Kyle Hoffman's Blog

On Youtube I recently discovered this mind-blowing video of the world’s newest sport, Liquid Mountaineering.  The sport is beautiful and surprisingly simple, requiring nothing but Hi-Tec waterproof shoes, water tension and an adorable Portuguese accent.

After I came to terms with how awesome this sport was, I quickly ordered a lifetime supply of Hi-Tec shoes and began recruiting local Portuguese to form the world’s finest liquid mountaineering team.  Whether it was the laws of physics or the fact our team was hydrating with Bacardi 151, instead of nimbly dancing across the water, we ended up spending the majority of the time under the surface.

To discover where the fault in our technique lay we began to study the art of liquid mountaineering only to discover that our noble sport was really nothing more than a hoax used in a viral marketing campaign for the outdoor sporting company Hi-Tec.

After months of denying they had anything to do with the video   Finally Hi-Tec released a statement admitting it was a hoax.
““We wanted to … get people talking and thinking about the brand differently. The idea was to take a traditional form of marketing and totally turn it around on its head, in the process of capturing the fun spirited side of our brand… even we still can’t walk on water…it was all a well intended hoax.”

With their unconventional approach to marketing Hi-tec managed to create one of the greatest ad campaigns of the decade.  It managed to reach over 10 million viewers while successfully branding Hi-Tec as a company on the edge of extreme outdoor equipment.  However Hi-Tecs denial of involvement in the ad leads to questioning the ethics of hoax advertising.  While it may have been a successful ad, it crushed the spirit of people all across the globe looking to push the boundaries of physics with cool shoes.

One of the greatest lesson I’ve every learned wasn’t taught to me in a classroom or read out of a book.  I learned through the most painful hit of my life on the football field.  It was my junior year of high school and the football team was scrimmaging at the end of practice and the coach called for me to run the ball.  I broke through  the defense and had a clear run for the end zone before I slowed down to a walk thinking the play was over.  Seconds later my friend on defense tackled me from behind and knocked the wind out of me.  I started to tell him that it was just a practice and he should take it easy but before I could finish he turned to me and said “practice like you play” then ran off down the field.

This has always been a lesson I have carried with me to this day.  In everything I do I try to do it to the best of my ability. As Aristotle once said “we are what we repeatedly do”.

Before the Comm 101 class on non-profit organizations and social enterprise we were suppose to come to class with one social entrepreneur and one social enterprise.  Naturally my first thought was the non for profit organization that I had a long history with, the Red Cross.  Since I was a child I had grown up learning to swim under the Red Cross swim program.  Later in life I began taking courses from Red Cross in swimming instructing and first aid and eventually began teaching the Red Cross methods as a swimming instructor.

The Red Cross is one of the most recognized and respected non-profit organizations in the world.  The organization is based on a simple mission “to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity around the world”.  The Red Cross accomplishes this in a variety of ways including, disaster management, refugee services, restoring family links, first aid and CPR training, water safety training, violence and abuse prevention and many more.  Any money the organization makes is further invested towards helping people in need making it a valuable social enterprise both in Canada and across the globe.

When one think of an entrepreneurial company one thinks of your typical small company with a big idea that just needs funding.  However, recently some big companies have set out to change this image.  One of the more notable companies achieving this is Google.  They have adopted a philosophy that is dedicated to innovation and creativity that is part of the core company culture.  While Google is no longer a small entrepreneurial company they still maintain the entrepreneurial spirit through their 20 percent time rule.

The 20% time rule is employees spend 80% of their time working on company projects and then 20% of their time is dedicated to employee’s pet projects.  Not only are employees permitted to work on their own projects they are actually encouraged.  In recent years the 20% time has yielded Google with several important innovations including Google mail, Google talk, Google sky, Google news and many more.  All of these innovations at Google have led to a substantial amount of wealth creation in a very short period of time.
You could argue that Google technically isn’t an entrepreneurial company because these innovations pose very little risk to the company. But in reality some of these innovative projects require large amounts of Google’s resources and pose a risk to the company if they fail.

For more information on Google’s 20% time check out this article

In late November Saputo the Montreal cheese manufacturer discovered that some of their products had become contaminated with listeria bacteria.  Following an ethical and socially responsible approach Saputo immediately recall all products that were produced on the contaminated line.  While this recall will cost Saputo over an estimated $200,000 they have decided to go ahead with it and voluntarily recall all products despite no cases of illness being reported nationally.  More recently Saputo has expanded their recall of products to include one of their product lines that is sold in two kilogram packs despite the fact none of the additional recalls have tested positive for listeria.  Saputo has stated that until they find the cause they want to stay on the safe side and protect the public
While recalls are usually viewed negatively and are detrimental to a food companies reputation, in this case Saputo’s expertise at handling the situation and their dedication to public interest will lead to little tarnishing of their image. While Saputo’s display of corporate social responsibility is costly now   it has saved their reputation and has protected them from harmful lawsuits had the contamination resulted in sickness or death.

for more information about the recall check out this article

Last month Gap held a promotion with Facebook places where they would give away a pairs of jeans to the first 10,000 customers to check into gap stores using the Facebook Places application (an app similar to Foursquare).  Gap’s experimental use of Facebook Places had both its rewards and its drawbacks.

Early Friday morning found line ups of customers waiting to get in at Gap stores across the United States.  The interesting fact about this was Gap had done zero in-store marketing  and there was no mention of the promotion on the Gap website.  The only advertising Gap had done was on their Facebook page and through Google deals.  Their use of social media allowed them to attract a large customer base (over 25,000 customers said they’d attend the event on FB) with very little advertsing costs.
Unfortunately the use of social media had its drawbacks on the promotion too.   The jean giveaways were poorly administered and many stores failed to confirm the customers in line had “checked in”.  Many customers were outraged that they were one of the first 50 to check in and a hundred pairs of jeans had already been given away at that store.  Gap’s Facebook page is filled with negative user feedback about how the promotion was handled and the resulting backlash has hurt Gap’s image.

for more info about Gap’s facebook promotion check out this article

In commerce 101 our class talk about how many companies are jumping on the social media bandwagon to promote and sell their products.  Companies are using everything from Facebook and twitter to viral advertising campaigns on YouTube to create interest and hype for the company.  While social media has it’s obvious benefits it also has it’s drawbacks and is extremely difficult to tell how effective their online marketing is.  That was the case up until recently when the company Foursquare developed a new kind of Social Media

Foursquare is an application for handheld devices that allows you to see what places your friends are visiting and see tips and reviews about that place from other users.  When you arrive you use your phone to “check in” and are rewarded with badges, points or mayor-ship for your location. Foursquare recognizes where you are from your phones GPS whether it’s a park, mall restaurant or bar.  This is a valuable tool and many companies are starting to offer foursquare discounts and special offers to people who check in multiple times.  Many big name companies such as Pepsi and Safeway are making “check in” marketing campaigns to reward customer loyalty and monitor consumer behaviour.  This is extremely beneficial as it will show direct correlation between social media advertising and the resulting sales.

In the upcoming years I think we can expect social media like Foursquare to continue to grow and become a valuable marketing tool.

For more info check out Foursquares site

Ever since Amazons release of their ebook reader the Kindle they’ve dominated the ebook market.  Last year Barnes and Noble released their own ebook reader the Nook and began selling ebooks online.  While Barnes and Noble was successful at acquiring 20% of the ebook market, Amazon continued to dominate the ebook readers market with the release of their superior e-Reader  the Kindle 2.   Two weeks ago Barnes and Noble released their new e-reader the Nook Color.  Barnes and noble realized that they were losing in a straight ebook reader competition so they have decided to differentiate there product and position themselves apart in the market.  The new Nook Color comes with new features like a touch screen and colour imaging making their product far more appealing to the online newspaper and magazine markets.  If the new Nook Color is successful this will give Barnes and Noble a huge advantage for the year to come as Amazon’s upcoming release of the Kindle 3 is still not expected to have a colour screen.   And as a plus if Barnes and Nobels more versatile reader sells well it will also increase their share in the online ebook market.

For more information on the Nook Color check out http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookcolor/index.asp

and if your interested in a more standard eReader check out the Kindle 2

Before the end of the year Google plans on opening a new service called Google Editions that will offer in print books for sale in eBook format for a fraction of the publisher’s price.  Google Editions will also offer free ebooks that are no longer protected under copyright law.  These ebooks will be readable on, smartphones, computers and many makes of e-readers.   From a financial standpoint, this is an excellent business venture for Google as they will receive a large return on their investment.  Google’s only variable costs will be the minimal expense for maintaining and updating their online library and the small percentage of their ebook sales they will have to pay the respective copyright owners.  There are relatively few start up costs for Google as they already own the infrastructure and have the technicians to run the servers for their  library.  With their minimal investment and large potential gain I can only see Google Editions pushing google stocks even higher.

For more info check out http://sify.com/news/google-to-launch-its-google-editions-e-reader-service-in-us-this-year-news-international-kmfn4cegaai.html

For years Canadian telecommunications have been dominated by the big three companies, Bell, Rogers and Telus.  In 2008 WIND mobile secured the rights to use wireless spectrum in Canada and they have begun creating the infrastructure for a cell phone network.  WIND was faced with significant barriers when entering the cell phone market as they are unable to compete with the cell phone coverage offered by the bigger companies and WIND offers a limited selection in handheld phones.  Despites these obstacles and a series of problems with their service since opening, WIND mobile has been able to secure 100,000 customers in their first seven months.  Wind mobile’s success can largely be attributed to their strong philosophy based on market research.  As their CEO Ken Cambell has said “We’ve heard loud and clear that people want a mobile experience that is free of contracts, system access fess, high prices, poor service, limited technology and complicated billing, [and] We have built our fully customizable offering to deliver on just that.”.  By doing their market research WIND has been able to determine what the Canadian consumer wants in a cell phone and are successfully penetrating into a well established and competitive market.

More information can be found at

http://www.suite101.com/content/wind-mobile-blows-out-the-competition-in-canada-a281982

If your interested in  signing up with WIND here’s a link to their websitehttp://www.windmobile.ca/community/