Being able to learn in a space like the d-studio was the highlight of my semester this year. After being forced to think in a repetitively linear way for the week, it was a relief to be able to be in a setting where I didn’t have to restrict my thinking.

In my first reflective diary, I explored how I relied more on my right brained, and how I rely on visual brainstorming to map out my ideas. Over the course of the semester, I’ve learned how to refine and structure my thinking using the Ask-Try-Do process.

In the future, I will continue to apply design thinking frameworks to approach solving problems. Through the design brief and deep dive assignments, I’ve learned how to be comfortable with chaos, which has resulted in being able to be more open-minded. I’ve realized that in the brainstorming stage, I don’t need to go right into making lists or identifying patterns. It’s much more useful to apply design thinking strategies in a preliminary step to explore different aspects of an idea.

We learned many design thinking strategies this semester, but the ones I found most useful were the Assumption Dumption, Concept Mapping, and Bad Ideas. The first two techniques were used extensively by my team (Marketing) during the design brief. When we first started brainstorming, we instinctively fell to our old thinking habits—skipping divergent thinking and going straight to trying to come up with logical ideas. I remember clearly the team sitting in Birmingham for more than 3 hours, working with no inspiration and coming up with nothing useful. We then made the executive decision to move to the d-studio to work. Once we were there, it was like magic. Using the white boards, we applied Assumption Dumption and Concept Mapping and in just one hour, we finished the assignment.

I will also approach problem solving differently in the sense that I will approaching teamwork differently. In other classes, projects that require groupwork are often done individually—“teamwork” simply means splitting up parts and writing your part on your own. Working in the d-studio really taught me the merit of teamwork and the value of many minds working towards a goal. Not only do we work extensively within our own teams, applying design thinking strategies, but the class works together as a whole. I have never been in an environment where “beg-borrow-share” is so actively practiced. Judging from everyone’s final presentations, this technique can be very successful.

I think Team Academy completely embodied the essence of design thinking in their studio presentation. The “Pathways” solution they reached after the deep dive process was extremely innovative and well-designed. It was fascinating to see their final result after watching their “develop” process on the double diamond framework.

Having the opportunity to spend this semester in the d-studio will forever have a fundamental impact on my thinking habits. I am now much more aware of my critical voice, and understand that although it may result in chaos, it can be helpful to silence it. Design thinking is about bridging divergent thinking and convergent thinking—I am excited to apply this to all future problems to come up with innovation and well-designed solutions.

I really enjoyed working with my group this semester. I had only previously known one of my group members, so it was definitely cool to meet new people. Because the majority of us had never met each other before, it was definitely helpful to do the “skills evaluation” at the very beginning of the term to figure out what all of our strengths were.

My group chose Target as our company for the assignments. I’m glad that we made this decision as I’ve always been curious about Target—I wanted to learn more about the company’s marketing strategies before they made their expansion into Canada. Now that we have done all the research and analysis required for the assignments, it will be awesome to be able to see how Target is positioning its push into Canada and understand their reasoning behind it.

My favorite assignment was definitely the video assignment. Not only did it provide us clarity on Target’s four Ps, but it also was cool to get the chance to think critically and make recommendations on how Target should move forward. Even cooler is that since Target is moving in so close to us, we will be able to see whether or not our recommendations align with Target’s future decisions! As well, I was really grateful for the chance to improve my technical videography/graphic design skills for this project. I had always “planned” to sharpen my graphic design skills and learn the details behind videography but this project really pushed me to move forward with that. So, thanks Tamar!

Taking this Intro to Marketing course has definitely been a great experience. I understand now that marketing isn’t just “advertising” and requires much strategic thinking capabilities. Now, I can safely say that I am sure that I will pursue a marketing-related career.

In my last blog post, I talked about the importance of value-added marketing and how traditional marketing techniques are becoming increasing ineffective. While browsing through the course blogroll, I realized that this concept relates strongly to what Devon discusses in his blog post about the challenges of social media. Devon mostly discusses the risks of a company losing control of an ad on social media platforms, but I want to take it to the next level and discuss the very act of placing an ad on social media—is it worth it or not?

Sure, social media seems perfect in theory—it’s cheap and personalizable and can reach a large amount of people. However, web users are so immune to these “one-way” marketing techniques that they can easily filter out this sort of marketing. In fact, Forrester has put out a new digital marketing report, which shows that online banner ads and social marketing ads lie at the bottom of the trust index. In other words, consumers very rarely trust online ads. According to this report, we are also able to see interesting cultural variances that marketers need to be aware of—for example, Europeans are generally more cynical and consistently trust online marketing less that Americans.

It seems as though the promotional part of the marketing mix is definitely more complicated to approach than it was in the past. Consumers today look for value in advertising and decided themselves when and where they engage with brands; it is easy for them to switch in and out of content. Marketers need to recognize this trend and understand that although marketing techniques such as utilizing banner ads on social networking seems great as it can reach many people, it is usually quite ineffective.

Recently, I have been fascinated by the Promotion P of the marketing mix. To me, the price, product, and place Ps are less intriguing as they require a lesser extent of creativity, and it is the creative side of marketing that I am captivated by. Lately, while I was browsing the Digital Buzz Blog, I came across this article on Volkswagen’s take on tackling a large program.

For me, doing these blog posts have led me to discover some modern challenges of advertising. I have since learned the importance of value-added marketing and understand that advertising, to be effective, needs to be a two-way exchange. However, a major issue arises—how does one get the consumer to stop and pay attention to their advertising, especially in commercials? Research shows that 80% of people fast-forward through TV commercials. No matter how amazing the ad is, if the consumer is skipping through it, then it is ineffective.

Volkswagen has taken an innovative approach to this problem and has introduced the “Slowmercial For Fast Forwarders”, where, if you fast-forward through the commercial, it appears as a static print ad. The ad shows nothing more than a Volkswagen Beetle slowly opening its roof, but the idea is that whether you’re watching at normal or fast speed, you can’t escape from it!

Volkswagen Beetle Slowmercial

Although the commercial does very little to call for action from the consumer, it definitely is making an impact in terms of consumer behaviour. Volkswagen’s “slowmercial” will get the Beetle into their target market’s evoked sets through increased exposure, and thus will raise the likelihood of purchasing. I LOVE how innovative marketers are becoming in order to tackle promotional problems—it makes me excited to see what I could come up with in the future!

http://kelowna.myezrock.com/Pics/Mj/video_poster.jpg

Recently, my roommate and I were watching TV (like good students) and realized how many bad commercials were out there. Building on this thought, we realized how easy it is today to ignore traditional marketing platforms. We can easily fast forward through commercials, and are immune to the spamming of online ads. We wondered: how are leading marketers today getting through to their target market?

After some research, I managed to find some pretty cool examples. There’s definitely a shift now from traditional marketing tactics to content marketing—instead of just spamming and trying to “sell you stuff”, companies are now offering great content in their marketing which makes the consumer stop and think.

One great example is Labatt Brewing Co.’s unconventional take on marketing their Kokanee brand. Instead of a 30-second ad, they filmed an entire 90-minute movie, which was released in theatres across western Canada. The film was targeted directly at their target demographic of 19 to 25 year old males, and they took product placement to the extreme. They were also extremely effective in rolling out movie-related promotions which boosted their sales like unprecedented before. For example, fans were able to audition for roles in the film, and regular customers could even get their names included in the credits if they registered on the website with an email. Bars could compete for a chance to be used as a location in the movie by getting their customers to vote for them—but customers could only vote by ordering a beer with the voting code on it. As a result, bars aggressively promoted Kokanee and sales SOARED.

I never really thought about the challenges marketers face now that traditional marketing techniques are becoming less effective. But it’s super cool how innovative marketing can be in bringing brands and slogans to life.

Other amazing examples include Red Bull’s sponsorship of Felix Baumgartner’s jump from space and TNT’s “Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square”.

Screenshot from “Started From the Bottom” Video

Drake, a popular Toronto-born rapper, recently released his video for his new hit single “Started From the Bottom”. Although companies usually spend a lot of time and money into being associated with celebrities, Shoppers Drug Mart was not too keen with their appearance in his video—Drake and 2 friends are initially shown in the video as Shoppers employees, with the store as  representation as being the “bottom”.

This incident definitely opened my eyes to the other side of marketing—the unwanted kind. According to Tammy Smitham, VP of Communications and Corporate Affairs, “Drake’s production team requested to film…as they wanted to depict something that was uniquely Canadian. We agreed to allow the filming to show our support of Canadian artists.” Clearly, this plan backfired on the company. Companies such as Canada Goose benefit greatly from unpaid product placement (ie. Kate Upton wore one of the brand’s jackets on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit edition) For them, the product placement benefits them as it aligns perfectly with the company’s marketing strategy. For Shoppers, it’s a disappointment—product placement, while such a highly valuable marketing tool, can do so much damage.

This incident really allowed me to realize how companies can sometimes lose control of their marketing—you never know what type of outside influences you have to deal with! Even when you think you have done the best research and know the competitive environment like the back of your hand (if companies could have hands), marketers always need to stay on their toes less they are thrown curveballs like this. For now, I am excited to see how Shoppers plans to recover from this giant blow to their image.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/shoppers-drug-mart-makes-cameo-in-rapper-drakes-video/article8724677/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/for-canada-goose-sports-illustrateds-swimsuit-edition-is-a-golden-egg/article8643134/

Whether we are snapping candids of our dinners or showing off our pets’ new haircuts, we seem to be unable to stop sharing our photos on Instagram (after applying “hipster” filters, of course). Since its launch in 2010, the social networking service has exploded with popularity with more and more users signing up daily.

Recently, Instagram updated their terms of service, stating that “[users] agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos…and/or actions you take…without any compensation to you.” With such a large number of users, it’s no surprise that Twitter and Facebook exploded with people voicing their objections.

Firstly, we have to acknowledge that Instagram, while free for download, is indeed a business; advertising is an essential part of its growth (which they emphasize in their blog post here). Whether their advertising is an example of ethical marketing is walking a fine line. For example, Instagram could potentially be letting advertisers on Facebook use information that users have shared on the service. And, according to the NY Times, you could become a star without your knowledge (breaking many state laws), if Facebook or Instagram decide to include your photos in their next ad. Other than the obvious privacy concerns, there are also issues concerning exploitment. Underage users would not be exempt from these changes in terms. So, is it ethical to use others’ work to increase your own revenue without crediting them? Or is it violating privacy to share users’ information with outside sites without their knowledge?

Instagram needs to watch its next steps very carefully, as it could lead to serious consequences on its brand image. Maybe they should look to Google, who took a more carefully studied route of monetizing their popularity and did it without angering users along the way.

http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/marketer-news/chatter-instagrams-tos-crisis-68635
http://instagram.com/legal/terms/
http://blog.instagram.com/post/38252135408/thank-you-and-were-listening

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-16/business/36384825_1_instagram-function-photos-new-terms

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Growing economies with exploding populations are an extremely attractive concept to marketers.

Canadian Business wrote an article on ad creative Johan Vakidis’ move to China from Montreal. In China, Vakidis works at AKQA’s Shanghai office. One of the biggest projects he is undertaking now is a Nike campaign to encourage running in China.

Working in a foreign country can be an indispensable opportunity for a marketer to grow. Firstly, one needs to face the challenges associated with the cultural differences of the area: in China, running is not seen as a sport; Vakidis will need to find an appropriate way to change people’s perception on running. Secondly, in China, marketers have an opportunity to experiment: for example, in China, clients are more willing to try new things than their counterparts in North America. This allows the marketer to try out a wide range of projects and thus learn new skills. Also, marketers get to experience differences in advertising between their home country and the foreign country: in China, the mobile advertising platform is quite a difficult one; the devices and carriers aren’t very standardized and make for a tough sell.

In the end, although working in a foreign country presents one with many challenges, one is also given an opportunity to grow and gain valuable new skills.

Works Cited:

Beer, Jeff. “AKQA’s Johan Vakidis talks about digital advertising in Asia | CanadianBusiness.com.”CanadianBusiness.com. N.p., 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blog/sales_and_marketing/57649–a-canadian-ad-man-in-china>.

http://www.maclife.com/files/u220903/Flash_on_iPhone_380px.jpg

“Ding dong, the witch is dead. And by witch, I mean Flash.” Peter Nowak, blogger for the Canadian Business website, wrote an article on the killing of Adobe Flash at the hands of Apple.

Adobe has announced that it is stopping development of Flash for mobile devices. In a time where more and more web surfing is happening on phones, there really isn’t much future for Flash.

I find this blog post extremely interesting as it clearly shows the movement of one era of consumer behaviour into another. There was an era where consumers gravitated towards PCs and mice, and it was in this time that Flash was successful. Then came the era of the smartphone and the banning of Flash on the iPhone. Now that consumers are shifting towards browsing on their smart phones, they want to be able to access the same websites on their computers: websites with flash in their design suddenly unattractive.

This blog post clearly demonstrates the impact of shifting trends on a company. Even if a company stays on its toes and strives to be innovative, if it is unable to ride the wave of shifting consumer behaviours, it will be swept away.

Works Cited:

Nowak, Peter. “Apple killed the Flash star | CanadianBusiness.com.”CanadianBusiness.com. N.p., 11 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blog/tech/56614–apple-killed-the-flash-star>.

http://media.cbn.topscms.com/images/d7/b8/397a3cbf4455ae2046a4e0876c68.jpg

“Is the concept of outsourcing positive or negative?” Fellow classmate Karsten Hagge wrote an interesting blogpost answering this very question.

Karsten states that “Outsourcing to companies is only likely to be engaged if there is a reasonable expectation that doing so is advantageous to the company who is seeking to outsource.” I would like to add onto this statement and say that the advantages include:

• Reducing and controlling operating costs
• Improving company focus
• Accelerating reengineering benefits

G Adventures is a company which has discovered these advantages of outsourcing. Bruce Poon Tip, founder of the sustainable-travel company, believes that the rigid processes of his human-resources department are hurting his company’s innovation. Running a HR department is costly and complicated; thus, G Adventures outsourced most of its HR needs to IBM.

By replacing humans with technology, the company has reduced operating costs while creating a more efficient way to handle HR. Responsibilities such as payroll and company data can now easily be automated and handled online. It has also improved the company’s focus on innovation. Overall, the company has seen improvements in areas such as cost, quality, service, and speed.

Works Cited:

Nelson, Jacqueline. “Should you fire your HR department? | CanadianBusiness.com.”CanadianBusiness.com. N.p., 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/54587–should-you-fire-your-hr-department>.