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/

Hey everyone!

As I alluded to in last week’s blog, I will be discussing a further aspect of mobile marketing: mobile advertisements.  In today’s modern society, users are constantly connected to their phones and utilizing it to text, talk, e-mail, or surf the internet.  However, while surfing the internet, users are being exposed to mobile advertisements.  While many might view this as a negative component of internet browsing, as most are not fans of intrusive advertising, the Millennial Generation does not at all view this as an invasion.  In fact, ¾ of the Millennial Generation are open to receiving mobile advertisements.

http://youtu.be/YAGUggClee0

The 2012 “Light You Up” mobile campaign by Adidas, summarized here, was created to promote their launch of a new brand of Adidas soccer cleats.  Adidas, recognizing that the market they need to target was the Millennial Generation, as well as pinpointing that Millennia’s are receptive to mobile advertisements, created a static banner ad which would appear for every consumer who was near the launch party.  If a user clicked on the banner ad, they would immediately be taken to a promotional webpage describing the event, location, and time.  This mobile campaign turned out to be a tremendous success, engaging thousands of consumers to not only click on the advertisement to learn about the event, but also show up for the event.

The 2012 Adidas “Light You Up” mobile campaign is just an example of one of many successful mobile advertisement campaigns; Olympus’ “Capture Your Stories,” Yamaha’s FZ-16 Mobile Ads, and UNICEF’s Breastfeeding Awareness Mobile Ads are just a few of the success stories pertaining to mobile advertising.

Unfortunately, consumers hear only of how successful or great a mobile campaign was without being provided with any statistical data, which is what actually tells the story of how successful the campaign in question was. Adidas, however, conducted a case study in February 2013 regarding the power of mobile advertising, and published the colossal economic success they achieved.

To summarize, Adidas achieved: a 20% conversion rate from their mobile store locator to in-store visits, a 680% incremental increase in their ROI, and set the stage for further mobile advertising campaigns and investments.  These are enormous results which shows the impact mobile advertising actually has in our contemporary society.  I believe that all businesses and corporations should take advantage of the Millennial Generation’s reception to mobile advertisements, and perhaps begin their mobile marketing through either Google Mobile Ads or Microsoft Mobile Ad Network.

In our contemporary society, the Millennial Generation, collectively known as Generation Y, is the generation who are vastly connected with technology. Growing up in an environment surrounded by rapidly advancing technology, they are fully able to grasp all concepts that technology has to offer.  Specifically, they have become connected and inseparable with their smartphones.  Nearly all of the Millennial Generation carry a smartphone which is within arm’s reach at all times.  Just take a walk around your campus or check out the street and you’ll see practically everyone looking down at their phone and either texting, talking, e-mailing or listening to their music via their smartphone.

Yes, that guy does indeed walk into a bear while texting.

This, however, is very advantageous to marketers.  Mobile marketing is rapidly gaining importance in today’s society, and is a topic which I want to briefly touch on.  The Millennial Generation is constantly connected to their phone, researching the best products and services available, and sharing with their friends stories about good and bad experiences they’ve encountered with a certain business.  There is, however, one point I want to touch on.

Mobile Consumers Talk…A LOT.

               A marketing review of the Millennial Generation reported that they have an impact                on $500 billion of the annual spending in America.  Exactly what does this                            mean?  Well….it means that they have a great magnitude of persuasion on the                    market with regards to how and where money gets spent.  Millennia’s use mobile                review apps and websites, such as Urbanspoon, Yelp, and Facebook more than                anyone else – two out of every three are constantly connected so that they can                    share their experiences after utilizing certain products and services.  As well,                      Millennia’s are 3.5 times more likely to be persuaded by social reviews from their                peers.

The above data just reiterates that word of mouth marketing is something that should never be underestimated by a mobile marketer.  The power of word of mouth is a very strong asset that can be utilized in a business’ favour.  People are constantly sharing their opinions about businesses throughout the internet, be it good or bad.  However, people are more likely to post a less than favourable opinion about a business rather than favourable one and, therefore, businesses should always be aiming to provide top-notch service.

All in all, this is just one small piece of information that is useful to businesses interested in expanding their mobile marketing division.  In other words, take advantage of the massive influence that the Millennial Generation has on the market, and cater to what the Millennia’s are looking for!

Stay tuned for my next blog which will explore other certain features that mobile marketers can take advantage of.  For now, I’ll leave you with Adidas’ “Light You Up” mobile advertisement campaign which is one example that I will be talking about next week!
http://youtu.be/YAGUggClee0

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Dropbox are all Multi-Billion Dollar brands which share a very important commonality:  all were start-up companies which were built from the ground up without the use of ‘traditional’ marketing techniques such as public relation firms, press releases, or radio and billboard advertisements.  Passing on the ‘traditional’, these companies hired marketers who were coined as “growth hackers.”

I instantly became interested in how a “growth hacker” functions after discovering what they have accomplished, so I decided to dig a little further and find out what they’re all about.  Interestingly, growth hackers are vastly different from what a ‘normal’ marketer offers, so I decided that this blog is going to give you a little taste of what growth hacking is about.

First things first, a growth hacker is basically a marketer who is solely in charge of marketing for a start-up company.  Although growth hackers and marketers are both involved in the overall plan of advertising a brand, a growth hacker utilizes a unique set of tools to tackle the challenges of promoting a start-up brand to the public.  Certain challenges that growth hackers have to overcome are:

i.              Extreme uncertainty among start-up companies.  You have no idea of who your consumers are, the value of your product, and which markets are best suited for your product.

ii.             Slow growth.  Start-ups need to have an enormous amount of growth to be successful.  Growth hackers have to figure out how to increase growth by tenfold in order for the start-up to be successful.

iii.            Brand Equity.  Consumers have no idea about your brand, and thus you must educate them in a positive manner in order for them to trust you.

For a growth hacker to surmount such daunting tasks, they must first form a mindset of doing anything and everything which will maximize user engagement and sharing.  Generating positive social media and word of mouth gets consumers interested in your product.  In attempting to promote positive social media, growth hackers utilize certain tactics and tools:  viral and paid acquisitions, sales teams, content and email marketing, search engine optimization, and analytics.  Analytics are an important tool in the arsenal of growth hackers because data is what should drive all marketing and product-development decisions of start-up companies, not hunches or instincts.

Loads of information is available on growth hackers and I could keep going on forever.  If start-up companies spark your interest and you want to learn more about the specifics of marketing a start-up company, I would suggest looking into buying and reading “Growth Hacker Marketing:  A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising” by Ryan Holiday.  It’s offered as an eBook on four different platforms: B&N, iBooks, Kobo, and Amazon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TJU1r2mazU

Fun aside, Abercrombie and Fitch is a retailer who is greatly involved in the unethical marketing technique called select marketing, in which it decides who should and should not wear their brand. A&F markets and sells their clothing to people who they believe are “conventionally beautiful,” which basically translates into “we only sell clothing that thin people can wear because we believe that they are more beautiful than larger people.”  If you look at A&F’s size chart on their website, women’s sizes XL and XXL do not exist; and the largest size for tops is a 10, while their bottoms range from a size 10 – 12.  This is just blatant market exclusion, which leads me into my next point: how A&F’s unethical marketing exclusion is actually a detriment to their current and future sales.

In the previous year, plus-size clothing was worth $17 billion in sales – sales that Abercrombie and Fitch were not receiving due to their exclusiveness.  Who were those retailers receiving those sales?  Two of their biggest competitors – H&M and American Eagle. Both of these retailers have followed the demographics of the clothing market and have realized that the trend of the average dress size has increased from a size 8 to a size 14.  As a result, H&M introduced a plus-sized line for women, while American Eagle now provides sizes up to XXL for both men AND  women. However, it’s not just the clothing market which has started to try to break this trend of market exclusivity; Dove started their “Campaign for Real Beauty” to widen society’s definition of what is beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk

With the current trend of the average clothing size increasing, I believe that Abercrombie and Fitch are inhibiting their own sales by selling their merchandise to an exclusive market which is shrinking.  The market is constantly changing, and if retailers such as A&F do not adapt, then they will not be able to reap the additional sales and lose out on potential profit.

Hey!

My name is Jordan and I am currently in my fourth year at the University of British Columbia, majoring in Political Science with a Minor in Commerce.  This blog was created to share my thoughts, opinions, and ramblings of the everyday marketing practices that we are confronted with.

A little more about myself:  I was born and raised in North Vancouver, BC.  My hobbies are basically sports: hockey, baseball, football, rugby, and ultimate.  However, they also include other sports such as basketball and soccer, as I basically grew up playing every sport that I could.

Thanks for visiting my blog!