Nowadays ads have almost become one necessity in our daily life. As an essential branding measure, ads are created for making similar products different. However, products are in fact not that different from each other. Thus, companies have to add and spread something beyond the products(I guess that is why we can not even find the link between the ads and the products it is trying to advertise :p).

Now I believe that ads are trasforming to a special culture. They are no more only maketing tools. Those ads made for environment campains and those ads reminding people of keeping a healthy lifestyle, regardless what they are advertising for, are so meaningful and inspiring that can teach people more than a book can. Here are some ads for environment campain (http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/environmental-ads-44102408#ixzz1szcxnPeR).

The message: “The first signs of global warming are now clearly visible. We  urgently need to limit greenhouse gas emissions.”

The message: “Non-native species of the California coast.”

The message: “Rubbish can be recycled. Nature cannot.”

Also, I would like to recommand the “Ads worth spreading” available on TED : http://www.ted.com/initiatives/aws.

Here is one example I like:The Return of Ben Ali

I guess everyone knows what Twitter is in Canada, but do know what is Weibo? It is a microblog website in China. Similar to Twitter, people can post a short paragrah attached with picture or emotion on their own page and people can follow others’ post as they like. Here is one example of the interesting application of Weibo.

A Weibo user, whose seems to produce funny and humorous content, posted a few  photos of him using a few Durex condoms as protection of his shoes from the  rain, which was “retweeted” by some of his 8000 followers. In two minutes after  the post was published, Durex’ official account “retweeted” this post to over  100K followers and interacted with people who replied.(http://www.chinainternetwatch.com/1126/case-study-3-lessons-on-weibo-marketing/#ixzz1szUak4rZ)

Funny right? Did you realize that that weibo user just did free marketing for Durex? This guy actually delivered the message that the quality of Durex condems are good. The fact that people can post their own picture with their comments on Weibo makes Weibo a perfect marketing tool. As a Weibo user, I have not seen the trend of Weibo being used for marketing but as the online video and social media advertising are garnering attention, I believe Weibo will soon become a popular and trendy form of marketing tool in China. Here is the data about the change in spending for Ad/Marketing Tactics.

Recently, Pinterest seems one of the most heating news that people are talking about. If you tell me that you do not know what it is then think about your new FaceBook timeline, which is nakeing good use of the idea of Pinterest. Pinterest allows you to organize images — maybe pretty sunrises or wines you’ve tasted — into boards for specific categories. When you “pin” something new, your followers will see it. They can like, comment or re-pin it to their boards. Like Facebook content, your Pinterest pins can go viral (entrepreneur.com, 08/02/12).

Other than being cool, Pinterest also has some potentials on being used for business. It can be a modern, inexpensive, and creative way for small business owners to use Pinterest to market  their visual products or services. Customers may be more willing to check out one product when they see it posted on Pinterest as a beatiful image rather than seeing it in commercial ad. One more thing to be mentioned is that customers can have immediate and casual communication on Pinterest. It can help seller collect feedback and also simplify the bargaining process. However, if Pinterest is being used as a channel for advertisement, the management team of Pinterest needs to make sure it does not get filled with commercial air.

Everyone knows that most of Apple’s main profucts like iPad and iPhone are all manufactured in China. However, Apple still has a long way to go for expanding the Chinese marketDespite its popularity, Apple still has a tiny portion of the Chinese computer market. It is fourth in the smartphone market, with about an 8% share, partly due to its October 2009 entry into the Chinese market (online.wsj.com, 07/19/09) What is wrong? How did Apple do their markting in China?

Apple is now maintaing its margin profit by targetting the upscale customers in China, since products like iPad and iPhone would be a luxury for most of Chinese customers. However, when Apple is investing more of their money in opening more retail stores,  it could be difficult to match the performance they have had so far.

As a Chinese, I can feel the efforts that Apple is putting in to marekting themself to Chinese customers. They have opened two retail stores in my city-Beijing and according to Wall Street Journal: Apple’s retail stores in China have more than 40,000 visitors per day (online.wsj.com,07/19/11). Last summer when I was back home in China, Apple has become more porpular among Chinese citizens. You can see Apple’s commercial in almost every shopping mall. However, the middle class, who have the buyer power, seems not that interested in  pursuing the trend. People like my parents bascically get to know Apple’s products from their children. The latest technology also sparks them, while they do not think it is worth buying since it is time-consuming for them to handle the IT technology and they do not need most of those fancy functions that they will not normally use.

Given the research I have done, I believe Apple should target a broader range of consumers in China and I suggest they start from those university students in modern cities.

My name is Jingwei. You can also call me Jack. If you ask my friends to describe me using one word, they probably will say: smart, which I totally agree (tittering).I love classical music since I started to learn violin when I was 7. Chopin and Beethoven are my favorite musicians. My favorite sport would be badminton because everyone plays it in my motherland-China. Having lived in sereval cities in China, I have developed my social adaptability and openness to new experiences. I came to Canada in 2010 and had a good time so far. I look forward to meeting more friends here and sharing my experiences with them.

I wish I can have the opportunity to run my own business in the future and knowing about applying a decent marketing strategy is extremely important nowadays for a business owner. So I really want to learn more about marketing and put the knowledge into practice through the team projects! Hope everyone can enjoy this term, especially in Comm 296 class!

This is amazing. Never thought I will have a blog titled under UBC. Hope everything goes well this term, including Comm 296, as a core course! 😛