Ah yes, the student part...

As my dear friends and relatives on Facebook have been quick to point out, yes, this is a blog about being a student in Hong Kong. So now that the semester is in full swing, and the sights have been sought, I'm ready to start discussing classes.

It's that most wonderful time of every student's life that we call "Syllabus Week", Having sat through six two-and-a-half hour sessions, I'm pleased to report I've decided on my four classes. My final choices are Brand Management, Customer Relationship Management, Global Marketing, and Marketing Strategy. I've decided to drop Business-To-Business Marketing and Consumer Behavior, the last one being a hard choice, made less hard by the fact that it was a three hour class on Friday mornings.

Brand Management

The teacher is actually from France, and seems really well-traveled. This class was the primary reason I decided to study abroad, as my home university doesn't have a class devoted to the topic.

Customer Relationship Management

Seems rather simple so far, but it's a field that's seeing a lot of growth in today's market. The principles of CRM are something we've always held true in marketing: a truly successful company doesn't sell a product, it sells a lifestyle. It's the difference between, say, the cold medicine I use (whatever's cheapest) and my laptop manufacturer (ASUS). Perhaps an even better example would be Apple, a business that truly knows its customers. I've never really saw the appeal; they make the only successful MP3 player on the market, but I still hate the interface, and that's the reason I have an Android phone. But they definitely build a relationship with their customers, and that kind of devotion merits investigation.

Global Marketing

This class is with the professor I had B2B with, before I dropped it. He's... a character. He asks that everyone call him "Uncle David" rather than address him by his doctorate title. He seems a very... let's say "earnest" fellow, very by the numbers. He's apparently quite the successful businessman, especially in the B2B market. Not so strong in B2C, however, as he admits.

He will be an interesting professor to work with.

Marketing Strategy

This was the first class I had this week.I earnestly don't remember discussing too much of import. It was a cut and dry syllabus class.

Oh! I'm very excited to share this bit of news! My university has a bridge club!

I'm sure that many of you are people I know personally, so it should come as no shock to you that I love contract bridge. I started playing last semester back in my home university, and I got hooked immediately. I'm apparently the first exchange student to ever join the club in HKBU, and I had to get used to slightly different bidding conventions (they open on 12 points, rather than 13, for example) but I picked it up pretty quickly. I even opened a grand slam tonight... but I digress, because this is not a bridge blog, and absolutely no one other than myself will gain anything out of a recap of tonight's hands.

Well, dearest readers, I hope to relay more of the lessons I learn here shortly. The real classes begin soon. As the sun sets on Hong Kong, many of you are just waking up back home, so enjoy your Fridays! Tomorrow: the weekend!

On the Lessons we can Learn about Hong Kong Advertising

I am, as previously mentioned, a student of marketing. Though classes have not yet begun, I've been taking the time to observe the way people in Hong Kong advertise and do business.

The advertisements I've seen (well, those I've been able to read; I'm shamefully unable to read any Cantonese) have been quite sophisticated. A memorable camera ad that I saw in a Fotomax (a photography/print shop where I bought passport photos) depicted a woman walking across a busy street. She appears slightly blurred, but then comes into focus, staring at the viewer. A third section depicts a young man with a camera, looking out at something. In the bottom corner, a Polaroid of the man with his arm around the young woman, the background depicting an apartment in which the couple have just begun to unpack. The slogan reads "Photographs are more than just pixels and data". Beautiful ad. Tells a story in a purely print media, but it could have very easily been a TV ad as well.

Advertising is only one small part of sales, however. The other aspect I truly admire involves sales pitches. In the USA, retail workers do not get to change the price of items, or give customers better deals. Companies couldn't allow that behavior in America, because they have to meet profit margins to satisfy investors, and retail workers, far and away, are high school/college students who aren't formally trained in the skills of sales.

Today, I went to Starbucks. The coffee server chatted with me as I waited for my order. She asked how long I had been in Hong Kong, asked how often I drank coffee, asked about my major...

I want to stop you right here, reader. When was the last time you had a Starbucks employee that didn't just go through the motions of your transaction? In my experience, the most I've received out of a Starbucks employee was detached apathy, a latte, and my change.

Well, her kindness worked. My new friendly Starbucks barista had an exciting offer for me. I could get a snazzy reward card that stored value for Starbucks, and for $50 (that's Hong Kong dollars; we're talking about 6.45 USD), I could get one of these cards. What's more, I could get stars every time I got coffee, which got me free things. Now, I'm a big fan of coffee. Not usually of Starbucks, but I'm a long way from Rise Up or Viva Espresso, and Green Tea smoothies are always on the menu, so I'm not complaining. The prices are very good, too. So I decided to do it.

Pictured: Cool Starbucks Card.

Once again, pause. Here's how this would have happened in the USA:

Barista: Your total is $7. Do you want to apply for a reward card today?
Me: No.

I have a tendency to reject things like that out of hand. Many of us do; we live in a society with constant bombardment from companies who want to earn our repeat business without a large amount of effort. But a simple sales pitch, mixed with an ounce of friendly behavior, is a game-changer.

Retailers, this is a message to you. Train your workers in the art of the pitch. I'd love to suggest letting workers be able to provide discounts and coupons to ensure customer loyalty. I'd love if that type of customer relationship management found its way into Best Buys, into Staples, into Giant, because research shows that making your employees more powerful pays for itself. But I know that isn't going to happen, so for now... baby steps?

One final note I have to make is the aftermath of that Starbucks card. I unfortunately cannot activate it, as I need to provide a Chinese mobile number, and I'm having trouble with my SIM card. I bought a prepaid one today, but I have to get  it cut down to Nano SIM size. I hope I didn't break it trying to do it myself. I also fear that it won't work because my Verizon phone is not unlocked. I'd like to be able to do that, and I know it can be done, but not easily. The way cell phone companies (at least, Verizon in particular) seem to make things hard for their customers baffles me.

I have a few more thoughts on the attitude of businesses in Hong Kong, versus the United States, but this is getting wordy, and I'm sure your eyes have glazed over. Next time, perhaps. I leave you with something I cannot get over: Fliiike! A real-time facebook like counter. SO COOL. Seen for the first time today in the University Library.

You won't see this on the news back home...

As mentioned in my last post,here is a poster from the Umbrella Revolution, the movement to keep Hong Kong free.

Stay turned! I'm still getting my thoughts organized about the cool time I had yesterday, but for now, it's about time for orientation.

In mostly one piece...

Anyone who believed I would actually make the Monday deadline that I set in my previous post is, indeed, about as blindly optimistic as a turtle training to race a jet plane.

Unless, of course, that jet plane happened to be scheduled from BWI to Newark.

After a whirlwind lesson in flight delays, a quick trip to the Windy City, and a flight in which time lost meaning, I am pleased to report that I find myself in a cozy 2-bedroom, no pillow, no blanket living quarters. Of course, I'll be better settled in by the time you read this. I write, knowing full well I have not received my WiFi login yet. It is 4 AM, but the hustle, bustle, and screaming is still alive and well outside my dorm.

Today, I met the other exchange students, and our local student ambassadors. A very friendly bunch. A New Yorker, formerly of Israel, a charming London lady, a Canadian born madam from Canada, a rather tall German gentleman, a young lady from... California, I believe... and a few others, perhaps? I've a terrible memory for trivia about a person's life, when the interesting experiences they've experienced are far more enticing.

I've not yet met my roommate. I'm told Hong Kong citizens do not sleep, according to my student ambassador, until roughly 4 AM. There are beautiful decorations in the halls. I may do more exploring later.

Perhaps the most interesting experience I had today was with a local student. While we were checked into our rooms, she brought up some of the signs around campus. She asked if we knew what the Umbrella Protest was (I quickly gathered this referred to the protests so scarcely mentioned in the US news, of Hong Kong versus China's government) and explained that the signs were from that.

She told us that the protest had lasted for a "little while, when we gathered to demonstrate displeasure to the Government's actions." And that it had "stopped". This last bit was the most curious to me, and I asked what she meant by that.

She replied that the protest stopped when they found that the government did not care about the protest. Pressed a little further, she said that the government and police were mighty, and that the police had stopped them. They used... violence.

The way she said it was so... meaningful. Like the use of violence by the police was above and beyond. In America, our protests truly have violence at their heart. Death and blood is common news. Police brutality is often the subject OF our protests, and end up being dispersed by, again, police violence.

Our ambassador talked of the art they created during the protest. I've never seen that on our news. Our protests are angry, destructive... I will grant that there is a powerful message in destruction, and where there is a message, there is the room for artistic relay.

To put it plainly, yes, a car on fire is art.

But a protest of creation and calm is just so... moving...

I've promised my dear mother that I will not involve myself in this conflict, and I don't intend to break that promise. But this conversation brought me great insight into the way that Hong Kong people communicate.

I shall likely talk of this further.

Let's get to know each other...

My name's Alex. I'm a twenty-two year old business student from a small little city on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Please try not to hold that against me.

I find myself in a unique situation. In a couple days, I'm going to board a plane that will take me thousands of miles from my home, family, friends, and loved ones. You might assume that such a decision was the result of careful planning, backed by solid reasons and necessity. Were you to assume such a thing, you would do me too much credit. I'm not a careful person.

Whim and wanderlust are my primary motivations for this study abroad program. As a student of marketing, it is my belief that businesses must tailor messages to the culture of their target audiences. It only follows that foreign culture must be experienced before it can be understood.

I hasten to explain, at this point, that I have never left the United States of America. I have barely left the state of Maryland for any extended period of time. Please, put yourself in my shoes. I hope you, dear reader, can feel the excitement, the nervous energy, and the fear that I am going through. I am afraid, very afraid, of the journey ahead.

That's why I'm inviting you along with me. I plan to blog on my experiences, observations, and lessons learned overseas.

Thank you for your attention. Check back in on Monday, when I (Lord willing) will be arriving in the great city of Hong Kong.