Nicholas Everett wrote a blog about pet rocks. I’m writing one about a video with a man doing the splits in between two huge trucks. What could possibly be the connection?

Although it may not seem like there is much of a connection, Nick said “the most absurd and ridiculous ideas become successful in the business world” –  A very strong statement that can completely relate the two. For Volvo, their commercial trying to emphasize the directional stability of Volvo Dynamic Steering it self is very absurd and out there. I’m sure that when first pitched, just as the pet rock, nobody thought of these ideas as “professional” or effective means of developing products and advertising. But it is exactly these crazy ends of ideas that create huge bursts of media attention on the businesses. Already, the commercial is being claimed as one of the best of the year. Without even explicitly stating the practicality of their product, Volvo is able to catch the eye of any watcher that is still able to understand its significance. So, you don’t have to be entrepreneuring Elon Musk’s Hyperloop to become a successful business developer, sometimes the best thing to do is go with the short, crazy, and completely out there proposal.

A good friend of mine, David Zhang, recently wrote a blog post about Starbucks and their beliefs in regards to gun control within the store environment. I completely agree with his points that this was a strong move for Starbucks. Not only is it giving them free positive publicity, it shows that they care and are effectively delving into the minds of their customers. What I can imagine the Chief Executive, Howard Shultz did was review Starbucks’s business plan, honing in on customer segments and asking: Exactly what type of relationship do we want to establish and maintain with them? With not supporting the use of or concealed guns in their stores it further promotes the comfortable, friendly environment that Starbucks uses to differentiate it self.

But what exactly is the connection here between a store like Starbucks and guns? Why does a company need to take such steps? Possibly, because in the United States a company like Starbucks is so huge it is engrained in the culture just as much as firearms. Because of this, it is an aspect that business owners need to take into account and recognize their surrounding markets.

In Canada, I’ll be glad just to grab my pumpkin spice latte without worrying about the consequences of accidentally taking the black coffee from the person in front of me.

“The Internship: A Fun Movie, But Also A Beautiful Google Commercial.” This may be one take on the new movie, Danny Sullivan’s, along with many others viewers, but I found my self watching and picking out many relatable topics to recent Commerce 101 classes. In particular, I found connections that helped shed light on Management Information Systems and Business Technology Management.

In a certain scene the intern team is tasked with making the largest Google sale possible by locating a company that currently does not use Google tools for their business. They enter a pizza parlor and discuss with the owner why he has not franchised his business. Originally, the team just throws a bunch of “Googely” information at him without much explanation and he is not convinced. However, when the two main characters step in, they perfectly combine business technology management and strategy to show the owner the true power of Google. Using the information gathered from Google’s analytics they are able to gain insight on the best possible locations of new parlors as well as the most effective ways for them to advertise to bring the business to the next level. In the end, he is convinced and uses the information gathered to start a very successful franchise chain.

The scene emphasized to me that even though a business can have all of this information and technology; you need to real people managing it to make it truly useful and powerful. Shown through the light of this movie, it’s easy to see that MIS and BTM can be a hands on, exciting feature of business, and not all data and numbers in the back office.

// Google’s Latest Product Isn’t Free

The Internship Trailer

Lulu Lemon’s out, Athleta is in. Or so I think it should be this way.

Yet again, Lulu has been put in the dark spotlight regarding issues with their product and lifestyle with the companies CEO Chip Wilson recently speaking out. Slowly turning off many of their customers (although many devotees will disregard the seemingly small issues), opportunity for Gap Inc. owned “Athleta” to step in arises. Currently, the stores are only situated in the United States; already posing a threat by popping up close to every new Lulu Lemon chain. However, with their significantly higher quality, uniquely diverse products, and company culture a cut above Lulu, there is a huge opening to come into Canada and take down the declining champions that are tearing their own company apart.

“Gap’s Athleta Stalks Lululemon One Yoga Store at a Time”

Athleta doesn’t focus solely on yoga, but on the health and fitness journey as a whole. With programs for running, triathlon, and paddle boarding, they create a supportive community centered on the store and the products they offer. Rather then pinning product deterioration on their most important customers, Athleta begins with quality first and has a very lenient return policy of “give it a workout guarantee.” With the negative vibe coming from Lulu products, buyers will have the incentive to move to a brand with a positive standing like Athleta. I propose that Lulu needs to step up their commitments to the brand they created, or get out of the way as more upcoming threats begin to enter through the wide open door into the athletic culture industry.

// Check out Athleta Chi: http://www.athleta.net/

Bloomberg Article

After recently reading a Globe and Mail Article, I found a great example of how interesting and important I find the idea of creating shared value in business. In this case, a pair of Western grads precisely captured the 2nd criteria we discussed in class and read about in the Harvard Business Review’s article: Redefining productivity in the value chain. They pursued a social entrepreneurial-geared idea to create shared value within their workplaces, founding an online platform called “Sprout at Work”.

One of the issues that many desk job, long working hour oriented companies face is the deterioration of employee health, and in turn decreased productivity. I strongly believe valuable, hard-focused-work begins at your core, and without ample time and motivation to keep a healthy lifestyle; this priority can be dropped to the bottom of the list. With Sprout at Work, a social game is made of becoming healthier.Employees become actively involved and focused on staying active, sharing experiences with each other.

The idea then has the opportunity to directly improve employee skills and health, and in turn boosting the company’s overall productivity and value of work. With happier, healthier, and more effective people in the workplace, comes an endless amount of value beyond the confines of the 10×10 feet cubicles.

// Nike Accelerator Program: http://www.nikefuellab.com/

A short while ago I attended Whistler’s annual Turkey Sale, a massive ski and snowboard sale with supposedly great discounted prices held on Thanksgiving weekend. As I pushed through crowds and waited in lineups, my business-oriented mind couldn’t help but critique several of the profit based flaws I was observing. What better way to share this grief, then through my blog? So, Here are a few of my observations of a Turkey:

1. Huge lineups to get into a relatively small space. Lining up early and rushing in to find the best deals may be part of the fun, but only for the first hours of the sale. After that, normal people want to be able to go in, take there time finding the raddest and best fitting pair of pants for a reasonable price, while having the space to do so.

The Turkey sale experience: rushed and crushed by all the people and product surrounding you.

Here, all I could see was lost opportunity for all the people walking away simply because of endless lineups to get in, to try on, and to buy the products themselves. Even with these conditions the sale is still very successful, but I can imagine the possibilities beyond if they expanded into a larger, more compatible space.

2.Far too much reliance on the computer for important sales. Usually, I can go into Whistler guest relations, take my picture, and buy my season’s pass; it’s simple and effective. However, this year the only place to buy the student pass was online. Lo and behold, as I have experienced before, is a faulty system, wasting hours my time just trying to buy a pass. Luckily for them, I love skiing so much I will spend whatever amount it takes to get my pass. But for many, I see this just being a frustrating bump that would stop consumers from buying a product online, and thus not at all. Again, a flaw that leads to money just walking away.

3. Lastly, I noticed the Salomon store: currently under renovations. Could there have been a worse time? Here you have one of the busiest buying weekends before ski season booms, and one of the most popular stores, but no one is able to buy anything.

I  will still be an avid attendee of the Turkey Sale, looking for all the extreme sports toys I already have. But you won’t find me standing endlessly in the lineups; I’ll be up on top of the mountains observing as the little turkey’s run around below.

Mallomars – Chocolate covered marshmallow treats manufactured entirely in Canada, although most Canadians have probably never heard of them. Sold exclusively in the United States, the brand presents an interesting selling concept similar to Cadbury’s Easter Mini Eggs: the treats are sold only from from September to March during the colder weather. Originally, such limited cookie sales were due to technology restrictions, with warm weather leaving consumers covered in melted chocolate. Yet now, even with new possibilities, the brand upholds its differentiation by keeping its selling dates unique and highly looked forward to.

Such a concept interests me, what could be the benefits of having these limited sale options compared to just keeping them on the shelves all year? How exactly is this profitably feasible for the company?

Using Porter’s Generic Strategy Table, at least part of these questions can be revealed. The product can be categorized by its uniqueness and narrow market into the focus strategy of differentiation. With this, it has the potential to be sold at a higher value because of an increased specific consumer desire as well as a better, more focused on product.

As well, an assumption could be made that they are produced in Canada but only sold in the U.S. because of smaller production costs and popularity. This directly benefits Canadians as there is greater opportunity for employment, but it would be interesting to figure out how they employ staff for extra production during the Mallomar season.

Unfortunately for us up north, our disadvantage is that if were lying on the beach mid summer craving one of these sticky treats, we will just have to settle for a Canadian Nanaimo bar instead.