After browsing through marketing blogs for a while, I came across “Lifetime value of a customer/cost per customer” by Seth Godin. It was a witty and enjoyable read about the impact of social media on modern marketing mediums.

In his blog, Seth talks about the lifetime value of a customer and how much it costs to obtain him or her. Because of the internet, it costs less and less to obtain customers and engage with them. Truly successful companies get people to buy into their mission statements and goals by engaging with them. For example, Lululemon has a facebook and twitter page, by which they conduct many customer feedback surveys in order to better their products and services. They also use this marketing medium to help promote community events they are involved with or just to interact with others and thus, they have created their very own fan club of people who support what Lululemon promotes.

Seth also mentions how musicians have moved from depending on music sales to selling fan collectibles as a means of generating more profit due to the increased accessibility of music on the internet. This is because the internet evolution has created a whole change – it is up to the seller to adapt to these changes. Thus, promotion strategies are changing. Companies are utilizing integrated marketing communications to attract customers; instead of limiting promotional strategies to just direct mail or TV/radios, companies have other options such as the web, social media, email, etc. In this way, companies might want to hold off on spending a lot of money trying to attract glimpses of attention from customers but instead, try and create meaningful relationships that really engage with them. What perfect way than to do it through social media!

I also have a very neat video on social media with some chilling facts, check it out:

The class discussions on pricing got me thinking about special offers and discounts that many companies conduct in order to increase profits. I came across Jim Connolly’s blog “What everyone ought to know about special offers!” As an avid coupon hunter, it was interesting to read about the positives and negatives that discount pricing may have on a company.

What I took most from the article were the 4 things that need to occur for a discount price to be rewarding for a company: specialty, scarcity, targeted, and timed. Pricing can be a challenge a company, especially when it has to make sure it is line with it’s company objectives, customers, competition, costs, and channel members. Often times with discount pricing, the company has a sales orientation objective – to maximize volume. However, that might not be the way that customers gain value from that company. Is the good or service special? Rare? How tailored is it to meet my needs? Can I get discounts on it all the time so I never have to pay the regular price?

Discounting often seems like the easiest way to get rid of excess inventory but it is important not to set that expectation in a consumer’s mind so that they refuse to buy any product of yours for the regular price. Before pricing, it is important to look at previous trends in company history, as well as the 5 C’s. Maybe your product is more specialized and thus, does not need to be priced low because it adds value to the customer and is of good quality. Perhaps you are the only company selling your good and have a monopoly over this product or service, and thus, you may be able to sell for a higher price. If you are in perfect competition, maybe it is better to specialize in something else in order to make positive economic profits.

Thus, it is crucial that companies analyze the big picture as a whole. Looking at the 5 C’s will enable a company to accurately price and not set expectations that they cannot make which would decrease customer loyalty. Pricing is so important for a company and it is a matter of doing it right!

I was browsing through some of my classmate’s blogs and came across Jocelyn Li’s posting, “Snagged by Swag“. It definitely caught my interest, having been on the Corporate Relations team with the Commerce Undergraduate Society, the team that works out a negotiation for in-kind donations as well as money from a variety of companies.

However, I have a different take on the swag items than Jocelyn does. Yes, the swag items do reach out to their target audience, students interested in pursuing jobs with different companies (Big 4 Accounting companies in particular) as well as different designations (CGA, CA, CMA, etc.) and it does help them gain visibility. But honestly, I went through freshman year receiving all these goodies, taking them for what they were and honestly not looking to learn more. Ernst & Young jelly beans? Sweet, I’ll eat them and toss the container. CGA pencils? Who uses those these days anyway? In the can. I believe there are other ways to gain visibility while making a more prominent impact for their target audience.

One way I believe is successful is by hosting company sponsored events. For example, KPMG annually runs a Crack the Case competition for students who are looking into developing their case writing skills. With the presence of KPMG representatives at the event to guide students through the case process, students are exposed to the brand as well as the people. Honestly, that was the initiator for me. I went through the CA recruit process this year because of this one event that was held. There was no swag, just an impact event with company representatives to converse and discover new things about a business speciliazation with.

I’m not all against in-kind donations, in fact as a CR member, I should encourage them as much as I can. However, seeing some big companies dish out thousands on swag was surprising to me, I thought the money could be used in better ways. Regardless, it does get some brand exposure out, but there are many other means that I believe could be more of an impact to students.

When I think marketing, I am fascinated by the many different ways marketers attract our attention. One area I am particularly interested in is guerilla marketing. Last June, a viral marketing campaign for Smirnoff Ice was initiated to increase awareness of the Smirnoff Ice product – a “girly” vodka based mix. “Icing”, as named after Smirnoff Ice, is a game where a person may hand a bottle of Smirnoff Ice to another, and the victim will have to chug the drink on one knee. However, if the victim happens to be carrying a bottle of Smirnoff Ice, he can reverse the attack and the initiator will have to drink both bottles.

This game became a phenomenon, where pictures and videos surfaced on facebook, youtube, and the designated BrosIcingBros.com. Guys who previously would never be caught buying Smirnoff Ice were seen pranking their friends or simply shielding themselves from the attacks. Smirnoff has declined any involvement with the campaign, as many have criticized the company for promoting a binge drinking game. However, brand awareness increased and so did product sales.

I think this marketing campaign was brilliant – intentional or not. Not only did it increase brand awareness, but it increased the market segmentation for Smirnoff Ice as well. People of all ages (ranging from college kids to grown adults) were seen promoting this game through the numerous posts of pictures and videos. It was an alternative to beer that satisfied the wants of consumers and was definitely differentiated – no other company had produced a game with their product and thus, the campaign collapsed on an opportunity that definitely paid off. The use of social media was huge in promoting this campaign, which would probably not have been as successful if the right technology didn’t exist. This guerrilla marketing campaign’s ability to attract so many people was a huge factor in it’s success!

Someone gets iced during his wedding.

For an article, click here.

I am taking this class because I am fascinated with how marketing has played a factor in materializing our world to its extent. I am interested in the way marketers research, target, and sell to different sectors and how some are so successful in drawing customers in. Personally, I have not experienced marketing in a job or student role, but as a consumer, I am constantly bombarded with advertisements, may it be at the bus stop or surfing on the web, that I subconsciously think about from time to time.

My favourite advertisement would have to be the Old Spice Commercial. It is concise and to the point, yet funny and entertaining. It sells the product very well and keeps you on your toes.

Fact I feel safe telling the class? I use Old Spice whenever I play sports now!

Jaime Oliver is one of the most respectable chefs in the food industry. At the young age of 16, he was enrolled in the Westminster Catering College, had his own cooking show (The Naked Chef) a few years later, and at the age of 24, made a meal for then UK prime minister Tony Blair.

However, what makes him respectable in my eyes, among those amazing qualifications, is the social entrepreneurship endeavours that he has been involved with. By combining his talent in cooking with a social mission to help youth that come from disadvantaged backgrounds (homeless, unemployed, overcoming drug or alcohol problems), he has created a social enterprise (in 2002) known as the Fifteen restaurants. As always, it is never easy to make a social change and empower many without some costs. In order to start this social enterprise, Jaime had to put up his house as collateral (without telling his wife). In addition, not all of his students end up as “successes” in the way that old habits they have tried to battle end up coming back. Although this may be discouraging to Jaime Oliver, his social mission and purpose venture has led him to continue with this social entrepreneurship program.

Here is a video that might give you a better idea on his project – Fifteen Restaurants

This morning, I came across an article on CNNMoney.com titled “America’s Most Admired Companies” and found a section regarding Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. (I seem to like to write about Apple!). Upon being asked about choosing a strategy to market to consumers, this is what Steve Jobs said:

“We do no market research. We don’t hire consultants. The only consultants I’ve ever hired in my 10 years is one firm to analyze Gateway’s retail strategy so I would not make some of the same mistakes they made [when launching Apple’s retail stores]. But we never hire consultants, per se. We just want to make great product.”

This brought me back to Professor Elaine’s class on market research and consumer behaviour. I was quite puzzled as to how Apple Inc. has managed to become so successful in its industry apparently without spending resources on market research. Market research enables the company to gain insight on different segmentations of the market and the general consumer behaviour within these varied segments. This will then allow the company to focus their market strategy in order to differentiate itself. I came to a conclusion that since Apple Inc. is already very differentiated to other technology companies (ie. Apple software is entirely different than that of PCs), perhaps that is why they do not do market research. Yet, I am still very confused about how Apple Inc. has been able to generate such great success without this important marketing aspect… is Steve Jobs hyperbolizing the situation?

Most of us know who Mark Zuckerberg is, and if you don’t, you probably live under a rock. He is known to be the “youngest billionaire in the world” according to the World’s Billionaires List, and has created a social media website that has expanded across the world – Facebook.

Facebook was initially created in order to connect Harvard students together, as Zuckerberg was a Computer Science student there. He innovated a way for students to keep in contact with each other through personal profiles that allowed them to post photos and exchange messages. However, in a short span of time (less than a month), nearly half the undergraduate population were using this site. Zuckerberg then expanded to Standford, Columbia, and Yale and then opened access to everyone over the age of 13. This resulted in a speed of wealth creation, as Facebook started to attract product marketers thereby generating revenue for Facebook.

Zuckerberg’s project did not occur without risks, as creating a social networking site was relatively unfamiliar, with the exception of myspace. Today, many people use facebook, and are even addicted to it because of it’s unique ways of connecting people together. His innovative and popular creation thus generated a great amount of wealth, making him the “youngest billionaire in the world”

This is a trailer of the movie “The Social Network”, which is based on Mark Zuckerberg’s process and consequences of creating Facebook.

In 2001, Nike suffered a loss of sales and declining stock values from a range of 50-55 cents a share to 34-38 cents a share. This caused a decline in third quarter profits and a miss in mid-teens earnings growth expectations for fiscal 2001. How did the dominating market leader of athletic clothing and footwear “Get the Boot”?

There have been two sides of the argument: one side blames it on new i2 technology supply-and-demand-planning application Nike was using that didn’t reach performance expectations (Nike: i2 Software Just Didn’t Do it); the other side argues that the blaming game is just an excuse for the company’s falling profits (Don’t Believe Nike’s “Blame i2” Excuse). However, either way, Nike experienced problems with excess inventory and orders, which caused tardy deliveries and ultimately, a decline in profits and sales.

From reading several more articles, I believe that  Nike experienced problems in it’s Operations Management, and blaming it on the MIS technology of the i2 software wasn’t appropriate. This clearly indicates that Operations Management, the making and delivery of any product or service, is extremely crucial in the success of a company!

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, achieving growth with social and environmental limits, is starting to have an increased effect on sustainability and our world. As growing concerns of our deteriorating planet are being advocated, companies are behaving in a more socially responsible manner for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons.

The Body Shop has embraced this responsibility wholeheartedly, reported by “Corporate Social Responsibility at The Body Shop”. Not only have they mentioned the desire to be more socially responsible, they have also acted on it by creating increasingly sustainable supply chains, spreading awareness to different communities through projects, end even practicing corporate philanthropy. The Body Shop CSR website has been quoted saying “if business comes with no moral sympathy or honourable code of behaviours, then God help us all.”and it is evident that their stance on this issue is straightforward and clear.

Although it is not easy to advocate CSR and follow through with actions (that often come with additional costs), it is observable that The Body Shop’s position on this issue has made this company influential and respectable in the retail industry.