“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” (Henry Ford)

While many dislike the idea of team projects, I actually enjoy the process of collaborating and working with other people. And in many times, this time particularly, it led to a more successful and rewarding result.

The team assignments this term allowed me to apply marketing knowledge learned in class to a real company, refined my research skills through doing situational analysis, and allowed me to meet new friends. Like any other team experience, working with others posed challenges such as coordinating meeting times, managing multiple priorities in- and out-of-school since team assignments usually take more time, and coming to agreements through heated discussions. However, it was these conversations that enabled me to gain different perspectives, and prompted the team to build on each other’s strengths.

Furthermore, the video was an especially valuable experience. It allowed us to be creative and forced us to think out-of-the-box to make an engaging and informative video. Because none of us had made videos before, the assignment gave us the responsibility to learn by doing through trying out different softwares and ways to present. Everyone had so many ideas. And since there were limitless ways to make the video, we found ourselves discussing rather than doing. In the end, it was a fun process incomparable to usual presentations, but next time, I will know to start earlier so we will have plenty of time for discussion and to work on the project.

To summarize, my top takeaways are:

• solidified marketing concepts
• enhanced teamwork skills, and
• FUN AND LAUGHS.

Thank you Tamar – you made marketing one of my best courses this year!

From this article on Brand Channel, “Tide Pods seem to be very good for Procter & Gamble, but some observers believe they’re killing the rest of the detergent industry.”

Tide Pods prevent overdose of laundry detergent, and thus, saves costs for households and benefits the environment. As one of the most widely-used laundry detergent brand, Tide has numerous products available for consumers. From powder and liquid to detergent for dark clothing and softer clothing, there’s pretty much everything you’ll need. 

Even with such dominance in the market, Tide faces competition from eco-friendly brands such as Seventh Generation and Green Works who have established their name with environmentally-conscious consumers. This new product demonstrates that P&G wants to position the Tide brand closer to its environmentally friendly competitors  in order to stay competitive in an industry that is in the maturity stage of the product life cycle.

At this point, I do not agree that Tide Pods are killing the industry:

• Consumers still like to use bottled detergent at home and follow cap measurements because it is cheaper. Hence, “doses” are not a solution to excessive use. Rather, if they were aware that they were using more detergent than required, they’ll learn to follow the measurements.
• Pods are convenient and great for travelling, but most consumers don’t see the value of spending more on this product for daily use.
• Consumers who use eco-friendly products will still choose those brands because it is the chemical-free component that makes them stand out. Tide Pods does not offer this benefit.

What is your opinion? Are Tide Pods killing the detergent industry? Will we have an entire new industry on pop detergents? Or, is this product an innovation of laundry detergent that will push the industry back to its growth stage?

As if Google NoseBETA, end of Youtube, and treasure maps weren’t enough, I came across another April Fool’s prank – American Eagle Outfitter’s Skinny Skinny Jeans.

“If jeggings are too baggy, these are perfect.”

A spray-on denim made out of the softest spider web, these super eco-friendly, technically- scientifically- jeans allow you to do lunges and any kind of physical activity. They’re the new jeans. AEO successfully tricked shoppers into trying on and buying the product, before they finally announced that it’s not real.

This actually seems like a cool product that would look appealing on girls, not so much on guys. Personally, I wouldn’t buy it, but I do see a future in products like this. From flare jeans, to the classic bootcut, trending skinnies, and now ever-popular jeggings, I don’t see why designers wouldn’t be thinking of ways to make jeans tighter and more importantly, more comfortable. No wonder customers were intrigued by the Skinny Skinny and curious to give them a try.

All joking aside, the pranks made me question the credibility of advertisements. If companies are able to persuade its consumers to consider fake products even when they release them on April 1, how easily could an unethical company deceive consumers on a regular day? It also made me aware of the power of promotions from strong brands. Take the example of Google. After the creation of Google Glass, I no longer doubted technological companies’ ability to make products that we had never imagined. As a result, I wasn’t a tint surprised when they announced the Google Nose, I just wow-ed (maybe I’m too gullible).

Nevertheless, the companies were definitely very smart in embracing the first of April to generate buzz. What do you think? Did you find the pranks fun? Annoying? Interesting? Do you know of any other April Fool’s pranks?

In our last marketing class, our professor raised the topic of advertising and brand image. She discussed that many people perceive the luxurious brand, Louis Vuitton, to have downgraded because of an increase in advertising.

As I was investigating this topic, I could not find links to online discussions about recent  views of LV based on their advertising, but I did come across this article: For China’s super chic, Louis Vuitton no longer the most luxurious.

Long line-ups outside LV stores are common as consumers rush to stock up on their favourite brand.

Growing up in Hong Kong where brand name products, especially handbags, seem to be a must-have for every female, most people are very aware of the prestige of brands like LV and Chanel as well as their position as one of the world’s strongest luxury brand. However, in the past few years, the famous monogram bag has become “over exposed” and “mainstream”, even too “cheap” for some as “LV is seen as the brand that even your domestic helper could afford.” In other words, LV has downgraded in the country where buying luxury goods is a routine – not because of their advertising expenditures, but because of the purchasing power of their target market.

In my opinion, increased advertising would not diminish LV’s luxurious brand image, as long as they are innovative about it. While traditional forms of advertising can remind consumers about LV, the “socializing” of the LV brand proves to be a better way to gain brand awareness and transform the customer relationship too. By publishing content on blogs and digital magazines, they can personally communicate with consumers and let them in on their brand story, culture, and upcoming designs.

As such, LV remains successful in their brand positioning in much of the Western culture; their challenge now is to reposition their brand in the Chinese market as the high-class luxury brand with long-standing historical value, like it used to be.

Housing concerns in Hong Kong have become a prominent aspect of society. Many can never save up enough for the down payment or to afford their mortgage as prices continually skyrocket.

Adding onto Alex’s post, this is a marketing promotional and financial investment issue. As described in his post, housing prices are calculated using gross floor area which includes a lot of non-living space. This type of calculation creates such a great misrepresentation that has contributed to make HK one of the most expensive places for real estate. For example, an apartment with only 195 sq. ft. that is saleable (I like to call this “useable”) is sold according to its gross floor area of 298 sq. ft. This 52.8% distortion made a small, typical flat in a common neighbourhood even pricier in $/sq ft. than some of the flats in luxury residential areas!

People in Hong Kong live in metal cages

Coupled with the trend of investors to buy and sell real estate quickly to artificially drive up its value and gain profit, housing has become unaffordable. As these rich investors only represent a small group of the population, those at the other end have no choice but to rent “cage homes,” a bunk bed outfitted by a cage that is stacked up to four stories high in a small apartment.

The problem becomes apparent – the general public is paying for more than they get to live in, and devoting the rest of their life in paying off mortgages for artificial prices. In response, the government has finally taken action. To curb prices, they now require agents to state the useable area and have introduced stamp duties (the doubling of sales taxes on property to limit investing activity) to ensure fair pricing and increase the supply for genuine homebuyers. Hopefully, this will allow housing prices to level, and thereby improve the living conditions of people in HK.

There isn’t a doubt that information gets shared in today’s online world. Identity information is required when someone is purchasing on the Internet, using social media websites, or making email accounts. It has become a matter of process to obtain that product or account.

But what exactly is this data used for?

Companies are always looking to find out about customers and their purchasing patterns, in order to better suit the needs of their target market. The problem is, many businesses do not manage this information well. Security breaches seem to become a trend. News about leaks of customer information to third parties are becoming more frequent, and even high security passwords could be cracked easily. Take Linkedin as an example.

A more popular example of privacy breaches is Facebook. It is very difficult for users to keep up with Facebook’s constant change in format and privacy policies. As a result, privacy issues are overlooked until mass problems occur, such as when private messages appeared on public timelines. This social media website is known for their lack of privacy controls, and users are very concerned with having their privacy abused.

But to what extent does this become an ethical issue? How probable is it that businesses may have used customers’ personal details to their advantage? Is there a story behind the security breaches?

These are privacy, fairness, and legal issues. Companies should be mindful that information is crucial for market research and growth, but ethics is also of major importance in their strategies. They should look at the long term sustainability of the company, and aim to be socially responsible by implementing policies that promote transparency and protect consumers. Because as much as you’d hate to admit, news spreads especially quickly when you do something wrong.