If the marketing textbook was the hardware, the marketing assignment would be the software. The course was an adequate combination of learning the concepts and then putting them into practical use upon research and analysis.

The Marketing Assignment taught me many things, here are just a few:

1. No team collaboration, no consistent assignment outcome.

Communication was very important in a group setting, even if it meant a nod or an agreement of some sort. In addition, if tasks were divided right from the beginning, the end work will not be consistent and there might be overlaps. Therefore it was important to have everyone’s input on the finalized copy of the assignments.

2. Everyone has something special to contribute.

A creative idea, video making skills, organization skills, written communication skills…Over the term, I had the chance to discover something special about each one of my team members and I find this experience to be very valuable.

3. It is always nice to finish the assignment one day ahead.

Procrastinating is not the solution to a group project with all the other things going on. We learned this the hard way but we quickly adjusted our speed and was much more efficient and stress free afterwards.

4. I will be able to talk on and on about Air Canada, and the company will continue to be on my watch.

This assignment required a lot of researching and it eventually brought out my interest in Airlines. Through research, I found many interesting facts about Air Canada that I would have never come in contact otherwise.

Accounting, Finance, GBM, TLog… My biggest getaway from this assignment is that no matter any field we specialize in, Marketing skills (communication, persuasion, collaboration, etc) will combine with your other skills to make how you are professionally. Future marketing courses are definitely in my consideration. Thank you Tamar for a great class!

After reading Linda Wang’s Blog, I wanted to share a little opinion as well.

Apple is an exceptionally successful enterprise, being unique and innovative. Its products are simple yet fashionable, complexed yet easy to use. The differentiation of Apple’s products from other competitors allowed it to become the fastest growing enterprise of the century. I also agree with Linda’s opinion saying that “Apple Inc is high risk because if Apple does not keep up with technological advances, Apple can easily fall behind its competitors.”

After Apple has already established a symbol of “unique and innovative”, it would be disappointing if they are not kept up with introducing the new generation every year, say the iPhone 7 in 2015. This could allow their value to diminish amongst customers.

Also, despite the new features added on to its products every year. It could frustrate many of us wondering “Why couldn’t the camera be added to last year’s nano?” or “Why couldn’t the recording feature be added to the camera if they use the same lenses?”

Aside form these factors, Apple continues to be a popular item among the public, which is proven by 4 million Iphone4s sales within 3 days, as mentioned in Linda’s Blog.

After reading Jennifer Wu’s blog on “HST Referendum Cost 8 Million Dollars”, I realized that there are many contradictions that leads to the conclusion of it being ironic to call the recently imposed tax “harmonized”.

It was mentioned in her blog that “out of the 3.96 million voting packages mailed out, only 1.65 million was returned, with the majority against the HST”. Not only are the public now opposing the HST, they’ve been opposing the tax right after it was voted through the government! It is ironic how the elected representative were supposed to make decisions on behalf of us citizens, yet ignores the opposing voices when making decisions.

Also, the comic that she added in the blog was very humorous and added interest towards reading the article. I thought the comic was being very sarcastic about how the HST came into existence. Perhaps the comic suggested the idea that the government jumped to conclusion without comprehensive negotiation and consideration.

The tax is also not suited for the word “Harmonized” in a sense that there was added cost to the implementation of the HST as well as its repeal in the near future. Therefore, I agree with Jennifer’s word “anarchy” rather than “harmonized”.

Rivalry:
As of today, there are not many fast fashion shops like Zara around . This uniqueness allows Zara to profit from the public without having to spending large sums on advertisement in order to gain market share.

Threat of New Entry:
Uniqueness and profitability attracts potential individuals with investment to enter the market. Though still, it would be pretty difficult to gather all the workforce needed in a short period of time. It might be more easier to entry if individuals wanting to enter this market had sufficient time to prepare themselves.

Supplier Power:
Zara, or any other fashion stores, would have low supplier power due to the reason that their goal is to attract every potential consumer to buy their merchandises.

Threat of Substitute:
The fashion industry is very unpredictable with many competitors all wanting to project the next big trend. Though Zara still distinct from others by the constant innovative and creative designs of most up-to-date fashion.

Buyer Power:
It lies in the hands of consumers of what they like and purchase, regardless of the brand. Though there are still some individuals who have “loyalty” towards Zara and does not mind the long line ups.

From our social entrepreneur class, the definition for a social entrepreneur is “someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change”. This is exactly what Hilary Peters did. She set up a non-profitting company that sales postcards to the public painted by prisoners.

I think this idea has a very strong impact because Peters’ social purpose is to change our perspective of thinking negatively with relevance to prisoners. It is also a great start-up of a local and small business that has the potential to effect our thinking internationally.

(from article)

What catches my attention is how Peters financially functioned her company. First, she printed the first batch of cards through “love” money. She then invested her profit into printing the second batch and started the business from there. What is great is that the revenue earned from these postcards goes towards funding for employment of the prisoners that will soon be back in society. Thus, this “cycle” provides increased employment rates locally, as well as provide opportunities for those that find it difficult to find jobs because of previous criminal records.

Click here for the full article

The transition of ownership of The Body Shop remains a very controversial topic in terms of ethical business tactics.

The main ethical difference between the two companies before their transaction was that “The Body Shop” was very against animal testing and Dame Anita, one of the founders of The Body Shop 30 years ago, “…campaigned passionately around ethical issues such as fair trade and sustainable development”, as mentioned in “The Independent”, a UK news website. On the other hand, L’Oreal did not abandon animal testing.

—->

It was mentioned that the owners and shareholders would earn a large sum of money as a result of L’Oreal acquiring the business for 625 million pounds. This might lead the public to think that The Body Shop’s stand of being an ethical cosmetic business was swaying, and then collapsed in front of profits and personal preference of the decision makers in the company.

However, a combination of L’Oreal’s strong presence on the global market and The Body Shop’s great reputation is a difficult combination to find. Therefore, together, they have an advantage of power and influence which raises the barrier to entry into the already fierce competition amongst the different cosmetic companies.

for full article click here!

The year before World War One broke out, Coco Chanel opened her first store in paris in 1913. She was a very talented designer who was set out to design “simple, practical and easy to wear clothing” while a typical woman of that era was still struggling with a corset.

Coco Chanel proved herself to be one of the greatest entrepreneurs because she was willing to devote herself to fashion despite the hardship of her childhood and the social unrest of that time period.

Her success was measured by the rapid profitability of her designer garments as well as her ability to “modernize the world with her line of clothes designed after men’s wear.” Given her 14 years of “blank” existence because of the war, Coco Chanel was able to re-enter the fashion industry with new and innovative fashion that, although took some time, recaptured the attention of the public.

When we speak about Coco Chanel, we would often associate with her words like “strong”, “bold”, or “unique”. These words are still attached to today’s Chanel chain stores, remaining high-end and classic.

Reference to the brief overlook of Coco Chanel’s career. (There are many other great entrepreneurs on this site)

Recently read from Wendy Shao’s Blog, BC transit is finally going to set to work the Evergreen Line. Personally, I am “a part of the commuting group” as well.

Increasing a 2 cent price on oil is a fairly recognizable amount depending on how much you are adding to your car. Nonetheless, the benefit that the society gains is valued more than the cost of providing the benefit.

Building Public Transit is an effective way to boost the economy. More construction workers will be needed, materials will need to be supplied, and many industries will get involved.

Ultimately, transit will bring great convenience to the public, even if you do own a car. For example, with Vancouver’s snow-shoving system being “not so efficient” compared to cities that get heavy snow precipitation every year, public transit is the best alternative when you cannot drive your car further than your driveway.

Even though the plan was passed, there are still many disagreeing voices, as Wendy had written, “Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver, and Delta hold strong opposition to this plan…”. The problem now is how to convince those that do not use the transit as often.

Self-interest is the big issue!

Evergreen Line Homepage

The tablet market is being affected by today’s fragile economy. Many products are reducing their prices, such as HP TouchPad, BlackBerry PlayBook, HTC Flyer, etc. Some are even sold at more than 50% of their original price to attract customers.

The fact that iPad is missing from this price war is probably not surprising to the public since “Apple is famous for sticking to its price guns”.

(Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7)
What holds Apple well on top of the chart is that it is able to play its differentiation strategies well. Apple products are known for its innovation and distinctiveness. In other words, high pricing actually becomes a selling point; as soon as iPads begin to drop their price, they lose the value of being “high-class” and would be forced to enter the price war (i.e. iPhone 3GS). Will Apple still hold the values when its products are forced to reduce prices in the future? After all, customers like to see what they bought today are still worth the same in the future. A practical comparison would be buying a car. The minute you sign the contract, your car will lose a couple thousand dollars in its worth.

original article

Ever wondered what usage does the “.com” have? Well now, it has the potential to become one of the greatest marketing advantages that a company can hold.

Despite the huge internal maintenance cost every year, having its own “online brand” is very tempting. Any company that is able to afford a ending after the dot will practically mean that its products has dominated their specific market. For example, if Apple had acquired the “.laptop”, then it is basically assumed that when you think of laptop, you would think of Apple. With the additional benefits of security and prevent cybersquatters, the ability to “put your signature” on a gTLD would cause another round of evolution.

(picture from article)

Consumers are the direct experimental variable of the gTLD auction. We might potentially have to distinguish between “.com” and other gTLDs, it will not only be what comes after “www.” anymore.

In terms of generic strategy wise, this will definitely fall under the category of industry wide differentiation strategy. Though the downturn is that many companies could not compete with large companies because of the cost, and others who wish to enter the market will have to face a higher entry barrier.

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