Reading Carmen Nobel’s blog  made me think about how products are marketed in terms of gender. Perhaps because I am so accustomed to this marketing technique,  I never noticed how the same products are marketed so differently because of gender.

I really enjoyed this article because it touches on important social issues.  In this day and age, there definitely is a movement for society to be more accepting, tolerant, and supportive of embracing diversity.  For example, LGBT rights have significantly advanced in the past few years.  Another example is there is now a broader representation of different sexual orientations and ethnicities in television and movies.

In Nobel’s blog,  she addresses how gender roles affect how products are marketed. She states that it is more socially acceptable for women to use men’s products than if men used women’s products. She uses examples of brands like Broga (yoga for men) and Powerful Yogurt as examples of how normally feminine products are marketed towards a male audience.

Her blog made me question how to break down gender roles and stereotypes and I think society is gearing towards that goal.  For example, there has been a movement for more gender-neutral toys for young children. I think with time, this movement can benefit society on two fronts. Firstly and most importantly, society will be accepting towards diversity and people will no longer be restricted to their “role” in society.  Lastly, this movement can change how companies brand and market themselves.  This could also expand companies’ target market because they are no longer limited to gender. 

Airbnb  is company that lets users earn money by renting out their spare rooms for visitors travelling to the users’ city.  This “airbed and breakfast” company  is expected to overtake major hotel companies InterContinental Hotels Group and Hilton Worldwide next year. Since its founding in 2008, Airbnb has expanded worldwide and travelers can rent out rooms in over 34 000 cities and 192 countries.

As someone who loves travelling, this concept appealed to me. Renting out rooms through Airbnb is relatively cheaper than staying in a hotel and can cut travelling expenses significantly.  As well, this is great way to earn easy money. Those who have spare guest rooms can definitely capitalize on this opportunity.  For example,  a man in San Francisco earned $50 000 from renting out his apartment and he used that money to buy a house, which he also lists on Airbnb.

It is not surprising that this company has found such success. This ingenious idea is appealing to everyone as both renters and listers can benefit from using Airbnb.

Links:

http://www.kellianderson.com/projects/airbnbquantified.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-largest-hotelier-2013-11

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-guy-made-50000-renting-out-his-apartment-on-airbnb-so-he-bought-a-house-2013-10

Recently an invisible bike helmet, Hövding, has been created. This new innovative product was designed by two Swedish industrial design students. These students have created a helmet that allows cyclists to bike safely and look good. As well, traditional helmets may seem as a hassle for some cyclists.

The “helmet” is actually an collar that contains an airbag. If a cyclist has an accident, the Hövding will inflate and protect the cyclist. Consumers can choose from five different types of Hövding to match their personal style.

But how successful will this new product be? There is no doubt that this product is incredibly unique and innovative but it very expensive.  Each helmet costs $588 and can only be used once. In my opinion,  most avid cyclists are not bothered by wearing regular helmets and those who bike occasionally are not likely to spend a huge amount of money on this product.  As well, this product is not for everyone.  Those who are under fifteen and those who have certain hairstyles such as mohawks, afros, and dreadlocks can not use a Hövding. Not only that, the Hövding  can only be used for cycling in urban areas and cannot be used for other environments.  Overall, I believe the general public will be impressed with this new product but after seeing the price tag, few will actually purchase it.

Links:

http://www.businessinsider.com/invisible-bike-helmets-are-a-real-thing-2013-11

http://www.hovding.com/en/

After reading Mike’s blog post, I immediately researched about Project ARA and Phonebloks. As someone who regularly breaks her phone, I was definitely interested in this product.  As well with new phones being released so often, I find that whenever I buy a new phone, there is always a better phone that will be released soon after.

I truly believe that if Project ARA does receive enough funding, that this product will be successful. First off, it is environmentally friendly because it reduces the amount of electronic waste because consumers no longer have to throw away the entire phone, only the part they want to replace. Secondly, this phone is customizable and can be used by all types of users as they can design their phone to cater to their specific needs.  Lastly, this phone can be constantly updated. With phones now, sometimes customers have to wait until their 2 year contract ends  just so they can update their phone.

In response to  Colin’s blog post, I analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of Coin.

Strengths:

A Coin will appeal to most citizens. Most citizens today own a credit or debit card therefore using a Coin will feel natural and familiar to them.  As well, the fact that a Coin can be used in most stores (most stores accept credit or debit cards) puts them at advantage against mobile payment apps, their competition. Although mobile payment apps are gaining popularity, most stores have yet to adopt this payment method.

Weaknesses: 

A Coin is pretty expensive. Mobile payment apps such as Google Wallet are free, whereas a Coin costs $55 if pre-ordered. The regular price of coin will  be $100. Not only that,  a Coin will eventually need to be replaced whereas mobile payment apps do not need to be replaced unless a consumer loses their phone

Nonetheless, the company has found success as they reached their crowd funding goal of $50 000 last Thursday. It will interesting to see how the competition will respond and how long Coin’s success will last.

Links:

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-coin-smartcard-credit-card-crowdfunding-20131115,0,7540692.story#axzz2klu7Jv4O

https://onlycoin.com/

Aeroplan recently included tuition as one of the rewards members can choose to buy with their loyalty points. Aeroplan is known for letting members collect loyalty points or “miles” to buy plane tickets as well as household items and electronics. Members can collect miles by buying products using credit cards such as American Express and Visa. To execute this new reward, Aeroplan partnered with Higher Ed Points Inc. Higher Ed Points’ website will act as a hub for students where they input a confirmation code from Aeroplan after collecting a total of 35 000 miles. Higher Ed Points will then transfer the tuition of $250 to the student’s account at any participating school.

Although there are currently only three schools where Higher Ed Points can transfer money to, this company is also trying to partner with other schools. If successful, this new expansion can increase Aeroplan’s target market to include post-secondary students. Students will be drawn into becoming an Aeroplan member as it is easy for them to collect points because students can earn points by simply buying groceries or other products. As well, this new value will take some pressure off students by helping them pay for their tuition.

Links:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/aeroplan-expands-rewards-to-include-tuition/article15198035/

http://www4.aeroplan.com/language.do?lang=E

Nest, a company formed by former Apple employees, reinvented the thermostat and continue to innovate and reinvent other household appliances. Their new thermostat is internet-connected and more energy efficient because Nest learns the behaviours of their owners.

Recently, Nest announced that they are introducing a new smoke alarm that also is internet-connected. Nest hopes this smoke alarm prevents house fires because many deaths have been linked to forgetting to put back batteries in the alarm when a smoke alarm goes off during cooking. Many owners view smoke alarms as an annoyance because they often go off during cooking and is a hassle to change the batteries.

Their new smoke alarm is hoped to help owners rather than annoy them as it comes with many features. Their alarm first begins with a “pre-alert” before sounding the full alarm. As well, their alarm has a motion sensor and if it goes off during cooking, owners can just wave their hand at the device so the alarm will not sound. Another feature included in this alarm is a motion-activated night light. There are also smartphone apps that alert owners when an alarm has been activated and if the batteries in the alarm is low.

This is a perfect example of a company innovating and expanding their products. Nest’s founder Matt Rogers has said that the company will continue to reinvent overlooked gadgets like they have with thermostats and smoke alarms.

Links:

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-nest-hopes-to-reinvent-smoke-alarms-like-it-did-with-thermostats-20131007,0,5299289.story

https://nest.com/ca/

In this day age, our phones know everything about us. This information is particularly useful to advertisers and tech companies such as Google and Facebook. With this information these companies can place ads targeted to each specific phone user. This has brought up privacy issues since consumers do not realized that their private information is being tracked.

Drawbridge is a company that tracks an individual’s “behavioral patterns” on all the devices the individual uses.  For example, if someone clicked on a link from an ad on his/her phone and later opens this link on his/her laptop or tablet, Drawbridge would alert its partners about this. Then Drawbridge would advertisements congruent to the individual’s interests.

But is this too far? Another company that specialises in personalized advertisements, Flurry, stated that they had even more specific data on users but does not use it because of privacy concerns. Should more users be aware of this and what would the effects be of knowing that their information is being tracked so closely? Or are users happy that they have useful ads that actually apply to their lives?

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/technology/selling-secrets-of-phone-users-to-advertisers.html?src=recg&pagewanted=all

Over the past few years the use of DVRs has increased and has subsequently changes how viewers watch their television. There has been a surge in watching television shows days after its release date compared to watching television shows live. For example, Fox’s new television series “Sleepy Hollow” attracted a rating of 3.4 among adults aged 18 to 49 one day after its premiere. But after adding digital video recorder playback a week after the premiere, the overall rating became 5.8.

This delayed viewing has had a great impact on ratings for networks such as Fox and CBS but advertisers are not paying networks for the viewers that watch the shows later. Therefore networks are not being compensated for ads viewed past one week of the episode’s airdate. To solve this problem, networks such as Fox has video-on-demand, VOD, which plays episodes with fast-forward disabled so viewers must watch advertisements. Networks prefer customers to view shows this way so that they can be compensated for advertisements but this method is used less than DVR.

To encourage viewers to watch shows through VOD, Fox and CBS are running ads to promote using VOD to customers but this will strategy work? Or should Networks encourage advertisers to make more thought provoking and engaging ads so viewer do not skip ads when watching on DVR?

Links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/business/media/dvrs-shift-tv-habits-and-ratings.html?pagewanted=2&ref=media&pagewanted=all

Forbes reports that Walmart will offer health benefits to domestic partners of their employees to same-sex couples not just heterosexual couples. For a company that has danced around LGBT rights, this seems like a huge step. Over the last few years there have been reports of the unfair treatment of the LGBT community. For example, in 2010, after admitting to being gay, an employee was forced to wear a yellow vest while working. Another example is when Walmart promoted a children’s book that “suggested that gay people can overcome ‘sin’ and convert to heterosexuality with the help of counselling.”

But unfortunately in a leaked internal memo from Sally Welborn, Walmart’s Senior Vice President of Benefits, to the retailer’s management, she states that this policy is merely “a business decision.” She also comments that most of Walmart’s competitors have this policy. Therefore this so-called “support” for the LGBT community is reduced to Walmart’s need to stay in competition with other companies and by doing so, saves face and seem “ethical”.

Should the public be angry that Walmart’s policy was driven by profit and staying in the competition? Personally, I am disappointed that this change of policy was not driven by a moral motive of equal rights but by profit. Nonetheless, same-sex couples who work at Walmart can benefit and this move by Walmart may spark other companies to follow suit.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2013/08/28/walmart-extends-benefits-to-lgbt-employees-same-sex-domestic-partners/

http://www.advocate.com/news/news-features/2010/06/15/rolling-back-discrimination

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/walmart-stopped-funding-g_n_2638148.html