BC Hydro - Pedaling for the Poor

The last couple of days have been spent promoting BC Hydro’s new LED “Make a statement” campaign. This particular promotional stunt revolved around promoting a billboard set up on Robson and Richards. The billboard sported a 12 foot LED covered reindeer powered by a bike hooked up to a generator.

The goal was not only to promote the efficiency of LED lights but to donate to the needy. For every hour that the reindeer remained lit, BC Hydro donated 50 dollars to the local food bank. Each day 50 dollars more would be added to each hour! By the end of the 5 days, $18000 will have been donated.

The great thing about this ad was that it was simple, yet brilliant. There was nothing flashy about the billboard behind this gigantic Rudolph, just plain black. The key here was creating something that stood out, something out of the ordinary. BC Hydro did just that! It’s a biker on a platform beside a giant glowing reindeer? How could anyone miss that?

This brings me to my next point, “out of the box” advertising. More and more companies these days are looking towards this type of marketing approach to draw in their target audience. The idea isn’t new, but the extent of its practice is becoming increasingly popular. The “wow-factor” is back in! Why not surprise people? Why not give them something to think about? In today’s society things have become a little too routine and boring. Let’s make things more exciting by doing something unexpected. The two marketing agencies involved with this project, DDB and Smak, are synonymous for their unique brand of advertising.

Smak’s mantra says it best:

Be daring, be different, be impractical,
be anything that will assert integrity of purpose
and imaginative vision against the play it safers,
the creatures of the common-place
and the slaves of the ordinary.

Student Loan Calculator

This project focuses on utilizing the different features of Excel. The objective was to create a business/financial model with supporting charts and documentation.

I chose to do a student loan calculator. Mostly because by the end of all of this, I will have accumulated quite a large debit. So why not prepare for the future!

Overview:

• Required inputs of this model include size of the loan, period of repayment, and interest rate.
• After sufficient information has been provided, the calculator will compute how many payments as well as how much each payment will be for a particular loan and a particular compound period (annually, semi-annually, etc.)
• Extra features include a Randomizer, which will generate a random repayment period

A demo copy can be downloaded here.

Marketing Plan - Pure Forte

This group project was started in January of 2006 and was completed by March of the same year. The goal was to produce a complete marketing plan for a new line of Canadian Beer.

Elements of the Marketing Plan included:

• Market environment
  
• Market segmentation
  
• Our brand & benchmarking
  
• Product strategy
  
• Product management
  
• Distribution
• Advertising

After extensive research and team discussion we decided to develop a healthy beer which would appeal to career oriented professionals; career oriented professionals with an appetite for adventure and leisure activities that revolve around fresh air and physical well being. The result, Pure Forte, a beer made of only the purest of ingredients, plus the strength and refreshment to back it up. The completed plan can be downloaded here.

Slogans included: “A healthier beer for a healthier you” and “It’s not just a beer, it’s a lifestyle”.

The following Ads were scrapped for one reason or another:

Team Members included: Jennine Wilson, Thomas Nguyen, Doug Jensen, Gail Whitney

Evolution of Consumer Interaction

This 4 minute long presentation spawned from an article found at CNN.com, entitled "Doritos: You Create Our Superbowl Commercial", September 14 2006.

The topic, The Evolution of Consumer Interaction, focuses on the growing trend of user generated materials over the internet, how this affects the current consumer, and what this means for companies in the future.

At first I had my reservations about this presentation, but I have to say, in the end I had an excellent time doing it! Not only was it an interesting topic but I was also able to relate it to my all time favorite cult classic, "Snakes on a Plane", starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Sample - Business Memo

Team members: Jude Almario, Natasha Noble, Ashley Constable, Taylor Showell

A sample of a basic business memo. This was done as a collaboration with feedback from everyone in order to produce the best possible memo.

A copy of it can be downloaded here.

MS Word Project

Before I even did this project I had no clue about all the extra quirks that MS Word contained!

With the help of my team-mates, Jude Almario and Natasha Noble, we were able to quickly jump right in and dissect what we needed from the sneaky beast.

Using BC Hydro's annual Service Plan as a guide, we developed a comprehensive report on the company.

A copy of it can be found here.

MS Power Point Presentation

This two week project was developed for the soul purpose of exploring the many features of MS Power Point 2003.

The team: Louise Ritchie, Chad Ellis and I
The focus: The Canucks for Kids Fund and its contributions to society

The power point presentation was to be a stand alone show with a run time of 3+ minutes. It included video clips, slide shows, pertinent charts/tables, and narration (done by Louise). The song, "Fix You" by Coldplay, was used to set the mood.

The Beginning

Yes you are indeed here.

Welcome! Today marks the first day of construction for my new blog. Things that you'll see here will include my resume, projects that I've worked on and any future conquests that I may have.

What else can you expect? A little quirkiness, a smile or two, maybe even a well placed pie in the face. Who knows.

Perhaps by the end you too will buy into my specific brand of marketing, the Marketing of Thomas.

Enjoy.