Eli Chan's blog

Referring back to Paco Lee’s first marketing blog post, I am reminded of a particular product that had first left me with question marks and the word “Really…?” in my head.
There is simply no limit to creativity. That is why some obnoxious ideas have so successfully excelled in the market, earning increasingly more profits than ever expected. This is especially due to the current generation’s desire for discovery, a value that current marketers must take account of when introducing new products to emerge into the market.

 

 

Also known as “The Boyfriend-Arm Pillow”, it was first introduced in Japan back in 2004, and throughout the past years it had many around the world intrigued with the desire to get their hands on the comfort of this soft arm “that does not snore or make demands”. For those truly interested, they turned to online distribution sites, such as Amazon, to get the product shipped to their home address from the Japanese manufacturing site.

I must say that I do not own one of these myself. But I do remember one of my friends ordering one and posting a picture of it on her Facebook a couple years ago. Though at a first glance the idea of this particular pillow is quite amusing (for instance, if you do not have a boyfriend/spouse, depend on one of these to get through the dark night), it fails to really persuade me personally to order something like this off the net. Since it has been quite a number of years since it had first emerged into the market, it is about time that this company does some reminder advertising or invest some time to relay it to a better, improved version of this pillow based on customer feedback from over the years.

 

On the one hand, what makes a pillow truly your “favourite” depends on its  level of comfort, which is assessed by you, the sleeper. On the other hand, I strongly think that the following product will not be as popular as the arm-pillow above. Not only does it raise criticism, it also does not even look that comfortable to begin with (those with neck problems, beware!)

Chips. Who doesn’t love reaching into the bag and pulling out a nice big salty potato chip to crunch-crunch in your mouth? (But personally for myself, I have this habit of crushing the bag before actually tearing open the top so the chips inside will become smaller and more evenly seasoned, but that’s another story.)

Back then, when I was younger, I would always succeed in persuading my mom to buy me the oh-heavenly Miss. Vickies (still my favourite!) or Crunchies (the skinny type of Cheetos). They would always be stocked up in the pantry 24/7.

Nowadays, though I don’t eat it quite as often, what I find in the pantry is completely different from what it was before. My brother still has the passion and love to go out and buy the chips for me, so he has the final say on what brand/flavour to get. Unfortunately, although I do appreciate the effort, he usually just goes to Superstore – to get their no name brand chips, aka. the chips inside the yellow bag.

 

Well, the yellow bag just gives out the impression that the chips inside might not be as good. And my meaning of good refers to the flavour, the thickness of the chip… etc. Perhaps this is due to how I have positioned the branding of the yellow bag in my mind- as a cheap, affordable brand that reaches my minimum satisfaction level.

In a blog found from an external source on brandchannel.com, Miller suggests that the current trend for North American consumers is the tendency to reach for the lower-priced items on the shelves, whether they may be the ones on sale or just the more affordable brands. As most of us are continuously struggling to recover from the economic recession, our act of ‘buying down’ is certainly not something out of the blue; it’s part of the typical consumer’s mindset to purchase an item that can just maximize our satisfaction at the bare minimum with respect to our budget (aka. our wallet).

While the trend will continue for at least several more years, the no name brand has successfully targeted the right segment in the market (and considering the economic factor in the macroenvironment, they have done it at the right time too!)

I must admit, however, that the no name brand chips were better than I had expected. But nothing can beat Miss. Vickes. Nothing.

 

On a Thanksgiving holiday, I find myself at Richmond Centre, shopping around when I knew I should at home studying for my upcoming midterms.

One of the stores that I entered was Bath and Body Works. Although I usually head straight to the corner to smell those scent candles for my own enjoyment, I am always certain there would be a sales person as an obstruction in my path. Indeed, I was right again – her overly practiced greeting of “Hi there! If you have anything that you need help with, my name is ___.” had me murmur an automatic “Thanks, but I’m just looking around” to her friendly offer of assistance.

Now, I usually do not show much interest in the products when I am only walking around the mall. But I am afraid today was an exception. Enticing seasonal scents like Autumn Leaves had me want to bring the smell home and liven up my boring home with the crispy fall season. When I decided to pick up one of the packages, the sales person magically appeared at that first second of interest and tried convincing me to choose the biggest package of the shelf – a box with 4 scent bulbs of the same scent. She even exclaimed, “it is 50% off its original sale price! Quite the deal here!”

* CHECKMATE *

Chloe, in her blog, mentioned about the supposed “chess game” that marketers play during each transaction with the consumer. As she lived to tell her personal checkmate experience, I must agree with her that it is indeed difficult to reject such a favourable offer that has so effortlessly appeared right in front of us. However, I actually find it even harder to surrender ourselves to the marketer’s hands and admit to losing! As a weak pawn, not only would we be taking money out of my own pocket for the superior, but for myself I would also be defeating my own initial purpose for a mere “browsing around” and my sense of morale as a hard-to-get customer.

So, in the end, alike Chloe’s, I just left the store and the challenging game overall. Besides, my home does not smell that horrible anyways…

Just around a decade ago, it was when make-up counters were commonly visited as they seem to be the only reliable source for answering the where and how questions for beauty products.

Nowadays, young adults are seen posting up daily blog digests and weekly youtube videos, presenting their own opinions about the products they have consumed. While they clearly state the fact that they are just reviews, many of us are succumbed to the notion that “if she says this was great, it must do wonders for me too”.

Companies are gradually catching on onto this idea and have begun sending samples of their products to a few lucky people, hoping that great reviews by those popular “make-up gurus” will be able to convince the rest of the society that they are indeed great. Similarly to the detergent by the Seventh Generation discussed in class, bloggers (especially well-known ones who have been on the web for several years) are viewed as reliable and humane to society, and makes them more trustworthy.

 

In the case of Bubz, her popularity has risen exponentially over the past couple of years. She first started posting youtube make-up tutorials of how she applies on her make-up, and in the recent year she has gradually started sharing beauty secrets and tips for her fans. With her ‘bubbliness’, she is able to capture the hearts of her audience – which range from teenagers to young adults, male and female – and have them support her video after video, post after post.

If a company recognizes the superiority of the position that Bubzbeauty is in in the market of make-up, perhaps sending her some of its samples can help the company’s branding image and stand out from its competitors. That is, of course, depending on whether its products are actually that great to begin with.

By attending every comm299 and tutorial classes, I believe I have gained a better knowledge about myself than those who have skipped class and went back home to sleep. The one assignment that has benefited me the most was quite frankly the interview. It shows what I still needed to work on in regards to how to create a good first impression and how to present myself as someone with confidence and enthusiasm for the job that I am applying for. Even though the mark that I got was not enough to fulfill my own expectations, it allowed me to push harder and realize that my mistakes and flaws need to be corrected in order to have a successful job interview.

Something else that I learnt was approach letters. Though I have yet to actually write one, I acknowledge the importance of it and how it will be able to set me apart from others who are also looking for the same job. This shows initiative and I feel that employers are looking for future employees who are not only approachable, but also confident in their work.

There is no doubt that we are all excited for summer.
Flip-flops, tanktops; t-shirts, short skirts;
What could be more spectacular than not having to go to UBC and solving our way through the maze of puddles on the ground?

Anyways, that is not what I am intending to discuss throughout the rest of this blog post. I am instructed to write about someone who I think has made an impression on me. Though it took me some time to think about this ‘someone’, I have decided to just go along with someone whom I have met just recently – as a matter of fact – this week.

So I have just started to help out at Vancouver Fashion Week – a prestigious and glamorous event that will be taking place in April 12-17. Even for a volunteer job, I was surprised to have met the producer of the event during an interview; his name is Jamal Andourahman. Throughout the interview, I was able to use the skills acquired from comm299 class and realized that the interview had turned into a casual conversation instead- we talked about the movies and my experiences at Sauder.

When it should actually be the other way around, Jamal has made a great impression on me. Though he is the main organizer for this event (which he has been for 16 seasons of Vancouver Fashion Week in a row now), he seems very relaxed and shows no sign of stress or anxiety when he discusses with his workers. Even when someone had made a mistake and was very apologetic about it, Jamal remained calm and simply told her to not make the same error again. Not only does this show professionalism, it also shows that he is truly a genuine and forgiving person on the inside and recognizes that these are the chances that one can grow and mature as a person by learning from past mistakes and moving on.

Although yesterday was just my second visit to the office, I have been warmly welcomed by the staff and by Jamal himself when he greeted me after his meeting. I was assigned a task to work on over the weekend, and I am proud to be part of the team organizing this awesome awesome event. I hope to see you there at Vancouver Fashion Week next month!

Click here for link on a short documentary on the Khan Academy

A couple days ago, I was clueless about what taylor polynomials are.
After coming across a youtube video posted by a user in the name of khanacademy, not only were his teaching techniques effective, but I also became interested to find out who this voice in the video was.

The Khan Academy, founded by a Harvard Business School student Salman Khan, is non-profitable that hopes to provide education to everyone around the world. Most students around the globe find the videos useful for any misunderstandings about a particular school topic. The areas discussed include simple math addition to complex virus transmissions in the brain.

His disinterest in earning profits for himself yield the definition of someone whom we have discussed in class a couple weeks ago; a social entrepreneur. He is implementing his knowledge and expertise to bring about change in students’ lives. His willingness to educate the world is a motivation to learn better and seek help when needed. Ultimately, he empowers students to continue on believing in the value of education.

After watching his video, I understood what taylor polynomials are, but I also gained access to his many videos that I might have to use when studying for my finals this week.

TheFreeDictionary.com
dil·ly-dal·ly (dl-dl)
intr.v. dil·ly-dal·lied, dil·ly-dal·lying, dil·ly-dal·lies
To waste time, especially in indecision; dawdle or vacillate.

On Commercial Drive right here in Vancouver, don’t be surprised to find a new toy store in the name of Dilly Dally. It is owned by two successful entrepreneurs, Claire Hutchings and Tyler Quantz, who have inspired an interest in creating a space where kids could “create, build, imagine and dream”. Inside their store has countless toys for kids to play around with, including a specific space for “kids to test out pencils and crayons, and pin their art on the walls.”

Hutchings and Quantz took a risk to open up this unique toy store by the financial support of a bank loan and family contributions. As mentioned in class, when would it be considered acceptable to receive money from a family member? I think the benefits would outweigh the costs if there is a mutual understanding established between the involved individuals regarding the consequences that could happen if everything were to fail.

Instead, the two toy store entrepreneurs have succeeded in their business and are now planning to launch an e-commerce toy store to sell more of their hidden secrets to the children across Canada.

In Friday’s The Globe and Mail, there was an article, “Generation Text sends wrong message”, discussing how young adults entering the workforce are having difficulties with communicating with their co-workers because of their reckless practices of texting and instant messaging with their friends.

Being one myself, I also agree that most of the others my age are relying excessively on communicating by “shorthand style of writing.” For instance, our constant use of Windows Live messenger and text messaging phone devices have ourselves typing out “lol” or “brb” when we could be correctly saying “That is absolutely hilarious!” or “I’ll be right back.” Perhaps this is due to our apparent laziness in typing out extra words that would seem unnecessary in a casual conversation with our friends.

Moreover, the uprise of social media allow all to post on our friend’s walls which would often include various emotions, such as “:)” or “<3". Not only that, our comments are usually also consisted of abbreviations of words or slang words which would be definitely inappropriate for a formal conversation. Unfortunately, our daily use of Facebook, for instance, deter us from effective communication that will be significantly important in our future jobs when we will want to speak to our boss or co-worker. Word count: 208 words

Last year, I was part of the organizing committee of the first ever miniEnterprize.

Today, on a rainy Saturday morning, I drove up to UBC to support the miniEnterprize Committee of 2010 with their entrepreneurship conference. Though I had to leave early, I must admit that they have done an excellent job with organizing the conference this year.

With over 200 high school delegates and participants, the miniEnterprize Youth Entrepreneurship Conference, which is also made up of high school students, hoped to reach out to their peers in regards to the ways for reaching success in the business world through entrepreneurship.
Throughout the conference were three keynote speakers, one of whom is our very own Jeff Kroeker to discuss the advantages and benefits of entering The Sauder School of Business, as well as informative workshops featuring local entrepreneurs to talk about their own stories about the success of their businesses.
One of the key aspects of the entire conference was the innovative challenge for the delegates. This was executed through the assignment of groups of 6, and each group was to create an unique company to answer a particular issue (for this year was sustainability) and they must give a two-minute pitch to a selected panel of judges.

Overall, not only did miniEnterprize reach their goal in informing pre-university students more about the business world and entrepreneurial ways to succeed, but they also introduced the numerous opportunities that could be pursued through entering the opening doors of Sauder. This of course is a compelling motivation for them to do well in the respective high school marks and on their supplementary applications. 🙂

word count: 267