Assignment III of the marketing project for WestJet was one of the most fun and interesting group projects that I have ever done. Our group actually drove around Richmond and the YVR Airport just to get videos of ourselves with the planes and the planes departing and arriving. Even though only a few clips were used in the assignment; it was still a fun time that made the project more interesting.

During the first assignment, I actually enjoyed analyzing the macro environment of WestJet and doing research and thinking on my own about what different factors could affect the company’s performance. I learned that all these factors can make a big impact on the airlines industry: a widespread epidemic, a terrorist attack, change in currency rates, a global recession, increasing senior population, and many more factors.

Before arriving Vancouver for UBC, I know nothing about WestJet and never even heard of it since I am an international student. After this project, I realized how important WestJet is in Canada to many travelers who want to enjoy good service and fair prices of tickets. I also learned that WestJet really do have an unique, fun company culture that attract potential employees and customers.

Overall, I really enjoyed this marketing course. The assignments such as blogging,  the marketing project, and the lecture content really made me feel a little more certain that marketing could be the option that I would like to graduate with.

One of my classmates, Hannah, wrote a post titled “Tiffany vs. Costco?”  that is about Costco using the “Tiffany” name for their engagement rings. I agree with Hannah that Costco committed a highly unethical business behavior by putting a “Tiffany” name on their engagement rings to attract customers and boost profits.

Indeed, this will cause a significant damage not only to Costco but to the luxury image that Tiffany Co. brings to customers. (Although in my opinion Tiffany Co. is not really that a luxurious brand compared to Cartier, Van Clef Arpels, or Harry Winston.)  I strongly agree and support a law suit against Costco for damaging not only the brand image of Tiffany Co. but committing fraud to their customers. There is a part of me believe that the customers who shop at Costco and bought the so called “Tiffany” engagement rings know they are buying unauthentic ones due to the large discounts and it is very likely that they had never walked into a Tiffany store before. In other words, the customers that bought those rings might not even care if it was Tiffany or not. In addition, Tiffany Co. might face problems in the lawsuit as “Tiffany” can be a generic term to describe a particular mount or setting used in a ring in which it is commonly used among various jewelers. Also could this lawsuit bring too much public attention especially from their loyal customers that there are counterfeit rings sold in Costco in which will bring a negative impact instead?

Back in the Costco stores in Taiwan, they sell Louis Vuitton bags to Cartier watches. In my opinion any luxury product that ends of up in a wholesale store or outlet is a complete total destruction to the luxury brand image.

One of Wall Street Journal’s publication, WSJ, is focused on luxury lifestyle, travel, and fashion.

One post I read on a luxury marketing news blog, Luxury Daily, was about how luxury brands have targeted readers of the new Wall Street Journal publication, WSJ Money. The WSJ Money will specifically be targeted to the very affluent readers that have interest in personal wealth management. It will have content such as a celebrity interviews, success stories, and articles on financial advisors for the very wealthy. Unlike its competitors, Bloomberg Pursuits and DuJour, WSJ Money will be less on content about luxury lifestyle.

However, WSJ Money have successfully attracted attention from luxury advertisers that are looking forward specifically to target their ads to the affluent readers. Some of the advertisers for the first issue include personal wealth managers, private banks, luxury watches, luxury cars, and private jets.

In my opinion, with the support from advertisers and current WSJ affluent readers that want more inside look on personal finance and wealth management; the WSJ Money would definitely be a success. Most importantly, WSJ Money distinguishes itself from other luxury magazines that features mostly luxury lifestyle by providing more content on finance and ways to earn and save money.

http://www.luxurydaily.com/land-rover-patek-philippe-tap-tailored-audience-of-new-wsj-money-glossy/

Chinese consumers at the Louis Vuitton store as if they were at a market.

In Asia, particularly the Great China Area, South Korea, and Japan, luxury goods have become a necessity fo the people middle and upper class. Louis Vuitton have become so ubiquitous that its brand image of luxury have been impacted that many of the wealthy have decided not to buy any handbags or big logo products from them. but only their couture collection and customized trunks.
Louis Vuitton have become a brand that seems affordable to anyone and can been seen on all kinds of people. It has been seen as a Nike or a McDonalds of the fashion world. It can also be compared to Coach, which people call “affordable or accessible luxury.”
In China, this condition is even worse when people line up to go shop at the Louis Vuitton store and shop there as if it was Carrefour or Walmart. Due to the popularity of the brand, knock off’s of their handbags are even more common than ever in China.
In my opinion, the knock off’s and the fact that everyone has an LV bag is significantly damaging the Louis Vuitton brand. As a result, LVMH Group have recently decided to slow  down their expansion of stores in China. I believe that by decreasing accessibility and increase more focus on the luxury brand’s craftsmanship, history, and service is the only way to maintain the high end image. If the luxury brand image is not managed well, their products will soon become a normal commodity and the wealthier consumers will eventually go for a more exclusive brand.

Shopping haven been seen stereotypically as an activity enjoyed by women, but the booming middle and upper class in China have led successful business men, government officials, and their young heirs to enjoy the luxury lifestyle. From China to all other parts of the world, you can see Chinese men both old and young shopping for luxury brands that they might have just heard for the first time.

In Vancouver, you always see young Chinese men with their best friends shopping together at Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen, Roden Gray, Hermes, and all those those luxury boutique stores. You also see the more middle aged successful business men and government officials that shop for themselves themselves and buy gifts for their family and friends back in China.

A recent study shows that men accounts for 55% of the Chinese market which is way higher than the 40% global average. The research explains that Chinese men buy luxury not only for pleasure and the upscale lifestyle, but also for securing deals with other business people and for better relationships with key government officials. The article mentioned that, “men love specifications, function, and service; while female consumers value design, taste, and the emotion a purchase evokes.”

As their money grows, Chinese men are starting to improve in taste for the luxury lifestyle by following fashion trends, magazines, and social media. Therefore, it is important for luxury firms to market their products not only to Chinese women, but also for the Chinese men.
http://luxurysociety.com/articles/2013/02/why-men-are-so-important-to-chinas-luxury-market

Gucci campaign to support UNICEF

Balmain leather jackets. Hermes crocodile skin Birkin bags. Gucci mink fur coats that drag down to the floor. For many years, the issue of fur and exotic animal skins had been a major challenge in the luxury and fashion industry. Animal rights groups such as PETA have continuously protested against major luxury companies during fashion weeks, as well as asking celebrities and the general public to join the campaign against fur. However, major luxury brands seems to be indifferent about the issue as their consumers continue to buy luxurious fur and leather luxury goods.  It is even more unlikely that luxury brands will forget about fur when there is a rising market in China where the new middle and upper class see fur and exotic animal skins as a sign of status and wealth. In the long-run, fur would continue to appear in the fashion shows unless a law that prohibits it is passed in every country. Which this leads to another ethical dilemma on the effects it would have on the global economy.

Although the luxury industry is seen as a murderer to the environment and sustainability, many luxury groups such as PPR is actually very committed to charity work and social responsibility in the areas of combatting HIV and support for children. The larget luxury group in the world, LVMH, even have sponsorships for medical research, scientific research, fine arts, and educational programs. Despite luxury brands are rated extremely low on the issue of animal rights, their brand images are enhanced with some of their commitment to corporate social responsibility in the areas of human rights, education, arts, science, health, and the society in general.

Burberry Fanpage on Facebook http://www.luxuo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/burberry-facebook-fan-page.jpg

I read a interesting post titled “Fashion’s Next Frontier for Social Media” onJade Su’s blog. It was a post about how fashion industries are using social networks such as Facebook to market their products as well as strengthen its brand identity. Jade also talked about her experience on how American Apparel’s Facebook event led her to know that there is a sale going on.

I also felt the same way with Jade that social networks is the best approach for fashion industries to reach out to its customers and advertise their new collections and promote their sales. I personally believe that these Facebook pages are alive as an unique individual with its brand identity. Any statuses, posts, or photos from that page represents the brand itself. I also feel that advertising using the social network is really efficient since the thousands of fans of that fashion industry’s Facebook page will able to see updates of the latest collections, events, and sales without going into the store in person first. Now days, people just look at the websites of fashion brands and see what they have and then decide to go to the store or not.

IKEA http://www.dimensionsguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/IKEA.jpg

I read a post titled “Entrepreneurial Business: IKEA” about the success and entrepreneurship of Ingvar Kamprad on Eric Tsai’s blog.  I felt that it was very innovative for Ingvar Kamprad to develop affordable, yet stylish, furniture for people around the world. According to my understanding of North European furniture, they are very expensive due to their unique design and style. However, Kamprad’s IKEA is capable of designing affordable furnitures that still carries the uniqueness and style of European furniture designers. I really admire him because I always believe that style and design should be enjoyed by all people. Although IKEA’s factories are very efficient in manufacturing furniture, there has been many issues regarding to the quality of the furniture, and the rights of the labour.

Mulberry's teddy bear for charity. http://www.fusedmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Mulberry_Pudsey-470x513.jpg

I read a very interesting post written by Dr. Isaac Mostovicz about corporate responsibility in the luxury industry on a blog about luxury marketing called “Janus Thinking“. The blog post was titled “Luxury Brands and Charity Partnership“.

The post on charity partnership indicated how Mulberry and other British luxury brands designed limited edition teddy bears that will go auction for BBC Children in Need. I felt that this post was very interesting because the author discussed how companies traditionally viewed the idea of corporate social responsibility as something unnecessary. Moreover, I also find interesting how the British luxury industries viewed that cooperating with charities for children works the best in creating brand identity and corporate responsibility. The author also stated that corporate responsibility works the best as long as the company is not thinking about profits and that the charity and responsibility they are doing is actually to make a change in society. After reading this post, I learned the importance of how luxury industries can cooperate with charities to strengthen their brand identity.

http://www.janusthinking.com/2011/11/luxury-brands-and-charity-partnerships/

Tiffany & Co. Advertisement http://juliagulia024.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/girlmd1.jpg

According to a recent article from Business Wire, Tiffany & Co (a famous luxury company that sells jewelry) launched  a website named “Tiffany & Co. Corporate Responsibility” that describes and reports the company’s achievements and goals they have on corporate, environmental, and social responsibility. For example, the website clarifies the origin of the diamonds and precious metals. It also provided the company’s goals on improving the mining standards in various areas, as well as hoping to help the economies of diamond-producing nations. Moreover, TIffany & Co. have donated 2 percent of its earning to charities and have also signed the United Nations Global Compact. The company had also made effort in environmental responsibility by using certified sustainable materials for its packaging. The chairman of Tiffany & Co., Michael J. Kowalski, explained, “Our position as a leader in the luxury jewelry market gives us the opportunity and the responsibility to set an example for the industry and to conduct our business in a manner that is consistent with our core beliefs–protection of the environment, respect for human rights and support for the communities in which we do business.”

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/tiffany-co-launches-website-dedicated-to-corporate-sustainability-initiatives-2011-11-14