Josh Andler's Blog

I realized that my blog post last time covered a very similar topic to Elizabeth Piccolo’s discussion of Vitamin Water’s multitude of advertisements. I agree that it seems that Vitamin Water does appeal to a very broad target market, because in the end…it’s really just water, with some flavour and possible health benefits. However, their marketing is so efficient. It is unbelievable how popular they have become, and how they have made themselves seem a competitor to all the sports drinks. This is clearly seen in the video below, where Vitamin Water gives the father the impression that his son has been up all night, and so he drank Vitamin Water to “revive” himself. 

There are many different opinions about Vitamin Water. This FitSugar blog clearly states that Vitamin Water is basically just a terrific marketing ploy. To be perfectly honest, this is totally my opinion as well. The blog states that the ingredients are just plain sugar and water. To call it “Vitamin Water” is a tactic to gain a strategic advantage against its competitors. The name sounds much more appealing than something like “Red Bull”, and it comes in colourful plastic bottles with various themes, such as “energy” or “revive”, and it puts it in consumer minds that it has some kind of effect. By contrast, at least Red Bull contains caffeine and is proved to have some improvements of mental performance.

Vitamin Water….what a successful marketing strategy.

So Commerce 299 was a really interesting course. I learned a lot more about what is expected of me in the corporate world, in terms of how to act in an interview and what employers expect. All the websites and resources provided in the class are useful tools to carry on in the future. I am so glad that this course is offered to first year students because I feel this is important to learn more about business skills right away.

However, I’m not sure if I agree with the way resumes were taught. I felt like there is no need for such a specific template to be used. A resume should be unique. However, I do agree that it must follow a consistent formatting. Also, it is my opinion that this course should have been worth two credits in total. In terms of hours spent preparing, it is definitely not worth a full three-credit value, but a one-credit class just seems pointless.

I really enjoyed the public speaking section of this course. However, i found that there was lots of inconsistencies in terms of the different TAs. Every TA marked on different scales, and therefore I think this was unfair. There should be some specific guildlines to follow.

Of course, the most influential people in our lives must be our parents. They raise us from when we are very little and see and us grow. They teach us what is right and wrong. Without having their support and love, it is hard to know how I would have achieved anything in my life. But, I would like to talk about someone else who has a very large impact of my life.

I first met this man in Grade 8. He was my biology teacher, but I had heard rumours from other kids that he was more than just a teacher. And so started my entrance into the world of this man. His teaching style was very different. He was very relaxed about class material, but we did end up getting through all the material. But, it is not from the course material that I learned so much, but from all the discussions in class.

This man taught we from grades 8-12, so we had many discussions. He opened my eyes to the world around me. Our talks ranged from issues in the world, to the “importance” of religion, to phiosophy. I learned so much from him because I felt that I could ask him anything, and that would lead to a good discussion. This made me realize how much there really is out there in the world that we do not know, and how many things just do not make sense. In high school, I was really supportive of his viewpoints and opinions, because I believed they made sense. Now, I can look back and make my own opinions, not afraid to criticize his ideas, but still appreciating that he brought that understanding to me. I am now not a afraid to speak of my opinions, go to different events and understand what is going on. I owe him so much for this. Thank you.

Did you know that Starbucks’ products are sold in stores through Kraft? Neither did I. Well, apparently Starbucks and Kraft are at conflict over an agreement they have. The main focus of this issue is brand control.  Although Starbucks has been very successful with this agreement over the years, it claims that Kraft had recently breached this agreement. To me, this sounds a little bit fishy; since Starbucks’ agreement with Kraft has no definite ending, Starbucks seems to want to get out so it can make more profit. If they have control over their own brand, then they can market it how they want, steer it in the position they want, rather than follow what Kraft tells them.  It is interesting that Starbucks is bringing this information public at Christmas season, the time when Starbucks makes its speciality ‘holiday coffee’ and sells lots of pre-packaged coffee to customers. They must feel frustrated of Kraft’s buyer power, although it’s going to cost them quite a bit to get out Kraft’s grasp. Some say around $1.5 billion. Is it worth it? Hmmmm…

Another point is that Kraft increased profits of Starbucks’ products tenfold. Maybe Starbucks should reconsider, since their products are doing so well through Kraft?

It is also good to examine competitiors. Dunkin Donuts uses a third-party retailer in order to sell its products in grocery stores. They’re not complaining. But, maybe it’s just a matter of time. Starbucks may be a trend-starter.

On the other hand, Starbucks is everywhere. Literally….everywhere. Almost every single Safeway or Chapters has a Starbucks store, so why can’t they just sell coffee there?

Walking around SUB, i’ve noticed that there are lots of vending machines. This is not out of the ordinary, but one thing struck my eye: the paypass option on some of the machines. I, personally, haven’t seen anything like that before for vending machines, but after some research, it seemed to me that these machines have been around for a while (more than two years). It occurred to me that this was great way for a company to differentiate itself.

Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other credit card companies compete intensively. One way they have been able to influence the market is by making sure some stores only allow one card. For example, Costco only allows customers to purchase goods with American Express or cash. This could backfire, though, and lead to customer frustration. Yet, this innovative idea of credit card vending machines is a much better way making oneself unique. Another example that comes to mind is the Verified by Visa online security and MasterCard, although both have been questioned and criticized due to philishing scams. So, this has not been such successful innovation. Apparently, after reading some articles, Mastercard’s Paypass reader will work with Visa PayWave cards, because they work on the same frequency. But, the main point is it’s MasterCard’s name on these readers, not Visa. And this is what consumers see. Paypass is now even being used for highway toll fees, clearly more innovative than PayWave!

Competition is a very large issue in the marketplace. It forces companies to readapt in order to survive, taking on the motto “survivial of the fittest”. Earlier in the course, we discussed Blockbuster, and its movie kiosks, which had failed.  Redbox, their competitor, was outbeating them. The movie industry is extremely competitive; there are competitors online, such as Netflix, who let users stream movies conveniently from their computers, as well as cheap rental stands, such as DVDPlay, where one can rent new releases for less than 2 dollars.

Cineplex Entertainment, a movie theatre company, has decided to expand its services to include movie rentals online. Cineplex, does have a competitive advantage in some sense. It has a brand name value in Canada, that is already associated with movies. This new service will be advertised in the theatres, thereby making it more aware to the public.

Cineplex’s new service is very similar to Apple’s ITunes music store. Of course, Cineplex has a different brand image than Apple, yet they both will offer movie rental or purchase directly on the hard drive. This makes me question Cineplex’s move. It will need to differentiate itself in this marketplace. One possible move that Cineplex can make is to provide an incentive for customers. For example, if a customer goes to the theatre to watch a movie, he will receive a discount code for the purchase of the movie online when it comes out of DVD. This will let Cineplex gain a larger market share.

Only time will tell if Cineplex is successful.

When I started to think about an enterpreneurial company, I thought back to a movie I saw last week: The Social Network. Facebook is definitely a very a good example of an entrepreneurial company. It was started up by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends, who originally did not realize the company they would create. Facebook was definitely a very NEW product. Of course, there were other similar sites out there, but Facebook was different in the fact that it appealed to a new market: EVERYBODY. Because it was started by Havard students, there was a sense of it being for the educated. Facebook started out being very popular in the university community. Not only were students getting account, but professors were as well. The founders had a clear vision and were confident; this, ultimately,lead to their success.

On top of that, Facebook’s innovation was amazing. Facebook’s website is so much cleaner and simpler than MySpace’s, which makes it quite refreshing. Also, the fact that Facebook easily lets you update your statuses and you can tell people as much as info as you want; no pressure to give too much detail. This is a new form of organization. People have started to even using Facebook to replace email: you can make a message open to all by posting it on a person’s wall, or send them a facebook message in private. It’s an all-in-one innovation!