“How Jobs put Passion into Products” Article link:

Profit margin is the percentage of revenue that a company makes calculating the profit accounting for fixed and variable costs.  There are two ways to look at the profit margin, either narrow profit margin or wide profit margins.

In the beginning of this article Bill gates expresses “PCs as components held together by plastic and screws manufactured on low-cost assembly lines, a commodity business with narrow profit margins.” According to “Steve Jobs and Apple never — ever — wanted to be a low-margin commodity producer,” Donald Norman, a former vice president for advanced technology at Apple.  As learned in class, food chains such as restaurants are low-cost commodities.  It’s very easy to start but very difficult to succeed. Low cost commodities seem to be beneficial but very deceiving. Apple is a company that is a high margin commodity producer. As an Apple user, I can testify to the quality of Apple products.  Elegance and innovation are all two things that really stand out to me.   It’s very inspiring to see how much passion is put into Apple products.  Steve Jobs has left an amazing legacy and his works will be passed on for generations to come.

Learning about the Lieber case in class it prompted a lot questions and ideas.  As I was browsing through the blogs I came across Vivian Lin’s article about the Candlemakers Petition.  It was interesting how she focused on the break-even analogy we learned inclass.  The break-even point is simply when the suppliers aren’t losing any money yet isn’t gaining any as well.  I find this term to be very unreliable and misleading.  Businesses tend to set goals to at least hint the break even point; however, it is not a good way to motivate a business.  When running a business, one should focus on making profit.   As a result one should be focused on elements such as the point of difference, which are benefits that set each brand apart from competitors.

We are bombarded with media everyday, whether we are conscious about it or not.  The ones that catch your attention, how are they different from the others? Do you only notice the ones with animals because you’re an animal lover? Or do you the ones with a catchy song attract your attention? A great example would be Sleep country’s slogan,  “Sleep Country Canada, why buy a mattress anywhere else?”  Moreover, why are some commercials more believable than others?

To engage its consumers, Tim Hortons uses real life stories as a form as advertisement.  This is an extremely clever way to connect with customers in a more personal way, not just on the surface level.  Life stories are powerful. There is a good chance that what you’ve experienced, someone else has also experienced something identical or close to identical.  The link below is Tim Hortons latest true story commercial. Forms of advertisement such as television commercials are important to an image of a company.   A powerful commercial should set an image in the minds of consumers.    This strategy used by companies is called brand positioning. Once a “position” of a company has been induced in a consumer’s mind, it is hard to change.

http://www.marketingmag.ca/news/marketer-news/watch-this-tim-hortons-36980

Think of a time when you first met a friend, a colleague, or a clerk at a store.  The way he or she walked, talked or looked all impact your initial judgment upon them.

A company is no different. The second you walk into store, you immediately determine your opinion about it.  The appearance of the store and the friendliness of the employees all contribute to your judgment. For instance, in the article below, explains the positioning about Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart’s positioning is heavily based on low prices. When consumers think of Wal-Mart, they will most likely associate it with low prices compared to other retailers. During Black Friday, which is known as one of the busiest times of the year to shop.  However, Wal-Mart’s sales decreased because they did not live up to their low prices.  Wal-Mart did not deliver.

This article emphasizes on the importance of living up to “positions” that have been engraved in the mind of consumers.  Once a first impression has been made, there is little to no room to change this impression.  The image a company wants to portray to its consumers is an image that will always be associated with the company.

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Branding/72/Wal-Marts-brand-positioning.html