Marketing Blogs

Recently, my Commerce 295 (Managerial Economics) professor, Mr. James Brander, wrote an article entitled “The Big Bang Theory,” for the Vancouver Sun, discussing Special Teams statistics with the Vancouver Canucks. Bravo, Professor Brander, bravo…I think it was an extremely well written article, and would definitely be interested in hearing more about applying statistical analysis to the NHL. Now THAT would be an awesome university course!

In other news, the Canucks just extinguished the Calgary Flames tonight in a 7-2 blowout in Calgary. To relate this back to Professor Brander’s article, the Canucks were 3 for 8 (37.5%) on the Power Play tonight, and also had a shorthanded goal by Mason Raymond (one of his 3 goals of the night). The Power Play stats build off of the already strong league leading 26% Power Play efficiency that the Canucks have, and once again, the Canucks prove that they can easily be one of the most dominant teams in the league.

Continuing on with my recent blogs regarding the NHL, I thought I would bring up another interesting issue posted by, yet again, Greg Wyshynski of yahoo sports, AKA Puck Daddy. When reading his most recent article discussing the challenges facing the Atlanta Thrashers this year, I remembered another article written by him earlier this fall. Both deal with the same issues threatening the Atlanta franchise, mainly being the lack of fans. Currently sitting in 28th (of 30) in ticket sales, the Atlanta Thrashers are struggling to bring fans to games, and as a result, much speculation is being put forth with the idea of moving the Atlanta franchise to Canada, mainly Winnipeg. Granted, Winnipeg would be a great spot for an NHL team, but with the owners in Atlanta believing they can turn it around, the team will undoubtedly remain in Atlanta for the foreseeable future.

The key to success for every team in any professional sporting league is pretty simple: try to assemble the best group of athletes (while being compliant to any rules or regulations regarding salaries, etc.) who give the franchise/team a chance to win. In my opinion, that is pretty straightforward, however in the October 27th article, puck daddy addressed the issue of fans emailing in about the “Atlanta Thrashers’ multi-cultural roster.” The fact that the Atlanta Thrashers roster currently has 4 Afro-American players, with 3 more training in the minor leagues, should not surprise anyone, because all the players are GOOD PLAYERS. Coincidentally, Atlanta is home to more than 50% Afro-American people, but that is completely beside the point. For example, there is not one NHL team who would not want to have Dustin Byfuglien on their team. At 6’4 and 257 pounds, Byfuglien was a prize catch for Atlanta who traded for him from the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks. So far, Byfuglien has 21 points, good for 4th in the NHL among defensemen, and as I write this article, has 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists), in today’s game against the Bruins! This is just one example of why he is an extremely valuable player, and for people to believe that this was somehow a “marketing” strategy by the Atlanta Thrashers to bring in Afro-American players is completely ludicrous. As I said before, the players mentioned in the article DESERVE to be on that team because they give the Atlanta Thrashers a good chance of winning night after night. If I was an NHL general manager, color/race would be the last thing I look at, as long as the team has good chemistry, is winning games, and is giving the franchise a chance to win the Stanley Cup! Atlanta fans shouldn’t be criticizing the team management for who they have traded for/drafted, but should rather be praising them for putting together a good, solid hockey team.

Who isn’t a fan of watching some of the best players (regardless of the sport) duke it out in an all-star game? Well, if it was as boring and lack-luster as the past NHL all-star games, probably not many…but that is about to change! Thanks to Brendan Shanahan, this year’s NHL All-Star game will be more like a good ol’ fashioned hockey game. To begin with, fans can vote for 6 players of their choice, and at the end of the voting period, the top two voted players will become the new “captains” of the two All-Star teams. Some very good points are brought up in yahoo sports hockey blog, by Puck Daddy. After the two captains are chosen, they then get to draft the players THEY want on the team. That’s right, the voters DO NOT get to vote on the entire team, rather only on the captains. This brings a whole new level to the All-Star game. Does the captain draft his friends? Teammates perhaps? Fellow countrymen? It does not matter which conference the player is from…

This in my opinion, ups the stakes instantly, for what player doesn’t want to prove that he is capable of playing and playing well for his “captain.” Player’s who respect their captain certainly have extra motivation to play hard, and having the bragging rights at the end of the day cant hurt either. This does mean that people will be left out, however that is something that is crucial in my opinion. Why? Because that not only creates even more healthy competition, but it will hopefully drive players to improve their game. Gaining the respect and admiration of fellow hockey players sometimes can mean more to players than knowing that they have a large fan base, and who wouldn’t feel honored to be “picked” by a person such as Crosby, Ovechkin, Datsyuk, or Stamkos?

As puck daddy rightly points out, the more passionate the players are, the higher quality of game it will be. Its going to be an exciting game, and even if it takes a year or two to work out the kinks in the system, I believe that it is a great change to the All-Star game not only for the fans, but also for the players!

Interested in voting? Vote HERE

Hockey is Canada’s Game! Regardless of your viewpoint on that statement, Canada is the reigning gold medalist from last year’s Olympics. There is not much that can be debated there. Canada has some of the strongest hockey markets in the NHL, including the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs (I put them here because of fan support, not because of the actual quality of team (sorry Toronto Fans)), and also the Calgary Flames. I can personally say that I am a die-hard Canucks fan, and will always be a Canucks fan, regardless of where I eventually end of living. And as an NHL fan in general, it is very easy to see that parts of the league are struggling, and luckily for us, there is a solution that can and should be implemented.
One NHL blogger, Eklund, sometimes has quite interested articles, and today he decided to talk about the possibility of bringing more teams to Canada. Unfortunately, one of the worst markets in the NHL, Phoenix, is about to be sold and will remain in Phoenix, even though they lost millions of dollars last year. However, Eklund states that he was told by a source that: “I can almost guarantee you the NHL will be back in Winnipeg and Quebec within 3-5 years.” That is pretty good news for Canadian Hockey fans in general as well as the fans in those respective cities. Personally, I really do not think the NHL can go wrong with going back to either, if not both, Winnipeg and Quebec. Both cities already have NHL history, have loyal fans that would instantly start buying tickets, and have the markets to support NHL teams. Places like Phoenix, Florida, Atlanta, and even Dallas (unfortunately one of the largest falls from grace in terms of revenue and fan support) are having extremely difficult times filling the seats in their arenas.
Another positive in my opinion is that, supposedly Eklund gets a “sense the bad blood has faded between the NHL and Balsillie” which could be great for the NHL. I realize there was a lot more said than actually published, but it is ridiculuos that the NHL does not want an owner like Balsillie. The owner of RIM, Balsillie is a true hockey fan, and would be an amazing owner in my opinion. Granted, he isnt your stereotypical high paid exec only in it for the money, and the NHL may have a problem with that, but they cannot deny that he has a great amount of passion for the game.

We all know about Facebook and the many opportunities for companies to promote events, however what about ourselves? What do we really say about ourselves with profile pictures, status updates, and comments? A friend of mine, Derek Li, has lightly touched on this subject, and I thought that I would try to spend a little bit more time talking about Facebook. He states, “It can be dangerous to market yourself in a bad manner” and I completely agree. According to another blog, Inside Facebook, “45% of companies are checking out potential employees’ social pages.” That is a scary thought for people who have many pictures that are not exactly what people consider to be “professional.”

Facebook has definitely evolved into a great outlet for people to be themselves, and to connect with those around them.  However, we must be aware that everything we do can be monitored, and, heaven forbid, someone loses a job BECAUSE of how they are portrayed on facebook. Are there solutions? Of course there are. Privacy settings can be easily adjusted (just log on and go to www.facebook.com/privacy) and once changed, can make your profile much more secure. All it takes is a few minutes, and those potential employers will not be able to see the photos from last week’s party or the crazy Vegas trip.

So for those of you out there who haven’t changed your settings, why not do so, and help your future…

Everyone has heard of the ongoing battle between Blackberry and Apple for cellphone supremacy, and it is always interesting to hear about someones opinion. Earlier today I stumbled upon a friend’s blog about why he bought an iphone. Mark Ostrovsky outlined the reasons behind his decision to buy the iphone 4, and at the end of his blog mentioned that he would “always wonder the benefits of having the “bbm” feature exclusively on BlackBerrys.” I am now hear to tell my part of the story, and why I believe Blackberry have more to offer than the iphone.

To begin with, I currently own the first generation BlackBerry storm. I have always been pleased with the performance of my phone, but perhaps most importantly, have absolutely loved the BBM feature. BBM (or BlackBerry Messenger) is unique only to BlackBerry, and offers a MSN messenger kind of way to talk with another person on a phone. It does not use any minutes from your plan, and you are not charged per BBM “text.” You first need to get a fellow blackberrry owner’s pin, and then add him/her to the BBM. From there, you can send and receive BBM’s with ease. Not only that, another great feature allows you to see when the “text” has been delivered and when it has been received by the other person. This eliminates any doubt about people not returning your texts for whatever reasons. This specific app has truly made my BlackBerry experience that much better.

My final point refers to the apps and ipod built into the Iphone. Granted, I love Apple apps, and the ipod is a great unit, but you can easily buy them separately. I, myself, have an ipod touch, and will definitely buy another when this one dies, but the point I am trying to make is that you do not really need an ipod in an iphone. It does save space, and makes life easier, but one can also be content with a BlackBerry and an Ipod, thus getting the best of both worlds.

To finish off, I am not trying to slander Apple’s products, nor am I saying that I do not like the Iphone, rather, I am just pointing out why BlackBerry phones are great as well.

Most people have heard of Alex Rodriguez, or A-Rod for short. He is the third baseman for the New York Yankees, and quite the celebrity. He has also been linked to numerous other celebrities including Madonna and Cameron Diaz. Recently during a game, a crazed fan ran onto the field wanting to confront A-Rod about his relationship with Diaz. The man, 33 year old Grim LeRogue, carried with him pictures of A-Rod, Diaz, and Osama bin Laden. Luckily nothing happened, and security was able to control the situation quickly and efficiently. However, this should certainly come as a wake-up call to the MLB management that security can never be taken for granted. The world may like baseball, but there will always be those select few who can cause serious harm to the sport. The league, and the owners, cannot risk their prime marketing assets (like A-Rod) to be susceptible to crazed fans. Just like in any scenario, the things that are worth the most must be kept the safest.

In case you haven’t heard yet, there is another billion dollar man walking the earth. Except this time, the man OWES $1 billion dollars! The Quebec Superior Court recently ordered a Mr. Adam Guerbuez to pay a $1 billion dollar fine to Facebook. Why? Because he allegedly spammed people on Facebook with over 4 million inappropriate advertisements.

Now will Facebook be receiving their money soon? Ughh most likely no? Hes a regular person who happened to enjoy spending his day sending ridiculous messages to millions of people. Not really the type of person who can pay anyone $1 billion dollars.

Now in my opinion this has simply made a mockery of the judicial system. I completely agree that something has to be done, and that Facebook needs to do something about the “spam” problem…but to try and get a man to pay $1 billion dollars? Really?!?

Ya, they have probably destroyed any chance of him living a normal life, but if he is already legally bankrupt (which he had admitted to BEFORE the sentencing) what have they really done?

Check out this new marketing ploy!

Billboards, traditionally at least, have provided companies with a crafty way to advertise to people as they drive by and I believe it is an effective way to market a product. That being said, I do NOT believe in having people take a photo WHILE driving in order to save a few dollars. There are enough bad drivers on the road today, and we definitely do not need another distraction that could easily result in many more crashes. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the idea of taking a photo of a billboard and saving money is great, just not while driving a car. With cellphones, ipods, and even GPS’s distracting drivers, asking them to pull out their phone while driving and avert their eyes from the road in order to take a photo is pretty crazy. I for one, value my life over $2 of savings. Do you?

Months after the memorable 2010 Winter Olymipcs in Vancouver, the iconic red mittens are once again available! The mittens that shook the world, revolutionized the clothing industry, changed the face of Canada!…..ok maybe I am getting a bit carried away here, but no one can deny the unbelievable success that the simple red mittens at the Olympics had. I’m sure we have all heard of them, probably even own them, and now they are back! The Canadian Olympic Committee has released a “re-vamped” set of mittens, that will be on sale for only $10, of which, proceeds will benefit the Canadian Olympic Committee. So far, the amount of mittens sold has been an astonishing 3,406,071 (and yes, that is the ACTUAL number thanks to www.redmittens.ca). Now the question is, how did a simple pair of mittens become an integral part of the “canadian” image during the olympics?

I myself own a pair of the famous red mittens, and there is no question in my mind that I would buy them again. The popularity of the mittens began to spread like wildfire before the games even began, and soon people were having to wait in lines for hours just to get the chance of buying them. The HBC stores could not keep them in stock fast enough!

So what made these mittens so popular? To begin with, the price was great, and for tourists coming from other countries it provided a unique souvenir at an affordable price. Not to mention the fact that many celebrities endorsed the product. The likes of which included Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, Stephen Colbert, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Biden, and even Oprah! This factor, coupled with the sense of Canadian pride felt by pretty much everyone living in Canada turned the mittens into one of the main symbols of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic (and if the Canadian Olympic Foundation has its way…many future Olympics too)!