Janie Nguyen's Blog

If you love freebies say I, “I”!

But what’s the catch with freebies? Do companies really want to give away free products without any benefits? Of course not, every action has a purpose and companies provide free samples, coupons, etc. as a source of advertisement. For example, during Business Week people asked me where I got my cotton candy from and I directed them to Enterprize’s booth.  Unfortunately, freebies attract a lot of unprofitable consumers, that is, consumers who only want the free product but do not buy the product later and I am (not proud to be) one of them!

Side note: everyone will probably be writing about Steve Jobs, but I won’t! Oh wait, I just wrote about him!!!

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Rock & Republic jeans use to be a fashionable brand sold at upscale stores until the recession hit, sales plummeted, and eventually Rock & Republic had to file for bankruptcy protection. During the recession, consumers did not spend as much on Rock & Republic jeans due to the high costs so Rock & Republic launched a recession line which sold at a fraction of the normal line of jeans; however, this attempt did not work and Rock & Republic had to file for bankruptcy protection. Today, you will no longer see Rock & Republic in upscale stores but rather at large distributors such as Costco and Zellers.

Rock & Republic’s brand image has been immensely damaged due to the bankruptcy claim and the changes. People use to buy their jeans because they were “high-end” and popular. Since Rock  & Republic is now sold at stores like Costco, the perceived value of their jeans have significantly dropped and once loyal consumers no longer want to associate with Rock & Republic because it does not fit their social norms of wearing high-end fashion.

I am a manager at McDonald’s fast food restaurants and It has never occurred to me that everyday that I have worked, I have been involved with marketing. Before Comm 296, I always thought of marketing as advertising,  promotions and attracting customers to a business for sales. To my surprise, marketing is beyond attracting customers, but rather it is “creating and capturing customer value”. Customer service is an important factor at work so I would like to dedicate this blog post to analyzing McDonald’s and the marketing in me.

http://www.lilith-ezine.com/articles/health/images/im-fat-and-lovin-it-09.jpg

McDonald’s vision is to be the world’s best quick service restaurant experience. One core value to achieve this vision is that McDonald’s is dedicated to providing guests unparalleled levels of Quality, Service, Cleanliness, and Value.  Every month a “mystery shopper” will anonymously grade the quality (food), service (speed, accuracy, and friendliness), and cleanliness of a McDonald’s restaurant. A grade from a mystery shopper informs a restaurant if they are providing an exceptional experience for their customers, and thereby building a profitable long term relationship with them.

http://www.gx94radio.com/blogs/afternoons/wp-content/upLoads/mcdonalds-characters.jpg

Now what does my role at McDonald’s have to do with marketing? Plenty! However, lets look at it from the perspective on the 5 step marketing process:

step 3: Implement – Construct an integrated marketing program that delivers superior value

step 4: Monitor/Control – Build profitable relationships and create customer delight

step 5: Equity – Capture value from customers to create profits and customer equity

My job is to ensure that all crew are providing fast and friendly service and food is hot, fresh, and neat (implement). When needed I coach crew on proper procedures and handle customer complaints (monitor/control). With an excellent plan in place, we are able to “deliver superior value” to our customers (equity). Without even knowing it, I have discovered the marketing in me.

In high school I use to play sports and through sports is where I met some of my closest friends. In grade 8, I was a very shy girl and didn’t perform at my fullest potential because I never pushed myself. One of my best friends that I met through sports told me that if I don’t push myself, work hard, and sweat like a madman then i’ll never know how amazing I could be at sports. Throughout high school, we were always on the same sports team and she was by my side to remind me that I needed to work harder and beat my personal record each year. From then on, I’ve always played sports at my fullest potential and my performance reaped in many award and recognition. Now, I follow this concept with everything I do because if I don’t, then I’ll never know how amazing I could be or how much more practice I need because practice makes perfect.

– Janie Nguyen

It’s against the law to not pay for a transit ticket if you are using the transit system, so why do some bus drivers allow people on for free? A bus driver has two roles: 1) to drive the bus to the designated stops and 2) to ensure that passengers pay for their fare. I use the bus on a daily basis and I occasionally see the bus driver allowing people on for free. Some scenarios are: the bus is late and in order to get back on schedule, he/she allows everyone on for free; a person claims that he/she only has a $x bill; or a person uses the phrase “Can I get a ride home?”. Now, by giving into the people’s “claims”, it makes people think that it’s ok to not pay for a transit ticket which is incorrect. The transit system is a business that provides a service at a small fee. If every bus driver did this at least once a week, imagine the huge loss in profits. A concession fare of $1.75 or an adult fare of $2.50 may not seem like a lot, but in the long run it does stack up.

– Janie Nguyen

To build upon my most recent blog, entering the fashion industry requires a lot of money. The focus of my blog today has been inspired by the article: Funding Options for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs By Karen E. Klein

“It’s not easy for startups that lack experience and connections to raise money. Microfinance, crowdfunding, and incubators are worth pursuing, say business owners”.

I can have a lot of passion to establish my own clothing brand, but without financing… I can’t really do anything. At the moment, I’m paying for my own tuition, textbooks, and personal expenses. When I graduate, I will have to pay back my student loans. So… at what point will I be able to accumulate enough money to launch my clothing brand? I know that a new business should never go “full out”, as in spend all their finacing to launch their store. Why? One reason is that a business needs a safeguard incase initial sales are slow and they need to cover rent. This makes me wonder, where will I acquire all this money to pursue my future dream as well as have a sufficient safeguard? The following article has many examples!

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2010/sb20100923_063215.htm?chan=smallbiz_special+report+–+americas+young+entrepreneurs+2010_special+report:+americas+young+entrepreneurs+2010

– Janie Nguyen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11701575

This article is a great example of following your heart and passions. Lyn Lee left a career in law behind to go into the chocolate business.

“We mucked around in the kitchen every weekend for a year until we produced this thing…our methods were trial and error. Nothing scientific…We just tried different techniques, we tried different ingredients and we produced what we thought was a pretty yummy chocolate cake.”

This articles makes me wonder, “what am I going to do with my BCOM?” Referring back to class X, will I work for another company and earn X or will I become an entrepreneur and earn Y until my Business skyrockets? Of course, I want to be an entrepreneur! In grade 10, I discovered my passion for textiles, but I never thought anything but “fun” could come out of sewing clothes. In grade 12, I started designing my own clothing for projects and my classmates told me to pursue a career in the fashion industry… which I plan to do! On a side not, I’m disappointed that UBC doesn’t offer a textiles course, otherwise I would minor in it :).

– Janie Nguyen

A few months ago, my brother and I took our car for an air care test for the first time. After failing, of course we were engulfed with rage. Our feelings revolving around air care were simple:” it’s stupid!” You have to pay for your test, you have to pay for repairs, you have to pay for the retest(s), and they use a lot of gas for the test itself. But what are the benefits of Air Care? Well, the obvious benefit is that it’s a way to push people to be environmentally friendly as well as ensuring cars that are hazardous (pollution wise) are off the streets. A less obvious benefits is that it brings business to smaller mechanics. As well, by having Air Care, the community is able to employ more people such as the people working at the Air Care Locations. And don’t forget the busiessnes who had to build the equipment at the Air Care Centre! In the long run, Air Care is beneficial for the community. In a sense, this shows that businesses work hand in hand with other businesses without the two business actually being merged.

– Janie Nguyen

Meet my dream car, the Audi R8!

What’s so appealing about Audi? They have a line of imported, luxurious, classy, yet sporty cars. Audi’s brand name  is definitely well represented. Audi dealerships are very clean, the employees are well dressed, the cars displayed itself are immaculate, and perfomance is INCREDIBLE. I, as many others, know Audi to be high in perfomance, comfort, and looks. However, what happens to a damaged high-end brand name? I recently read an article titled “Creepy Audi R8 Burns on a Street in Germany”

Several R8s have been reported  to burn while in development (the picture below is a model) due to fuel spillage.

http://www.rpmgo.com/creepy-audi-r8-burns-on-a-street-in-germany

How does this article affect me as a current Audi customer? Nothing changed. I would have to say that i’m a loyal Audi customer and after reading this article, I have subconsciously filtered this information.  It’s hard to believe that with the high level of engineering that Audi offers that this incident could occur. Brand names are all about perception. In my opinion, if a brand name is well represented and avoids bad publicity then there’s nothing that can harm a brand name unless it doesn’t live up to customer standards.

– Janie Nguyen