Fast Food Protests- Business

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/29/smallbusiness/fast-food-strike-mcdonalds/index.html?iid=Lead

This article covers unhappy employees of fast food establishments in New York who are protesting for higher pay and the right to unionize. The workers want a pay raise to $15, which seems quite extreme given the $9 an hour average rate for their jobs. If they were to unionize and achieve this desired rate, this could vastly impact the fast food industry by driving prices up, thereby passing higher prices along to American consumers who buy fast food.

Burger King- Marketing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkY2hRCb0PQ

This is one of the original Burger King "have it your way" commercials. Burger King is a great example of a company that entered the market to high competition (McDonald's) but successfully differentiated itself by allowing the consumer to customize his or her order, unlike at McDonald's where they would only serve the hamburger the standard way.

Yahoo Update- Marketing

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/28/yahoos-mayer-on-god-family-and-yahoo/?iid=Lead

A follow-up to my previous post about marketing and its role in helping to save Yahoo, this article covers the new CEO's first interview. It mentions how hiring a new chief marketing officer will be imperative to success, and how Yahoo has a lot of work to do in order to position themselves as leader in apps. This will require a complete marketing overhaul on the part of the corporation, since it is a market that they have not even entered yet.

Marketing and the Election- Marketing

http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2012/11/19/3-lessons-for-marketers-from-the-2012-elections/

This article talks about the success of Obama's data-based marketing campaign and lessons that businesses can take from his presidential victory. Tips include establishing connections early and often and reaching out to supporters of the 2008 campaign, an idea that ties directly into customer relationship management. As we have learned, it is less expensive to maintain an existing customer relationship than to create a new one. Similarly, it is easier to win the vote of a previous Obama supporter than to turn an undecided voter into an Obama supporter.

Black Friday- Business

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/25/pf/black-friday-sales/index.html?iid=Lead

An article about Black Friday sales, which attracted a record number of shoppers, up 21 million from last year, spending an average of $25 more than last year. This article suggests that earlier store openings (Thanksgiving night vs. Friday morning) are to thank for the higher sales and larger customer turn out. This could be a good sign for the economy and points to consumer confidence and a positive outlook on the economic situation, which leads customers to spend more money.

Starbucks Expands to India- Marketing

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2012/10/19/n-starbucks-schultz-india.cnnmoney

This video featured Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, talking about the company's recent expansion into India. In the beginning of the video, he talks about how Starbucks had always been interested in expanding to India but how they needed a partner to be successful in such a unique market. This partnership is what has allowed them to enter successfully into the Indian market and market successfully to the Indian people. He also discusses the preference of the Indian consumer toward chai tea, rather than coffee, and the marketing barrier that that presents.

Hostess and Unions- Business

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2012/11/16/n-hostess-ceo-twinkies.cnnmoney/index.html?iid=HP_LN

This is an interesting video featuring the CEO talking about how unions helped to lead to the demise of Hostess. They cite "crazy work rules" that led to high inefficiency, such as requiring a different individual to perform seemingly related tasks such as transporting the product and placing it in the store.  The CEO says that union leadership was rigid in their opinions, unwillingly to compromise and refused to return calls. This is an example of how unions are not always a good idea.

Training- Business

http://www.management-issues.com/2012/11/1/opinion/training-is-a-profit-center--not-an-expense.asp

This is an article from management-issues.com about training. This article explains how training, while commonly viewed as a valuable activity, is mainly perceived by managers to be an expense rather than a benefit because of their inability to calculate actual returns from the time and money spent on this process. Many profit-focused managers will view training in terms of its opportunity costs, or what is forgone by training employees. This would include the loss of profit that could have been generated had the employee been working rather than training, the expense of the salary that the worker is getting paid to be trained rather than to be working, the financial and physical resources that could be devoted to other revenue-creating activities, etc. This article outlines how managers can attempt to measure the benefit of training and see how it actually helps the company in the long run, although it may seem to be the opposite in the short run.

Audi Commercial- Marketing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw9ZeXB2uKs

A funny Audi commercial highlighting their powerful headlights.

"Don't Expect a Marijuana Boom"- Business

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/08/smallbusiness/marijuana/index.html?iid=Lead

An interesting article on CNN about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. While many people assume that the legalization of pot will lead to large growth in the industry, strict federal and local laws still hinder many aspiring dispensaries from succeeding. Other hurdles that these potential businesses face is lack of available financing, due to the fact that banks want to avoid being involved in or associated with the drug industry, and a very high 25% tax rate.

Unemployment and The Election (Business)

With the upcoming election and the slowly dropping unemployment rate and jobless claims figures, there is a lot of speculation about whether or not the perceived connection between President Obama and these economic indicators will influence the election. It can be quite hard to discern whether the fluctuations in these rates point to actual economic improvement, or if they are just arbitrary revisions. When reading a recent issue of Bloomberg Businessweek, I read piece that suggested that a better indicator of the health of the economy is the actual employment, rather than UNemployment rate. This makes sense because of the fact that, after a certain number of weeks of unemployment, individuals are removed from the statistics and no longer considered part of the work force, meaning that they are not considered as "seeking employment" because they have been unemployed for so long. While Obama has long been a proponent of job creation, the general consensus is that the new job creation in both the private and public sectors is barely enough to keep up with the rate of population growth. These figures are essential to business because they indicate the overall health and strength of the economy. When jobless claims and the unemployment rate drop, it is a good sign that companies are confident and therefore hiring is up. It also leads to increased consumer confidence, which boosts sales. Overall, if these rates continue to perform favorably, business owners may be more likely to vote for Obama.

Yahoo (Marketing)

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/26/technology/yahoo-strategy/index.html

This article from CNN talks about how the new CEO at Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, has recently released her plans for a turnaround of the company, which is quickly losing market share to search giant Google. Yahoo is facing an issue shared by many formerly successful internet companies, which is how to compete with Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Mayer seems to be focusing on how to answer the question "what is Yahoo?" and define the company. This is an essential part of marketing- the idea of defining a distinct product and presenting that image to potential consumers. It is impossible to market a product when the product itself is unclear, which seems to be Yahoo's issue. Previously they were a search engine and email server, but now that those two markets are being largely cornered by Google, Yahoo must define itself in a different light in order to succeed. Mayer's goals seem admirable, however Yahoo is unlikely to triumph over the competition is receives from Google.

Magazines: The Power of Print (Marketing)

http://mediaplusme.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/magazines-ad.jpg

http://www.cuentosdeunaviajera.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/latest-ad-sept.jpg

http://theideabrand.com.s143224.gridserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Picture-1.jpg

The campaign Marketing: The Power of Print, is chaired by presidents from Hearst Magazines, Time Inc, Conde Nast, Wenner Media and Meredith National Media. These ads are a creative play on words, using the titles of major magazine publications to form short paragraphs about the continued relevance of magazines. Since print publications are increasingly threatened by their tablet counterparts, I think that these ads are a smart way to redirect consumers toward physical copies of the publications. Also, I find it interesting how the heads of multiple competing publishers are all joining together in their effort to promote continued magazine subscriptions.

Export Plans (Business)

http://www.bplans.com/coffee_export_business_plan/strategy_and_implementation_summary_fc.php#.UFD3g79nO0Y

This sample business plan for a coffee export business provides a good example of export planning. Under their strategy and implementation summary, they highlight strategic alliances as their main form of conducting international business, stating:

"Our most valued alliances are those we have developed with American importers. They have the ability and willingness to purchase larger quantities of our products and recommend us to other importers. Additional alliances with trucking contractors and the Porto de Santos Cafe Commission are currently established."

They also discuss some challenges they face, such as high taxes on exports. The report states:

 "Distribution costs for internal sales are absorbed by the customer but distribution costs for exports are absorbed by us. Increasing the volume of our exports makes us eligible to receive reduced fees". 

This example shows how an export/strategic alliance relationship can be beneficial and serve both sides. American importers face a high demand for coffee, a product which Brazil has a large supply of. By joining together, the American importers can get coffee as a lower price (because they do not have to absorb the tax) and the Brazilian exporters receive reduced fees from exporting large volumes. Also, the coffee company has been able to form alliances with trucking contractors which would further drive export prices down.

Fiat (Marketing)

One company that has done a successful job of celebrity endorsement marketing is Fiat, an Italian car company. When Fiat first introduced the Fiat 500 into the American market, the company featured Jennifer Lopez in its TV commercial. With the debut of its special edition Abarth Fiat, the commercial featured Charlie Sheen. Celebrity endorsement marketing was a smart choice for Fiat because of the nature of its product. The Fiat is a small, European-style car that is not exactly characteristic of the American consumer's car preferences, which are more focused on SUV's and larger cars. Using celebrity endorsement Fiat has been able to associate its cars with landmark American celebrities and has thus increased the acceptance of the car in the American market. This marketing could have been responsible for making the Fiat feel more accessible and desirable to consumers would would not otherwise have chosen the car.

Jennifer Lopez:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deNRiBQiQ3Q
Charlie Sheen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjYxE2VD7VE