Retail Marketing Mystery

Maybe I didn't pay enough attention in my marketing classes when I was in university, so that's why I'm having trouble understanding what happened a couple of days ago. Let's hope that my marketing and retailing expert friends can help me.

So we walked into a pretty well-known clothing retailer the other day after receiving a coupon promising a 35% discount on all items at their regular price. The cool thing about it is that it also entitles the holder to a 20% discount on all items that are already on sale. Not a terrible deal at all, don't you agree?

So after picking and trying on some articles of clothing, we get to the cash and present the coupon. The prices were already lowered on those items, so we thought that we would get the 20% off instead of the 35%. Fair enough.

The lady at the cash then says that the items we picked weren't at regular price so the 35% off wouldn't be applied. Fine, that's what we expected. However, the cashier then tells us that she can't give us the 20% off either. It turns out that the items weren't on sale. Instead, they were "on promotion". So they couldn't combine the offer with already existing promotions.

We ended up paying anyway because we needed the items. That and the "promotional price" wasn't terrible to begin with.

I'm actually more confused than annoyed. The question I'd like to throw out there to the experts is this: What's the difference between any retail item that's on sale and one that's on promotion? I was under the impression from previous experience with other clothing stores that they were the same thing.

Any ideas?

How to Profit from Public Panic during the Holiday Season

If I were an investor who had an extra couple of hundred thousand dollars and wanted to make some quick money by the end of Q4 2009 and even Q1 2010, I would immediately invest most of that money in three companies: Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline.

You don't have to be a genius to figure it out. These companies are the main producers of the two most sought-out commodities for holiday season. It's not a new gadget, computer or a new Apple product. It's not a new toy either.

Massive amounts have already been sold in the case of one product and I'm sure it will continue throughout the winter season. As for the second commodity, people are lining up for it all over the developed world. Even governments are getting heat for not making it easier for the general public to get it.

The two commodities are of course hand sanitizers (specifically Johnson & Johnson's Purell) and Novartis and GSK are the main producers of the H1N1 vaccine. With the Avian Flu and SARS out of the way, Swine Flu is now the "fashionable" disease to have and be afraid of. With one sensational media story after another, we now have a huge demand for both hand sanitizers and the vaccine. People are afraid thinking that they're going to just drop dead after each sneeze, cough and headache.

Just walk into any office building, public space, airport, etc., and you'll see a sanitizer dispenser at almost every corner. Not to mention the amount that's being sold in pharmacies. As for the vaccine, can you think of the amount of money governments have spent? And when we turn on the news, we still hear people complaining that there isn't enough.

So for the companies producing these commodities, congratulations. If I had the cash, I would buy some of your stock right now. The current boost in your sales, fueled by public panic, free PR, extensive media coverage and relatively little marketing spending, should last at least until flu season is finished, which is great news for your share price.

Now if only I had some extra cash to invest with...

Metro Escalator Etiquette

So as I was getting out of the metro on the way home, I overheard a mini argument between two strangers. Basically, one woman was standing on the left side and talking to her boyfriend on the right side. I stood on the right when this other girl in a rush came up from behind. She was pissed off because the other girl was blocking her way.

So the argument breaks out about how the first girl should stand on one side to let other people who were walking up the escalator. Apparently, these are the unwritten rule of "fast and slow lanes" on an escalator.

The reply was that the metro escalator is for people who are tired after a long day of work. Especially the escalator going up. So you should be able to stand there and let the machine move you up. If you want to run up the steps, you should use the stairs.

The argument pretty much ended once everyone got to the top of the escalator.

So which side do you agree with?

Signs of Aging

Guys, we all eventually go through this. There are of the physical symptoms, but there are other things that you suddenly notice. You know you're getting old when:

• Instead of looking for another place to continue the party at 3am when the club lights come on, you're more likely to get sleepy and pass out on the couch at 11:30pm
  
• Instead of ogling / drooling over the half-dressed women "bouncing around" in bars and clubs, you just end up laughing at their constant calls for attention
• After laughing at them, you hesitate to hit on the half-dressed women in the clubs because for some reason, most of them look underage
• You tend to feel sorry for the other guys chasing these half-dressed, attention-starved women
  
• Instead of being a blur, you have more and more vivid memories of what you did this past Friday AND Saturday night
• Although cheap beer by the pitcher is still adequate, you have more of a desire to get drunk off high quality booze
• You think that almost all new music should be flushed down the toilet
  
• You actually start caring about being good at your day job
  
• You actually start thinking that coming to work with a hang over and 3 hours of sleep is not necessarily a good idea

Any other symptoms from the guys out there?

Are you the "Less Attractive" friend? - A bus ride home story

Ladies, I'm going to let you in on a little secret (well, maybe you know this already). If you've ever gone out to a club or a bar for a girls' night, I'm sorry to say that if a group of guys start hitting on you, well, they don't like ALL of you.

Usually, the guys are hitting on the "hot ones" (maybe one or two in your group). The other guys are just wing-men who are "taking one for the team" by pretending to like the less attractive ones and flirting with them. Now the question is, which one are you in the group? If you are the "less attractive" one, I hope the incident that I'm about to describe doesn't happen to you.

In the bus on way home, there was a couple of scantily-clad women. I guess they were on their way to a party or something It was pretty obvious which one was the "hot one" and which one wasn't. There was also a pretty drunk guy there obviously admiring the sight. So the drunk guy decides that he has enough confidence to start flirting with the girls as we approach the metro station.

I didn't quite hear what he said, but I guess he offended them. The "less attractive" starts telling him off saying in French: "On n'est pas des salopes! On va pas coucher avec toi!" ("We're not sluts! We won't sleep with you!")

The guy's response in English was priceless: "I wasn't talking to you. You're the ugly one. I was talking to your friend."

I tried really hard not to burst out laughing until I got out of the bus. I mean, judging from the way that the guy kept on dropping his bottle, he was pretty wasted. And yet the beer goggles definitely didn't work when it came to that girl. Ouch.

Wet and Naked

What is it about being wet and naked that can help make a person feel amazing? Naked wetness just seems to be the best solution for a rough day at work, for tiredness after traveling in a cramped space for a long time, for a long sleepless night or whether you just need to relax after doing something physically or mentally taxing.

Of course, I'm talking about taking a shower or a bath after doing any or all of the stuff I described above. (What were you thinking of?) I was just wondering why that is, I guess (hygienic reasons aside).

Fantasia 2009 Reviews - Week 2

Continuing the celebration of 100 years of Hong Kong cinema, the Fantasia festival has given us a treat by screening two Hong Kong flicks this week: Legendary Assassin and The Warlords.

Legendary Assassin:
The movie was ok. Not amazing, but definitely not terrible. The bone-crunching, high-flying fight sequences were fun to watch, especially the "little guy vs. big guy" fight at the beginning. Well, that and the "1 vs. 100" fight in the pouring rain... (read more) The movie was ok. Not amazing, but definitely not terrible. The bone-crunching, high-flying fight sequences were fun to watch, especially the "little guy vs. big guy" fight at the beginning. Well, that and the "1 vs. 100" fight in the pouring rain at the end.

Unfortunately, the "love story" kinda dragged it down a bit. It kinda took away from the badass-ery of the main character.

The Warlords:
After the release of "Fearless" in 2006, Jet Li said that he would stop making "martial arts epics". I guess he lied with "The Warlords" being released in 2007. You couldn't get more epic than this.

Starring three of the biggest names in Asian/Hong Kong cinema in Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, you get some excellent acting, great battle scenes along with some additional drama and intrigue.

Special kudos to Jet Li for showing his acting chops playing a general who is forced to make some tough decisions for what he thinks is the "greater good".

That's it for this week. Next week, I'll be reviewing another Hong Kong film showcasing a great female fighter and a weird Japanese rom-com (mind you, what Japanese movie in Fantasia ISN'T weird?).

Fantasia 2009 Reviews - Week 1

Whether it was watching Koreans get drunk on soju, seeing an awesome kung fu bio-pic on Bruce Lee's wing chun teacher or being terrorized by WWII German zombie soldiers, the first week of Fantasia has been more than entertaining. Here are few brief reviews of the movies I saw this week.

Daytime Drinking:
Definitely a funny, one-man road-trip movie. The movie starts off a bit slow, but the laughs gradually build as the amount of alcohol consumed increases and the characters that we're introduced to get weirder and weirder. All this goes on throughout the movie without going over the top.

That and you're definitely going to learn a lot about Korean drinking culture. Gun Bae!

Dead Snow:
The lesson of this film? If you plan on going out on a cabin in the snowy mountains with your friends, make sure not to piss off any Nazi zombies by taking their stolen gold. Yeah, that's right.

A small army of undead German soldiers from WWII terrorize a group of young med students on their Easter vacation. The director moves a bit away from the zombie norm by making these zombies fast, organized and intelligent fighters. Real zombie soldiers.

The suspense and cheap/false scares are pretty well built up before the zombies are shown. But when they finally do appear on-screen, the blood and guts literally fly on the snow-capped Norwegian mountains.

A definite crowd-pleaser at the Fantasia Festival, I would recommend this to any zombie movie fan.

Ip Man:
Movies like Ip Man are the reason why I come back to the Fantasia Festival year in and year out. Similar to "Fighter in the Wind" and "Fearless", this is a semi-biopic of a real martial arts master.

Starring Donnie Yen as the Ip Man, better known as the man who first taught Bruce Lee wing chun, the movie focuses on his early life during the Japanese occupation in the late 1930s to early 1940s. The fight scenes, choreographed by the amazing Sammo Hung, are just works of art. Donnie Yen's hand speed is unreal. You'd have to see this to understand what I mean.

The only problem I have with these kind of movies is that it does tend to get a bit nationalistic. That aside, no self-respecting kung fu movie fan should miss this gem.

That's it for this week. Next week, I'll talk about yet another Hong Kong martial arts action film and an epic war movie loosely based on real events in 19th century China.

Militaristic Karate Tradition

When the average person hears the term "martial art", the first images that come to mind are either the over-the-top fight scenes that they see in the movies or cage fights due to the rising popularity of MMA. We sometimes forget the "martial" part of it. These arts were created and developed for killing and many of the militaristic rituals and practices can still be observed when you walk into a "traditional" martial arts school.

This is especially true in the case of Shotokan karate. The best example is the pre- and post-training lineup. Students and practitioners are made to line up according to rank with the lowest on one side of the room and the highest on the other.

But there's more to this. Most karateka will notice that the way people line up may vary depending on the dojo that they go to. In some schools, the highest ranking student is on the left side of the room. In others, they're on the right side. Again, the reason has to do with a military way of thinking.

The idea is that students have to line up according to the dojo's main entrance door. Normally, the beginners line up closest to the door and the higher levels and even assistant instructors are furthest away. There are two reasons for this:

1) In case of challenge from another school
The challenger will be forced to go tire himself out by having to fight off the "weaker" students first. He will then have progressively more difficult fights as he moves up the ranks. By the time he reaches the end of the line, the challenger becomes so tired and injured that it will be "easy pickings" for the top student and the instructor if necessary.

2) In case of deadly assault on the school
The second reason is really more militaristic in nature. In case their enemies enter through the door, swords flashing and maybe even guns blazing, the first people to get killed are the beginners. Much like in war, the lower ranks are killed on the front lines, while the officers and generals stay in the back.

In both cases, the beginners are kind of treated like expendable pawns and human shields. The higher ranked students are given the time to defend themselves and/or escape so that they can preserve and pass on their knowledge of their fighting art. Definitely a very old, militaristic, and Japanese way of thinking.

Of course, these kinds of concerns are not as valid anymore, but the traditions have been kept. Except in my school, that is. In our case, the instructor has a bit of a different philosophy on the subject. The highest ranking students have the responsibility of defending the dojo. So WE line up closest to the door.

Meaning that if there's ever any trouble, I'll be the one to get killed first.

Money out of your pocket

Let's say that you get promoted and get a nice little raise. You will now have a lot more disposable income, right? Well think again.

Go to the link below to see an interesting little calculator from Revenu Québec. It basically calculates how much you'll have left of your annual earned income after the federal and provincial governments have taken their piece of the pie.

http://www.budget.finances.gouv.qc.ca/budget/2009-2010/en/calculette_en.html

Type in your annual income and you'll notice that, all of a sudden, that even with that raise that you got, the increase in your final paycheck is probably pretty negligible. But you're probably going to be working even more hours and have more stress and responsibility.

As a former student who didn't really make that much money, I was initially very much in agreement with increasing taxes as income gets higher. But now, as a working stiff, I find it annoying that a good chunk of what I worked for is being taken from me before it even reaches my pocket.