In response to “Netlix adopts new look on Internet-connected TVs in bid to lure viewers” by The Associated Press

They’re ahead of the game, why stop now? Netflix has thought of a new way to add value to it’s online streaming website by updating the overall appearance of internet-connected TV menu.

The new design contains more visual thumbnails and details about the automated recommendation system that is based on the viewers preferences.  A blurb about each episode in a TV series will be shown, and wait for it… users that have enabled ties between Netflix and their Facebook account may see which of their friends have been viewing which movies and shows.

Netflix is positioning itself in the market as a high-quality and an inexpensive business structure.  The business strategy to redesign the menu is geared towards creating an image for online streaming that is as compelling as any channels on cable or satellite.  Who wouldn’t want to watch the same quality television for only $8 a month?

What else will Netflix come up with to differentiate itself even more from regular cable TV and average online streaming websites?  Will users enjoy or reject the new layout?  Will the overall theme be too cinematic for the home?

http://variety.com/2013/digital/news/netflix-overhauls-connected-tv-interfaces-for-more-cinematic-experience-1200825185/

In response to Jenny Diemer’s blog post on body image in the media, I could not agree more with her opinion on how the media and ad campaigns have negatively influenced a “perfect” female image for society.  The constant reminder to females of all ages through magazines, on TV and on social media websites that they should have a certain hair length and colour, a particular body shape and size, and impeccably drawn on make-up for every day wear; has really taken a toll on society’s ever-growing need for new methods to become b-e-a-utiful.  This obsession with ones external image has resulted in many psychological and physical problems for many women.

Companies like Dove and Nike are optimizing on the new idea of “fitspo” in contrast to “thinspo.”  This strategy is genius, and beneficial for society as it inspires women (the consumers) to become the best that they can be, while mainting healthy lifestyles and enjoying everything life has to offer without the additional costs of altering one’s appearance to the extremes.  Except of course for the pairs upon pairs of Free Runs that ladies MUST own in every colour imaginable.

You go girls!  Lace up those Nikes and hit the trail, and when you’re home don’t forget to heat up a plate of last nights lasagna bolognese.

Nicole Lam: H&M Sells Inside Their Changing Rooms

I can definitely understand how imposing a new system of in-changing room transactions may eliminate the extra time customers spend in store due to long lineups, especially during the holiday season, but I can’t help but wonder if the expected benefits of this strategy will actually outweight the risks/costs of creating and using it?  As Nicole stated, there are evident additional personnel costs, as well as social-media costs that follow this proposition.  The opportunity cost of reducing the time these customers spend in the store is that they are less exposed to the merchandise H&M has to offer.

Nevertheless, I can say first hand that when I am in a store like H&M that has a very large inventory, I am usually not going to want to spend the time to see every single item the store has in stock that day anyways.  During the holidays, we have one objective; and that is to get in, and get out having purchased everything that we “need.”  Allowing customers to purchase the items that they happen to like in the changing room makes it easier for H&M to reap the benefits of impulse transactions.

http://www.posh24.com/kim_kardashian/kim_kardashian_loves_h_m

Yes this is shocking news, and it certainly isn’t every day that a company is offered $3 billion in cash for ownership from Facebook… but before we release all of our criticism on to our twitter feeds for the whole world to see,  let’s hide our smartphones and put things in to perspective:

Snapchat is 2 years old.  It is one of the fastest growing digital services in history.  People from all over the world are participating in the daily “snap” to their friends and family.  The application contains many avenues for future monetization, such as advertisements for example.

There is no doubt that $3 billion is a LOT of money.  But, is that to say that snapchat isn’t worth that amount?  Who’s to say that snapchat won’t be worth more money in the future?

Looking back, Google refused yahoo’s offer of $1 million, and similarly Facebook refused Yahoo’s offer of $1 billion.  At the time these sounded like very bold decisions, however nowadays the move to decline these offers would seem pretty obvious.

There’s no way to tell if Snapchats decision was right or not yet, though it is safe to say that Evan Spiegel values his company highly, and sees a bright future for Snapchat in terms of subsequent offers potentially surpassing Facebooks initial offer.  Facebook as well, will likely not regret it’s decision to propose an offer of this degree.

http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-facebook-offer-2013-11

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2013/11/14/maybe-snapchat-is-crazy-to-turn-down-3b-but-was-facebook-nuts-to-offer-it/

After losing $327 million in the third quarter of this year, and having to place next to 5,700 workers on extended leave in Italy due to a prominent decrease in Western Europe’s car sales, and therefore a substantial loss of money on assembly plants in the carmakers home countries; it seems only logical for Fiat to focus on different sources of manufacturing in Eastern Europe to lower their average costs.

Some History: Serbia was commonly referred to as “hunger valley” due to the collapse of old Yugoslavia, followed by sanctions and war.  However, there was still hope for one aspect of this regions economy and that was its industrial legacy in Zastava, a small settlement in what was once a section of Yugoslavia called Slovenia.  With close ties to FIAT, Zastavas assets were transferred to form a new company known as Fiat Automobili Srbija (Fas).

Fiat has invested €1.2 billion in to their new plant in Kragujevac, as well as currently employing 3,800 workers.  Wages were increased by 13%, and the Serbian government is paying Fiat €10,000 for each new employee it takes on, as they have recently been criticized for economic growth without new job opportunities for its citizens.

Fiat is now producing at 1/5 of their original costs, and creating shared value between their company and the Serbian population as it is creating more jobs for the citizens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslavia

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21588926-fiat-goes-east-lower-costs-balkan-legacy?zid=293&ah=e50f636873b42369614615ba3c16df4a

Shoes.. Shoes! SHOES.

That’s right ladies and gents, ShoeMe.ca is a new and popular online Canadian shoe retailer that carries 130 of our most-loved brands; that we can purchase without worrying about extreme shipping costs and failures from ordering across the globe!  Who was the genious that came up with this idea?  Sean Clark, an entrepreneur with an “itch” (class 20: Innovation and Entrepreneurship.)

By maintaining a strong connection with former employer Roger Hardy, CEO of Coastal Contacts Inc., Mr. Clark was able to receive an undisclosed amount from Hardy as an investment in to his new business.  Hardy has already seen returns on his investment as both ClearlyContacts.ca and ShoeMe.ca are linked together on the same website, and this benefits Coastal Contacts by bringing in new customers.  In October, sales for ShoeMe.ca hit $500,000.

ShoeMe.ca set up shop in Coastal Contacts Vancouver office and recently added a distribution centre in Toronto.

Clarks ultimate goal is to see his business “ride the rising tide of e-commerce” in Canada, and by establishing ShoeMe.ca as one of the first and only promising online shoe retailers based in Canada, ShoeMe.ca has a competitive advantage over external companies, as well as any upcoming online shoe retailers.

http://www.shoeme.ca/?customer_posted=true#

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/leadership/former-employer-invests-in-departed-employees-new-business/article15419749/

Marc Jacobs is stepping down as creative director of Louis Vuitton.  Jacobs, now 50 years old, is one of the biggest names in the fashion industry.  Throughout his 16 year voyage with LV, Jacobs brought the brand from a luggage house to a global fashion power.

The decision to leave Louis Vuitton marks the official start of Jacobs IPO (initial public offering) for the Marc Jacobs brand.  Jacobs made his announcement at the Louis Vuitton Spring 2014 fashion show in Paris.

According to chairman of LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton,) Bernard Arnault, even though the company will lose a large advantage to their brand by saying goodbye to Jacobs, they will benefit from sharing in the potential billion-dollar payoff from Marc Jacobs stock offering.

Jacobs has done well to refine his own brand through Hollywood and pop culture.  He will return to his native New York to continue to improve his already popular lines.

I believe that this change will affect the performance of Louis Vuitton’s fashion shows, as Jacobs declared his “theatrical” styles early on, and that contributed to heightening the brands profile by introducing collaborations with artists such as Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami, Stephen Sprouse, and Kanye West.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/10/02/designer-marc-jacobs-leaves-louis-vuitton/2906881/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/02/entertainment-us-lvmh-louisvuitton-jacob-idUSBRE9910HY20131002

As Instagram announces that they will now be placing subtle ad photos and videos in to the home screen, this raises the question of whether or not this will affect the users interest in the application?

Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion.  At the time of this acquisition, many people threatened to stop using the social-media app.  Similar threats were made when the application updated their terms-of service agreement at the end of last year.

CNET is preparing the public in advance before the release of the advertisements to the website, in hopes to avoid potential backlash from its users.

“We’ll focus on delivering a small number of beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community.”

Instagram has promised that these advertisements will be of magazine quality.  Brands that will be promoted through these videos will already be members of the instagram community.

I do not believe that this gradual change in Instagram’s layout will affect the population of the users drastically as the benefit from taking a shameless “selfie” or uploading a picture of your lunch outweighs the annoyance of the occasional advertisement.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57605942-93/instagram-photo-video-ads-on-their-way/

http://o.canada.com/technology/instagram-to-start-showing-ads-but-not-in-canada-yet/

Tim Hortons is strengthening their brew, not to appeal to a new market, but to satisfy their customers that prefer a bit of a bite in their morning cup of Joe.  The partnership blend will be sold in 343-gram bags for customers to make themselves at home.  With hints of cocoa nuttiness, this blend is made from beans from family farms in Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia,  and Brazil.  This bag of coffee will retail for $7.69 with $1 being returned to the Tim Hortons Coffee Partnership.  As well as family farmers, Tim Hortons has a partnership with the Hanns R. Neumann Foundation of Germany; a non-profit organization that is committed to sustainability in Europe.  Tim Horton’s has invested over $7 million in the Coffee Partnership so far in hopes to be perceived as an ethical business in terms of it’s supply chain; something that is under the microscope for most countries all over the world right now.  I approve of this choice to create a new blend as I myself enjoy a slightly darker roast in the morning, and I support Tim Horton’s decision to maintain a sustainable development.

http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/05/14/tim_hortons_announces_70_million_share_buyback_from_anonymous_seller.html

Softbank Corporation’s affiliated search engine website Yahoo! Japan refuses to remove any ads for illegal elephant ivory, and whale and dolphin products.

According to International environmental organizations; the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Humane Society International (HSI), 80% of the 8,000 ads for elephant ivory on Yahoo! Japan are selling name stamps, known as Hanko, that are made out of ivory tusks that have been smuggled from Africa.

Products of Minke whales from the Antarctic, Fin whales from Iceland, and Bryde’s, Sei, and Sperm whales from the NorthWest Pacific, are also sold through Yahoo! Japan.  All of which, are classified as endangered species by the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species (CITES.)

Kitty Block, HSI vice president, said, “tens of thousands of elephants, whales, and dolphins are being killed each year to supply demand for their parts.”

Yahoo! Japan has displayed poor business ethics by promoting the illegal sales of products made from endangered and vulnerable species through advertisements on their search engine.

I hope this recent attention causes a threat of distrust from Softbank users and US Sprint customers, and as a result; the firm follows other Yahoo! websites in banning these advertisements from their search engines.

Sources:

http://www.eco-business.com/news/softbank-yahoo-japan-refuses-take-down-unethical-ads-selling-elephant-ivory-whale-products/