Awesome Video Project!

Our team’s main goal for this assignment was to create a video about TD Canada Trust, by introducing it, explaining its marketing mix and target market and by providing several recommendations for TD. We decided to make this video unique by incorporating animation and by setting up the whole scenario around the concept of banking gods (suggested by Linette). 

The most difficult part of this project was not the brainstorming but the execution. We did not know how to shoot a video where the setting involving gods would look realistic or believable. That’s why I suggested creating animation instead. We used the website called GoAnimate which allows any registered user to create a cartoon with a proper plot, storyboard, music and effects.

Of course before creating any video, we needed a script, the second hardest part of the project. But as a team we were very supportive and united, so each member made his/her own contribution to it.

During the shooting and animation creation phases, we were very worried about the integrity of the whole video. We wanted it to flow and to be coherent. Therefore our first draft, the video below, was discarded in favour to the one that was drawn on a whiteboard.

However in general I’m very satisfied with the final project. Linette’s drawings were beautiful and the audio was clear and coherent. Aaron and Nik spent a lot of time recording and re-recoding their parts to make everything sound perfect. Everyone has tried to do their best and put a lot of effort and interest into making the video! I was glad to be part of this awesome team 🙂

This has been one of the most exciting projects that I’ve done this year. It allowed me to unleash my inner creativity 😉 It was also very informative as before this project I knew almost next to nothing about TD, its products and marketing strategy. Now I can at least hold a decent conversation!

In Reputation We Trust

I’m a 90s kid, which means that I grew up with arcade machines and the first concepts of gaming in a virtual reality. Sadly, I haven’t heard of any progress in this sphere for at least a decade, maybe because of the lack of advanced technology or just the decreasing popularity of the idea, until Facebook’s recent acquisition of Oculus Rift.

Oculus Rift is a new virtual reality headset that promises to immerse players in the virtual world of their favourite games. The realization of my long-awaited dream wasn’t what surprised me the most in this situation though. It was the negative reaction of the community towards Facebook’s gaming industry investment attempts. Here are some of the top rated comments on the GameSpot website:

“Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever…” Aaaaaand there goes any interest I had in it.

And just like that my excitement for Oculus is gone. Here’s hoping Sony knocks it out of the park.

Wow… It seems that Facebook seriously needs to work on its image in the gaming industry or its reputation in general. Many people don’t seem to be trusting it due to the various privacy concern scandals and their belief that it cares only about money and not customers. For the same reason, many game developers are planning to cancel their contracts with Oculus, because they believe that Facebook lacks commitment that other game tech companies have and thus won’t be able to bring VR technology to the next level.

As a result, I’m very curious about how this situation is going to unfold. On one hand, Oculus partnership with Facebook allowed them to gain remarkable investment and an ability to target customers from the mainstream market rather than only gaming fans. On the other, disappointment of the gaming community is obvious and may drive future profits towards Sony, Oculus’s main competitor in the VR technology.

For Facebook this venture is a good opportunity to diversify its portfolio and to prove its serious intentions and involvement in the gaming industry. Because let’s admit it, for many hardcore gaming fans Farmville and Candy Crush aren’t even games 🙂

From Smartphone to Smellphone

Smartphones can do almost anything these days, starting from such basic functions as calling and texting and ending with scanning documents and creating spreadsheets and presentations. Out of 5 senses, they have already encompassed three: sight, hearing and touch. And while tasting or licking your phone might be a bit too much I admit, what about the sense of smell?

Brandchannel.com reported that Oscar Mayer has recently become one of the first successful pioneers in this sphere by creating the Wake up & Smell the Bacon app, a program that wakes you up in the morning by emitting a delicious smell of bacon right into your face through the scent vaporizer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiWdF3u9C0w#t=79

Honestly I believe that this technology has a very big potential! In marketing and advertising the possibilities that this innovation brings are countless, especially for the industries that heavily depend on the sense of smell.

For instance, imagine going to Sephora and as you buy one of their products, they give you a small scent vaporizer as a free gift instead of their usual mini fragrance vials. You attach it to your phone, download their app and bam! It opens dozens of different brands of perfume which you can smell without leaving your room. So next time when you make a purchase you already know what products you want to buy.

This technology might become a compliment for many other products, such as deodorants, shampoos, creams and soaps, for beverages such as coffee and wine and even for cigarettes and tobacco industry. As I said before, the possibilities are limitless. Smellphone is still a very unusual concept for many consumers, but I’m very excited to see its future development!

Super Bowl 2014: “Puppy Love”

If we look back into Top 10 commercials of this winter season, it’s not surprising to find Super Bowl ads taking the top positions. According to Aaron Cho’s Super Bowl: Battle of the Ads post and research, the Super Bowl commercials not only attract millions of views from both American and international audience but also create a very unusual behaviour in people by making them willingly seek advertisements. What makes Super Bowl ads so special and popular?

One of the ads presented during SuperBowl was Budweiser’s “Puppy Love” commercial, an instant viral hit that reached 35 million views just in a few days. It gives a heartwarming and sweet tale of friendship between Labrador puppy and one of the Clydesdale horses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQB7QRyF4p4

What surprises me the most in this video is the total absence of the actual product – beer in the commercial. However nothing is ever done without a thought in marketing, especially with Budweiser’s track record of making successful advertisements. Budweiser knew that the loyal customers would instantly recognize its brand from the moment they saw Clydesdale horses, Budweiser’s historical symbol. As for the other customers, providing this memorable and touching story between two animals would encourage them to buy Budweiser products in the future.

Speaking of animals. Budweiser was able to distinguish itself from the competitors by showing to its customers that selling beer is not about making profit, but about building relationships. Relationships between pals that watch Super Bowl together and enjoy a bottle of beer in the process and mainly about the long-term relationship of Budweiser with its customers. #BestBuds tag at the end of the video clearly conveys the message of friendship and loyalty and Budweiser’s intent on remaining best buddies with its buyers, who were so conveniently portrayed as dogs, the symbols of loyalty and devotion.

Yes, I have no words Budweiser. That was a very well-thought-out commercial if not slightly too cheesy for my taste. But oh well, who am I to complain? Let’s admit it, they deserve their success.

It All Comes Down to Sushi

My Yelp search for some good sushi bars in Vancouver has revealed 2 particular restaurants that were rated the highest either in ratings or reviews: Sushi Mart (4.5/5, 129 reviews) and The Eatery (3.5/5, 243 reviews). A quick glance over the restaurants’ websites shows a significant difference in their marketing approaches.

Web design of the Sushi Mart

Sushi Mart provides a simple, minimalist homepage that reflects the values of Japanese culture… or maybe it just has a very lousy website design.Anyhow, its strongest point so far is the menu section, which presents clear and mouthwatering photos of each dish.  According to Yelp reviews, the food and its quality here are top-notch and are definitely worth coming back for. It’s a successful representation of the restaurant’s mission statement, which states that Sushi Mart is an ocean-friendly place that provides healthy menu, great value and service. Basically it’s a differentiation based on product and service excellence.

Web design of The Eatery

The Eatery has put a significant amount of effort into its website design, which has a slightly geekish but very original feel to it. The restaurant’s mission statement is:

“We are The Eatery and we don’t just feed the common people, we feed your soul!”

It’s definitely more friendly and has a human touch to it that Sushi Mart lacks. Unfortunately despite the restaurant’s interesting interior design, website design and strong marketing, The Eatery is still behind Sushi Mart in ranking and the reason for that is the average quality of food and poor customer service. The Eatery is located in the Kitsilano neighbourhood that has low number of sushi places, so it’s likely that the restaurant is just taking it easy.

The Eatery is a place that Vancouverites will visit at least once for its unique atmosphere, but it’s still the Sushi Mart that people will keep coming back to, because at the end of the day it all comes down to eating good sushi.

On Ethics and Experts

Thousands of companies each year compete to get into the World’s Most Ethical Companies list created by Ethisphere Institute. In 2013, the list included 145 companies, from more than 30 industries, such as Aflac, American Express, Patagonia, PepsiCo, Starbucks and many others. Marketers have been one of the firsts to recognize how business ethics and the WME recognition program can be turned into a marketing strategy. But can we completely trust these Ethisphere lists?

For the last 7 years PepsiCo has promoted itself as the company that received the Ethisphere honor every year since its initiation in 2007. It’s also not a secret that since 2011, PepsiCo has been right in the centre of the controversy over its contract with Senomyx which used aborted fetal cells HEK-293 to develop flavor enhancers for PepsiCo’s beverages. The controversy led to a boycott of Pepsi’s own shareholders and customers and came to an end only in April 2012. Finally, PepsiCo agreed to alter its contract with Senomyx and stopped the use of HEK-293 cell lines.

The conflict is gone, but I’m still puzzled: How can such actions be possibly called ethical?  Ethisphere states that its selection process includes the overview of companies’ ethical track record and history, and yet somehow Pepsi still continuously ends up included in the list despite the controversy. Honestly, this situation smells very fishy to me. It clearly looks like a violation of customer/corporate trust that people and companies have in Ethisphere. It makes me doubt the ability of this recognition program to remain unbiased.

What should institutions and governments do to avoid the pressure coming from multinational corporations? It’s a hard question that still doesn’t have an answer in global politics. But the very least that Ethisphere could do is to try to stick to the values that it’s proposing.

Additional information about Pepsi/Senomyx controversy can be found here.

Toxic Nail Polish. Ethical Issues in Cosmetics

On April 10th 2012, Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) of California Environmental Agency revealed that many nail salons in California were found to be selling nail products that contained dangerous chemicals, such as dibutyl phthalate and toluene. 

Dibutyl phthalate was legally prohibited from cosmetics in Europe in 2003, and claimed to be removed by many nail polishing companies in U.S. However recent DTSC tests of such brands as Sation, Dare to Wear, Chelsea, New York Summer, Paris Spicy, Sunshine, Cacie and Golden Girl have shown that their products still contain high amount of mentioned chemicals.

What angers me the most in this situation is that those companies not only put the health of their customers in danger, but also they had the conscience to lie to their customers by labeling their products toxic-free. The impacts of such irresponsible behavior are reflected not only in increasing birth defects, asthma and other chronic health problems in salon workers and customers, but also reflected badly on those nail polish manufacturers, like OPI, that actually followed the safety regulations. The obvious question arises: who should we rely on?

Along with some other questions such as: what role does government play in protecting public safety? And who should be responsible for enforcing regulations that will protect people’s health? Should it be agencies like FDA or even customers themselves?

For more information please visit the article on EcoWatch.org: http://ecowatch.org/2012/the-latest-cosmetics-scandal-toxic-nail-polish/

Video and online DTSC report can be found here 

 

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