Author Archives: Stephanie Shum

The World’s Top Brand Goes to …

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And the winner is…

http://www.usageorge.com/Wallpapers/Commercial/Coca-Cola-Polar-Bear.html

None other than our polar bear loving friends, Coca Cola.

When I think of my experiences with Coca Cola, I think back of the House of Happiness that they had at Livecity for the 2010 Olympics. What I found the most intriguing was their promotion of “Healthy Living”. When we think Coke, we often think pop, soda, sugar, carbs, and almost everything unhealthy into one delicious can (typical of any junk food). Never have we ever thought of it as a healthy choice to be drinking Coca Cola.

As the world’s number one global brand, Coca Cola prides themselves on “Growth, leadership, and sustainability”. They recognized that society in general has gotten more health concious over the last few decades, and recognized in their SWOT analysis that an opportunity had presented itself. What a better way to promote their stride for a “healthy lifestyle” than to team up with the Olympics – the showcase of the world’s top athletes who are bound to live healthy lives. As well, Coca Cola recognized that they had recognized another weakness, in that their brand was not known for it’s sustainability either. The House of Happiness was filled with events and games that demonstrated these core values. What a better way to remind and educate their consumers than to put them through fun tasks that demonstrated what the brand really stood for.

Even the top brand of the world needs to constantly perform an immediate analysis and use tools like the SWOT analysis to clarify and re-establish brand clarity to both consumers, and the company itself. In doing so, companies remind themselves what their brands stand for, and most importantly, remind consumers why their brand has competitive advantages over leading competitors.

Here’s a snapshot of the runner ups:

http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/best-global-brands-2008/best-global-brands-2010.aspx

Got Milk?

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Marketing is such a unique concept and tool because it can be used in so many ways. Often, those unfamiliar with the different uses will often think of marketing as just annoying ads trying to convince to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a product that they don’t need. But marketing is so much more than that. We can use marketing to influence and ensure better decisions to all members of society, whether it be a healthier lifestyle, or the prevention of bad choices.

In terms of marketing strategies, the Got Milk campaign uses different aspirational leaders to attract different target markets. Their celebrity line up ranges from the young skateboard stud, Ryan Sheckler, to R&B sensation, Usher, to the housewife that knows it all, Martha Stewart. Got Milk recognizes the different stages of family buying decisions, and has ads that will appeal to the initiator, the influencer, the decider, the buyer, and the user regardless if it is one, or many members of the family in each role.

http://inventorspot.com/articles/got_milkinventive_marketing_5569
The picture links to a website showing different Got Milk? ads around the world, quite interesting to look at

The Got Milk campaign is an excellent example of successful cause marketing. Cause marketers must exploit all the social factors that lead to a consumer’s decision in a specific cause, whether it be a lifestyle change, or a belief/attitude towards a social matter. More specifically, the Got Milk campaign does not worry about what brands of milk that the consumer chooses to drink. The most important part of the campaign is simply to influence the importance of the liquid calcium.

Here’s a behind the scenes look at the making of Ryan’s ad, and yes, the moustache is real!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_74bkbvCNa4&feature=player_embedded

Nikon: Coolpix for Cool Pics

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I’m a big fan of a website called The Cool Hunter:

http://www.thecoolhunter.net/

A website that finds the “coolest” things-including ads. I first found the ad in 2009, but it’s always been one of my favourites because of the incredible marketing strategies behind it.

The ad by Nikon featured an interactive, life-sized billboard of a mob of paparazzi waiting alongside the red carpet. For those wanting to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous, here is your chance.  Located in a central subway station in Korea, anyone passing the billboard triggered an instant bombardment of camera flashes. The red carpet then led straight into a camera shop – what a coincidence!

http://www.thecoolhunter.net/article/detail/1570/nikon-d700-guerrilla-style-billboard

In our 2nd lecture, we talked about the importance of the value-based era. Companies now need to value their customers, and build a long-term relationship to create brand loyalty and recognition. Nikon does this by literally putting consumers into the spotlight,  making the average joe feel like an A-List celeb.

If we were to use a CDSTEP analysis to look at the macroenvironment, this advertisement is nothing but perfect! In terms of demographics, the ad can appeal to anyone and everyone. It’s an eye catcher to whoever walks by it, regardless of your age or sex; if you walk by something that flashes, you are bound to look. Although the ad is made specifically for the D700, it’s also an ad to generate brand awareness. You’re led to a camera shop, which is bound to carry multiple Nikon models . Depending on your economical status and your technological needs, you can then pick another Nikon camera that may appeal more to your needs.

In sports, it’s the stats that count and that stays true in business as well.

http://www.1001noisycameras.com/2010/07/nikon-grabs-the-1-spot-in-dslrsilcs-in-japan-h12010-revisited-real-story-canon-falls-off-a-cliff.html

You be the judge. The ad is from 2009, and in 2010 …

“and the black light doesn’t lie”

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Seventh Generation cleverly uses online social media to allow its consumers to see the “true colours” of both their own, and their competitors’ products. Its most recent venture, the eco-friendly detergent lacking in optical brighteners, was firstly marketed by mom bloggers whom used a dark light to compare two shirts one of which was washed with Seventh Generation’s product, and one which was washed with that of a leading competitor’s (with optical brightener). Seventh Generation also provides their own demonstration, it begins at 1:03 in the video.

YouTube Preview Image

As you can see, the black light doesn’t lie. It reminds me of CSI investigators using black lights to reveal blood trails that are left behind. In fact, Seventh Generation has been listed as a suitable brand for cleaning military uniforms so that they cannot be easily sought out in combat.

However, through all this strategic marketing, Seventh Generation has still generated less than 1% of the detergent market, while Tide holds an astounding 45%. Perhaps consumers believe that if their shirts shine under the dark lights, then it must shine under bright lights as well? In our fast-paced economy, encounters are brief, and first impressions are everything. Though it might not be the case in the military, having a bright shirt that stands out is often thought of as a good idea for an interview, a first date, or even just a stroll through the mall or the neighbourhood.

I thus counter their campaign of “she should glow, not her clothes” with

“when you look good, you feel good.”

Thus if our clothes don’t glow, then we don’t look good, which means…

Reflections

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Here, I would like to share my mindmap incorporating all the takeaways that I have enriched myself with through the past four months in this business fundamentals comm 486g course.

However, the number one thing that I would want everyone to recognize is that the tools and applications that we learn, whether it be through experiences or classrooms or through others, are all applicable to many different scenarios. Something that you may have learned in class can easily be used in the real world, and a technique that you developed at work can easily be used in your studies.

As all businesses, or at least successful ones I should say, are flexible, they adapt to new situations and use their developed qualities to establish themselves in any predicament. We as business students must also learn to do the same. Be flexible in your thinking, in your actions, and in your career.

Think outside the box.

iPhone deck

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At the beginning of the term, we considered the reasons that Apple was not concerned with the declining iPod sales. What we recognized was that the declining iPod sales but continuous high profits for Apple are an indication of teh loyal customers that have moved up the chain of Apple products. First an iPod user, then an iPhone user, then a MacBook user, and etc.

Why am I mentioning this?
I came across a Desk Phone Deck, a product designed for users to integrate their iPhones with an actual “home” phone type device so that users can get the same traditional feel of a full device, but still using the address book and apps of the iPhone.

This allowed me to come across another reason in which Apple should not be worried. Many other companies are banking off Apple’s success by developing devices and accessories for almost all Apple products – whether it be the phone deck, or cases, or stands, these companies are essentially bettering the quality and the dependability of Apple’s products, and in doing so, the customers are left with a better lasting impression of how useful their iPhone is, or how long their iPod has lasted.

So with that being said, Apple has little to worry because their product quality and brand reputation is easily being developed by other companies at no cost to Apple.

Cause Marketing

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Upon researching for an English essay, I stumbled upon quite an interesting article relating the ever so popular social media to cause marketing.

What caught my eye were these statistics

  • 71% of consumers are giving as much or more now as they were before the economic downturn.
  • 87% of consumers would switch brands based on association with a good cause.
  • 50% of consumers would pay more for products from brands that support causes.

now based on that research, wouldn’t most companies want to hop on the bandwagon and follow along to supporting a good cause? But then again,

is that really ethical?

Simply trying to promote a cause so that consumers will favour your brand, and thus bring you greater profits? It’s not much of a secret that most companies have ridiculous mark ups on the cost of their items, and simply stating that you’ll donate “5% of all sales to saving …. in the world” seems to be an easy way for companies to continue to make incredible profits, while seeming like a hero to consumers for supporting a cause.

I guess this is the difference that sets social enterprises apart from traditional companies, one creates their organization based on a cause, and the other creates a cause based on the organization.

My Carbon Footprint

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First off, the results:

carbonfootprint

What did surprise me about my results was the large portion that the food aspect had taken of my carbon footprint. Although this may be the “easiest” and less dramatic change in improving my carbon footprint, I’m not sure if it is much of a realistic component to change. First, I’m not the gorcery purchaser for my family, and when I am, it’s usually when I’m getting take out. I must admit, I do love steak, but in terms of shopping local, it’s much more of an issue regarding where and when. With everyone in my family working, grocery stops are usually to a big, one-stop store, whether it be Superstore or Costco. I could be wrong, but from my recollection, there did not seem to be many locally grown products for sale there. However, I’m willing to make a comittment to doing some research into finding out which larger grocery stores offer locally grown products.

In my opinion, the easiest component for me to improve on (even though it has the lowest contribution), is shelter. It’s  not a difficult task to turn down the heat (if not off) when noone is home, or when the weather has surprisingly grown warmer-you’ve got to love Vancouver weather!

Sustainability

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Sustainability, what does it mean to you? In a re-creation of Thursday’s in-class activity, I re-drew what I first thought of when hearing the word “Sustainability”. This time, I used my proper drawing hand to provide a somewhat more understandable drawing:

Step0001

# 1 represents the current situation. Trees are unhappy with the way the increasing air pollution. Heading towards #2, society is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of recognizing your carbon foot print, and has become more innovative in our ideas into improving sustainability. Lastly, #3 represents what I envision for our future. Trees are once again happy, and we can have a highly technological advance community while still sustaining our wild life and our natural resources.

Are we working at our fullest potential? No. Will this cycle take a while? Yes. Is it ever going to happen, I strongly believe so. I think that eventually, businesses, much like Helijet, are making it a social dimension in their business operations to contribute back to the welfare of society and its resources. Essentially, large companies are dominating the world’s growth and development, and it is through these socially concious and responsible companies that will make a change to bettering the sustainability of our future.