Month: January 2012

A vast array of compelling points were brought up by Gillian Ong in her blog regarding the effects of SOPA/PIPA on the online community. In her outline she discussed how piracy and the download/usage of free content led to the passing of the SOPA/PIPA bill threatening to terminate online websites providing a gateway to such pirated resources. As a fighting response, many websites offering free informational and entertainment resources went on a one-day strike -including Wikipedia and Reddit- to show the general public how a lack of their services can have a significant impact on the everyday lives of the citizens in a developed society.

A halt of a dependent source of information like Wikipedia even for one day can show how much we as a collective group can take certain availabilities for granted. We sometimes forget how fortunate we are to be blessed with modern technological breakthroughs that have made our lives easier in so many ways. Therefore when an event such as this occurs, it opens the eyes of the world even for a moment to remind us the value in such products and services.

Sarah Barwin’s blog post “The Importance of Good Information” provided a nice summary of the need to perform market research, and gather the right information about consumer wants. We see many companies who have done their research and had successful marketing campaigns. For example, Coca-Cola has forever associated itself with classic coke bottle packaging and polar bears. A successful campaign leaves a lasting impression and lasting association on consumers. Although Coca Cola has generally had a good marketing strategy, they recently missed the mark. In one of their latest attempts, they tried to make the coke bottle stand out by distributing white cans. This strategy did not work because the can ressembled the diet coke can. The white cans are now being pulled from the market because they were unpopular. One problem with an unsuccessful marketing campaign is the stigma that is attached – “do you remember that white coke can?” “Ya, it sucked.” Marketers are always pressured to come out with the latest and greatest, but the presence of these poorly thought-out campaigns exemplify that sometimes taking chances don’t always pay off.

To the Comm 296 class headed by Professor Phaedra Burke, hello, my name is Mehrad. Like most of you I am in my second year at Sauder and like most of you  I am unsure of which designation to specialize.

I enjoy basketball, going shopping for expensive clothes but finally settling for Winners, and trying to teach my dog simple commands that yet have resulted in failure for the past 6 years. I am an Iranian immigrant, I moved to Vancouver when I was 8 and have yet been fully assimilated to western culture.

Marketing is a required second year commerce course, but I do believe in getting the most out of every experience. I hope to learn a solid framework of knowledge and understanding of marketing by term-end. Marketing is an unavoidable and highly powerful tool in today’s society and every business has accomplished some success from effective marketing utilization.

Few months ago I held a telemarketing position for a small software company, cold-calling engineering firms around the world to promote and hopefully sell this company’s line of software. It was a great learning experience for me and upon completion of my duties, I now have new found respect and empathy for anyone doing over the phone surveys, company promotions, etc.

Currently my favourite advertisement is the commercial for the conclusion to the Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. I believe director Christopher Nolan is taking film-making to the next level and we’ve seen that with such movies as The Dark Knight and Inception. The creator of this trailer did a fantastic job compiling the significant scenes of the movie to develop a riveting video that will have audiences anxiously waiting for its summer release date.

I have been kickboxing for 11 years. A year and a half ago I competed in my first amateur ring fight, fighting modified Muay Thai. One minute and fifty two seconds into the second round I achieved a technical knockout which sent my opponent flying headfirst into the ropes and afterwards onto the mat. It is one of the greatest feelings in the world to knock someone out. If you haven’t already, seriously, you’re missing out.