Posts by gordiedutka:
- Darrell Winfield
Nov
24
I just read Sam Ng’s post on the importance of presentation skills, and it made me realize that many people underestimate how important the ability to present and communicate effectvely actually is…Bottom Line: If you cannot present, you will not be a successful business person.
All of one’s research, creative ideas, and suggestions mean absolutely nothing if they cannot be effectively communicated to a target audience. Sure, your ideas may be laid out perfectly in your head, but if nobody can understand them, how useful are they? This should always be kept in a student’s mind preparing for a career in business.
I found an external blog post by Heidi Jackman of sliderocket titled 7 Spicy Secrets, which provides 7 main tools needed to deliver an engaging presentation, and I’ll focus on 3 of these points..
1.CLEAR THE CLUTTER: Give your audience something that they can actually remember and take home, “inspire (rather than tire)”.
2. STRIKE UP A CONVERSATION: Don’t merely be a “talking head”; get your audence involved and “stimulate discussion”.
3.GET FEEDBACK: Use your audience as a tool to learn and grow. Let guests voice their opinions to inform you what worked (and what failed).
Steve Jobs introduces the iPad: A great presentation…take many notes.
Nov
22
After reading Hilary Johnson’s post titled “White Spot shifts direction”, it made me realize that old-school marketing techniques, such as White Spot’s great taste since 1928 campaign are still relevant and used in business today…not only are these campaigns still occuring, but they can be very effective as they appeal to older demographics who value reliability, dependability, and simplicity in a time of high paced technology, where many consumers can feel lost.
However, a company’s marketing plan is dependent on who they are targeting…White Spot may have conducted research which indicated that a large number of their clients were members of older generations, or even senior citizens, prompting them to switch to an old-school style campaign.
Conversely, Apple Inc. would never have an ad titled “computers since 1976″ because they are focussed on future technology, not past technology, which would make the brand seem old and out-dated
A great exaple of “since” marketing, as I like to call it, includes Budweiser’s since 1876 campaign, which delivers the message that Budweiser has provided a great-tasting product for over a hundred years suggesting that the Budweiser is a dependable product, and is never a bad choice for a consumer.
Nov
19
Through some reseach regarding the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility, I have found that since CSR is becoming such a necessary and vital component in a business model, it is no longer viable to just simply have a CSR plan…it now needs to be effective. In recent times, the only CSR plans that recieve exposure (leading to increased sales) are those that are highly detailed and effective. Paul Klein’s blog post in Canadian Business describes 5 key elements that successful CSR programs contain.
1.Bunsiness-Based Social Purpose: CSR directly reflects what the business does- “Campbell’s Nourish”
2.Clear Theory of Change: Sparking a new and collective change
3.Quality + Depth of Informaton: Customers and stakeholders must be recieve detailed information regarding the importance of the initiative
4.Concentrated Effort: Focus on one issue and concentrate your effort- “P&G’s Protecting Future’s”
5.Partnering with experts– Programs need credibility to be valid and accepted
Klein’s blog post, which outlines these CSR tactics, is so important for business leaders because without these 5 elements, their initiative will hardly recieve any exposure from the public; their CSR plan will simply turn into a “feel-good” mission, rather than a sales + marketing program which is the overall goal.
Coca Cola CSR Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoOL2KfDuAA
Nov
14
After reading Dane Peterson’s post titled “The Old Spice Guy“, I had the realization that there is a certain trait that consumers are drawn to: MASCULINITY…and the agency Wieden+Kennedy were aware of this when they created “The man your man could smell like” campaign for Old Spice. 
Through some research, I found that these campaigns are more successful when there is one single figure that a consumer can label masculine, manly, or tough…it provides easier and simplistic brand identity for a consumer and establishes a spot in our minds.
For example, “The Marlboro Man“, one of the most successful ad campaigns in history, made the typical masculine American Cowboy the new representation of Marlboro Cigarettes. Just as the built actor Isaiah Mustafa fuelled the Old Spice Campaign, Darrell Winfield, a real-life ranch cowboy, was recruited by Leo Burnett in 1954 to be the man behind the brand for 20 years.
So how successful was “The Marlboro Man”….
Sales in 1955 amounted to 5 billion, and in 2 short years, climbed to 20 billion in 1957, for a 300% increase.
Even more amazing, is that Marlboro used to be a feminine brand, with the slogan “Mild as May”…
Nov
10
The social networking website for mobile phones, Foursquare, has taken the simple concept of “checking in” to a venue, (coffee shop, mall, pub, arena, etc.) and communicated it to the world. By innovating this simple concept, Founder Denns Crowley has created a new method of mobile globalization, and has motivated users to travel and visit different locations. For example, if you visit a location, log into your Foursquare account on your smartphone, and write a small message or “tip” about the location. If you have visted the place more times than any other user in the past 60 days, you are declared the mayor! You may even earn a “badge” for going to certain places! How motivating!
Foursquare hs organized the details for countless businesses, shops, etc., and most of these businesses are actively engaged in the foursquare community, tracking how many people visit and liked/disliked their location, and even offering discounts for people that visist multiple times. By organizing and sharing this data, Foursquare opens up multiple streams of possible revenue, and during its short 2.5 year existence, the company has already recieved approximately $70 million in funding and is valued at $600 million, boasting over 10 million registered users.
Nov
6
A source from British agency Reuters has reported that Best Buy has agreed to purchase the U.S. mobile phone venture of Britain’s Carphone Warehouse, which is the largest independent phone retailer in Europe. Set to be announced on Moday, sources have reported that the deal is being made for 1 billion dollars. This is the second transaction between the two companies as Best Buy purchased a 50% share of Carphone Warehouse in May of 2008 for 2.1 billion to launch Best Buy Europe, which failed mainly due to “a lack of brand recognition” in Britain. Best Buy “opened just 11 megastores in Britain” before ending expansion.
Instead of competing with electronic retailers in Britain with superior brand recognition, Best Buy has decided to focus on the U.S. market, notably the mobile phone market…how is this billion dollar purchase going to benefit them? I have a few thoughts..
1.Best Buy operates approximately 13 mobile stand-alone stores in the U.S., and they may be eager to open more of these locations as they may have been tremendously succesful.
2.Internal research may suggest that the mobile phone industry will see continuous growth, meaning that Best Buy will improve their in-store mobile phone department.
Oct
10
According to a source from reuters.com, the United auto Workers (UWA) President Bob King told the union leaders at Chrysler plants that a four-year labour contract should be ready for Wednesday. Due to Chrysler’s “weaker financial position”, they are under a lot more pressure than both Ford and GM, which have reached deals that, according to Chrysler C.E.O. Sergio Marchionne are “over generous”. Chrysler union leaders have seen the types of deals that Ford and GM have made, and negotiations will undoubtedly get very ugly, as Chrysler looks for a big bargain on this labour deal.
Chrysler plant workers will inevitably want similar benefits that Ford and GM have offered, which Chrysler simply cannot afford to give. The previous week had consisted of “intense negotiations” where both sides were not in agreement, both sides will surely continue to fight hard; I don’t see this deal getting done by Wednesday.
Marchionne is pushing for the fredom to hire more low-wage employees and give far less bonuses than GM and Ford. We’ve seen how auto makers have destroyed their companies through massive legacy debts, and Marchionne must strap on some pads and brace himself for a bargain battle in order to save Chrysler.
Oct
8
Recently published in Macleans.ca, food giant Loblaws recently hosted a high class “soiree” at a Toronto art gallery, promoting the launch of their new addition to the President’s Choice series of products: “black label”. Loblaws is trying to create a luxurious product line to add to the vast amounts of basic food products which President’s Choice currently sells, and the “black label” line is supposed to capitalize on the opportunities which they see in “finer foods”. However, Loblaws and PC are currently targeting consumers who are looking for value on low-priced food items, and completely pulling a 360 on their customers might be devastating for their brand image.
Senior vice-president of Loblaw Brands, Ian Gordon, says “It’s been a long time since PC has brought big news to the marketplace”. This quote makes me believe that they’re more so trying to shake things up and create huge news, which they feel will increase sales, rather than building their brand image… Will upper-income households actually downgrade to buy President’s Choice olive oil for a dinner party, and will lower to middle income households want to spend extra money for a tin of up-scale tomatoes? Is black label “worth switching supermarkets for”?
Original Article: http://www2.macleans.ca/tag/presidents-choice/
Sep
14
Saturday’s edition of The Globe and Mail featured a very realistic and relatable article from Leah Eichler titled Playing the sex card to get ahead, discussing how both women and men (but mostly women) are enhancing their appearances to propel themselves farther up a company hierarchy. Eichler makes reference to the controversial book Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital by Catherine Hakim, where Hakim says that people are valuing their “erotic capital” (sex appeal coupled with strong self presentation) to be just as important as education! Maybe I should have bought a gym membership rather than enrolling in business school! However, is it ethical if an employer hires a fashion queen sans brains, and lets an ordinary woman or man with a university education walk right out the door? Absolutely not!
But here’s where the debate gets interesting: In an article written by Dyana Hepburn in helium.com, she claims that a study proves that attractive women who apply for a job which seems “masculine” (such as a finance director) are at a large disadvantage, while attractive men were “always at an advantage”. Obviously employers these days cannot look past a woman’s beauty and realize that she also has a brain, but it seems that men have this skill of balancing beauty and brains down pat. Put yourself in an employers shoes…what would you do?
Sep
10
The TV and film industry thrives off of corporate advertising and sponsorship; this simply occurs when TV shows and movies feature a certain company’s products through product placement. Some product placements are painfully obvious (when Bentley is featured in the film 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qARA0SqlSE ), and some are very subtle and quite effective. However, does the average viewer even understand how much money the film industry receives from these mere “mentions” viewed by millions around the world? Apparently not… InjusticeFacts is a public blog where people let the world know, literally, about facts that are shocking, scary, and simply unjust, and they also have a very popular Twitter page featuring approximately 75,000 followers, which is where I came across a couple of pretty interesting and eye-opening earlier tonight. According to their Twitter page, “85% of television and film viewers do not know what product placements are, making product placements extremely deceptive”. Additionally, they claim that Steven Spielberg’s film Minority Report “had 15 brands (product placements) appear in the film; advertisers paid $25 million for these placements”. The fact that really caught my attention (being a massive Seinfeld fan) is that “98% of Seinfeld fans had no idea that Junior Mints paid the show millions of dollars to feature it on episode #417”. If more viewers actually knew about these lucrative product placements, would they still be enthusiastic about watching? Or would they feel somewhat betrayed? If more people were aware of these product placements, would this devastate the entertainment industry? If you’d like to view the twitter page of InjusticeFacts (where all of the posted quotes are from) follow the link provided (http://twitter.com/#!/InjusticeFacts). I look forward to hearing your comments about product placement and the entertainment industry in general! Thanks