SMS: Business

Will you be Canada's next top ad exec?

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:55:21 GMT

I am pumped about the fact that my alma-mattar, McMaster University is hosting a competition aimed at rewarding students who can develop the best Experiential marketing campaign. The nation wide competition is open to all undergraduate students enrolled in a full time Business program. In my opinion, the contest is a “Donald Trump’s Apprentice" for Canadian students enrolled in a Business program. I first heard about this from Mandeep Malik, one of my professors at university.

Students are being asked to develop an Experiential marketing campaign for the launch of the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer (Mitsubishi is the title sponsor). Students have to prepare a 10 page plan that includes all the details of solid advertising pitch, including details on the the creative platform, key selling benefits, target market, campaign execution. Participants are being asked to consider all elements of an integrated advertising campaign such as print, TV, online, mobile, etc. The winner gets to pick between a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer or Eclipse and drive it away for free. This is one of the richest competitions in Canadian university history, as the winner gets to keep the car. Entries are due on Feb 7th and the winners will be announced on Feb 26th. McMaster University is hosting an awards presentation on March 19th, where the winner will be honoured and given the keys to their new car.

I love the fact that students are being given the opportunity to put all the theoretical knowledge that they have learnt to the test. This competition gives them a chance to experience what it feels like to work in an advertising agency and pitch to clients. Students will also have the opportunity to meet and network with the people in the Canadian ad industry at a social event being organized by the university. These networking opportunities are great for any student thinking of a career in advertising. Strategy Magazine, Media in Canada, BBDO, and OMD are some of the few companies have jumped on board to sponsor this competition.

I can’t wait to see the pitches put forth by the best and brightest in our universities. Kudos to the team of volunteers that are organizing this event. Check out the competition's website for more details.

Small retailers willing to go the extra mile

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 18:29:28 GMT

Companies invest a lot in improving brand perception and raising the profile of their brand. However, there are times when their brand is questioned by customers due to a poor experience they might have had. It is at times like this when good customer service and empowering customer facing employees within your organization can help protect your brand, not to mention create good will within your customer base. I recently had a negative experience at 2001 Audio Video, however their area supervisors were able to rectify the situation and have reinstated my faith in their brand and level of service provided.

Christmas was upon us and after a botched attempt to secure some cool gadgets at Best Buy.ca (read my earlier blog post), I decided to hone in on a 46" LCD Sony Bravia at 2001 Audio Video. This particular TV is usually $3,500 but was marked down to $2,000. It was clearly a loss leader and the chain had marked it as a door crasher with limited quantities per store (3 per store). The same TV at Future Shop cost $500 more. As there were only 3 per store, I would have to get to the store very early to ensure that I was able to get my hands on one.

After wrapping up a Christmas dinner that ran very late, I decided to head to the store in Oakville. I got there for 3.00am in the morning and as per my calculations, I was the first person to line up. One of my friends who was also in the market for a TV decided to join me by 4.30am. By the time the store opened at 8.00am, there were approx 200 people in line and at least 20 of them were interested in the same TV. The store manager at 2001 Audio Video had not laid out a good process to deal with the crowd and this resulted in chaos in the store. We were asked to approach any sales person, and they would ensure that we got the Sony LCD that we were after. The sales person that was helping us wrote out the model number of the TV we were after on a piece of paper and asked us to head to the cashier to pay for the TV. While we were paying for the TV, some of the sales people took other customers to the back of the store and rolled out the TVs we were after and gave it to them. As a result, we had paid for the TVs but the store did not have TVs to give us and the other customers that had physical possession of the TVs had not paid for them as of yet but refused to give them up as they knew at this price, the TV was a steal. The time stamp on our credit card receipts also showed that we had paid and thus purchased the TVs before the customers that had physical possession of the TVs.

The store manager was one of the most incompetent people I have ever met and did not take decisive action. When I tried to reason with him, he lost his cool and told me that he did not have time to waste with me and he was losing money talking to me. He asked one of his sales people "to take care of me and get me out of his face". He also blamed "head quarters" as they had not provided the stores with a process to handle the crowds. After some healthy discussion, I realized that there was no point in continuing this discussion and I asked the cashier to process a refund on my credit card and left the store. I did ask for the manager's card and the number for 2001 Audio Video's headquarters.

A few days later, I called the headquarters of 2001 Audio Video and left a message for the area manager. It took them 2 days and me leaving 2 messages for them to get back to me. Here is where the area manager started to turn this very negative experience around for me and started to salvage the image and brand of his company. The area manager listened to my complaint patiently, took some notes and indicated that I should have been provided the TV as I was first in line and had also paid for the TV. He let me know that he would speak to the store manager about my complaint and wanted to verify my side of the story. He did let me know that he would get back to me before the day was over. True to his word, he called me back and told me that he had spoken to the store manager and Sony about the situation. He was able to get us two more LCD TVs and would honour the Boxing day price. We have now paid for the Sony TVs are awaiting delivery. Although I feel that 2001 Audio Video should have done more to make up for the poor treatment I received in the store and the fact that I have to wait for three weeks to receive a TV, they did fix the core issue I had complained about. I am now more willing to give 2001 Audio Video another chance and give them future business.

Even though 2001 Audio Video is a small electronics store when compared to chains such as Best Buy, they have empowered their staff to make decisions and resolve their customer's issues. This is very different from the treatment we received at Best Buy, where the customer service reps were not willing to fix an issue that resulted from poor planning and execution of their online Boxing day sale. As mentioned before, Best Buy can afford to provide sub standard customer service as they are one of the biggest electronic retailers but the small chains like 2001 Audio Video have to fight to gain business and thus value it more.

Inclusive Globalization

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:44:45 GMT

I came across a very insightful speech from Dr. Manmohan Singh, the current Prime Minister of India on the topic of Inclusive Globalization. He made this speech when addressing students at Cambridge university in London, UK.

Dr Singh points out that the integration of the emerging economies (developing countries) in the world markets is one of the most important features of the global economy at the moment. The weight of economic activity and exports is slowly shifting to the emerging economies as they now account for two-fifths of the world's exports.

Despite the involvement of these emerging markets in the world economy, there exist large personal and regional income discrepancies in these countries. Most of the people that have not benefited from globalization are in rural areas and growth is by-passing them. Dr Singh indicates that two-thirds of the population in developing counties lives in rural areas, thus a majority of the I have to agree, people in developing countries have to feel the advantages of globalization or they will not buy into the concept and why it benefits them. Restrictions imposed by developed countries on exports from these emerging markets further worsen the situation. People in the emerging countries who feel the impact of these restrictions and live in extreme poverty will not view the developed countries at their allies. The principle of free trade if executed well, results in benefiting the masses and will also help instill peace around the world. "Developed countries should not allow short term national interests to prevail at the cost of promoting free trade and combating poverty", Say Dr Singh.

When Clinton was in Toronto in 2005, I had the opportunity to hear him speak and he mentioned something very similar. He talked about how globalization, free trade and all the aid the developed countries were providing would do little good if we couldn't demonstrate the benefits of it to the people that lived below the poverty line.

The following quote from Dr Singh's address hits home with me, "Prosperity, ladies and gentlemen, is not divisible. Neither is global peace possible without the eradication of poverty".