Archive for December 2009

The Complaining Generation

December 15, 2009 1 comment

Recently I have been asking a lot of people how they like their job and it didn’t surprise me that the vast majority said they were unsatisfied.  The more I asked, poked and prodded about their career, the more positive it became.  Then it dawned on me, sure there are some better careers than others, but our generation enjoys complaining.  Let me explain.

If you have what most people would call a “boring” job (accounting, office job, the majority of the crown corporations) you probably have great security and make an above average wage.  You complain about how board you are at work because they block you from using Facebook and Twitter but your paid four weeks of holidays and have “earned days off” so it’s worth it for now.

If you have what most people would call an “amazing” job (entrepreneur, creative director, manager at a small company) you probably have great flexibility and actually enjoy the majority of the work.  You complain about how you’re underpaid and how it must be nice to collect a check every two weeks.  You struggle but your passionate and an office job just isn’t your style.

So why must we always complain?
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Why Are You Buying That?

December 11, 2009 0 comments

In some industry’s I would argue brand loyalty does not exist for the vast majority of people. For these products price is the main reason of choice. In the grocery store I have too many options in front of me, so like any other confused male in their twenty’s in a grocery store, I begin to compare prices and inevitably many of my choices are dictated on which is the cheapest. But a product can look good enough that you will pay a premium just because you perceive it to have more value (this happens a lot).  Many products in the grocery store are sold because of implied value, which creates brand loyalty. Marketing has aided this effort for years, making products seem better than they actually are, just so people would buy.

Alright so you buy Kraft over the no name salad dressing, and you buy Bicks because No Name pickles taste funny (when in fact they taste fine).  Marketing has done a great job building trusted brands for us but I don’t agree with buying a name brand products just so a multi-national company can keep marketing it.  Presidents Choice Cola tastes strikingly similar to Coke Cola but
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Old Ladies are the Cutest!

December 09, 2009 0 comments

When a cab driver goes out of his or her way to make the trip more enjoyable do you tell them how much you appreciated it?  When someone holds the door for you, do you say “gee, thanks a lot!”

Too many times we have positive experiences at the expense of someone else and we never tell them. Why?  Maybe we’re scared, maybe we think it will mean nothing, maybe it has never been brought to your attention until now.

I had teacher in grade eleven that told us;

“If someone ever does something nice for you, you should always tell them thank you, otherwise they may not know how they made you feel and may not ever do it again.”

We all like to be appreciated so why not show others when we are appreciative?  Even a small compliment on someone’s hair can go a long way, but generally speaking, our society doesn’t hand out compliments very easily.  But why not?

So how do you start?  The next person you see with a bright pair of shoes on or a finely tailored suit, walk up to them and say, “Wow! I sure like those shoes, they look wonderful!”  Then
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Chicken Legs: $1.19 /lb

December 07, 2009 2 comments

I drove by Sobey’s today and a large magnetic sign out front said “Chicken legs, $1.19 /lb”.  It struck me as odd because I would assume that sign should entice me to come in.  I know what you’re thinking, that some people did go to Sobey’s because the sale on chicken legs, you’re probably right.  But couldn’t they come up with something better than chicken legs?

This got me thinking and led me to look up the four big grocer’s in Regina, those being Sobey’s, Safeway, Superstore, and Co-op. Click on any of these stores and it will take you to their flyer page.  All four have a sound online presence except Co-op, their flyer is in PDF form and is 5.8 Mb in size, but I guess if you’re looking up the Co-op flyer you have ten minutes to wait for it to download. Safeway is the only one on Twitter and all they tweet is feel good sayings and nothing that’s going to convince me to shop there*.

In the past people were loyal to a grocer, my Mom was a devout Superstore customer, she’d never set foot in a Safeway.  Our generation is different, we like convenience and
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