With one too many firms heading in the same direction, points of difference has slowly developed into points of parity. No longer are ethically sourced coffee beans a unique aspect of a coffee company – in fact, it has become the norm. So how can companies differentiate themselves with similar values and features? The answer is shock factor! Brand focus is slowly becoming an integral segment of my blog, and for this post, I will be concentrating on BC’s local organic breakfast cereal company: Holy Crap.

Like most “healthy” breakfast cereals in the market, Holy Crap advertises “tasty, gluten-free, [and] non-GMO organic breakfast cereals”. But what has caught the attention of the public initially, is its brand name. Originally named “Hapi Foods” the first ten bags were sold at Sechelt Farmers Market in May 2009. “When one of their very first customers said, ‘Holy Crap… this is amazing!’ [In that instant] Brian [Mullins]  changed the name to Holy Crap. Sales increased 1000% – from ten bags a day to over one hundred.” 

As Paul Cubbon stated, in his Part 1 of his Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Research video, personal memory and processing are factors that we “must lay out… so we can unpackage consumer behaviour.” From this brand, it is apparent that shock factor allows a story, and in this  case, a company’s name, to be entrenched in the memory of the customer.

Sources:

http://holycrap.ca/about-corin-mullins-and-brian-mullins/

http://www.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/133362/uiconf_id/16718522/entry_id/0_n71z3tl2/embed/legacy?

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0163/2714/products/Bag-CA-HolyCrap_large.jpg?v=1411145688

It’s an understatement to say that the government has a tough job. With a diverse range of shareholders who make their wants and needs known, the government must consider and encapsulate every law, treaty, or opinion; as they are constantly scrutinized for the decisions they make.

Some of these decisions, can come into conflict with certain groups – particularly that of the First Nations bands. Take BC Hydro’s Site C hydroelectric megaproject which totals to about $8-billion. Using the PEST(Political, social, economical, and technological) Analysis tool, I can see that this project directly affects the lifestyle and education of First Nation’s groups, knowing that respecting and valuing the environment is integral to their culture. This belief is supported, as Liz Logan, of the the Fort Nelson First Nation says, “It’s our church, it’s our store, it’s our school. We have elders’ gatherings there annually.”(Vancouver Sun) To add, in a recent editorial, it states that the “conditions need to be improved for revenue generating resource development and business enterprises.”(Vancouver Sun). What conditions you may ask? “… litigious aboriginal groups, an absence of treaties with First Nations, activist environmentalists, … — all contribute to a landscape in B.C. that is particularly challenging for business.” (Vancouver Sun)

As a province whose revenue comes primarily from its natural resources, business is inhibited by the clashing perspectives of shareholders. The government must discern which shareholders’ needs are  “first” strategically, despite the economic and social clash.

Sources:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/First+Nation+chiefs+stage+Site+showdown/10215965/story.html

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Editorial+MLAs+need+back+business/10257226/story.html

http://pestleanalysis.com/pest-analysis/

http://images.glaciermedia.ca/polopoly_fs/1.654524.1381356045!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_563/site-c-dam-project.jpg