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Do NOT go to Jang Mo Jib!!!!!!

Yesterday I went for dinner at Jang Mo Jib on Kingsway (Burnaby) and I had a life time disappointing experience!  We ordered this hot pot dish that the waiter placed on the portable stove to keep it heated.  So I was casually talking to my friend when suddenly, BOOM! All the soup and some food from the hot pot flew out of the stove and bounced EVERYWHERE – our skin, clothes, bags, table, chairs, EVERYWHERE!! All the customers around us were staring at us for a long time and this lady, who I believe is the owner or has somewhat a higher authority in the restaurant, came to wipe our table and complained that we caused the hot pot to explode and scared her customers.

First of all, a waiter checked and adjusted the heat on the hot pot just TWO minutes before the explosion.  Secondly, what is the point in having a waiter if it was our duty to watch the heat?  I’ve been to MANY hot pot places and I have NEVER had the need to watch the heat myself.  So I asked the lady if she’s accusing us that the explosion is our fault.  She replied, “You were supposed to watch the heat.”  Was that some “understood” policy in the foods and services industry that no one else knows about?  She also pointed out how all the other customers’ hot pots were fine, therefore, it was our fault.

Did I mention absolutely NO ONE of the Jang Mo Jib crew 1) apologized, or 2) asked if we were alright?  We are dealing with a serious hazard here.  Imagine boiling soup in contact with your skin.

Now let’s talk about the customer service unrelated to the explosion.  It took us over five minutes to get our waiter’s attention to hand us over the bill – this was by 9:30pm when the restaurant only had a few occupied tables remaining.  When I paid by credit card, I waited a full minute in front of the cashier to simply rip my receipt for me to sign.  What was he doing instead?  Too busy counting his cash from closing for the day, while my receipt was sitting on the machine waiting to be ripped off.

This is absolutely ridiculous.  If you are hoping to have a meal without the worry of your food exploding in front of your face, do NOT go to Jang Mo Jib.  If you’re looking for even just a little customer service or respect, don’t even think about Jang Mo Jib.

I rest my case.

Hot Pot Before The Explosion

After The Explosion

Recently it was my friend’s birthday and I was planning a dinner for him.  However, since more people decided to come and I couldn’t change my reservation (because the restaurant couldn’t accommodate all of us that night), I had to find another restaurant.  I called other places like The Keg in Yaletown, Italian Kitchen, Earls, and Moxie’s – where I was finally able to make a reservation.

I was planning to get my friend a gift card from the restaurant and expected them to offer it since almost all well-established restaurants do as a marketing and business strategy.  With their company’s gift card, consumers are “forced” to go to their restaurant and provide business for them.  So why wouldn’t a company offer gift cards?  I was searching online to see if I could get the card beforehand, so that I didn’t have to purchase it at the restaurant in front of the birthday boy.  That’s when I discovered Moxie’s customizable gift card!

The first step in customization is to add an image from your computer to put onto the card.  There’s a photo editor bar on the bottom where you can edit your image until it fits just right.  In addition, there are three different banners you can choose from, each with a different layout that includes the name and logo of the restaurant.  You can also add text to your card – for example, “Happy Birthday.”  The card will be shipped to you charging a $3.99 processing fee.

The card adds value to customers because of the personalization.  But in my opinion, a $3.99 processing fee is too much – I would rather credit an extra $3.99 onto my gift card then to get it personalized, so I ended up purchasing it at Moxie’s instead.

When I was planning to use the A&W coupons I received in the mail to buy lunch today, I saw a poster in their store unit advertising their new product, the Grandma Burger! I was really surprised to see this because they just launched the new Uncle Burger not too long ago.

The Grandma Burger is different from the rest of the family burgers – this one is a prime rib burger.  The slogan for this new product is “Upgrade your taste buds to first class” – inviting consumers to try the top-of-the-line burger.  A&W appears to be introducing more and more higher-end products, as exemplified with the Uncle and Grandma burgers.  I wonder what they will come up next?  The burger is priced at $3.99, no significant difference in price in relation to the family.

But why is it called the Grandma Burger, and not, say, the Aunt Burger?  In my opinion, since the Uncle Burger is the only burger not made of just plain beef, the prime rib burger should be named accordingly – the Aunt burger.  I imagined the Grandma Burger with somewhat similar characteristics or ingredients with the Grandpa Burger, but that’s not the case.

There’s a significant difference with the packaging of the Grandma Burger.  While all the A&W burgers are packaged in silver wrapping, the grandma burger is wrapped in gold – another emphasis on the premium of the burger.  In addition, just like the Uncle (Sirloin) Burger, the labelling of the Grandma Burger emphasizes less on “Grandma,” but more on “prime rib” by using a bigger font with the latter.

Consumers have been wanting a Grandma Burger, so they came up with an online petition.  Although I didn’t order the Grandma Burger today, I would give it a try in the future.

After thinking about a wedding at Disneyland from my previous post, I suddenly have the urge to go there this instant!  But of course this won’t happen because I’m still in school, so the most I can do now is to just look at Disneyland commercials until I actually go!  In search for many commercials, I found the most interesting one ever!

Unique isn’t it?  What is even a tilt-shift video?  For the miniature effect of the customers, this video was taken from different photo angles, focus settings, and colour saturation adjustments.  Did you know this 2:38 minute video took seven months and 4000 photographs to produce? (source)

Let’s encode this masterpiece.

Colour: Definitely bright and colourful, truly symbolic of Disney.  There’s never a moment in the video where you’re not seeing something uncolourful – even during the night time of the tour, the Disney parade is beautifully displayed with bright lights.  The vivid colours create attention, especially to Disney’s target market—children—who are attracted to colourful objects.

Images: The clip brings you to a day spent at Disneyland Paris with a series of images starting with the park entrance to the monorail; to the many attractions including rides, auto shows, and parades; and to finish off with fireworks.  Despite the miniature customers, they symbolize how busy and packed the theme park  is from day to night.  Also notice the blurry background that puts the park attractions into focus.

Music: The music played is a gentle trumpet tune, one thats similar to what you would hear at the entrance of every Disney theme park.  This trumpet tune creates a cheerful mood that is perfectly symbolic of what Disney offers.

And I have to say, the high definition of the video really makes Disneyland Paris extremely vivid – an absolutely gorgeous effect.

I’m totally ticked from what I just read on Mandy’s blog (blogs.ubc.ca/mandycheung37)!  WOW, a wedding at McDonald’s!  Now that’s really unexpected!  I thought Mandy was just making it up until I watched the video with my very own eyes: McWedding

The McWedding started in Hong Kong and created huge media because who would’ve thought of having a wedding at McDonald’s!  According to this article, McDonald’s found this new brand extension because it saw a potential in the market for those who have met and dated at McDonald’s.  Yes, it would be meaningful to have a wedding hosted somewhere significant in a couple’s love story – but McDonald’s just doesn’t seem to be the right place for that.  I was so shocked by this I showed the video to a friend, whose first reaction was “All I can think of is the guy is too cheap.”  Which is true – even the article says a table for ten at a five star hotel can cost $1300CDN – compared to $1300USD for the entire McWedding!  Since the Chinese like to invite everyone to their weddings, cost may be an issue; thus, they go for a McWedding.

Of course, McDonald’s is part of everyone’s childhood –but so is Disney.  Like Mandy said, Disney is all about fantasy and making dreams come true.  Every girl lives in her own fairytale and waits for her prince charming –trust me, I know this because the girls I work with at YMCA always choose to colour a Disney princess, among many colouring sheets.  Disney is magical—it’s a lifelong journey to find your prince charming.  McDonald’s, on the other hand, is an everyday life experience.  I’m confident that most couples would not associate Ronald McDonald with their “perfect” wedding, but perhaps a Disney princess, at least from an ordinary girl’s perspective.

Have you heard about Facebook email yet?  I certainly haven’t, until my friend told me yesterday she just got it.  Facebook email was announced in November 2010 in San Francisco, but it’s certainly not any major news, since a lot of people don’t know about it (yet).

So how does Facebook email differ from its competitors – Google Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo?  Facebook email doesn’t have the traditional functions, such as a subject line, cc and bcc abilities, or “out of office” auto messages.  Facebook highlights its selling point of an unlimited file size constraint on picture and video attachments.  In addition, Facebook will be working with Microsoft Office to allow email users to view Word, Excel, and PowerPoint attachments with Office Web Apps directly in Facebook.  Now that’s interesting!

I guess Facebook is trying to expand its market by adding a business component to its social network market.

In my opinion, Facebook email will not be successful.  It should stick with its brand of social networking and expand its image from there, rather than adding or introducing something new and not quite related.  Email is essential in the business world and professionals would use the one that offers the most to them.  Although Facebook is adding Microsoft Office features to its email, it’s still incompatible with its competitors, especially Gmail – which almost every business professional uses.  For example, most business students are Gmail users because it offers features that other companies don’t, such as Google Docs.  For Facebook to match Gmail, it will have to invest a lot of time and money to innovate something better, or at least something new to the market, to make Facebook distinctive from other email companies so that it’s worthwhile for consumers to try out Facebook email.

This blog was written in response to this article.

Recently I’ve been constantly thinking about Starbucks because I’ve been facing my marketing group project (company chosen: Starbucks) for countless hours everyday for the past week.  Then when it came to thinking of what to blog about, I thought of Starbucks again!  I came across Angel Hou’s post, “Starbucks Release,” (https://blogs.ubc.ca/angelhou) on the launch of Starbucks’ Trenta cup.  Fascinating!

I agree with Angel that this 31oz cup is not exactly appealing to everyone; in fact, I think majority of the market will actually be against it.  For example, one individual responded, “Sweet, more plastic cups for the landfills.”  Take a look at the cup size comparison:

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/01/17/graphic-how-big-exactly-is-starbucks-new-trenta-size

Another consumer responded: “You can’t be drinking that much coffee and not do some serious harm to your bowel.”  Yet another observed that too much liquid in the stomach limits the amount of food it can take in.  But despite the complaints, Starbucks is to continue launching the Trenta to the remaining U.S. states on May 3.  Angel is right; the current social trend is to “pay less for more.”  If you can’t finish it, just throw it away!  But supersize it just in case you do finish it.  It might not even be a problem with finishing it: Some customers go for coffee to catch up and when they talk for hours, they will finish the 31oz before they even realize it – which is Starbucks’ marketing strategy.

I do see Trenta as a good investment for the American market, as Americans enjoy gigantic sizes and better taste (rather than health conscious) in their food –for example, KFC’s Double Down.  However, I don’t see the Trenta cup successful in the Asian market (where generally their appetite is small) and probably not Canadians too, since they’re more health-conscious.  It’s just a matter of national culture.

For those of you who haven’t seen or heard about the Blenz Red Band yet, it is an optional red banner you can add to your cup of Blenz to mark yourself being single.  Since February is love month, Blenz discovered the need and desire for singles to meet each other and go on a date, as it is quite difficult to meet people here in Vancouver!  Thus, the Blenz Red Band was launched to provide an opportunity for the singles market to set up a date, fall in love, and share a romantic love story with everyone.

I think this idea is good; the red band feature provides the benefit of singles to meet other singles at a coffee shop during the day, as opposed to lounges at night.  Their budget shouldn’t be too costly, since most of the ads are done through Twitter and Facebook.  In addition, they have many sponsors, so it’s a good investment.  Consumers can possibly gain a lifetime experience and meet their soulmate through this February promotion.  On a personal note, however, the red band wouldn’t work for me because I’m not interested in individuals who’s first motive to meet me is for a potential date.  (I’m more conservative and like to go with the flow.)  I believe this band will work, but the question is, will it work on majority of the singles market out there?  Will individuals be embarrassed to tell the world they are single?  To meet the conservative singles market, Blenz may want to place less emphasis on the “dating” part of the campaign, and maybe introduce “creating friendships” for a band that lasts all year round, rather than just February.  But considering their budget relative to the great meaning of the band, I believe Blenz will gain something out of this no matter what.

We are all constantly making choices in our everyday life.  As consumers in the business world, we go through a series of steps when we make choices, known as the consumer decision process.

1. Need Recognition: Recently I had a birthday party at my house and I had to provide some entertainment for my guests, so I decided to rent a movie.  But which one?

2. Information Search: First, I performed both an internal and external search for information.  I went through my memory for a list of movies I wanted to watch, but haven’t seen yet.  These movies included: Devil, 127 Hours, Life As We Know It, and Charlie St. Cloud, to name a few.  I also asked what movies my friends were interested in and they narrowed the list down to Devil and Life As We Know It. I didn’t spend too much time on this process because a movie is only a shopping good to me.

3. Evaluation of Alternatives: The universal set of alternatives is tremendous; however, the list was narrowed down to a retrieval set of alternatives using internal search for information.  Furthermore, after an external search for information, I’ve settled down on my evoked set of alternatives – Devil or Life As We Know It. The evaluation criteria I used included movie duration, genre, ratings and overviews, and whether my friends have seen it or not.

4. Purchase and Consumption: You may have guessed I chose Life As We Know It in the end, since it’s more suitable for a birthday occasion.  But you’re WRONG!  We decided to watch a horror movie just for the fun of it!

5. Postpurchase: Devil was a thriller!  I was affected by the great storyline, even though I screamed a few times and my heart was still racing at the end.  There was definitely no postpurchase dissonance, and I’d recommend this movie to anyone up for suspense!

My birthday is coming up, so my friends have been asking me what’s on my  wishlist!  My list is quite a length, but one of my top priorities is a black formal jacket.  I went shopping last week and finally found “the one.”

Picture: The Melton Belted Peacoat from Le Chateau.

In chapter 5, we learned about factors influencing consumer decision processes.  Let’s use these factors to determine if I should suggest the jacket to my friends or not!

Marketing mix: It’s called “Melton Belted Peacoat” from Le Chateau, originally priced $169.95, but currently on sale for 30% off – $118.97 before taxes.  Le Chateau is conveniently located in many malls, including Richmond Centre, Pacific Centre, and Oakridge – so purchasing it wouldn’t be a problem!

Psychological factors: The jacket will meet three of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: physiological (keeps me warm), love (makes me look fashionable), and esteem (makes me fit in with friends).  I read the jacket description online and learned that the coat is made of 60% thick wool.  Knowing this information, I gained an affective attitude towards it because of its great functions (keeps me warm) and style—its perfect length, double column buttons, and belt—simply adorable!

Social factors: Definitely my friends and classmates, who will see me rock that awesome jacket most of the time!  They’ll be the ones to compliment (hopefully not criticize) and admire the jacket with me!

Situational factors: When I was at Le Chateau, the shopping situation was quite acceptable.  The store atmosphere was great with hit music playing and white lighting on; the store was not over-crowded, even with promotions going on.  Although I must say, there were salespeople passing by without giving me some customer service.

After inspecting these factors, I’m determined this jacket is a must-get!  Hopefully my friends will know what to do!