Touraj's Blog

We all know apple – the super mighty tech company sitting at $580  market cap and said to reach $1 trillion dollars by the end of 2012, yet we never wonder why this tech giant became what it is today. Apple is a lesson every marketer, or entrepreneur must learn. I like to provide you with some knowledge into structure that led Apple to its all mighty standing right now.

Apple has used two main channels to boost performance – Technology & Creativity!

Apple has come with outstanding products that astonish its customers on daily basis. Trends such as Iphone, and Ipad have monopolized the market because of the technology they offer, however that technology is only seen by few as technology yet by many as “creativity”.

Apple users purchase apple product because they are “cool” – You will have more friends notice what you are holding if you have the upcoming Iphone 5 in hand rather having and outdated blackberry curve that lags on daily basis. I have a blackberry yet apple’s coolness and innovation amaze me on daily basis.

What does this teach us or new entrepreneurs? It tells us that the value that you provide to your customers mean way more than what you include within your service/product.

Joesph KONY, a war criminal charged with 33 war crimes that include child abduction, rape, and homicide. This man has lately been seen on every facebook feed, and has turned into an international superstar in a week time. Clement Cheung briefly explained how KONY 2012 socializing campaign used shocking scenes to portray this man’s past/present and what he has done in Uganda/South Sudan over the past 26 years, BUT I object his view.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Unfortunately, in order to get your video viral you must use bunch of unrelated scenes, and facts that usually don’t add up to what actually needs to be done. Here are couple points which were fully denied  in the video in order to make it appealing to youth (Preferably around my age) so it could be shared and moved around at a faster rate.

1- Who is KONY? The video barely touches on who KONY is?  Why he is doing what he is doing?  What is  Lord Resistance Army?  This video never went into details, simply because this generation can not handle details and gets bored if too much details are given. IF people don’t know what the story is, then they don’t know what the cause is therefore it is simply a useless marketing campaign.

2- The reality was not portrayed? There are two realities here;

a) What really happens to children in Uganda? Over one million moved, over 30,000 children abducted and only couple pictures of the brutality that takes place? The funny/interesting fact is that the little 4 year old kid has more air-time than the Ugandian Child.

b) The maker of this video never say how to stop LRA. They want stop KONY, yet LRA has more than 20,000 freedom fighters that will fight whether KONY is there or not. In fact, killing the freedom fighters would go against the whole cause of video (stop of child homicide/rape/abduction)

Social Media has sped up Marketing, YET miscommunication/lack of cause could greatly skew the result of a certain marketing campaign.

Mobilicity – A new Cell-Phone carrier that gives new definition to mobility through simplicity, and its simplicity has been going against The Big 3 – Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

As Nikita Arora stated in her blog post. Mobilicity has been running a campaign in 5 major Canadian cities – Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa, building trust by pin-pointing on sky-high fees the big 3 charge. In particular, this campaign targets the overage fees that drain wallets of many Canadians. This way, they will be able to stir up public resentment towards the  Big 3 and the same time gain full-attention on themselves.

Why might this be an effective strategy?

Mobilicity has always offered unlimited, no contract-plans.  A quick visit to a Mobilicity store, can save you up to $30 – $40 of monthly cell-phone fees.You could get an unlimited everything (Income/outcome calls, worldwide text, North America calling, and Unlimited 3.5G data) for a price of 6G data coverage that Big 3 offer. Those numbers shine in the eyes of customers- as it did in my eyes. They are therefore in perfect position to market them self as a superior in the industry.

However, there is a negative side untouched in Nikita’s blog post. Low-fees are create the best positioning statement for Mobilicity – It could be ” To all talkers/texters, Mobilicity is a carrier that simplifies connection with no contract and low-fees”. This statement is easily destroyed by Big 3 because they have a “Strong Signal” that Mobilicity lacks.

Although there are negative sides, Mobilicity’s been able to grab a lot of attentions, and it will continue to do so with its “cheap” fees.

What did I learn from this useful course. To be honest, 200 words to describe everything I learned in this valuable course is not enough, but it is enough  for me to state in short terms the things I have learned and quickly state the importance/ how they have affected my ability in first year as a business student at Sauder. I’d like to start with the with the first semester of this course when we had to prepare speeches for every class. Doing one speech every week last semester was beneficial in two way: my speech writing speed Increased rapidly during 3 months, also I my talking skills went from a 4 to what I believe could be a 9. To sum up last semester, I believe I did more speeches in 3 months than I did all my high school life. Moving on to the second semester, there has been at least 8 times more material covered than it was covered in the first semester. During the second part of 299, my fear od resumes, interviews, cover letters, phone calls with people in the business and so on was completely disintegrated. In addition to my fear dis-integration, I learned how to write the Harvard style resume that would help me stand out as a business student of sauder. I also learned how to approach employers and recruiters as well as how to react in an interview. One really important thing I learned as Philip always says is “to do what I like to do” and never be a follower. These 266 words can basically describe what I learned in this awesome course.

Who has INSPIRED me? This question is not easy to answer as there are hundred’s of people who have inspired me during my life. If I want to simply put, I am inspired by everyone single person i meet with, and talk with on daily basis. I am inspired to improve my personality traits, and learn from others so I could learn from everyone. However, if I am to put out who are my biggest inspirations, I guess I would say Bill Gates, Adolf Hitler, Thomas J.Watson, Mark Zuckerberg, and Gandhi. All these men, had the ability to start from nothing and make their ways to top. Just to mention, I do not to any extend agree with all the unethical, inhumane actions of Hitler, and I only like him because he managed to pull the stricken Germany after first World War and turn it into a super power by the second World War. Bill Gates and Zuckerberg are two technological and entrepreneur geniuses that I get inspired and hope to someday be able to be as creative as them and start the next big thing. Just as Bill gates said, “Twenty years from now, everyone would have a personal computer in their homes” so if I could be like these two great entrepreneurs and think that far into future, then I have been inspired. The great founder IBM, Thomas Watson is also a man I learn a lot from, he is a man who said “All of the problems in the world could be settled if men are willing to think.” His saying has taught that if I think, then i will be able to fix. Gandhi, a great leader who fought with peace has also inspired me and taught me being the best as you can be and understanding others before understanding myself. These 5 great men, except Hitler who was nothing but a murderer have inspired me to take on the challenges i face and battle them to success. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39jtNUGgmd4[/youtube]

Bell’s success in winning the VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) Telecom bid, seemed too good for Bell marketers, at least that is part of my opinion. So what is the main role of Marketers?

As marketers, part of your job would be to find the exact, and distinguished market to plan ahead where your investments would be most successful. Further on, marketers should consider what the opportunity cost of their investment is.

Bell Marketers to some extend forgot about these to important factors. After Winning the $200 million bid, Bell won the International and Global market, yet the local/regional which had the highest significant to Bell were untouched. This was a big mistake. Taking over the western market was the main reason why Bell entered this Bid and Global advertisement would help them in no way as they only function within Canada.

Having mentioned their Marketing Objective problem, I can now touch on the opportunity cost of their investment. Bell marketers did not simply take their time to research to unify whether this investment is the most efficient one. By efficient, I meant the one that will give you the highest pay back with lowest invest.

If Bell did not make these mistakes, their chance of taking over the western market and gaining more profit would be higher. Eventually, this investment did make Bell the expected profit, but no by increasing their subscribers, but by selling a satellite.

That is Short-Run, and Bell had aimed for Long-Run.

Is PB oil spill anything to forget about, or Is it something British Petroleum wants us to forget . The oil spill that happened earlier this year in gulf of Mexico was nothing but a greed-related mistake by BP. Based on the reported news, a blow out of the drill caused an explosion  which further caused the collapse of drilling rig, hence breaking the piping that connected the drill to the well, about 5000 ft under the sea. When the wells broke, the oil began to gush into the gulf. You would say it was mechanical failure that caused this Extremly non-environmental accident, but you’ve guessed wrong.

The Oil spill took place because of BP’s  greed, or I would say PB’s unwillingness to spend a little bit of money.

To those who plan on opening a small business and building on that. According to US. Small Business Administration, two-third of small business survive for at least two years, 40 percent survive for four years, and 40 percents have the chance to survive for 5 years or longer. So how can you part of those 40 percent who survive for 5 years and longer?

The answer to that question is quite simple, you must avoid these 5 mistakes.

1- Fail to Establish a team:

Lets refer back to the main definition of entrepreneurship. Entreprnuer is a one who uses time and money of other to make ideas into reality.  In other sense, it means you have to stop being your own copy writer,  web designer, product inventor. By creating a team, you would be able to “Do what you do best, and form out rest”.

2- Fail to establish a special subject matter:

By having a special subject matter, tou will be able to deliver information that answers specific question to your customers.

3- Fail to create unique selling proposition:

This indicates why customers should buy from you and not buy from your competition. You can accomplish this by summarizing your key points that make your product or service a “MUST HAVE” for your clients.

4- Fail to organize:

You must plan, and have a vision for your business, and set a time. Vision within a time limit will lead your small business to success.

5-Fail to market:

When opening your store, pay attention to its location because its existence within a busy street could help your business to self-advertise it self. Also, if you are taking advantage of internet, don’t forget to promote your website to get more hits, and views.

These 5 reasons are likely why most small small businesses fail within the first 5 years. Prevent them, and your business will go on to the top.

Today’s Comm 101 class, brought up the name and had me thinking about what he had done. I went on, and searched up bait, and realized that he is the founder of Grameen Bank Social Enterprise. He was also given the noble peace prize of year 2006.  So, what is a social Enterprise and how does Grameen Bank work?

A Social Enterprise, has somewhat the same definition as a normal enterprise, yet social enterprise is less profit, and more non-profit. A social Enterprise such as Grameen bank has more of a social purpose and it is more non-profit based than Profit based. For example, the Grameen Bank lends micro-credits to poor, where as the credits are mostly given out to middle-higher class levels  in Normal Enterprises (Banks).

Grameen Bank Like other non-profit organizations doesn’t hold profit for one person, and most of their actions improve the community. This being said, the Grameen Bank’s micro credits work as loan that will give the poor class with certain skills the ability to use that money to create their small business.

In conclusion, Social Enterprises like Grameen Bank and all the local ones are playing a big role in our world, where the poor is never given the opportunity to grow, and these enterprises give the poor the opportunity to grow.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPk2gRuIdj0[/youtube]