Over this course I have learnt  a great deal about marketing techniques, as well as team collaboration during our group projects. I believe the marketing plan assignments were a great way to apply all the concepts and knowledge we learnt in class, and connect it with our company. In our case it was BlackBerry! The video project was definitely more challenging than expected. It was especially tough to create an original project, while still keeping it informative about our company. The 7:00 minute time limit was killer!

This project also allowed me to better understand how to analyse and identify a company’s marketing mix, and coming up with future recommendations. I believe our team collaborated very well, and we were able to apply everybody’s strongest skill-set to analyse every aspect of our assignment. I definitely enhanced my collaboration and time management skills during this assignment, it was tough to balance video shooting, research, editing along with numerous team meeting with other school work!

If I had the chance to go back I would definitely try to come up with a more unique video concept. While I still believe our video was strong, it presented a unique opportunity to really be original and creative. However I am very proud of the way our team functioned, and that we were able to successfully compete every part of the assignments.

This assignment has allowed me to improve my teamwork skill, while also understand how to identify a company’s value creation process and its marketing mix. Overall it was a great introduction to the marketing world, and I want to thank Tamar for a great semester!

Chris MacDonald has written a blog about ethics and supply chain accountability on the http://www.canadianbusiness.com website. Chris’ blog was about how McDonald’s and Target have both stopped using Sparboe Farms as their supplier for eggs. This was caused by worries regarding animal welfare in the facilities of Sparboe. Animal welfare is a very sensitive topic, as many believe that animals should be treated like humans, therefore animal cruelty or abuse would be condemned by many people around the world.

This topic relates to the lecture on Business Ethics. In this scenario McDonald’s and Target had a dilemma of whether or not to continue doing business with Sparboe Farms for a better financial profit, or to find a new supplier to improve public’s opinion of them. This move would be wise as McDonald’s would gain support of activists defending animal rights resulting in increased customer base, and potentially more investors. On the other hand if McDonald’s decided to ignore this issue, the public might hold McDonald’s accountable to the actions of its supplier. People might blame McDonald’s for knowing about Sparboe’s unethical actions, and failing to respond or interfere. This gives food for thought regarding the supply chain ethics, and whether or not a company should be judged based on the suppliers it chooses to deal with.

Work Cited:

” Is McDonald’s right to drop egg supplier Sparboe Farms? | CanadianBusiness.com.”CanadianBusiness.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blog/business_ethics/58175–eggs-ethics-and-supply-chain-accountability>.

While looking at my classmates’ blogs, Steven Tanaka’s post regarding the Will Ferrell Superbowl commercial stood out to me amongst all others.

The commercial itself is painfully funny to watch: you can’t help but cringe however it does make you laugh due to how irrelevant it’s content is relative to the product they are trying to promote. I agree with Steven that this commercial is a big psychological factor in our attitude towards Old Milwaukee, and how most people would not want to associate themselves with the “publicly affectionate couple” reference group. It seems illogical how this ad would make an individual want to go buy that beer brand. Personally I would be scared to drink it after that type of commercial.

However it is really interesting to analyse this marketing approach done by Old Milwaukee. It is clear that they are trying to associate drinking Old Milwaukee beer with the personality and lifestyle of Will Ferrell. I would assume this is targeting the younger generation, which revolves around cool and unique trends. The neat thing about this ad is the way the camera zooms out and the Old Milwaukee beer captures the attention of the person recording it more than Will Ferrell and the Asian lady. This is trying to portray the degree to which their beer stands out compared to anything unusual. Lastly it is also a commercial with virtually zero costs trying to achieve viral marketing, which makes it a low risk tactic.

Over the weekend I read an interesting blog post regarding the ethical dilemma in marketing baby products to new mothers at the hospital. According to the article in many  US hospitals the mothers and mothers-to-be receive free formula samples from their healthcare providers. This actually results in an increase in baby product sales due to mothers’ loyalty to the brand they already had experience with. These samples are often  the most expensive ones on the market, therefore resulting in huge costs for the parents after child’s birth if continued to be used. It poses an issue since this product marketing is done at a time when mothers are most vulnerable, and listen most to advice from their physicians and the hospital to ensure health of their child.

Overall I agree with this article about the timing of the product promotion. It may seem like a good gesture from the healthcare provider, but it’s true intent is to initiate a relationship between the product and the mothers in order to boost sales. This could also raise baby’s health issues due to over-excessive use of baby formulas. On the other hand it is difficult to label this as “unethical marketing” since these baby formulas are not provided directly by the patient’s physicians, and are merely free “convenience” samples. Therefore the factor of personal responsibility is also important to consider as we could point out that it is the mother’s responsibilities to make decisions regarding whether or not to use these products.

Work Cited:

“Formula Marketing in Hospitals: Ethical or Unethical? – Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County.” Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County – Healthy Start Coalition of Orange County: Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. <http://www.healthystartorange.org/1/post/2012/05/formula-marketing-in-hospitals-ethical-or-unethical.html>.

I came across an interesting read about how the majority of financial investment frauds  in the Unites States are coming from scams of the senior population. According to the 2009 article released by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, “financial abuse costs older Americans more than $2.6 billion per year.”  In addition between 2007-2009 there have been over 70 declared cases of scamming of the elder population. There have been typical cases of elder clients whose foundations’ or retirement funds’ finances are managed by brokers who would misuse the money without the owner’s knowledge or the company’s approval.

It is clear that seniors are the demographical group that is the most susceptible to being targets of brokers looking to scam people. It is often the case that some elders have lost their jobs and are unable to find new employment. With old age and increasing competition in the market these seniors’ chances of finding a new job to sustain themselves would be very low. Therefore investment would seem as a possible solution to fix their financial needs, and since most seniors do not possess financial knowledge they would rely mostly on the advice of their consultants.

Most scam brokers would first try to gain the trust of the senior, normally through giving them lots of attention and visits, and then persuading them into risky investments through appealing promises such as early retirement, lots of money for their children, etc. This is a perfect example of marketing strategies which target vulnerable people, and try to take advantage of their situation. Many victims are in poor health conditions and cannot testify in court, and many are too embarrassed to file fraud charges.

Work Cited:

Klein, Florence. “Introduction | Silver Planet.” Silver Planet – Eldercare help when you need it most.. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. <http://www.silverplanet.com/scams/scam-alerts/unethical-brokers-still-targeting-seniors/55810#.US7qOTC9ZBl>.

After hearing a lot about unethical marketing in the media lately, I stumbled upon an article which has absolutely shocked me. In this article from the British Medical Journal I have discovered that sales representatives of Warner-Lambert (a drug company) were caught bribing doctors in order to be allowed to speak with patients in order to promote their own products. Dr.Franklin then decided to sue Warner-Lambert after finding out that they were finding out “whether doctors prescribed gabapentin (epilepsy/seizure drug) and rewarded those who were considered high volume prescribers by paying them as speakers and consultants and also paying them to enter patients in clinical trials”. Furthermore this company was bribing doctors to allow their sales agents to be in the same room when the doctors were examining their patients.

Personally I believe this is a huge issue. Firstly it is because it revolves around healthcare which is such a sensitive topic. Under no circumstances should sales representatives be allowed in the examination room while the patients are seeing a doctor. This represents direct breach of medical privacy, in addition to corruption. In this case Warner-Lamber was trying to promote a drug for unapproved use, which could have serious medical issues on the patients. Lastly according to Dr.Franklin’s claims, Warner-Lamber was paying doctors to publish articles with positive feedback regarding their drugs, and going as far as saying that they were “hiring a marketing company to write first drafts”.

This article demonstrates just how far some companies are willing to go in order to capture a larger market share and increase their revenue. However at what costs? In this case the stakes are huge since we are dealing with healthcare and prescribed drugs. After reading this one is left thinking about just how accurate and safe is the medicine that is prescribed by doctors; Is it really what they think is best for the patient, or is somebody influencing them to promote a drug?

Work Cited:

“Doctor sues company over unethical marketing.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1123209/>

In an informative blog regarding the Lululemon enterprise by Tiffany Tsao, I was interested by her view on Lululemon’s entrepreneurship. According to Tiffany, it’s entrepreneurial since it has an innovative manner, and at the same time generates sufficient value towards the customers to cover their costs. Lululemon has chosen a controversial approach by creating brand identity around community and learning, while performing very little advertising. Despite this usual method Lululemon has created a very loyal customer base.

There are four aspect that distinguish an Entrepreneurship from a small business. They are the amount of wealth creation, speed of wealth creation, risk, and innovation. Lululemon has definitely excelled in wealth creation by generating a ridiculous $340 million annual revenue. This rapid wealth creating has occurred over a short span of 10 years, which furthermore distinguishes Lululemon from small businesses. Risk was very high for Lululemon due to their unusual lack of advertising, and a unique brand identity. Both of those strategies could have backfired, but the success of Lululemon lies in their distinctiveness from others and the willingness to take risks. Lastly in terms of innovation Lululemon has taken yoga wear to the next level through trendy designs, and comfortable material. Therefore it’s safe to say that Lululemon is a perfect example of an entrepreneurial business.

Work Cited:

“My Religious View? Ah, Lululemonism. | life in a box.” UBC Blogs | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/tiffanytsaoo/2011/11/16/my-religious-view-ah-lululemonism/>.

“A Definition of Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneur.” QuickMBA: Accounting, Business Law, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, Operations, Statistics, Strategy. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/>.

My fellow classmate Eric Tsai wrote a blog about the effects of the NBA lockout on the business as well as on the fans. Eric Tsai stated that the current NBA lockout threatens the business as it allows fans to chose from other substitutes. He also explained how the lockout affects fan’s loyalty, as they might become frustrated to the point that they stop supporting the sport, and not invest in tickets, cable games, NBA accessories, etc. Therefore Eric suggested that the lockout is a losing strategy for both parties since the loss of fan support will devastate their business.

This topic can be related to the Porters Five Forces lecture, as well as to the Marketing research and Consumer Behaviour class. First I must disagree regarding the high amount of substitutes. NBA is by no means the only professional sport in North America, however it is much larger and more advanced compared to it’s closest direct substitute; NCAA basketball. Other pro sports should not be treated as close substitutes, and therefore we can assume that they will not affect an NBA fan’s judgement. Regarding consumer behaviour the NBA has conducted market research in the past, and after the last NBA lockout it took a long time to restore their fan base. Its easy to understand that all fans want is to see their favourite players step on the court, and the lockout is obviously impeding that. Even despite a very strong fan base the owners must realise that if they continue disregarding the interest of fans by prolonging the lockout, then this would result in profit losses from related goods & services sales. Therefore the only sensible option would be to end the lockout, and resume play.

Work cited:

“Upcoming NBA Season seems unpromising… | Eric’s blog.” UBC Blogs | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/eric1121993/2011/11/16/upcoming-nba-season-seems-unpromising/>.

“Porter’s Five Forces.” QuickMBA: Accounting, Business Law, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, Operations, Statistics, Strategy. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011.<http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml>.

The congressional debt committee was over on Monday morning after unsuccessful negotiations regarding the issue on debt reduction. The main issues were the rising health costs and an unwieldy tax code. Therefore the committee had to come up with a minimum of $1.2 trillion dollars to help solve USA’s financial crisis. This failure took a toll on the stock market as Dow Jones’ shares went down by 2%. Throughout the negotiations the main issue remains the disagreement about ways to raise tax revenue, and reduce spending. Just as with the NBA Lockout issue both parties are accusing each other of lying and concealing information, which has furthermore caused a rift between the two sides.

This debt issue can be related to the “Finance & The Recent Crisis” lecture. The fear over this non-resolved has negatively affected future economic forecasts, and therefore the shareholders decided to sell their shares in fears of stock crisis. This crisis symbolizes a dysfunction in communication between the two parties. This along with the accusations of lying, and the mistrust atmosphere has negatively affected these negotiations. Therefore its increasingly difficult for a deal to be made since the two sides have to work through the personal issues impeding their progress.

Work Cited:

Sahadi, Jeanne. “Debt committee calls it quits without a deal – Nov. 21, 2011.” CNNMoney – Business, financial and personal finance news. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/21/news/economy/debt_committee_failure_final/index.htm?iid=Lead>.

When one thinks of computer software, or of a leader in technological innovation Apple usually comes to mind first. Established as a small company on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs Apple has grown into a global giant. Whether one is looking for razor thin laptops, or innovative smart-phones, Apple has it all.

Apple is an entrepreneurial business, meaning it was founded by a person, Steve Jobs, and has produced new and innovative products, and has created new forms of organization. When apple started coming out with Macs and Ipods/Iphones there was a huge demand for such innovative products, which generated massive revenue. Apple fits the criteria of an entrepreneurial business as it has created substantial value over a short period of time, while taking on a lot of risk. It always risky to create new and innovative product as you are unsure how the public will respond to it, and if there will be a high demand. Lastly Apple was and still is highly creative, they come up with new products, and improve their technology and software to satisfy the latest gadget demand.

Work Cited:

“A Definition of Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneur.” QuickMBA: Accounting, Business Law, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management, Marketing, Operations, Statistics, Strategy. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/>.