In Omneet Madan’s UBC blog, she discusses how Nestlé has created seasonal products

http://in.5thvillage.com/scaero/

for several all their top-selling candy bars.  They have newly designed, Halloween-themed wrappers and names (“ScAero”, “Coffin Crisp”, “Scaries”) that increase the brands’ uniqueness and points of differentiation.  At the end of her blog, she asks three pertinent questions that really stick with the reader: “Now what are you going to buy for your trick-or-treaters this year?  Is it going to be a plain, old Caramilk bar? Or is it going to be the new and improved skeleton covered Coffin Crisp?”  These questions emphasize that when a consumer has to choose between products, they are likely to choose the one with the strongest point of differentiation.

http://blog.postmodernsass.com/2004/12/with-lights-out-its-less-dangerous.html

Not to be left behind, Kellogg’s and Mars, have also implemented seasonal changes in their products.  Kellogg’s has red and green Rice Krispies for Christmas; pumpkin flavoured Pop-Tarts, Pringles, and Eggo waffles; as well as Lucky Charms and Captain Crunch cereal with Christmas shapes in them.  On the other hand, Mars has M&M’s in Christmas, Halloween, breast cancer supporting, and Easter colours.

But what Nestlé is doing that sets them apart is changing more than just the colour or flavour of their product.  Labeling their candy bars with new, witty versions of their original names are catching consumer’s attention worldwide.

For the first three years of my education, I was surrounded by Maria Montessori’s

http://nokomis.spps.org/

educational concepts and beliefs. The time I sent at preschool – as ridiculous as this may sound – were the best years of my education.  I can personally appreciate the change that this social entrepreneur had on all educational systems.  I didn’t realize this at the time, but looking back on what I learned from age three to six, I am astonished.  At age five, I learned how to polish shoes and peel carrots, how to write in cursive and even how to multiply, all of this on my own accord.

http://www.noodle.org/noodlings/k-12/your-childs-education-examining-montessori-waldorf-and-democratic-schools

As a social entrepreneur, Maria Montessori recognized a social problem: children’s experience in the educational system did not allow for personal exploration or sensory manipulation.  Her social mission was to improve the way children were educated, allowing them to choose and carry out their own activities.  Maria Montessori was not simply a social activist or a social service provider: she was a visionary.  She completely transformed the way children are educated, specializing a child’s education for their specific needs, whether gifted or special needs.  Today there are over 20,000 schools worldwide that are carrying on the work done by Maria Montessori a hundred years ago.

As an avid Facebook user, I had not stopped once to question how Facebook made a profit.  This thought had never crossed my mind until I read the article, “Zuckerberg’s rocket, ready for lift-off; Valuing Facebook”, assigned to us for class.  Before this I had barely even noticed, in the same way as billions of other social-networkers hadn’t noticed, the advertisements on the right side of every Facebook page (Figure 1).  Clearly, this advertising campaign isn’t working.

The future for Facebook is to become more than a simple social-networking website:  it will become an online shopping site.  In my opinion, this is one of the least creative and most desperate attempts for Facebook to increase the value of its stocks.  Facebook is joining forces with retailers world-wide such as Victoria’s Secret and Pottery Barn to test out the websites new features.  They will be introducing a “want” and a “collect” button in addition to their already existing “like” button.  This concept was

already attempted by Pinterest and was, by no means, a success.  It is disappointing to see Mark Zuckerberg sinking as low as copying another website’s ideas to increase his profits; I think we all expected something a little more ingenious out of him.

• Luks, Joe. “Facebook testing new features, muscling in on Pinterest: Inside the Want game.” culturemap Houston. N.p., 13 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/10-13-12-facebook-testing-new-features-muscling-in-on-pinterest-inside-the-want-game/>.
• Mitchell, Dan. “A single button could solve Facebook’s revenue problem.” CNN Money. N.p., 11 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/11/facebook-12/>.
• The Economist. ProQuest, 12 May 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://search.proquest.com/docview/1013524060?accountid=14656>.
• Tam, Donna. “Facebook not big on big ads.” CNET. N.p., 29 May 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57443035-93/facebook-not-big-on-big-ads/>.
• http://www.colbybrownphotography.com/blog/

Lately, I have been stumped as to how my business team can make our business plan more original. After analyzing Porter’s 5 Forces in last class, it become clear that the restaurant industry is extremely crowded and it is a near impossibility to open a standout steakhouse these days.  When our team attempted to write a value proposition for our company, 1845 Steakhouse, it was clear we had very poor points of differentiation.

http://www.vegaschatter.com/tag/Steakhouses

After much thought, I have decided that the best way to differentiate a steakhouse is to make it steakless.  If I were attempting to break into the steakhouse business, I believe an all-vegetarian restaurant with the vibe and feel of any hip, new-age steakhouse would our most promising option.  No one has attempted to turn a steakhouse meatless, making this the most promising section of the restaurant industry.  In a target audience such of the young, up-and-coming Vancourites who eat-out at the funkiest restaurants, this concept would be extremely successful in either downtown Vancouver or the Kitsilano area.  Living at UBC and going out to dinner at restaurants such as The Naam, Burgoo and The Eatery – the most original restaurants in Kitsilano – I have been inspired to differentiate our steakhouse like never before.