Yizhuang Guo's Blog

I believe many kids (including us) grew up fans of Disney, where many of our little childish dreams

(Like seeing the “real” Mickey Mouse or Kissing Cinderella) came true. A classmate, Jonathan Chen’s Blog “Walt Disney: Replaying the Classics” discusses a point where replaying the old movies like “The Lion King” can’t keep Disney in the competitive market for a long time. However I somehow disagree with this point, based on the current Disney’s company situation in the market.

First of all, every movie that Disney produced is just the same as a product, so it has a “movie life cycle” just like a product life cycle. However it is a bit different from the product life cycle because movies are usually short-term —- although the popularity of the movie can last a life time, the profit it brings to the company is only the highest in the period when it first comes out and becomes available in theatres. So by replaying “The Lion King” in 3D is introducing the same product again after several years to a new market, which are kids from the next generation after us. So Disney can actually generate profits again by playing “The Lion King” again, and even many of us who watched it when we were young would go and watch it again since it’s not only a movie but a symbol that refreshes our childhood.

Now for the point that “simply replaying movies will not keep Disney in the market for a long time”, I disagree because according to Disney’s current situation, the company has already built a strong brand and an invulnerable relationship with the markets by not only providing movies but also travel resorts like Disneyland in several places in the world. So yes simply replaying old movies isn’t a good idea but considering Disney has other services, kids’ dream can come true again.

Reference: https://blogs.ubc.ca/jonchenmkt/2011/11/07/walt-disney-replaying-the-classics/

My last blog deeply reflected my feelings toward Steve Jobs’ death, and a brief description of his achievements (although
everyone would know). However, I have never actually looked inside the marketing mix of Apple Inc. However, I read a classmate’s blog “Big Apple” by Jiayao Guo, I finally got a chance to have a deeper understanding of Apple’s business.

Beginning with the product, the “thing” that really helped Apple to come back from the cliff was ipod. To me, it is still a mystery why so many people would like ipod that much, since there are so many other good MP3 players that are more powerful, has better sound quality, etc. However, I thought one possibility is that since product is designed to solve customers’ problems, a simple and concise little ipod is all that customers need to listen to music. From the first ipod generation to today’s ipod-touch and ipod-nano, the ipod family has evolved a lot of times, yet still dominating the MP3 market, by doing enough to “solve customers’ problems”.

As for price, when ipod was first introduced, of course Apple would set the price low to attract customers, but not that low that it couldn’t cover its cost. As a result, the price was easily accepted by customers in consideration of its design and functions. Right now, for iphones, ipods, macbooks, ipads…Apple could set a somewhat monopoly price for customers since the company has already build a strong relationship with customers, and can even ignore the other competitors.

There are currently 3 Apple stores in Vancouver, excluding other retailers (like UBC bookstore) that sell Apple products, so the place isn’t really a problem for the company. Also considering Apple users are very loyal, so they will buy their products either from stores or online. Mobile phone service companies such as Rogers and Bell provide special contracts for iphones and plans, and such promotions benefit both Apple and the Mobile service company.

Giving the chance to look deeper into their strategies, it reinforced my idea that Apple will continue to play a big role in the technology market in the future, at least for our generation.

reference: https://blogs.ubc.ca/guojiayao/2011/11/07/big-apple/

The death of Steve Jobs was not only a death of a person, but a loss of the world. A blog from Drew’s Marketing minute “What can the average Joe learn about Steve Jobs” emphasized this point. We have never seen the world being so sad about a business man’s death, and I don’t know if we are going to see such time again.

Steve Jobs didn’t just change Apple, but he changed the entire marketing world as well. If there’s innovation of Apple brought by Jobs, other electronics companies like Sony, Sharp, Nokia and etc might still be developing and a turtle-moving speed. Apple stimulated the advancement of technology. He knew clearly what he was doing, and he knew what consumers wanted before they knew what they wanted for themselves. He understood marketing, and the power of simplicity, as well as branding… He was truly a genius and great innovator.

The next day after his death, I logged on Renren (A Chinese social network very similar to Facebook) and I saw a lot of people criticizing him and disrespecting him. I myself am a (well, somewhat) fan of Apple and their products, and I also admire and respect Steve Jobs very much. I think it is ok for people to not like Apple products, since everyone has different values and perceptions. However I found it very distasteful for people to insult Steve Jobs and humiliate his achievements. Some people just think that buying Apple products is a way of showing off how rich the buyer might be. However that’s a thing that happens in the Chinese market —- it is somewhat distorted. Some consumers and customers hate Apple users, maybe because of they are jealous, or maybe they really don’t like Apple, I don’t know. But they can’t deny the fact that even though Steve Jobs passed away, his long lasting brand will continue to be a giant in today’s technology market.

Fans of NBA would know that the notorious action by Lebron James, for he escaped from Cleveland Cavaliers to Miami heat to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to fulfill his dream: An NBA championship. However, in today’s world, as sports are being more and more commercialized, the NBA league, teams and players are all trying to expand their “markets”, which are basically people who watch or have the potential to watch basketball. So James’ action would bring him what his fans would love to see: the fact that he will win the chamionship.

Lebron James has earned himself a lot of admiration from fans, and I personally is a fan of Lebron James. He is a smart player, not only on the basketball court, but in the business field as well. Simply with his talent on basketball, his skills would attract millions of basketball lovers. As a result, “Company Lebron” has been dominating the fans market.

A lot of people already know that James is one of the advertising endorsers of Nike, and now, he has been working with the largest fast food restaurant McDonald’s. In his new McDonald’s spot, James allows the script to poke fun at him. “The odds of LeBron James winning seven championships?” the voiceover says. “One in …” — which James interrupts with mock outrage, saying: “C’mon, man!”

The voiceover continues, “The odds of LeBron winning a [Monopoly] prize? One in four.” And sure enough, James wins. “Free fries!” he says with delight.

In my personal opinion, even if McDonald’s stop launching advertisement campaigns indefinitely, it would still be the largest fast food restaurant in the world. However, the endorsement of James would be a good marketing intermediary to help McDonald’s promotion. However, it would not be a great deal for James, whose haters would now laugh more at him because of the “inability to win a championship” shown in the advertisement.

blog source link: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/09/30/McDonalds-Monopoly-LeBron-James-093011.aspx

My name is Yizhuang Guo. I came to Canada about 6 years ago and named myself Peter, because I was obsessed with Spider Man. The reason I took this course is because Marketing is one of the options I intend to major in for the next year, because I think it is more interesting than other options like Accounting and Finance. It’s not that Accounting and Finance are not attractive to me (since everybody told me majoring in those options have a greater chance of finding a job more quickly after I graduate), it’s just that I like the way how Marketing needs more social communications with either customers or co-workers.

I have been working for ROOTS CANADA LTD as a sales clerk and cashier from grade 11 to the beginning of my first year in university. I quit working because I found that university life is very different from the life of high school: more interesting, more challenging, and of course, a little bit more stressful. Also, when I was in high school, I have been volunteering for various organizations like the Vancouver Maritime Museum as well as for my high school Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School. My favorite ad is an NBA TV commercial used to popularize the sport and the league. Basketball is one of my favorite sports, that’s why I love it so much and I think the words from the ad is so inspiring and encouraging (a picture below is a part of the ad, of course, not in motion).

Something personal I would like to share is that I was living in Singapore for a month, because my mom used to work there. And the Spanish and Argentina national basketball team were there for a warm-up basketball match. I went to the game and in the end I got a signature from Pau Gasol, who was a Spanish player and an NBA star (GOD! I was so nervous because I was just about 1 foot away from an actual NBA star!). It was a very interesting experience, and I also think it’s a great way for a player such as Gasol to “market” himself for his personal popularity because by giving out autograph signatures he is satisfying his audience, which are in a way his customers.

And that is pretty much about me and my first blog.

As we all know, Beethoven is one of the greatest musician ever lived. The reason for that is because his talent on music and his passion for music is outsanding and tremendous. Those musical pieces he wrote: Fur Elise, Symphony No. 5, Moonlight Sonata, all marked the great musician’s glory. But do we all know, that when he wrote the famous Symphony No. 5, he was completely deaf? Deafness, for a musician, what a sad story. But however, Beethoven was not defeated by the fate, he continued his enthusiasm towards music, and was still able to write so many great melodies and pieces, and that was a main reason why he was the most famous and amazing musician ever lived.

I learned from Beethoven that whatever we do, if we are persistent, and always keen, we will succeed on anything. When we go out and play soccer, basketball, how do we know if we are not great players if we don’t try to score? When we are doing projects, how do we know that we are not an A student when the prof just gives you an C- on your first assignment only? We can’t be defeated by those things, we have to always keep trying. If we are persistent, everything we do will be a success.

Russia has been chosen to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup and Qatar has been selected to stage the 2022 World Cup. The Russian bid was picked ahead of England, Span-Portugal and Holland-Belgium to host the 2010 event, while Qatar got the better of the US, Australia to stage in 2022. Both decisions were made on Thursday. It is the first time that either Russia or Qatar has been chosen as host nation for the World Cup.

I personally am a big soccer fan, and so is every member in my family. I didn’t miss every single World Cup ever since I was born (there was a 1994 World Cup when I was only 2). I say hosting these sporting events is a very good way to stimulate our current economy. We all know that South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup: thousands and thousands of fans and tourists went there not only to watch World Cup Games, but also to go there and spend money. I hope that sporting events like World Cups and Olympics never stop, because that is a way to keep the world peaceful and stimulate the economy.

One of the world’s largest soft drinks maker PepsiCo has said that the company is buying a 66% stake in Russian dairy and fruit juice maker Wimm-Bill-Dann for $3.8 billions. Pepsi also said that the company would seek to buy the remaining shares in Wimm-Bill-Dann when the initial deal is finished. The firm added that the deal would increase it’s annual revenues to nearly $13 billion, putting it on course to achieve its strategic goal of building a $30 billion nutrition business by 2020.

Pepsi was always one of the leading soft-drinker makers that ever existed. However, it can’t deny the fact that CocaCola’s market share is way bigger than Pepsi’s. In my opinion, Pepsi is doing the right decision to buy shares in foreign markets, not only in America and Europe. That might be a way for Pepsi to increase it’s profit in the competitive soft-drink markets. However, some mergers, or more specifically, investments, are really risky and dangerous. Pepsi needs to consider those risks before buying any shares in another company, and then still stand in the competition.

US house prices was declining again in September, and the rate of decline is faster than expected. The survey found that Cleveland recorded the largest decline in house prices, which fell by 3% from a month earlier. Washington and Las Vegas were the only metropolitan areas to experience gains in house prices. Despite the month-on-month fall, the index also showed that house prices were up 0.6% from the same point last year. And a separate monthly survey showed US confidence in the economy rose in November to its highest level in five months.

One of the most important reasons (perhaps also the biggest reason) for the economic recession is that the real-estate market collapsed, nobody could afford their houses anymore. However, as the house prices fall, consumers’ confidence rose up. As we can tell from the business article, the consumer confidence rose to its highest level in five months. It’s a simple price vs. demand chain: When the house prices fall, there will be more consumers willing and able to buy the houses. Thus, the economy can continue to function and hopefully it can get back on track. So I consider this a good sign.

Sales of Tata Motor’s Nano – the world’s cheapest car, experienced a significant sales decline (about 85%) in November compared to a year earlier. Tata’s statistics showed that in November 2009, there were 54,622 sales across all the models, where there were only about 509 sales in November 2010! One important reason for the sales decline is fire hazard of the car: This came after owners of the hatchback reported about half a dozen since April last year. Another reason for the sales decline is the rises in prices.

Nano is the world cheapest car in the world, and it is considered very environmental friendly. As the Nano was designed for a population currently using eco-friendly bicycles and motorcycles, environmentalists are concerned by the increase in pollution that would allow a mass motorization in developing countries such as India. However, compared to developed country autos, Nano has a way lower emission. I think it is important for the manufacturers to ensure the car’s safety: because nobody will buy a automobile that is vulnerable to fire hazard. Also, if Nano wants to continue to increase their sales, they have to keep the price to a reasonable amount that customers will accept.