As part of completing the COMM 296 Marketing course at UBC, you are required to do a video project on your chosen company. In this blog, I will share my thoughts on the experience.

Creating a video for a project is a unique opportunity. Being able to do it in groups made it an enjoyable experience. We used the iPeer system to rate the videos of other groups. This was a good way to give feedback and constructive criticism, while also being able to see what your peers though of your own video. There were a standard set of multiple choice questions that asked us about specific criteria. This made it easy to rate videos by comparing them to others, which means that the ratings would be fair. 

Instead of doing a presentation (which are done quite frequently as group projects to end the term), the choice by the marketing professor to do a video project instead was a good one. Being a part of the project helped us gain valuable skills that we can potentially use in a real world application. Instead of doing another presentation, we now have the skills to do the presentation using video. While it is impossible to learn everything in one project, the skills we obtained are a good base to learn more on video editing if we choose to do so. After completing this assignment, I hope more commerce courses will be able to offer different options rather than a standard presentation.

Abercrombie and Fitch was first established as an outdoor gear shop in 1892 and has gone on to become one of the most dominant casual luxury clothing stores. It has  a lot of loyal customers and a strong brand image because it produces consumer centric products. A&F works towards providing the customers with value by producing high quality products that are very sustainable. The company uses higher quality inputs to produce and makes sure to provide customers a benefit that exceeds the cost. In other words, A&F wants the value perceived by customers to be higher than the value the customers perceive from competitors’.

Another key element that Abercrombie and Fitch uses to further strengthen brand image and create a strong point of difference is by providing the customers with one of the most unique in-store experiences in comparison to its competitors American Eagle, Aeropostale, The Gap, etc. The company uses dim lighting, loud abstract music, and a distinct smell to capture the consumers’ senses and provide them with a very distinct experience that further helps strengthen the brand image and establish a very strong point of difference.  This establishes a wall around A&F in the market and it helps establish a long term strategy that keeps the competitors from mimicing them and creating a similar in-store experience.

After releasing the long-awaited iPhone 5S and 5C, Apple ups its supply chain technology to get a leg up on the competition.

The following blog post references a Bloomberg article which outlines the new methods used by Apple:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-13/apple-s-10-5b-on-robots-to-lasers-shores-up-supply-chain.html

The $10.5 billion dollar investment proves that Apple is serious about improving its supply chain management. The new equipment will polish iPhones, and use laser technology to carve the aluminum body of the MacBook line. In addition, it will also test the camera lens on iPhones.

From a marketing perspective, this makes sense for Apple. The company’s iPhone product line is known to consistently have better build quality than its peers. This is a point of emphasis for consumers like myself when purchasing a phone. Adding new technology to improve the manufacturing process further separates Apple from its closest smartphone competitor, Samsung. Ironically, Samsung has been questioned for putting out smartphones with poor build quality. The new supply chain investment by Apple with further add value to their products since it is more efficient than their previous method and also provides increasingly rigorous testing. This will add to customer satisfaction because there will a lower chance that customers receive a defective product. In turn, this could potentially increase brand loyalty among consumers because they receive well-built phones.

This entry is a response to a recent blog post by Nav Sran. Nav talks about buyers of the new Apple iPad products feeling a sense of post purchase dissonance. A link to his blog post:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/navsran/2013/10/08/comm-296-ipad-mini-and-air-customers-may-face-post-purchase-cognitive-dissonance/

As a personal who has experience with multiple Apple products and is an iPad owner, I can understand what the buyers of the latest iPad are going through. Relative to other tablets on the market, the iPad is an expensive device which makes buyers question if the product is really as valuable as they believe. However, I believe Apple does a great job dealing with post purchase dissonance. From my experience, they have a top notch warranty structure. Buyers will be more confident in their purchase once they are fully aware of the complimentary warranty offered by Apple. When my iPad was suffering from a software issue, I was able to conveniently set up an appointment at an Apple store to talk about the issue. Apple was happy to replace my faulty device with a brand new one, and offered to extend my warranty for an additional 90 days.

Apple fully standing behind the quality of their product definitely reduced the buyers’ remorse I had after purchasing my iPad. Ultimately, Apple wants to solidify a loyal relationship with their customers. The warranty they offer is something that changed my post-purchase outcome from regretful to complete satisfaction. Customer loyalty is a relationship most marketers strive for, and being satisfied with my purchase of the iPad is a good start to that relationship.

I stumbled across an article written by a best selling author named Paul B. Brown, who wrote about the effectiveness of market research in the following Forbes post:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/actiontrumpseverything/2013/10/09/heres-the-only-market-research-you-need-get-your-product-out-in-the-market-place-and-see-if-it-sells/

In summary, Brown’s title to his blog, “Here’s The Only Market Research You Need: Get Your Product Out In The Market Place And See If It Sells”, gives you a good idea of what he thinks about marketing research. Brown believes that market research is not a necessity for start up businesses. He believes that “When you do customer research, people tell you what you want to hear”. Another interesting excerpt from the post is “Here’s the way I put it to people who are hesitant to begin: “Can you learn to throw a ball or sail or swim from a book?” No, of course you can’t.  Well, it is the same thing here.”

According to Brown, the best way for a startup to enter the market is to simply put the product out for purchase without analyzing its current state.While I agree with some some of Paul’s points, I have to disagree with others. While some forms of primary market research are indeed costly and time consuming, they provide firms with information that is for the most part current and applicable to the company. If the market research answers the right question, something as simple as a customer survey can help you identify where the company can improve its goods and services to further add value to the consumer.

Hyundai and Kia, two emerging automakers, were accused of inflating their MPG (miles per gallon) numbers to attract potential buyers

Hyundai motor group has become a well known name in the past few years thanks to a new, stylish line of economical vehicles that are priced very competitively. Many buyers cite the impressive MPG claims by Hyundai vehicles as one of the primary reasons they purchased vehicles from the Korean car manufacturer.

In late 2012 however, owners of 2013 Hyundai and Kia models complained that they weren’t getting the numbers they were promised. The environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took notice of this and immediately started an audit to investigate the situation. Their investigation revealed that the majority of Hyundai and Kia models had inflated MPG ratings. The EPA ensured that the automakers correct their rating immediately, and some cars went down as much as 6 MPG in fuel economy ratings.

This was a major blunder for Hyundai Motors. Fuel economy is a major factor for most buyers when choosing a vehicle, so for Hyundai to adjust these numbers in their favour was an unethical marketing ploy. Since EPA only audits about 15% of vehicles, consumers should still be concerned with the validity of MPG ratings. The mistake proves to be a costly one, as Hyundai and Kia owners will receive a card based on the kilometers driven and price of gasoline, with an additional 15% added. The scandal is sure to affect future sales too, as consumers will be reluctant to trust Hyundai and Kia. The automakers’ brand promise will now be questioned for the near future. What was once known as an up-and-coming automaker will now have to adjust their marketing strategy to help solidify its brand image.

Word Count: 285

Information cited from:

Just How Often Are Car MPG Claims Inflated?

An article posted about Thorsten Heins on November 15th talks about why he took the job of RIM CEO and what BlackBerry 10 brings to the table. But my question to RIM is, where’s the innovation?

For a long time, up to about 2010, RIM was a leader in the smartphone world. The BlackBerry device had a few distinguished points of difference which set them apart from the likes of Apple, Google, and Nokia. Namely, BlackBerry was known to provide a true push e-mail experience, instant messaging through BlackBerry Messenger, and overall security of information.

Fast forward to 2012, BlackBerries still have those capabilities. They’ve been improved, too. But that’s where the innovation has halted. Apple now offers an instant messaging service of it’s own to users, which has been popular amongst iOS users. Google offers push email service to Android users. Essentially, the competition not only caught up to RIM (rather easily, I should add), but far surpassed them. Desktop-like browsing and media playback has become a staple in the smartphone world. RIM is the company that has to play catch up now. They lack a point of difference from competitors, and are even struggling to find little points of parity with Apple and Samsung. Come January, we’ll see how BlackBerry 10 shifts this, if at all.

Forbes recently posted this article about a company called Strive, an organization geared towards giving children a guide to success via education. Strive is a prime example of a social enterprise, as it seeks to improve human well being rather than maximizing profits.

While skimming through the article, one particular sentence caught my eye: “Imagine what would happen if we put as much effort into the analysis of data when investing in the success of children as we do when investing in our stock portfolios.” Strive believes that a flourishing economy is a direct product of quality education and guidance, which I personally agree with.

By investing in research of the current educational system around the globe Strive aims to highlight “key transition points” where students must show signs of development. The company has a long term goal of improving the quality of education, which will eventually lead to a new age of graduates which will be informed, intelligent, and success-oriented. Strive is only one example of how beneficial social enterprise can be to our society, as entrepreneurs understand there is much more to business than solely profit maximization.

Wall Street Journal had an intriguing article about the importance of critical thinking in the world of business. The author of the article claims that a lot of students recruited out of university today lack this skill according to employers. As such, universities have adapted by making sure students are practicing this skill.

According to Wikipedia:

“Critical thinking is a type of reasonable, reflective thinking that is aimed at deciding what to believe or what to do.”

Personally, I wonder whether critical thinking is something that you can completely teach to all students. I feel as if it is very important to decipher the context in which you are making such decision, which is quite specific. However, I do believe practicing critical thinking skills are vital to all students. In COMM 101, each case requires numerous variations of critical thinking. One such example would be choosing which parts of the “business toolkit” to use when analyzing a case. It is not viable to use every single tool we have learned, and some tools are more useful than others. From what I have experienced so far, the Sauder School of Business has recognized the importance of critical thinking which will allow students to be more successful in their endeavors.

Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_thinking

Recently I read an article posted by Jules Karorero which talks about a recall made by Honda. The popular Japanese car manufacturer noted that at least 50,000 cars between 2002 and 2006 had a faulty door switch.

Along with Jules, I also believe Honda strengthened its brand value by notifying consumers immediately about the problem and offering to fix it immediately. For potential buyers, they could look at this situation two different ways. Either someone in the market for a compact vehicle with be alarmed with this news, because Honda allowed it’s customer to buy potentially hazardous vehicles. On the other hand, some buyers will credit Honda’s customer relations, as they were concerned with consumer safety and attempted to address the issue immediately.

If I were a potential buyer, I would give Honda credit in their decision to address the issue and offer a fix. Buyers must accept the fact that no manufacturer is perfect in their construction. Additionally, there may be vehicles on the road that pose a greater risk than any fault door switch that we may never be aware of. I’d like to think Honda’s brand value is strengthened in this case, and consumers should have no doubt that Honda keeps safety a priority.