If the United Nations was fully funded, we still need organizations like the Arc and social enterprise for sure.

Although these organizations all aim at making the whole world better off, they function in different ways and play a part in different levels. If a bottle stands for common interest of the world, then UN stands for big rocks; the Arc and social enterprise stand for sand. The bottle can’t be fully filled with big stones; only small stuff can fill interspace.

UN tackles with large problems on a global level and provides a wild range of assistance. While the Arc and social enterprise build a channel in which resources (including business knowledge and capital) can flow to where needed. Small projects teach people business knowledge thus giving them idea how to get rid of poverty by themselves instead of being given. In this way, they can decide their own life as well as adding meaning to society. For example, Uwonkunda takes back what she learned in the Arc to her home country; Inspired by a talk at the Arc Initiative workshop, Ms. Tesfaye expanded her business and carve out her own niche. GadShega Shero Eatery finds a sweet way to stand out in a croweded market by using the knowledge she acquired in the Arc.

Bill Brayton puts that “ Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.” 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/nodokahashimoto/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/can-fair-trade-boutique-expand-without-alienating-customers/article4405520/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/going-global/in-a-crowded-market-ethiopian-entrepreneur-finds-a-sweet-way-to-stand-out/article17912688/

http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative

http://news.ubc.ca/2014/06/30/upward-arc/

Dating back to 2011, the “ Share a Coke” campaign has been launched for more than 3 years. Thanks to this personalized bottle campaign, Coca-Cola co. is seeing a sales rise for the first time in more than a decade[1].  I totally agree with Gadeer Ghannam’s statement on “3 reasons why share a coke campaign so successful ”. Furthermore, I believe there is some internal connection and causation between these three reasons. As we can imagine, the effect wouldn’t be ideal for such a famous company to advertise, because customers already know it well and have purchased it at least once. To regain their attention, Coke chooses to make use of its sonorous fame. They substitute their classic logo with names. In this way, customers are satisfied to see their names appearing on Coke’s bottles as if Coke – a soft drink giant customized these products for them. If you don’t find your name on shelves, never mind, there are plenty of ways to tell Coke to produce a unique bottle of coke for you. Just as Nantha Morgan said, this was a really clever marketing promotion by Coke to break the barriers that are set up by being so well known.

Then, by encouraging customers to share their Coke with friends and share related videos and photos on social media, customers’ value of individuality and desire for human connection are further expressed[2]. “Share a Coke” provides customers, especially teens and millennials, an opportunity to display themselves as well as build a personal connection with the brand.

Unfortunately, this campaign can’t solve the problem once and for all. Frankly, it’s like a short-term sense of excitement. Customers’ enthusiasm will fade out at last. Anyway, emotional marketing and advertising is a really good method to attract the customer’s attention and acquire their affection.

Have fun

the blog I’m referring to: http://trivision.tv/blog/2014/08/18/share-a-coke-campaign-a-marketing-success/

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/coca-colas-share-coke-campaign-grows-sales-first-time-10-years-160433

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/cocacola-share-a-coke-campaign-boosts-us-sales-for-first-time-in-a-decade-9759739.html

http://consumerist.com/2014/09/26/coke-reverses-10-years-of-sagging-sales-by-slapping-names-on-bottles/

My fellow classmate Rachel Cheng recently wrote a blog in which she stated that the ads she came cross in social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and other small websites were so specifically targeted to her that they even had the exact products she browsed online. Probably, most people have the same experience as her, so do I. Same as Rachel felt, I was annoyed to be tracked at the very beginning and afraid that my privacy was invaded.

Later, I find that this is a service called directional push and I become interested in it. So what is directional push? After a user browse pages or post the latest news on a social media platform, cookies are generated and stored on the user’s computer. Advertisements engines included Google, Baidu as well as social media read these cookies and know the preferences of this user. Therefore, they are able to push information about what exactly the user want, furthermore, at a accurately calculated time, at a scientific frequency.

In my opinion, it’s irreproachable for sellers to do so. To most searching engine companies and social media, most have been offering free services and platforms; they may take advantage of users’ information to attract advertisers, thereby gaining advertising revenue to support operation. Compared to traditional ads push, directional ads push is much more efficient. Businesses don’t need to choose pushing channel, but focus on reaching to their target customer segments. Social media advertising starts with customer needs, thus freeing businesses from spending tons of money into letting their products got a “15 second fleeting image” on TV.On the other hand, to most social media users, they are willing to post their personal real information which is a hundred percent opening to everyone. So, it’s possible for sellers to make use of it.

The blog I’m referring to : https://blogs.ubc.ca/rcheng/2014/11/02/does-privacy-exist-online/

http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/disadvantages-advertising-social-media-5467.html

http://www.solveitmedia.com

I feel honor to attend class 18 in COMM101 to see the style of three perfect Sauder Alumni. They are great entrepreneurs. Paul Grill impressed me a lot. He dissatisfied with limited responsibilities early in his working life so he founded naked coconuts which sells coconut oil, coconut nectar and other amazing coconut products[1]. Eventually, running his own business turns out to be the most exciting thing that he has ever enjoyed. And the fund he got mostly comes from his savings as well as bank loan, which is so courageous. I always picture my future as working for someone else but Pual’s story gradually changes my mind.

Besides, I really like to talk about something on packaging which was also mentioned in the lecture but not that much. What I’m going to say meant no offence. The first time I saw naked coconuts’ products, the red packaging attracted my eyes, but the packaging hardly made me to associate the products with coconut since I thought they are health care products or medicines. As for SIP, it’s quite sensible to use white as the main color on packaging. White stands for pure, which is consistent with the idea that SIP is a natural and healthy drink. The bottle shape and the transparent glass texture also imply it’s a kind of cold drink which will definitely cool you down in hot summer days. But it’s wrapping paper is a little bit simple – only words with several lines. Besides using different colors to indicate different flavors, I would recommend SIP to add some fruit figures desalted in the background as well.

http://www.nakedcoconuts.com/get-to-know-us/our-story/

http://www.nakedcoconuts.com

http://www.sipsoda.com

Few entrepreneurs can claim to have actually changed the way we live, but Ray Kroc is one of them[1]. He is known as the father of McDonald’s which is a real disruptive innovation in the food industry, and Ray fully illuminated what entrepreneur spirit was. He was firstly impressed by the effectiveness of the operation in a small restaurant run by brothers Dick and MacDonald since the restaurant only served a few items but focused on the food quality.

However, this was only the predecessor of the McDonald’s we know today.Ray based his business philosophy on the 3-legged stool principle: one leg was McDonald’s, the second, the franchisees, and the third, McDonald’s suppliers[2]. It was making a difference in these three aspects that motivated the innovation.

Ray was famous for his QSCV concept – Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value. Although these elements are fundamental in running a restaurant, Ray was the first one to placed significant emphasis on them. He required all the restaurants strictly stick to them and he himself would keep a hawk’s eye over the McDonald’s restaurants, even phoning the manager to remind him to pick up the trash, clean his lot, and turn on the lights at night[2].

Besides, he wanted to serve food in a consistent flavour, like cheeseburger should be tasted just the same in Alaska as they did in Alabama. To achieve this, he allowed franchisees to put their strength into individual innovation as long as they could follow the basic principles. I believe this is also an innovation in corporation management. Ray gave franchisees more freedom and more creativity space which resulted in the born of many new types of McDonald’s most famous menu items – like the Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish and the Egg McMuffin[2].
As far as I am concerned, McDonald’s has been popular around for more than a half- century, its competitors like burger king, pizza hut, A&W, are catching up in an amazing speed. Since McDonald’s business model is easy to be imitated, how to keep the leading position is a question that worth considering. Maybe another revolution is in the air. Who knows?

http://www.amazon.ca/Grinding-It-Out-Making-McDonalds/dp/0312929870

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/our_story/our_history/the_ray_kroc_story.html

http://www.claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197544

In sum, Jimmy choo’s IPO is a mixed blessing, but personally I prefer to say that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Going public may not damage their prestige but make them better off so long as they have a precise orientation on their different kinds of products. Say ,being more proficient in Perfume, bags and clothing,then promoting them in less luxurious prices  by relying on its strong brand name. What’s more? These things, unlike shoes, are not that require a close-to-perfect for customers[1], so a kind of design will fit far more shoppers than shoes do, thus reducing the cost.As for their shoes, just keep targeting at high-level customers. Or even cut down their inventory and make it a hunger-marketing model. As Somebody said: Scarcity does seem to feeding the frenzy.

We know[2],Jimmy choo’s profit margin lags behind other more diversified rivals, but this is acceptable. Compared with other luxury brands, like LV, Gucci ,Jimmy choo has a much shorter history and less products categories and sub-brands. So it might be an urgent task to diverse their products and enhance the brand name apart from their reputation in shoes.

Secondly, IPO will help them gain more capital in expanding retailer stores[3]. According to the Bloomberg Businessweek[4], people in China are familiar with this luxury brand, but there are a few physical stores in Chinese Mainland, which makes the luxury shoes inaccessible thus losing abundant of market shares. So instead of keeping conservative, accelerating its development in Asia as well as maintaining its high-brand image might be a wisdom choice.

Classmate’s blog https://blogs.ubc.ca/nodokahashimoto/2014/09/25/21/

In the past, military conflicts in the Middle East and the attendant threat of supply disruptions would send global oil prices soaring.^[1]Right now, it’s an really  abnormal phenomenon that oil prices slump regardless of the conflicts in the world’s most important oil producing region^[1]. After reading a reference article, I’d like to explain it by applying what I have learned in class.

To kick off, the oil production from Bakken and the Eagle Ford in the U.S. is pretty fruitful. Abundant of oil supplies from these two areas release the world from a shortage of oil. In addition to that, the consumption of oil is falling all over the world. Not only because of the economic rescission but also the threat from its substitution-coal. Coal prices decrease to half of what they were two years ago, which drag consumers away from oil. With lower demand and excess supply , oil prices drop inevitably.

So, some suppliers are storing oil in bing tanks for future selling. The implication is that they are pretty sure that the lower oil price is temporary, in the long run it will rise again. But to my consideration, with the new energy technology increasingly developing and spreading, as well as public’s awareness of  green economy enhancing, prices of non-renewable energy falling will be a trend. We don’t exclude the possibility that prices of oil may rise slightly, but unfortunately the profit won’t compensate the expenditure of storing.

reference list:

1.Jaff,Rubin,”Why oil prices are dropping despite Mideast unrest.“Sep. 22 2014, 7:49 AMEDT,<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/why-oil-prices-are-dropping-despite-mideast-unrest/article20717966/>

2.Shawn maccarthy,Jeff Lewis,“Oil overflow:as prices slump,producers grape with a new reality“ Sep. 27 2014, 5:00 AM EDT,<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/oil-overflow-as-prices-slump-producers-grapple-with-a-new-reality/article20815601/>

Passbook frees consumers from organizing all kinds of physical boarding passes, ticket, loyalty cards, and coupons. By scanning codes, you can easily store your air ticket on your smartphone and head for the airport without it. Mobile payment is based on the non-coin currency concept, which means consumers can make payment on their mobile devices, without using cash, cheque or credit cards.

Theoretically speaking, passbook and mobile payment may eventually take the place of the real wallet. But in the short run, “passbook + mobile payment” model provides marketers opportunities to promote sales. Say, suppliers could jump into passbook and Google wallet to renew their coupons and loyalty cards, and it’s more cost-saving to hand out them online. Also, they can take advantage of a customer’s proximity to extend the right offer, at the right time, in the right place, leading to stronger conversion rates and increased engagement^[1]. The most important part is, good management and quick payment do help customers to go into the stores and buy more. Just imagine, when you see all your coupons and loyalty cards are well organized and displayed in your phone, when you see them updated frequently, which makes you assume that there are lots of favorable products over there, how can you resist your temptation to purchase?!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_payment

http://www.mobilepaymentstoday.com/articles/apple-pay-creates-new-opportunities-for-marketers/

https://developer.apple.com/passbook/

Iphone6 which is equipped with Apple’s A8 processor as well as the new system IOS8,was released a couple of weeks ago. These new-star products are creating quite a stir. Let’s date back to 2007, in which year Apple released its first iphone and ipod touch. Instead of getting tired of iphone, people show much more enthusiastic on it. It is what that fascinated consumers so much?

Is it just a mobile phone? To most Apple fans, it’s totally not that simple case. Iphone is not just a phone. It also denotes fashion, trend, and a type of living style. When using a phone, whose back is printed with a bitten apple, becomes a modern style, most people will believe in the strength of brand. We can say that, Apple’s unprecedented success is partly depended on its impressive brand culture. At the first sight of an iphone, or an apple series product, you may probably fascinated by its attracting outlook. Thanks to Steven Job’s perfectionism, apple series products are absolutely impeccable.

Besides its appearance, iphone’s incomparable “inside” functions also stand itself out. Apple owns the most advanced developing team to insure every time their update is a historic breakthrough. For example, comparing iphone 5 to iphone4s, iphone 5 collocates the latest A6 processor that is two times faster than A5 processor. Also the charging port was revised to a port called lighting which supports high strength and high power charging. At the same time it supports LTE net. Mostly, we can easily notice that every time iphone is up-dated, it becomes lighter and thinner, and the battery endurance is longer.

https://www.apple.com/iphone-6/

http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/design/

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone5