MoekoURAWA

If the United Nations was fully funded why would we need the Arc or social enterprise?

The United Nations (UN), an international organisation committed to maintaining international welfare (ie, maintain international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and better living standards and human rights)[1], and the Arc Initiative at the Sauder, a program aimed to building workshops and internships at third world countries, both strive towards the objective of initiating socio-economic progress and providing humanitarian aid.

SOURCE:http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative | ARC Initiative program offered by Sauder School of Business

Source: http://www.un.org/ | The United Nations flag

After reading about social entrepreneurship and ARC Initiative, and upon reflecting the provided question, I can conclude that both the United Nations and social enterprises [need to] coexist due to the following two reasons:

1. Difference in the amount of financial capital available
2. Difference in the time-span of their activities

One argument is that the world can never have “too many” organisation helping developing countries en route to a better economy – more the better. Also, I personally think that the UN and social enterprises are required to operate hand-in-hand to better the effectiveness and sustainability of the changes they are influencing. Consider Public-Private Partnership. If they two work together, the synergy can create collective benefits to the issue; the UN contribute benefits from the social enterprises’ entrepreneurship expertise and efficiency, when the social enterprises benefits from the UN’s resources and finance. Similarly, while the UN cannot help specific groups of people with great focus, social enterprise can assist to better specific issues dismissed by the UN. Likewise, the two need to coexist as they play different roles in maximise improvements in human and environmental well-being.

This brings me to my next point; money cannot solve everything. The coexistence of both the UN and social enterprises is a solid evidence for this argument. Although the UN has abundant amount of finance, most problems in this world are multiplexed together and cannot be resolved with just money, but with continuous support program that allow the local citizens to attain new knowledge and skill-sets that can break them out of the cycle of poverty.

Ever heard of this quote from the Chinese proverb?

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

In contrast to the UN, whatever social enterprises are providing is benefits for the people’s long-term success. They sustain a foundation towards the improvement in developing countries and encourage those people to become capable of being independent and self-sufficient in the future, instead of merely distributing temporary aids and financial support. Hence why I think the world needs the Arc or social enterprise despite having the UN.

This blog post is the continuation of the Sauder Alumni post (Class18). Just like the three Sauder alumnus; Michelle Phan, the internet’s biggest make-up demonstrator and an entrepreneur transformed her hobby of video sharing into a successful job.

YouTube was the biggest thing in the college community, and it just made so much sense for me to have a platform. Instead of feeling down about it, I opened another door, and that door happened to be a laptop.

Source: http://recode.net/2014/10/27/michelle-phan-youtube-star-to-startup-founder/ ||Michelle Phan, a 27-year-old makeup artist and an internet entrepreneur. She has re released a book; Make Up: Your Life Guide to Beauty, Style, and Success||

As an avid fan of Michelle Phan‘s makeup tutorials, I was thrilled to read about her $84M revenue milestone on re<code>. At the same time, this news got me thinking about Michelle’s strategic use of social media (a.k.a. the YouTube power) and e-commerce in establishing her empire of seven million followers. Today, I will take a look at Michelle’s marketing strategies, in particular the mechanism of branding behind her charming and sweet smiles.

Successful beauty gurus are top marketing gurus in this digital social world.

There is no doubt that Michelle’s compelling value proposition was a critical stepping stone to developing her strong brand. She promotes “empowerment” and establishes herself as a beauty “mentor” for a large market segment of women in order to build a loyal customer base, have a higher market share and differentiate herself amongst the other women in the “beauty-guru community”,

She also engages the concept of “empowerment” through her signature outro; “Good Luck” (in a soft yet firm voice). This message reinforces Michelle’s brand in the viewer’s mind. Ultimately, the benefits of branding amount to one reason: improve profitability (thus, justifying her $84 million annual revenue). I think it is the power of branding that enabled Michelle to extend her merchandising in the global market.

Moreover, Michelle employs the branding strategy of family branding, whereby all of her products are under the a single brand, Michelle Phan. I imagine her family branding strategy allowed her to benefit from economies of scope because all of her product ranges can be promoted using a single advertisement. Similarly, this strategy increases the chance of success for her new products to survive in the market due to the already existing customer trust and loyalty. This explains why Michelle’s diversification from her makeup tutorials to cosmetic line to subscription service and to her book was a success (brand extension strategy).

Michelle started her Youtube channel in 2006. Likewise, developing a brand is time-consuming, however, I strongly believe that Michelle is a perfect example of how brand is far more important than the product itself. “Michelle Phan” brand represents the intangible value that viewers place in the actual products, and that it is the brand that sells her product, not her product selling her. Also, her brand is unique, whereas the videos and cosmetics she produces can be easily copied. Finally, successful brands like Michelle’s are timeless, whereas her products and videos can become obsolete rather quickly.

To end the blog on a good note, please enjoy my shameless Michelle Phan fandom from back in 2011!

SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzGIQqWscZk |Screen shot from Michelle Phan’s “Meet and Greet Hong Kong” video

Work Cited
Bowles, Nellie. “Michelle Phan: From YouTube Star to $84 Million Startup Founder.”Recode. Revere Digital LLC, 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

In yesterday’s COMM101 lecture (4th November), I had the honour to meet 3 successful entrepreneurs and Sauder graduates; Paul Davidescu, Jenny Duffy and Tom Dobrzanski to learn about their journey of starting up a business. As someone who is thinking of pursing the entrepreneurship route, I was inspired by the alumni’s insightful career story. Since there is so much we can learn from there these people, I thought it will be appropriate to have a blog post dedicated to this lecture.

This post will briefly outline the valuable takeaways from each alumni, along with analysis with respect to business topics discussed in COMM101 lectures thus far.

Source: http://www.mytechguys.ca/web/images/stories/logo_sauder.jpg |Reflection summary of Sauder alumni talk

Paul Davidescu (Studied Marketing and International Business)

• Identify a gap in the market: Although Vancouver as a city has various amazing venues and things to enjoy in a night out, people perceived the city to lack in “social lubricants” only because many of the venues were not known by the market. The demand for higher standard of night-outs raised but no firms offered a system that really brought the two stakeholders together. These information could have only been identified by carrying out primary market researches (observation and interview). Paul’s was able to pinpoint the needs of the market by utilized the experience and skillsets gained from Marketing Co-op in Barcelona (Lionel Messi’s campaign) and working for the Vancity Buzz.

• Solve a problem and add value to peoples lives: Tangoo, an innovative, unique and differentiated app (ref. Porter’s Generic Strategies) benefitted from first-mover advantage, leading to market dominance to some extent. Paul also stressed that what you are doing is something you are insanely passionate about you are commit to solve the problem, essentially as a manager you are required to constantly consider the problem in the perspective of the customers.

Jenny Duffy (Studied Accounting)

• Embracing well-roundedness: Jenny is an extreme case of being versatile with her dual life as a facilitator for CPA, and a dance captain and a choreographer for the BC Lions. Still, she emphasised how her accounting and enterprise skill-sets obtained at Sauder became her asset, enabling her to effectively pitch her brand and style in board meetings and interviews. As a dancer, having versatility and flexibility in styles (sexy jazz, hip hop, contemporary) creates a competitive advantage over her competitors, allowing her to cater to a wider customer segment of the Business Model Canvas. In order to maintain her competitive edge, Jenny disclosed that training is an important aspect of improving her personal skills and the satisfying her contract.

Tom Dobrzanski (Studied Accounting and Finance)

• Become temporary experts: Tom pointed out that as an entrepreneur, you have to be committed to becoming a temporary expert in various areas unrelated to your specialism. From his own experience, he became a temporary expert of studio and landscape design, and negotiation. This personal development encourage individuals to become more compatible to the industry. Similarly, individuals can attain the higher levels of motivation and job satisfaction (esteem needs and self-actualisation) of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a result of job enrichment.

• View Threats as an Opportunities:
  [Threat 1 – Technical development] The introduction of Garageband made music recording accessible, increasing the popularity of home studios. However, introduction of this software influenced more local bands to form, which created a fertile environment as more people became interested in music. Since by then Tom’s capability was beyond the software, musician brought in their pre-composed Garageband files to Monarch to utilise their professional instruments and get professional feedback from the team. In fact, the change in the technological factor (PEST Analysis) clarified Monarch’s Value Proposition; to provide a professional output with a reasonable price by bridging the gap between home-studio and large studio. 
  [Threat 2 – Pirating music] This was an opportunity for Tom’s band, The Zolas to spreading of music as a means of marketing. Besides being low cost, this was an effective method to establish international presence and to increase his fan base, both contributing to the increase in the revenue from their secondary revenue streams (ie. the sales of merchandise).

This is a response to an external blog about managers as leaders and how their actions affect the employees’ morale and motivation.

Dealing with authorities is not the best thing.

This blogpost by Justin Babet, the Founder and CEO of JobAdvisor.com.au discusses the problem of employee demotivation due to overly egoistic employer. He talks about how his friend, John was introduced by his manager as “my employee” in their customer meeting, with the deliberate intention for his manager to uplift the customer’s perception of himself. I agree with Babet’s argument that despite John being the employee of the business, the way his manager established his authority was dishonourable because he downplayed his employee to feeling belittled, disempowered and unvalued, thus making him a bad leader. Leaders ought not to position himself above his employees at all costs. Marginalising employees prompts a low performing teams and leaders that practise such behaviour initiates the establishment of unfavourable corporate culture.

Source: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20141105024311-258376-how-to-lose-friends-and-demotivate-people?trk=tod-posts-post1-psum |Comic strip portraying a perfect example of bad leader

I will be applying the learning outcomes from Class 19 with Professor Danielle van Jaarsveld and using David McClelland’s Theory of Needs to help me analysing the ways in which managers can motivate their employees to establish a strong corporate culture. Firstly, Theory of Needs dictates that people with different kind of needs are motivated differently.

In John’s case, I can assume that he is a “need for affiliation (n-Aff)” employee since he seeks to have good social and working relationship with the management team. Similarly, the quote…

When he told me this story, John asked, “am I being too sensitive?” And yeah, maybe you could make the argument he should toughen up.

…indicates the trait of a n-Aff employee – the tendency to avoid conflict so that he/she is accepted as part of a group. Managers of such employee should provide with collaborative working environment to gain their best workforce performance, and not suppress their confidence by isolating them into feeling unimportant. Moreover, during Class 19, Professor Danielle van Jaarsveld reiterated on the implicit yet powerful link between motivated employees and being an firm with sustainable competitive advantage. By having a group of highly motivated employees, managers not only can increase the efficiency and productivity of their output but more importantly, the firm can reduce its cost of absenteeism – become socially and economically sustainable.

So, when addressing a co-worker, instead of labelling them as “my employee”, I think managers should use language like “my best programmer” and “my go-to marketing assistant” to increase employee’s sense of belonging and motivation, while simultaneously developing trust and team cohesiveness within the workforce. I believe that the cultural harmony within an organisation can only come about if all staff (inc. John’s managers) respect and share the same values. The attitude John’s manager display does not help him or his business to achieve anything but incur cost of absenteeism.

Work Cited
Babet, Justin. “How To Lose Friends and Demotivate People.” World’s Largest Professional Network. Linkedin, 5 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

Gluten-free products are popular these days.

This Economist article talks about how the change in the consumer awareness and preference towards gluten-free product has affected the food industry as a whole. Even though only around 1% of the world population is medically diagnosed with coeliac disease, a sizeable proportion of people believe that gluten-free is healthier or think of it as fashionable, and cuts consumption on products containing gluten. In fact, these gluten-free-bandwagon-hoppers are the main consumers that drive the market forward. A marketing research corporation, Mintel estimates that;

“the category [gluten-free range] will produce more than $15 billion in annual sales in 2016.”

SOURCE: http://www.economist.com |More and more consumers are being aware of the health risks associated with foods containing gluten|

Using the SWOT Analysis discussed in class, we can identify how new Opportunities created by the gluten-free food movement can become businesses’ internal Strength.

For instance, manufacturers can transform the Opportunity of increased market demand for gluten-free food into their Strength – ability to charge higher price[1] for profit maximisation and establishment of a “supreme” corporate identity.

Also, I suppose there are Opportunities created for firms to expand their customer base since more consumers are now willing to pay extra for a gluten-free lifestyle. Marketing is everything in the food industry due to the existence of many generic me-too products in the industry, pressuring firms find the “differentiator”. Firms’ effective marketing techniques scare consumers into thinking wheat are toxic and anything with a “gluten-free” label is associated with “low calorie” and “healthy lifestyle”. A lot of the firms choose to attach the label on the packagings of unrelated products that have always been gluten-free (ie. popcorns, nuts) to emphasise the Points of Difference that distinguishes them from other non-gluten-free competitor’s. Such firms will automatically gain a new market segment on their Business Model Canvas.

My Thoughts:
As a pro-choice vegetarian, I am able to relate to the views of non-coeliac consumers to some extent. However, I strongly feel that this gluten-free craze is no more than a social trend and will eventually burst, like it has for the “Fully Raw” fad in the late 2000s. I believe while the marketing of transient food can encourage the fad to ascent rapidly, social media backlashes against living gluten-free diet[2] are equally a powerful force that reshape the perception and interest of non-coeliac consumers, forcing the fad to experience a decline. In another words, more consumers will inevitably realise that eating gluten-free cakes is not the answer to losing weight!!! Such kind of situation would fall under the category of Threat in the SWOT Analysis.

Likewise, this article subtly asserts the importance of market research and knowledge about the consumer when entering new trends. Although “vegetarians outnumber those who avoid gluten”[3], gluten-free is more “trendy” of the two (market is more active/responsive). Without the qualitative and quantitative investigation of the current market, firms will fail to identify the ever-changing market trends, and even risk producing products that no one wants (product-oriented). Equally, market research helps firms to forecast the future demand patterns. In this case, I strongly feel that producing only gluten-free food is neither socially nor economically sustainable strategy as “gluten-free” label is unlikely to survive the Threats from the media.

End Note
[1]Gluten-free customers are valuable, ringing up roughly $100 in sales with their average grocery basket compared with $33 for the overall average basket
[2] Gluten-free diet can lack vitamins, minerals, and fibre; essential nutrients for a balanced diet.
[3] The food industry is finding that there is no longer much money to be made in making meat-free products. Sales of alternatives to meat have flattened in America in real terms since 2008; in Britain they have plunged by a third

Work Cited
“Against the Grain.” The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 25 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.

Source: http://www.visiontimes.com Occupy Central, civil disobedience paralyses tourism and retail industries in Hong Kong

Summary: BBC announced that the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong during this year’s Golden Week (a week-long national holiday in China) has slumped relative to the previous years.

WHY?

Is it because of the civil disobedience in the major tourist/financial districts of Hong Kong?

Yes, you have guessed it right!

This news overwhelms me as I am from Hong Kong. Within the span of few weeks, the country I knew very well has transformed from a thriving financial and tourist district into a land of struggle and desperation. The protest arose during one of the  busiest shopping periods, therefore I feared Hong Kong could slip into recession. The protest not only restricted the public transport systems, disrupted street safety, and negatively impact the retail, entertainment and dining district, but also created political tension between the two countries – China and Hong Kong, paralysing the incentives for mainlanders to visit to Hong Kong.

“According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the average overnight visitor spends 8,123 Hong Kong dollars ($1,046; £644) during his or her stay.”

Hence, the fall in tourism in Hong Kong leads to the fall in its GDP. Who cares? Since GDP is the primary indicator used to gauge the health of a country’s economy, many fear that Occupy Central and its aftereffect could repel foreign businesses to setting up in Hong Kong due to the threats in the external environment [PESTLE] (macroeconomic scale) and reduce the number of available jobs within the industry (microeconomic scale).

Despite the political suffrage, I agree with the article that while tourism is one area of economic growth for Hong Kong, it is not the main driver, so the impact on tourism will only be short-term. Although it may do harm to Hong Kong’s international image and could have a severe impact its economic development, I believe Hong Kong will remain as the gateway for eastern and western trade due to its existing vibrancy of the finance and entertainment sector. This is very relevant to the concept of market positioning ladder learned in class 8; Hong Kong as a city holds the position on the top of the “Asian financial economy” ladder. Therefore, it is almost impossible for financial firms to turn away from Hong Kong despite of the instability in another sector.

Work Cited
Zarina, Hussain. “HK Protests: Tourism Impact.” BBC News. BBC, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29438025>.

The Vancouver Sun article  addresses the conflict between the First Nation and the BC Hydro regarding the proposal of BC Hydro’s Site C project, the construction of a dam and 1,100-megawatt hydroelectric generating station on the Peace River in northeastern British Columbia. Although the project promises to become BC’s clean source of energy to fulfil the ever-growing population and demand in Victoria, the external factors are causing a huge impact on the pursuit of the project; in particular, the First Nations are directly affected by this project.

Source: www.bchydro.com/ The proposal of the BC Hydro Site C project is refused by the Tsilhqot’in First Nation

PESTLE Analysis: The main the external threats to BC Hydro’s proposal are the political, social and environmental  factors, while the economical and environmental factors are the driving force for the dam construction plan.

• Political: BC Hydro is forced to pause the operation of the project because they are violating the First Nation policies and agreement [under the Indian Act].
• Environmental: The project will consequent in flooding 83km of the Peace River Valley, land important for BC’s food security and community resilience – leading BC Hydros to face huge environmental conflict. It also induces a detrimental affect on the local farmland and wildlife habitat. Nonetheless, building the dam will create access to hydroelectric power (renewable energy source) that is better for the environment – minimises the national dependence on crude oil.
• Social: Impairs the First Nation’s rights to fish, hunt and use land for ceremonial purposes. Traditional value must be preserved.
• Economical: Creates a sustainable source to satisfy the growing demand for energy, creating huge opportunity for BC Hyrdo to generate revenue.

My thoughts
Coming from a foreign background and only recently introduced to the land ownership conflict between the First Nations and the government, I can only offer limited explanation regarding this topic. Nonetheless, this article really underlines the importance of being aware of the external factors such as traditions (social), laws and regulations (political) when making business decisions. In my opinion, at this time and age, it is equally important for the First Nations to recognise the country’s need for energy to cater the growing population and consumption of power. I believe that the economical benefits of the BC Hydro project outweigh the cost. The generation of enormous energy will not only better the oil consumption problems in the long-run, but more importantly allow Canadian economy to be less dependent on the prices of oil. The First Nations ought to be more open about agreeing on mutually benefitting resolution (although, it is easier said then done).

Are corporations like BC Hydro legally required to consider the legacy of First Nations?

What are the benefits for BC Hyrdro for protect First Nations’ territories over supplying scarce resource to the BC residents?

At the end of the day, the government and the First Nations are both fighting to make effort to create a better environment the Canadians.

For more information about the Site C Project, check out this article.

Additional comment after the Class 10 (13.10.2014)
The lecture discussion opened my eyes to a new interpretation and deeper knowledge about the territorial values of the First Nations, and how it should continue to be government’s first responsibility to protect the environment in Canada and assure corporations are complying with the traditional law. Still, it is difficult to judge the decisions based on the macroeconomic basis; but from what I learned in the lecture, BC Hydro should consider the long-term impact of the project and the environment, and re-evaluate the extent of damage it will have on their intangible and more meaningful outcomes, such as company reputation (even though profits can be made).

Work Cited
O’NEIL, PETER. “First Nation Chiefs to Stage Site C Showdown.” The Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network Inc., 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

This is a response to post on Online Business -E-commerce Advantage (by Kamila Bikbulatova)

(source: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com) E-commerce continue to increase its popularity due to the advantages

Kamila’s blog post discussed about the effect of e-commerce on both customers and businesses. Now, there are many forms of e-commerce, from  online banking, retailing and utility services. Thanks to the prevalence in social media and technological development, businesses are introduced to a new channel of distribution and sustainable source of revenue, and the consumers are presented with wider choice and convenient surfing and processing experience. Win-win situation?

I personally believe NO. Despite the increasing popularity the new way of business, in my opinion there are many pitfalls and unwanted cost associated with e-commerce.

Firstly, the blog post mentioned extensively about e-commerce building stronger and better relationships with the public. While this could be true, e-commerce has high risk of fraudulent trade. As a buyer, it is very difficult to authenticate if items sold on eBay. I am also reluctant to make orders online because I fear for online fraud and security of my private information.

Secondly, while the blog post emphasises how e-commerce can save our time, I personally find browsing online is quite time consuming and onerous. For instance, while most people enjoy browsing for information about a particular car they car interested in, they will still want to visit to test-drives and showroom prior to investments (especially when it is expensive). Also, the lag time between your purchase and shipment can take a very long time. Likewise, I believed that e-commerce isn’t suited for all type of businesses.

E-commerce also enable businesses to employ unethical marketing opportunities – the attack of spam mails.

In essence, e-commerce is not the answer but merely an option for businesses to expand and succeed in their operation. With millions of users surfing online, the beauty and the evil of e-commerce has yet to be fully understood.

Getting “high” on Love? – Read the article here

(source: http://www.torontosun.com) www.420singles.net is totally new platform for the pot smokers to find love

Summary: There is a new market opportunity in the online dating industry. 420singles.net is one of many unique dating platform catering to a niche yet persistent market segment – the marijuana users. These “cannabis-friendly” dating websites helps marijuana users to find love online by avoiding the discrimination and uncomfortable conversations faced when introducing themselves as “pot smokers”.From medical-marijuana patients to casual smokers and even the business professionals, these online dating sites connect single “high” lover seeker with a potential spouse that is also accepting of their lifestyle. This market turns many potential inventor’s heads as it hint a significant business opportunity; despite the recent launch of the website, the site has reached almost 23,000 subscribers and are forecasted to continue growing as legal pot are expected to reach $10 billion by 2018.

My thoughts: I too believe that there are huge business opportunity for businesses like 420singles.net, especially in this world with prevalence of social media and the popularity of online dating in all age group. There is huge scope as more and more countries and states are legalising the use of marijuana and increasing number of people are becoming “open” about their use of marijuana – increases more opportunity for expanding customer base. Moreover, the niche market targeted by 420singles.net (and related businesses) is relatively untouched within the online dating industry, thus they can gained first-mover advantage of attracting loyal customer base and increase market share, since most marijuana users are devoted in their particular lifestyle knowing that the demand for marijuana is a price inelastic and current marijuana users are likely to be users for life. I deem that the market competition is fairly low as well. I perceive this as not only a business opportunity, but also an opportunity to change the social prejudice against the marijuana smokers.

Work cited
Papenfuss, Mary. “Stoners Get High on Love with Marijuana Dating Sites.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.

NOTE: I personally do not consume any form of psychoactive drug.

This is a response to No Such Thing as Bad Publicity? (by June Ong)

“There’s only one thing worse than being hated- being ignored”

Urban Outfitter takes down the Kent State University “bloodstain” sweater after the image went viral on social media. Was this a genuine mistake or was it……

As a self-claimed fashion-lover and a loyal customer of Urban Outfitter, I was gutted to read about the release of the “bloodstained” sweater with a Kent State University logo. Since I was completely unaware of the tragic shooting of Kent State University, I was easily manipulated into believing the company’s apology in the beginning:

“It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such.”

The blog post by June opened my eyes to the sinister yet powerful intention of Urban Outfitter’s marketing strategy. As disturbing as it sounds, the management of the company discussed and agreed on this method of gaining publicity, deliberately designed and manufactured the item, and knowingly capitalised the controversy and apology to “stand out” from other companies in the industry. The many lies in the statement above is extremely saddening, as apparel retailers are now willing to exploit disasters for profit. More so, them denying this intent is almost as offensive as the shirt itself. After all, Friedman states the goal of every company is to maximize profit and will do whatever it requires to keep their business profitable. Indeed, bad publicity is better than no publicity for companies as they want to be at the top of consumers minds during the purchase cycle. This is mainly because “mistakes” like these are quickly forgotten and all that is remembered is the brand.

Outrage was the exact response they are after, hence, Urban Outfitter has in a sense accomplished their intention. In fact, it was us, customers that did the company a favour and spread the brand awareness. But it is hard to say that the hype generated is anything long-term. Urban Outfitters ought to evaluate whether the benefit gained from this outrage justifies the cost.

Work Cited
Rupp, Lindsey. “Urban Outfitters’ Bloodstained ‘Vintage Kent State’ Shirt Sparks Outrage.”Bloomberg News. The Globe and Mail Inc., 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 21 Sept. 2014. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/fashion-and-beauty/urban-outfitters-bloodstained-vintage-kent-state-shirt-sparks-outrage/article20599281/>.