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Celebrity endorsement has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. However, do you know the power of celebrity? What are the benefits Of Using Celebrity Endorsements? According to a blog written by Bekbulatova Kamilla, Celebrity Endorsement would influence consumer purchases for the reason that people would like to be similar to their idols.

She introduced an example about Chanel No.5 perfume and Brad Pitt and also mentioned the importance of the level of celebrity. Therefor celebrity endorsements is too significant to ignore. I totally agree with her. Here are some reasons.

For one thing, it is important to build brand awareness. Brand awareness is a measure of how well your brand is known within its target markets. Celebrity endorsement is a great brand awareness creation tool. However, the company needs to pay attention to the celebrities they choose. The celebrity must be credible. This means that he or she must have a high level of expertise and talent in their field. For another, celebrities with worldwide popularity can help companies avoid cultural ‘roadblocks’ such as time, space,  and language. Samantha Thavasa global ad campaign with the celebrities Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton is a good example.

All in all, celebrity endorsements have proven very successful in many brands. But remember, they are a long-term tactics.

Blog link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/kamabek/2014/11/09/celebrity-endorsements/

What will the consequence be if the housing price in Canada keep rising? Will it lead to an economic downfall in the Canadian society? According to a blog written by Angelica deBonis, there will be less people being able to live in these cities with higher housing price, like Toronto and Vancouver. In addition, it may cause an economic downfall in the Canadian society leaving us “Homeless and Jobless in Vancouver.” However, I am not totally agree with Angelica.

Admittedly, as the housing price going up, people have to pay more money to get a house. But, it does not mean less people can live in these cities. Where there is demand, there is supply. The only reason why the price of housing keeps rising is that the demand exceeds the supply. If less and less people live in these cities, the price will definitely go down. Therefore, maybe you and me have to move out because we could not afford the price. However, there are still plenty of buyers who are planning to purchase some houses in first－tire cities.

Also, The effect of increasing the minimum wage for youth on unemployment is uncertain. The structure of the labor market is very important. For example, if the labor market is a monopsony, a minimum wage may not cause unemployment.

One thing I agree with is that for those young adults who just starting out in the work force are having trouble finding jobs with sufficient salary to pay back their student loans, never mind buy a house in a major city. It really add stress for the youth.

Blog link: http://www.economicshelp.org/labour-markets/disadvantages-minimum-wages/

Nowadays, it is businesses that have great power and great responsibilities for the world we have today and for the world we have tomorrow.

It is universal acknowledged that one could not make money if he or she has no money. To solve this problem, Grameen Bank and microfinace emerge as the times require. The Grameen Bank is a microfinance organization and community development bank founded in Bangladesh by  Muhammad Yunus in 1976. The purpose of this bank is to make small loans to the impoverished without requiring collateral. At the same time, giving them a community of peer support among other borrowers and allowing them to review each other’s loans.The results surprised everyone. With the help of microfinance, more than half of Garmeen’s members have move their families out of poverty.

In my opinion, poor people could never be the bank’s shareholders. They always refuse to lend money to them because they are afraid of not paying it back. However, if the poor could not get the first dollar, how can they make the next dollar. It would be a vicious cycle in the end. Grameen Bank offers everybody a chance, especially the poor, to be an entrepreneur. As a result, they run small business to survive and support our economy. The pressing social problem would still be left unsolved  without these kind of social businesses. They are the one that finding new ways of helping to solve society’s problems. In addition, social businesses are much more better than charities. It could be financially self-sustaining as long as it get the first investment repaid.

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Work Cited: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7252825/Ashoka_studentkit_12-15-12_final.pdf 

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To be honest, I was really moved after watching the prep 20 video “What is Social Entrepreneurship?” I started looking for articles about Ashoka in order to get more information about it. Then, I read this post which I think is very useful for better understanding Ashoka.

Here is the blog that I recommended. Nowadays, it is uncommon to see an organization’s purpose is to save the world rather than gain more profit. However, Ashoka is an exception.

What is Ashoka? It is a global organization that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs –individuals with innovative and practical ideas for solving social problems.

What does Ashoka aim for? It offers an platform where the best entrepreneurs can work togethere to solve the world’s most pressing social challenges. By building this kind of peer network, their impact can be much larger.

Also, Ashoka Fellows inspire others to adopt and spread their innovations – demonstrating to all citizens that they too have the potential to be powerful changemakers.

“Most important about Ashoka doing is that they make people believe that change is possible. That belief can go viral.”

-Anne Wojcicki, CEO and Co-Founder, 23andMe

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Someone argued that if the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise. From my point of view, the arc and social enterprise are as important as the United Nations. As the proverb goes “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime. The relationship between the UN and social enterprise is just like “a fish” and “fish”.

The United Nations helped plenty of countries to faster their economic development in the past few decades. However, we seldom take the results, efficiency and impact of the United Nation into consideration. Uwonkunda mentioned that the donation from UN did not have a lasting impact to the citizens of Rwanda. Many of them did not know how to do with the money for the simple reason that they lack knowledge and experience. Just like what Gatete said, “You need to know how to manage your money, manage your staff and manage your ideas.”  That is why we need Arc and social enterprise. With the help of these programs and social entrepreneurs, local enterprises could have opportunities to learn the latest business skills, tools and leadership tactics. Only in this way can they run their business for a long time. In other words, they can build sustainable business.