Monthly Archives: November 2013

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz has learned his lesson of the implications of ‘retirement’ after his mistake in stepping down in 2000. Financial results plummeted and Schultz made a return in 2008.

He was quoted in an interview stating that the unperceived failures were his fault, but he’s back to make a change. This ‘change’ is evident due to the customer loyalty Starbucks now holds as well as a set brand position in customers minds as a luxury drink company, at specialty drinks that go up to $4.15 for a tall.

He credits the success of the international brand to his first venture into international markets in, you guessed it, Vancouver! Schultz emphasized how much the expansion taught him about global markets and what strategies worked, and what did not. He credits these experiences for the ever growing success of the coffee company giant Starbucks. 

Now, this situation sounds oddly familiar to one of the Comm classes about on entrepreneurship, because failure is inevitable, and perhaps even invited. Failure and mistakes teaches a valuable lesson, and risks are what makes true companies. Vancouver was that risk for Starbucks, and Schultz’s retirement was their mistake.

But surely Schultz hasn’t had his last cup of premium brewed coffee, it’ll be a long while before he’s ready pass the cup.

Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/careers-leadership/for-starbuckss-howard-schultz-a-sip-of-retirement-was-more-than-enough/article15472477/

Photo 1:

http://www.jobstreet.com.sg/career-resources/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/10/HowardSchultz3.0.jpg

Photo 2:

http://globalassets.starbucks.com/assets/2baf423911d94bc3946fd95e3bc9bbc8.jpg

The Women for Women’s annual lunch fundraiser is the result of the hard work and determination of Colleen Moorehead and Sylvia Chrominska. The two finance experts have dreamt up an inspiring fundraising event for a great cause- money for women’s health care.

In light of the recent class on Social Enterprise, these women have done what many social entrepreneurs have done, utilized their expertise in business to aid others. Although not primarily for profit, Colleen and Sylvia had a passion for women’s health and it’s awareness. 

The funds taken from the lunches are helping fund research and health-care programs at the Women’s College Hospital. 

These impactful leaders have created a program of awareness for their community out of their business expertise in finance and human resources, which has the potential to help countless lives.

This is an excellent example of strong business leaders creating a business driven program, in hopes of helping a greater cause. It’s quite inspiring to see that more and more business owners aim to help those in need instead of solely focusing on profit and maximizing revenues. Well done ladies.

Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/careers-leadership/providing-food-for-thought-on-womens-health-matters/article15465416/

Photo:

http://www.womenscollegehospitalfoundation.com/WCHF/files/36/3643b074-9e48-46f4-b441-7127b6ee94f9.jpg

Restaurants have come a long way in terms of marketing and promotion. Instead of newspaper ads or relying on the word of mouth, the enthusiastic “foodies” of Vancouver can use apps and websites such as Urbanspoon or Yelp to research on a restaurant before even stepping foot into the establishment

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Now, with even more technological advancements, a company Vibe, has revolutionized advertising and promotion for restaurants. Vibe creates custom videos for each restaurant showcasing their menu, ambiance, as well as customer reviews, making an interactive guide to what a restaurant can offer.

This is a new and innovative way to let customers be part of an interactive story-telling or ‘digital dining’ experience.

With the advancements in technology, it only seems fitting that restaurants follow suit. However, will customers really find these videos helpful? Many customers simply want to know whether the restaurant is recommended, or what most popular menu items are; the idea of sitting through an entire video to wait for the customers desired portion is unrealistic. The deviation away from the main value proposition of a restaurant (too serve delicious food) could potentially harm the restaurant as customers find their videos time consuming or irrelevant.

Perhaps, the savvy restaurants’ focus on technology needs to take a step back, and invest the time and money in the main reason behind a restaurants success, delicious cuisine.

Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-marketing/advertising/how-restaurants-are-using-technology-to-transform-the-dining-experience/article15411158/

Photo 1:

http://www.restaurantwebguy.com/custom/webguy/8urbanspoon-yelp-200.jpg

Photo 2:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pditpGpMR3o/UKwxKIMrPCI/AAAAAAAAH-0/xnuNcWMuqBo/s1600/DSC_0170.jpg

Netflix, a popular movie and TV show streaming company, was discovered to be snooping around on torrenting websites in hopes of finding widely downloaded shows for purchasing. This ingenious idea of utilizing the illegal “competition” gives Netflix an idea of what shows potential customers are most invested in.

The Maclean’s Business blog describes how some analysts feel that Netflix’s value would soar four times of it’s current amount, with the help of creative data collecting.

It’s success comes from the ability to see exactly which shows customers are “dying to watch”.

This creative way of acquiring data and information is a great way of collecting information on potential customers to make the company more appealing with not only a variety of shows, but a selection of great quality, based on popularity.

Also, television  shows are known to be highly addicting, and signs of customers being willing to pay for access to good quality shows are evident due to the popularity of torrented shows have almost halved.

Netflix’s spying abilities have earned them many insights which in turn, obviously equals more customers. Perhaps they should change their name to Spyflix!

Article:

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/10/10/pirate-raid-22/

Photo:

http://pulsosocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/netflix1.jpg

Rogers recently announced that they were shopping for a new marketing and ad agency to represent them starting this coming March. Their new marketing company will be representing Rogers wireless phone services and cable but not their branches Fido and Chatr.

This change is fuelled by their need for a company with digital expertise to focus on online and digital advertisements.

This is a wise modification as Rogers is adapting to the needs of it’s customers as online advertisements will reach out to a larger pool of potential customers. Due to the decline of cable users and newspaper readers, everything is going digital!

There will be a total of  ten advertisement agencies pitching their ideas to Rogers, one of which is the current ad company Publicis Canada.

The switch and emphasis on digital ads will also strengthen the brand positioning of Rogers in the view of its customers as the cable and phone giant will be represented by a equally impressive marketing campaign.

Keeping up with technologic advancements leads to a longer existence within the ever-changing market. Well done, Rogers, don’t fall into the same spiral of failure as Blackberry has!

Article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/rogers-seeks-new-ad-agency-puts-emphasis-on-digital/article15460451/

Photo:

http://wpmedia.business.financialpost.com/2013/01/rogers1.jpg?w=620

Technology dominates the modern world, and hashtags are starting to dominate the social media world. In Abhilasha Gnawali’s blogpost “The Power in #Hash Tags”, Starbucks is an example of a company that has taken advantage of the rising popularity of hashtags.

The reason for the popularity boom for the use of hashtags is a mystery to me, however, companies have adapted quickly. Like Abhilasha mentioned, establishments such as Starbucks have already integrated contests or promotions eligible for those who use their hashtags on media such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

This helps shift their brand positioning as Starbucks will be consistently viewed as a more modern or tech-savvy company, thus appealing to a younger age market in addition to their already enormous middle-aged working class consumer pool.

Starbucks will also save a considerable amount on marketing as Starbucks drinks are widely documented in photos and uploaded onto apps such as Instagram, popular with the younger generations. Photos by customers coupled with hashtags tagging the company and promoting drinks (done by the hashtag #PSL, for pumpkin spice latte) will lead to free marketing of products. 

Yet another example of companies utilizing changing media and technology to their advantage! Let the consumers unknowingly advertise for you, good thinking Starbucks.

Article:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/abhilashagnawali/2013/10/07/the-power-in-hash-tags/

Photo 1:

http://www.sociallystacked.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/hashtags.png

Photo 2:

http://www.offerpop.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Screen-Shot-2013-10-31-at-11.17.39-AM.png