I’m not going to lie, I’m a diehard fan of Jessica Alba. She is not only a beautiful film actress and model, but she also happens to be the co-founder of The Honest Company—a triple bottom line company that sells environmentally friendly, non-toxic and affordable products for babies and families. As a mother of two girls, the safety of children is something she greatly values. The products that are sold include diapers and skin care lotions that are “made from natural, organic, sustainably harvest, pure raw materials. Disposable diapers, for example, use plant-based materials as opposed to petrochemicals.”

I think it’s amazing what Jessica is doing for many new mothers. I stand by her values and her code of conduct for her suppliers (an example of having to comply with human rights, environmental and documentation standards).

The Honest Company passes for helping people and the planet, as well as generating profit while doing so.

Source: http://www.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/triple-bottom-line1.jpg

The article above also states that a portion of sales is donated to non-profit companies that support children and families in need, such as Baby2Baby. Due to the affordable pricing, many families can experience love and care from Jessica.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/11/09/boxing-day-like-pandemonium-at-futureshop-and-bestbuy-locations-after-free-game-deal/?__lsa=5938-073c

Last weekend from Saturday, November 9 to Monday, November 11, was an early version of Boxing Day for gamers. Many thousands of Canadians lined up (me included) outside of Best Buy and Future Shop hours before opening to get their hands on a copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, or Battlefield 4. The promotion entitled that customers could only get free copies of these newest games if they traded in current generation console games. To me, this deal was a dream come true as I was able to get rid of a few PlayStation 3 games that I bought many centuries ago, and replaced them with new games that would regularly cost $60-$70 dollars for each.

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/2013/11/09/boxing-day-like-pandemonium-at-futureshop-and-bestbuy-locations-after-free-game-deal/?__lsa=5938-073c

This promotion benefited Best Buy and Future Shop as well since it played a huge role for inventory and marketing. Due to the new releases of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, demands for the older generation games are severely declining. Instead of losing all of these possible sales, these companies were guaranteed to get a used game they can now re-sell in their trading department for $10-$40. These two companies aren’t regularly known for trading used games, due to the fact that there’s other companies like EB Games, Walmart, and Toys R Us, that have been providing this service for a longer period of time; however, this trading promotion was able to provide advertisement and exposure. Customers that are planning to buy used games will now have Best Buy and Future Shop in the back of their minds, which I believe is a success.

Going back to Tuesday’s Class 20 about Entrepreneurship, a common way to come up with a startup idea is to “look at what’s bugging you”—David Cohen. For Aanikh Kier, a grade nine entrepreneur from St. George’s Secondary in Vancouver, a problem he had was with his classmates’ phones ringing off in class. He solved this problem by creating UndrTheRadr Ringtones, which “is an app that delivers high-pitched smartphone ringtones that only children and teens can hear.” He pitched this app on Dragon’s Den Student Special where he succeeded on getting $25,000 for 20% of the downloads from an investor.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/pitches/undrtheradr-ringtones

Personally, I hate having to set my phone on silent or vibrate. There are times I need updates to wake me up on the bus, and the vibration from my phone is unable to do that sometimes. I also have a fear of disturbing others in public places so I avoid setting my phone on a loud ringtone. UndrTheRadr poses as a key solution to these problems for me.

What also blew me away about UndrTheRadr is that 20 cents is donated to Free the Children for every app downloaded. Aanikh was inspired to support Free the Children after noticing the daily struggles of kids in Cambodia. On Aanikh Kler’s blog, he mentions, “how children work for survival” and how “these children did not have the opportunity for education” like he had in Canada. By creating shared value, he is making a huge difference in our world.

I have to disagree with Cymbie Kwok’s blog post regarding Zara’s effective Supply Chain Management and benefits for its consumers. Today, it is undeniable that fashion is a huge part of our lives. We observe new fashion trends everyday whether it’s around us at UBC, in a GQ magazine, online, or a celebrity wearing it. This influence around us is so powerful to the point that consumers are willing to pay excessive amounts just to fit in with society. Consumers however are being blinded by the fashion industry as clothing is costing people a lot more than just the amount seen on price tags.

Source: http://survincity.com/2013/05/well-known-clothing-brands-accused-of/

The sad reality is that most of the branded clothing we buy contains hazardous toxic chemicals. When we wash our clothing the toxic is sent to waterways, rivers and oceans, thus affecting wildlife and clean drinking water around the world. Thousands of factories in Indonesia and around the world could be blamed, as well as the average ignorant consumer. Purchasing clothing from companies with unethical production and poor supply chains only makes things worse. Detox, a global campaign, raises awareness through their message that ‘beautiful fashion should never cost the world’. Consumers that are a part of this campaign are now putting pressure on companies such as Zara, Levi’s and Victoria’s Secret to produce toxic-free fashion. If sustainable changes fail to be made, consumers can easily resort to boycotting and shifting to an environmental-friendly alternative. Having strong ethics and morals are paramount for a company to survive in any type of industry.

The video below will definitely make you rethink your next clothing purchases:

While TOMS Shoes “continues to strive to create shared value,” as mentioned in Jessica Sanantha’s blog post, many others are following suit, such as the Russian Olympic Committee.

Athletes aren’t the only people being subjected to “strenuous” physical activity.  Nowadays, marketing has taken up many different forms. In preparation and anticipation for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Moscow train stations are offering an alternative solution for public transit users. Instead of paying the usual 30 rubles for a ticket (equivalent to $0.96 CAD), people have the option to receive a free ticket if they complete 30 squats in two minutes.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbender/2013/11/14/moscow-subway-station-lets-passengers-pay-fare-in-squats/

Many recognized Olympic athletes such as Yelena Zamolodchikova and Alexei Nemov are contributing to the hype by participating in the two-minute squatting challenges and posting pictures and videos onto social media platforms. The Russian Olympic Committee’s promotion is a prime example of creating shared value; customers are being encouraged to participate in daily exercises and are provided with free transportation, while Russia is generating world-wide attention for the upcoming games. Creating shared value in my opinion is what the world should be all about. The beauty behind the Olympic Games is how athletes and fans from all over the world are able to come together. This time however, fans will have the opportunity to compete, which will make this event even more special.

Watch the video below if you haven’t already seen it!