Who knew that 140 characters could perhaps be worth $1.5 billion dollars?  Twitter Inc. is a social media company that is anticipated to go public, and according to Robert Peck, a SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst who was first to rate the stock, twitter stocks could potentially reach $50 a share in the span of a year.  Twitter allows users to post about potentially anything, including promotions, thoughts, and views on public issues, with a limit of 140 characters.

“It is important for investors to look at Twitter beyond just a 140 character text.” ~Robert Peck

Investors could consider twitter as a highly anticipated stock that will offer many returns in the future.  When used effectively, twitter can expose messages that could reach thousands of viewers by the second.  Such was the case for billionaire Carl Icahn, who tweeted about buying Apple stocks, which then prompted Apple’s market capitalization to increase by $17 billion, within an hour of his posts.

Tweets can be used as promotion:

Twitter’s future seems to be a very bright one, and as companies continue to utilize twitter’s services to promote their own causes, twitter’s worth is bound to keep growing.  Companies can use twitter as a key channel in their business models as it is a brilliant way to raise awareness for their products and services to a wide audience, through advertising, e-commerce, and mobile applications (which are continually becoming an effective form of advertising as three quarters of twitter’s consumers are mobile users).  Twitter may even be able to follow suit with Facebook’s successes, including its recent rise as the world’s number one social network valued at $106 billion, and maybe even surpass it.  In today’s social media centered society, tweets are bound to turn into gold.

Sources:

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/07/twitter-gets-buy-rating-before-ipo/?__lsa=e605-748c

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/07/business/media/using-twitter-to-move-the-markets.html?ref=business&_r=0

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/12/us-facebook-shares-idUSBRE98A17W20130912

Would you change your child if you could?  Having a baby is a wonderful miracle; a gift of life to two joyous new parents.  But what if this beautiful gift was flawed, had defects, and potentially carried diseases that you have yet to find out about, would you still love them just the way they are?  23andMe is a company, based in California, that just recently received a patent for a calculator that would allow parents to look at what traits their baby would potentially possess, including eye colour and hair type, but it can also look at possible health issues that can affect the baby.  The new “Family Traits Inheritance Calculator” allows an individual to submit a saliva sample and then choose traits that they would like to know about for their future child.  Then the system compares your DNA with others to determine the best mate that would allow you to fulfill your chosen traits.

By cleverly using the differentiation strategy, 23andMe creates a unique product that appeals to a wide range of people.  They effectively used the knowledge that everyone wants a sickness-free, adept baby to create a product that will satisfy this need, but just because this device is available, should it be used?  Should parents not accept their offspring for everything that they are and they are going to be?

“A project like this would also be ethically and socially treacherous.” ~Marcy Darnovsky, Executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society

Some may argue that using genetics as a means of altering the structure of an infant, would be completely unethical and just plain wrong.  Parents should embrace their children, flaws and all.  Others may argue that by ridding them of their diseases and imperfections, you are saving your child from a lifetime of difficulties and emotional scars.  Whichever perspective you agree with, the fact that technology has evolved to allow such processes as genetic alteration cannot be denied as truly amazing.  By being a leader in the market for this new technology, 23andMe differentiates themselves to be a feasible highly profitable company.

Source:

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/10/07/build-a-baby-company-patents-genetic-calculator-raising-ethical-questions-about-which-traits-parents-should-be-able-to-know-and-choose/

Burger King seeks to expand its royal court by adding lower-fat French fries as one of its newest crown jewels.  The United States’ food industry is trying to lobby for healthier foods to try to reduce the astounding number of the one-third of Americans who are obese, and Burger King, the U.S.A’s third leading fast food chain, is trying to be a leader in the American fast food chain by jumping on this healthy food initiative.  Their new “Satisfries” have 270 calories and 11 grams of fat, compared to their regular, 340 calories and 15 grams of fat, fries.  This new product rivals the leading food chain, McDonald’s, famous fries by having 40 percent less fat and 30 percent fewer calories.  With so many benefits, why wouldn’t you choose this healthier option?

Using the low cost focus strategy, it’s only 30 cents more expensive than the regular fries’ price, at $1.89.  The new product’s narrow target market focuses on those citizens who aim to improve their eating habits while also maintaining the key aspect of convenience.  Their use of this strategy also utilizes their loyal customer base who will continue to take advantage of burger king’s deals while also being grateful for this refreshing new addition to their menu.  By using the unique and appropriate name of “satisfries”, burger king avoids the free-ride trap, by creating a new position in consumer’s minds by using a new name for their product, that effectively ties in with their innovative method of getting into the mind of the customer by being a leader and associating themselves as the first fast food chain to offer low fat fries.

Satisfries Advertisement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajesfE2ZGDY

But one can’t help but wonder, can fast food really be healthy?  Although these low fat fries are a great stepping-stone towards a healthier society, they are still no substitute for the traditional fresh greens.  Nevertheless, Burger King’s crafty approach to correlate themselves as a healthier fast food option is an intelligent way to truly make them king in an industry that is constantly attempting to evolve into a consumer-health concerned market.

Want to know more?  Watch this video!

idUSBRE98N09X20130924?videoId=273890576

Sources:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-burgerking-fries-idUSBRE98N09X20130924

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eglg45fkdjj/6-burger-king/