It’s 8:54 at night, I just logged off from one of my favorite social sites, “Renren” and am preparing to launch into my “study mode”. Coincidentally, I saw Hao’s blog post about Renren.

In Hao’s blog, he refers back to Kobe’s blog on the website (It certainly is a hot topic). Hao believes that Renren will be obsolete soon and he listed 3 main reasons. However, I think the opposite and I thought of the counters to all his points.

First of all, Hao says Renren will only serve the Chinese internet users and this will limit its development. In fact, the 384 Million internet users in China creates an enormous customer base for Renren. Facebook, on the other hand, does not have the opportunity like Renren due to government censorship and cultural differences.

Secondly, the first generation of Renren users are probably 8~22 when they started using the network. As far as I know, these people grew a special bond with Renren and continue using it as they grow older. Moreover, as an effective promotional tool, many business men and women are attracted to Renren, thus enhancing Renren’s user base.

Last but not least, Renren’s revenue model is similar to Facebook. If Zacherberg can be a billionaire, why can’t the developer of Renren do the same?

Reference:

Chen, Hao,”Marketing Blog 5——Renren“. Hao Chen’s Blog. November 29th, 2011. https://blogs.ubc.ca/haochen/2011/11/29/marketing-blog-5-renren/

This blog is a response to Monica Moran’s posting about “Disney: A Brand People Need”. Monica displayed her passion and love towards the “Disney” brand in her post and how Disney products inspire and trigger certain emotion in people. In the end, she suggests that she will love “Disney” always.

I can totally relate to Monica’s post and I understand why children my age share a special bond with the brand. We all grew up watching Lion King and Mickey Mouse. However, in today’s society, kids have more things to play with other than watching kid’s movies, video gaming for example.

From what I can see, Walt Disney is lacking inspiration and creativity. This year, one of Disney’s main production is its improved version of “Lion King” – “Lion King 3D”. Similarly, Disney screened “Toy Story 3D” last year.

To me, I feel that Walt Disney is trying to lure back those who saw it the first time around. Some of us who saw “Lion King” in theatre are now parents of their own kids, and they would want their little ones to see the film that they used to love. However, I do not think Disney can keep up with the increasingly competitive consumer market without providing the customers fresh idea.

In contrast to Monica Moran, I believe Disney could replenish its competitive advantage by producing a new line of movie series which are equally good as the previous ones, but fresh and intriguing. I believe that brighter days are still ahead for Disney, and I will support the company just like my fellow classmates.

Reference:

Moran, Moran,”Disney: A Brand People Need“. Hi, I am Monica Moran. November 4th, 2011. https://blogs.ubc.ca/monicamoran/

Last night, I read the article “Name Game: New Balance Shelling Out $500K for High School Stadium Naming Rights” posted on Brand Channel.  (http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/10/11/New-Balance-Shelling-Out-24500K-for-Gloucester-Naming-Rights.aspx)

The author suggests that it is no longer a plan, but a ‘will happen’  as the chief fundraiser, Dick Wilson, puts it. The Newell Stadium will definitely turn into New Balance Track and Field at Newell Stadium in the coming year. This reminds me of a similar sponsorship affair that happened this May in Beijing, China, which didn’t go as smoothly, rather the contrary.

The controversy involved a faculty building in the prestigious Tsinghua University, a popular apparel brand, and a raging public. In May 2011, the Fourth Teaching Building on campus was renamed as “Jeasnwest Building”. This change immediately led to protests among students and lecturers. One of the arguments was that an educational institution like Tsinghua should not associate itself with obvious sponsors. Others feel that it is highly inappropriate to rename a building without asking for opinions and feedbacks from the public.

In the end, Tsinghua stepped back from the change under enormous public pressure. Jeanwest’s bold marketing campaign failed… or did it? In fact, by the time their brand name was removed from the building, Jeanwest has already gained the attention they desired. More people are familiarized with its brand image, even though it might not have been a positive one. Yet sometimes no fame equals bad fame.

Likewise, if it’s not for the sponsorship, who would take notice of worn-out high school stadium in a town? For New Balance, they gained another chance to be under the spotlight which is worth more than the $500K they are going to spend. Both sides are winners, and that’s the bottom line.

This summer, I went on a tour to Europe with two high school friends. We toured six countries in total: Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy,Czech Republic and Austria. Beside the memories of seeing and admiring all the fancy arts and historical sites, I vividly remember my first ever “Orangina” bought in a “RELAY” convenience store in Paris. (I now know this product exists in Canada as well, but I never tried one.)

I didn’t know it tastes like “Fanta”. It is just another kind of carbonated orange juice after all. However, I thought it was special before I purchased it. Just look around, their billboards are everywhere! What really caught my eyes was the uniqueness of these posters: in each one of them, there is a personified animal (a cougar, deer or bear) wearing sexually appealing dresses (swimsuits or underwear, etc.)

The sexualized and provocative contents differentiated “Orangina” posters from all the other billboards I saw on Parisian streets. Despite the controversy regarding the context of these adverts, they still stirred up my curiosity. I can say that, in conclusion, their marketing strategy at least won them a new costumer.

Orangina’s unique marketing campaign certainly is a double edge sword. New costumers are attracted and could possibly return after their first experience. However, I’m not sure how many costumers they’ve lost due to this move. In theUK, for example, this series of commercials caused outrage for its vexing content.

Due to the lack of data on hand, I can’t say if the benefits have overshadowed the costs or the other way around. Even if Orangina’s campaign turns out to be a failure, it would still be interesting to look at.

P.S: A peek at the”freaky” TV commercial by Orangina.

Guys, you should know that my name is Jonathan Chen by now. I came from China, that you can also tell from my name. Like most of you, I am a second year Sauderites. As a matter of fact, I have never spent much time thinking about a possible career in marketing. It’s probably because I have little knowledge regarding this aspect of commerce, I am comparably more interested in finance and accounting. However, it is never a bad thing to learn more and expand one’s vision, so I’m glad that Sauder included Comm 296 in my STT.

Living in the 21st Century, my daily life has been immerged in different elements of marketing: TV commercials, billboards in the subway station and on the roads, advertisements beside my emails and much more. To make them less annoying, marketers designed diligently to make those ads entertaining for bored consumers like me. Sometimes a great commercial could just make my day (exaggeration used here, but you get what I mean)!

Before I introduce my favorite commercial, I would start with joke: “This morning I saw a butterfly with no wings, so I poured it some Red-Bull…It drowned.” 

This refered to the “Redbull gives you wings” campaign done by the energy drink company. It became so popular that jokes around its slogan can be found online! This turns out to be one of my favorite commercials.

Sit back and enjoy! Have a nice day by the way.

P.S: 

Last Tuesday, I dined in a Chinese restaurant on Dunbar street (where I currently live) and my fortune cookie told me that, “life will shower happiness upon you.” I felt even happier since then. This strengthened my belief that “happiness is an attitude.” Everyone can be happy, why arn’t you.