A BCom Blog by Monique Wong

I always find it fun to introduce myself at the beginning of the semester when new classes begin as well to new people I meet from day to day. I find that my story always changes … depending to who I talk to. Do I sound like a liar? Well, I like to think of myself more as someone who is continuously striving to be unique and self-aware. I present what is most interesting about myself from the perspective of whoever I talk to. And in this context, I feel as if I deserve this type of introduction:

I am a commerce student just like everyone else, also somewhat required to take this course to complete my BCom . But I am so much more. I am passionate: foremost about the environment, then about numbers, and more importantly, I’m fascinated with knowledge. Of any kind. I love to see how puzzle pieces come together and I love to apply what I learn.

Now what does that make me? A bit of a nerd, a bit of an environmental advocate, and an aspiring accountant. And I am excited about COMM 296.

I definitely am not a number-cruncher who is going to sit behind close doors and not care about the whole of the business. As I said, I like puzzle pieces and I see the big pictures that comes with them. I believe that marketing is an extremely important (even the lifeline) of many businesses and that it can definitely make or break a business. With my early exposure to cases (through case competitions), I realize that when the strengths of strong marketing backed up by strong analysis comes together with a solid financial background, we can go far. Besides, I’m a bit of a nerd – I’ll enjoy marketing if it were purely for the knowledge.

My marketing experience can be summarized in these three pictures:

My very first job was at Sport Chek as a sales associate. I was the ambassador of the many sporting brands that Sport Chek sold as well as the first point of contact of the customers who came into our store. I delivered excellent customer experiences as I matched a customer’s needs to relevant products keeping into account budgetary constraints.

My second job (or it may have been the third if you count concurrent employment) and current job is at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site. A definite tourist attraction over the summer when Steveston is sunny and warm, I deliver tours of the site and offer insight on “places to go” to our thousands of visitors. If anything, I deliver value through communicating the rich history of the BC Coast as well as keep up a reputation for Vancouver as a tourist city.

And of course, as a consumer, I have experience in sourcing socially responsible options to my consumption while staying on a student budget. It’s challenging, but it’s doable.

As for my favourite ad:

I wouldn’t actually go so much as to calling it my favourite, but I do enjoy advertisements that for a change tells us to cut back. I also like ads that use strong imagery, have an effective analogy and are informative in general.

And of course, anyone who takes transit has seen this ad:

One of my favourites as well.

As for an interesting fact … I think I’ve exposed enough of myself to everyone in my introduction already. Pick a fact from above and let it be the interesting thing you remember about me.