Sometimes it's not about being smart, it's about being clever!

In marketing, sometimes you don't need to reinvent the wheel, or even come up with a great new product. Sometimes it's just about being smart and listening to your customer.

Consider Diamond Shreddies. What are Diamond Shreddies? Well they're just regular Shreddies photographed at a 45 degree angle. Seriously! The month that Shreddies launched their campaign, sales rose by 18%! That's a smart idea.

Another great example is the great feature on the 2013 Ford Escape ~ the foot activated truck opener.

In the competitive automaker world, having a simple, unique feature is difficult to find. Ford have really listened to their customers, done some creative thinking, and come up with a novel feature that makes their product stand out. Smart, maybe. Clever, yes.

So next time you're stuck on a campaign, go back to basics, consider your product, and be clever!

Ikea's new catalogue ~ a disappointing experience

Who doesn't love browsing through Ikea catalogues; dreaming of the day you have a home to furnish with Swedish design (with the house prices in Vancouver, you'll certainly be dreaming for a long time!). It was with great interest that I read an article on Marketing Mag about Ikea's new interactive catalogue. 

With the new catalogue, users can download an app on their smart phone or tablet. In the top right corner of certain pages in the catalogue is a mobile symbol. By activating the app and holding it over the catalogue users see additional content, such as different furniture designs, different paint colours, and so on.

The Ikea Catalogue App in action ~ Image courtesy of Gadget Lab

On the day I read the article, I receive the new Ikea catalogue in the mail. I downloaded the app, held it over the page, and waited. Nothing happened! Hmm.... read instructions, tried again... nothing. Tried another page. I watched the choppy image as I slowly scanned the page, and suddenly a new image appeared. I had to hold the phone still over a very small section of page to see anything. Deflated, I gave up.

The challenge for companies is to come up with ways to use technology to interact with the customer in unique ways. Ikea came up with the idea, but the execution was poor. In 2012, consumers expect nearly flawless technology, and have little patience when things don't work as advertised. If your execution is poor, and consumers disappointed, your idea becomes a waste of money. 

Although I will still shop there in the future, I am disappointed with Ikea's execution of this app. I doubt the poor execution will result in lower sales, but it's unlikely to produce any surge. What could Ikea have done differently? They could have used QR codes to unlock extra content, or trialed the app on their specialty catalogues, such as the mattress catalogue, first. 

Did you try the new Ikea catalogue app? What was your experience? Has it changed your perceptions of Ikea? What do you think Ikea could have done differently?

Biking in Vancouver

If you love to bike, Vancouver is a pretty good place to live. We have a great network of bike paths to get to work, along with some amazing bike-friendly places to visit on weekends. Here are some of my favourite lesser-known biking locations in the Lower Mainland, for your summer weekend pleasure!



Central Valley Greenway

The Greenway connects Vancouver to New Westminster, via Burnaby. You can access the Greenway from East Broadway at Victoria Dr. The Central Valley Greenway is a loop that pretty much follows the skytrain line. It's mostly bike trails, well signed (for the most part), and a lovely ride. There are a few hills to contend with, but nothing major. Since you're cycling in the city, you're always close to a coffee shop!



Photo by LetsGoBiking



Fraser River Reserve & Iona Island

Cycling to Iona is pretty well known, especially if you're part of the road biking community. It's a lovely cycle, very flat, and with some nice views. At the end of the peninsula you will find a variety of birds to watch, and a beautiful park to picnic at and explore. However, rather than just cycling along the road there is a great little trail along the river. Quiet, peaceful, and lots of blackberry bushes! You arrive at McDonald boat launch, where you take the side road back to the main road to continue along to Iona. Directions can be found on the Richmond bike trail map.



Photo from WillWong.Net



PoCo Trail 

25km of biking trails around Port Coquitlam. You can cycle along the Pitt River, then around through gorgeous woodland. It's pretty flat, so it's fun for the whole family. You're never too far from a coffee shop to for a pit stop, and you do pass through some city parks with play areas for the kids if you need to take a break! From Vancouver, you can cycle (if you're very fit) or take the Skytrain to Braid Station, and use the bike paths that run alongside United Blvd and Maryhill Bypass to connect to the trails. This starts you at the Colony Farm, which is always worth a visit!



From PortCoquitlam.ca



Richmond Dykes

It's beautiful, it's flat, there are some gorgeous look out points, and you can get fish and chips on the wharf in Steveston! Plus if you continue along Dyke Road heading east, there are some awesome blackberry bushes and apple trees. Maybe take a container or two, and plan on making a few stops along the way :)  Great trip for the family. You can reach the dyke really easily from Bridgeport or Aberdeen Canada Line Stations, as seen on the Richmond bike trail map. 



Photo by Stephen Rees


Do you have any other favourite bike routes you would like to share?

It's all about the customer experience!

In the age of the internet, instant communication, and social media, creating a great product is not enough anymore. Consumers have choice; they can support their local small business, a national or multinational retail chain, or shop online. A great product is a good start, but it might not get you very far. 

I think the shift from the 4 P's to the 4 C's is a great way to encouraged companies to consider the consumer throughout the product development process.  This consumer-centric focus should run from product conception to post-purchase experience, as the consumer's needs and wants are king! As a consumer, you can guy a great product and have a great retail experience, but if you cannot get your item fixed under warranty are you likely to purchase from that company again? Probably not. Are you likely to post on Facebook, tweet, and tell your friends about it? Probably!

The internet and social media are both a blessing and a curse to companies and the marketing industry. Approaching your product or service with a consumer-centric mindset should lead to success in this competitive world!

What do you think? Is consumer-centric really the way to go? Should companies be expected to forgo profits to provide better customer care? 

Why Blog?

Why blog? Why bother? Is blogging worth it, really? With over 160 million blogs and counting, is it worth for you to add your voice to the cacophony? My answer would be yes!

According to Netcraft there are over 644 million websites, but companies still set up websites without question. You should, however, ensure that you approach a blog with the same care and planning as any other marketing activity. You should make sure you have something to say, and that you will keep the blog up over time; there's nothing worse than a dead blog!

Here are my 3 considerations as to why a blog can help your business:

1. Keep customers engaged: You might have a business where your customers don't visit on a regular basis, but you want to make sure you're top of mind. Blogging interesting content is a way to keep in touch with customers, and keep them engaged, so they think of you next time they need you!

2. Be seen as an expert: Blogging is a great way to prove to the world that you know what you're talking about! Be an expert and blog about inside information, tips, and tricks in your particular industry. You might not only find new customers, but become an expert source for journalists (free publicity anyone?).

3. Create a community: By keeping customers engaged and becoming an expert, you can build an online community of loyal customers. Is that not what every business wants?!

Do you have a question about creating a blog for your business? Do you agree that blogging is good use of company time and resources? Your comments are always appreciated!

Analyzing a Facebook Page

As a marketer, it's always important to run a critical eye over your work, look at it from a consumers perspective, and understand how you can improve. One of my current marketing tasks is to manage the Facebook page for the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club. Here is my analysis, and notes on what I need to improve on.

I first signed out of Facebook, and looked at this site as a first time visitor would. I need to update the cover photo, as the one at present is not quite in focus, and has been up for about 2 months. The profile picture should be more zoomed in, so it is more legible. Also, the photos for each of the apps should be updated, as the welcome page does not even have a proper photo. All of these details are important, because they are the first items a person will look at before they even see the content, and will create the first impression.

This is what users see currently when they log on to the Orienteer Vancouver page

In terms of content, my posts are fairly regular; one every 1-2 days. The new addition of being able to schedule posts has made managing content way easier, as I can set posts to appear around 6pm when I am at school/work/out running, but this ensures that when our fans log on in the evening or early morning to check their Facebook (heaviest usage times), my post will be near the top of their feed. I should look at posting content everyday, rather than every 2 days.

Most of the content is promotion of our upcoming events. As we hold at least 1 event per week, this is understandable. However, the event information links are usually just text and a link to our website, which has no image. I will look in to adding an image of each park we visit to the event page of the website, so an image will appear on Facebook. This should give more visual appeal to the posts.

I will also look in to adding a better variety of content, such as sharing information on other running races in Vancouver (as many of our members are also runners, bikers, or engage in other physical activity). I currently follow Canadian Running Magazine and Get Out There Magazine, but I should look for more local running clubs and sites to follow.

In terms of interaction, most of our posts either have likes or comments. I noticed 1 comment that went unanswered, and have corrected this. I could increase interaction by engaging users after a race and encouraging them to share information on what routes they look, or issues they had with the map.

Overall, I am pleased with the way our Facebook page looks and feels, however, I would like to increase the amount of interaction. I will act upon the suggestions above over the next week, and analyze, using the Facebook Analytics system, to see if increases engagement and interaction.

Please take a look at the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club Facebook page, and leave a comment if you think there's something else I could work on that I have not covered above.

Social Media Tracking Tools

McDonalds recently set up a webpage called "Our Food, Your Questions"; Canadians are invited to pose questions about McDonalds food, which are answered by a representative. The aim of this campaign is to dispel myths around McDonalds food. In response to the question "Why does your food look different in the advertising than what is in the store?", McDonalds released the video below explaining the food photographing process. 

I was interested to see whether this video changed opinions surrounding McDonalds foods. To measure this, I found a number of online reports on the video. A selection of comments were taken and rated based on their sentiment towards campaign, not towards McDonalds itself. The comments +1 for positive, 0 for neutral, and -1 for negative. 


Here are a selection of comments from the thestar.com:

So does every other food shot: This is a common practice for food photographs; there are food stylists who strive to make their food "edible". but the majority of the food in shots can't be eaten. Stop the McD hate.

Score: +1


and "drum roll"..... Crap is still crap no matter how you dress it up... but so nice to see how they dress the crap... Score: -1Dishonest - How lovely to have an inside view into the business of lying to your customers.Score: -1 (this comment is interpreted as sarcasm)McDonald's vs Subway - McDonald's advertising photos look a lot closer to what you're served, compared to Subway...Score: +1Good for McDonald's - It's not like people are going to stop buying their products if they reveal why their burgers in commercials look better than in real life.Score: +1Good for them - Be honest and show people why. NO need to hide the truth.Score: +1Here are a selection of comments from Twitter:@lindsaysherry - Don't know if this was a good idea #mcdonalds - http://t.co/velfTxT9Score: -1@Budd_Dwyers_Bag - I love everything about this story. Especially the awkcent of the presenter htt://t/co/fuY6Bnh4 #imlovingit #thisiswhywerefat #mcdonalds Score: +1@leannmifsud - "@TorontoStar @McDonalds #AdvertisignSecrets http://t.co/mJCI2cN Still want a Big Mac?" Yes... Yes I do.Score: +1@tifutifers - "@TorontoStar: Melting cheese w/a blow dryer and other @McDonalds #advertising secrets: http://t.co/AgSAdWV5" bold+smart move by @McDonaldsScore: +1Overall Score: +4
From these comments, it appears McDonalds has been successful with their campaign. Some praise McDonalds for being honest and answering the question, even if they wouldn't eat at McDonalds themselves, whereas others seem to harbour a negative attitude towards McDonalds that cannot be undone by one video alone. The conclusion from this analysis shows that the campaign has been successful in improving attitudes towards their food, but more work is needed to improve the company image.What do you think? How do you feel after watching the video? Do you think that McDonalds has been successful with their new, behind the scenes approach?

Social Media News Release ~ Telly.com

As the internet becomes increasingly dominant, the world of marketing is shifting. Media, or press, releases are increasingly sent electronically, and as a consequence the "Social Media Release" is born! To demonstrate, I have reformatted this original release (found via MarketWire) in to a social media release. Here is a common template of a social media release.
---

Contact: Emilie Cole

LaunchSquad for Telly

415-625-8555

telly [at] launchsquad [dot] com

Twitvid Unveils Telly for Online Video ~ A New Way to Tune In

Telly Builds on Twitvid's Social Video Network Success to Change How We Collect, Discover, and Share Video Today

June 13, 2012 11:00ET

• Twitvid announces its rebranding and a new way to share videos online at Telly.com
• Telly is a simple and fun way for people to collect, discover, and share great video online.
• 10-million plus videos already available from Twitvid archives, linking to top sites such as CNN and EPSN
• With Telly you can:
• Collect videos you love: Post and save any video from the web with our Chrome extension or web bookmarklet to create a personalized Telly, share with friends, or watch later
• Discover video you will love: Telly shows you the best video for you from across the web, by combining your personal tastes with what your friends find interesting. When you watch, you also help others discover through our real-time recommendation engine.
• Create and share videos others will love: Post your own creations to Telly only, share them with the Telly community, and easily report them to other networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Screen shot from Telly.com. Simple, clean user interface

Quote from CEO and co-founder, Mo Al Adham: "Over the last four years, we've seen more than 10 million videos uploaded to Twitvid. iPhones and Android devices have caused an exponential growth in the amount of video published on the web. How can users find great video to watch, and how do video creators, both big and small, reach relevant viewers when over 100 hours of video is uploaded every minute? This is a big problem that we understand well, and today Telly is taking the first step in reshaping how online video is viewed and distributed in today's world."


Frequently Asked Questions: 



Connect with Telly:

  

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About Telly
Telly is a new and fun way for people to collect, discover and share great video online. Brought to you by the team behind Twitvid, the popular social video network, Telly makes smart social recommendations that fit your interests to create a steady, dynamic stream of personalized video. Telly is based in San Francisco and is back by Azure Capital Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. 

Social Media and Tourism

An industry I've always been interested in is tourism, especially in beautiful BC! The tourism industry is using social media to promote themselves across the world. Tourism BC, for example, has a website, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube accounts. Tourism Vancouver utilizes Blogger, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Whatever the channels a company chooses to use, they must have exciting and enticing content that connects with their target audience. There are a variety of campaigns that tourism groups use to attention; one time larger events to grab attention and pull people in to the social media sites, then ongoing campaigns to keep people coming back.

An example of a one time event to grab attention is the 'smart' mob at YVR on behalf of the "This is Great Britian" campaign. The dancers are dressed in costumes to resemble some of the most famous British acts; the Spice Girls, the Beatles, and Elton John, to name a few. The dancing is great, and the video is fun to watch. The link in the information section of the YouTube video takes viewers to the "This is GREAT Britain" Facebook page, where you can choose to interact and follow the campaign.

An example of a great ongoing campaign is Tourism BC's "Fan Photo of the Week". Fans post their photos to Facebook, and Tourism BC selects the best ones in for the "Fan Photos of the month" album, then selects one per week to be displayed as Fan Photo of the Week. I think this is a great use of social media, as Tourism BC gets a fantastic collection of photos from across the province, and fans get the excitement of having their photo shortlisted, and possibly displayed as photo of the week.

Makes me want to jump in my car and go find a lake and mountains! Photo Credit: Tourism BC Facebook page

Are there any tourism social media campaigns that caught your eye? It's not just about being clever, it's also about being memorable!

Educating Canadians about Online Behavioural Advertising

Welcome to my first vlog on this blog!

I came across the article on Marketing Mag, and felt that there was a great lesson for marketers ~ be upfront, honest, and educate your public!

As I mentioned in the video, I strongly believe that proactively educating consumers about changing technology is a very important move. There was lots of media coverage of Google's recent move to combine search and viewing information across various Google platforms to enhance its online behavioural advertising. Google was not upfront or completely transparent with these changes, and was written an open letter by Jennifer Stoddart, Canada's Privacy Commissioner, to be more transparent. This is a great example of a situation to be avoided by clearly and concisely education consumers about their options upfront, and allowing them an easy way to opt out. You can judge for yourself whether you think Google's policies are transparent enough.

P.S. Learn more about IAB Canada.

Do you agree with online behavioural advertising? Do you think it's an invasion of privacy, or an enhancement of the online experience?

10 Lower Mainland parks you should visit this summer

It's summer time in Vancouver (well, almost)! It'll soon be time to crack out the BBQ, meet with friends, and take a stroll in the beautiful parks around the Vancouver area. The popular parks, such as Stanley Park and Kits beach, fill up really quickly, so here's my top 10 small, lesser known, but beautiful parks to consider for your summer fun!

10. Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby
OK, so Burnaby Mountain is pretty well known, but have you taken the time to visit the trails and check out the immense views? Take a short hike, try mountain biking, or go for a run, then set up your picnic by the totem poles!

Incredible views from Burnaby Mountain. Photo credit: JiWiz

9. Camosun Bog, Vancouver
If you want an educational afternoon stroll, check out the self-guided tour at Camosum Bog. You'll see cool fauna and plants. Perfect for a family stroll with grandma!

Amazing fauna to be seen. Photo credit: Eric Bog

8. Cates Park, North Vancouver
If you want to beach comb, skim pebbles, throw a frisbee, take a short hike, and light up the BBQ, then head on over to Cates Park. It's small but beautifully formed, with views across the Burrard Inlet. You can also kayak from here, if you're feeling adventurous!

Beach combing ahoy! Photo credit: OurBC.com

7. Deer Lake Park, Burnaby
Deer Lake Park is perfect for a longer summer family stroll. You can rent a boat and paddle on to the water, or stroll around and check out the gorgeous scenery. The beach area and grassy area by the Shadbolt Centre tend to get pretty full, but head over to the west side of the park, under the overpass at Royal Oak Av, and you'll find a couple of small and quiet green parks. Lovely!

I always think it looks like a futuristic city! Photo credit: City of Burnaby

6. Byrne Creek Park, New Westminster
Byrne Creek park is a forested area near the Edmonds Skytrain Station. If you're looking for a stroll through the forest with amenities nearby, then this is your spot! Bring a picnic to eat in the park!

Beautiful forest stroll right in the city! Photo Credit: "StephansMap"

5. Burnaby Lake, Burnaby
Again, a fairly well know park that is incredibly accessible via skytrain or by bike (check out the Burnaby bike map). The more adventurous can tackle the ~10km trails by foot (no bikes allowed). Beside the nature house is a small open park which is great for BBQ's and family picnics! Small, sheltered, and quiet!

Incredible lake views, with lots of birds and other wildlife! Photo credit: VancouverTrails.com

4. Princess Park, North Vancouver
Tennis courts and a covered picnic area right beside a beautiful forest makes Princess Park a wonderful place for a family picnic. There are also some great trails for a short hike, although the terrain is quite steep, so maybe leave grandma at the picnic shelter!

Amazing forest! Photo credit: aozora.ca

3. Iona Island, Richmond
It's not technically an island, more of a peninsular, but if you want bird watching and to explore interesting fauna, then come to Iona! You can also watch the planes take off and land at the airport, and it's a perfect place to watch the sunset.

Take a stroll along the peninsular, but don't get caught by the tide! Photo Credit: Stephen Hui

2. Cleveland Dam, North Vancouver
Cleveland dam is one of favourite places in the entire Lower Mainland! The hiking is challenging (lots of steep uphill!), but just beautiful. Be sure to check out the salmon hatchery, as well as the most amazing view of the Lions beside the lake! There are benches to BBQ at, and a word of warning - don't swim in the lake; it's where our drinking water is stored!

It doesn't get much better than this! Photo Credit: Annacat

1. Barnet Marine Park, Burnaby
Burnaby's best kept secret, Barnet Marine Park has it all - beach, grassy areas to kick a ball or throw a frisbee, short walks, and a BBQ area. This is an amazing place to watch the sunset, and keep a look out for seals!

The beach at Barnet Marine Park, courtesy of JiWiz 

Is there a park you think I missed? Or do you have a story to share about any of the parks on the list? Your comments are always welcome!

You Tube moves from "views" to "engagement"

I was interested to read that YouTube is changing the focus of how it wants its users to engage with the site. The article, referenced by MarketingMag.ca, explains that YouTube has changed it's 'related videos recommendation' from number of clicks/views to time spent viewing videos or channels. The idea is that users will spend more time viewing videos and be more engaged with the site, rather than clicking quickly through quirky videos of cats playing the piano or a baby biting his brother's finger!

I posted this article to Digg, as I was interested to see how the community would view this change in the YouTube user experience. This change took effect on March 15, 2012, and so far the number of views is down slightly, but the length of time spent viewing videos is up slightly.

From MarketingMag.ca

There was an interesting Forbes article released yesterday, where contributor Adam Theirer talked about the relationships between advertisers and consumers. He acknowledges that consumers hate advertising and do everything to try and avoid it; using PVR's to record shows and fast forwarding through commercials, and downloading AdBlock software for internet browsers. However, he points out that without advertising revenue, we'd all be paying for online content, we'd pay more for TV subscriptions, and so on. For companies who choose to advertise on YouTube, having users more engaged with the videos they're watching means they are likely to also be more engaged with the advertisements. It will be interesting to monitor whether this is actually the case, and if metrics, such as click throughs, increase due to this change in user experience.

What do you think? Do you think advertising click-throughs rates will increase with this new model? 

Research in Social Media

In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm heavily involved with a sport called Orienteering. As well as keeping me fit and active, I have the opportunity to do some marketing and communications work, both for my local club and for the Canadian High Performance Program (HPP).

As part of my communications assistant duties for the Canadian HPP, we are trying to raise the profile of our athletes within the Canadian orienteering community. Our main communication tool is our online blog. The blog is now fairly well established and has a reasonable following. However, I would like to increase the number of people viewing our blog, and the number of interactions that take place on each entry.

To increase the number of people coming to the blog, I would do a survey of members of the orienteering community (online, distributed via local club member email lists) to see which websites these people frequent most, and look at setting up accounts on these sites to push traffic through to the blog. I would also do a campaign to ensure the community members are aware that the Facebook, Twitter, and Team Canada blog exist, and that they are connected with us.

To increase the number of interactions, I would have athletes post on a variety of topic categories, such as race report, training report, goal setting, athlete interview, and health and wellness. I would also look at factors such as the author of the post, whether photos were used, whether maps samples were used, and so on. Using the number of views and comments per blog post, the number of 'likes' and comments on Facebook, and the number of retweets and replies through Twitter, I can clarify which blog posts were not only popular, but compelled viewers to engage in further interaction. The athletes would then have further clarity no only on what topics to post, but also whether they should use photos, map samples, and so on.

Can you suggest any further metrics I could use to measure engagement?

Social Media Personality ~ Think before you leap!

I believe that your social media personality will effect how you interact with people online, how you are perceived, what your goals for social media are, and what social media channels you decide to use. That's why it's important to consider your online personality as part of your overall social media plan (whether you have a formal company plan, or just some informal ideas on how you wish to use social media for personal use).

Before you post, tweet, comment, or insert appropriate verb here, it's important to consider how your comment could be perceived by other people who don't know you. I, for example, have a very dry sense of humour, which doesn't come across well in the written form! I understand this, and realize that if I want to keep my professional personality intact online, I must carefully watch my choice of words. It's much easier to choose your words carefully before you post, rather than having to try and explain yourself after you post!

Staying true to my psychology training, I did some online research on social media personality. There are numerous attempts to explain and pigeonhole online personality types in 5, 7, or 11 nicely defined categories. In reality, I'm not sure that you can really slot yourself nicely into anyone of these categories (let me know if you can, because I'm having a hard time doing it!).

So, research aside, my opinion is that defining your online social media personality really comes down to staying true to yourself or your company's values, and being honest. Social media is, after all, a place to be sociable! I see this as the approach of many companies that have chosen to have an online presence. Vancity, for example, engages their customers and community through Twitter, LinkedIn, and You Tube. What I was most impressed with, however, is that Vancity publicly displays their social media approach and guidelines. From these pages, we can see their approach is to "engage with people" and have conversations about community. Their guidelines reflect that the employee should be themselves, use casual language, but also be mindful before they post. My favourite guidelines is "...I will think twice and write once". Words to live by!

In terms of my own social media personality, I would say that I exude a casual, but thoughtful personality (still unsuccessfully trying to fit myself in to one of those personality types...). I administer the Facebook page for the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club (shameless plug - really, it's a LOT of fun!). On this page I use a friendly, chatty tone to entice people to our events, to be part of the club, and also to engage with the orienteering community, both in Vancouver and across Canada. On my LinkedIn profile (again, shameless plug!), I maintain the professional side of my personality. But that's who I am as a person. I am professional in that I consider everything I post for tone and content, but I prefer to keep things friendly and accessible.

People are not stupid (you can interpret this as a good or a bad thing!), and therefore honesty is the best policy! When creating your social media personality, keep it real, but "think twice and write once".

What do you think? Do you have any tips for creating your online personality? 

Back to Basics ~ Wind Mobile

If there's an industry in Canada that suffers from lack of transparency, it's the cell phone industry! Fees for everything, extra costs, high charges, etc... we all love to hate our cell phone providers! Wind Mobile is trying to change that.

Wind's customer engagement strategy stands out to me as innovative, yet so simple; Wind listened to their potential customers! They set up an online forum where they encouraged consumers to vent their feelings about what is wrong with the cell phone industry. Wind then built their cell plans and overall service around the weaknesses of their competitors. This approach built a great foundation of consumers, who feel that they helped build the Wind Mobile brand, and therefore built brand loyalty before they even provided cell services! So simple, yet so effective!

Market Share of Canadian mobile network operators in Q3 of 2011 (CWTA), Sourced from Wikipedia

The main challenges facing Wind are coverage and cell phone compatibility; the popular iPhone cannot be used on Wind's network. Although there are many challenges ahead, I feel that Wind has positioned itself well in the Canadian cell phone market, has connected with its target market through advertising and the use of internet forums, and will continue to build a strong nationwide brand.

Welcome! A little about me!

Hello world! Welcome to my blog. My name is Alison and I'm a Scot who currently resides in Vancouver, BC. I came to Canada in 2005, living first in Victoria, then Vancouver.

I have just completed my Associate Certificate in Marketing Communications from BCIT, and am now looking for a job in Marketing Strategy. Through my love of organization, I really enjoy getting in to the nitty gritty set up that any successful marketing campaign should start out with. It all comes back to strategy!

Those hobbies I talked about. I run, I bike, I do yoga, I love walking everywhere, but my main sport is orienteering. Don't know what orienteering is? Like us on Facebook :)  I do the marketing and promotions for our local orienteering club. I also am the communications assistant for Team Canada Orienteering! 

Please feel free to comment, disagree, or challenge any of the ideas I post on my blog. I love a good argument debate!

Myself and my boyfriend Pascal