Monthly Archives: November 2013

Recently, Canada has been fighting in a retail war within itself. Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and Metro Inc. both feeling the pressure coming from the US giants, Wal-Mart Canada Corp. and Target Corp., as they drastically increase their food aisles and expand within the country. As competition between the markets heat up, “grocers need to find new creative ways to lure customers.” Methods were raised including “focusing on new areas of growth, such as health-related products, shoring up their loyalty programs keep shoppers coming back and cutting costs.” It is evident that Canada is looking for ways to build their own companies so that the US giants will to be unable to take over the grocers.

Much like what we learned from the SWOT diagram in Comm 101, threats, in this case US giants, are able to not only make the grocers more profitable, but also prepare the companies of what’s going to hit them. Like Eric La Flech states “[Canada has] enough size to compete and do very well.”

Sources:

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/11/11/Grocers-feeling-pressure-from-retail-war-with-US-giants.aspx

http://www.blogcdn.com/jobs.aol.com/articles/media/2011/04/walmart-target-293nm.jpg

In response to Alan Huang’s blog on Snapchat’s rejection from Facebook’s 3 million dollar acquisition offer, I support Snapchat’s decision. Even though they haven’t generated much revenue, I believe Snapchat had its reasons for rejecting the offer. Facebook, as an incredibly large company, can easily take over Snapchat. Similar to what Comm 101 did in class with the Netflix situation, where some students thought it’d be the best choice for Netflix to join top companies, such as Youtube. However, coming to a conclusion that the best possible solution for Netflix to continue as a separate company, is to not merge with others, for they can continue to earn profits themselves. Relating back to Snapchat’s situation, they, themselves, have raised $60 million from investors, where they valued the company at $800 million. At this rate, Snapchat’s rejection from Facebook cannot be called as stubborn, but a smart move.

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/11/snapchat-doesnt-make-any-money-why-is-it-worth-so-much/

http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzEwLzI1LzVjL1NuYXBjaGF0ZmxhLjU5MGYyLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTk1MHg1MzQjCmUJanBn/eee5463c/2a4/Snapchat-flashy-features.jpg

A successful company is defined as one who can not only earn profits while minimizing costs, but also the building of loyalty between itself and its customers. Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon and yoga pant billionaire, commented during an interview on Bloomberg that yoga pants were not the problem when he was asked regarding the complaints about the fabric. He openly said yoga pants ‘can not be expected to fit everyone’. He later apologizes through a video posted on YouTube, but only to his staff. This has definitely made an negative impact in developing strong customer relationships. businesses know how fragile customer relationships are and the difficulty of winning loyalty after it has been lost. From this incident, I wonder how hard it will hit the company because of a couple of unthoughtful words.

Sources:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lululemon-s-chip-wilson-apologizes-but-only-to-staff-1.2420837

http://yogadork.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/chip-wilson-lululemon-bloomberg2.png

Nolan Watson. A name given to one that was willing to get back onto their feet after failure, one that was not afraid to start their own business, and one that was modest, hard working, and determined. I realized that he was once in my shoes, walking around Sauder wondering what to do. His inspiring story, that he told us in Comm 101, of him creating one of the most well-known businesses really made me feel I am able to do the same.After reading Emily Chang’s post about Nolan Watson, I remember he stated clearly that “it is the people who are willing to learn and grow that become the most successful”, not those who are going after the money. Building one’s experience is one of the most important ways for a person to grow. Nolan Watson will be one of those people who I can look up to, especially when he was once walking the same steps as me. He is not only the CEO of Sandstorm Gold, but also an inspiring role model.

Sources:

http://www.sandstormgold.com/about_us/

http://sandstormgold.com/_resources/about_us/nolan-watson_expand.jpg

Research shows an average of 2,000 deaths are caused by motor vehicles in the past few years in Canada. To prevent this, Volvo is currently developing a crash-free car, where the braking system would automatically respond to pedestrians, cyclists and other obstacles. The question is: Is this heading towards a revolutionary change? When it’s finally in the market, would I be willing to trust the car on the road?

I wonder how the idea of a crash-free car came about. What problem were entrepreneurs trying to solve? Were they planning to decrease the number of car crashes? Because many companies are going after the idea of a crash-free car, there must be point of differences in the product that would attract consumers. Entrepreneurs are those who are willing to build what is missing in the future and create what is missing in our world today. Will it really work? And will I end up using a crash-free car?

Sources:

http://www.ohgizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Volvo-Crash-Free-Car.jpg

http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/11/14/Look-ma-no-hands-.aspx

In Debbie Pai’s blog regarding excessive amounts of photoshop used in advertising cosmetic products, I agree with her that businesses should not use any type of editing to exaggerate the effects of mascara just to attract consumers. When one company starts, another company follows. I don’t understand why companies cannot accept the product that they have created. If their product does not match the level of other products, it doesn’t mean they should fake and photoshop what they wish their products look like.

By doing this, I feel companies are lying to their consumers indirectly. Deceiving the consumers will not do the company any good, instead, when they realize the effects are not shown the same on themselves compared to those in advertisements, it is likely they will switch to another product of a different company. Would it be fair if photoshop was banned in developing advertisements for the selling of cosmetic products?

Sources:

http://dezignus.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/photoshop-makeup3.jpg