Tsz Wai Jenny Ng's Secret Garden...

Most organization uses advertisement to promote themselves or their products.  Alana has pointed out a useful way of advertisement which is product placement on her blog.  I definitely agree with her that putting products into a well-known movie such as Sex and the City has significant positive impact on the sales of the product.  The margining of advertising and entertainment has begun very common these days.  Consumers could easily recognize products while watching a movie, reading a comic book, and etc. Organizations understand that just having actors holding on their product in a particular scene of a movie could immediately create awareness among the consumers.  That product could be stuck into consumers’ mind during the movie.

When you are watching the American Idol, what do you notice that is always on the table of the judges? The cup of Coca Cola!  This is another example of product placement in entertainment.  Coca Cola takes advantage of the fact that many consumers watch that TV show.  By putting a cup of Coca Cola on the judges table, the chance of consumers noticing the cup could be as high as 99% because every time the camera is focus on the judges, that cup would be shown on TV.  In this particular case, Coca Cola uses an effective advertising strategy with a clear advertising message and the right advertising media.  The company is able to deliver the message of “the judges drink Coca Cola, you should drink it too!” clearly just by putting the cups there.  By choosing a TV show as the media, that cup will not only been seen on TV during show time, it could also been seen on Youtube where viewers would upload the episode online.  It will definitely not surprise me if the effect of using product placement strategy would be higher than having an ad on newspaper.

On Matthew’s blog (“Value pricing vs Cost Based”), he has pointed out that one of the most stand-out examples for value pricing would be Walmart.  I do agree with Matthew on his supporting points; but one thing that I would like to add is that having a low price does not necessarily mean having good value.

Many companies these days are practicing value-added pricing strategy by having value-added features to differentiate their products or services and support their higher prices.  Cathay Pacific is known to be one of the more expensive airlines to choose from when consumers want to fly back toAsia.  Despite the fact that it is more expensive, many consumers still choose to take their planes due to its high quality services and the safety assurance.  Consumers perceive Cathay’s flight delivers higher value than the cost. Cathay provides many direct flight, high quality customer service on board, more comfortable seats and more.  These features areCathay’s competitive advantages which allow the organization to charges a higher price than others.

Another pricing strategy that was not mention in Matthew’s blog is competition-based pricing.  I think most companies do use this strategy when they are setting the price of the products and services.  Consumers usually compare similar products with its competitors.  Therefore it is crucial for the companies to determine its price relatively to the competitors.  For example, if the No Name branded apple juice charges the same price as Sunrype’s.  Customers would obviously choose the Sunrype due to the fact that No Name brand is perceived as a lower quality, and lower nutrition value brand.  Companies need to pay attention to the strategies and prices that the competitors are using, and try to position themselves in a differentiated market to prevent lost of market shares.

Both pricing strategies play important roles in management decision making.  Companies need to understand itself as well as customers needs and wants in order to pick the best price for its products and services.

What would cause you not want to shop at a particular grocery shop? Drew McLellan has written an interesting article pointing out that one of the negative motivators for grocery shoppers is the “butt brush.” They are less likely to purchase a product if they were brushed by another customer. In fact, the grocery shops in Vancouver has wide aisles.  So, I never had such experience.

However, I totally agree with McLellan’s opinion – “in every industry, there is the equivalent of the butt brush.”  Businesses often only focus on consumer  behaviour to indentify interested buyers.  It is equally important to understand what causes consumers to turn down the product.  The weakness of the products could be turned into opportunities for product improvement. This could possibly develop a new competitive advantage and a new marketing strategy for the organization.

Another example of a negative motivator for many businesses would be the line up.  Having a line up could have two meanings for the company.  It shows that many people are willing to buy the products, but at the same time,  potential customers could be frustrated by the waiting time which might lead to giving up on their purchase.  The influence factor in this case would be the lifestyle (busy life with no time shopping) or the attitude (have no patience at all) of the consumers. Many organizations have realized this buyer behaviour.  Groceries store such as Superstore has many cashiers and express lanes in the stores.  Also, the self-service check-outs are implemented to avoid people lining up to pay.  This not only stops consumers from leaving, it also adds value to the customers and creates a new selling point for the company.

Every company should ask themselves the same question – “what causes our customers to turn down the products and go shop somewhere else?”

Shoppers Drug Mart is certainly pursuing the goal of marketing which is to create value for consumers.  According Shoppers Drug Mart’s website, it is cooperating with Royal Bank ofCanadato implement a “co-branded loyalty debit card” and bank accounts.  Consumers are able to earn addition Shoppers Optimum points with the new debit card.  With this new plan, Shoppers could improve both their customer relationship management and partner relationship management.

In the bad economy right now, consumers are cutting back their spending.  Customer loyalty and retention are crucial to a company; especially in the retailer industry, where consumers could easily purchase cheaper goods from the biggest rival, Wal-Mart.  This card increases the incentives for the Shopper’s consumers to purchase more goods which creates customer delight.

Also, Shoppers takes advantage of marketing partners outside the firm.  RBC is one of the biggest banks inCanada.  By partnering with RBC, Shoppers are able to advertise itself through RBC’s communication channels and capture new customers from RBC.  This plan also provides an opportunity for Shoppers to understand more about the banking industry.  Banking could possibly be a future market for Shoppers in order to grow their share of customer.

However, one thing that Shoppers should be careful is that having many side branches from their original business is not easy to cope with all the divisions.  Hewlett-Packard, for example, has started to produce computers and tablets aside from printers.  However, it did not manage the new branch well which leads to reducing the tablet’s price and almost shut down the personal computer division. Therefore, it is good for Shoppers to introduce new ways for consumer retention, but at the same time, it should not let the new division to take away the focus from the core business.

“RBC and Shoppers Drug Mart Launch Innovative National Program”
< http://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/News/RBC-AND-SHOPPERS-DRUG-MART.aspx >

Hi everyone,

As you can see from my account name, I have a pretty long name – Tsz Wai Jenny Ng.  People often ask me “how to pronounce your name?”; I guess it is the missing vowels that confuse people.  To avoid confusion and frustration, you could simply call me Jenny.  I was born and raised inHong Kong.  I moved to Canadawhen I was grade 8.  It was challenging for me to get used a brand new place as a middle school kid.  However, I managed to overcome all the obstacles and ended up in the Sauder School of Business, just like you!

Most of the Sauderites, including myself, are taking Comm 296 because it is fixed into the standard timetable.  Before taking this course, I do not know a lot about marketing.  However, just by reading the textbook, I realized that there are much more than advertisement in marketing.  I hope that this course would give me a more thorough understanding in marketing.

As a consumer, I am exposed to advertisement everywhere.  From tv commercial to bus stop advertisement, I am always introduced to new products and services.  There are so many advertisements in daily life that I tend to ignore them now.  For example, when it is commercial time on TV, I tend to leave the room to go get a drink.  However, sometimes I do like to watch some funny commercials.

My favourite tv commercial is the Coca Cola commercial.  This commercial shows that even two different groups of animals are willing to share happiness together just with a simple drink. And of course, the polar bears and penguins are very cute.

I speak 4 different languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and intermediate Japanese.  I started to learn Japanese in high school because having a second language was a graduation requirement.  However, the more I learn Japanese, the more I get interested in its culture and the language itself.  Now, I am still continuing my Japanese study in UBC.  Maybe one day you would see me working in a Japanese company; who knows?

In Comm 299, I have done a personality test called Strength Quest.  After answering many situational or personality questions, this test shows that my top five strengths are: achiever, deliberative, discipline, harmony, and relator.  I quite agree with the results of my test.  I gain satisfaction from being productive.  I also think carefully before making any decisions.  I cherish all relationships that have been established.  I do not like conflict and I like routine work.  After knowing that these are my strengths, I will build on them and know learn how to apply them in the business world in order to be successful. 

One of the assignments in Comm 299 is a mock interview with TAs or Professors.  Before the interview assessment, I have taken advantage of the career coaching appointed offered by Sauder to practice and learn how to conduct an interview.  In the practice interview, I have realized that I get nervous very easily which reflects on my gesture and the way of answering questions.  After that, I learned how to control myself and stay calm during interview.  At the end, I performed better in the assessment than the practiced one.  Thank you so much Sauder for offering such good service in order to prepare us for interview, resume, cover letter and etc.

One learns many lessons throughout ones life.  One of my teachers in my life is my father.    He has taught me many different things throughout my life so far.  He always reminds me by saying that “try to solve the problem yourself before seeking help from others.”   I did not understand the meaning behind this sentence when I was young.  I had a bad habit of asking for help from others without trying to overcome the obstacles by myself.  This habit has definitely stood in the way of my “growth.”  One problem after another; I have finally realized the fact that I should try to solve the problem by myself.  It might be faster and easier for someone else to do the work for me.  However, those people are not there for me forever.  There is one day that no one is able to help me out.  Most importantly, I would not be able to learn from the process of problem solving.  When the same obstacles appear again, I will not have the appropriate skill to tackle it.  It is okay to fell in front of a barrier.  As long as you try your best, you could start all over again in a different path with better skills.  

In a work place, you could work in a team or independently.  If you seeks help from others all the time, why would the boss bother to hire you instead of someone else who could do work without asking others?  But once again, when you really cannot handle the problem after many times of trying, it would be appropriate to ask people to lend you a hand.  At the end, you would know how to solve the similar problem next time.

Thanks Dad, I do listen to the things you say.  And I know these lessons I learned from you would be useful in school, workplace, and everywhere.

Organizational culture is an essential aspect of an organization.  It provides stability; sets the tone for the employees to clearly understand how the company is operated and how they should interact with others.  Walmart is a well-known company which has an interesting culture.

Walmart has three basic beliefs and values:

1. 1. Respect for the individual
2. 2. Best service to our customers
3. 3. Striving for excellence

Employees and managers follow these beliefs and values to operate Walmart.  Furthermore, its culture is transmitted to the employees through the daily Walmart cheer.  Walmart says that this cheer is a way to show pride of the company and how much it values the customers.  Also, the employees are required to smile and take the initiative to help any customers they see in the store.  

Walmart’s organizational culture seems to be reasonable and acceptable to the customers.  However, society has concerns regarding to the Walmart’s ethical issues as well as how it treats its employees.   Walmart has been criticized for its production in sweatshop and employee mistreatment.  These two events contradict its core values of “respect for the individual.”  In addition, as mentioned in above, the employees are required to be cheerful while helping customers; this could cause a potential problem of emotional dissonance for the employees.  They would also have to modify their inner feelings through deep/surface acting to match the standard.  If all these problems are solved in Walmart, it could generate a more ethical and positive organizational culture.

This is a youtube video of the Walmart cheer.

Walmartsotres.com
<http://walmartstores.com/>

Picture:
<http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/btb/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/walmart.jpg>

Youtube:
Walmart Cheer……Fulton, MS      by Msmother74
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dBZ_r7r_W4>

J. Gregory Dees defines “Social Entrepreneurship” as:

A role of change agents in the social sector, by:
• Adopting a mission to create and sustain social value
• Identifying and practice new opportunities to reach the mission,
• Innovating
• and more

The Care and Share Associates Ltd (CASA) is an example of employee owned social enterprise in the United Kingdom.  It has won the award of “Social Enterprise of the Year” in 2006.  It has a clear vision that a social enterprise needs: “To greatly enhance the ‘social enterprise take’ of the UK’s Health and Social Care market through robust competition with the private sector and close collaboration with the public sector.”  CASA believes that people should be put in front of profit.  It encourages innovation.  Its service includes providing support for seniors and people with disability, and providing academic and learning support.  It also offers different kinds of consultancy services to developing and existing care providers.  CASA’s service has contributed a lot into society, and leads to positive influence on others.  It has strengthened employees’ ability to work, especially women.  In addition, it has proven to the public that social enterprises are able to deliver quality care service, because it treats people with love rather than just money.  CASA has definitely fit most of the criteria of a social enterprise.  It achieves a social goal, seeks innovation and tries its best to reach the mission.  CASA is a good role model for other social enterprises in UK as well as a leader that leads the social enterprises towards success. 

The video shows the work of Sunderland Home Care Associates and Independent Futures.

The Care and Share Associates Ltd (CASA)
<http://www.casaltd.com/index.aspx>

Video: “Sunderland Home Care Associates” by Xavierdavidson
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_C_HNz-9CI>

When the word, “entrepreneurship” appears, The Walt Disney Company pops into my mind.  I think the founders, Walt Disney and Roy Disney, are both consider as entrepreneurs.  According to Joseph Schumpeter, innovation plays a big part in the definition of “entrepreneurship.”  The Disney brothers definitely fit into the criteria.  First, the cartoon or animation market is based on innovation and creativity.  The Disney brothers have created many famous characters that you and I grew up with, such as the Mickey Mouse.  In 1928, Mickey Mouse was introduced to public and brought the first success shortly after their business has started.  From 1923 till now, The Walt Disney Company has turned from a small animation studio into one of the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world.   Throughout the years, the company has taken a lot of risks and chances to enlarge their business.  They have entered into many different markets; for example, the radio, television, merchandise, parks and resorts markets.  The Walt Disney Company generates profits for itself, and happiness for the customers.  

Here is a TV commercial of Disneyland
 

The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies
http://corporate.disney.go.com/index.html

Video: Small World Holidays- :30 TV spot for Walt Disney World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew6EF8mD9io

Picture: http://www.disneylandpostcards.com/images/Mickey-Mouse.png