AngusChak

In class today we talked about SOPA, PIPA and some of the websites that are participating in a blackout as a sign of protest against the bill. We mentioned how many smaller websites have two reasons in participating in the blackout. The big reason is that the two bills would greatly affect them and potentially force them to shutdown. The second reason is positive marketing they get when a media
source groups them with the  behemoths such as Wikipedia.

This got me thinking about the other side of this. If the companies who are protesting this are receiving positive marketing, then are the companies who are supporting SOPA and PIPA receiving negative marketing? I came across the photo that showed many of the popular brands whom are supporting the bill and I don’t think that they are. Some of them possess strong enough brand power that they aren’t afraid of losing customers from supporting the bill, such as Burberry and Coach. Others have a strong enough value proposition that regardless of what customers think, they will still buy the products such as EA with their sports games.

Having said that, GoDaddy, the web host provider, lost thousands of subscribers to their competitor when they said they supported SOPA. They have now reserved their position but the damage has been done. Though I actually lost even more respect for them since they reserved their decision so quickly.

Final thoughts:  President Obama recently declared that he is opposed to SOPA. Do you think he is actually against the bill or was he advised to say it as a marketing ploy to try to generate supporters in the upcoming election year? 

Hi Everybody! (Hi Doctor Nick!)

Marketing has been a course that I have really been looking forward to taking for quite a few reasons.  I have always been more of a concept guy rather than a quant guy ( though I’ve done pretty well in accounting) . I really enjoy watching ads and have started analyzing them to see why they chose to go with this concept and why, even though I’ve never taken a marketing course. However the over arching reason of why I want to learn about marketing is because I have always been very susceptible to marketing. Once I see an ad, I have a craving to buy that product or go to the restaurant or consider using their service, to the point where my friends have called me “a marketer’s dream”!

As far as experience goes, I’ve pretty much only done basic marketing at Sauder for clubs and services. Some things have worked while others haven’t. However, I have done very well in the past in sales at Sears where we ended up having the most sales in BC for a year. My entire department knew how to sell very well and I learned a lot then.

I can’t name my favourite ad because I really enjoy so many ads, simple ones and ads so amazing that it blows your mind! But an ad I do appreciate was Apple’s silhouette commercial because it really showed that listening to an MP3 isn’t just when you want to drown out your parents or waiting for the bus. It’s a fun experience all on it’s own!

Finally something personal about me is that I love the free coffee provided by the CUS! empowers my coffee need and saves me money! What’s not to love?