After learning about Zappos in class, I pondered over what made a company a great place to work. Zappos ranked 11th under FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2012, but I was unsure about the criteria–how the Great Place to Work Institution collect the data to make this list? Did they send people in to observe how happy everyone was with their vats of popcorn and model car races?

Coincidentally, a couple days later, I received the answer to my questions. I was asked to fill out a survey by the Great Place to Work Institution on my workplace–Starbucks. They had chosen me randomly, and I had to complete an eight page survey on various aspects of the company, from workplace equality, to benefits, to my satisfaction regarding my pay.

This survey really augmented my understanding of what made a company a “great place to work”. For example, I hadn’t realized how the level of respect I was given affected my productivity, or how small things like recognition or praise affected my mood, therefore improved my customer service. The survey shed light on how the cooperate culture of a workplace seeps from its employees to its target market. This just further emphasizes the importance of a strong, positive cooperate culture–it’s a very infectious aspect of the company.

After watching the video about Save on Meats in class, I realized that I had been a member of Vancity Credit Union for almost eight years with no real knowledge of what they did and what kind of initiatives they funded (potentially with my money).

Today, I took a closer look. More specifically, I examined what Vancity was doing in terms of helping small businesses and social ventures like Save on Meats. It turns out that Vancity has assisted more than 800 BC entrepreneurs with over $13 million in small business and start-up financing. The difference between them and other banks though, is that they approve loans based on “entrepreneurial drive, the strength of the idea and the potential of your business plan, instead of just your credit history and collateral”.

As for social ventures, they started a program called Resilient Capital in 2011. On there missions page, President and CEO Faye Wightman perfectly sums up the allure of social enterprise:

“There are many philanthropists who want to go beyond simply donating money to good things. The idea that they can now support local projects — with high social and environmental impact — while also making a return on their investment, is a perfect way to help them expand their support of the community.” 

This research brings everything I’ve learned in class today into a much more personal territory and just goes to show how easily people can get involved in social change–sometimes without even knowing it.

I’m glad I’ve been banking with Vancity.

Brady Murphy blogs on CMA.com about how big an impact mobile phones have on consumer choices, and I absolutely agree with him. I think in this new age with the “Internet on steroids”, what marketers need to focus is making their sites easily accessible through phones and having a strong presence on the web. What this means is developing their virtual storefronts to make good impressions, providing platforms on which the customers can navigate easily, and being quick to adapt to new Internet trends.

Quoting Murphy: “Before cash, credit or debit cards are pulled from their pockets, consumers are pulling out their phone:

• One in three shoppers use their smartphone to search for store locations
• 20% use their mobile device to comparison shop, look for coupons or deals or research product features
• 17% use their phone to check product availability or make shopping lists”

I had to comment on this article because I do all three. I read reviews and check out store site before actually visiting, and I have decided to not make purchases because of what I found on Google. First impressions are all too crucial in attracting a consumer, and I think to succeed, a company must be prepared to spend more money and effort on making itself phone-accessible.

According to this article, Facebook spent $80 million in May to buy Karma, a gift buying start up. Now we know why.

You will soon be able to send actual, physical gifts to your friends through Facebook. Your friends’ personal info will let you know when there’s a birthday or a wedding, and Facebook will provide the option of sending them a gift. All you do is pay, and your friend will receive a notification which lets them fill out the shipping info, or even choose options for their gifts, such as colour or size.

Considering that gifts are a hundred-billion dollar industry, I think this is going to be big. It may not be popular right away, but I suspect it’s going to be too convenient to ignore. As the article says, we already do everything on Facebook–would it be so difficult to pay for gifts through Facebook as well? Especially if you were planning on  getting your friend something through the Internet anyway. This way, there will be fewer shipping address mishaps and incorrect colour preference speculations.

This new development also opens up an opportunity for advertising, as companies will want to invest more into advertising on Facebook so that their products are considered when users buy gifts, which may ultimately help the Facebook stock prices. I think acquiring Karma was a good move.