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I quite enjoyed working on the marketing plan assignments this semester. It was an effective integration of class concepts to real life companies (my group chose Starbucks), and the video (assignment #3) really tied everything together with a visual component to it.

My knowledge of Starbucks as a company really came in handy during this project. I am a Starbucks fanatic. I know everything about their product mix, their competitive advantage, their in-store and online offerings, rewards program, etc (I am also a Gold Card holder). Thus I really enjoyed analyzing this company with concepts from class and making recommendations, as it was almost like second nature to me. I would often stand in line at Starbucks and think about what could be improved to make the customer experience better. As a student, the comfortable seating, vibrant atmosphere, and endless supply of caffeine draws me to Starbucks as a good study spot.

The company aside, the marketing plan assignments really helped me to understand class concepts better and how to apply them (ie: 4 P’s, STP Outline, Marketing Mix, CDSTEP, etc), which came in handy for the midterm and will undoubtedly aid me in my study efforts for the final exam.

Admittedly, the video itself took a very long time to create. Who knew it would take seven hours to film a five-minute video? This is not including voice-overs, editing, or other finishing touches. However, it was nice to have a visual summary of all our work over the past semester in one handy short video.

It’s been a fun ride, and thank you especially to Tamar- you’ve been an amazing prof! I thoroughly enjoyed Comm 296 under your teaching.

Read brandchannel’s post here.

Lululemon, a Vancouver-based yoga and athletics apparel retailer, has grown to be a very popular lifestyle brand. Through careful positioning, creative branding, and clever marketing campaigns, it has successfully created a reputation for luxury, quality, and style.

However, Lululemon has recently come under fire for its recall of its black Luon yoga pants because the bottom area was too sheer. Consisting of about 17% of its products, the company could face a large cost of up to $60 million.

Shortly afterwards, Lululemon announced that Sheree Waterson would be stepping down from her role as Chief Product Officer. Even though the company claims otherwise, most believe that Waterson’s departure from the company is largely due to the pants recall.

Furthermore, Lululemon was criticized for how it initially handled the problem, as it did not make any announcement through its high-traffic social media pages regarding the recall of the product, instead taking to its website to communicate the issue through an equivocal blog post. Lululemon has typically been quite transparent with all aspects of its company, which was what I respected most about this company, and this uncharacteristic PR move was not a smart decision.

It was also reported that customers, “upon returning their sheer pants at a Lululemon store, were asked to put the pants on and “bend over” so the associate could evaluate the sheerness.” If this is true, that is just horrifying and unprofessional customer service. Lululemon needs to do major damage control, because I sure wouldn’t shop there after being treated that way. If the company still wants customers to buy their products at the high premium that they charge, they better channel all their efforts into damage control and repairing its brand image. Otherwise, its loyalty base, and consequently its earnings, will really take a dive.

Read Joe’s post here.

Anything that proclaims health benefits and is still as sweet as soda has to be a fluke. It is common sense. Yet I myself fell prey to this misleading drink two summers ago. I worked at the Maple Grove Pool at the admissions and concessions desk, and we were always well-stocked with Vitaminwater of all flavours. I noticed that it was a very popular drink as many adults who came to purchase a drink would choose Vitaminwater.

So, being curious, and also attracted by the colourful array of different flavours, the supposed effect it was supposed to give (ie: Energy, Focus, etc), and the cheeky bottle descriptions, I tried one. It tasted delicious. Yet I didn’t feel that it was “bad for me” because it “contained vitamins”, so it must be good for me, right?

WRONG. I was so wrong. I drank this supposed “health beverage” all throughout the summer, and nearing the end of the summer I (finally) did some research. To my horror, I discovered that Vitaminwater is just sugar water with a couple of vitamins tossed in. That doesn’t make it healthy. It contains as much sugar as soda, yet Coca-Cola had the nerve to market it as a health product.

Joe’s post explains that Coca-Cola is being sued for their misleading advertising. I fully support this lawsuit as I believe that this is a breach of ethics on Coca-Cola’s part. Blatantly lying to customers about the fake health benefits of your product, in my opinion, crosses the line. America has a obesity problem that is not going away anytime soon, no thanks to Coca-Cola. If you are going to produce junk food/beverages, at least have the decency to state the facts, and not pretend that your product is healthy in order to lure unsuspecting customers.

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In light of the recent scandal involving Oscar Pistorius being charged with his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp’s murder, Nike and Oakley have pulled out of endorsement contracts with the Paralympic champion. Pistorius previously earned millions of dollars from these contracts, but as the news broke sponsors began to back away from the athlete.

Oakley issued a statement, saying: “In light of the recent allegations, Oakley is suspending its contract with Oscar Pistorius, effective immediately.”

Meanwhile, on Nike’s end: “Nike has no plans for Oscar Pistorius in upcoming campaigns,” said a spokesperson for the company.

This is somewhat reminiscent of the Tiger Woods infidelity scandal in 2009, in which he was consequently dropped from many of his sponsors, such as Accenture, AT&T, Gatorade, and Gillette. Nike, however, continued to support him.

Why companies drop athletes and other mega-famous figures when they run into scandals from their advertising campaigns is understandable. Companies do not want to project the image that they support whatever wrongdoing that the person committed. Any company associated with the person may be seen in a negative light, not to mention sales could fall dramatically if they kept them on.

Some are a direct clash of values: for example, Nike dropped Lance Armstrong after his doping scandal broke out, but that was a little different as Armstrong cheated in his sport with illegal performance-enhancing drugs, while Nike entire business model is based on its advocacy of sports, the importance of fair play, physical and mental health, and goal-setting. Clearly, Armstrong was no longer fit to be a role model of the things  that Nike advocates.

It is sad to see famous and successful people throw their successful careers away. Why stars and athletes do this, I will never understand.

If you’re a student in a Canadian university, you have likely heard of NESTEA – The Recruit, a competition among students attending universities across Canada typically consisting of teams of three, and three different challenges to win. According to Helen Gushue, Senior Marketing Manager at NESTEA, this opportunity provides students with “the chance to see first-hand what it’s like working in a real business environment and perhaps start them on a career path”. The winning team will win paid internships with Coca-Cola and a year’s worth of tuition (up to $7500) each. Sounds pretty sweet, huh?

However, in these past weeks, my Facebook home feed, notifications, and inbox have been spammed with requests from friends and acquaintances asking me to vote for their video submissions. You know it’s NESTEA – The Recruit season when you check Facebook and all of your notifications have to do with voting for The Recruit. While it is a clever marketing strategy on Nestea’s part to get their name out there, the sheer amount of spam just turns me off from Nestea’s brand as a whole, and I know I am not the only person who feels this way. What Nestea may not realize is that the competition can cause students who are not participating (and are merely subject to unwanted spam) to associate Nestea’s brand with negative connotations.

Before this, I was indifferent towards Nestea’s brand, but now I just don’t want to consume their products at all, or see the name anywhere for a long time as I am quite tired of it. Also, similar things happen during election season at UBC and Sauder, but that’s a different story.

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On December 17, 2012, Instagram released an updated Terms of Service, which sparked an outrage from users of the popular photo-sharing application. The terms included a number of eye-raising changes, the most notable being that Instagram could use users’ photos and identities in advertisements without consent or compensation.

The new terms stated: “You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you”. What this means is that any photos you post to Instagram could end up in an advertisement. Even people who do not use the service could end up in an advertisement if a friend takes a photo of them and shares it on Instagram. Instagram was also allowed to share user information with Facebook, and external advertisers, who could use this information to better market products and services to consumers.

This resulted in an outcry from users all around the world. Many people, including celebrities and other famous figures, threatened to delete their accounts, as it was the only way to opt out. Personally, as an Instagram user, I felt compelled to do the same. It felt like Instagram was throwing loyal users under the bus in order to make profits and didn’t care about user privacy.

Following the backlash, Instagram did some damage control and revised its Terms of Service. Your likeness could still be affiliated with advertisements, but it would only show up for users that are following you, and not to the public, thus reducing privacy violation. It also stated that you own your photos, and that privacy settings are still in place.  You can read more about the new changes here.

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