Category Archives: Retailing

Blog #7 – Response to External Post “Cement Your Brand in Their Mind”

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Click Here to Read Post on LinkedIn

To briefly summarize the main points of the post, the author gives an example using “Tide” to show that businesses are using their brands to create strong connections to ensure customer loyalty. Phrases such as “the complete package”, “building the relationship”, and “product performance” tells me that businesses are utilizing their brands to influence consumer behaviour.

Image Source: Google

I decided to write about this blog post because I truly agree with the author’s perspective. It also helps me reconnect with some of the concepts learned in a previous Comm 101 lecture in which we talked about market research. As soon as I read the title, “Cement Your Brand in Their Mind”, I remember the most common and inexpensive marketing tool, word-of-mouth; very useful in market research. Applying what I learned in class, I believe that consumers stay loyal to specific brands based on a number of factors such as a progressive CSR, quality of the product, recommendations from friends (feedback loop), overall customer experience, etc.

For example, Starbucks is a very successful company in the coffee industry in which their drinks have become increasingly popular in today’s society. I believe that consumers continue to choose Starbucks over other coffee shops because it is well known on a global scale. Starbucks have acquired a distinctive advantage over its competitors with its organizational culture. The components of their advantage include providing high quality caffeinated drinks with excellent overall customer experience, treating their employees with incentives, and supporting a number of communities with social projects and programs. This is what differentiates Starbucks from its competitors.

Reference

Obarski, Anne. “Cement Your Brand in Their Mind.” LinkedIn. 6 Nov. 2014. Web. 7 Nov. 2014. <http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20141106004759-14074115-cement-your-brand-in-their-mind?trk=tod-posts-post1-ptlt>.

Blog #6 – Do You Notice a Goat on Your Head?

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As a Chinese-Canadian resident in Canada, I understand perfectly that Chinese people are CHEAP. They compete aggressively in the nation’s market, including hair salons, by using cheaper resources to acquire higher returns. In this article, the owner of a hair salon tries to cut costs by using a fake scale to weight wigs. She then combines goat hair with human hair to further minimize production cost. Her entire clientele base is consumed of women from African countries; therefore I believe that more African women suffer from alopecia (severe hair loss disease) than any other races.

colorful wigs

Image Source – Google

Through this reading, I learned that businesses, such as this hair salon, make poor ethical decisions due to the increasing cost of living expenses. However, I think that it is crucial for owners, retailers, and manufacturers/producers to understand and take ethical measures in their businesses. The idea of CSR (corporate social responsibility) is increasingly popular in the today’s society. Thus, countless businesses compete to become more socially responsible “corporate” citizens. Aside from business learning, I also gained a better understanding about the hair loss issue with African women. They love to customize their hair by braiding, thus suffer a serious hair loss disease called alopecia. In order to hide the side effects of the disease, they buy wigs and continue to customize their hairdos but inconveniently and unfortunately, the wig’s composition is half human, half goat hair.

A goat is wearing a coat because its hair is made into hair extensions.

Image Source – Google

Reference

Piranty, Sam. “Why You Might Find a Bit of Goat in Your Hair.” BBC News. 9 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28894757>.

Doheny, Kathleen. “African-American Women Have Specific Hair Issues.” WebMD. WebMD, 21 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2014. <http://www.webmd.com/beauty/hair-styling/20120321/african-american-women-have-specific-hair-issues>.

 

Blog #4 – 2014 Holiday Shopping Season: Is it Here Too Soon?

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Just by reading the title “8 Things We Already Know About the 2014 Holiday Shopping Season”, I’m captivated by the 8 things I should already know for the upcoming holiday season. The article includes 8 statistical things but I want to discuss mainly the following three parts because I believe most shoppers shop with three things in mind; procrastination, Frozen, and Apple.

First, I know that everyone procrastinate and buy presents at the last minute. With this information about holiday shoppers, I can conclude that retailers are coming up with tactics to compete aggressively in the oncoming “price war” of the year. Sales will arise but not necessarily at the cheaper price as shoppers shop at the last minute and disregard prices entirely.

Second, I know that related goods to the Walt Disney movie “Frozen” are commonly found in every shopping mall. The popularity of this theme is undeniably high so I believe that retailers will take this popularity factor into consideration and maximize its market for the holiday season.

Similar to “Frozen”, Apple products are a popular gift idea for the holiday seasons. In the article, Apple customers often outspend customers of other brands (i.e. Android users) during the holiday season. I believe that the reason is also related to procrastination with the addition brand name attached to Apple products.

Let’s think ahead and brainstorm some gift ideas before the holiday seasons hit.

Image Source – Google

Reference

Tuttle, Brad. “8 Things We Already Know About the 2014 Holiday Shopping Season.” Time. 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://time.com/money/3422663/holiday-shopping-season-trends/>.