As I searched some of the past blogs written by my classmates, I came across a post by Chloe Chen. The post was titled, “Strategic Use of Print Advertising,” and gave some insight to the position of print advertising in today’s marketing world. Although Chloe stressed that print advertising still plays an important part in marketing, there is no doubt that an increasing online presence has had great impact.

Moreover, after reading her blog I began to think how quickly the modes of marketing are changing across the globe and what lies in the future for marketing. I found this topic very interesting so I began searching the web to find some of the possible ways marketing is heading in the future. I began my search with electronic commerce and new forms of social networking and I came across the video below:

If you didn’t have time to watch the full video, it shows how a company in Korea created a virtual grocery store in the middle of an underground subway! The store’s virtual displays replicate exactly what customers would see in their actual store, but now customers can use their smart phones to shop. One would simply have to scan the online code with their phone and the product would automatically land in an online cart and be delivered to their home. I believe changes in marketing are impacted heavily by two factors: convenience and speed. Online newspapers began overriding print newspapers because they could be quickly updated and were conveniently accessible. Similarly, these virtual stores offer great convenience and a fast, automatic updated delivery system. I am amazed of how quickly the world grew to accept the rising of Social Networking, now I can only wait to see how the world reacts to new virtual realities.

To draw inspiration for today’s post I read an external blog titled The Psychology of Color written by Drew McLellan, a 25 year marketing agency veteran. The blog explained how colors trigger powerful emotional responses and enters into detail about what each color represents. To begin, Think about the class we had a few weeks ago, where our groups were shown small segments of corporate logos on the projector, such as Coke and Heineken. From something as simple as a single brush stroke across a colored background many of us were able to recognize which company that logo belonged to from literally thousands of choices!

    This response by the consumer is why companies are interested in the psychology of color for the purposes of marketing. From designing logos, creating ads, building websites, and even creating products the psychology of Color is applicable. For example, it is believed that the color red stimulates your appetite, which is why chains such as Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s use it as the primary color in their logos. Additionally, the service’s industry use for blue is high as it is seen as productive and not invasive. However as I stated before, the application of this topic is not limited only to companies. We see colors and the emotions they generate on a daily basis and this concept expands to a global scale. Think about Canada’s flag, what emotions come to mind when you picture it in your mind? Our flag is colored white for peace and honesty as well as red for bravery, strength, and valor. Citizens take great pride in their countries flag and in the emotions the colors express. I found this topic particularly interesting for it illustrates the broad application of marketing and shows that insight is always available from personal experience.

Appetizing isn't it?

    In our previous marketing class we shortly discussed the battle of marketing supremacy between Adidas and Nike during South Africa’s 2010 FIFA World Cup. I found this topic especially interesting because I consider soccer (or football as it’s known to the rest of the world) to be a large aspect in my life and from which I can share personal experience. Being raised in Serbia, I find that soccer is not only seen as a sport but as a passion and a part of a country’s culture.

Why is this relevant to marketing? Because in Europe the World Cup isn’t just a “bandwagon” event (as the SuperBowl was for many of us) but it is a continental phenomenon, that can only be compared to the symbolism of hockey in Canada. I believe that soccer is a core value for many of the sport’s fans, and that Adidas and Nike battling to associate themselves with this core value is very similar to how the beer company Molson Canadian fights to associate themselves with Canadian core values as seen in this video. As we learned in class, even the best marketing cannot change core values, but if successfully used, associating a brand with a core value is an extremely valuable long-term asset for both brand recognition and loyalty. To create this association with a core value, Nike and Adidas undertook very different strategies.

Adidas was the Official World Cup Sponsor, but Nike used forms of ambush marketing to create ambiguity about this fact while building their own brand awareness. Our class discussion mentioned that Nike’s actions may be unethical but as this external study explains it is anything but ineffective.

I found some very interesting input from Venesia Rizani’s blog post titled Fighting Over “Green”. The post shared how Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are expanding their marketing competition to environmental issues, such as tacking waste and improving renewability. In this post I especially found Venesia’s point on how going “green” can boost morale of the company. This was a fantastic point and opens up an entire additional reason to choose environmentally friendly marketing campaigns. Not only does it appeal to a growing consumer base (as the sustainability issue spreads across the globe), but it also has strong internal incentives for a firm. Environmentally-friendly choices can completely change a company’s attitude towards non-for-profit initiatives, which in turn impacts the company culture. With a new culture the firms will likely attract a different application base and in time the entire company itself will seems to be completely renovated. Indeed Venesia’s point made me realize how greatly linked marketing is to other departments of the business such as human resources in this case. Similarly, a change in corporate culture is likely to impact a firm’s marketing campaign. It seems that there is a cycle of influence that is sent both to and from marketing that affects all sectors of business.

THE CYCLE:

Furthurmore, Venesia’s posting also reminded me of our in-class example of competitive positioning exhibited by Audi and BMW, which is further illustrated by this video. It seems that, like Pepsi and Coke, Audi and BMW are fierce competitors and it is their strong marketing campaigns that secures their future success. Competitive positioning is basically how a firm will differentiate themselves in order to create value to their target market and both the Pepsi vs Coke as well as Audi vs BMW are great examples of this concept.

Greetings to All!

For those of you who don’t know me I am a second year student here at Sauder with an approachable attitude and who never misses his daily application of hair gel. I was born in Serbia in 1992 and have been living in Vancouver for the past 14 years, where I’ve been introduced to the great Canadian cultural phenomenons of sports on ice and incomparable politeness.

I am taking this course as it is required in my STT, but this does not mean that I am not looking forward to it! I am currently undecided to my specialization so I am open to finding a passion in the world of marketing. I gained some experience in marketing as I worked as a sales associate for Hollister last year, where I directly promoted the stores products to customers by applying basic company knowledge and informing the customer of any sales or personal recommendations.  Of course, as I already learned from our first marketing class, sales and advertisements are only the tip of the iceberg in the marketing industry. Otherwise I contributed to the marketing industry by allowing firms access to my personal consumer information, as discussed in class, through sources such as Facebook and Gmail. While receiving information about them through their public advertisements.

In looking through fellow classmates blogs I must agree with Clayton Dang (https://blogs.ubc.ca/claytondang2/) with his belief that the Old Spice commercials are the most humorous advertisements as of yet. I actually happen to be a fan of Old Spice on facebook and can personally vouch for the brand loyalty the company attained through the use of social networking. Click here to view my personal favorite. A personal note about myself is that I’ve never seen a horror movie, nor do I intend to.

    Comm 299 made me realize that I still have little idea about what I truly want in the future and offered me a great toolset of how to discover them in the future. Through information sessions, primary and secondary research, career conferences, and phone calls Comm 299 teaches many of the possibilies of how to connect to your future passion. Comm 299 reinforced my belief that I do not wish to have the pursuit of money as my main concern but to follow my passion which by itself will pay off. Phillipe’s personal experience in switching from Finance to teaching provided a real-life example of how important enjoying one’s job is. Additionally, through the practice interviews in the course I also realized that I shouldn’t be hesitant to let my personality show through even in professional settings and that my personality is a great asset to be taken advantage of. Finally, Comm 299 taught me that I there is still much I have to learn about  business etiquette. What I initially thought was a simple concept actually has strict rules on topics from how to approach groups of people to proper dining. Important skills to have in the future.

  The greatest lesson  I learned from someone has come from my sister. Through example, she showed me that I should never be reluctant to try new things or gain new experiences. The lesson helped me become more open-minded and take advantage of all opportunities thrown at me. Not only does this lesson have intrinsic value for me, but it is also highly appreciated in society. For example, in Sauder’s admission process the school looks in depth to an applicants extra-curricular activities which helps the school decide which applicants are most suitable for the business world. My sister’s lesson helped me become more involved in my school and community which ultimately helped me in getting accepted in the school. Becoming more open-minded is furthermore the first step to becoming more extrovert and sociable. Especially today in a globalized world there are more perspectives offered to individuals then ever before. As seen in Canada, a large collection of cultures, values, and beliefs mix together to create the great diversity seen in this country today. Being open to new experiences has developed as a person and allowed me to appreciate my surroundings and the diversity they offer.

In 1998 the German company Daimler-Benz and the American comany Chrysler merged to form DaimlerChrysler. The merger ended up being a failure, with DaimlerChryler’s stock being valued at half of what it had been on the day the merger was announced.

    As with  my previous blog of the Greek economic crisis, this specified disaster can also be explained through studying the foundations of organizational culture. Daimler-Benz was an extremely hierarchical firm while Chrysler held strong core egalitarian values. When the two companies merged many cases of “infighting” arised directly resulting from the clashing of opposing cultures. The infighting including cases of unethical competition such as use use of internal sabotage or blackmail. Jurgen Schrempp, chair of the merged companies until 2005, admitted that he initially intended for the merger to be a takeover of Chryslers firm, this explains why many American employees were, “slow to trust” German management. The obvious friction between these two cultures eventually led to Daimler selling Chrysler to a private equity firm in 2007.

    This example illustrates how important organizational culture is to the creation, success, and ultimately perseverence of any corporation, even those extending beyond national borders.

Resources: Article and Informing Video

    On May 5, 2010 tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Athens angered by huge tax hikes and drastic spending cuts (video link here.) The protest turned violent when protesters set the Greek Finance Ministry aflame with crude gasoline bombs killing three people inside. The question on everyones minds is how did the crisis get so bad?

    In focusing on the cultural aspect of Danielle Van Jaarsveld’s October presentation in Comm 101 it is evident that Greece’s organizational culture played a large part in fueling this crisis. Organizational culture is basically the shared beliefs and values held within a organization. According to David Muir and Bradley Blackburn’s article analysing the Greek economic crisis, “tax evasion was not only accepted but embraced by much of the [Greek] population.” This ideology created a very negative organizational culture which lead to an unstable relationship between employees and firms. High compensation rates, huge holiday bonuses, and generous salaries allowing many Greek citizens to retire in their early 50’s may seem like a good thing, but someone had to cover for this. The Greek Government supported this negative organizational culture by financially supporting the commodities Greek citizens enjoyed, unfortunately in the end everyone felt the consequences.

After learning about entrepreneurship and recent successful Sauder alumni such as Brian Wong I explored the subject online, stumbling across an article titled 15 Successful Entrepreneurs Who Did Not Need College. The members of this exclusive list include such prestigious names as: Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Milton Hershey, and even the legendary animator Walt Disney himself. During our presentation on entrepreneurship we learnt that 50% of businesses fail within 5 years, the main reasons associated with these failures included lack of experience and capital. Mr. Michael Dell however dropped out of college at the age of 19 with a mere 1,000 dollars in his pocket and managed to begin what became the most profitable PC manufacturer among the world.

    In consideration of the title of the referred article it is clear that a lack of educational experience is held across the list. So if it wasn’t a Harvard degree or Daddy’s investment fund that made these men some of the most influential figures in the world today what was it? In short, what skills they lacked academically were more than regained by their burning sense of passion. Passion holds no bias to its beholder no matter what the environment it is fueled in may be, as illustrated in these 15 brilliant examples.