The ability of working in a team is an essential aspect in the todays business world. Although Sauder incorporates and puts a large emphasis on teamwork, I had never really understood the purpose. In my education, I automatically assumed that at the end of the day, it all comes down to evaluating individual skills.

Through working with randomized fellow classmates, I have gained major insight towards teamwork that I otherwise would not have. Firstly, I realized the importance of communication and cooperation. In my past experience, teamwork meant individual work multiplied by 4. We would simply split up the work load and stick with the same section. However, through the marketing assignments, I was exposed to a new perspective in teamwork,  where we all had a chance to look through the entire paper, and thus all had the same knowledge making it more effective to communicate and cooperate.

Another aspect that I believe worked well for our group was that most of us were not acquainted with each other.  Through experience of working with friends, I believe the overall outcome is much greater when working with people you initially are not acquainted with.  When good communication exists, there also exists poor communication, which can hinder group productivity. Although I did not see it much in our case, due to miscommunication, it is bound for some individuals to carry more work load than others. I believe whenever that happened in our group, we managed to split the latter work load accordingly. All in all, I would like to thank my team, for providing me with future insights and as I sincerely enjoyed working together. As a team, we were able to work effectively, efficiently and last but not least, with no major conflicts.

E-commerce is an industry that has proliferated in the past 20 years, and has been influencing the concept of shopping ever since. As I mentioned the importance and effectiveness of “offline” marketing, today I would like to share the importance of online marketing.

It is imperative to understand online marketing to succeed in a business, however at the same it is rather difficult to grasp the concept as the world of online marketing is constantly exposed to change. As Linda Bustos mentions in her blog post, “What Happens in an Internet Minute [Infographic]”:

• Every minute, 204 million emails are sent 
  

• Every minute, 1300 new mobile users are added 
  

• Every minute, 47K apps are downloaded
  

• Every minute, there are 277K Facebook logins and 6 million page views 
  

• Every minute, >2 million Google searches are performed 
  

• Every minute, 1.3 million YouTube videos are viewed 
  

After reading this blog post, I was re-exposed to the idea and concept that online marketing has the largest potential than any other industry. Many businesses have now turned towards online marketing, and their respective substantial investment towards this further serves to raise awareness of the digitalization of our everyday lives. I believe It is crucial to utilize these marketing tools effectively, in other words take advantage of recently growing industries or brands. Relating back to the blog post, in one minute there are over 2 million people who use Google search, 6 million page views on facebook and 1.3 million videos viewed on youtube. With this many people going viral on the internet, I believe it is only right that with the right tools, marketers can be guaranteed success.

Have you ever seen these? I dont believe so. Unless you have taken a walk on a sunny day in Japan, where you are bound to bump into a student handing out pocket tissues.  Tissue pack marketing is one of the mainstream ways to advertise in Japan, building up to a billion-yen industry. From my experience, I accept the free tissue pack but never really pay attention to the advertisement.

However Reimi Nakagawa talks about this form of advertising being extremely popular and successful in her blog post, hence the billion yen reputation. I do agree with her that it is a very cost efficient form of advertising, and an efficient way for the firm to be considered in the consumer’s evoked set. Nonetheless, we can see growing demand for tissue pack marketing outside of Japan for its multi-usage for both genders and, of course, because it is free! There are companies now that tailor uniquely to companies that want to advertise via tissue marketing.

After reading Reimi’s post as well as other articles, I was reinforced with the idea of offline marketing. I had been under the impression that marketers nowadays pay too much attention to technology and entertaining online viewers through advertisements.

“Very few methods of advertising can guarantee exposure like that for the same price. Although online marketing can be wonderful, offline marketing still offers businesses a fantastic way to drive a direct call to action.”

Perhaps markers should reconsider their medium of advertising and start considering cheaper, more effective ways of spreading their name, especially now in times of economic downturns.

It is almost inevitable for a firm to disregard business opportunities in foreign land, especially when competing in todays growing global world. I believe the key to developing a successful marketing strategy is understanding the core values that lie in one’s culture, and influences it has on individuals.  People tend to base their preferences and consumption on cultural influences such as: value, symbols, rituals and thought process.

I would like to focus a little on Japanese adverts and why they are viewed as “weird”. I believe, in specific, it is the values within a culture that set aside the difference in how the message is conveyed through adverts. Values dictate what is acceptable or not within a society.  Countries such as the United States where people are individualistic, purchasing decisions are more based on consumer preferences. On the other hand in Japan, where consumers are more passive and base their values on the welfare of the group, it is more important to target the group rather than individuals. Having briefly covered the difference in values, below is a “well-known” Japanese advert of Mcdonalds’ spongebob happy meal set.

“The Japanese culture places a great emphasis on the community”, in other words, the attempt for marketers to position their brand and allow consumers to talk about their product is what differentiates their brand in Japan.  The mere attention commercials receive will highly influence the purchasing trend of that product.  Therefore, the many “absurd” or “weird” adverts Western people view as, was in actual a fact a promising marketing strategy, as it is. Because consumers in Japan adhere to the social group rather than themselves, it is important for the product to be talked about, whether it be viewed as weird or eccentric from other viewers outside Japan.

For those of you who have not already heard through Facebook,  Twitter, or any other social media, last sunday approximately 108 million people tuned in (with an audience ratings of 48.2%) for the annual championship game of the NFL; also known as super bowl sunday. While it’s an exciting annual event for family and friends to get together, it is also the one occasion that marketers can impress and show a wide variety of audience what they have to offer, with a whopping 3.7 million dollars per 30-second slot.

It is time to question however whether ads,“including the over-the-top Super Bowl spots, have become too entertaining,” says Thales S. Teixeira, an assistant professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School.

Audi’s commercial was set at prom, and Volkswagon’s ad was highly dependent on such humor of the viewer that could empathize with ethnic dialects. Entertainments in commercials varied from  Vegas showgirls introducing Coca-cola, to international pop celebrity’s such as Psy inducing us to “pistachio style”.

However some analysts say commercials were disappointing; by only entertaining a certain generation, and not taking advantage of the wide variety of audience. Ads that are noticed by consumers because they are funny or entertaining often fail to deliver a unique or memorable brand message. As you may notice, on an event where hundreds of millions of viewers in the world are tuned in, it is fairly difficult to entertain every single viewer. It is in fact a challenge to try to even appeal to the general audience, especially with such diversity. Therefore I believe in occasions like the super bowl, it is key to keep ads simple. Entertainment will not only get attention but will also deviate attention from their brand. Therefore it is important for marketers to not dwell but utilize entertainment efficiently to optimally promote their brand, leaving an impact on consumer minds.

Marketing and advertisements tailored for children is accounted to be a billion dollar project but is also said to have an immense impact on child development. It is an indisputable fact that children are naive; which naturally makes them vulnerable to exploitation.  

Marketing not only implements materialistic values among children but also creates the necessity to posses newly announced products, allowing them to always be at the forefront of trend. An arising issue regarding the morality of targeting children in this commercial world is the role of psychologists. It is an increasing case where psychologists  take part in creating marketing campaigns, which lead to solely benefiting the company rather than helping children. By targeting children using such schemes, marketers are imposing upon children’s right to autonomy and transparency.

Another noticeable fact is that children influence their parents spending by an average of $250 billion dollars a year. This can be used to argue how effective their marketing strategy is, from a marketing perspective. The video below is an advertisement for Mcdonald’s happy meal set, where parents are fighting over to want to give the toy to their child.

As a child, I have had the urge to go to Mcdonalds, not for the food but rather for the toys and excitement you receive from buying a happy meal. This marketing strategy may lead to children consuming an unhealthy diet, all because of the allurement of the toy. Mcdonalds has been accused for deceptive marketing in the past that induces children to want toys and in actual fact the food is beside the point.  Marketing is indeed a free tool, where  the campaign that can better allure consumers win, but should there exist campaigns that solely target children?  Advertising to children has been an ongoing controversy.  I believe although marketing is already integrated in our daily lives, children with the inability to have a say should not have to bare the mercenary and strategic nature of marketing campaigns.

We live in a world today where technology is indispensable, but at the same time leading us to a cautiously optimistic future. It is evident that technology has taken dominance over the past recent years in all generations. My cousin, who is 5 years old, is already enjoying his daily hours playing angry birds, where as I would have been reading “old fashioned books”.  It is a fact that our becoming too dependent on technology is gradually influencing children’s behaviour and way of living .

Hard copy text books are already disappearing from the market, in favor of the creation of the kindle or e-book. After having read Andy W‘s blog post and his opinion that kindle for children is perhaps optimal, I have to strongly disagree. I believe it is necessary for children to grow up with hard copy books with different pictures and shapes; engaging the child while reading the book. It allows the child to gain emotional and intellectual experience. Technology will continue to improve and become convenient beyond expectations, however I believe it is our job to keep an eye out for young children. Hence I believe, although technology can add to our lives, it at the same time, takes away. 

It is becoming more difficult for lower income students to climb the economic ladder. Joe Liu mentions in his blog that people who go into trade are more successful than people who graduate with a college degree. I agree with his statement that college is becoming less attractive due to complimentary loan for most people. However at the same time, I have to disagree that more students succeed without education, as education is becoming an essential fundamental business tool to succeed in the future. Hence it is harder for the poor to prosper, further reinforcing economic inequality. Past statistics prove that the key to success naturally becomes the ability to afford higher education. The United States, a democratic country demonstrates the phenomenon of widening gaps between the poor and the rich. Being in democratic state, the equality in social, economical and cultural conditions should be practiced

freely.

However income brackets disallow students to accept the option even if desired. This hinders all potential as well as students’ motivation to do well in school. It is now the case that more and more American students study abroad in India where they can receive quality education for less expensive tuition.

Ingvar Kamprad, a well known entrepreneurial businessman, is the founder of the prominently successful business; IKEA. His approach to this new idea of “equality shopping” proved phenomenal. His creativity allows him to attracts his consumers with up-to-date unique furniture design and a low attractive prices, targeting all classes of consumers. His innovation in opening IKEA stores world wide further proves his risky nature as an entrepreneurial. The incongruent and unexpected background of the creation of IKEA further demonstrates Kamprad’s entrepreneurial nature. The overall inspiration IKEA has given thrives to display a successful entrepreneurial business. IKEA’s largest strategy was to expand its market globally, and succeeded through low priced goods. I believe IKEA achieved its low selling prices through economies of scale; a rapid global expansion of its company. Along with its potential fear of supply not meeting demand, IKEA should however consider its potential competitors and whether their assets are being put to good use. They should now consider moving towards a different target market, as customers grow more affluent; the variety and quality of furniture they produce.

http://www.docshare.com/doc/116936/IKEA-as-an-example-of-entrepreneurial-busines

Coca Cola launched a marketing campaign early this month releasing 1.4 billion white Coke cans across America and Canada. It is a campaign to protect the arctic habitat of its long beloved mascot since 1922, polar bear. They announced they will donate an initial $3 million dollars; $1 million from customers. This campaign will not only help raise awareness of the acrimonious environment but also lead to a better company reputation. Coke is now questioned whether they are solely donating or if it’s a market strategy.

Taking into consideration the corporate social responsibility Coca Cola may have, I believe Coca Cola has integrated that idea into its marketing strategy. Coca Cola is deliberately imposing an image to we consumers minds that they are contributing to the world wildlife fund through sole consideration for the polar bears. An example may be seen in Andrea’s blog where she describes she only found out through Coke’s campaign and finds them altruistic for making donations. However from last years figures, Coca cola made a net income of $11.8 billion, demonstrating that $2 million dollars is not a great portion. Hence creating a win-win situation for Coke, I believe it is a smart marketing decision made by Coca Cola.