Tip of the Week - check out employee offers

We just returned from a few days up north. Thanks to an employee program at my husband’s office, we saved 30% off the regular price of our accommodations at Blue Mountain.

I work in an office tower. The property manager offers tenants (and their employees) discounts on all kinds of things, including my favorite: Cineplex movie tickets. I pay $8 each instead of the regular price of $11.95.

Many companies negotiate all kinds of special offers for employees. Does yours? It’s almost like social shopping. What workplace savings have you received lately?

Technorati tags: Blue Mountain, movie tickets, social shopping, vacations

Weekly Wish: your help in the 1% Army Canadian Blogging Tournament

Okay, so you’re probably thinking what??? What the heck is she talking about now? Once again, Sean Moffitt aka Buzz Canuck has organized a friendly competition: The 1% Army Canadian Blogging Tournament for 128 bloggers covering a wide range of topics (e.g. marketing, communication, customer experience and social media.)

I kinda got into this whole thing by accident. I signed up as one of the Canadian blogs with related content since I cover some of the things on the list, particularly customer experience. I didn’t realize I was entering a competition of some of the best bloggers in the country, many of whom have inspired me!

So far, just by participating in the 1% army, I’ve met two other amazing bloggers and it’s only the beginning. But to stay in the game, I need your help. There are several rounds. The competition is steep.

For starters, Bargainista is in category C: Marketing, Communications and Research. I’ve been pitted against three impressive guys who’ve been at this much longer. Round 1 entries are due by September 8. I need to submit three blog posts written in 2007, including one written since August 11.

Entries are evaluated by an expert panel of 12 judges based on 5 criteria:
• overall impact (20%)
• clarity of thought (20%)
• did it make me want to think/act differently (20%)
• did it want me to comment/participate (20%)
• originality (20%)

Since Bargainista has always been about YOU, the community, this is a team effort. You inspire me to write each and every word. And you guessed it… This week my wish is for your help in selecting the three posts for Round 1. YOU be the judge!

Here’s my take of the Bargainista Top 10 list in order of appearance:
• Starbucks - the epilogue
• Why I use Twitter and why you should too!
• Are you Coach worthy?
• After a Fashion, second excursion: the metamorphosis
• Weekly Wish: shoes from Holts
• Apples, lemon and honey: my iMac story
• TaB energy falls flat
• Special invitation for Bargainista readers: ChickAdvisor Shop Crawl
• The Line Painter and online book offers
• Online shopping: Neiman Marcus gets it

Choose the three you feel have best met the criteria. You may even want to add a brief note as to why. Or suggest another post altogether. The choice is yours. Only one catch, please let me know by September 5. You can leave a comment or e-mail me.

In return, I will do my best to involve you every step of the way. I’ve already made friends with Saul Colt (The Smartest Man in the World) and Kim Vallee (At Home with Kim Vallee), two wonderful bloggers you may want to add to your list of must-reads. More than anything, if together we can learn about other interesting blogs and meet other inspiring bloggers, we will all be winners.

Technorati tags: blogs, buzz canuck, Canada’s 1% Army, Kim Vallee, Sean Moffitt, Saul Colt, tournaments

Dove’s free offer on Facebook sucks

I’m usually not that blunt. Nor am I gullible enough to click on banner ads offering me free stuff but I have a lot of respect for the Dove campaigns of late so when I saw the offer for a “Free* package of Dove-beauty products” on Facebook, I checked it out.

Boy was I annoyed to find out there were all kinds of strings attached to the offer including having to pay for products. WTF? With the millions of Canadian women on Facebook every day and the opportunity for marketers to promote their products in interesting ways, did Dove miss the boat or what?

Do you agree? Did you click on this ad too? What bad promos have you seen lately? Please share, leave a comment.

Technorati tags: banner ads, Dove, Facebook

My afternoon with Joe

I’ve been pining over Joe for a long time. He’s so good looking but I kept hearing he was cheap so I wasn’t sure if he was really for me. I’ve heard he's pretty fresh too. ; )

All kidding aside, my friend Cori edged me on. She told me how her fashionably chic friend draped in designer clothes wears Joe all the time. No one would ever know she only paid $6 for that t-shirt she’s wearing with her $300 pants.

Cori said the best place to find Joe was at the Real Canadian Superstore. I’d wanted to take my little guy to Joe Fresh since the kids’ line hit the market. So into the magic bus (aka minivan) we went.

To say I was overwhelmed by Joe’s presence would be an understatement. He was everywhere. I was duly impressed but truth be told, he was a little too cheap for my tastes. My nine-year-old thought otherwise. He wanted to take Joe home. I figured it couldn’t hurt. He found a fleece jacket for $10 and matching pants for $8 – a perfect fit. He chose a polo shirt for $8 and a graphic t-shirt for $5. His favourite find were the pj separates ($14 for both pieces).

To be honest, the separates look just as nice and well-made as other kids’ clothes at other value-priced chain stores: Children’s Place, Old Navy and H&M. I’m not sure if it’s up to par with The Gap. Joe kids had an impressive launch party and marketing campaign. The website has some interesting interactive features too. The line looks much better in the ads but then what do you expect for kids’ separates at these prices. Only time will tell if it stands up to the active-kid test. ; )

I was very impressed with the “Robeez” knock-offs for tots. And at $12, they’re less than half the price of the original.

So as you can see, Joe was just a bit too fresh for me but Joe Fresh kids’ line was a perfect place to start our back-to-school shopping.

Have you been to Joe Fresh? What did you think? Have you seen the kids’ line?

Technorati Tags: back-to-school, Joe Fresh, Robeez