At the beginning of this course, I was clueless about marketing and when we were expected to choose a company with a group of strangers that ultimately, our mark would depend on, I felt completely overwhelmed. Moving forward however, Assignment one made everything make a bit more sense, and I felt that we could have researched our company forever,  as the more we discovered, the more there was to learn. But, our group worked well as a team and we managed to come up with a successful summary that provided as a strong base for the rest of the project.

The second assignment was more difficult as committing to the perfect segment market seemed impossible. This assignment was shorter and although hard to support in some circumstances, we were able to position our company successfully for the market chosen that would become the most important background for the final assignment

The video assignment by far proved to be the biggest challenge for our group and myself this term. Even with the Digital Media Lab people coming in, most of us were very clueless about what style of videos we even liked. We began the project as we knew, going through notes and by researching and coming up with ideas for improvement, we were able to create a written script that outlined the assignment. The most difficult area of the project was taking this script and deciding how to create a video out of it and our group struggled to see eye to eye. Finally, we were able to come up with a collection of videos, drawings and pictures that were cut and used to follow the voice track of the script. Overall, we ended up very happy with the creative and academic content in the final project.

Facebook was introduced to many of us a long time ago and clicking on their “home” page which would take you to the constantly updated newsfeed became natural and even comforting. Now, they are coming out with software that allows Facebook to be built into a new HTC and Android phone. The easy access to the social media website does more than an application by connecting users to Facebook through any other app they use. This follows right in line with customer’s growing need to multi-task and hyper-task on their mobile devices, (as discussed in trendwatching’s blog, Ten crucial consumer trends for 2013), and Facebook as the dominant presence on these phones is positioning itself very well for that movement.

However, the ad released to promote this new development, has been highly criticized. As stated in Adweek’s blog, Facebook pitches home sweet home…, the endgame of Facebook Home is “most certainly “to track more of a user’s behavior on devices and present more opportunities to serve up advertising.” Another Adweek blog refers to Facebooks advertisement pitch for Home commenting that,  “it won’t do much to convince anyone that Facebook isn’t, at its core, arrogant and condescending and not really to be trusted with the power it wields.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lep_DSmSRwE

So, is Facebook simply trying to hide it’s real motives behind their feel good advertisements, or does the comforting feeling many of us get from connecting to Facebook truly provide a sense of home?

Recently, I was on an airplane with set programming, when this ad campaign came on. By the instant interest I took in the series of videos shown below, it could be questionable whether this was an advertisement or simply entertainment. By simply explaining in such detail the lengthy design process for each car, Lincoln shows how much the customer is considered at every level of design. This is far beyond what I expected and would appeal greatly to those who seek such luxury cars, creating an one of a kind appeal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grqSn1q-RYY&list=PLAEESfiI93W-zl-d2wTNAe_hZ7y0VPDAl

The video that interested me most was the sixth and final video, “Materializing a Motorcar.” Taking fashion design into the interior of a car, sparked an appreciation for Lincoln cars in a way beyond their actual use. The interior designers work by choosing colours and materials so particularly, the same way as one off fashion items or luxury homes. After watching these videos, I now view Lincoln cars as a personalized experience more than a method of travel. The connection their brand made with me through interviews with these different designers will be remembered if I am ever lucky enough to be shopping in this market.

In the past year, Enbridge has become a common topic of debate among many BC citizens concerned about the company’s ethical practices. Prior to Enbridge’s new project “Northern Gateway BC”many people would not have paid much attention to pipeline companies. However BC has been flooded with conflicting views on the issue through the marketing strategies of various groups that include protestors, the BC government and Enbridge itself. All facets of the media has grasped onto this controversial subject and these groups have focused their marketing capabilities on using this to putting the issue of the proposed Northern Gateway project and Enbridge’s connected corporate social responsibility in a light that will persuade citizens in favour of their opinions.

The following video was created by an editorial cartoonist, Dan Murphy and is a visual parody of Enbridge’s advertisement for their project. The video takes Enbridge’s marketing efforts to and completely discredits them by continuously interrupting the ad with animated oil spills.

Murphy’s viral video may bring up its own set of issues in business ethics by attacking Enbridge’s ad, however there is no doubt that it was effective in selling to viewers the project’s environmental effects and Enbridge’s negligence for corporate social responsibility.

The original video was removed, but copies will live forever in the depths of the internet. And in a world where no publicity is bad publicity, the controversy over this video added to it’s effect. The link below leads to another video, where 6S Marketing further addresses the consequences of this video and its attempt at removal from the internet.

<a href=”http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqqOCyjQGlk” target=”_blank”></a>