A brand is a name used to identify and distinguish a specific product, service, or business. A lot of thought and time go into naming a brand and deciding on what it should represent. Some companies have managed to label their business so strongly that when you think of a particular type of product, their specific brand is the first one that pops into your head. For example, when you say the word coffee most people would jump to Starbucks in a matter of seconds. In Comm 299 at UBC we discussed the six steps that go into naming a brand whether it is for a product or what you want people to associate with your personality. The six steps include:

1. Brand Identification
2. Brand Awareness
3. Brand Association
4. Brand Quality & Perception
5. Brand Loyalty
6. Brand Broadening

It’s surprising how much brand names impact our society today. A pair of shoes could be hideous but slap an expensive brand name on them and you have the latest hot item. People are no longer just buy the product, they are buying the name and reputation that comes with it. A successfully branded company has differentiated their product, made their purpose clear, and has associated their company with positive qualities. An article in Business Week ranked the companies that best built their image. Among the top brands were Amazon.com, Ebay, and Starbucks. “They’ve discovered new ways to captivate and intrigue consumers” says Robert Berner, author of the article. A large part of making your company a success is having a well defined brand name that people will remember.

For Further Reading:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_31/b3945098.htm

What traits make a successful entrepreneur? My class concluded that it takes drive, perseverance, self awareness, creativity, etc. The chances of becoming a successful entrepreneur are very small and so is the number of females in the business field. Why is that? A study was done and out of 549 successful entrepreneurs only 8% were female. Further more, there are only three companies on the Fortune 1000 that were founded or co founded by woman. The two most popular reasons for there being more men in the workforce is that men have easier access to bankers, venture capitalists, and private equity and second, woman are more devoted to family and have less time to start a business.

I think that is a total stereotype and there is no excuse for the lack of female entrepreneurs. In this day in age, gender should no longer be a factor in business. Female entrepreneurs such as Oprah, J.K Rowling, Estee Lauder, and Debbie Fields are four of the ten females who are self made billionaires. The other 1,121 billionaires in the world are men. Other possible reasons for male dominance in the business field is that traits such as stubbornness, competitiveness, and risk taking are key to being an entrepreneur. Im not saying woman don’t possess these traits but men tend to be more risk takers than woman which may be a big part of the reason why there are so few female entrepreneurs.

After my Business Fundamentals class last week, I thought further about the key role technology is playing in business. In class, we discussed the importance of marketing through Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging in order to successfully run a business in the 21st century. These sites not only allow millions of viewers to have access to company updates but the companies in return can easily receive feedback from their consumers. The companies that fail to take full advantage of the technology made easily available to them will surely fall behind.
One thing that came to mind after that class was the roles of cell phones in future marketing strategies. Many techniques are being used to target websites via internet but there is still room for advancement in the cell phone industry. For example, Starbucks is taking full advantage of applications on the iphone by designing an app for purchasing Starbucks products and checking gift card balances. People may not have cash on them 24/7 but they rarely have their phones out of site. Best Buy is another company that designed a site that is easily accessible by cell phones and allows customers to search store locations and merchandise without being bombarded by advertisements on the internet. Times are changing fast and with the increasing use of technology in our day to day lives, innumerable possibilities for gains in advertising are constantly being created.

for further reading on this topic visit:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2009/tc2009054_249180.htm

http://www.bnet.com/2403-13070_23-219914.html