For my last blog of the year I though I would touch on what we talked about in class regarding following-up after you meet with an employer. Having just gone through the CA recruitment I can definitely attest to its importance. I learned that is that it is important to send a little personalized email after talking with any firm representative, but more so to the ones you feel you made a connection to. I also learned that many people did not succeed at landing placements because they failed to follow up and perhaps request a coffee date to talk about things further. It is important that these recruiters know who you are and have seen you in a more informal setting than at a recruiting event.

The biggest advice I can give is that if the firm doesn’t know who you are by not following up, unless you application is one of the best, they won’t think twice about skipping through your application.

It’s been a fun year and I hope you enjoyed my musings and meditations about marketing related matter.

Oh Hey! I See You Now!

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan

The Edmonton Oilers of the NHL recently came out with an idea to become the first NHL team to have cheerleaders at games.  I must say this is a very bold idea and frankly I find it pretty hilariously bad. It has been met with much criticism from media and the fans have even gone so far as to boo the team at games.

The Oilers president called the new idea adding spice and sparkle to the game. I think what he was trying to do is be an innovator and be the first team to employ a strategy that has been made very popular by football and basketball teams. But I mean lets be serious, hockey in a cold rink in alberta = cheerleaders how about Gimme a Break! I think maybe part of the strategy was also to appeal to American audiences who like cheerleading far more than Canadians.

Let’s just say this is a very poor marketing strategy in Canada where people care far more about the game than a gimmicky cheerleader. FAIL.

I also wanted to touch on the new proposed idea at Madison Square Garden which will look something like this:

This is certainly an interesting strategy whereby spectators will pay $40 to access the bridge and watch the game. I guess if they can get more bodies in the arena its a plus but I would definitely look at making safety a huge concern.

Dear Oilders president,

This is an innovating strategy, not cheerleaders.

Yours truly,

Ryan

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan

As Bruce Buffer would say “IIIITTTTT’s TIIIIMMMME” for the merger between the WEC and the UFC which are two large MMA promotions. The UFC is the parent company to the WEC and have held this relationship for many years. The WEC holds smaller weight classes of 135 lbs, 145 lbs, and 155lbs, while the UFC ranges anywhere from 155lbs to 265lbs.

The WEC has a lot of exciting fighters who are very quick at the smaller weight classes. The issue is that the UFC casts a big shadow over the rest of the MMA promotions and thus, the WEC was not getting the exposure that it deserved. This in turn results in the fighters being paid less money and the promotion not doing near as well as its parent company the UFC.

The UFC tried an innovating marketing strategy whereby they made a very good card of fights and promoted the this WEC event under their banner. As you can see from this poster,  the UFC labeled the event as Aldo vs. Faber and removed the WEC name from all of the promotional print and advertising. In addition, this was going to be the first event that would be a PPV for the WEC. The idea was that the UFC was going to brand the event as their own. They bought on their personel to commentate on the bouts (Joe Rogan, Mike Goldberg) and had the president of the UFC Dana White involved in the whole process and press conferences.

This idea did not have the intended effect on the event and sales and PPV buys were below what was expected. It was clear that people did not buy the fact that this event was a UFC event. This was the one and only event that the UFC employed this strategy. From there the promotions continued on with business as usual.

The UFC has been wanting to expand and bring events all over the world. They have already been to many foreign places such as Abu Dhabi, Australia, Germany, England etc. The problem with expansion is that the UFC has been so successful in almost every place it has gone, that the demand for them to come back soon is very high. Not only that but there are also other markets that haven’t even held an event yet such as Toronto and New York. The main issue is that there are only so many places that they can go in one year and bring a worthy fight card. In addition, there are so many other places that they want to go which only further complicates the problem.

As Mike Chiappetta wrote in his blog, the merger between these two promotions will allow for so much opportunity for the lower weight classes. They will get a UFC pay raise, more sponsorship, and larger exposure in this promotion. Also by having all of the weight classes in the UFC they allow for some of the more prominent Japanese fighters to come over and fight for them. In Mike’s blog he largely talks about the opportunity to utilize these exciting fighters as assets for the company.

I agree with the blog but also want to expand on some points I think that Mike missed. As I mentioned above the UFC’s worldwide expansion was limited by the supply of events and fighters. Having this infusion of two new weight classes addresses a problems that many have observed in many recent UFC events. The problem is that their cards were becoming very weak and not having much star power to make the card worthy of purchasing on PPV. Many UFC fans were becoming frustrated with this and I believe that the UFC knew it. They knew that especially if they wanted to put on more fights they needed more fighters who could carry an event with their celebrity status.

I believe that the merger will only further the monopoly that the UFC has created over mixed martial arts.

Now prominent fighters such as Jose Aldo are a part of the UFC and are UFC champions:

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan

Okay I’ll be honest, this post really has nothing to do with the show, but when I saw a banana in Dan Le’s blog I started humming the song. What I really wanted to do was lend my vast knowledge of produce (I commonly refer to myself as the “produce god” or “produce king”) having worked in the industry for some time. While agree with Dan in that Bananas are in their mature stage in terms of product development I disagree with Dole’s strategy of marketing.

First off, it’s stupid. I guess I will elaborate on that. As you can faintly see in Dan’s picture there is sweat accumulating inside the packaging. Banana’s go bad in under a day if you leave them confined in packaging, therefore, there is no way this strategy could be implemented with a large number of bananas. THEY WILL LOOK LIKE THIS –>

Secondly, it is very rare that someone goes into a department store and buys one banana. I could see it working at a place like the Sauder Exchange Cafe where people are looking for a snack. However, this is in no way a viable or profitable strategy for Dole. If this strategy can’t be implemented in stores it doubt it can work.

There isn’t much room for product differentiation with commodity goods, and  this is just the nature of the beast. The only way to promote your product is through fluctuating prices or coming out with a new strain o your product. I can’t reiterate enough how Banana’s, or Dole specifically, can not use this strategy that Dan likes.

Fun fact about Bananas: it is very possible that Banana’s as we know them will become extinct in a few years time and be replaced by another similar strain. They will taste slightly different and you may notice if you eat a lot of bananas or if you are a Produce God like myself.

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan

Hi fellow Gmail users,

Myself, like quite a few others, decided to change or start using a Gmail in the last year or 2. Gmail is becoming famous for it’s user friendly nature and for the host of features that it offers (Google docs etc.)

I have been using Gmail for about two years and it was just yesterday that I noticed something quite interesting. If you look just above where your message display (above where the buttons are) you can see advertisements display across. Now when you refresh the Inbox or log in again the advertisements change every time. So as I am waiting impatiently to receive an email and refreshing the Inbox constantly I noticed a trend that began to arise. All of the ads were tailored to a lot of common messages that I get in my emails.

For example, I am in accounting and have emailed back and forth with different firms in Vancouver. As a result a large portion of my ads are for something to do with CA Vancouver. In addition, I also had a trend of ads for UBC and business related topics.

In seeing this it shows that Google is going through your messages to try and target advertising towards you. Smart and also perhaps personally invading. I’m sure it’s in the terms and conditions that no one reads.

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan

So as I am caught up in the Harry Potter craze as everyone else is I thought what better thing could I do that look at Chihuahua’s amazing blog on Harry.

I have not been one of the fortunate muggles to see the movie just yet. I did not, like Diego, wait in line for 8 hours to see the movie…but I definitely should have haahha. Anyway, I would have to agree with Diego that every man, women, and soul who was born in the late eighties and early nineties who is super cool has fallen in love with the franchise. I want to disagree with what Diego said regarding “adjust their marketing strategy for their grown-up fans” by how “we have seen how the movies have evolved from an innocent and fun world of magic to a darker more complex plot”. I do not think this was a marketing strategy but rather more a result of the plot that existed in the books as well as the underlying trend in movies to become a bit darker and edgier to stand out. I think kids these days, more so that when the first movie came out, have been exposed to so much more and can appreciate and watch a movie that may be somewhat darker. This has a lot to do with society today ie. kids playing violent video games etc.

I also think the different direction had to do with a change in the directors in the movies and less to do with a marketing strategy. Chris Columbus directed the 1st one and there has since been 3 other directors with different visions which have been darker and different.

I think that many young adults as well as the older generation appreciate the franchises greatness and don’t need much marketing to be convinced to watch the movies. HP has a cult-like following already and I think this is why maybe we haven’t seen as much advertising with this seventh installment as we have with others (that is just my personal experience).

In terms of what Diego was saying about marketing to a younger audience I don’t think this is necessary for a lot of the reasons mentioned above. Children seeing the movie now are undoubtedly aware of the franchise through word of mouth or from prior knowledge.

I think that Warner Bros. and J.K Rowling know the gem that they have on their hands and I recently read an article which stated that she has mentioned writing another book in the franchise. This would probably be a wise idea from a monetary standpoint as it would probably make a ton of money from not only the book but another movie or 2 if you base it on The Deathly Hollows.

I think one marketing adaptation that they are making to the movie is to follow the 3D trend. In the same article I also read that they spent millions of dollars to convert this Deathly Hollows movie but did not have the time. However, the second movie will most definitely have 3D capabilities. This is a strategy to appeal to children who are seeing a lot of their favourite new movies in 3D.

Open the Door to HARRY POTTER HIMSELF

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan.

Save On Foods has recently got some new competition in the neighbourhood from new Thrifty Foods as well as Price Mart which have been built in and around Marine Drive. Save On has 3 locations on the North Shore: 1 in Lynn Valley, 1 in Park and Tilford, and 1 on Pemberton Road and Marine Drive. The store that I work at in Park and Tilford is by far the biggest of the three and has felt the largest impact in sales from the increase in competition in the market.

Our store has tried many creative marketing schemes to try and increase traffic in the store in hopes of increasing sales. The first big idea was to promote sales on everyday popular items that everyone buys such as white mushrooms, large eggs, vine tomatoes, gala apples etc. Our store thought we should put a very low sale price on those items, for example gala apples on for 48 cents/lbs, and have a 3-day weekend sale using this strategy. It has proven to be quite successful for the store as we were still making a tiny profit on the sale items while also seeing customers shop for other items in addition to the select item on sale. A 3-day sale item in the flyer has become a weekly theme.

Another idea our store manager had was to create “A Day in Park and Tilford”. We partnered up with some of the other stores in the Park and Tilford complex and put on a day of samples and prizes within our. We set up sample stations in each department within the store, and also had a spin wheel at the front of the store and gave away things such as Save On More points etc. This created somewhat of a buzz in the store and was also used to showcase the great customer service that our store specifically provides.

Because of the competition in the grocery industry anything that can leave a positive impression in the customers mind is huge for business. If we can retain a customer and create that loyalty we could potentially have his/her recurring business for some time.

Okay, I’ll post the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlJGrIyt-X8

PS: it’s snowwwwwing 🙂

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan.

More more more, how do you like it, how do you like it.

Hey everyone!! I thought about posting a video to those beautiful lyrics, but I couldn’t stand the thought of hearing that women sing anymore. Having worked at Save On for over 3 years you can imagine how many times I’ve heard that over the speakers. Alas, it is no longer apart of their marketing scheme to bombard us with this horrendous music.

Over my time their I have witnessed a lot of changes that have gone on through the company. The store had to go through a product restructuring based on new consumer preferences for shopping. Having talked a little bit with one of the store managers a lot of this was revolved around putting complementary products together to entice the buyer to consider purchasing both. For example, the store created an asian foods section that sold all of these similar products together ie. soya sauce, raw noodles etc.

Another huge change it had to go through was a update to the front and insides to make it current with a lot of the new Save On Foods that have been built. TO give you a quick look at what the outside used to look like :

Compared to now:

This was done to keep the image of the store current while re-branding their store in this area. However, it came at the expense of a very non-consumer friendly construction zone that existed over the renovations. Many clients were unsure and put off by the workers outside and around the building, not to mention the tunnel you had to go through to access the store. Sales slowed drastically and even declined after the renovations had been completed. The thinking from Save On was that consumers would be loyal to the store and return, but this was not quite the case. It took about a year after the renovations had finished for sales to get close to where they were, but with the economy they have never been quite the same. This is due in large part because the grocery business is in a pure competitive market. Many stores offer the exact same goods which makes it easy for someone to switch stores.

Recently the store has enacted some new and innovative pricing strategies which I will discuss in a future blog!

Cheers,

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan.

I wanted to post this video because I thought it was incredibly humorous. And really, it is even more funny because it is banned from airing in the United States and I am sure you will know why after watching it. It has a very powerful and real message that is being sent by the Citizens Against Government Waste, which is an NPO in the US.

It makes you wonder why the company would produce a message that is not being displayed on television? The reason is, and this goes back to one of my other blogs, that television is no longer the source of advertising. People are seeing this commercial all over youtube and getting referred to it, as I did, by websites like Digg, or from what your friends post on Facebook.

This commercial, if you can call it that not being on television, is trying to show how the conservative culture of China now essentially “owns” the United States that there “free spending” ways. Because the US likes to censor anything that puts them in a negative light, it has been banned cross country.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS GEM YOUTUBE!

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan.

Donald, Myself, and Chihuahua

As per Chihuahua’s (pictured above) comment on a recent blog, I let down my loyal followers with a promise I failed to keep (I blame the CA recruitment that just recently finished for my uneven posts). In saying that I bring you: 2 blogs, 1 day.

Donald Carpenter (pictured above) recently wrote an article about how marketers are having to adapt to technology such as PVR’s in terms of their marketing strategy.

The days of television commercials being a primary source of advertising are in a stage of maturity in terms of their product life cycle. Donald talks about how many creative individuals go far in the industry because they are coming up with new creative ways of advertising. He also talks about the increasing trend of ads placed now in movies, textbooks, etc.

I think another big trend that is only just beginning is viral marketing. The internet is a huge and powerful resource for marketers and companies. We have seen many viral campaigns come out in the last little while such as the Old Spice Man —————>

Many websites such as digg.com are also helping to spread popular or funny marketing videos and pictures.

One of the most interesting things that companies are doing are getting people involved in branding and promoting a new or existing product. For example, Doritos had a viral campaign last spring for people to name and create a commercial for a new brand of chips. The company gets free advertising ideas out of it for a nominal prize fee when compared to the revenues the new product line will probably generate. Furthermore, the also get word of mouth marketing as people who make and submit videos usually tell all of their friends about it so they can get votes. That is how I heard about the new chip and contest originally. Here is a friends video that he submitted that ended up doing extremely well finishing in 37th place:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3LPwUR3o5k&feature=player_embedded

The eventual winner was the Doritos tablet video (which also indirectly marketed Apple’s iPad):

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

Just another service provided by your friendly neighborhood Marketing- Blogger Ryan.