nataliecheung's blog

I read https://blogs.ubc.ca/lugao15/ and I could immediately relate to the blog post.

Every consumer that walks into the brightly lit apple shop will be greeted by the “geniuses” aka friendly staff donned in blue.

These staff possess a deep understanding of all the apple products and are always available if any customer needs extra help. Although there are a huge number of geniuses present, a customer never feels pressured to purchase any item and can even stand in the shop for hours just playing around with the product. This is what makes the apple store so appealing. No lingering staff that watch over your every move, allowing the product to “speak” for themselves.
At the back of the store, there are staffs that walk around with their iphones and address any problems that customers face with their products.
I recently brought in my ipad to an apple store because of the faulty sound system and within 20 minutes, i was walking out of the apple store with a brand new ipad. No fuss. Easy. I was satisfied.
So what else makes Apple so successful. Surely the store and staff aren’t enough to attract all their loyal fans.

Well the answer lies with the products itself. It is eyecatching and relatively simple to use.
With a sleek exterior
and their famous logo  donning every product, whats not to love?

But beware, for many companies are hot on their track, introducing products that have the same functions packaged in a nice design, yet have a lower price.Yet, maybe the price point is what is attractive. The prestigious image it gives off definitely makes it popular with many teenagers.

Although they do have a loyal base of consumers, Apple should definitely continue to innovate and come up with more interesting designs to catch the consumers’ eyes and not just come up with an improved version of their previous product in the same packaging. Such as the Iphone 4s from the Iphone 4 and The New Ipad from the Ipad 2. Consumers do get bored and with the increased competition, Apple has to deliver to not be left behind in this fast paced environment of technological devices as this could potentially cause Apple to lose their market share.

I read hyundeok’s blog and funny enough, I was the “friend” who she was walking with on campus when we both came across a man scantily dressed, dancing on a podium in the cold vancouver weather. His brave attempts of dancing solo in nothing but his underwear definitely caught many students’ attention, something which is pretty hard considering the number of advertisements we get exposed to on a daily basis. Unfortunately for him, i grabbed the piece of pamphlet informing me of used book sales but i threw that paper away at the nearest garbage bin. His admirable effort is wasted. I wouldnt even have remembered what the paper said if not for reading it in hyundeok’s blog.

I agree that many shops now use interesting ways to attract consumers’ attention. A famous example would be A&F/Hollister



These male models equipped with their six pacs and their charming smile (and of course, A&F/Hollister clothes) is definitely a charm to many potential clients (girls/women…)
This has became a tradition, a culture of their company. Whenever a new shop has its first opening, there will definitely be male models present. Whether this is an inappropriate use of marketing depends on the individual customers.

As for me, well i have no complains.
An extra eye candy wont hurt.
And it seems to be garnering more and more exposure for the company effectively increasing their market share.

Marketing involves a wide combination of factors that helps to build a company’s brand. A company’s logo is one of the most essential aspect of attracting customers.

Famous logos involves



I’m pretty sure we are all able to recognize these logos easily. This ultimately means the company was successful in creating a memorable logo that consumers will remember.

Another aspect would be slogans.
Popular slogans involves:
“I’m lovin’ it” for Mcdonalds
“Just do it” for Nike
“Nothing is impossible” for Adidas
Slogans are crucial for a company’s branding because a good slogan would stay in consumers’ minds and ultimately affect their decision when deciding between their company and other substitutes.
The best way to successfully promote a company’s product or service would be to create buzz and have many people talk about their brand and get their name out in the market.

A good reputation is a key factor for a company. However for companies that seem to get stuck in this constant circle of not being able to create that “good” reputation, a better way to solve this might be to embrace their consumer’s mindset and turn that negative into a positive.
An example would be the city of Las Vegas.
After repeatedly having an image of being a place of sin, the tourism board came up with an advertising campaign which included the slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Since then, Las Vegas blossomed into one of the world’s most popular entertainment city with a high influx of tourists visiting this city.

With the right combination of logos, slogans and reputation, a company will be able to reach out and attract potential clients, retain existing customers and develop relationships with them to ensure their lifelong commitment to their company.

For the first semester, we had to make speeches on a weekly basis.
Before taking this course, i was uncomfortable with making speeches in front of a group of people.
I was not confident of my ability to present about a given topic. However, as the weeks went by, i slowly gained more confidence, and ended up having no problems memorizing a speech and delivering it smoothly.

For the second semester, the weekly classes allowed me to learn how to present myself in front of an interviewer, and the different steps to take when preparing for an interview. We also learnt how to improve on our resumes and cover letter in order to make it suitable for each company.

Lastly, we learnt about the different ways to inform ourselves of the possible fit or conflict with each and every company. We should attend information sessions in order to learn more about the company and the working style and determine if it fits our own working style.

This course overall has been a very helpful course in preparing us for the business world, it allowed me to gain insights about how to success in the future.

I have learnt many things from my grandfather.
but the greatest one would be keeping family ties strong.

Since my grandfather has 4 brothers and 5 sisters, its without a doubt that i have a huge family.
Being brought up in a chinese family, there was great emphasis on family ties.
Every chinese new year, my family would gather at my granduncle’s house to celebrate.
Over these 3 days, we find ourselves immersed in the chinese spirit, decked out in red and receiving red packets.
I enjoy receiving money, well who doesn’t?
and the endless table of food and snacks..
it cant get any better than that can it?

but what i failed to realize was what i really liked was the atmosphere.
I actually only learnt this a few months ago…
I was on skype with my family in singapore during chinese new year.
While they were all enjoying themselves, i was in koerner library, studying for my accounting midterm the next day.
what a fun way to spend chinese new year isnt it?

Then it struck me how much i really missed talking to my relatives, how much fun it was just catching up on things that happened over the year.
and for that i learnt how important family ties are.
i truly understand what my grandfather meant everytime he talks about how it is crucial to attend all family gatherings.
and i am really glad that our family is close.

I am looking forward to visiting my family during the summer vacation and spending time with them..

so much insight, in just one video.

I agree that the way the society is structured, we learn to be more future orientated.
we try to predict the future, and we accelerate learning by inventing tools to aid in our daily processess.

with tools like that, we might not even need experts anymore.
we can just put on the googles, and we’ll be able to fix anything, do everything ourselves.

take a look at this,

this video was made in 2001
and HP has achieved many of their projected prototypes

one of the key tools that innovators use is the concept of future back
future back is when inventors imagine what the future holds and what the future can look like.

innovators. creators. entrepreneurs.
this is what business school is teaching me.
at the end of this, i get a career that is full of risks.
full of different opportunities.
full of unpredictability.
and this is what i appreciate.
new challenges instead of routined work.

on the last day of classes, or actually on 2nd December,
i realized that comm 101 has finally came to an end.
all the challenging cases and business plans are done.
it has opened my “door of opportunity” and built my “toolkit” to prepare me for the many different options that i can go into.
and it has taught me many things, ranging from finance to social ethics to marketing.

and this is the 10th blog post.
finally done.
now to work on the mindmap plus reflective paper,
and after im done that, maybe i wont hate comm 101 that much.

because through it all,
I have learnt so much.

15
young people who joined the London chef apprenticeship scheme in 2002.

and thats the start of another social enterprise.
Jamie Oliver can be called a social entrepreneur, and a successful one at that.

We talked about measuring success as a social entrepreneur in class.
Creating value and improving the society is hard to measure.
but i would definitely consider what Jamie Oliver did as creating value

He trains young people that have a passion for something else other than boring economics and commerce courses
just kidding.

He sets up apprenticeship programs for young people ranging from the age of 18-24.
Instilling a sense of hope and opportunity for their future.

He educates them about the importance of nutritious food and having a balanced diet.
Promoting a more healthy lifestyle.

In the video, the teenagers are very grateful for this opportunity to improve their life and their future.
Their gratitude shows that Jamie Oliver is successful as a social entrepreneur.

As mentioned in his website, the profits goes towards the scheme.
So basically whatever revenue the company makes, deducting the costs.

how do we define the costs?

there is a fine line there.
and many social entrepreneurs have to ensure that they dont use this as a chance of earning extra money.

“The cost of retiree pension, health, insurance, and other benefits to an employer.”

Ratio of retirees to working-age population
2010: 35.5%
2020: 48%
2050: 76.4%

this rate seems is frightening.

Imagine this.
In just 10 years, every worker has to support one elderly.
that means the taxes will continuously increase to provide better healthcare.. and stuff like that.

wait a minute.
in a decade, I will be 28.
that means, I AM THE WORKER

the only comfort i can get out of this is that the projected rate i have listed above are for にほん；日本 JAPAN.
Maybe i should reconsider taking Japanese 101 next semester and stop looking at possible options of working in japan.

But really, this isn’t just happening to Japan, I am sure that almost every country is facing the exact same problem,
with a low birth rate, the ratio will just keep increasing.

So how exactly should we solve the legacy cost problem?
provide better education so that the new generation can hopefully generate more revenue and more groundbreaking inventions to solve this crisis?
turn to international institutions for help?
get people to work for a longer period of time so there is more money to support the elderly?
there really isnt A solution to this.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

or maybe the world will come to and end before that.
“21.12.2012” – Mayan predictions

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2010/09/27/japan-the-next-global-time-bomb/

“this year’s winter is going to be one of the coldest…”
and then it starts snowing in the middle of november?
even UBC experienced snowfall 2 weeks ago.
to fight the cold, i chose to equip myself with…

starbucks

Seems like I’m not the only one appreciating the many starbucks locations around campus and around the world.
Look at their stocks..

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/03/starbucks-climb-isnt-over-yet/

So what exactly does starbucks offer other than overpriced coffee?

comfy couches?
nice christmas cups?

no, they have different sizes of cups.

short, tall, grande, venti

30 different types of coffee

to be honest, i dont know anything about coffee, so i wouldnt be able to tell anyways.
but what truly sets starbucks apart is their marketing strategy.

2 stores diagonally across from each other.
yeah so much for marketing…

but thats exactly what makes starbucks unique.
“It’s one thing to dream, but when the moment is right, you’ve got to be willing to leave what’s familiar and go out to find your own sound.” Pour your heart into it by Howard Schultz

they recognize that everyone have their regulated way of walking to work, to workout, to school.
and most people like to stick to their routines, by having stores located diagonally from each other, they are attending to their customer’s needs, thinking from the customer’s point of view.

and thats what sets them apart.
their marketing strategy.
their attentiveness to their customers.

in 1928? Yes, thats when it all started.

Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse

He is one of the greatest entrepreneur of all time. At least for me he is. My childhood was filled with famous film productions by Walt Disney Pictures. Walt Disney started off being passionate about doodling and decided to chase his dreams.  He achieved “wealth creation” starting off with a minute amount of capital and turning it to a multi-billion dollar company.  He also introduced new innovative products (animation with voice) to the society, which sparked an immerse interest among the people in the 20^th century.  He lead us into the world of animation, which has currently became one of the most popular form of entertainment in today’s society. Walt Disney managed to forecast his success in the once uncertain and unfamiliar industry. In return, he has multiplied the size of his business by a thousand folds. From popular animations to films to Disney land, there is not one area where he has not expanded on. Walt Disney is truly an entrepreneur, and for taking the risks he took, well he gets to live

Happily Ever After….

until he dies of course..

he’s dead.