Monthly Archives: October 2014

While scrolling through a multitude of different blog posts written by my class-mates, this article caught my eye. Not just an interesting read, but the way that Heidi linked both marketing and ethics into the subject was creative and alluring, so I looked into finding out more. I had never been on the Ben and Jerry’s website however after reading this article I did a quick google search and sure enough their cover page is streaming with corporate social responsibility, ethics, and marketing. You can learn how they do business, get information on the ingredients used- not just how they affect you personally but how they have affected the lives of others around the world. This got me thinking back to the reading on the chief sustainability officer- and the three stages of sustainability.

Compliance:

– Although Ben and Jerrys have gone through a few court cases such as the “Schweddy Ball” incident (Polis, C) and the “All natural” removal (Fulton, A) they have managed to stay within the laws of the industry.

Efficiency:

– As Heidi mentioned in her blog post, since Ben and Jerrys vow to not go the GMO route, as well as establishing fair trade with all of its suppliers, they have ensured customer loyalty and a strong, ethical brand image that will allow for larger revenue streams in the long run.

Innovation

– Ben and Jerrys have quite recently aided in the development of social metrics aimed at measuring and reporting the social sustainability of a company (11.1.06) which will help the world markets in the long run. This type of behaviour will mean they gain from insider knowledge in the criteria which may give them a head start in terms of competing, as well as being a morally correct thing to invest in.

11.1.06 – Ben & Jerry’s Pilots Social Footprint Method for Social Metrics. (n.d.).Ben & Jerry’s. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://www.sustainableorganizations.org/ben-and-jerrys.html

Fulton, A. (n.d.). Ben & Jerry’s Takes ‘All Natural’ Claims Off Ice Cream Labels. npr. Retrieved October 27, 2014, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/09/27/130158014/ben-jerry-s-takes-all-natural-claims-off-ice-cream-labels

Polis, C. (2011, October 21). Supermarkets Give Ben & Jerry’s ‘Schweddy Balls’ The Cold Shoulder. The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 28, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/21/some-stores-freezing-out-_0_n_1023767.html

We have all heard about the ebola crisis, whether it be from reading an article, hearing it on the radio, discussing the issue with friends, or receiving and email asking to donate.

It’s rapidly becoming a world-wide issue that must be dealt with on a global scale. Governments are donating money to combat the disease however some nations are not donating as much as seems sociably acceptable for example Austria who is donating a mere £164, 143. On the other hand, some companies are donating an extraordinarily large amount such as Ikea who is donating £4.1 million. (Wheaton, Oliver). Although most news articles discuss the lack of donation from many european companies, the underlying message is Ikea has donated  £4.1 million.

This viral information must be doing wonders for Ikeas brand image. This is their largest donation in the history of the company, and is an excellent move from the corporate social responsibility department of the company. (O’Mahony, Paul). Ikea even has a whole non-profit sector of the business called “The Ikea Foundation” found at http://www.ikeafoundation.org/ This foundation has earned Ikea a well-known image of being a moral and ethical business which would make potential employees more willing to work there as well as potential consumers more likely to purchase Ikeas products. This relates to the “social” aspect of the triple based line as it helps Ikea connect with its customers in a moral way and it increases brand awareness. Although it is a large cost for Ikea, it could be seen as a long term investment into their brand image as in the future potential customers may be more likely to buy their products due to their high morality, with it becoming a larger and larger factor in todays world.

O’Mahony, Paul . “Ikea Foundation sends millions to fight Ebola.” – The Local. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://www.thelocal.se/20140929/ikea-foundation-sends-millions-to-fight-ebola>.

Wheaton, Oliver. “IKEA has pledged more money to fight Ebola than 40 European countries.” Metro IKEA has pledged more money to fight Ebola than 40 Europeancountries Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://metro.co.uk/2014/10/23/ikea-have-pledged-more-money-to-fight-ebola-than-40-european-countries-4917916/>.

Value Proposition = Product/Service Attributes (functionality and quality and price and time) + Image + Relationship. (Davis, R.)

Are value propositions all that important? Will a company benefit from it’s employees understanding and being able to explain their value proposition? I believe so. Many companies today do not focus on their value propositions and hire thousands of staff who are unable to recall what the organization stands for. The value proposition is supposed to introduce stakeholders to what the outcome is of what you’re delivering. For example, Tesco, one of Englands leading supermarkets value proposition is “every little helps” as they strive to make everything as convenient as they can. (Evaluation Value Proposition) They have made this phrase their slogan and most customers, and all employees, know this phrase and understand the meaning behind it, and with that have went on to earn massive profits constantly being in the top 5 supermarkets in England.

I think this is very important for a company to ensure that both the employees and customers have a good understanding of the value proposition so they know what they are working towards or what they are supposed to receive. However, as mentioned in the article “Why your value propositon has no value” written by Colleen stanley, it is only as beneficial as you make it. Research shows that the number one challenge most organizations have is how to portray their value. (Stanley, C.)

Thus, businesses should start working on their value propositions making sure they portray it to the employees and the customers, and will reap the benefits in the long run. Employees will feel more motivated, and as though they have a reason to be working, whether they are a sales assistant or the CEO they will feel important in being part of the bigger picture.

Davis, R. (n.d.). The original value proposition — Washington Technology. The original value proposition — Washington Technology. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2014/10/02/insights-davis-value-proposition.aspx

Evaluating Value Proposition. (n.d.). MBA Marketing Management. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.ftms.edu.my/pdf/Download/PostgraduateStudent/MBA-Marketing%20Management%20lecture-5%20evaluating%20Value%20proposition.pdf

Stanley, C. (n.d.). Strategies: Why your value proposition has no value – Denver Business Journal. Denver Business Journal. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/broadway_17th/2014/09/strategies-why-your-value-proposition-has-no-value.html?page=all

Nowadays everyone has an iPhone, whether it be an old iPhone 3G or a new iPhone 6s. We communicate using apple apps such as snapchat, whatsapp and imessage. Finding a teenager with an andriod phone is uncommon and usually a surprise. So it is no wonder Samsung has been feeling the wrath of tough competition who control so much of the market base. Although currently Andriod actually still holds the vast majority of the market share for smartphones, the young up and coming customer base are mostly choosing the Applie iOS system instead, according to sources. (Edwards, J. )

Also, another worry for Samsung is how much money Apple is making. Although they do not own nearly as much as Android, Apple seems to keep rolling in profit from all areas. Figures have shown that “Apple made more money than all of its competitors combined, taking in 56 percent of the profit in the mobile device market.” (Bradley, T.)

So what is Samsung doing to increase their profits? They are doing what an respectable business would do- and are investing in what they do best. They plan to spend over $14.7 billion on a plantation in South Korea that could make memory chips or logic chips. They are currently the worlds largest supplier of memory chips and obviously hope to make money on this. Will this be a wise investment by Samsung, or will this leave them with an even worse profit margin signalling the end of the great era of Samsung? We will find out in the near future. (Samsung Electronics)

Bradley, T. (n.d.). Android Dominates Market Share, But Apple Makes All The Money. Forbes. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley/2013/11/15/android-dominates-market-share-but-apple-makes-all-the-money/

Edwards, J. (2014, May 31). The iPhone 6 Had Better Be Amazing And Cheap, Because Apple Is Losing The War To Android. Business Insider. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-v-android-market-share-2014-5

Samsung Electronics to invest 15.6tr won in Korean chip plant. (n.d.). South China Morning Post. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1610559/samsung-electronics-invest-156tr-won-korean-chip-plant