Why the iPhone 5 isn't all it is cracked up to be

        I want to start off by saying that I love Apple products as much as the next person; their customer service is outstanding and their product line is second to none. The cult following that Apple receives is well deserved, but some die-hard Apple followers are highly unimpressed since the release of the new iPhone 5. The highly anticipated release date drew the usual public excitement as with its predecessors, but has so far failed to live up to its expectations. Although demand for the iPhone 5 still remains high, there are some factors you should consider that may make you want to hold off until the next release.

        Customers of the iPhone 5 have been complaining about horrible battery life, which lasts an average of about 4 to 5 hours from a full charge with regular use. Those who have already purchased the iPhone 5 were lucky enough to have the iOS 6 map app installed for them, but that has people running back to Google Maps because of missing locations, poor graphics and sending you to places that no longer exist. Problems have ranged from a “purple haze” on photos that have been taken with the new camera, no external or upgradable memory storage, and no replaceable battery. Apple still adopted NFC technology to the capacity of Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Instead of building NFC into the iPhone, Apple is making you use it’s very own Passbook app, which can prove to be handy, but still doesn’t allow you to exchange content between two devices just by tapping them together, or use the pay-pal system for wireless payments and money transfers.

                As avid technology lovers, we learn to get used to some let downs; but these issues arising with the iPhone 5 has some people wondering if the release was rushed in an attempt to make rapid sales in lieu of the 2012 Christmas shopping season. Apple certainly did not expect such bad reviews, as their demand for the new phone is not nearly as high as it has been with previous releases; their market share dropped by $70 billion within the first two weeks alone. All we can do now is patiently await the updates and solutions to these problems, and hope that Apple’s response to these issues only proves to be an improvement. But on a side note, I recently purchased a iPhone 4S to replace my stolen iPhone 4 and i couldn't be happier to have it by my side again.

A Little Bit About Me

     Hello everyone! My name is Cameron Downs, and I am the new intern responsible for all of Humber Marketing’s social media. What this means is that I will be updating the Marketing Humber Twitter, Facebook, andPinterest accounts, as well as blogging. I am taking over this position from Rachael Kennedy, and wanted to give a big ‘thank you’ and a ‘job well done’ for all she has done with these social media pages. Before I tell you a little bit about myself, I also wanted to thank Christina Clements for giving me this wonderful opportunity in support of the Humber Marketing program.

 I am a third semester marketing student at Humber, in the 2 year Marketing diploma program and I will be competing in this year’s OCMC (Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition, representing Humber College (Hawk What?! – Hawk yeah!!). But I don’t want to bore everyone with all my like’s and dislike’s and my history of how I got to Humber, because who really cares that I coach little league baseball and have played baseball for 20 years? Nobody! Everyone wants to hear that I will be writing and posting the latest in marketing, consumer trends, the newest in technology, and what’s new in business; just to name a few.  That’s what I am going to do; I am going to give you the best, and the worst that the world of marketing has to offer. So be on the look for all my tweets, posts and my next blog; where I discuss what’s wrong with the iPhone 5. 

Students attend IAB MIXX Conference 2012

The IAB MIXX Conference took place at the Carlu in downtown Toronto last week and Humber students were once again invited to attend. The theme of the 2012 conference was Fighting for Attention: How Brands Win which focused on how brands are using new and interesting ways to make sure that they remain current and "front and centre" (http://www.mixxcanada.com/)

The conference featured some great speakers who are truly embracing the new ways that they can reach customers. These are companies that are not afraid to put the gloves on and fight to gain customer trust and loyalty.  This year's fearless speakers included:

• Bryan Johnston, CMO, The Ultimate Fighting Championship, ZUFFA (LLC) USA 
• Justin Kingsley, VP Strategy + Partner, Sid Lee (CAN)
• Sherrill Mane, SVP Industry, IAB US (USA) 
• Joan Fitzgerald, Vice President, TV and Cross-Media Solutions, comScore (USA)
• Mark Greenspan, Community Director, Next Media (CAN) 
• Tom Fotheringham, Director, Digital Solutions, OMD (CAN)
• Tara Walpert Levy, Global Director of YouTube Ads Marketing, Google (USA

While each speaker talked about the importance of the use of new technologies to reach potential and current customers one of the speakers that I found to be the most engaging  was Tara Walpert Levy of Google. Walpert Levy discussed the importance of video for reaching customers of today. In fact, according to Levy "90% of internet traffic next year will be video." (Levy, IAB MIXX 2012) 

During her presentation Levy told attendees that they have to make video work for them. They need to: 

• move hard to reach audiences
• act on new consumer insights 
• drive loyalty in an active community in an ongoing way

She gave the audience the perfect example, Justin Bieber. Bieber is the perfect example of making video and the internet work for you and ensuring that the web is what you make it. According to Levy, and I'm sure that Bieber's millions of fans would agree; Justin Bieber is "a master brand builder in today's digital age and he has built his brand almost entirely in digital." (Levy, IAB MIXX 2012)

Along with Walpert Levy, another highlight of the conference for many students was the presentations from Justin Kingsley and Bryan Johnston of Sid Lee and The Ultimate Fighting Championship.
It was interesting for students to learn that both UFC and Georges St. Pierre do not attract the audience that most precieve them to. In fact, "UFC attracts the second most affluent audience after the PGA and airs in more than 500 million households."(Johnston, IAB MIXX 2012).

Not only has UFC created a extensive world wide following but so has Georges St-Pierre by teaching his fans seven important lessons:

• Surround yourself with people better than you so you can become better
• What gets measured gets done
• Love the haters, fans will take care of them for you
• Give your fans something to do 
• Show your weaknesses 
• Be honest and generate more love and appreciation from your fans
• Turn struggle into an opportunity

Take a look at this video to see how Georges St- Pierre and Sid Lee have helped fans connect with Georges brand. 

-Rachel