When you see magazines filled with ads with beautiful women with flawless skin, how much do you think all of that is “natural”?

In 2011 Lancôme ad that featured Julia Roberts, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned the distribution of the ad and stated that it “must not appear in its current form again“. In an article that addresses this topic, they compare the faces of “real” Julia Roberts and photoshopped Julia Roberts and address that it is indeed misleading for the image to be so unreal:

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I don’t think there’s anything in the world that can make our skin look that immaculate…

This ban does bring up how beauty ads are often overemphasized, but ethics also plays a large role in this. It’s evident that beauty ads have given themselves a negative role for portraying beauty as being “perfect”. We are constantly being guided into a misconception that beauty in media and magazines are only acceptable. Society is persistently getting attacked with self-esteem issues and these ads are not helping.

I know that the overall goal of advertising companies are to not support natural beauty in society, but to generate revenue by selling false insight on what beauty should look like. Perhaps they should consider removing their socially harmful ways and start using respectful ethics to promote the truth.

NOTE: I have nothing against Julia Roberts. She’s awesome.

A recent iClicker question stumped me.

What motivates you the most? a) Money? b) Power? c) Other?

You would think that as an amateur business student, I’d click money or power. Yes I do want a stable job in the future with good money, but for some odd reason – I didn’t hesitate to press “other”. I know the other two options are not my priorities, but at that moment I didn’t know what my “other” was…

Money, in some sense, is a contributing factor to finding a job, but it’s definitely not EVERYTHING. Happiness is part of it. Making just the right amount of money would give me opportunities to play a charitable and supportive part to society, rediscover and rekindle passions of mine, and experience cultures through travel. In my opinion, I hold happiness at a much higher importance than money or power. I would not leave a happy job for a job that would give me more pay. Success is not necessarily defined through wealth or title advancements, there’s something more to it.

An article on the top 10 jobs that make people happy made me realize that money is not the only factor.

Maybe this has sparked a little reflection in you. Take time and think about it. 🙂

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What do you think of this?
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There’s no doubt that Facebook is currently one of the leading social media sites and they’re constantly trying to discover ways to keep their users connected and engaged.

In a recent TechCrunch Disrupt conference, Mark Zuckerburg revealed that Facebook may implement a search engine based on their 1 billion daily search queries (1/3 of daily Google searches). Does Google face a possible threat coming their way? I mean, Facebook does carry the tools to recreate the social network scene. As Facebook is linked to a person’s social life, the possible searches could be like “What movie should I see tonight?” and the recommendations would be based on friends’ recent posts and location check-in’s. Even though I feel weird at the thought of Facebook becoming a search engine, I would personally go to a movie that my friend recommended than some movie review site.

With Google trying to enter Facebook’s domain with Google+, I think the lack of success was due to firm establishment that Facebook already has. You can even call it an obsession for Facebook, people are comfortable with it. Even though users may lean towards their friends’ opinions from Facebook search than Google+, I don’t think anyone could ever replace the rather infamous “Google it!” tagline.

Article: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-13/watch-out-google-facebook-s-social-search-is-coming

Social Entrepreneur? If you asked me what this term meant a week ago, I would’ve thought it had to do with being social and talkative to become an entrepreneur. Well in some sense… it incorporates the act of being social, but it’s far more than that.

A classic definition would be: a person who uses creative business practice to start a social services organization. It is someone who acknowledges a social issue and uses entrepreneurial fundamentals to create and manage a venture to make a social change. These are people who are ambitious, results-oriented and mission driven. They really want to seek out societal change. A typical entrepreneur would base their success off of profit and return, but for a social entrepreneur – they base their successful impact on positive returns to society.

I think these individuals are extremely respectable because not only do they carry the leadership characteristics of an entrepreneur, but they represent a vision and purpose to their goal – a goal that’s not to maximize profits.

I may be dreaming too big, but with the experience and education I get here at Sauder, I hope to make a social impact for some people around me, if not our generation.

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Indeed, it does have strong corporate values.

In a recent class based on people culture and teams, we discussed about Zappos, a online retail shoe company. The class certainly gave me insight on how a company’s culture could create success and excellent customer relationships.

Zappos not only labels itself as a company, but also a mission. The CEO, Tony Hsieh, has created a happiness culture for his employees and emphasized that it’s not about more than money – it’s about providing employees encouragement and empowerment to be themselves. With core values such as “Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit” and “Be Passionate and Determined”, Zappos goes through an admirable hiring process to determine that employees are motivated by the right factors. Their employees emulate these positive core values into the workplace and their everyday lives.

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Their committed customer service is one to take note of. Customers are aware of their user-friendly, optimistic online shopping experience and it translates into the success of the company. As the company culture is its #1 priority, Zappos is definitely making “customers happier, employees happier, and ultimately, investors happier” (Hsieh).

The company genuinely cares for happiness, their hiring process and customer interaction. Perhaps if companies start accompanying some of Zappos’ culture, positive outcomes could appear.

Who wouldn’t work in a place like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJy1slz4evk&feature=player_embedded

In the article “Taking a break from digital overload“, Leah Eichler discusses how our generation is too engaged into the digital world and that many advantages can actually come from taking a break from all the technology. Who isn’t a victim of digital addiction? I’m constantly addicted and attached to my Blackberry day and night, and without it – I feel like a part of me is missing.

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Although having an online connection is becoming or already is a crucial tool in the business world, Eichler talks about finding a balance. As the electronic devices we hold in our hands are sometimes a necessity for communication and organization, the engagement may be becoming too much.  The article says that technology can heighten our productivity, but can definitely make us unproductive as well. Adrienne Graham, CEO of a business strategy consulting firm, allowed herself and her employees to take time off work and leave their tech-filled lives. The result after break? A boost in creativity and motivation to start work without “the usual stalling and dreading”.

I think receiving a “digital detox” and disconnecting from devices can help businesses and regular individuals uncover how they can become efficient and discover what they are able to do without technology. A more productive team can always lead to careful analysis of company performance, which can result in many benefits for a company.

Ready? Set. Go!

“Bring it on, Apple.” – Samsung
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With the craze of Apple’s new iPhone 5 being the centre of attention lately, Samsung has created a comical commercial to downplay the features the new iPhone 5 possesses in comparison to the Galaxy S3. In response to Ben Lawson’s blog post, I agree that this new ad did make me laugh and switch my product preference from Apple to Samsung.

Nonetheless, for Samsung to use this advertising tactic to attract (or convert) new customers, they are recognizing the hazard of Apple’s dominance in the market. With Porter’s 5 Forces, a new concept we learned in class, the threat of Apple (a substitute to Samsung) has concluded for Samsung to believe there is a high rivalry between the two. They’re trying to shift the buyer preferences to their product. The new innovation and advancements placed in these two products leaves Samsung to address this specific issue: how are we going to increase our sales performance?

The answer? Mocking about the lack of transformation in the iPhone 5. I’m not too sure if teasing Apple customers will generate more consumers, but maybe unexpected sales numbers will help indicate they should steer clear from the insults for a while.

Resources:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/galaxy-s3-vs-iphone-5-samsung-throws-jabs-in-new-commercial-81936/

http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/19/3358132/samsung-mock-iphone-5-commercial

Over the past few years, social media has been a large role in the business world. This method of digital marketing provides a revolutionary outlet for companies to communicate with customers.

Simply Zesty ©.

Simply Zesty is an agency that develops social media campaigns for the world’s largest brands such as Volkswagen, and Universal Music Group. While providing  special platforms for many companies, they also spend time on an award-winning blog that enlightens readers on latest media trends and marketing tactics.

The blog is extremely useful in informing businesses AND the public about the dos and don’ts on the web. Connected to established companies, they are the first to see what succeeds/fails in social media marketing and they don’t refrain from letting their readers know. Their posts unfold examples of how companies are using online marketing efficiently, reveal the top 10 weekly advertising videos that go viral and recommend the “25 Unmissable Social Media Articles” every weekend.

Some companies may not be able to afford assistance from Simply Zesty, but by reading this blog they can enhance their online marketing and social media tools to a greater level. Even as a typical reader, this blog is beneficial for my personal social media experience.

I’m always an advocate when it comes to preserving the environment. When I read Andrea Banzon’s recent blog post, I was devastated as to how a company could be so socially irresponsible.

Texaco, a company affiliated with Chevron, dumped over 18 billion gallons of waste into the rivers of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest twice in the past two decades. With massive amounts of toxins in the rivers, communities have been barricaded from one of the natural resources they majorly depend on. The waste resulted in crop failure, water contamination, and birth defects in children.

Many Amazonian tribes brought a lawsuit upon Chevron; the company has claimed that Texaco spent over $40 million on removing the waste.

The idea of ethics was clearly not considered in Texaco’s actions. I agree with Andrea’s statement that “Chevron should be willing to pay the extra buck to avoid pollution.” During our presentation from David Silver, he discusses from Milton Friedman that “the only social responsibility of business is to earn profits while following… basic ethical customs.” Texaco didn’t realize that while destroying nature, they could also destroy many lives as well, lives that should be treated with fairness.

Do you want to bathe in that? I don’t.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainforestactionnetwork/4858691698/

Resources:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/que-pasa/chevron-must-pay-amazon-damage-court

What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you see this infant?

http://unprofessionalcritic.blogspot.ca/2010/06/why-hell-did-i-love-babies.html

The majority of you will say that he’s extremely cute or you will question whether he’s wearing pants or not.

Question is: Is this baby healthy?

Nestlé has been aggressively promoting infant formula, especially to poor countries. Issues have been brought up because their promotions have increased infant deaths and health problems. When mothers switch from breastfeeding to this substitute…

NAN baby formula sold in third-world countries
http://info.babymilkaction.org/category/documenttype/news/update/update42

…several problems become apparent.

Since the formula needs water, contamination is a major issue. Because it’s expensive, mothers add more water to make it last longer, which causes malnutrition. Milk powder also doesn’t fulfill the nutrition requirements (e.g. – antibodies) that natural breast milk provides, so babies aren’t being protected from viruses.

Poor ethics come into play because Nestlé marketed to people who were unable to consume the formula in a safe manner. They convinced mothers that this product was more of a need than a want. They promoted the use of the artificial milk to mothers who were fully capable of breastfeeding their own children! There should never be promotions/advertisements for baby formula in third world countries since they cannot provide clean water and sanitary bottles for themselves.

Further readings:

http://www.ibfan.org/issue-international_code-code.html

Resources:

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=240

http://info.babymilkaction.org/nestlefree

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé_boycott#The_baby_milk_issue