Tag Archives: marketing

Paul Cubbon – Marathon Marketer

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Who are you?

Paul Cubbon: http://blogs.ubc.ca/paulcubbon/
Marketing Instructor at the Sauder School of Business is my job title – but is it “who I am?”
I am fun-loving, creative, problem solving, easily bored, often distracted, happy multi-tasking – I am an over-load junkie who runs hard at things allowing them to be all-consuming, and then I turn off and detox with something totally different. I need to sleep but wish that I could get by on less as there is so much to do. I’m hard-working and good at prioritizing – but I am also a lazy procrastinator. I like the simple things best of all: family, friends, good conversation, food, travel, books, movies, exercise. I like change, so long as there is a safety net! I’m gregarious and social – but love my own company and privacy.

What do you do for fun?

I run up mountains, I ski down them – picnic on the beach, eat and drink well with family and close friends – and have 10 books on the go at the same time.

What is your favourite community and why?

I think of communities in 2 ways….traditional ones built around schools, sport leagues and their virtual equivalents –online communities. Passion around shared interest is at the heart of what makes these tick – people giving without thought of getting anything in return because they believe in the cause and are happy to help. Social, sporting and volunteer communities have lots to teach business attempts at “community management” about values and authenticity.

I really like www.clubfatass.com – an irreverent community of off-road, long distance trail runners. Even though I am not a cyclist, I admire http://testofmetal.com/ for how volunteers created a large, world class economic driver for tourism based on a passion for mountain biking. In business I like the work of http://thinkengagement.com/ a social media consulting company that is building its business around identifying and nurturing passionate communities – this is why I am doing some work with them – to try and bridge personal and professional beliefs.

What is your superpower?

Ha! With 3 teenagers and teaching many hundreds of young adults each year, one is often reminded of one’s fallibility! Superpowers that I would like to have: slowing down time, or being able to live for longer at this level of energy; cancelling the need to sleep or adding more hours to the day. It would also be pretty cool to fly – superman style!

How do you use it to build community?

I guess this is a bit about dreaming or imagining – desire and drive…..these come back to mining passions….identifying what people care about – this is central to community.

My Three Favourite Things About Paul Cubbon are…

1. Funny T-Shirts. Paul is known and loved around the UBC campus for his creative, thoughtful, and downright ridiculous shirts. As a fan of ridiculous tshirts – those who know me know I have a few – I am also slightly jealous of Paul because he gets to wear them to work and is celebrated by his students and colleagues.

2. He ‘gets’ Social Media. So much so that he knows it’s not going to be called “social media” in five or ten years from now. By taking an active role in helping young people create positive digital footprints – which ideally will overwhelm all the bad ones – Paul is demonstrating his foresight when it comes to equipping our leaders of tomorrow with the proper connective tools. Ones that will help them socially as well as professionally.

3. Student Engagement. Whether it’s a teaching-focused course about general business for first year students or the simple gesture of making himself available in a common, high-student-traffic area, Paul is a master when it comes to connecting with students on their terms and through the mediums that they use. He also teaches them about a couple of other cool ones, too!

- as told by John Horn…

Coors Buckles to the Irate Toronto Lobby

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Apparently some Torontoites aren't just cold, but winy as well.

Apparently some Torontoites aren't just cold, but whiny as well.

What the hell Coors? Just when you shy away from that Silver Bullet nonsense and come up with something both hilarious and clever you pull it because of a few whiners?

Are these really the people who are going to drink your beer?

Ok, let’s back up. In case you didn’t see the headlines this week, Coors recently decided to scrap an ad campaign a few weeks early. The campaign was put up on billboards  across BC. The controversial message: Coors Light is “colder than most people from Toronto.”  Shocker. Here’s the background story courtesy of our good friends at the Tyee.

What really gets me is it is not the Toronto community that’s has been agitating for the destruction of the ad campaign, but rather a small select group of humourless folks who seem to pop up in every community around the world. They’re kinda like that dude you met recently at your friends party who didn’t laugh at jokes and seemed to get a kick out of taking personal offense to any vaguely controversial thing you say (I met this person several years ago at a sociology party at the University of Victoria). These people are loud, opinionated, and chomping at the bit the get in a scrap about anything deemed vaguely politically incorrect. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in volume. It’s this shrill volume that’s got the Coors marketing execs freaking out and what eventually convinced them they need to pull their ads.

It’s really to bad. The campaign is clever and plays well on the growing regionality that exists in our great country. It’s a regional pride that sometimes gets its energy from friendly provincial rivalry.

BC – the laid back pot smokers; Alberta –  the country, right wing, religious, oil people; Manitoba – mosquitos and a ring road that traps people from Winnipeg from ever escaping; Quebec – gravey-drenched poutine and gorgeous women. I could go on, but I’ll leave that for anyone who wants to comment.

The point is each region has good and bad stereotypes that make them unique and bond their citizens in a terrific way. The fact that Westerners think of Torontoites as cold and business-focussed denizens of corporatism and capitalism (Toronto has been likened by many Canadians as the Centre of the Universe for a reason), isn’t surprising. It also should be taken with a grain of salt. There are lots of Torontoites that don’t fit that mold (or the Coors campaign mold for that matter) and are as warm as can be.

Why? Because in a way each community boasts its own characteristics. The good characteristics should be celebrated. The bad ones should be laughed at. Unfortunately, many in Toronto and Coors don’t seem to be laughing to hard.