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QuiBids is an online auction website that allows you to bid on products. People have been buying items for a largely discounted price, such as a Michael Kors bags for $14.96 or and ipad for $54.03! How QuiBid works is that it charges every user $0.60 for every bid that is placed. All bidders need to pay $0.60 per bid, regardless of if they win the bid or not. Bidding takes place for 5 minutes only. Level of intensity is high. Excitement is there. Winning your prized possession is almost like winning a gamble. And if you win, you’ll likely be telling all your friends about the extraordinary deal you got on your new item. That’s a plus for QuiBids.

If you lose, consumers on QuiBid might have that remorse. It’s almost like when you lose your first bet at the casino and you tell yourself, “that’s the last time I am ever going to gamble!” QuiBid has a strategy to tackle this. If you lose your bet, you have the option to purchase the item for the listed price for minus the money you spent on betting in the auction! This puts the consumers at no-loss. After all, the best strategies are the ones that put both parties at a win-win situation.

Since this sounds so great… why haven’t I heard about QuiBids? Speaking from my personal opinion, I would not purchase from QuiBids for a few reasons:

I am not an impulsive shopper. I like to shop online when I know exactly what I want to purchase. QuiBids is not exactly a platform for that, as you can only find specific items that they happen to have in stock on there. Groupon, Social Shopper etc. never worked well for me, as these are platforms for impulsive shoppers to take advantage of time-sensitive deals! Great deals but not ideal for non-impulsive shoppers like myself.

I am a lazy online shopper. Judging strictly by the brand image of QuiBids, it is not convincingly reliable. I read a lot of articles and people search on google “Is QuiBids a scam?” Even if it isn’t, it’s a red flag for me because I am a lazy consumer who doesn’t want to research more into detail whether a company’s e-commerce is reliable to not. I would rather pay (a lot) more and purchase my item from the brand’s website.

One of the articles that I read online indicated that retail stores were unhappy with QuiBid. However, QuiBid seems fairly new still. It will be interesting to see how the company grows and to see other companies with this business proposition emerge!

Since I recently purchased a new iPhone, I was researching a little about the tips and tricks about the new iOS 8. 

Overall, many features provide integration benefits for apple users.  With the new iOS 8, you can read texts and answer calls from your mac, iPad or phone. You can turn on an instant hotspot for your Mac when you’re stuck in a place without Wi-Fi. You can connect your iPhone to your Apple TV, and the list goes on.

Imagine reading an article on during your commute to home on public transit. You’re in the middle of the article and your stop is coming up in 20 seconds.You can simply resume to your article where you left off at the comfort of your home when you turn on your desktop computer. You will not have to scramble through hyperlinks to find the article you want to finish reading.

One of the most apparently features that I believe will change digital marketers is the ability for iPhone users to quickly switch devices with handoff. This means that you are able to sync your incomplete/ongoing activities that you have on your phone and resume your activities on your mac. This includes browser tabs and e-mails.

One of the topics that we touched on in class for digital marketers was the importance of optimization on different mobile devices. Since readers are less likely to click through from mobile devices, this feature may have the ability to increase click through rates if consumers get into the habit of transferring mobile content to desktop.

Hootsuite’s video launch of “Mean Tweets: A Hootsuite Dashboard Update”. The theme is based around the idea of Jimmy Kimmel’s “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets” segments.

I think this video launch goes beyond the announcement of Hootsuite’s new user interface. Sure, it is celebrating and showcasing the exciting sleek new design with pride, but the video also nicely portrays what the Hootsuite’s brand represents. It is innovative, engaging and connects. There is a powerful message behind this video. The raw and explicit content portrays the realism of social media channels – unfiltered thoughts, which often includes negativity and bashing. The video shows that Hootsuite users are empowered to speak their raw thoughts, and Hootsuite staff are listening.

This is exactly how digital marketers should be using Hootsuite as a tool- a tool to listen to the brand’s audience, consumers, and/or potential market. Hootsuite is setting a good example by reacting.

24 People Who Shouldn’t be Allowed on Tinder

I would assume that according to this post, there are a lot of people who are “trolls” on tinder, and just as many people who are annoyed with these users. Although I am not a tinder user, judging by the 4.6k shares on this article, I believe this article resonates with quite a few tinder users. Moreover, I have quite a few friends who share their tinder experiences with me.

I have one friend who swipes right on every single individual just to see who they’re matched with (conducting market research on the type of girls who are attracted to him – how clever!). I have several friends who chats with individuals they are matched with just to kill time when there is no intent for following up with a date. I also have a handful of friends who are genuinely interested in the services that Tinder originally is create for.

Following up on this, Tinder will soon be launching new premium paid features. As mentioned in the article, many tinder users “hack” the service for other purposes such as promoting their instagram accounts or to get local recommendations when travelling. Tinder is listening to the voices of users who are interested in these “hacks” to add premium paid features for the app. However, how will the tinder users who are genuinely interested in the matchmaking services react if there are all these users on Tinder that are there for different purposes? It may dilute the population of people who are truly interested in finding a potential partner.

Tinder is already well branded as a matchmaking service. I think if there are additional premium services added that does not align with the brand, it may be harmful. Companies need to be very careful when launching new product lines or new features.

I am quite interested in seeing what kind of new premium paid features Tinder will execute and what will result from it!

Because we have yet to hear the official announcement of Snapchat Ads… I can only imagine what they will be like.

Why might the upcoming snapchat ads add value or not…

Snapchat is built around the idea of non-intrusiveness. When you open the app, you are not bombarded with anything. The only way you view anything is to opt-in by opening snapchats. If you choose to not open it, nothing happens. Don’t like what you see? Simply lift your finger off your screen, and the image or video instantaneously disappears. Similarly, people who view crowdsourced stories opt-in. Only those who are genuinely interested on what’s going on in that specific scene/event will see the content – you can rest assured that they are paying attention to the content. Spiegel says that Snapchat ads “would not be targeted to users based on tastes, and from his description, they will not interrupt users’ one-on-one communications”. This is consistent with snapchat’s current scene. In this aspect, I think ads that are viewed through crowdsourced stories will be effective in delivering messages to people who are relevant. It is up the each business to determine whether or not its brand is relevant to the specific “story”. 

On the other hand, Snapchat is built around the idea of short clips that ultimately “disappear” (well, for the most part. other than the numerous leaks). It may be difficult for businesses to deliver a call-to-action to Snapchat users when the ad only appears for a certain amount of time.

I’m sure a lot of you experienced the same thing I did, as one of the 81 million users. You were shuffling through your music playlist on iTunes or on your iPhone when an unfamiliar tune comes on – U2. Or you discovered numerous updates on social media about the mysterious U2 album automatically downloaded.

As marketing students, we are constantly reminded that it’s not about the reach. It’s about reaching the right people. You would much rather post an ad message in front of the few right people than to gets in front of every single person in the world. For the latter, often it will backfire with annoyance leading to negative perceptions of the intrusive brand.

“For the people out there who have no interest in checking us out, look at it this way: The blood, sweat and tears of some Irish guys are in your junk mail,” Bono said.  Why waste your resources on something that will make zero or even negative effects? Perhaps a better option would have been to gift the album (free download) – which would attract U2 fans and those who are interested. That would be a nice gift and likely be spread through social media – especially amongst the fans out there.

Living in Vancouver all my life, it’s hard to imagine purchasing a car through e-commerce. When I came across the article of “Why People Actually Buy Cars Online in China“, I was intrigued.

One of the key things that the article outlined was that articles on VW are shared via. WeChat. This is interesting because WeChat’s main demographic are Chinese. WeChat is an app for communication where you can also share articles to your friends and family, thus, it is quite personal. More than 90% use the online community (weibo) to research on cars. This emphasizes the importance of understanding the online community that your target market is in and how they behave on these online platforms.

As outlined in by Accenture in China’s automotive market report, research has been done to confirm that people in China rely on friends, family, social media and manufacturer’s website to make purchase decisions on cars. I imagine the automobile behaviour is quite different in North America, where I would rely on dealership visits and test drives. I began wondering where the difference lies between North America vs. China. One possibility may be that the Chinese spend more time on their mobile devices during their commute to and from work, relating to the point of “meet consumers where they are, not where you think they should be”. In the fast-paced lifestyle in China, it may be more convenient to just see an online video of vehicles, read friends and family reviews and recommendations, and refer to social media channels to influence purchase behaviour.

I cannot imagine myself purchasing a car without physically touching, feeling, and driving the vehicle before purchase. However, it will be interesting to see how consumer behaviour changes in North America over time. Will we end up trusting brands enough to make a big hefty purchase online?

Markers used to find celebrity endorsers for their advertisements. Now, marketers scout youTubers the become endorsers, influencers and brand advocates. Why does it work?

YouTubers are “just like you and me”. Almost every YouTuber has shared their story on how they started on YouTube (very likely through their “draw my life” video). The general theme that I get from watching YouTube stars: they emphasize that they are ordinary people. Because we get the gist that they are just like me, I tend to trust their opinions more than celebrities. Anything that celebrities endorse seems a lot more “played out” than a YouTuber talking about a product using their cameras at home. Of course, there are exceptions.

Before, I used to experiment with cosmetics based on price, packaging, product claims. Then, when I got a smartphone, I would do a quick google search on product reviews while I am roaming the aisles in the store. Now, I discovered the YouTube world of product reviews and “first impressions”. Whenever I am prepared to make a large purchase of cosmetic products, I will be sure visit YouTube first. I know which YouTubers have the same type of skin as myself and same type of eye shape (YES! It makes a difference in what kind of products to buy).

These videos are a lot more informative than you think! I like seeing product reviews in action. The videos that I find most helpful are when YouTubers share their raw experiences with a product. The experience can go from the smell of the product, the texture, how it applies, how well it lasts through out the day, etc.

Of course, YouTubers need to be careful when posting videos of product reviews. Maintaining a YouTube channel is very much like maintaining your own brand. Some YouTubers are branded as genuine while others have made the mistake of being solely money-hungry.

1. Simplicity. You either opt-in or opt-out of people you follow. You will not be forced to see your best friend’s friends’ of friends’ picture that your best friend commented on yesterday. You will not be forced to see advertisements of the Steve Madden boots that you browsed reminding you to complete your shopping cart purchase. You will not unintentionally miss content because you filtering out irrelevant content with the F-shaped pattern.

2. The Explore Tab. If you’re finished scrolling through the updates on your newsfeed, the explore tab is available. Stickiness is achieved in 2 ways. First, by relevance. Instagram bases the explore tab photos on people you follow (and what your followers like). This helps you find out what is “in-the-loop” with the people you follow. It also bases the photos on the hashtags you liked. For example, if I liked a few photos with the hashtag #dogs #dogsofinstagram etc., I will get a lot of dog photos on my explore tab. Second, Instagram gets you hooked by implementing the unlimited scroll. Of course, scrolling down the never-ending explore tab (content that is 99% relevant to me) is NOT the best thing to do when I am taking a break from my study session.

3. The Pace. Instagram is relatively slower-paced than Facebook and Twitter. You can follow users without missing anything in between. I find that every time I open the Instagram app, I can go through all my newsfeed updates within 10 minutes. Whereas if I log into Facebook or Twitter, it would take me forever to get back at the updates where I left off. Even if I do somehow get to the point where I left off, not ALL content that I want to see appears on my newsfeed. Facebook and Twitter filters out what they think I want to see (which sometimes they do a good job of, but sometimes they don’t).

4. Usability. Instagram has an extremely user-focussed design. There are absolutely no irrelevant distractions like advertisements, excessive verbiage, unnecessary tabs that you never use, buttons that you never click etc. The design is simple and easy to use. Engagement is easily achieve. Instead of coordinating your fingers to tab the tiny “like” button (which is sometimes an issue for those with fat finger syndrome), you simple double click on the image that fills up your entire screen to like the photo.

If you haven’t already, experience the power of a bookbook.

Although I’m sure the majority of already have seen the advertisement because in my opinion, Ikea nailed the target audience for their campaign. The young trendy enthusiasts who would follow Apple’s launch announcement is the ideal target audience for Ikea. This group was excited about Apple’s long-await launch announcement held on September 9th, 2014. Throughout the day on September 9th, I noticed my peers efficiently utilizing their multi-tasking skills to take class notes while watching Apple’s announcement on the sidebar in real-time.

Similar to Oreo’s campaign that was launched within minutes after the superbowl power outage in 2013, the timing was perfect. This brings us back to the importance of timing in every campaign. Although Ikea’s campaign is not a response to Apple’s launch announcement, it is timed to launch during a period where there is hype around Apple.

Moreover, as the target audience of Ikea (the first place I would go furniture shopping is definitely Ikea), I found the ad entertaining. It struck an interest for me, where I gained awareness for Ikea’s catalog. However, if the point of the campaign was to initiate behavioural change (of me grabbing a catalog in-stores, or subscribing to the mail list), then I’m not sure that the campaign did its job. Maybe Ikea’s intent was not to trigger behavioural change. Maybe its intent was simply to enforce Ikea’s brand image of the hip, trendy furniture store. What do you think?