.

Initially, the warranty service of Apple indicates that products including iPhones and iMacs are guaranteed for twelve months, from date of sale, providing only by impersonal factors. The feedback from customers, however, revealed that the rules seem quite different from other countries to China. Apple is supposed to offer a new iPhone to the user if the good was broke within the guarantee period. Nevertheless, they didn’t change the back cover and the staff used the “rule of Apple” to reply the query of customers. Moreover, the warranty time period only last for ninety days after they get a new one. According to the recent reports presented by Chinese journalists in different countries, Apple is sort of involved in a suspicion of discrimination.

To this issue, the official reply from Apple said that it was the lack of communication between customers and them that finally caused the problem. They promise to modify the rules and to provide all customers with bran new experiences. The company apologized and claimed that they did not mean to treat customers in distinct ways.

From this case, I feel like that communication plays a significant role in business field. An enterprise especially the one with high reputation ought to ensure a better interaction and gain the feedback regularly which do contribute to the marketing in the future.

Resources:

1) http://news.xinhuanet.com/info/2013-04/02/c_132279072.htm

2) http://business.sohu.com/20130315/n369006386.shtml

3) http://www.slashgear.com/what-i-learned-from-working-at-the-apple-store-0888979/ (picture)

Nowadays, advertisement is not a new vocabulary for all of us. Everyday, everywhere, we are surrounded with various advertisements persuading consumers to make purchases on their products. However, mendacious advertising made up by those deceitful merchants causing the loss of consumers both physically and mentally.

Medicine advertisement occupied a large portion in this field. Back in China, once a company made up an advertisement talking about an unguent, which can provide a perfect treatment on diverse diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and so on. During the whole advertising period, an retired elderly was invited to play a role as a traditional medicine doctor who have an old but highly effective prescription, which was handed down from his ancestors. This is quite stupid and technically people can find it tricky through its exaggerated decription. However, those who suffered a lot from diseases flock to products and the company did not be exposed until this year.

To be honest, advertising has to be one of the most significant components in the marketing place. Merchants make their advertisement to be creative in order to attract consumers, which resulted in an increase in their sales. Nevertheless, consumers still have to be clear about the function of the product.

Resources:

1) http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/809491

2) http://business.sohu.com/20130315/n369011231.shtml

3)http://www.everyday-economist.com/2012/10/fake-medical-student-upsets-campus.html (picture)

In recent years, the privacy is getting increasingly important and more people are now concerning about their private safety especially when they browse webpages. According to the report, many companies are doing the cookie collection job in order to achieve huge gains from consumers. The news sparked panic and a debate has been raged as the cookie collection is whether legal or illegal.

Generally speaking, cookie collection is based on a large extent the use of Internet. Once you open a webpage, the trail you are leaving online will be recorded. Companies, who are living on such thing, are able to gain access to your data by impersonating a client. From this, a company can directly take a look on the websites you have open and analyze your trails to get your personal information. They will know your cell phone number, your email address, your email content, your age, your name and even your annual income. After the cookie collection, the advertisement of their products would be simply sent to you if you were interested in this field.

Some people believe that it is a good way to increase the sale of the company while others consider it to be extremely crazy that different people can see almost everything of you. How about if some malicious users use your personal information to hurt your family? However, the law is still blurring in China. From my perspective, cookie collection must be banned and more and more people should be encouraged to pay more attention on their privacy.

Resources：

1) http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms524757(v=vs.90).aspx

2) http://jingji.cntv.cn/2013/03/15/ARTI1363356067171925.shtml

3) http://vijay-kreationz.blogspot.ca/2011/09/how-to-delete-cookies.html (picture)

It was a big shock in China when the examination of the milk powder of Sanlu released in 2008. Nearly one hundred kids suffered from the ‘poisonous milk powder. ‘The government attached great importance to this event. From then on, people in panic started to purchase the milk powder from other countries. For this reason, the whole milk industry in China was widely affected.

Nevertheless, the most significant point to consider is the reason Sanlu acted so badly in this affair and how to rebuild the reputation of the milk industry in China. When it comes to our next generation, a responsive chord is easily struck in the public. The unqualified censorship and means alerted everyone to pay more attention on the business ethics. How to balance the business integrity and the ambition to the profits or to the massive sales even in the world at large? Not only large enterprises with high reputation, but also those start-ups should contribute to the harmony of community.

It is good to learn from another man’s cost. The mistake that Sanlu made caused a tremendous incredible loss of the Chinese milk market. There is still a long way to go to create a worldwide ethic business culture.

Resources:

1) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1056151/Chinas-poison-milk-kills-children-leaves-6-000-sick.html

2) http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1843536,00.html

3) http://www.qqbaobao.com/yingerjieduan/fushitianjia/146377.html (picture)