Month: November 2011

This blog is dedicated and about Angus’ blog discussing marketing efficiency and activity through the years.
The blog can be found HERE! 

Angus, Let me start off by saying how I am just as shocked at the changes which have occurred per the last years.
Getting noticed by a marketing standpoint of things in Todays market is getting harder. With numerous markets to enter into, number demographics to appeal to, and different strategies to stick to- Marketing is always one of precise decision.

There once was a time where single photos could sell millions of good, for example the iconic Marlboro Cigarettes, which through a single photo boosted profit by 300%. As a result of these changes in generation gaps and such, consumers have become numb and incoherent to the advertisements used in todays day and age. Whether it is Online, on Television or Radio or with your friends- The incentive to share your great new product with your friends is decreased.

The niche for todays marketing sector is to find a way to appeal to the consumers in such a way that it can also mesmerize them to watching whatever it is you are presenting. For example, the famous “OK Go” presentation by state farm, which began as a funny video to a world viral video.

In this Blog posting, I will be commenting on the blog of Nils Pratley and his comments towards Thomas Cook.
The link can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/blog/2011/nov/25/thomas-cook-debt-shares-banks

This blog speaking about the British Airline Thomas Cook, I took as being very informative in terms of a procedural point of view.  It was brought to my attention in this article that bank loans and company recovereries are most often identified by the banks rather than asking for a loan by the company. In the article it states that ” the expectation is that the banks will do something soon – maybe later today”, this line shows how Banks are already involved before the company has even come to them after dropping a tremendous amount of points on the market.

This article also expands my knowledge on how even Prime Ministers can step in to save nationally recognized companies such as Thomas Cook in the United Kingdom. This power by both the banks and the Government party show the extensive length a major company has in to many roots of its society and organizations and even governing body.

A national company is not one whom represents your nation, but also is supported to do it along the way.

This is a comment on Justin Colussi’s posting on “Steve Jobs Was A Jerk”.

Well Justin, Though I agree with many of your points about Jobs demanding respect, and distinguished rude personality, I do still believe Steve Job’s Contribution to the tech world today overweighs any negative connotations which can be directed his way.

Your statements of his accomplishments paying off, and business being a “cutthroat” game where much like nature only the strong succeed are all very accurate statements and do give Steve reasoning for the way he presents himself. Though Steve was considered a “jerkisk”, i do also believe that at the administrative level it is essential for an executive to display a hard-nose sense of authority in order to maintain control and order within the workforce.

Apples success is directly related to Steve’s work ethic and ability to overstrike obstacles. Playing with fire in a very competitive market is what Apple has been doing for years now, all in front of the genius Steve Jobs who orchestrated the companies every move until the day he passed.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Toyota Motor Corp have hit a sudden halt in production due to the worst ever earthquake to hit Japan, leading investors to rethink and assess the financial tolls of the Floods in Thailand.
Apples Chief Executive officer Tim Cook stated that Thailand is a large distributor of many Mac parts, and due to this past flood many of the highly demanded Apple Products have been put back in to order status.

Toyota on the other hand, faces many of the same issues. In this time of destruction in Thailand and Japan, Toyota has suspended production of its Camry and Prius vehicles. These floods have claimed more than 300 lives since July and shuttered more than 14,000 businesses in a country that makes “about a quarter of the worlds hard-disk drives, and serves as the southeast Asian production hub for Japanese carmakers”.

This upsetting time in the Asian Pacific not only raises concerns for humanity, but also profitability for many companies such as Apple, Toyota, Western Digital Corp. and Samsung.

“What Do Protesters Even Want?” – The Mainstream Media

Ideas are beginning to scatter about what the Occupy Wall Street Movement really means. Well in simple context, the Occupy Wall Street Movement was really intended to be a peaceful protest against corporate greed on wall street, but has translated in to a global mess of perspectives, revolving around a general theme of socialism.

Essentially 1 percent of the United States nation income is owned by two-thirds of the countries wealth. Protesters no longer want to choose between two necessities in life, and are tired of a political system that is content with selling out its citizens. The occupiers draft manifesto, which includes wants of “an end to the exploitation of the poor by the rich”, has many interpretations and nearly 4 months later is only being carried out by squatters rather than the protesters themselves.

This protest on Wall Street, though not effecting the market in any drastic way, has effected the worlds perspective on the United States government, and culture itself for it is this super power which takes the heaviest hit of blame. The spread of this movement has reaches thousands of communities among tens of countries and continues to grow. Setting up in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery resides the Vancouver chapter of this movement which is actively protesting in rather unconventional ways on a daily basis.

Coca-Cola, globally known for its ionic red labeled cans is ditching its past outfit for a new “white suit” as a part of a fundraising campaign to protect the polar bear’s Arctic habitat. Coca-Cola will be inverting its labels to a white can with red writing starting the month of November. The fundraising program is a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund and Coca-Cola, and will call upon all consumers of the re-invented cola to donate 1$ via a simple text message.

In this period, Coca-Cola will be manufacturing more than 1.4 Billion white Coke cans for the campaign; and will be effecting all Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Nestea and Minute Maid products. Coca-Cola is committed to raising up to $3 million between November and March 2012 off of donation alone, with an addition matched $1 million dollar donation by the Arctic Home Campaign.

These types of marketing have been seen before by large corporations such as Coca-Cola, where the company actually jumps profits due to the new design and appeal which is created. Speculations can be made that Coca-Colas CEO is more concerned with their companies well being rather than the claimed “Polar Bear” reserves.

Starbucks, a company known for putting many small family owned coffee shops out of business, last week posts a program to raise funds for American Small businesses. In an interview with AOL, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz brought up concerns towards the unemployment crisis in the United States, creating the reasoning behind his program.

The campaign relies on marketing tactics first seen in the “LiveStrong” Efforts by Lance Armstrong-creating coloured wristbands with hope they catch on the same way as Live Strong did years ago. Starting November 1st, customers of Starbucks will be able to purchase 5$ bands along with their beverages, woven in red, white and blue with a scripture saying “indivisible” on an attached metal charm. With the emphasis on the bands being made in the USA, the money from these bands not only contributes to the national problem, but also creates jobs in the production of the bracelets alone.

Though the story about this being a marketing technique to give the customer incentive to enter their store to begin with is not proven, one can still make assumptions that a multinational company such as Starbucks would do something like this.