Media Matters – SFU Business in the News – October 9
Oct 13, 2009
How SFU Business fared in the news for the week ending October 9, 2009.
BC News
- The Vancouver Sun looked at how “even big companies are trying to find ways to be greener and more socially responsible”. It quoted Mark Wexler, professor of business ethics. “Now the idea of world-saving is no longer an anathema to the businessman. Almost any company these days that is attempting to get on our radar is going to use some form of green corporate social responsibility or philanthropic marketing.”
- BC Hydro became the first recipient of SFU’s Nancy McKinstry award for leadership in gender diversity, The Vancouver Sun reported. “When McKinstry recently retired from SFU’s board of directors, the university wanted to do something in her honour and created the award in her name, said Daniel Shapiro, dean of the faculty of business at SFU. ‘We thought it was appropriate to honour her in a way that was consistent with the things she believed in most,’ Shapiro said.” The Victoria Times-Colonist and Kelowna.com picked up the story.
- Two major BC wineries will change labels that call imported wine “Cellared in Canada”, so consumers will no longer assume it was made here, The Vancouver Sun reported. Lindsay Meredith (who had criticized the practice) hailed the wineries’ quick response: “This is exactly what you teach in senior level marketing courses: Don’t dog it. Don’t stonewall it. Point out that you made a mistake; that you are out there to fix it and I do mean fast. They just got a lot of respect from me.” In wine country, the website of Oliver BC (http://oliverbc.ca/) picked up the story.
- Meredith was also in a Jon Ferry column in The Province, on Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson’s plan for Vancouver to be “the greenest city on the planet by 2020”. Noted Ferry: “Every city with any aspirations to global stardom . . . has been bending over backwards of late to appear greener than green. As Simon Fraser University marketing professor Lindsay Meredith told me Thursday: ‘You don’t have a marketing strategy if your competitors can easily emulate it.’”
National News
- Lindsay Meredith was in a national Canadian Press story on the new 2010 Winter Olympics uniform and logo (a red maple leaf inside a black letter-C) that critics have compared to the federal Conservative Party logo and the RCAF logo. Said Meredith: “I’ve never seen such a litigious crowd (as 2010 organizers) as soon as anyone comes near their brand identity, and yet they’re liberally helping themselves to somebody else’s piece of pie.”
- Lindsay Meredith was in another Canadian Press story, on how the 2010 Olympics will be an international podium for Coca-Cola Co. to promote its Far Coast brand of coffee and tea. Meredith told CP: “It’s an ideal venue for Coca-Cola to introduce their new products just simply because there is so much worldwide attention paid to it.”
- And then Meredith was in yet another national story from The Canadian Press, on the reselling of 2010 Olympics tickets. He said he expected VANOC’s official resale site will make a profit. “The Olympic guys never pass up a chance to make an extra buck and that’s good. It’s one less buck I have to put in as a taxpayer when it all hits the fan.”
Education
- National Post featured the focus of SFU’s MBA program on entrepreneurialism and innovation—and its attraction of people with non-business academic backgrounds. “’For the class starting in September I have an opera star, a former professional snowboarder, an MD in the room,’” says Ed Bukszar, associate dean, graduate programs, Segal Graduate School of Business at Simon Fraser University.” Also featured: grad Wahiba Chair, who is preparing to launch CarrotLines, a mobile application that will allow users to identify food products that meet their lifestyle and nutritional needs while they are in the grocery aisle. “She credits the MBA program at Simon Fraser University with helping her launch her company.”