Comm 465 was an amazing class.  I’ve always been interested in marketing, and the projects our team worked on this term have given me greater insight into the basic fundamentals of marking, especially while working on our video project.

The video project was, unequivocally, the most fun of the group projects which I have worked on in my Commerce minor.  I’ve had the opportunity to work with two other groups for previous Comm classes, so I am able to compare how well my Comm 465 team functioned compared to my other two teams.  By far, this marketing team exceeded my expectations, and performed in a professional manner.  They were a lot of fun to hang with and brainstorm, and we were all on the same page with regards to producing our assignments in a timely fashion.

Each person on this team was able to contribute something useful to our video project, be it an idea, taking care of props or script-editing.  Even though we all belong to different faculties and had to contend with midterms and essays which conflicted with our scheduled meetings, we were always able to successfully create a period of time to ‘get down to business’ and create our video.  This was actually a very valuable experience for myself, as I learned how to properly manage my time and be able to complete multiple projects within a short period of time.

This team  had little to no problems or issues.  We would always be very efficient in our meetings; we would discuss the next assignment, assign topics to one another, and then have one person put it together at the end and submit it.  This was a very smart way of approaching each one of our marketing projects, which allowed everyone to have an equal amount of work to do.

At the conclusion of this course, I have gained greater knowledge regarding the ins and outs of Amazon, as well as insight into how they create and devise their marketing plans.  I am happy that I took this class, as it gave me a new perspective on how to deal with issues, as well as solve them, when being faced with ever-evolving marketing strategies.

Today’s blog will share a few of my opinions and thoughts on a blog posted by Alec, who is a fellow Comm465 student.  Specifically, I will comment on his  “Future Shop and Best Buy’s Amazing Trade-In Promotion Leaves Consumers Baffled.”

When I first heard of this particular promotion, which allowed consumers to trade in any current generation (Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii U) video game and receive either Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, or Call of Duty: Ghosts in return, I was excited and couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  My feelings towards this promotion were similar to Alec’s:  it seemed too good to be true.

From a marketing standpoint, this promotion was awesome.  It had consumers buzzing over it which led them to spread the news of this promotion to all their friends via word of mouth.  As Alec stated, it basically spread like wildfire, and many Future Shops and Best Buy’s had customer line-ups which lasted for hours, or were already out of stock of the games by noon.  One of my friends had waited in line for over three hours, only to find out that they didn’t have any more games left, similar to Alec’s experience.  However, one of the reasons for why they ran out of stock so quickly was that the promotion was unclear to a few Future Shop and Best Buy stores.  It turned out that individuals were receiving all three games for the trade-in of one old game, instead of receiving one game for the trade-in of one game.  Whoops!

Nevertheless, while many consumers were left unhappy and game-less, Future Shop and Best Buy were still the winners in the end.  All of the buzz generated from this promotion was crucial to both companies’ respective marketing plans for the upcoming release of the PS4 and Xbox One.  They were both able to position themselves as the top retailer to shop at for video games by creating all of the frenzy surrounding their trade-in program.  This marketing technique was clever, as most gamers think of going to EB Games or GameStop when they think of trade-in programs, which is why Best Buy and Future Shop were the winners in the end.

Financial Post Article regarding the subject:
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/11/08/future-shop-offering-new-call-of-duty-assassins-creed-and-battlefield-titles-for-free-with-single-trade-in/?__lsa=9ada-07ee

While browsing a few of the blogging websites which I frequently visit, I came cross this video by Virgin America:

http://youtu.be/DtyfiPIHsIg
Yes, I know it is 5 minutes long, and on pre-flight safety.  Trust me, it’s worth it.

When I first viewed this video on the day it was launched, I didn’t think much of it, and I sure wasn’t expecting it to go viral in the way it did – I just found it to be a funny, quirky pre-flight safety video.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  After reading numerous comments and reviews raving of how wonderful this video was, I now realize what a clever marketing technique this was by Virgin America.

These days, the flying public are asked to view boring and mundane pre-flight safety videos.  Thus, we tend to tune them out, especially the ‘veteran’ travelers who are basically able to recite the safety video word for word.  However, airlines have begun to slowly alter the typical.  Southwest Airlines was one of the first airlines that began to have fun with their pre-flight safety announcement/videos – they either sing it or rapped it.

Clearly, Virgin America has adopted the Southwest Airline model in trying to make flying enjoyable and a fun experience for everyone.  That is, they focus on customer service and value, as they understand that in today’s society, the customer comes first.  By differentiating themselves from the other boring, mundane airlines, they are able to show off their unique spark and gain an edge over the rest of the market.  However, expect to see other airlines imitating this model for their pre-flight safety videos.  As they say, imitation is the best form of flattery in the business world – which, ultimately, leads to success.

Hey again –

I thought I would share with you some thoughts and ideas from a few of the other blogs I browse and read daily.  In particular, and continuing on with the mobile marketing theme from my previous two blogs, I would like to touch on one of Danny Brown’s recent blogs.

Danny Brown, who is a co-author of Influence Marketing:  How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing and the Manager of Social Engagement and Insights at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, hosts an award-winning marketing blog.  Danny’s blog discusses the many different intersections of marketing, social media, and influence and where they fit in today’s business world.  In this particular blog by Danny Brown, which was recently posted on November 11th of this year, lists his “5 Reasons Why You Need to Be Mobile Ready for 2014.”

As alluded to in the title, Danny Brown describes 5 specific reasons for why marketers and businesses need to be mobile ready for the upcoming year and to move away from solely relying on desktop visits.  I will briefly mention his first two reasons for why marketers and businesses need to be mobile ready, and then comment with my own thoughts.

Danny Brown lists mobile browsing and the consumer research stage as his first reason for mobile readiness.

As portrayed in the image above, mobile browsing is a huge factor in a consumer’s research stage.  Consumers will, over the course of a day, visit various sites on their phone and, ultimately, make return visits to confirm that the information on the particular brand they are researching is correct.  Thus, by making it easier and readily available for consumers to partake in research, you are welcoming them back to your brand instead of turning them away and into the hands of a competitor.

Danny’s second reason for becoming mobile ready is listed as mobile searching.

Mobile searching is the most common starting point for consumers as they begin to research a product.  Thus, the most logical solution for marketers and businesses is to just simply have a website or an app that is mobile optimized.  If your website cannot be accessed through a mobile with ease, then you’re going to run into the same problem from the researching stage; people will go to your competitors instead.

After looking over Danny Brown’s first two points, I am even more convinced than ever that marketers and businesses should start considering their mobile strategies NOW.  As I have discussed in my last two blog posts, the Millennial Generation is more connected to mobile than ever been before.  Millennia’s talk to their friends, review products and businesses, at the same time critiquing those businesses and products, be it positive or negative.  The statistics show that mobile marketing is on the upwards trend, and my feeling is that if businesses don’t consider a mobile marketing plan now or in the near future, they will ultimately fall behind their competitors.

All images courtesy of http://dannybrown.me/