In this semester, I was given the opportunity to work with a group of awesome people on the Marketing assignment in analyzing the current situation, STP and marketing mix of Zara. This group project has been an invaluable experience for me, as not only I could apply the marketing concepts that I had learnt in class to develop a marketing strategy that helps Zara to target a new segment (the “Hidden Beauties”) and proceed to the company’s success, but also my interpersonal skills have greatly strengthened throughout the process of teamwork.

I am glad that I was assigned to the same group with Allen, Evangeline, Irving and Terence as they are all amazing people to work with. I would use “united” to describe our team, as everyone was willing to contribute and put effort into the project. Although sometimes it happened to have conflicts between us, we always respected each other and patiently listened to others’ opinions and analyzed them carefully. Overall, we worked as a harmonious team and had become good friends after working together on this long and progressive project. We also enjoyed each others’ company to have delicious meals after our 5-hour group meetings!

As I have mentioned above, we always had group meetings that lasted for an average of 5 hours. Yes, 5 hours long! We spent so much time on each meeting because we did not actually split up our work and most of the time we worked together on the same part at the same time. Fortunately, we could still finish our assignments and hand them in on time. I will definitely learn from this mistake and I know what to do in my next group project -to separate and distribute work for each individual to accomplish independently so that efficiency can be achieved.

Thanks to this Marketing assignment for I have learnt so much outside the textbook and built up a good friendship with Team 3! 🙂

I’m a big Disney fan. I love Mickey and Minnie. I have a Magic Access annual pass, which allows me to visit Hong Kong Disneyland whenever I want to.  Being in love with Disney and fond of studying Marketing, 7 Magical Marketing Lessons From Disney World is an interesting article to read.

I agree that Disney World has done a superb job in “taking the dumb money”. As the author mentioned, some of the rides and attractions in Disney World are sponsored. However, I do not think that those sponsors are giving out “dumb money” as they are actually promoting their businesses by featuring their brands in Disneyland. For example, Hong Kong Disneyland’s “Autopia” is sponsored by Honda. The attraction allows guests of all ages to drive to the “road of tomorrow” aboard shiny electric cars . I believe this would be an effective way for Honda to advertise their automobiles as Honda’s commitment to innovation, safety and family values aligns with Disneyland’s image. In addition, by showing Honda’s logo all around the attractions,  most of the kids, especially boys would relate cars with Honda, and Honda can get its brand into their retrieval sets.

“Don’t prevent the inevitable” is another successful marketing strategy of Disney World. In Hong Kong Disneyland, they would take photos of guests while they are on board for the thrilling ride of “Space Mountain” and “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh”.  These photos capture different facial expressions of the riders are shown back to them on screen when the ride is over.  A couple of years ago, people could still use their own cell phones and cameras to copy the photos from the screen. However, in order to prevent visitors from doing this and not buying the photos from them, Hong Kong Disneyland now put signs on the faces of the riders and this would entice them to purchase the photos if they really want to see the “original”.

Disney World has been doing great in its marketing strategies and I believe I will certainly discover more when I visit Disneyland next time.

“There is not a woman alive who does not dream of looking like Audrey Hepburn.”-
Hubert de Givenchy. Iconic actress Audrey Hepburn is the most beautiful woman in my
heart for she is classy and elegant with a perfect face. Tiffany & Co. has become one of my favorite brands since Audrey Hepburn had starred in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, wearing the Tiffany’s Yellow Diamond.

Recently, I came across this video on a YouTube channel with Audrey Hepburn starring in Galaxy Chocolate UK TV advertisement. As a Hepburn fan, I was delighted to see her on screen again. So how did Audrey Hepburn make herself resurrect after her death in 1993 and appear in the commercial ad as the new “Galaxy girl” to sell the indulgent Galaxy chocolate? The ad agency AMV BBDO created the ad with a combination of footage shots on the Amalfi Coast in Italy and computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation of Audrey Hepburn. Making use of Audrey’s entire feature film catalog and all available press and documentary photographs as reference, the team recorded more than 70 possible muscle movements and blended facial expressions to reconstruct Audrey’s face. Arnold, a new renderer was then used to perfect the complex look of skin and make Audrey looks real.

It is totally amazing that technology nowadays is so advanced and innovate, in which it can even bring a death people back to life to star in a commercial ad, especially when Audrey Hepburn is described as a timeless glamorous star. Although there are criticisms and controversies amongst viewers, saying that the ad is distasteful, creepy and insulting Audrey Hepburn’s legacy, despite the blessing from Hepburn’s sons for they believe that their mother would have been “proud” to be in the ad as she “often spoke about her love of chocolate and how it lifted her spirit”, I think that this ad will definitely attract Hepburn fans like me to attempt to purchase a bar of Galaxy Chocolate to experience a taste for being Audrey Hepburn.

Recently, French luxury brand Louis Vuitton accused the owner of a hair salon in Hong Kong for infringing its trademark as chairs covered in its trademarked check pattern are found in the salon. Louis Vuitton demanded a published apology and payment of HK$25, 000 in damages. This news has aroused my interest in looking at the importance of trademark for branding.

A trademark is a recognized sign, design, or expression, which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others. Some products have higher prices than the others not only because they have better quality, but also a recognizable trademark. Many products provide the same functions. However, some companies are able to charge higher prices than the others because they have a well-established trademark. Consumers are willing to pay larger amount of money to buy those companies’ products because they help them to convey higher social status and prestige. Therefore, a good trademark is definitely a strong asset for companies to generate huge profits and companies should target consumers who value famous brands to identify themselves by establishing a unique and recognizable trademark.

It is understandable that Louis Vuitton wants to reserve the right in using its trademark as large amount of money is spent on establishing its brand by creating the famous and well-known check pattern. However, in my opinion, Louis Vuitton should not request for such huge sum of compensation from small-business owner since people might think that it is an act of bullying. And this might cause damage to the reputation of the company. Moreover, the owner actually did not aware that he was infringing the trademark and I think it is more important to educate the people of property intellectual rather than penalizing them with severe fines.

I came across this video on Tumblr and Riley Maida, a four-year-old girl at a toy store, who questioned the unfairness of the idea that “all girls have to buy pink stuff while all boys have to buy different color stuff”.  This video impressed me a lot and had reminded me of Alyssa’s blog post about the “Let Toys Be Toys” campaign.

As Alyssa mentioned in her blog post, the campaign was undertaken to caution retailers against using gender marketing to sell toys to either boys or girls. In the stores, many toys are placed on shelves under “Boys’ Toys” or “Girls’ Toys” signs. This is very inappropriate and misleading because different genders should have their own option in choosing what toys to play with. Even a four-year-old girl can understand and bring out the important message that toys should not be limited to one gender only. Marketers should take this issue seriously and stop limiting children’s imaginations and interests by promoting some toys as only suitable for one specific gender. All children should be exposed to all kinds of toys (except those violence games) to develop their potentials. A girl’s talents in engineering might be hindered if she never has a chance to play with the “boy’s toys” like Legos. And a boy might develop his interest in fashion designing after playing with Barbie dolls. No one knows! Retailers should not categorize toys by gender because some kids might love to play with toys which are not promoted for their gender. It is very unfair to them if they are not directed to all toys in the stores in order to choose the toys that they truly want to play with.

Having good business ethics and social responsibilities would bring significant benefits to a business as it not only gives a good reputation to the brand, but also draws customers’ attention to buy their products, as well as attracts and retains talented employees to stay with the business. These will boost the sales and profits, and also reduce staff turnover and training costs of the company. However, some companies may ignore the importance of business ethics when making decisions, for the sake of making ultimate money.

Anli Dhawan, the owner of three Subway franchises in British Columbia received the “Bad Boss Award” from the Employee Action and Rights Network for his refusal to pay employees who worked overtime. The network claimed that employees were asked to sign a so-called “Employee Wage Agreement” when they were hired. The agreement outlined that employees agree to waive their legal rights to overtime pay. It was a very unethical practice, which violated the Employment Standard Acts. Victims were usually young workers who wanted to gain more working experiences and newcomers to Canada who did not know much about their legal rights.

As suggested by ladychacha’s blog post “Mistreatment of employees in fast food industry”, employees often work overtime without getting extra pay is a common issue that always happens, especially in the fast food industry where people who work there are less likely to voice out the unfair treatments by their employers. To deal with this, I think the B.C. Ministry of Labour should increase penalty against employers who fail to pay overtime wages, minimum wages, or other legitimate working wages. Employers should also bear in mind that unethical acts would bring great influence to their brands, as it will cause psychological, financial and legal consequences, which ruin the company’s reputation. Anli Dhawan’s case is a good example of it as he is now well-known as the infamous “Bad Boss” winner. The Employee Action and Right Network will hand out more “Bad Boss” awards to unethical bosses and I hope it will be a warning sign to those employers who are still exploiting their employees’ rights.

Source: http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2012/04/10/vancouver-subway-owner-named-bad-boss-by-young-workers/

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