arturosuarez

I was checking today this marketing blog called The Canadian Marketing Blog, and i came upon this interesting post about the book that was published after Steve Jobs death. It is the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It talks about and interesting point about the marketing research in perspective to  some of his new product ideas that were not  on the market yet. His view was that consumers did not know what they needed until he showed them what they wanted. That makes hard to do sometimes market research because it is so true what he said how can you do it if the consumer haven’t even thought about the existence and what that product can do. This is a great view for a truly innovative company that is bringing out products that no one yet uses. So for Steve Jobs his take on marketing research was useless. But for the average company in spite of what Jobs said the article says that it is important to do marketing research.

Here are some important way to make research and save money:

– It is easy to do surveys now. You can even use free tools like surveymonkey to do this. And a well worded survey can be a sales tool.

-There is a new breed of company that monitors social media. There are many companies that read all the Tweets, blogs, news etc and even interpret if what is being said is good or bad. These are a good addition to traditional market research. This is an easy and cheap way to get information from people and companies.

In the world we live today market research is important and it is something that companies need to do in order to succeed. The idea that marketing research is expensive is not true , this were some examples to make it cheap and also get reliable info.

http://www.canadianmarketingblog.com

Target Corporation announced the locations of the first 105 stores it will open in Canada when it formally takes over from Zellers early in 2013. The locations include 45 in Ontario, 19 in Quebec ,15 in British Columbia, 13 in Alberta, five in Manitoba, two each in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador and one each in New Brunswick and PEI. Target’s offerings in Canada will likely be familiar to what cross-border shoppers already know the same core brand products will be offered as well as some Canadian local products.

I definitely agree with Henry’s blog about Target in the fact that  the store will need to change some products that they sell for example in California. In this case will be more outdoors product because we know canadians love the outdoors, also more asian food for sure giving the high concentration of this population in BC for example. I would disagree with Henry with keeping Starbucks instead of Tim Hortons. I think it would be a great idea to introduce Tim Hortons into the Target store. It will be good for the store and customers to have a change of Coffee,pastries and donuts while they are doing their shopping. Starbucks already collaborates with Safeway stores.

Classmate link https://blogs.ubc.ca/henryfung1/2011/10/27/target-to-canadianize-its-stores/

I was checking the blog  of my group members in order to do this one and came upon the blog of Sean Goodall and his blog about KIA. The ad that he presented on video was so catchy because that song is very popular amongst young adults, and also very related with the whole video game theme scenario. This ad I believe it targets the young adults, like university students. The price of this KIA car makes it affordable and also is a product that represents part of you, since you can do a lot of modifications to the car with the preferences you would like. As Sean also said it, I believe this ad does not target people over 30 because they would have not relate the music and video games with part of their lives. The ad in itself is completely different from other ads and that is definitely what KIA is trying to do, differentiate themselves from the others as “we are this cool brand”, and i certainly  think is effective.

Classmate link https://blogs.ubc.ca/seangoodall/2011/09/23/kia-soul-targeting-new-drivers/

The new Rapha line for Autumn/ Winter 2011 features exciting new products, updated specifications for existing Rapha classics and rich seasonal colourways. Highlights include new collections for Pro Team Winter Training, Pro Team Cross and Rapha Luggage. Rapha is a well know brand in the cycling community because they have the best clothing line available for a cyclist. Whether its a jacket or a jersey , rapha products comes on top of any other line of brands. You pay for what you get for, yes it is also known that Rapha clothing is slightly expensive than average, but you are getting the best quality in cycling clothing. With this wet and cold days in Vancouver it is important to be well suited for the ride in order to make it enjoyable. This Autumn/Winter line will not dissapoint, check it out!  http://www.rapha.cc/shop/new

Fly bikes is a company based in Spain, that has revolutionize the way that BMX parts are created by using the best materials and making them affordable and cool looking whether its frames, bars, brakes or rims; fly bikes has the best in the BMX industry. People who ride BMX bikes have always complained about how much of a pain in the @$$ is to change a flat tire. First you require a bunch of tools to dismount the wheel from the frame and the fork so you are able to take out the inner tube that is located between the tire and the rim. After you change it now you have to put it back on and make a series of tedious adjustments to your rear wheel in order to calibrate the tension of the chain, any ways it is a lot of work to be made. This is why fly bikes came up with the cobra tube, a simple way of changing the tube without doing all this. You simply take out the tube and put it back on without taking the wheel off. How does this Works?  well regular tubes are one simple circle like a doughnut, unlike conventional tubes this is one straight piece, because it is one straight piece you don’t have to take the wheel off and you don’t have to carry lots of tools .The best thing is that the price is affordable for just $9.95, it will not break your bank and you’ll have more time to ride your bike instead of changing flat for 20 minutes.

So far what ive learn from COMM 299, were basic stuff such as public speaking, how to introduce yourself , how to shake a hand from someone you have just met, create a resume and a cover letter etc… All of those things were great to learn but what really caught my attention was what Nathan our T.A. showed to us on our previous class how to maximize the use of our linkedin profile. I was first under the impression that linkedin was just a place for an employer to check  your profile and see wether you were qualified for the job or not, but the reality is that this is a great source for you to connect with others and help you move in the “corporate ladder”. For example if a person at lululemon posts a job position and you click on the profile of the person who posted the job, you can actually see to who is related in terms of connections and friends, and so you can spot that maybe he has a second degree connection with you.With this in mind you can contact the person in the middle to help you arranged a meeting with both of you and then you have a direct access with the person that posted the job. This clearly does not mean that you will geat the job instantly but it gives some advantage to you because you’ve met the person face to face and talk to him , you can have instant references with the mutual connection and this gives you some little more advantage to someone else who just sents the resume online. Another thing that i liked was that you can check other profiles information of their previous jobs and you get to see what this person did before getting that position and maybe it helps you follow his steps to get to that position that you wanted. This are couple of the things that ive learned from linkedin thanks to my TA , I definitely see my self using this internet tool in the future.

So today i went and rode my bike to horseshoe bay, it was a fun ride this was my first trip to the bay. I really didnt have many expectations in terms of speed and what pace was i going to be riding, just get the feeling and survived the ride. To be honest it was a little tough in the beggining , the fact that marine dr. is up and down it really drains you. I was hitting climbs at the lowest probably 15km/hr very slow because of the steepness of the hill i felt like i was in Col de Tourmalet,seriously, but when you get to the descent, oh boy, thats where the fun began. I was descending at 55kms an hour at some points and the tight turns makes it even more fun, you can just feel the adrenaline pumping. In the end i rode for 64kms my average was  29kms an hour and a 159 avg. heart-rate, which is pretty good i thought my average was gonna be much slower, but i guess the descents compensate the long hard climbs. I will definitely look forward to do this again and really  attack the course now that i know it. Next week i am racing so this gives me a good idea in where my fitness is at.

This is the video that got me into doing this trip although they are riding motorcycles you can appreciate the scenery of how good did trip is around minute 5 is where the good parts are, enjoy!!!