Monthly Archives: November 2011

Starbucks: Reaching Out to the Public

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The blog, Ideas in Action Blog,  gives insight as to how a big company such as, Starbucks, reaches out to its customers.  Readers can leave comments, which are valuable feedback to the company, under the post. Comments allow the company to reflect on which products are popular and potential complaints, similar to a survey conducted through market research. The blog also lets its readers know about special promotions and new products through posts from the product manager. This blog post, for example, talks about the holiday beverages promotion that Starbucks is offering this year.

Furthermore, the blog also serves as a news outlet for Starbucks. A special thing about Starbucks’s blogs posts are that some are written by product managers! This blog post chooses to close with a question, “What’s your favourite holiday beverage?”. By doing this, the blogger encourages readers to comment below; hence enforcing what I mentioned previously about market research. Through these comments, Starbucks can be inspired to create and improve their beverages.

QR (Quick Response) Codes

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We’ve seen them on Skytrain platforms or just hanging out at the mall. The tiny square with smaller squares inside that is located in some corner of the advertisements. What I’m talking about are QR Codes.

QR Code (Wikipedia Mobile Page)

Originally designed by Toyota’s Denso Wave to track the vehicle manufacturing process, in 1994, have now become what companies use as part of their marketing campaign.

At the time of production, Denso Wave created a new product, the QR Code. It was capable of “storing more information” and took up less space than barcodes.

In the age of smartphones, Denso Wave have created a new market, the advertising firms targeting smartphone users. These firms recognized the effectiveness of allowing a customer to simply scan a code with their smartphone; both parties gains valuable information over the Internet through its use.

By entering a new market, the company runs the risk of having its product be ‘rejected’ by its customers.

Next Round: Apple vs. Acer

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In response to Han-Ching Chang’s blog post about the competition between Apple and Acer, I feel that Apple, currently, still have the first-mover advantage. The basis for this competition is that Acer has launched a lighter and thinner laptop (Aspire S3) than Apple’s Macbook. More importantly, Acer’s price is below that of Apple’s. This puts the Aspire S3 in substitute competition with the Macbook.

Since the Macbook is already established as a light and thin laptop, Apple has gained a strong foothold targeting these customers. Prior to the Aspire S3, Apple was able to set high prices and people were still willing to buy the product because of the benefits that a light laptop could give. With the introduction of the Aspire S3, Apple’s market share in the lightweight laptops category will be reduced. Further reduction is expected as Lenovo is also planning to produce lightweight laptops as well.

I agree with Han-Ching that the more “cost-conscious” customers will gravitate towards Acer’s product; however, those who buy Apple products for the name and prestige will without a doubt remain faithful to Apple.