The United Nations is renowned for being a global organization with the responsibilities of peacekeeping, developing good relationships within nations, and improving the standard of living. While the United Nations dedicates most of its resources to large-scale conflicts, less urgent situations are often unacknowledged. This is when the Arc, a social enterprise, comes into play. The United Nations and the Arc are both organizations that have a common goal of seeking improvements in humans, the community, and society. However, these organizations have different focuses. The United Nations dedicates most resources to solving international problems, like disaster relief or counter-terrorism. On the other hand, the Arc, run by students from UBC, builds economic stability for local communities by offering programs that teach business management and leadership skills. The objective of these business skills workshops are meant to improve the living standards in areas like South Africa, Ehiopia, Colombia, and Rwanda by teaching participants a skill set that is difficult to attain elsewhere.

The reason that organizations like the Arc Initiative would be necessary even if the United Nations was fully funded is due to scarcity. It is simply impossible to reach out to every part of the world because we are restricted by limited resources and time. While The United Nations is a much larger organization, their concentration and resources would be prioritized on more substantial situations. As long as scarcity exists, social enterprise is needed to achieve necessary improvements because it offers assistance in areas that The United Nations did not reach.

Questions about McDonald’s fries, nuggets, or Big Mac? Some of McDonald’s most unflattering questions have been answered through their “Our Food. Your Questions.” ad campaign. This successful marketing campaign has gone global. McDonald’s tackled many negative rumors by visiting their suppliers to discover answers to various questions.The fast food company has answered over 23,000 questions, communicating their answers through their website, social media channels, and online videos.

Some questions asked by McDonald’s customers.

In order to see such success, McDonald’s has a competent management team. These executives truly understand the business that they are in, and know exactly which strategies to use. Although there were risks involved, they jumped at the opportunity to be the first fast food restaurant to answer such aggressive questions related to their food quality. In Al Ries and Jack Trout’s book,“Positioning: The Battle for your Mind”, they mention that it is very difficult to change a consumer’s impression once it is formed. However, McDonald’s utilizes ingenious marketing strategies and knows how to get into the mind of their consumers. McDonald’s manages to clear up many unflattering rumors and improve their brand reputation through this campaign. Their willingness to take risks led to great success.

Why are Google, Twitter, and Facebook all so popular? The answer to this question is value proposition. One thing all these applications have in common is their ability to satisfy their consumers’ needs and desires; thus, creating value for their users. Every successful product follows a common pattern. This pattern is known as “the hook” of a product. There are four simple steps to creating “the hook”, which consists of the trigger, an action, a reward, and an investment.

Trigger: Something that stimulates a user to make an action
Action: Specific behavior carried out due to the expectation of a reward
Reward: To stimulate interest and engagement
Investment: Increases the likelihood of users returning if they are rewarded

When boredom strikes, people go on YouTube for entertainment. When people feel lonely, they log onto Facebook and scroll through their newsfeed. When people are curious, they search Google for information. These applications all essentially help their consumers solve a problem and “get a job done”. Socially, customers are able to gain recognition from their friends or family through updates and posts. Emotionally, users receive satisfaction and social security from using these platforms. In addition, these applications are also pain relievers because it helps to make their users feel better by solving their frustrations, like easing boredom. Aside from using “the hook”, successful companies focus predominantly on value creation to retain and attract new users.

External Blog:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewcave/2014/11/05/hooked-how-apple-google-twitter-and-facebook-make-their-products-utterly-addictive/

This post is in response to Moeko Urawa’s blog post:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/moekourawa/2014/09/23/marijuana-can-get-you-a-date/

The dating site, 420singles.net, is a very distinct idea as it is designed for a specific group, marijuana users. Like Moeko said, marijuana users are able to find themselves a partner or a friend to talk to through this non-discriminating dating website. Even though it was launched not long ago, 420singles.net has reached nearly 23,000 subscribers already. This site will act as a platform for users to re-identify themselves and feel comfortable talking to others in this environment.

Log in page for the dating website: 420singles.net

420singles.net has many points of parity because it is similar to most dating websites, like eHarmony and Lavalife, with the common goal of matching singles. 420singles.net performs more or less the same as their competitors. However, this website has a point of difference that puts them at an advantage over other dating websites. It is relevant to their consumers’ needs and desires, distinctive to the target group, and is credible. This unique website is catered towards “tuned-in stoners and users of medical pot” who can avoid being judged or rejected (Papenfuss). This is a great business opportunity as more countries are beginning to legalize marijuana and people are becoming more open about their marijuana habits.

This post is in response to Amy Yang’s blog post:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/yanfeiyang/2014/09/15/innovation-in-fashion-e-commerce-your-personal-stylist-online/

Although shopping for clothes online can be exciting and satisfying, we often struggle to choose between the different sizes, colors, and styles available. The disadvantage of shopping online is that customers cannot physically try on the clothes. But here’s the catch, stores are now beginning to introduce a personalized shopping experience for their customers. By providing the retailer with personal information such as body measurements and color preference, online stores will offer their customers suggestions.

Online stores that provide this service are strive to create value for their consumers. They concentrate on several elements, such as newness, customization, and convenience. Through customization, these stores are able to deliver value to their target segment by satisfying a new and specific set of needs. In other words, stores are helping customers “getting the job done” by offering this unique, personalized service. In addition, making things more convenient and accessible is an effective way of telling the customers why they are “different, better, and worth purchasing from” (Ciotti).

I agree with Yan Fei’s point that offering personalized shopping experience is a clever and innovative move in the fashion industry. As the online shopping industry is growing bigger, more online stores will start to provide this personalized service for their customers.

Other sources:
http://www.helpscout.net/blog/value-proposition/

Low interest rates for car loans mislead Canadians into purchasing more cars than they can really afford. Although low car prices along with low interest rates seem to be a worthy investment, it hides the financial picture from consumers. According to the depreciation rates, buyers are able to sell their car for more than they owe on it the sooner they repay their loans. On the other hand, a buyer who takes a longer time to pay back their loan would owe more than their car’s worth.

A concept that I learned in COMM 101, called the time value of money, states that the value of a dollar to be received in the future is less than the value of a dollar in your pocket today. With this theory in mind, the sooner consumers pay off their car loan, the better off they are because money earned from selling their car could be spent on investments. However, some buyers are still underwater on the car loan after several years. As a result, it is not the most economical idea for consumers to purchase a car if they are unable to pay it off within a certain time period.