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Twitter is a way for anyone with internet access to let the entire world know about what they are up to in 140 characters or less. As an active Twitter user myself, I find it incredibly interesting to witness it’s growth from relative obscurity to its current status as a viable marketing tool.

After reading Simrat’s blog post about Twitter and Sponsored Tweets, I’d like to extend upon their post because I agree with almost everything they’ve said but I’d like to add my own personal two cents. I started using Twitter because I wanted to “follow” my favourite celebrities. I have a mild celebrity obsession and I do read the trashy tabloids from time to time. I’d like to think of it as a form of escapism.

As much as I’d love to believe that most of the celebrities are on Twitter because they love their fans, to be quite honest there is always an alternate agenda. Perhaps it is the cynic in me, but it is highly unlikely that a celebrity joined Twitter so they can be ‘real life friends’ with all their fans. For example, as much as Justin Bieber professes that he’s on Twitter for the fans to be closer to them, upon closer inspection you can see that he stealthily puts in many different plugs to products he sponsors as well as major promotion of his music.

Sponsored Tweets really hits home how much celebrities can influence consumers to buy material possessions. I really like how Simrat mentioned that when a celebrity tweets about using something as opposed to staring in a commercial for the same thing, the followers feel a more ‘real’ connection to buying the product because it doesn’t seem like the celebrity is being ‘paid’ to advertise but genuinely enjoys using the product.

Another example of Twitter’s influence is KONY 2012. Through the use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter KONY 2012 was able to gain momentum and became a widespread phenomena in just one night. Jennifer‘s blog post I found to be very informative and her inspired comparison of KONY 2012 to the lifecycle of a product I found truly interesting. In fact, her comparison did in fact come to fruition. In the beginning the early adopters (such as the creators of the video) spread it to celebrities who then retweeted the video to their millions of followers which is basically the general population (early/late majority). Invisible Children basically just needed to spread the video to key celebrities (as they identified) and from then it was like a snowball effect gaining more and more momentum. To that effect, the “life” of KONY 2012 to me seems to be very short. At first it was the “in” thing and it was what everyone and everything was talking about – and it seemed that all of a sudden everyone was an expert on KONY 2012 with an opinion and Twitter as their medium to tweet their thoughts. Within hours of its introduction, the video had become a trending topic all around the world and became instantly viral. However, just as quickly as KONY 2012 came into our lives it seems to have exited it just as quickly. Aside from the controversial detainment of co-founder Jason Russell, KONY 2012 seems to have lost its momentum and is no longer the ‘in’ thing. It’s an example like this that shows the volatility of social media sites like Twitter, where popularity can be very fleeting. This is also evidenced in Trending Topics that are constantly changing. Because just like the world, no one dwells on just one topic of conversation, the conversation is always changing and evolving.

When I was looking through the recommended blogs on the blogroll, I stumbled across this article 4 Easy Ways to Lose Money Partnering with Groupon

I understand that from a company’s perspective advertising on such a global and well known site as Groupon helps with brand exposure, however from my personal experiences with Groupon I definitely feel that companies – especially restaurants – are hurting themselves more than reaping in the benefits that they perceived should happen.

Many fine dining restaurants have participated in Vancouver Groupon. Seeing these amazing deals for “fancy food” at a discounted price is very appealing to me, and definitely draws me in into purchasing the Groupon for the restaurant. I am clearly not the intended target market for fine dining restaurants at this point in time, but by putting themselves on Groupon the restaurant is really opening themselves up to the entire market without any segments or variables.

With my Groupon in hand, I headed to the restaurant that I had purchased the coupon for. However the service was absolutely atrocious. Because I had a Groupon I felt like I was treated at a “lower tier”. I feel that this is wholly unacceptable because the restaurant put themselves on the site and they are the ones offering the discount (#3 of above linked article). It would make more marketing sense to draw a consumer in and amaze them with phenomenal food and service and hope that they will be so astounded that the will make multiple return visits. Treating your customer in a negative manner will not only turn them off from coming back again but could cause a negative word of mouth to surround your restaurant.

So, although Groupon may seem like a smart way to expand the recognition of your brand or company, it is important to think of the ramifications of offering such massive discounts on your product.

I wholly agree with all that was written in the article and I felt that it encapsulated a lot of the things that is wrong about using Groupon as an effective marketing tool.

or maybe its Photoshop.

In class today, we talked about ethical issues in marketing. In particular I want to touch upon and talk a little bit about deceptive advertising.

According to Wikipedia, deceptive advertising is

The use of false or misleading statement in advertising.

That being said, it’s a fact that all ads are photoshopped or altered. Perhaps this statement is to general and broad, but the reality is that if it’s an advertisement, even if it claims to be au natural, chances are the subject has been manipulated in some way in order to showcase the product in the best possible light.

Some of the worst offenders of deceptive advertising is committed by cosmetics companies. Everything from promising incredible eye lashes to reversing the aging process are splashed across ads that we see every day and everywhere.

Two examples I’d like to draw upon are CoverGirl’s ad featuring Taylor Swift and Maybelline’s ad featuring Christy Turlington. The former’s campaign is based on a mascara that promises two times the volume of the other leading mascara brand. However, the accompanying photo with Swift had her mile long lashes have been deemed to be too photoshopped. Swift’s lashes are not in fact attainable only using the product but consumers have been mislead into thinking that if they purchase this product they too will have the same result.

Similarly in Maybelline’s “The Eraser” ad, which promises to ‘erase’ signs of aging shows an overly photoshopped Turlington with flawless skin at the age of 43. The ad misleads their consumers into the belief that as long as they purchase this product they will also have flawless skin in their forties, which quite frankly is impossible without cosmetic surgery as collagen and elastin start slowing down production well before a woman’s thirties.

Deceptive advertising leads to false images of what the ideal should be. Unethical marketing such as this leads to an unattainable and unrealistic ideal of beauty.

Starbucks. The first thing that generally comes to mind in association with this brand is coffee. Starbucks doesn’t necessarily have the world’s greatest coffee, and it doesn’t advertise itself as such, however it has made itself a household name as a purveyor of coffee and it works. However, Starbucks is increasingly increasing its range of products rolling out baked goods, salads, and various other dining options in addition to their coffees and drinks. In this blog post I will concentrate specifically on Starbucks’ new goal of trying to break into the breakfast ‘market’. Many individuals on the go will not immediately think of going to Starbucks for breakfast, however they will think of Starbucks as their number one caffeine fix destination. So, in a logical move, Starbucks has started to offer breakfast sandwiches. I will now use the four P’s to analyze this decision – Product, Promotion. Placement and Price.

Product: Starbucks is offering a new offering “premium breakfast sandwiches and wraps”.

Promotion: To promote their new breakfast menu, Starbucks has placed ads in various newspapers including The Vancouver Sun and free newspapers such as 24hours and metro. There are ads in transit, and if you have a registered Starbucks card and signed up for emails they emailed customers about their new breakfast items. In addition to this, for this week, Starbucks is offering their Breakfast sandwiches for only $2.50. Starbucks has also utilized social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about their new items. Starbucks promotional blurb is as follows:

Mornings are always good when they include a savory, wholesome breakfast. But eggs, bacon, rustic artisan bread – who has the time? Fortunately, we do. And with our premium breakfast sandwiches and wraps on the menu, you do too. In addition to the lineup you’ve come to love – the popular Sausage & Cheddar Classic Breakfast Sandwich, the meat-free Veggie & Monterey Jack Artisan Breakfast Sandwich, we also offer a delicious low-carb Spinach, Feta & Cage-Free Egg White Breakfast Wrap and more. Good morning!

Placement: The breakfast items are available at every location and in my experience they seem to have an endless supply of the product. Although I’m sure at some point they do run out of certain products, I feel as if they currently produce enough to meet the demand.

Price: The breakfast line is a relatively inexpensive option for customers who are already purchasing their beverages in the morning. There is no price differentiation because all customers pay the same for the breakfast items.

Overall, I think that Starbucks new breakfast line will prove to be successful. I think a major contributor to that success will be because of the convenience and the multitude of options available.

My name is Cecilia Chun and I’m a second year commerce student, and I intend to study Accounting as my major. I’m taking this course because I don’t really know much about marketing aside from ads and commercials so it should be interesting to see the ‘other side’ of marketing. Also, as a second year student this course is required so I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

My experience with marketing is very limited. Most of it stems from me being a consumer and being surrounded by ads and commercials daily. I have been able to dabble in marketing a little bit in terms of promoting the Coca Cola brand during the 2010 Olympics. Also, as part of the promotions team for CTV, I have had opportunities to encourage the development of ties between the community and CTV by actively promoting the company through sponsored art and culture events.

One of my favourite print ads was for promoting Vancouver 2010. I love the simplicity of the ad and the colors used. The intricate details; such as the little umbrella, is what really makes this ad fantastic in my opinion.

Something personal about myself would be that I love to cook. I especially love experimenting with different cuisines and trying out unique and interesting ingredients. My favourite things to cook are usually desserts with an Asian twist.

(Chocolate Chai Marquise with Mango Sauce and Cardamon Whipped Cream)

A picture of one of my more successful creations!

The greatest lesson I learned from someone else is from Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. They are an amazing figure skater team and I learned so much from her and her partner. I had the opportunity to meet with them during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and my life really has never been the same again. They have both taught me the valuable lesson of working hard and preserving through all the difficulties in life. As a team, they have faced so much and the fact that they’re always so positive and so happy and outgoing it really inspires me to be an even better person. They are beautiful people inside and out – generous, kind and understanding. Not many athletes take the time to talk to the people that work as part of a team so I really appreciate everything they taught me.

Business ethics is when a company tries to abide by the law and protect their image. BP has done an exceptionally poor job at that ever since the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Financial Post recently published an article alleging and detailing the various methods in which BP is trying to shift the blame onto other parties. Instead of taking full responsibility, BP is trying to salvage their damaged reputations by allocating most of the blame on rig operator Transocean and their contractor Halliburton. The article is a brief snapshot on the report that BP released saying that the faulty parts that resulted in the oil spill were not “BP’s primary responsibility”.  The main issue with BP is that they are not owning up to their mistakes. They are trying to shift their wrongs onto others in a desperate attempt to fix their ruined image. BP’s best choice would have been to be direct and take responsibility for their mistakes. This would show the world that they have the integrity to take action for the things they did wrong and the desire to try and make things better.

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