kevinsiong

http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/7458-will-olympics-sponsors-make-the-most-of-social

In response to an external blog on the Summer Olympics in London 2012, I feel that the Olympics is still the holy grail for marketers but they are facing more competition these days especially from guerrilla marketing. Billions are spent by global brands on sport sponsorships. The London 2012 Summer Olympics will be no exception. However, due to recent sport sponsorship blunders such as last years World Cup, marketers must be savvy with their decisions. 20% of people stated that Nike was the official sponsor of the World Cup, yet Nike did not even write a single cheque to the organization.

How did NIke achieve such accomplishments? Nike garnered more social media and online association with the World Cup than its biggest competitor and World Cup sponsor, Adidas. Love it or hate it, its ‘Write the Future’ ad, which aired on TV, with teasers released on YouTube and finally, its full version on YouTube with a reported 17 million views in total across the campaign, summed up the hopes and fears of football fans round the world. Through pull promotion strategy, Nike created a social campaign that was directly targeting sports fans to enhance the customer relationship. In doing so, Nike established brand ambassadors who associated the brand with the World Cup, spreading the Nike social campaign to other people.

As a result, the London Games will become known as the world’s first social Olympic Games. Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Mcdonalds, and other global companies have started to create innovative and creative marketing strategies that will combat against guerrilla marketing. Coca-Cola is focusing on a legacy initiative such as increased recycling facilities in London and brand-specific initiatives such as healthy living campaign for Powerade. All these initiatives will involve the social network where fans can actively participate in these campaigns, creating huge exposure for Coca-Cola as a sponsor of the Games. Through direct marketing, Coca-Cola plans to directly handout samples of Powerade during the Games in order to directly connect with carefully targeted individual consumers to cultivate lasting customer relationships. As a result, it is up to the global brands who sponsor the Olympics Games to combat against guerrilla marketing by creating innovative and interactive campaigns that consumer-oriented in order to receive a high customer equity.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK62rsDkmko[/youtube]

When I first entered TOMS official website, the first thing I saw was their movement for social responsibility: “With every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.” http://www.toms.ca/our-movement?icid=ca-home-022012_106

To add onto Vivien Lee’s blog about TOMS, I agree that TOMS One for One marketing strategy is value-based and sustainable. https://blogs.ubc.ca/yuseelee/2012/01/15/markeing-blog1-the-one-for-one-campaign-of-toms/#content However, I would also argue that TOMS succeeded due to segmenting the consumer market based on attitudes and beliefs within behavioural. By targeting the consumer market based on beliefs and attitudes towards social responsibility and business ethics, TOMS utilizes a more meaningful and effective strategy to differentiate themselves from other shoe retailers. I believe TOMS chose to position their product offerings based on image and the product itself. In addition, TOMS image has been developed to be a compassionate company that supports children in Third World countries. Furthermore, through product positioning, TOMS has created shoes that are not only comfortable but also unique, differentiating themselves from other shoes such as Tennis or running shoes. Through their positioning strategy, the company has created the right competitive advantage, promoting the differences of importance, distinctiveness, and superiority.

In order to survive in such a saturated and competitive market, TOMS must continue to develop their brand by creating profitable customer relationships who thus become brand ambassadors. One method that TOMS has implemented in their brand development strategy is through line extension and brand extension. Having sustained a socially responsible brand of TOMS to their customers, the company has creating more market offerings through line extension by developing different types of shoes. Furthermore, through brand extension, the company has extended their brand to other types of products such as sunglasses. TOMS truly has created a comprehensive marketing strategy in order to stay relevant in the shoe industry by building a respected brand.[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z95pUfYSvbQ[/youtube]

To add on to Dylan Wall’s blog on how Safeway latches themselves onto the Vancouver Canuck’s fan base with their “Score-and-Win” campaign, I believe that in this case marketing tools have been utilized to create the “cost-effective” campaign in order to generate more revenue.https://blogs.ubc.ca/dylanwall/2012/01/16/safeway-score-and-win/

Yet, sometimes in business schools, we may learn that marketing’s main goal is to generate further wealth or a competitive advantage. However, we sometimes forget that marketing can also help raise awareness without the intention of making money.

http://canucks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=613222&navid=DL|VAN|home

Plagued by recent deaths (Dereck Boogaard, Wade Belak, and Rick Rypien) mainly due to mental health issues, the NHL is trying to prevent these tragedies from happening again. Adding on to the Canuck’s theme, I recently saw a commercial on the Canuck’s initiative to raise awareness about mental health issues with the help from a popular Canuck – Kevin Bieksa. As a result, the Canucks organization positioned themselves with this serious epidemic by partnering with Fraser Health, Provincial Health Services Authority and BC Children’s Hospital Foundation to promote the re-launch of the website http://www.mindcheck.ca/. The goal of the website is “designed for BC youth and young adults, as well as family members and friends, to recognize symptoms and better understand the challenges of mental illness.”

http://www.mindcheck.ca/ embodies the characteristics of one-to-one marketing by building personal connections with each person who enters the website. Once you enter the website, you are immediately connected with personal stories of how some people have dealt with depression or stress, creating an intimate atmosphere with the visitor. Furthermore, the website allows for 2-way communication where website visitors can post personal blogs of their encounters and battles against mental health problems. In doing so, visitors become brand ambassadors of the website. By selling specialty t-shirts where “all net proceeds will be donated to the Canucks for Kids Fund in support of mental health awareness,” the Canucks demonstrate no intentions to make profit, but to only build higher customer equity through a customer-oriented marketing strategy.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aVfpQCr6S4[/youtube]

http://www.brandchannel.com/features_webwatch.asp?ww_id=379

Winning the Canadian Marketing Association’s 2008 “Best of the Best” Award, the acclaimed campaign for New Shreddies – created by Ogilvy&Mather marketing agency – was an ingenious and innovative customer-driven marketing strategy that revived the 67 year old brand. In the blog post, “Diamond Shreddies” by Renee Alexander, the blogger explained how this campaign garnered so much attention in that year.

I believe that Ogilvy&Mather approached their marketing strategy for Kraft Foods to revive the Shreddies cereal brand with a keen and savvy eye. At that time, all cereal brands had “positioned themselves as kid-friendly through cartoon spokespeople and animals or good for you because of their healthy ingredients,” yet none approached their campaign with humour. Therefore, the New Shreddies campaign differentiated themselves from their competitors by positioning the cereal with a sense of humour, poking fun at the fact that new diamond Shreddies were more exciting than the boring old square Shreddies. But, all the company had done was shift the old square Shreddies 45 degrees. As a result, the campaign created superior customer value without altering the original product by offering an exciting new look. When developing an integrated marketing mix, Ogilvy&Mather concentrated on promotion in the 4 Ps. For instance, the campaign included an outrageously funny commercial which fervently advocated that new diamond Shreddies were “better,” “crunchier”, and “more flavourful,” yet in fact they were exactly the same as the old Shreddies. The campaign increased customer delight which inherently led loyal customers (true friends) to begin promoting the new Shreddies through consumer-generated marketing of food blogs. Furthermore, the company also created a website where customers could actively participate in the vote to keep or drop the new diamond Shreddies. The success of this campaign was evident when Kraft Foods saw “an immediate 18% increase in baseline sales of Shreddies in the first month alone.”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ds7WzVeew[/youtube]

Since starting the class Comm 299, I have learned a myriad of vital lessons that helped me understand what I have learned about myself. Throughout class, I have learned that even though I am a quiet person, I can still contribute to class discussions, offering ingenious and innovative ideas. Inundated with compelling facts about the business world, I have also learned that I lack some vital leadership skills such as a charismatic attitude that can aid me in developing my interview strategies. Even though I feel that I may lack some leadership traits, I learned that my effective communication skills can strengthen my potential as a competitive candidate for any jobs that I apply for. Compared to other students in class, I have also learned that I could be more active in the Sauder community by volunteering or attending more business sessions where I can network with revered and prominent business leaders. Not only could I be more active in the Sauder community, I can also be active in the business conglomerate in Vancouver such as the major accounting firms or the top investment banking institutes. Through working on many assignments in Comm 299, I acknowledge that one of my most valuable trait is to remain diligent on my course work, completing all my assignments with the up-most-quality. Due to Comm 299, I have learned both what my strengths and weaknesses as a business student and how I can improve on the vital traits that I may lack.

While volunteering as the Co-Director of the Social Justice Initiative, I have worked with and met many amazing people who had taught me valuable lessons. There is only one person that stands out in my mind when I think of the greatest lesson that I learned from someone else: a homeless lady called Anna Makarenko. A derelict living in the Downtown Eastside, Anna was plagued by drug addiction, begging for spare change on the streets of Vancouver. Anna was the person who changed my whole perspective on the homeless people. On a dark and dreary night, my volunteer group went down to Hasting Street to hand out food and clothing which was where I first met Anna. I vividly remember that night when she asked whether if we had gloves to hand out. Unfortunately, we gave our last pair to someone else. Understanding that she really needed gloves, I offered my own gloves to her. Yet, to my surprise, Anna declined my offer, stating that she does not want to take something that personally belonged to someone else. Because of Anna’s mature, and quite frankly, magnanimous act, the greatest lesson that I learned from someone else was that not all homeless people are avaricious, relying on the charity from other people. Thus, due to this lesson that I learned from Anna, I realized the indomitable spirit and resilience that most derelicts possess.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-naked-chefs-g20-challenge-no-pork-no-foie-gras-no-fantasy-dessert/article764308/print/

The paradigm of a social entrepreneur, Jamie Oliver has garnered many prestigious awards for his outstanding role in promoting healthy eating. Both socially responsible and a savvy entrepreneur, Mr. Oliver effortlessly melds them together, creating a program that helps troubled teens. Therefore, he created a restaurant called Fifteen to give disadvantage young people a fresh start in a kitchen. Bothe the business and the teens will benefit from this program. Not only will the restaurant will make a profit, but also most importantly, the teens will develop vital skills that can provide them with a future career in the restaurant business. Jamie Oliver’s social enterprise is to initiate a revolution in Britain to stop school cafeterias from selling junk food. Ultimately, this revolution is to provide healthier alternatives to children who are on the cusp of becoming overweight. Due to his unyielding efforts, Jamie Oliver has been recruited to cook the dinner for the G20 meeting in London. A sustainable chef, Mr. Oliver has decided to take an unorthodox method in catering for the G20 dinner. Instead of buying the most luxurious and expensive ingredients, Jamie will use local and eco-friendly produce to champion his idea of social responsibility. Thus, Jamie Oliver – an exemplar of a social entrepreneur – differentiates himself from the typical entrepreneurs who are blinded by greed, lacking moral ethics.

http://www.topbusinessentrepreneurs.com/

There are many millionaires and billionaires in this world. These people have earned their money in so many ways. Investments, companies that they have started and some are just lucky enough to inherit it. But there are those who just get a brainstorm about some kind idea that they may have, they run with the idea and the next thing they know, they are raking in the money. Gary Goldberg is one of these people. As an entrepreneur, Goldberg has exhibited characteristics that determined his success. His brilliant idea came to him when his son became sick, finding out that his son was allergic to dust mites which where found in the bedding. Goldberg then thought of the idea of creating a bed sheet that prevents dust mites but the bed sheet can also be washed and reused, naming his company Clean Brands. With a new product, Goldberg has entered a new and lucrative market because many children have allergies to dust mites. One of the biggest customers of Goldberg’s invention is Jet Blue. Jet Blue is a flight agency that bought the product to use for their pillows on the airplanes. Within a few years, Goldberg became a millionaire.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/is-royal-bank-of-canada-on-a-too-big-to-fail-list-for-g20/article1793476/

Due to the financial meltdown since 2008, all the banks around the world are on “thin ice,” suggesting that any major decision would profoundly impact the financial crisis. At a recent G20 meeting, the Financial Stability Broad has put Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) – and other major banks – on a list, advising that their collapse would put the global financial at risk. My analysis on this article determines that RBC was an inherent part of the financial crash in 2008 because of its careless prime mortgage loaning. It is exceptional that RBC is efficient on the relative scale of their trading activities; unfortunately, this is the clear reason why they are on the list because of the high risk the bank assumes. Furthermore, RBC’s lucrative trading activities also indicates that there are fully utilizing their bank capital with the undistributed profits. In order for RBC to be removed from the list, they must decrease trading activities, yet less trading activity would also mean a lower contribution to earnings. Therefore, RBC would have a negative effect on the stocks. Thus, RBC plays a pivotal role in the outcome of the fragile financial situation that the entire world is in.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/business/businessspecial4/18toyota.html?_r=1&src=busln
The article, “Bullish Signals from G.M. and Toyota” by Nick Bunkley, determined that since the economy is recovering Toyota will resume construction at their plant in Mississippi instead of their California plant. Furthermore, the only reason that Toyota has concluded with this decision is because of the absence of unionized workers in the plant at Mississippi. As a result, Toyota will be able to pay their employees below the normal wage. My analysis suggests that the action taken by Toyota reveals their true organizational culture: maximizing profit. In doing so, the culture of the business resembles a mechanistic model, representing unethical values and morals. In order to minimize costs, Toyota plans to shift their manufactory to Mississippi, allowing them to pay their employees cheaper than their plant in California. One of the threats in this decision is the outrage from union workers who lost their job with Toyota during the economic recession. Bob King – president of the United Automobile Workers Union (U.A.W.) – has mustered support against Toyota, declaring their business decision as “anti-union.” In addition, Mr. King threatened Toyota that they will discuss this matter with the Obama administration. Thus, Toyota is demonstrating unethical values, portraying their organization culture as materialistic and capitalistic.