Wrapping up what was a very quick semester, it’s time to flip the page with COMM 296. After a memorable and enjoyable 3 months, I can now say that I managed to take meaningful and useful concepts out of the introductory marketing course with Professor Rui Silva.

The final video assignment was a culmination of what my teammates and I took out of the course and expressed it in a short, cartoon video. Our approach to the cartoon video (complete with our voices dubbed over, and soundtracked with subtle Bossa Nova) was meant to be a fun twist and it was a unique experience to do so.

The cartoon video was created using a beta version of www.powtoon.com. Because of this, we were faced with many uncertainties surrounding the limits of an unfamiliar beta program. The entire editing process was a learning curve from what you see displayed in minute 0 to minute 5. In retrospect, I feel we could have cut production time significantly if we had used a familiar editing software. Nonetheless, the learning curve was invaluable as we opened another channel to editing through the cartoon realm. The factors of filmmaking and sitting down meeting, after meeting with my group members was an inevitable thing that required patience and schedule-matching, we understand all groups faced this barrier and knew that we had to be prompt and efficient with this process. However, I found that our group had particular fun with certain parts of the process as we went through the scripting and breakdown of the video. For example, throughout the brainstorming process, we thought about the memorable times in lecture and group discussions; and in numerous occasions, these thoughts broke many brain blocks and facilitated new and creative ideas that we would eventually incorporate into the film. Hopefully the video can show viewers a glimpse of the creative process we took effort in forming our ideas together.

Ice hockey is undoubtedly the national sport of Canada, the men’s and women’s gold medal victories in the 2010 Winter Olympics at home serves as a testament to the international eye of what the sport means to Canadians. Ice hockey has been used many times in conjunction with the culture of the people of Canada. The sport holds well with all age groups and of all ethnic Canadians; it is a way of life. As far as we Canadians are concerned, the growth of the international game is not as important as it is preserving the game at home and strengthening the identity of Canadians.

Rogers Communications Inc.’s recent deal with the NHL that will give it Canadian multimedia rights through a 12-year, $5.2-billion agreement allows for the growth of the sport to prosper and develop an open-ended communication channel throughout Canada as a nationwide network.

From Rogers’ standpoint, as  SFU Marketing professor Lindsay Meredith points out, the billion-dollar deal reveals a bold marketing strategy.  The naming rights of Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, in particular, is a mere small step integrating Canada’s hockey world. Meredith notes that Rogers is also taking advantage of the increasing involvement of technology in the game as the exchange of information is being transported via wireless channels.

From the Canadian consumers’ standpoint, the deal offers copious amounts of hockey – at a higher price – on a variety of channels and devices. UBC’s own James Brander says the pricing will be as a result of channel bundling and justifying the big price tag of the deal. Personally, I feel that the unification of all networks brings the sport full-circle for Canadians and thus they wont feel hindered by the increase in price, but see it as a positive step in adding to the culture and identity of Canadians.

In Daryl Chan’s recent blog post regarding Ikea’s 4Ps in Europe and Asia, he analyzes Ikea’s global marketing strategy through examining the company’s marketing mix strategy implored in different regions of the world (particularly Europe and Asia, which are good extremes for the purpose of the analysis). Darryl highlights the challenges European-based Ikea faced through trying to accommodate to the Chinese market.

A company can be examined many ways. One may analyze the economical aspects, the financial positioning of the company, the historical implications of the company, and other macroeconomic factors. Generally, companies that pack a punch in any of these factors are doing globally. It is important to analyze the success of a company through its international contribution.

There is evident risk in entering a new market, and in Ikea’s case, it’s no different – they took a chance and brought the popular trendy furniture culture to a new market in China. At first, there was some confusion regarding price as Ikea’s low pricing strategy didn’t work seeing as Chinese people regarded Western products to be superior, but Ikea’s logical pricing structure eventually fit well amongst the young middle-class population (educated about the Western culture) in the market. With regards to product, place, and promotion, Ikea really took upon a role of understanding the cultural factors of its new market and learned to adapt in order to be successful. Ikea made sure its products were diffused easily within the Chinese culture through how it coped with compatibility: smaller sized furniture for smaller housing, store location near public transit, and marketing on the Chinese social mega-site Weibo.

As to most brand studies in COMM296, Ikea is another interesting examination due to its adaptability to different market structures. Its success transcends borders through its marketing mix strategies and ability to understand the macroeconomic factors.

Bryan Tenenhouse of the Canadian Marketing Association recently published a blog post regarding his allegiance with Apple. As a loyal Apple user myself, I felt a similar way to what his words seemed to express, including the fact that Apple essentially created the smartphone industry. Who doesn’t like originality?

“The battle is between Apple iPhone loyalists and some upstart company called Samsung with its Trojan Horse, Android. (See what I just did there? I lobbed another grenade.)”

It was the pioneer product of the new market it created and henceforth created the “war” we have today as other firms began imitating the technology forcing Apple to build on its relative advantage. The process has since created an arms race.

At this point in time of the immense smartphone industry competition, a war that has been raging for more than 5 years, the release of newer products makes it hard for consumers of the “early majority” to make a decision given that the technology is basically set-in-stone with some seemingly large adjustments. However, this is where brand loyalty may begin to play a factor. Tenenhouse quotes that “a recent Forbes survey confirms that while 20% of new Apple users have switched from Android to the iPhone, only 7% of Apple users have gone the other way”. Despite what accolades Apple’s competitors have to offer, Apple can proudly boast its population of loyal customers. Its efficient customer service is famous and compliments the efficient and famous product it services. It’s the experience and the idea that one material product can be the most integral thing in your life behind living necessities, friends, and family. Apple for life.

The study of big-name brands and companies is necessary to understand what allows them to be successful. Case in point from the lectures we’ve had, Toyota’s geographic segmentation to separately accommodate for the narrow European boulevards and North America’s gridline system, and Lululemon’s psychographic approach in shaping a culture and defining a lifestyle. These companies have an augmented ability to pinpoint consumer behaviour and match their needs. Naturally, I thought about brands and companies relevant to me and thought about the Vancouver Canucks.

Source: Canucks YouTube page

It occurred to me how successful the Vancouver Canucks brand is with respect to understanding its consumer. Since its inception to the National Hockey League in 1970, the team has gradually found its place next to other revenue-high, elite teams. Since 1970, the Canucks and their fans have gone through a cyclical process (1982 Stanley Cup run, 1994 Stanley Cup run, 2011 Stanley Cup run), and despite having not won the Stanley Cup in any of those runs, the Canucks have continued to expand their fan base through the need to want to win.

The Canucks have been assessing the unique demography of Vancouver and the resulting factor is a devoted and diverse fan base. This has been done through several processes including understanding the 7 principles of consumer behaviour; for example, the Canucks signing now all-stars Sedin brothers, Selke award winner Ryan Kesler, and Vezina trophy winner Roberto Luongo (liking principle), and boasting consecutive attendance-sellouts (social validation principle).

In the context of my personal experience: Much like what happened to my parents, who probably fell into the “trap”, the Canucks have intertwined the mission statement into me; I will always be emotionally attached to the Canucks. The brand’s commitment has infectiously spread across several generations. Surely, the brand will continue growing as it has been, because “We are all Canucks”.

Companies are constantly looking for ways to maximize their profits. Throughout this process, they’ll explore several different avenues that could offer newer and creative methods to, ultimately, lure consumers. From this research comes a concept that is becoming more and more noticeable merely through the number of companies trying it.

Collaboration. Some companies have been successful in joining together to pool their resources and share their knowledge. There are several benefits to being in collaboration with another company. Companies in collaboration can share their knowledge of their respective trade. In particular, Burton in recent years has partnered with Gore-Tex to create an exceptional line of winter-based outerwear. Burton, already a top-tier group in outdoor apparel, joins with Gore-Tex, a company which strictly boasts a quality waterproof-breathable fabric. Through this, Burton has further increased their profits and Gore-Tex has been exposed to collaboration with other companies. This collaboration is successful and feasible.

So why don’t other successful companies collaborate with other each other seeing as it’s nearly impossible to falter?

Collaborations are becoming more of a short-term hap in that companies might be disregarding the ethics of fundamental marketing. Above, Pepsi and Aape (a subsidiary company of high-end youth culture apparel brand Bape) inadvertently collaborate in controversial fashion (Aape misread as Rape) through a poorly selected font. However, this mishap is surprisingly not the main fallacy. From a business prospective, there is not much vision sprouting from the collaboration of a soft-drink brand and youth apparel brand. Rather, it appears to be an Aape’s attempt to advertise through a bigger brand – yet, the actual collaboration makes no economical sense.

Collaborations are a healthy way for companies to mutually expand, but they should be carefully considered before coming to fruition for the sake of fundamental ethics in their marketing campaigns. Collaborations should be feasible and entail a further vision behind them.

Looking back at the project where groups analyzed Business Plans, I particularly remember having to scroll through the lengthy Business Plan.
Although very organized, thoroughly and necessarily detailed, the ‘everyday’ business plan can come off to me at times a convoluted mess and not something that was easily approachable and to some extent didn’t seem that attractive.

Certainly, there are multiple ways of going around and planning how to start a business. Canadian health-wise fast-food franchise Freshii founder Matthew Corrin offers an alternative planning schema and has executed his method quite well. The alternative is what he coins to be the ‘5-point Leadership Manifesto’. In simple terms, this is what it is:

• talk is cheap, execution sets you apart
• launch fast, fail fast, iterate faster
• numbers rule
• build a killer culture for your company and not a culture that will kill your company
• pick your battles wisely

The traditional business plan and Corrin’s 5 points are quite different. Matthew Corrin’s radical approach is much easier to comprehend and at the same time, still manages to address the fundamental issues and questions behind a business. In fact, Corrin might be doing a favour for some entrepreneurs that are looking to get out of the hole they’ve dug themselves. For Corrin, it’s how the business runs, and it’s been effective. For newcomers, it could serve as a helpful tool to get the company up and running. Sometimes, simplification is a good thing!

There was recently a post made by Jenny Lee on Vancouver Sun’s business blog documenting Arlene Dickinson’s advice on entrepreneurship.

We all know what negative effects rushing can have on our daily lives. It’s a poor habit to have but can be resolved simply. A decorated member on the Dragons’ Den panel, Dickinson emphasizes planning as crucial to small businesses entering the already convoluted scene.

Referencing a previous post I made about entrepreneurs needing to find PoDs in order to be successful in the market, Dickinson’s comments are much of a blueprint to how this can efficiently be done. Although businesses may find themselves efficient and different than others, critical planning stages might be missed out on. Why are businesses wanting to start businesses in the first place? Obviously the goal is to become successful, but it’s a process that certainly does not happen overnight. Rather, the process involves envisioning strategies before implying immediate tactics, considering as many possibilities as possible (from the simplest steps to complex steps) and working around these rations so that entrepreneurs will have hefty backbones entering the market. The blog post is an important reminder to entrepreneurs and serves as an effective checklist for entrepreneurs wanting to start small businesses.

“What’s the rush???”
 (Marketing Guru Arlene Dickinson speaks to students at the Rotman School of Management)

Recent Sauder graduate Tom Dobzranski came to say a few words about his multi-pronged path to career and it prompted me to think about how I eventually got to becoming a student studying commerce as well as considering options down the road.

I recall in one of the classes much earlier in the year we were asked the following question: “What made you choose BCom?”
Of many things that came to my head, it was actually hard to come up with a definite reason. I wasn’t one of the guys who was set in stone for Finance, or Investment Banking, or some Head Marketing role in a local firm. In the days following, I convinced myself that having background in several field is ideal for today. The world is changing and becoming extremely advanced at a fast rate, being innovative is a challenge. Certainly having knowledge in more than one field is favourable.

Tom in his basement studio:

What about this as an office???

Tom is able to continue his passion for music and he’ll always be pocketing business tools learned from his BCom.
Perhaps job security isn’t so hard after all.

As a follow up to the last post about Janice Cheam’s Energy Aware, I coincidentally found a video on the website of The Globe and Mail where Gregor Robertson discusses the challenges faced by small businesses and newcomer entrepreneurs in the city in current times.

Walking around the streets of Vancouver, it’s hard to tell right away what small businesses have done to get where they are. Just how much does an entrepreneur have to consider when entering a market? Based on Porter’s 5 forces, I would think the degree of measurement with regards to the five forces are all listed as high. In Vancouver’s expansive and diverse market, buyers and suppliers are all capable of persuasive and tricky bargaining techniques. Their barriers to entry from other competitors don’t stand to high and the number of substitutes blow through the ceiling. As an entrepreneur, I would be have a tough time analyzing the market let alone to see when the appropriate time to enter the market would be. It would be interesting to see what new methods the different entrepreneurs entering the market would employ to differentiate themselves in the market.

Gregor Robertson on entrepreneurs and the challenges faced by small businesses

One company has managed to employ its strategies wisely and demonstrate itself through something unique and interesting:
Referencing classmate Tighearnan Marsh’s post on Save on Meats is an example of a new (but revamped) business coming into the Downtown Eastside (DTES) development project. What makes them different? They have done an excellent job intertwining themselves within the DTES and promoting social good within the community.

Photo retrieved from BCBusiness Online