“Doggles” is a pet supplies company founded by Veronica DiLullo. It is most famous for its “Doggles” which essentially are protective eye-wear for canines. DiLullo first invented them for her own dog’s eye-wear needs and soon, based on the positive feedback and growing requests for her invention, DiLullo realized she had found a new market. This company is a great example of successful entrepreneurship. An extremely unusual but inventive product was created, and while pet eye-wear is a very risky product to try to make a profit on, it turns out that “Doggles” filled a gap in the market. Once the demand for this product was fully realized, DiLullo took the initiative to build on her creation and was therefore inventive with her production methods, teaming up with veterinarians and ophthalmologists to “design the frames, straps and shatterproof and anti-fog lenses“ for the “Doggles”. Furthermore, the article also mentions that “Doggles” has been very profitable for DiLullo-success for an innovative product that may have seemed slightly odd in the beginning, but revealed itself to be a product in high demand that would bring in the cash!

The wonders of “Doggles”

More about “Doggles” here: http://www.doggles.com/

“Climate Change” .It seems as if this is a baffling issue that no one is too willing to confront. This unwillingness from some to confront the occurrence of climate change can stem from the fact that it is seen as economically harmful to operate in an environmentally friendly way. However, after being introduced to the idea that sustainable development concerns not only the environment, but also social and economic realms, I realize that businesses need not forget about their social and economic goals if they wish to be sustainable. As this article mentions, there are a couple of ways to highlight the need for sustainable development- “getting angry” or “going right”. It argues that while “getting angry” can drive policy changes, “going right” seems productive, as policy makers will likely be more inclined to incorporate sustainable ideas, even if they are not convinced that climate change is occurring. “Going right” is not as focused on proving a point (the “getting angry” approach) rather, its goal is to keep taking steps in the sustainable direction.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/10/next-steps-climate-change

The title above refers to the ‘Big Mac Index’, introduced by The Economist magazine. Essentially, part of McDonald’s marketing strategy is to offer familiar products everywhere in the world and therefore, the consumer knows what they are going to get from going to any McDonalds restaurant. The Big Mac burger can be seen as a constant good worldwide and consequently, is a convenient way to compare the purchasing power parity of different countries (basically how strong their currency is based on the price of a Big Mac).  Aside from being a homogenous good, this burger does seem to be an acceptable good to compare worldwide, because McDonalds restaurants are located almost everywhere in the world making the Big Mac easily accessible to many consumers and therefore a fairly accurate representation of countries worldwide. Also, the price of a Big Mac does reflect what the consumer is paying for the burger itself. Meaning that when a consumer goes to McDonalds, ambiance, customer service and other factors that may differ from country to country need not be included in the price of a Big Mac, because in general, consumers do not expect this from their McDonald’s experience.

http://www.economist.com/node/13055650

https://blogs.ubc.ca/adelletepper1/2011/10/04/iphone-5-expected-to-break-sales-record/#comment-12

Here is the link to a comment I made to Ms. Adelle Tepper’s blog post about iPhone sales.

It is known that companies put their products in movies as a form of advertisement, but does product placement work? I would assume so, since brand names are increasing in the movies we see. However, many friends and I have questioned the effectiveness of product placement in movies, because it is unclear if the audience notices the brands shown in a movie. Yet, after reading about Reis-Trout and their idea of product positioning, I can see the value in flashing a product in a movie whenever, wherever, and frequently. If a product shows up enough, it will manage to establish itself in the consumer’s mind. It is also likely that to many consumers, the brand will be seen as the first product of its kind (due to its frequent appearance, it will be well known), and a brand that establishes itself as the “first” brand in a consumer’s mind is marketing gold according to Reis-Trout. Here, the product will be at the top of a consumer’s “product ladder”, meaning that you will probably think of the brand that has been flashing around in that latest popular movie when choosing a particular good/service.

Poking fun at product placement-Wayne’s World:

Should pharmaceutical companies provide affordable/accessible drugs to less affluent communities? There are several downsides to ‘accommodating’ these communities-a loss of profit is almost guaranteed. However, if a company discovers a helpful drug, is it not their duty to make it available to as many people as possible? From Friedman’s point of view, the goal of the company would be to make a profit-the company would offer it’s drug to those willing to pay. Members of the company could still practice “social responsibility” by donating the drug to those in need, but with their own personal funds. If the company took a purely profit driven approach to selling/supplying the drug, those members of the company would benefit financially, which could mean more money available to assist the needy. I think this approach is effective if those who benefit from the sales use their personal earnings to help those who missed out on the drug.

In the article below, the drug was initially tested on those living in poorer countries. Should the company give test patients a glimpse of a drug that improves their health, and then not offer it in their countries because the majority cannot pay the premium price?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/05/us/companies-facing-ethical-issue-as-drugs-are-tested-overseas.html

http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-soc-resp-business.html

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