Jared's 296 Blog

As an avid Twitter user, I always look for ways to increase the number of followers I have. Following someone on Twitter is a way of showing online loyalty because you believe that what they say in their tweets is actually worth reading. With that being said, if it was easy to get followers, then everyone would have hundreds of people reading their every word.

The article below mentions something similar with Foursquare, an increasingly popular program that allows people to check-in wherever they are. It discusses ways to captivate it’s users and making the experience much deeper.

http://marketing-expert.blogspot.com/2010/11/ways-to-build-loyalty-online.html

I worked at London Drugs for two and a half years and I never noticed their use of private labels until it was mentioned today in class. From my perspective, all the moisturizers in the moisturizer section were the same, q-tips were with the q-tips, and cotton balls were all the same for all I cared. Customers rarely asked me to locate a “London Drugs” brand product. It didn’t seem like something that a customer would enter with on their list of things to buy, but they would end up buying it anyways. The only reason I could see someone buying the brand would be because of the price. The appearance of the brand was very plain and didn’t seem to distinguish itself from the other more well-known ones. After further thought, I realized that it must have been because London Drugs carried such a strong brand and the customers who shopped there had a strong sense of brand loyalty.

The London Drugs brand is a lot stronger than I realized. They got themselves involved in so many different product categories in their store. They had their own brand of shampoo, conditioner, and moisturizers. They had their own brand of q-tips. They had a diverse number of vitamins in the vitamins section. They even had their own cotton balls.

Some of the items they had a private label for were standard across the industry. For example, vitamins don’t really change except for price.

For years, Trevor Linden was the face of the franchise for the Vancouver Canucks. He is the all-time leader in games played, second in goals, second in assists, and first in playoff points just to name a few. He is currently one of two players to ever have their jersey raised to the rafters in the hallowed halls of GM Place/Rogers Arena. Also, he is very active in the Vancouver community ever since he was drafted in 1988 and returned in 2001.

Nowadays, Trevor Linden is the face of ClearlyContacts. He can be seen sporting classy frames on TV, online, and also public transit as seen above.

Spokespeople have always confused me. This is what I understood:

– People like famous figures

– People want to be like famous figures

Why would someone be MORE inclined to purchase a product simply because someone famous did it as well? Obviously, the spokesperson likes the product enough to promote it but it doesn’t necessarily make it the best brand. What if the spokesperson didn’t do enough market research before selecting a brand and just settled?

Seeing Trevor Linden’s mug on every other bus I go on isn’t a bad thing, but I don’t feel more compelled to buy from ClearlyContacts.

On Monday night, I was lucky enough to watch the Canucks game against the Devils in a box belonging to CTV. Naturally, there were several executives from CTV/Corus Entertainment box who I met.

I won’t be diving into what conversations took place and all, but I can say that I learned a lot. The marketing side of things is a lot more complicated then I ever would have expected. CTV is a pretty successful company especially after being the official channel to watch the 2010 Olympic Games on. What they do to make all the magic happen in terms of broadcasting, getting sponsors, selling advertising space, etc… is just mindblowing.

I was going to write a blog post about the NFL and their connection with the fight against breast cancer, but Professor Milne already covered it so I decided to immerse myself even more in the topic. This post is not meant to commend the NFL for their support but more to question other pro sport leagues (like the NHL, NBA, and MLB to name a few) why they’re not getting in on the action.

It’s hard to imagine an argument against adding a little bit of pink trim to your uniform in support of a great cause and to promote awareness. Pro athletes get paid millions of dollars to play the sport so does it really matter what they’re wearing when they do it (to a certain extent)? If they’re worried about damaging their reputation and coming off as “girly,” people realize and understand the symbolism behind the colour so it’s really a non-issue.

Here’s a quick brainstorm of a few simple things that can be done in the other major leagues:

• NHL – hockey sticks, gloves, skates, jerseys, puck, goalie masks, helmets
• NBA – jerseys, shoes, various braces, sleeves, headbands
• MLB – cleats, jerseys, mitts, caps

The only argument against it I can think of is that the leagues would have to change the colour of their uniforms every month in order to keep up with other great causes.

I actually came up with a solution if they collectively chose to support Movember as an example. For the month of November, to show support for Movember, which promotes awareness for men’s health, the various leagues could place a ban on shaving facial hair. This example may seem a bit extreme but I think it’s a good segue into other ideas. Leave me your thoughts.

“You know in life you have to be a salesman. I know so many talented people, but they can’t sell themselves and they’re all failures. And I tell you this as a little bit of advice. I’ve seen people that are better than Frank Sinatra, they’re incredible entertainers but they can’t sell themselves and they never get the shot. So whether you like it or not, you have to be a salesman about yourself. It’s really important.”

– Donald Trump

Marketing and sales are connected pretty closely believe it or not. Some of the things that first come to mind when I hear marketing is advertising and selling objects, but I overlook the importance of selling yourself. Now I don’t mean physically selling yourself, but by selling who you are as an individual and what makes you standout.

Your personal brand so important nowadays in any scenario. For example, a friend of mine went down to Los Angeles to meet with the manager of the Stone Temple Pilots. You gotta understand that hundreds of people walk into meeting with people in the music industry (if they’re lucky enough to get one in the first place). Generally, I would like to say that they all make decent sounding music. It’s your ability to sell the story behind your music and your image as a musician that sets you apart from some other group and the next big thing. In this meeting, my friend was able to sell his brand so well that he created a partnership and is now in the works to release his album in the US sometime this coming year.

I just thought that this quote jumped out at me when watching The Apprentice and it applied so well to my friend’s situation.

Last week was the final chance for anyone over the age of 19 with a credit card to get some free money courtesy of BCLC. A promotion where you would receive $100 from the website after betting $100 of your own money was exploited. By betting $50 each on the dealer and the player in a game of baccarat, you would lose $2.50 on commission and then be given an extra hundred dollars where you could just cash out and be up about $97.50. I took advantage of this glitch and it felt pretty good that I just got about 11 hours worth of work done in 5 minutes (after taxes).

From a marketing perspective, I think that this was a strong move. A lot of traffic was created for the website which was under harsh scrutiny after it failed to work properly during it’s grand opening. Although it seems like a lot of money is being lost, I’d like to think that for every 10 people who cash out right away, someone would take the free money and gamble it away. I understand a loss is a loss, but the gambling business is about making lasting connections with customers who will return time and again.

The convenience of an online casino eliminates some of the cons of being there physically. Some of the complaints I hear include the smoke and the atmosphere because time passes by so quickly. There are no lines to cash out because it’s all done by entering your answer to the secret questions you set and your bank account information.

BCLC has been playing catch-up ever since the release of PlayNow because of it’s terrible start. They made up quite a bit of ground with this.

If anyone else agrees with the title of this post, they will be disappointed (unless you’re the winner) to hear that some guy named Shaun won a free iPhone 4 through a mobile marketing and social media agency called Hoopla Agency. They had people on edge for about an hour while they took a video of them drawing the winning name out.

How free giveaways such as this work, I don’t think I’ll ever understand. However, I do understand offers such as these create a huge stir especially within social media mediums like Twitter and Facebook. It was clear that Hoopla’s marketing efforts were targeting young adults/teens. There was no skill testing question or form to fill out; you had to follow or retweet them on Twitter, like them on Facebook, text their automated number, and/or follow them on LinkedIn.

I had never heard of this group until someone I was following on Twitter mentioned a free iPhone 4 which clearly got my attention. It is through these kind of events/chains small companies such as this can get their name out.