COMM 101 - Ernest Fung

In the past 5 years, green initiatives and sustainability projects haev taken fleet. Companies are being urged on by consumers and their new preferences to be socially responsible in order to sustain their brand image. In only two years, store shelves have amassed 73% more ‘greener’ products; however, TerraChoice suggests that an overwhelming majority of them are simply faking their way through the trends.

TerraChoice demonstrates in its annual report that businesses utilize wording in advertisements, develop a story behind their green movement, and make labels that connect sustainability with their products in order to attract consumer attention. The ‘greenwashing’ that business’ are embracing works itself into Milton Friedman’s view on social responsibility. He argues that the basic premise of business is to earn profits, and social responsibility is a tool used for acquiring it. In essence, consumers who want to ‘go green’ are driving the business world to ‘go greed’.

Or are they? Their efforts do threaten businesses that neglect the importance of going green. The CEOs of the Big 3 felt the heat from not doing so (or did they?) a few years back; after a bailout by the American government, they’ve made larger baby steps towards fuel efficient cars and developing technology. Ironically, midsize SUVs have shown the most growth in sales since last October, suggesting that we may not be as green as we think. Has Al Gore been shouting in vain for the last 5 years?

Storyofstuff.org – Story of Electronics

A man by the name of Walt Disney created a world within our world in 1955 . This innovative mind began his work in a garage with his brother Roy and in no time, had opened Disney Brother’s Studio to begin his career. Within a few decades, he stormed through the motion picture industry and arrived at the doorstep of his entrepreneurial venture.

John Schrumpeter would agree that Walt Disney was indeed, an entrepreneur in an industry he created. Disneyland was the first of its kind and created a whole new market; even today, it is still unmatched by other companies such as Universal Studios.

But Walt Disney Studios didn’t just stop there. Its expansion and success in motion pictures, television, celebrity endorsements, and global influence has contributed to its position as the “largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue.” The company’s growth has also been achieved in an unprecedented amount of time, taking less than a century to expand from a garage to an international scope. What makes this business venture even more of a spectacle are the numerous risks involved. The extremely high start-up costs to build a fantasy world could have backfired and destroyed the potential of Walt Disney Studios. However, Disney had a vision and because of his determination and entrepreneurial qualities, we learn to value imagination as children.

What is Occupy Wall Street or Vancouver? Is Occupy a structured organization that is pressuring for a change in the roles of corporations, or are the corporations acting as a scapegoat for the population to channels their displeasures with society? Are they truly a fair representation of the ‘99%’?

With these questions in mind, there has been widespread controversy over the organization’s movement. I agree in many respects with Jasmine Yeh and her view of Occupy. The official documentation of its demands is ambiguous and lacks direction. Due to its flaws, the possible effectiveness and potential of the movement is hindered. Recent news coverage of the movement has also built a negative image surrounding it. Considering the death of a young adult due to drug overdosage in a tent in Occupy Vancouver, it is difficult to picture a structured team of revolutionaries with a focused purpose.

The movement has progressed for over a month and has accomplished little. Although some political figures have attempted to utilize Occupy in hopes of strengthening their platform, it has lost its edge as the quality of its message is deteriorating. Some who support the movement have a vague understanding of it, and entangled in the context of drugs, the 99% adrenaline rush is slowly dwindling.

After recently reverting away from Qwikster, its DVD-in-the-mail extension, and increasing price, many customers have dropped out of their subscriptions on Netflix. In merely four months, its stocks have plummeted from $300 to $87, showing the toll a company will take for failure to utilize market research in its executive decisions.

Netflix is in considerable competition with free online streaming and illegal downloading as substitutes. Therefore, a small price increase had significant adverse effects on its demand. Netflix was praised by Morgan Stanley on its competitive advantage; however, it has strayed far from those noted by the firm. The brand is no longer “iconic” and has positioned itself quite well with other unpleasant things in consumers’ minds.

Not utilizing market research effectively to forecast consumer preferences proved to be a vital mistake.  Quantitatively, the price increase and Qwikster would increase profits for the company. However, secondary data would have shown implications that there were huge risks of losing customer and stakeholder loyalty. Countless subscribers have openly expressed their dissatisfaction towards aspects of the company, and coupling a price hike with changes that address these issues would have been better received by the public. Now, Netflix will have to save its brand image before its permanently tainted, but as always, climbing up is always harder than tumbling down.

In “Will the Housing Bust Produce a Baby Bust” from the Economist blog, S.J. references a research paper by Lisa Dettling and Melissa Kearney that suggests a correlation between housing prices and birth rates. The authors had hypothesized that an increase in housing prices would have a positive correlation to the birth rates of home owners as they see their “wealth” grow. There will also be a negative correlation for those who rent or are first-time buyers, but interestingly, this did not deter the majority from having their first child. The reason for these results is that children can be considered a “normal good” (for economic purposes, not in actuality), and the income effect will encourage more births.

These findings interest me as it may be a new way of understanding the socioeconomic tensions present in some countries around the world. Living in an area of high housing prices such as Vancouver, this may put strain on the public school system and our health care system, considering these findings are valid. However, it is also important to consider the make-up of the population who owns the houses as well as those who don’t, as the price hike may have more of a negative impact on birth rates than a positive one.

As noted by Katrina Ma, the long-awaited arrival for the “new” iPhone ended as a disappointing extension of the last. I agree that the lack of innovative pizzazz will definitely give other competitors a chance to gain market share; however, let’s not overlook the iPhone 4S. Rather, view the packaged iOS 5 as a further implementation of Apple’s most powerful concepts: brand community, connectivity and user-friendly.

Apple has created its own brand community where users proudly stand by their brand’s products. This creation of an elite network is unmatched by any other company, which justifies its rightful place atop Forbes’ World’s Most Valuable Brands. Furthermore, it has executed what Google has been struggling to achieve; the new iCloud allows for flawless integration of information between personal Apple devices. And let’s not forget the upcoming Siri that builds upon the company’s reputation of convenience and user-friendly functions.

Innovation, in this case, does not require a new digit after a phone model; Apple has strengthened its pioneering brand image by doing what it does best. But in the competitive mobile industry today, that may be enough for it to lose footing and allow the next best thing to reach its “prime”. The spotlight has now turned to Samsung, who teases consumers on the possible release of the “Ice Cream Sandwich” and the Nexus Prime within a week’s time.

Grievances to Steve Jobs and his family. Your creativity lives on. 🙂