Mengxi Lin's Blog

Canada’s multi-cultural and open environment has attracted people from all over the world to live and study here. In the recent years, the group of  international students has especially grown larger and larger. Since international students have to pay a lot more for tuition in order to study here, most of their families are relatively wealthy. Many company has realized the growing  purchasing power of  international students, and targeting international students as their main customers.

One example here I see in Vancouver is the private car retailers. They don’t have strict credit requirement for their customers to finance or lease cars. Therefore, they are targeting international students here because international students are likely to have low credit or no credit record, and low income. And, it is proven that a lot of international students are buying cars from these private care retailers because they can not get lease agreement in public car retailers and they are willing to purchase cars.

Another example is restaurants targeting international students. Because international students are from all over the world, they always miss the taste of their hometown. Therefore, restaurants like Chinese, Japanese, Korean restaurant sometimes have special offer to students in order to attract them. Also, a lot of students do not cook by themselves, they always eat outside. So, there is a good chance for restaurants to catch international students as their customers.

I recently read about Clarence’s blog post about the new Ipad 2, and found that what he discussed there really interest me.

He talked about how Apple promote their new product, and increase the rate of adoption— mainly by high observability. He said that, “Apple retail stores are keen on allowing customers to come into the store and test out the new technology. Being able to see and touch the product will give consumers a better sense of what they are playing with, and will impact hugely on their consumption behavior.”  However, I actually think that is a kind of trial-ability, since people do not only see the product, but indeed try them on hand. Observability, as I understand, is when people are able to see the product either from newspaper, ads on TV, etc.

In addition, I also want to discuss here why apple is keeping producing updated similar product rather then put everything all at once. I remembered when Ipad2 was about to be put on market, my boyfriend and I was having an argue about how sneaky the Apple company is. He said that Apple is cheating consumers because they always hide some features of their product and add them later to their new product. By doing this, they will never end up producing new things because they can always add an additional feature to an existing product and sell it to the market again. As he was furious about Apple’s strategy, I argued that this is actually a very smart idea. Since Apple already established their prestige brand image and a huge amount of loyal customers, they are sure that there will always be someone buy their product. They are planning on a more long term strategy by keep producing updated version of product so that their costumer stream will never end. If they produce one product with all the technologies they have, the product will by sold out faster but shortly, it will be out of date and forgotten. From Apple, I think I’ve learned a really important and useful strategy of producing product. That is, always think about what you can do next to the existing product you have, and produce updated version so that people will keep track of your product in  long term.

Here is the link to Clarence’s Blog post:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/clarenceso/2011/03/04/2-pad-for-you/

I recently read about a health report on msn news. It is saying that there are more and more men going  for cosmetic surgeries.” Last year, there was a 14 per cent jump in the number of facelifts performed on men, an 11 per cent rise in ear-shaping surgery, four per cent more eyelid surgeries and a seven per cent hike in fat-removing liposuction, the ASPS comparison with 2009 statistics shows”(S.Ubelacker). Observation shows that these men are mainly consist of baby boomers, who are opting for a more youthful appearance. Why male baby boomers go to get their facelifts? Here, I would like to discuss about a few reasons:

1. 50-60-year-old baby boomers want to keep their youth. Baby boomers were brought up in a relatively comfortable environment, they care more about themselves and are more open to new ideas. They like to try new things like young people, and are seeking ways to remain young.

2. Baby boomers are “rich” enough to do cosmetic surgeries.  Since baby boomers had been working for a long time, and still remain in work. They may have higher income or bank deposit. Their ability of spending money is  better then other people. Since cosmetic surgeries are targeting people with high income, baby boomers are part of their target.

3. Some baby boomers are leaders at work, they want to look more vigorous while working under pressure. “A lot of those are in the business world and they’re doing it to kind of maintain, for lack of a better word, a competitive edge,” Baker said from the U.S. capital. In this way their words may become more convictive because they don’t look “out of date.”

Guys getting facelifts is a very interesting topic to discuss because we don’t normally think of that. Even if we’ve heard some men getting cosmetic surgeries we may think they are transsexuals. However, they are  actually “men’s men”, and they have their own reasons of getting a cosmetic surgery. I think, the number of men walking into a cosmetic surgery center will keep increasing because cosmetic surgeries are getting accepted for more and more people.

Here is the link to the original text: http://lifestyle.ca.msn.com/health-fitness/news/canadianpress-article.aspx?cp-documentid=28071007

People like things to be cheaper and cheaper in McDonald’s because its fast foods are becoming people’s convenience goods more likely nowadays. There are a lot of bundling pricing strategies such as those ones for combos. In addition, we can get a better deal by buying two of the same item. However, there is not always the case.

Last week, when I was buying cranberry pies at McDonald, I was amazed how the pies were priced！

“One for 69 cents, and two for $1.39.”

By first looking at it, some people will buy two because they may think that, well, two pies for just $1.39, that’s not bad! But, is that really? If we buy one for 69 cents, and then we later we buy another one, how much do we actually spend? Simply multiply 2 by 69 cents, we get $1.38. Isn’t that cheaper that if we buy two pies at the same time? ($1.38 vs $1.39) If someone didn’t pay attention to these prices, he or she will actually add up spending more money on a “deal.”

Is that a mistake McDonald has made? It might be, but I don’t think so!

If that is a mistake, is that no one is good at math in  McDonald, one of the largest company in the world with millions of employees?  If someone found out this mistake, like me, he or she may just buy one pie instead. ( just like me, sorry I really care about that one cent!) Or, maybe, he or she doesn’t really care about one cent and will still buy two pies. If McDonald does that by purpose, each time a person buys two pies, McDonald will earn one cent more. How many people are there who buy pies in McDonald everyday in every restaurant? As least 20, conservatively. Then, McDonald earn at least 20 cents more from one McDonald restaurant each day. How many McDonald’s are there in Canada? 1400! Therefore, at least 28000 cents, or $280 more is earn each day. In one year, they will earn more than ￥100,000！！That is just the extra profit earn from a tiny “mistake.” How easy is that!

That really sounds fantastic! However, I would definitely not learn that for use in the future if I start doing my own business. I think, it is not ethical, since it is based on cheating. I would not be happy with the money I get from cheating!

I used to think that this one credit course Comm299 was nothing importmant. I was doing fine in the speech classes last term and I thought that this term will be nothing more difficult than speeches. However, after a few weeks, I found I was wrong.
I never knew before that it is the time to get prepared for a career, and I was never aware of how important a resume and coverletter could be! I was so concentrated in other courses and trying to get high marks, because I thought those marks could let me get into
a great company and to succeed.
In this class, I realized that a good coverletter is more than important. It is an advertisement about myself so that I could sell my skills to the company and earn more back. A resume is a record of my past experiences that would enrich myself，so that my abilities are built and presented to the employer. A outstanding coverletter and resumed is the establishment of a successful career. I eased to think that writing a resume is extremely simple and I would just drop down couple if lines to tell about myself and ay general skills. I this class, I learned the most valuable skills to write a “correct” resume, which is extremely strict for gramma and format. I am now so proud of the “resume” skills I have because this is not taught anywhere in other faculties and in any textbooks. Also，I learned how to present myself in an interview that will help me to be employed. All these skills are crucial to my future and I will remember these and be using these a lot.
I am really thankful to Comm 299 for teaching me so many things that would be useful for my whole life.

In our marketing class today, we watched a video about the Adidas’s Intel virtual footwear wall. By demonstrating shoes on the screen “wall,” customers are able to know a lot of informations about the product, such as their usages, technologies, sizes availabilities, etc. The idea about the Virtual Footwear Wall is definitely a novelty to people. But, I couldn’t stop thinking what indeed is the idea behind this creature?  Adidas was selling well before using the virtual wall, and providing informations was always done by the sales in store. Is this “wall” really for what functions it has?

In my opinion, I believe that we can get almost all informations that the “wall” provides from a well-trained sales person. The real purpose behind this idea is not really what we see, instead, it is a way of promotion.

Imagine of a situation where you are passing by several similar sportswear stores, which one would you go in to? Generally, they may seem indifference, thus they are evenly competitive. However, if, when we pass through a Adidas store, and see a wall screen that seems so newfangled, we will definitely get into the store with no hesitation  to see what is that new creature, right? I can bet on that! In this way, all the customers will be attracted into the store. If more people are getting into a store, what will happen to the probability of selling out one more product? High! Of course. Therefore, the virtual wall is like an advertisement, or like coupon of people standing outside the store handing out flyers and telling people “come to our store, our products are on sale!” And Adidas doesn’t even need to put their products on sale, because people, when they see new ideas, tend to be willing to spend more money on novelty.  They think the shoes actually worth that much because they are presented in a high-tech device. So, Adidas has killed two birds with one stone by employing the “AdiVerse Virtual Footwear Wall.”

CNICE is one of the biggest toothpaste sellers in China. The brand has successfully established a good reputation in the country through their high quality and effective products. This year, CNICE  has surprised consumers with their new product——-they are categorizing toothpastes into female and male!!

It may seem like a really insane idea!! We’ve seen toothpastes divided into different purposes, different age groups for a variety of needs, but what’s the point of giving gender identities to toothpastes?

In my opinion, CNICE does this for an important reason: to increase sales by subdividing their market segments.

Now since toothpaste are grouped into genders, CNICE has just changed it’s target from generally everyone to separate female and male.  By doing this, they can now attract consumer of different genders in different ways. For females, CNICE has made the packages cute and colorful, thus female may feel those toothpastes appealing to them because they don’t just function well, but also look pretty. For males, they made the packages look cool, so that man will buy for the toothpaste’s masculinity. Before, each couples just buy one toothpaste for both of them to use, now they may buy two, one for the wife and one a the husband. Thus, they sales may have a chance to climb up.

This seems to work actually. Even though people initially think that the idea of giving gender identities to toothpastes are unacceptable and crazy, they are now buying them because people like things to represent themselves and show their personalities.

Here is a link to see their advertisement:http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/vilANWC3T0I/

Comm296 gives me the first chance to know what ” Marketing ” is like. Lots of reading and tons of terminologies are really overwhelming. Even though I may not become a marketer in the future, from the study of Marketing, I find the way to become a good marketer.

Having high marks in Comm296 exams cannot guarantee a person to be a good marketer in the real world. Of course, learning well is the foundation of success. However, if we just know the terminologies, there’s nothing else we can do with them. The main point is, we have to know how to apply these terms into our real life.  Comm296 class give us a lot of practice on how to apply them. But, does that guarantee us to become a good marketer？

I don’t think so. What I think is the most important factor that can make a person a good marketer is creativity!!

Think about the examples or cases that we met in class or in the textbook. They are all creative, or the first ones to come out in the market. People are not really interested in repetitive and copied ideas. What customers are seeking is creativity and novelty. Without creativity, no matter how well you know the marketing terminologies or the applications, you will not be able to win.

Therefore, I think, we need to be active to think about new ideas, and to improve our abilities to create new things.

Here comes the most exciting event for all the Chinese in the world. Every year this time, we celebrate this most important festival with families, friends, and co-workers. All kinds of celebrating activities are going on, and bring a lot of marketing opportunities to stores, clubs, and especially restaurants.

Today, I was planning to have dinner at Richmond. We were driving around and around, finding that all Chinese restaurants was full. However, restaurants like Wendy’s and Denny’s at Richmond were almost empty; Japanese and Korean restaurants were not very crowded neither. Finally, we ended up in eating in a Japanese hotpot restaurant.

This situation makes me of the culture factor that can influence customers behavior, how culture, at a time like this, is important to restaurants owners.  Having celebrating dinner together with families, friends and co-workers is a culture passed on through many generations in China. It is even continued to be passed on overseas within Chinese immigrants. Since Richmond is the area that has the most population of Chinese in Vancouver, Chinese restaurants there benefit a lot from customers. But, other restaurants thus have lost a lot of customers.

Therefore, Chinese New Year is also the happiest time for Chinese Restaurants.

Advertisements, I believe, appear the most in our daily life as a type of  mass media. For marketers, using Advertisement is a very common and effective way to promote their product and to communicate with consumers. We can see Ads in newspapers, on TVs, on buses, and on streets. As the amount of Ads are getting overwhelming and taking more and more of our living spaces, people are getting so used to see them everywhere that sometimes, we don’t even pay any attention to them. However, Ads sometimes can be really informative and helpful, while others are misleading and deceptive.

In my friend, Sylvia’s blog, she talked about the commercial of Coca-Cola’s product, Vitaminwater.This Ads was eventually terminated in Britain as they consider it to be misleading for its exceeded sugar content. She argued that while companies use advertisements to communicate with consumers, they have to keep them “true, healthy, and nutritious.”

I definitely agree with her opinion and I found her “true, healthy and nutritious” description very appealing.

First, commercials have to be true. Think about how you may feel if you are fooled. If consumers find out that the information from the advertisement is false, negative consumer behavior will result. People may stop buying the product or even spread bad words about the company.

Also, it is very important that the commercials are healthy. Not just their products to be healthy, but also the ads themselves. They have to  to convey positive and motivative meanings. Consumers behavior can be influenced by their perception and attitude. Therefore, a “healthy” advertisement may make consumers to perceive the product to be health and like the product.

Finally, they have to be “nutritious.” This means that the information they are communicating should be helpful and rich. In the advertisement, important aspects of the product of service should be showed. Any wrong demonstration or instructions should be avoid to prevent it to be misleading.

Therefore, Sylvia’s definition about a good advertisement is very accurate and representative. And it is very important that marketing ads should be “true, healthy, and nutritious.”

Sylvia’s Bolg: https://blogs.ubc.ca/tianzhulei/