PLEASE DO NOT MARK. When we talked about TOMS in class yesterday I wasn’t sure if I truly believed their marketing strategy, especially with the controversy going around lately. Some people say TOMS shoes is good marketing but a bad aid (http://goodintents.org/in-kind-donations/toms-shoes). I disagree. After doing some research and looking into what TOMS really does, they are truly doing good, but of course there are always individuals who try to ruin that and destroy the company because they are envious and jealous. Why not embrace a company such as TOMS? As our textbook states “Critics worry that cause-related marketing is more  a strategy for selling than a strategy for giving” – not in TOMS case. The really great part, from a marketing perspective is that where a “typical company spends about 20% of sales on advertising, TOMS has not spend a single dollar on it!” Yet, they are incredibly successful and they are not just dropping the shoes off in countries, they are actually putting the shoes on these kids and taking the time to do so. So why is this one-for-one idea TOMS created so popular, especially during this economic downturn? TOMS believes that “with the rise of social and Eco-consciousness and the economy in a downturn, people were looking for innovative and affordable ways to make the world a better place”. When I bought my first pair of TOMS that was my exact reaction, and besides TOMS are incredibly comfortable and stylish, so WHY would I choose to buy Keds if I could by TOMS and contribute to the betterness of the world? At last TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie said ” My thinking was that TOMS would show that entrepreneurs no longer had to choose between earning money or making a difference in the world. Business and charity or public service don’t have to be mutually exclusive. In fact when they come together, they can be very powerful”. Indeed they can. GO TOMS!

Well, that might seem like an awfully boring title, but when we talked about it in class it fascinated me. I never even deeply thought about the fact that there are two main types of data; primary and secondary, although I’m sure I have been the subject of both.

Lets quickly review what these are. Primary data is data that has been created by yourself, or your company. It is carried out through paper survey’s, online survey’s, social media, telephone etc. By collecting this data we then come up with results that help us analyze customer behavior and most importantly come up with a research plan. A good example used in our textbook was Red Bull – and how they wanted to add a line of enhanced water to its already extremely successful line of energy drinks! I mean, I personally never even use the world “energy drink” anymore, I just say Red Bull because that’s how its been placed in my mind. This reminds me of how my mother used to always refer to tissue’s as “Kleenex” – and well that I adapted at an early age also. Regardless, I feel that Primary data can be almost revolutionary for companies in that they discover things they have never seen before. Results like these could never be attained through secondary data – because most of the time the data we need can’t even be found in secondary data.

So what is secondary data? Its basically the data that has been created by others. Its easily accessible in databases such as Statistics Canada (www.statcan.gc.ca), very cost effective and pretty easy to use. I feel that in some cases, secondary data can be great – especially for smaller companies starting out that need some statistics in order to properly market their product, yet I believe if one truly wants to market its product and go above and beyond, they should take Kimber-Clark’s Huggies brand as an example, where parents wore camera-equipped glasses at home so that they could see what the consumer saw while changing babies diapers.

If you truly want to fall in love with huggies and their marketing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpZH7L-9rRE

Hello, Bonjour, Gutentag, Hoi, my name is Céline Grootes, and I just said Hello to you in all the languages I speak. Why do I speak all those languages? Well long story. I was born and pretty much raised in Switzerland and moved over here 6 years ago where I attended Highschool in West Vancouver. My parents are different nationalities, which makes me half dutch and half swiss. People don’t believe me anymore. Apparently I am too “Canadianized” now. Anyways, I’m currently in 2nd year of Sauder – and although its been pretty tough I’m still liking every aspect of business and would never even consider transferring to another faculty.

Here is me as a little girl. I love this picture, because I think It truly still does reflect my personality. You will see what I mean.

Basically I am taking Marketing because well it was in my STT and its a graduation requirement (I know that’s the wrong answer so keep reading!). If Marketing was an optional course I think I would still take it because I feel that Marketing is an important concept everyone should learn, especially since we are exposed to Marketing a billiiooonnnn times a day. Literally.

I’ve had pretty little experience with Marketing myself concerning jobs. The closest I have come to Marketing was during my summer job this year where we used social media and post cards to Market our restaurant. That was pretty cool to see. As a consumer I would say my Marketing experience has been pretty extensive since we are exposed to marketing every single day. Even every day I enter the Sauder main Hall I am exposed to plenty of marketing by the booths that are placed around Sauder and well the hall itself is marketing; CA HALL.

My favorite ads, would have to be Diesel’s “Be Stupid” Campaign. I like their ads because they are silly and provocative. Not something you usually see in the everyday ad. Also it really fits my generation and at last I am a big fan of diesel jeans.

Something personal about myself is; I live by the motto everything happens for a reason and so far that has really brought me far in life. On a lighter note; I am Swiss which means I eat a ridiculous amount of chocolate.