Throughout the term, I had to complete 4 assignments for the Comm 296 course. These assignments allowed me to develop a better understanding of the marketing topics learnt in class. Out of these 4 assignments, 3 of them are to be completed in groups. After completing these assignments, I had learnt several important skills in order to accomplish tasks in groups. Firstly, it is very important to always listen to what others have to offer as it is possible that these are some great ideas. Secondly, I will have to communicate with others and let them know what I think. If I choose to keep silent, others will definitely not know what I think. As I am completing these assignments in teams, it is my responsibility to attend every meeting and complete my assigned tasks on time. Through the process of group meetings, I was able to develop stronger communication and interpersonal skills and also the importance of team work.

Despite the positives, I think our group made a crucial mistake which significantly increased our time spent in group meetings. We spent an average of 5 hours in every meeting. Instead of working on the assignment together during meeting, we should have distributed the work for each individual to complete. This will be much more efficient than what we did. Although this is a huge mistake, I am glad that I learnt this during the earlier stage of my life because I will be able to prevent similar situation from happening in the future.

Overall, I think having the chance to complete assignments in groups is a fantastic learning experience.  By working in groups, there will be more creative ideas contributing to the assignment. In addition, group members have the opportunity to learn from one another. I really enjoyed this experience.

We have learnt that brand awareness is vital in a firm’s survival in the industry. Firm’s had been using different strategies and spending over millions in order to gain brand awareness. However, sometimes, it just take an excellent customer service to gain recognition and brand awareness. According to Tim Nudd’s blog, How Chili’s Got Nearly a Million Likes by Fixing a ‘Broken’ Burger for a Girl With Autism, the staff and manager at Chili’s Restaurant solved a problem for a 7 year old child who has autism. The child refused to eat the burger and claimed that the burger is “broken”. The staff then offered to make the child a new one.  Anna Kaye MacLean, who is the sister of the 7 year old, posted the incident onto Chili’s Grill & Bar’s Facebook page and up to date, there were currently more than 800,000 likes and approximately 50,000 comments. From the huge number of likes and comments, it is no doubt that this post significantly increased the brand awareness of Chili’s Grill & Bar. Moreover, this will also establish brand loyalty between Anna and Chili’s. Through this outstanding customer service, Chili’s Grill & Bar had gain brand awareness and brand loyalty without any additional cost. It is also very likely that Chili’s Grill & Bar will become customer’s top of mind awareness.

According to the article, New logo, old name: The Bay returns to its roots, the Hudson Bay Company is to introduce a new logo to the public.

The Bay is a department store which sells shopping products such as apparels, shoes, and handbags. It was first introduced to Canada in 1964. Wendy Evans, the president of Evans and Company Consultants Inc stated that “HBC (Hudson Bay Company) lost some of its history in the first place when they changed the name to The Bay — the logo did not reflect the company and its remarkable history, and this (new logo) reclaims it a bit,” The creative director of HBC, Mr. Tony Smith depicts that “the redesign maintains the company’s heritage and helps to modernize the new Hudson’s Bay Co.” Even though business executives support a change to the new logo, it might not affect what customers think. Branding is extremely important to a company; it is able to determine whether or not a company succeeds. Brands are able to facilitate purchase, establish loyalty, protect the company from competition, reduce marketing costs, and impact market value. Brands are an asset; it differentiates Hudson Bay’s products with other company’s products. It also allows consumers to know where they should purchase the products they want. Consumers will less likely buy products from an unknown brand; thus brand awareness is vital. As consumers are familiar with the logo for almost 50 years, will the change affect brand awareness and brand loyalty? Will consumers be able to recognize the new logo? It will be very interesting to see how the change of the logo will affect Hudson Bay’s businesses.

According to Kevin’s blog, “Weibo brings change to China,” the microblogging website, Weibo is able to turn China into a more open, harmonize, and less corrupted country. I agree with what Kevin says. Microblogging websites had allowed bloggers to express what they think and what they want. By visiting these sites, the Chinese government will be able to find out what are their citizens’ needs.

Unfortunately, the freedom of speech still does not exist in China. Even though, bloggers are able to freely write out and post out pictures or videos onto Weibo, the lack of transparency of the Chinese government puts the users’ consequences in doubt. Currently, there are approximately more than 400 million registered accounts in Weibo. Given the advanced technology, people are able to serve Weibo every second. This significantly increases the speed of delivering the message to the whole world. As a result, Weibo can be used as a tool to improve citizens’ satisfaction towards the Chinese government because the voices of the citizens can be heard. Instead of banning and arresting the individuals, the Chinese government should learn to accept the blogger’s comment and if appropriate, implement changes to the situation. If the government is able to reach this stage, I am sure China will be able to become a more open, harmonize, and less corrupted country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 443,000 deaths, or nearly one of every five deaths, each year in the United States.”

“Smoking causes an estimated 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women”

It is no doubt that cigarettes can cause death. However, should cigarettes be permanently banned in all countries? According to the article tobacco firms bypass marketing restrictions with clever web campaigns,  tobacco companies had been advertising and promoting their products through the internet. Unlike other products, cigarettes are harmful and its advertisement were barely seen or heard in normal medais, such as television or the radio. Promotion is one of the 4 P’s in the marketing mix, it is extremely important to let customers know about the product. Without promotion, it is very likely that the product will not be able to “survive” in the industry. I think the tobacco firms are really smart by promoting their products through the internet. There are much lesser restrictions on the internet and it is used by millions of people in the world everyday. Unfortunately, due to the harmful nature of the product,”researchers called for all current restrictions on tobacco advertising to be extended to the internet.” The tobacco industry is a form of business and wants to make money too, by restricting its advertising campaign, the public is reducing the promotion of the product. Without one of the 4 P’s, will the tobacco industry still be able to “survive”? Will it be fair to the smokers and the tobacco industry?

In 2010, New Balance introduced its’ new product, the true balance toning shoe. In its advertisement, New Balance claims that the shoe will be able to “burn calories and get firmer legs and buttocks”; but is this true?

New Balance Toning Shoes

According to a study by the American Council on Exercise, when compared to a standard running shoe, the true balance toning shoe does not show a significant increase in muscle activation. This implies that there is no evidence to prove that the shoe will burn calories and get firmer legs and buttocks. If this is the case, why must New Balance make a false claim?

Due to globalization and trade agreements in today’s world, there are a lot of direct competition, indirect competition, and even marketplace competition. For example, Sketchers and Reebok had came out with a similar toning shoe called Shape-ups and EasyTone. In order to success, one must develop sustainable competitive advantage over the others. By claiming that the true balance can help to burn 8% more calories than other sneakers, New Balance is trying to convince customers to buy their shoes. Unfortunately, by deceiving customers, New Balance is being irresponsible and nevertheless, it will damage the company’s reputation. As a consequence of the deceiving act, New Balance got sued and had to pay $2.3 million to settle the false advertising claim.

Although earning money is crucial for most companies, the executives of the company must assure that they are doing it ethically. By being ethical, the company will earn a good reputation and therefore will not need to be worry about having no business. Sometimes, there are certain things which are more important than money.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/can-shoes-really-tone-the-body/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/new-balance-toning-shoe-settlement_n_1839537.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/business/media/20adco.html?_r=0

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