No smoking.....anywhere!

Many cities and states have smoking rules for public places. Bars, parks and restaurants are among the most commonly regulated establishments. However, according to a recent article, the city of San Rafael has rolled out a more aggressive ban on smoking. In an effort to cut down on second hand smoke, city officials have enacted the nation's strictest smoking ban prohibiting residents from smoking cigarettes in their own homes.

The ordinance applies only to multiple family housing units – ones that share a wall including apartments, duplexes and condos. While many would find this to be beneficial to the community, others may feel as though their freedom has taken a shot. Some argue that the ban is too harsh, forcing people to quit cold turkey or leave their home. Is a smoking ban in private residences justified? Does this ban on smoking infringe on the freedom of residents in San Rafael? Comment with your thoughts on the issue.

Are retailers the new Big Brother?

These days we rely heavily on our smartphone to get around. It is so easy to ask Siri where the nearest In-N-Out is and how to get there….but is this convenience at the cost of our privacy?

Google has started to expand its maps to include the inside of museums, airports and large stores in a number of countries. According to a recent article, stores have started to experiment with harnessing indoor positioning technology in order to track a customer’s movements within the store. The article says that some systems use video cameras, sound waves and magnetic fields. However, the most widely used technique is to intercept Wi-Fi signals emitted by shoppers’ smartphones, allowing their position within the store to be calculated. Stores also collect a unique identifier that allows them to build up behavioral information on return visitors. Ultimately, this technology will enable stores to push behavioral ads to shoppers’ smartphones.

Of course our movements as consumers are tracked online but indoor positioning is a new frontier of targeted advertising.  Is this an invasion of consumer privacy? Should stores be allowed to track and record movements of customers? How about using this data to push targeted ads? Could this new technology have an effect on the sales and marketing of brick and mortar stores? Comment with your opinion.

Online Reviews - True or False?

In today’s digital world, it is common for companies to be represented online. Social media and the like open the forum to consumers to start a conversation about businesses and products. Most of the time these discussion forums act as a consumer’s first impression on a company they may not be familiar with….but how much of this information is true?

A recent article discusses the increasing trend of companies writing or buying fake reviews to improve their online presence. Many popular sites such as Yelp have started policing such activities with algorithms aimed at targeting and removing fake reviews. As marketers we know how much misrepresentation can damage a product’s reputation…so why do it? Why is it attractive to companies to publish fake reviews? What are the risks companies take when publishing fake reviews? What are the potential impacts on the customer? Should the FTC ramp up regulation on online forums? Comment with your opinion.