Month: November 2012

At the beginning of the year, I was extremely disappointed in my result for the first project for Comm 101. The assignment was to create a SWOT and analysis for Lululemon. All of my class-mates and I spent hours crafting this little report, but we did not get the stellar marks we were used to in high school. Why didn’t we? It was because we had not yet adopted the right thought process. The main problem I had was a lack of clarity, which was astounding considering I was the top in my English class in high school. Highschool English teaches students to have flowery, pretty, and eloquent writing, but this distracts and confuses anyone who isn’t an English teacher. Since this initial shock, I am proud to say my thought process a has begun to adopt a business approach.

Seth Godin’s blog regarding clarity in marketing is a perfect example of this issue. The title of his post exemplifies this quality “Free Coffee” it gets the point across and doesn’t confuse readers. With the end of my first-semester at university in sight, my advice to future students is be clear and concise. Tell your reader what you think, show evidence, and be direct.

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One of the most fiercely debated issues I have encountered in my life most certainly is the Northern Gateway pipeline proposed by Calgary based Enbridge. Being from Vancouver I have been raised in one of the most beautiful cities and regions in the world and the thought of threatening this with a pipeline is unheard of. The fear of this pipeline is the ending in Kitimat, BC. From here tankers would bring Albertan crude oil to Asian markets, but first they have to navigate one of the most precarious channels in the world. This reason is because of the hairpins turns tankers would have to make to get in and out of Kitimat. All my fellow British Columbians are vehemently opposed to this and suggestions that this is beneficial are laughed at because of the perceived low economic benefits and the massive risk.

Being at a world renowned university puts all perceived notions into questions though. My class-mate and good friend Ben Gardiner made a blog post regarding this very issue. Being an Albertan he brings a completely different perspective on the issue. His blog post presents a logical argument in favour for this pipeline. While I still believe that a pipeline to Kitimat is a bad idea and that a private company should not be in charge of a project on this vast of a size with so many risks, I do see that this is not a simple issue that can be ended with a simple no.

Ben’s Blog

Fergus Arnold’s post regarding the misleading of consumers by Kia and Hyundai presents well-structured and insightful comments. Currently large corporations, such as those featured, are viewed by consumers with distrust and suspicion; this overstatement of vehicle fuel-efficiency adds to this. This blunder may not have been intentional, but it still rubs consumers the wrong way, also the overstatement was as large as 6MPG!

These companies did take corrective measure by offering compensation for misleading consumers and changing the incorrect claims. The marketing of fuel-efficiency in vehicles is a strong tool in advertising, but this example has most definately backfired. I completely agree with Fergus when he states “More costly than the reimbursement itself is the loss in trust.” Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Fergus’s blog, as the material was insightful and interesting and also the layout was quite pleasant.

Link to article

Link to source articles

Bloomberg

Veloster

Video games brings up the pitfalls of unproductively, lack of social skills, and violence; however, motivation gurus consider the area a untapped opportunity. As someone who used to play a lot of video games and had knew a fair amount of people who did the same, I can see where this theory is coming from. “Gamers” (people who play a lot of video games) will rack up hours upon hours in the attempt to gain a virtual badge as a reward for overcoming a challenge (beating a hard enemy, achieving a certain time in a racing game, etc.)

Management gurus want to discover why people will give up so much time and opportunity for an intangible “badge.” Certain businesses have started copying games by handing out badges for performing a task a certain amount of times or some other sort of achievement for unskilled, boring work. Gamers do not dedicate much of their lives for badges though, it’s not the extrinsic motivators that drive them towards goals, it is the intrinsic pleasure derived by accomplishing a goal that one has worked so hard to achieve. Businesses shouldn’t therefore use “gamification” to motivate low-level, manual workers, it should be used to motivate workers whose posistions require higher mental process.

 Link to “Economist” Article

Newspapers attacking Google is used as an example for a much more serious topic, in this article by “The Economist.” Newspapers in various countries (mainly in Europe) are threatening Google News for revealing the headline and first sentence of articles. Opponents of Google News claim this act “dissuades readers from clicking through to the newspaper’s website to read the entire article.” This show-down has also been backed by various governments including France, Germany, and Italy, who are threatening to create bills stop Google News.

This micro-issue is simply the manifestation of a macro one. What is happening is the death of an out-of-date industry, caused by the spread of a new one. Traditional media is dying out and firms in this industry must adapt or they will go under, for example “not a single newspaper in France is profitable.” Governments should cease backing these dying companies and should instead foster innovation and the adaptation of new technology, as keeping a dead industry alive is a waste of taxpayer money. Jan Malinowski puts it best “[this] is like trying to ban Gutenburg’s printing press to protect the scribes.“ 

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In the 1960’s everyone knew the goal of putting a man on the moon, but a fast approaching technological jump is quiet in the public. During November 8’s Comm 101 class, two amazing entrepreneurs presented their companies and amazed us with their feats. UrtheCast’s entrepreneur  astonished my fellow students and I with his space-blazing venture.

They will have camera’s placed on the Russian Module of the ISS and will be the first ones to capture constant HD-Video from space. Despite this feat, many class members (including myself) had never heard of them before. This isn’t because the company  has done a sub-par job, as they have major clients lined up. My fellow class-mates are not the future paying-consumers for Urthecast, but one would expect a project this impactfull would be known. There is a lack of interest (by my generation) in upcoming technological advancements, that do not immediatly or directly influence our lives, until they are released. The majority of the class knows when the next i-Phone is coming out, but not when a major technological leap is coming. This disinterest for major advancements in technology (and social issues) is indicative of a careless generation, which could lead to a concerning future.

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