Blog on the Corner

Over the reading break I was luckily enough to go on vacation to the Dominican Republic.  I flew with Air Transat, a canadian based airline.  Since taking this course, I have been noticing more and more green initiatives (maybe because I am looking or maybe because the trend is growing).  Whilst on the flight, my laptop battery died and I was without reading material.  Luckily in front of me was an Air Transat pamphlet which highlighted the companies commitment to sustainability and the environment.  At first I seemed doubtful, not wanting to be greenwashed by another big corporation that wants to be perceived as sustainable, however after a thorough read of the pamphlet I picked up a few pieces of info that I found interesting and relatable to our course.

First I discovered that the Air Transat head quarter in montreal is in fact LEED Certified plantinum, which was the first building in Canada to receive the award (2004).  Moreover, they were ranked first amongst long haul airlines by the atmosfair airlines index, which is a NGO that aims to provide info for travelers who are looking to reduce their environmental impact on their travels.  Finally, Air Transat was named the first certified green airline by the World Green Aviation Council.  Truthfully the only reason I flew with Air Transat was because they had the best price for my destination, however after being provided with more information, it made me extremely happy to know that my flight was also a sustainable choice.  The next step I think that Air Transat needs to take is to communicate their dedication and excellence towards sustainability to the market.  The pamphlets were a nice touch, however tv ads would reach a larger market and perhaps increase their market size.  Finally because the flight was inexpensive, I am assuming that this shows that airlines can be green while also reducing costs, which is truly the triple threat of sustainability.

I’ll be honest, up until a few weeks ago I had never heard of the term “green washing”.  However, since then I have realized how often greenwashing occurs and how I have been completely and utterly manipulated by it.  I used to buy products because they said they were eco-friendly/green/sustainable without so much as a thought that they weren’t what they said they were.  Well because of Comm 486F I now know not to blindly trust all products and services that claim to be green.  Just last Sunday I was out for Dine Out Vancouver at Suika, a japanese izakaya on broadway and granville.  After having a great dinner I got the bill and noticed that the back of my receipt said “Eco Paper BPA free”.  At the risk of sounding like a complete nerd, I knew right away that this was an opportunity for me to some research.  As soon as I got home I searched the internet for the benefits of having BPA free paper.  At first I found an article which referenced another article saying that BPA receipt paper contaminated recycling paper, however the referenced article seemed to have been removed, which maid me question the accuracy and credibility of the argument.  The more research I did the more I found that the BPA free receipt paper was more a health precaution as normal receipt paper has high amounts of BPA which can by congested into the body through contact.  BPA contains hormones which are not normal for the human body and have been proven to harm the male and female reproductive systems.  So in conclusion I found that although ECO paper is beneficial, it is not the as sustainable as the name would have it sound.

Today in class we talked about the IPAT formula and we discussed that increases in technology (sustainable technology) is the answer to our problems.  One example of the increase in technology for sustainability is the harnessing of kinetic energy.  Designer Jung Inyoung has created a suitcase which stores kinetic energy from the rolling of the wheels to charge cellphones on the go.  It is technology like this that will decrease our impact on the environment and for future generations. One issue that I see with this idea is the battery and how the battery is recycled or reused.  If the battery life for the suitcase can also be long and the battery can be sustainably recycled than the impact of this technology is truly amazing.

I hope to see large manufacturers working with Jung Inyoung to implement this suitcase and show some corporate social responsibility.I would love to here what everyone else thinks about this idea and if they see any flaws or opportunities that this idea generates.

In my three years here at UBC I have heard these three words more times than I can count, Corporate Social Responsibility.  Interestingly enough every time the subject comes up I learn something new and my stance towards CSR changes.  Now this can mean two things, I am very easily persuaded or CSR is still a growing concept that hasn’t fully been proven or dis-proven.  When I was first introduced to the concept I thought that CSR was definitely something that firms should be practicing and that it was a important on a moral level for society.  My stance changed after I read a paper on CSR in my Government and Business class.  The paper argued (I forget the name) that a firm who purely seeks to maximize profit will also be socially responsible if that is what the shareholders want.  In other words because being socially responsible improves the profit for the firm, a profit maximizing firm will be socially responsible as long as it is held accountable by the public.  This argument brought new light to what I thought CSR was.  Later in my Business Writing course we did a paper on CSR and again I learned more about the topic as we watched numerous videos showing scholar’s debating the two sides of CSR.  So then, what is my answer to the questions “Should firms practice CSR?” Well my answer is, it depends.  A firm, such as an oil company, who can drastically alter the environment with bad practices must use CSR because the costs of the potential damages, both monetary and social, outweigh the benefits.  On the other end of the spectrum, firms who’s practices have little impact need not take a huge role in CSR (assuming that CSR cost firms more).

Wow, haven’t been on here in forever.  I am now taking a course in Sustainable Marketing which also requires a blog.  I actually like that my course requires a blog, I want to get back to blogging and now I have a reason to start again.

More posts to come

Cheers

Billy

So I am suppose to blog about what I learnt in Comm 299 this year, and after doing some reflecting this is what I’ve come up with.  From the first half of the course I learnt that public speaking is all about confidence.  I use to be terrified when I stood up their in front of a group of people, but after continuous practice it became easier and easier and now I feel very comfortable with public speaking.  The second portion of Comm 299 was a lot more practical and I enjoyed it in the sense that It helped me in boosting my resume for the future.  After taking this course I feel like I have a better understanding on what my employers are seeking and what sort of information is relevant for a resume.  Things like CAR statements were really useful tools to learn because it gave a guideline in how we were suppose to present ourselves in an interview and on the resume.

If I had to critique Comm 299 I would say that the course is too long for only a 1 credit course.  Because I knew that it was only a 1 credit course it made me feel less motivated to do well in Comm 299.  Perhaps in future years they can make it an actual 3 credit course or even 6 credit course as it does go for the whole year.  I also think that instead of separating it into two halves, have them both going at the same time because then you get the hands on practice of public speaking along with the practicality of resume building.

In class on tuesday we talked about product placement and if it was effective or not.  Some of my peers felt very negatively about product placement, even going as far as saying it ruins the entire entertainment experience, however I totally disagree.  In class we do twitter questions, where we are asked to tweet our responses.  I noticed that some of my fellow classmates felt the same way as I did.  Some of the tweets that I noticed said that product placement adds to the authenticity of a movie and connects with the audience by addressing social trends.  For example even though we see Iphones in virtually every movie and television show I don’t immediately reach for my barf bag and tune out, instead I think, its true everyone does have Iphones.  In fact I barely ever notice the product placement in movies.  Today I watched a clip of all the famous product placements in movies and the majority of them I didn’t notice until they were pointed out by this video I believe that you really can’t have a solid opinion on something unless you are educated in the matter.  That is why I plan on going to see Morgan Spurlock’s new movie “POM Wonderful Presents : The Greatest Movie Ever Sold“.  The movie is a documentary about product placement, which is also entirely funded by product placement.  Perhaps after I see the movie and learn more about product placement I will feel differently, but I doubt it.

My good friend Felix Huang is in the other Marketing class at UBC and he also has to do these blogs for his class.  For his first blog he talked about how BC Salmon Farmers Association were putting advertisements before you watched any video on NBA.com.  The video depicts two men who are, in the nicest way possible, gullible and dumb.  The video takes aim at the fact that many people believe any misconception about BC farmed salmon as if it were a true fact, when really it is not.  The reason I am bringing this article up is because after discussing it with my friend we have come to different opinions.  I always believed that just like google and Facebook, NBA was taking advantage by tracing my geographical location and showing me the advertisement assigned to my region.  In my opinion it does not make sense for BC Salmon Farmers Association to spend big bucks on an ad that many people may not understand because they are not aware of the negative connotations associated with BC farmed salmon.  It makes much more sense if the BC Salmon Farmers Association only paid for the local rights to these videos.  One thing that we do agree on is that they took a very interesting approach in trying to dispel the negative info.  Felix suggested that because many people grill salmon and usually men doing the grilling, that is why they went to the NBA to advertise.  At first I wasn’t sure about this but the more I think about it the more it makes sense.  So in the end, whether the ads where regional or not, they got their message to their target audience.

Good morning world, in case you’ve been under a rock heres an update, TV IS OBSOLETE.  The internet has taken over and is the one stop shop for everything.  In marketing we talk about brand awareness, which is whether or not your target segment knows your product or company exists.  For a long time I don’t think many people knew what SmartWater was.  Until they made this viral video    Well the argument use to be that the internet is only for the young and tech savy, tell that to my 69 year old family friends who wanted to know if they could tag me on Facebook.  Today everyone is online and unless companies want to be left in the dust they should step up their online marketing.  The people at SmartWater must have smartened up because what was once a boring ad campaign became very interesting after the video did in fact go viral, becoming the 2nd most viewed video this month (entertainment).  Now I am not 100% sure what SmartWater’s target market is but I do know that just by getting their name out their and doing a youtube video millions of people are now aware of their product.  I for one went to go buy one at my local supermarket and found that not only was it one of the cheaper waters but it actually did taste different (better).  So in summary, flick off your T.V. and pick up your mouse, because the internet is “winning“

For those of you who watched The Social Network, or the “facebook movie”, you must have thought that was the last time Facebook and cinematography would collide.  Well guess what, Facebook and Warner Bros are now teaming up to offer movies on Facebook.  For 30 credits which is also equivalent to $3 you can now rent movies for 48 hours on your Facebook.  In class we talked about companies expanding their product lines, and clearly Facebook is expanding their “breadth”.  Now you may be wondering “will this work?” Well it almost seems to me that everything Facebook touches turns to gold and this is no different.  When the deal was announced Netflix (online movie rental company) dropped almost 6% which really shows the power of the Facebook effect.

Dark Knight as seen on Facebook

Personally I think this is a great move for Facebook, by teaming with Warner Bros they are increasing the time we spend on the Social Networking site.  What Facebook wants is for us to have them as their one shop stop for everything, and this is definitely a step in the right direction.  But for now this service is only available in the U.S. and I am sure once it sees some success it will expand to more countries.  Furthermore Facebook has virtually nothing to lose by doing this.  If the idea fails it won’t stop people coming to their virtual homes.  All in all this is a great idea from a innovative corporation.