In hopes of preserving the Arctic habitat for the many wildlife, particularly polar bears, Coca-Cola has invested in a new multimillion-dollar project promoting awareness about climate change. Coca-Cola proposes to redesign their brand colour from red to white and intend on donating $2 million to World Wildlife Fund over five years as part of the partnership as well as matching as much as $1 million in donations from the public. Furthermore, Coca-Cola will be cooperating with WWF to reduce water use and lower carbon dioxide emissions to green the company and minimize the company’s effects on global warming.

I believe Coca-Cola’s recent proposal is beneficial to not only the environment, but also to the overall company. With green goals in mind, Coca-Cola will flourish as an environmentally friendly company. Thus, environmentally conscious consumers will be more inclined to purchase their products, generating more profit for Coca-Cola. Furthermore, since Coca-Cola is a well-known brand which is recognized worldwide, consumers may also be influenced by the company’s green intentions and follow suit. Referring to Class 14, Coca-Cola achieves sustainability environmentally, socially, an economically. Environmentally, Coca-Cola reduces their carbon footprint, while socially the company opens a market for consumers who are environmentally conscious and together the company achieves economic growth. Coca-Cola enters a green market and has the opportunity to grow and prosper further.

Ecstatic with Blackberry’s exclusive BBM feature? Initially, the idea was appealing. However, recently on Twitter angry users reported renewed issues with their handsets and an inability to send messages and email, which affected Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. RIM, the company in which assembles Blackberrys, claims the problem is due to core and back-up switch failures. Despite apologizing for the inconvenience, users continue to be frustrated as RIM states that they are working to resolve an issue currently impacting some BlackBerry subscribers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and that they are investigating, but without an estimated time frame of when the operating system will be resolved.

Blackberry’s unique feature of BBM indeed attracts many users, but the recent scandal undoubtedly affected the market for current and potential customers. Furthermore, although the Blackberry is considerably favored, the handset faces unyielding competition from the iPhone and Android phones. Without the distinct feature of BBM in Blackberrys, I believe the Blackberry will lose popularity as both the other two operating systems offer more updated apps. Moreover, iPhones running on the iOS 5 system are offered iMessage, which is comparable to BBM on Blackberrys.

Who needs privacy when travelers can avoid the hassle of waiting in line to board the aircraft? James Yue discusses in his blog Obama’s Administration implementation of the “Pre-Check” program which is designed to accommodate American passengers and ease their travels. Long lines are inevitable at airport security checks; however, the American willing to sacrifice their privacy and provide insight into their personal lives to the government will be exempted from the process.

At the Aviation Security World Conference in Amsterdam, a mock-up ‘checkpoint of the future’ has gone on display that simulates the vision of advanced airport security. Passengers are categorized based on the information they provide the government. Although this advancement reduces wait times, there are disadvantages associated with this innovation. Travelers who avoid long security queue board the flight quicker, but have to wait longer on the aircraft for the other passengers to board. Therefore, despite shorter queues, wait times will be equivalent as not all passengers will be comfortable to simply give out their personal data.

Who knew a coffee stain could cease as a T-shirt design? Starbucks takes the initiative and uses the pattern in its latest apparel, bringing fashion on a whole new level. For US$85, consumers may purchase Starbucks’ 40th anniversary T-shirt. It’s been suggested by some that you could just spill coffee on yourself and keep the change.

However, the market is competitive, and as a result retailers are taking risks to get attention. Although Starbucks is well known worldwide, substitutes for Starbucks’ products are inevitable. For instance, consumers may buy coffee at Waves Coffee House or Tim Hortons. Moreover, both these places market similar merchandises, from different size coffees with varying taste to baked goods and breakfast sandwiches. Additionally, Tim Hortons has its own line of accessories and garments comparable to Starbucks’ own production line. In my opinion, Starbucks introduces its coffee stained T-shirt to differentiate its coffee house from the others. Likewise how Starbucks incorporates language in its organizational culture by using Italian labels for various drink sizes – “grande” and “venti” instead of small, medium, and large, the introduction of its coffee-stained T-shirt further distinguishes Starbucks’ brand image and aids Starbucks to hold a distinct place in the market.