The big story of the day - Canada's unemployment rate rises

[Cover of Maclean's, 1.19.09. Taken with my BlackBerry Curve]

It's been the big news story of the day..."Canada's jobless rate rises to 6.6% in December".

"Canada lost 34,400 jobs in December, a figure that was worse than economists had been expecting, as the economy weakened." CBC News

In the United States, the story is even worse - they lost 524,000 jobs last month which pushed the total job losses in 2008 to 2.6 million.

The latest page in the story of the current economic downturn. I find this issue important to students as we are the ones that are trying to enter the job market. Should we be worried? What I've been hearing is that despite the changes in the economy, organizations still believe that it is important to recruit top talent and are still actively searching. Once we do get out of 2009, since the economists expect things to turn back around, students who have entered the job market will have gained experience and hopefully be part of a company that will grow again and be in line for more responsibility or even a promotion. It's not the best time to enter the job market, but it's not the worst either.

The sponsors of MARS Apprentice are also recruiting students for co-op work terms and full-time positions this year. Frito Lay has an excellent Leadership Development program available, and Research In Motion is looking for another 1,250 employees this year.

Apprentice is even more proof that employers will still try to find the best and brightest students, despite the problems in the economy!

The Science Behind Shopping

If you had a choice between purchasing a perfume manufactured in Paris and one that is manufactured in Dallas which one would you choose? Well if you are like me and chose Paris you are also like the 9 out of 10 people. So what does that means? It means subliminal advertising! I was watching the Today’s Show on NBC this morning and was captivated by this piece.
Check it out:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27241255/#storyContinued
(Just click on the video launch)

Author Martin Lindstrom “Buyology: Truth and Lies About What We Buy,” which explains the scientific reasoning behind purchasing habits. Martin Lindstorm conducted an experiment where he performed functional MRI’S on various people to determine whether the subconscious has a roll in people’s purchasing habits. He concluded that the subconscious roll plays a great roll on how we buy products. One of the examples he uses is the controversy behind Calvin Klein commercials. The controversy behind the Calvin Klein jeans intrigues the consumer and thus makes them desire it. There are many examples that he provides that are worth checking out!

After watching this piece I may think twice of when purchasing a certain product. Maybe you will too?

Buy none, get one free

Sounds too good to be true eh? I found this article really interesting of how the "digital world" makes such a difference to companies today. Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine claims the costs in the digital world are so low that both the companies and their customers are winners.
"There are really two kinds of free," says Mr Anderson.
"There's fake free, which is just marketing -the buy-one-get-one-free model, the invocation of the word 'free' to grab consumer attention, but it does not change the underlying economics." "For the first time in history, [this has] created an industrial model where everything gets cheaper over time, as the underlying costs get cheaper." Mr Anderson refers to Moore's Law, which states that computer power doubles every 18 months. The economic reciprocal of that, he says, is the cost of a net unit of computer power falls by 50% every 18 months, which means that everything gets cheaper by 50% or more every year and a half".
"At the moment, people are still suspicious of 'free' and are right to be so. They often pay further down the line or pay with their time or reputation."
"People are right to think that somewhere, somebody is going to have to pay."

In my opinion I think that consumers will always think there is an underlying cost somewhere hidden. In the article he talks about how airline companies may offer a free flight, but you pay for your baggage to be taken on board. There is still a cost that the consumer must pay. He also states, "maybe cargo pays the way and the passengers ride for free? Or we're actually a tourism arm of these destinations who are paying us to bring (people) to them."
I think its a really creative idea that may take a lot of time to draw the consumers in and actually believe that this concept is true. It's a great way of attracting consumers and making them test out your service or product.
Check out the article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7811481.stm

Quantifiables

Just thought this article was neat because it had so many examples of performance metrics that are unique to the airline industry. It shows how important it is to analyze your performance in a reliable, consistant, and meaningful way.

Examples: Revenue passenger miles, load factor

John Partridge. "Air Canada, WestJet post record load factors." reportonbusiness.com (January 7, 2009). http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090107.waircan0107/BNStory/Business/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090107.waircan0107

Potent Quotables

Hello Everyone,

I hope that you have all been enjoying your holidays with friends and family. Have a fun and safe new year!!

True growth and learning is really about seeking out challenges, so I thought to start off the new year I would share a quote from Karlfried Durckheim, a German diplomat, psychotherapist and Zen Master:

The person who, being really on the Way, falls upon hard times in the world, will not, as a consequence, turn to that friend who offers him refuge and comfort and encourages their old self to survive. Rather, he will seek out someone who will faithfully and inexorably help him to risk himself, so that he may endure the difficulty and pass courageously through it. Only to the extent that a person exposes himself over and over again to annihilation, can that which is indestructible be found within them.

May we all get closer to finding that indestructible part of ourselves this year.

Take care,

Jocelyne

Dealing with the Newly Thrifty Consumer

Expect this to be the name of the game in the coming year!! Consumers are hunkering down, and are finally saving again. The change has been most drastic in the US, with savings as a percentage of income finally creeping above a dismal ZERO. While good for the overall economy during this readjustment, it is bad for companies whose survival depends on consumers spending money - in other words...pretty much everybody.

There are a few bright spots. Tight economic times tend to benefit those who peddle vices - think gambling, tobacco, and alcohol.

In a report to be released today, The Boston Consulting Group has found that while the U.S. economy has been put to rout, and while Canadians are in a structurally superior position headed into recession, it is the Canadian consumer who intends a more dramatic pullback in spending.

Jennifer Wells. "The new consumer: Tight-fisted and 'emotionally fragile'." reportonbusiness.com (January 1, 2009). http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090101.wconsumermain0101/BNStory/Business/home?cid=al_gam_mostview (accessed January 2, 2009).

Two things jump out at me in this article. First, a reminder that Canada is very different that the US and this should never be glossed over. Second, it's going to be a tough year for marketers. In the past, the main challenge may have been to get consumers to spend money on YOUR product instead of competitor's. Now the challenge will be to get consumers to spend money at all.

62% of us plan to cut back spending in 2009. That's more than the US with 58% and even Europe's 'Big 5' with 56%.

How will this change the actions of marketers? The study provides another clue: "Whereas 65 per cent of U.S. respondents say they will pay more attention to product promotions and buy more stuff on sale, a full 72 per cent of Canadians intend to adopt the same behaviour."

Ahh the dreaded price competition. A game where no one wins...except perhaps the thrifty consumer.

Viral Marketing - the Wii

What does this clip say about Wii?

Do you think it will catch on like other successful Youtube entries?

Personally, I love it.

http://clipmarks.forbes.com/clipper/Forbes/clip/8A12167C-EFBA-4160-B6E7-9674490A7484/