So a couple weeks ago in class we learned about the Top 7 social media trends that will dominate 2016, according to Forbes.  Well, I wanted to learn more and stumbled upon the “Top 10 Digital Marketing Stats of the Week”. In this post, I’ll not only explore some of the top 10 trends (I won’t go over all of them but feel free to look at them yourself!), but also see if they are aligned with the Top 7 trends that were shared in class.

1. Basket abandonment has risen 15% since 2010

What does basket abandonment mean? Well, this means that people are shopping in-store less and less. Check out this Vancity Buzz article that pokes fun of the Black Friday sales. There was literally no one in stores.  This is pretty much in line with Forbe’s prediction that online BUY buttons will DOMINATE.

2. Insider fraud on the rise in technology, media and telecoms industry

Uh oh. As we see digital marketing on the rise, it means that we need to be a lot more careful with our privacy and personal information online. As Forbes predicted, “User privacy concerns will hit an all-time high”. This is no surprise and in my opinion, should be alarming. As our society becomes more comfortable with technology, we really need to think about the reprucussions and the bad guys that might be out there trying to steal our information. A great example would be the new “Hello” Barbie doll that just came out. This doll can apparently talk to your children, record information, and make sense of data. Click here to read more about the controversy surrounding this doll and how parents question whether it is safe, or just another tactic for marketers (like you and I!) to “steal” information for our own promotional ganis.

3. Three in five marketers aren’t currently targeting Instagram users

Uhm…what!? Don’t worry, I was shocked too when I read this. According to the article, marketers are still late to the game, with “over half (53%) of marketers [planning] to make use of Instagram in 2016 to boost their sales.” What’s interesting is that 1 in 3 Instagram users actually buy products that they see on Instagram, this goes to support the rationale behind the # store, that I blogged about earlier in the term. Referencing the Forbe article, that predicts “fewer small platforms will emerge”, I wonder how long Instagram will be here to stay. While it is predicted that fewer platforms will emerge, it is only a matter of time before the next big thing, and for Facebook to be another “My Space” or “Nexopia”.

All in all, I’d say that the Forbes article is pretty accurate. But while I can see that our purchasing behaviors are changing drastically and that businesses will need to find a way to survive in the online space, I wonder what will happen to brands and companies that rely on the customer experience. Yes, people can buy your products online, but there is still something about touching the product, experiencing it, and being immersed in the customer experience. It will be interesting to see how these companies (especially in the luxury industry) will adapt.

As many of you are aware, on Friday, November 13th, terrorist attacks broke out. What also broke out, was social media, as people not only expressed their condolences and prayers to France, but united over hashtags such as #prayforparis, #prayforiraq, #prayfortheworld, and so on. During this dark day, a community on social media was formed. However, beyond this, what I really want to write about, is the hashtag, #porteouverte.

This is the first time in my 4 years of being a business student have I seen a hashtag change the way I see social media. The idea behind #porteouverte was for people in Paris to welcome those on the streets that their homes were open for shelter and protection. People without shelter would be able to look up #porteouverte to connect with those who were willing to lend a helping hand. In theory, this hashtag would work wonderfully and I fully understand it comes from a good place. However, the hashtag became so popular that people who weren’t even in Paris were using it to spread awareness. Unfortunately, because so many people were trying to spread the word (to the point where it was trending on twitter and facebook), the hashtag was not being used for what it was really meant for, and it watered down the true #porteouverte hashtags that were meant to help.

To me, this is a prime example of the strong influence social media has. Once things become viral, it really becomes out of your control. This event has caused me to think about how social media will evolve in the future to become a tool to connect those in need. Social media is now much more than just updating everyone on what you’re eating or doing. It’s become an essential part of human life and how we communicate with each other. Even with Facebook, during the attacks, people from Paris can mark themselves as “safe” in order to share with their family and friends that they were unharmed. Personally, I had a couple of friends on exchange in Paris, and it was such a relief to know that they were OK—all of this from one update on Facebook.  It will be interesting to see how social media will integrate in our health and protection systems in Canada and beyond during major crises. However, in the case of what happened with the hashtag, #porteouvert, there will need to be a perfect balance for how things go viral and which audience is using the right hashtags.

So I’ve seen the above photo floating everywhere on the internet, and I decided to look into it more to see if it linked to the digital space that we live in. I never knew what phenomena this was, but upon my research, I learned that is is something called the Sharing Economy. What is the sharing economy you ask?

“A people’s economy based on ‘access to’ rather than ‘ownership of’ physical and human aspects like time, space, and skills.”

The Sharing Economy is an emerging phenomena of peer-to-peer sharing of access to certain goods and services rather than requiring direct ownership. Trends such as car sharing, p2p traveling, and social lending are all by-products of the Sharing Economy. The Sharing Economy is the result of emerging social technologies (ie: mobile apps) that have consequently enabled users to connect like never before!

So why do I share this? Well, as I looked into this phenomena, I learned that it all started because of the digital era we live in. Mobile apps have allowed us to migrate to this so-called sharing economy. Now, as you can see,  the Sharing Economy heavily relies on technology and mobile platforms that make it easier for peers to connect with each other. That said, these P2P platforms create the potential for marketers to insert algorithms to track not only consumer and seller behaviour, but also the science behind ‘matches’ (ie: What preferences to the buyer/seller have? What is their consumption/selling pattern and who do they most do business with? Who do they trust?). By tracking such behaviour and exploring how consumers/sellers ‘trust’ one another, marketers may be able to create more tailored campaigns (ie: creating a campaign for BMW executed by a marketer who also loves BMWs).

Platforms used to host the Sharing Economy also unlocks the potential for micro-targeting. Since these P2P networks are very community focused, marketers can create more grassroots brand-building approaches and allow communities to experience their brands, rather than wasting money doing mass-marketing. By tapping into the technologies used for collaborative consumption, marketers can better invest their efforts to smaller groups of people. Doing so can allow marketers to enable more brand ambassadors within the community and share more content (ie: between seller [brand advocate] and buyer [consumer]).

In my opinion, in order for the Sharing Economy to be sustainable and successful, trust is needed. Therefore, we can predict that, if the Sharing Economy continues to be successful, consumers will be demanding more transparency in order to trust what is being marketed to them. Therefore, things such as peer reviews and trials can potentially be of even more importance in the marketing realm.

Finally, despite backlash from corporations and the government, the Sharing Economy is unavoidable. This type of economy allows people to conveniently access goods and services without compromising cost, engage in experiences they may not otherwise pursue, and create efficiency to their day-to-day lives. Even if it becomes unsuccessful and unsustainable, it is only a matter of time that our economy shifts towards a model that is similar, especially given the fact we are entering a completely digital era.

Newsflash: “niche” is the new cool.

Take Sephora for example: NARS, Josie Martin, Nudestix – all these non-mainstream brands that have captured the hearts of all beauty addicts.

Especially with the era of social media booming with millennials, mediums like Youtube and Instagram have shaped the way products are promoted and have served as go-to platforms for users to see ‘What’s Hot and What’s Not’. Consumers these days want to know what products look like real time through real people.

The above statement is of course a no brainer, but there’s a new shop in New York that has taken this concept as their entire business model. This store is appropriately called, #. Yes. It is called Hashtag (but really, it’s just the symbol).

Brands looking to make it big in beauty need only start with “an idea, an iPhone, and Instagram.”

At #, they only select brands to sell based on if they are trending on Instagram. Rather than choosing brands through metrics like market share, margins, etc., # wants to assess brands on the ‘human scale’. As such, the founder of #, Richard Parrot, wants to find “Instabrands”: “I open Instagram in the morning and fall down the rabbit hole….You click through ten different people and 20 different comments until you’re like ‘What is this brand?’ I’ve never even heard of them! That’s when we reach out.”

With # rolling out, it will be interesting to see if other retailers will adopt similar strategies. Regardless, this initiative just goes to show how today’s consumers are shifting, and how powerful social media really can be.

Read more here: http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Brand-Innovation/New-York-City-beauty-retailer-sells-only-makeup-discovered-on-Instagram

“Ethics are the rules that direct a person’s conduct and moral judgment.”

While ethics can apply to selling in a business context, ethics also equally apply to personal selling and branding.

Photo of Tania Head

In 2001, shortly after 9/11 ruined the lives’ of many, a woman under the name Tania Head revealed herself as a 9/11 survivor with a mission to support those affected by the tragedy. She soon created a popular online community for 9/11 survivors and in 2003, she was approached by the founder of the World Trade Center Survivor’s network to merge the two groups. The goal of the merger was to further provide support for the survivors, taking in public donations to help the victims, families, and officers affected. Tania Head leveraged her own survivor story, and her heavy lobbying efforts swept the nation by storm. She soon rose to celebrity status as she recounted her survivor story at conferences, universities, and the media. Eventually, she also became President of the World Trade Center Survivor’s network.

In 2007, New York Times looked into Tania’s documents, and discovered that all the credentials she claimed (ie: attending Harvard, working at Merrill Lynch) were all false. Later on, it was revealed that Tania Head was not even a 9/11 survivor. In fact, her real name was Alicia Head, and on the day of 9/11, she was not at the scene, and instead, was in Barcelona taking classes.

Why Tania Head fabricated her involvement in 9/11 is still a mystery. Her lies devastated the nation: donors, victims, friends, the government, and many more. The credibility of the World Trade Center Survivor’s network was heavily criticized, and many felt robbed.

This example goes to show how even unethical personal selling can affect businesses and organizations. “Tania” had sold the idea that she was a survivor with a mission to alleviate pain, and consequently became a spokesperson to all victims of 9/11.

Her contributions were positive and changed the lives of many, but in the end, her dishonesty ruined all she had created.

While many would argue that what Tania did was wrong, I believe that she gave people hope in the time where hope was most needed.

My question to the class would be: Is it right to lie, even if you are helping others? What if Tania didn’t get caught? Does it matter that she did? Is it OK for salespeople, marketers, even doctors, to sell customers a belief?

Here is a short video if you want to learn more about Tania Head:

Hope you enjoy reading my blog and that my posts aren’t too boring… I actually had fun writing the last batch 😀

LOL sorry my blog posts are long…. got too excited

Ever since Facebook has been charging companies who have fan pages with over 400 likes, many companies are beginning to shift their marketing strategies away from Facebook and towards other social media websites such as Twitter. Facebook’s recent “Pay for reach” strategy basically encompasses a new feature called ‘promoted posts’ where companies with over 400 likes pay for their posts to appear on user’s news feeds. Unfortunately, for the businesses who refuse to pay for the extra reach are now experiencing a drop in their fan engagement. However, there is a solution to the sudden drop in “fan” interest and activity: a new facebook feature that allows users to choose to receive constant notification on fan pages updates: “fans can click on the “Get Notifications” option under the “Liked” button on a brand’s Page he or she is following. Brands can encourage their fans to enable this feature. The more fans that activate it, presumably the greater reach brands will have.” Another option that allows ample company exposure is something called the “interest list” where users can subscribe to topics they care about and see updates on their news feeds.

It’s interesting to see how much of a difference Facebook now makes towards the success of a company. While I think that constant updates from companies are rather annoying, I would much rather see it on a facebook news feed than receive multiple promotional emails on my phone. It’s also true that if we are not updated on companies we have interest in, we will not willingly check it out ourselves. While a part of me finds it ridiculous how reliant we are on Facebook now a days, I can’t disagree that Facebook plays a vital role. Technology is now more important than ever. It is not until enrolling in business school where I finally appreciate the power of information technology. It is also fascinating how much of everything is tailored to the consumers liking.

For example, a website I recently stumbled on, called pulse.me, is a place where I can customize what kind of news I want to read, and what topics I want to see.

(Pulse takes your favorite websites and transforms them into a colorful and interactive mosaic)

I encourage all my fellow colleagues, TA’s and Professors to check out www.pulse.me

Before this website, I was never interested in reading the news, or watching it on TV. This resulted in difficulty of not only completing my Comm 101 blogs, but also keeping up to date with my surroundings in general. But now, while I am exposed to things I am actually interested in, writing these blogs have become an effortless experience, and I find myself actually engaged and passionate about my posts.

The reason why I mention pulse.me in this post is because the idea of Facebook completely allowing users to control what they see on their feed. The trend of customization has become a definite asset to any company looking for more exposure and consumer activity.

Other apps and websites that come to mind: Instagram and Songza.

References:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/224957?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
http://www.mindjumpers.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/facebookforbusiness.png

In Nina Garcia’s blog, she talks about the value of being original and the importance of focusing on a high quality design rather than turning to the ‘fast fashion’ trend route and applauds Robert D. Austin’s 2008 HBR article “High Margins and the Quest for Aesthetic Coherence.” According to Garcia, businesses that focus on quality and coherence and stick to a well thought design tend to have more of a lasting impact versus companies who focus more on quantity and cheap products.

“It’s the companies that have integrity and stay true to their aesthetic that are ultimately more profitable. Those that cut quality and turn to knock-off designs just don’t survive long-term.”

I found this blog particularly interesting, because it puts into prospective on what is completely true, yet overlooked. Because of the new technologies, the demand of consumers has increased substantially. Before internet existed, consumers would have to see new products and designs in person in order to want it., but now, consumers can see the new trends via twitter, facebook, and google, even before they hit stores. Like Garcia writes in her blog, “consumers not only see products sooner, but also want them faster.”

The concept mentioned above reminds me of that one class in Comm101 where we talked about the success of Zara and how Zara is able to keep up with the trends and release new styles weekly to achieve customer return and excitement. However, while Zara’s quality is very good, Garcia and Austin’s blog posts challenge this tactic:

“As “Aesthetic Coherence” suggests, it is crucial to emphasize design and delivery, even in a fast-paced modern market. I’ve seen that beating out the competition is not just a matter of offering the lowest price. Companies must also understand that consumers want special and well-thought-out products wrapped in a holistic experience from the point of discovery to the point of purchase.”

This makes me wonder if Zara will be as successful as they are now in the future. Will they continue to be successful once the other companies start using their same tactic? Do customers go back for the new trends, or the quality of the Zara brand?

In my opinion, Zara is doing a good job. Although I never really noticed the amount of different styles they have weekly until Comm101, I don’t think Zara is exactly cheap (although in Comm101, they say it is). Because of Zara being more out of my ideal price range, I will always have the impression that Zara makes quality clothing, which falsifies the argument found in “Aesthetic Coherence”. However, other brands, such as Forever21, I believe fall into the category of companies making the mistake of choosing quantity over quality. While they are highly successful due to their reasonable prices and “cute” selection of clothing, many times I have gone home only to find that my new purchases have loose threads and missing buttons.

As a prospective business woman, I will definitely keep in mind that quality will always beat out quantity; no matter what costs.

References:

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/11/staying_in_fashion_in_the_digi.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
http://hbr.org/2008/01/high-margins-and-the-quest-for-aesthetic-coherence/ar/1
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JJ84dEUtN40/TwN8XhjsXWI/AAAAAAAAA2o/Llq1cyLs-s8/s1600/quality-enhanced-life-days-a-new-metric-for-hospital-sustainability.jpg

A popular topic explored in Comm 101 is entrepreneurship. On top of that, I would have to say that 3 out of 5 people I ask want to be entrepreneurs after receiving their BCom degree at Sauder. However, can Sauder professors–or any business school professor– actually teach someone to be innovative and creative? Are we guaranteed successful entrepreneur status if we attend a business school of entrepreneurship? According to an unnamed entrepreneurship professor students  “need to go out and actually build a business to get a full education in entrepreneurship.” Compared to an accounting degree, where you are pretty much assigned a firm and automatically make liveable yearly income, entrepreneurship is a hit or miss: many companies struggle to break even, and some make millions quickly after starting up. You can’t place an average income or value on entrepreneurship.

“The value has to be a question of whether or not the degree helps a brand-new entrepreneur start her first business—and if it improves her chances of creating a business that either lasts or has a successful exit.”

While I don’t believe that learning entrepreneurship is a waste of time, I’m just wondering if it’s a waste of money. There are certainly advantages of learning entrepreneurship, especially the networking aspect of meeting existing entrepreneurs and learning the tricks of whatever industry; however, no matter how many courses of entrepreneurship you take, or how many entrepreneurs you speak with, you are never guaranteed success. Entrepreneurship is about being innovative, thinking out of the box, and being the creator of something that does not exist. Many successful entrepreneurs, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckenberg, didn’t even complete their degrees, and look at them now!  You can even google the list of billionaire drop outs, and the list goes on and on.

Getting personal with this article, sometimes I even question why I’m at Sauder. Of course, I love my faculty, but at the same time so far in my first year of university, I’m barely even taking any business courses. I would like to think of myself as more of an ‘Advanced’ arts student. As I reflect upon the students at Sauder, YES, everyone here is great at what they do, but for the most part, the best thing about being in a business school is not  the courses we take, but more of the opportunities that are given to us. Like what the article mentions:

“Any college degree is worth only what you make of it. An entrepreneurship degree might not have the intrinsic ability to help you found a successful company that much faster than you could figure out on your own. But a university is full of resources that are harder to access without a student ID.”

As I’m getting rather off track from the article I’m supposed to be focusing on, I’d like to redirect back to the whole question about entrepreneurship: Each new business is difference, so how can university professors teach their students to be successful in entrepreneurship? My question is: Are entrepreneurs born or made?

References:

http://www.businessinsider.com/should-you-consider-an-entrepreneurship-degree-2012-11?utm_source=Pulse&utm_medium=App&utm_campaign=partner&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m29nai89Q91rn91bdo1_r1_500.jpg