external blog: Milkshake Marketing

supportive link: How to Make People Say”I want your product!”

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Both articles have stated clearly that it is important for firms to think about what jobs need to be done when positioning their products. Either “thinking about what customers hire a milkshake to do” or “positioning the outcomes instead of positioning the products” asks firms to think from a customer’s perspective. I agree with the practice of customization because selling products is the process of realizing and solving the problems of customers and finally bringing them gains. Firms should well understand the needs of their customer segments in order to become more profitable.

What’s more, to keep a healthy and lifelong relationship between producers and customers, the latter should also play their parts. They should care more about their true needs. They should understand themselves better. Firms caring more about customers won’t make a difference unless customers also understand what they really want. Firms will never have the chance to truly “crawl into the skin of the customers” if their customers are indifferent and neither side of the relationship gets benefits. In a word, it is the best when firms provide products to solve real problems of the customers who know themselves very well.

“There Will Be No Pipeline.”

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Using the PEST analysis tool, I personally think that the disagreement to the constructions of Northern Gateway from First Nations are mostly because of social and environmental concerns. Firstly, the aboriginals regard the territory where pipelines will be buried as a sense of belonging. This self-identity gives them the mind to reserve what’s historic and be against modern actions. Besides, the possible devastation to aboriginal environment is their rationale for opposition. They strongly oppose to the constructions in the fear that they no longer have those natural resources to rely on.

Jim Prentice Says Some Alberta First Nations Are Behind New Pipeline Projects

Though the project of Northern Gateway is opposed by some aboriginal groups, it has gained some support from others and the authority. The future for this project is still uncertain. Personally, I think that Enbridge should step back and consider again this question: is this project really in social interest and provide what is in great need? If the answer is yes and it decides to continue, the company should take the voices of First Nations seriously, but not be fully constrained by them. A solution can be worked out to reconcile the conflict without stopping the company from making profits.

No More Working Late: At the End of Each Day, This Office Disappears.

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An office like this in which you can both work and relax is really attractive. Personally, I like the concept of automatic work-life balance. It is obvious that keeping employees working all day long will trigger inefficiency. No shifting between places for work and entertainment makes staff more willing to combine entertainment into their work. In addition, workers can build personal relationships with their co-workers other than just discussing business issues when they are doing activities together. Closer relationships within employees bring about better co-operation in future work.

However, I think that building and maintaining this kind of working place are not easy jobs. This will cost a company a lot, to some extent casting more stress on the company to earn more profits to cover higher expenses. With a fixed budget in the short run, it is inevitable that expenses on others will be reduced, for example, wages paid to workers might decrease for some periods. For those that will rather get higher salary than relax, they might choose to leave the company, which may affect the company negatively. If this is a trend for offices to transform in the future, more should be considered by managers besides all advantages.

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search more for MIUI

MI Phone is a Chinese cell phone company that succeeds in the market in China. With a fairly inexpensive price per phone–about $365 and outstanding performances, this brand appeals to a lot of smart phone “fans”. At first I thought that low price was the major reason for the company’s success, but afterwards I found something far beyond this.

This company has a well defined target: Chinese smart phone users with limited budget. Besides setting the price low, the company exert great efforts in providing what Chinese want. This gave birth to MIUI, a system ROM operated specially for MI Phone users. Its performance caters with Chinese people’s preferences in using cell phones. The company realizes the importance of “crawling into the skin of their customers” (Clay Christensen). Personally, I would say that the company does have a price advantage over its rival, but the truth of its success is customization. Most of the cell phone companies can probably work out a solution to provide inexpensive phones after research, but only the one who gives what buyers NEED will stand out.