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I never thought I would see the day when Netflix was in trouble, sure there has always been competition to the company from free online streaming sites and Apple TV yet Netflix’s presence in all of our lives has been pretty set in stone for a few years now. In fact, one could say that they have created an economic moat with their leading streaming subscription. However, the headline catching the eyes and ears of the general public is that Netflix is facing competitive threats from Disney and the results are already obvious. Based on Nasdaq’s report, as of November 10, 2017 Netflix’s stock has declined by 0.98%, a fall mainly due to Disney’s release of information on its Netflix-like streaming service.

Another student’s blog post “The Struggle to Remain Relevant” gives useful insight into what exactly Disney’s plan entails. The basis is that Disney has enlisted the help of tech company BamTech which has created many streaming platforms for other media companies. Disney plans to pull their content from other streaming services such as Netflix and create two of their own new platforms. One revolved around Disney original movies and TV shows and another for ESPN which is owned by Disney. This new Disney site fits perfectly with the new trend of the younger generation of children who use an iPad as a toy, now they will have a video steaming service (accessible on iPads) that is solely focused on children.

What does this mean for Netflix in the long run? While it may seem like Netflix will fall and struggle to recover based on the short run, an article on Motley Fool explains that Netflix will remain relatively unharmed by the time Disney’s new service rolls around. Netflix is spending a lot on content, specifically is spelled out $6 billion in content this year, and has a goal of $7 million to $8 million next year, moreover by the time Disney launches their new sites Netflix may well be spending $10 billion a year on content. An amount that Disney let alone other competitors will not be able to match (Munarriz, 2017).

Figure 1: Netflix Inc.

Figure 2: Walt Disney Company

The tables above show the expected earnings growth over the next five years for Netflix Inc. and the Walt Disney company. Analysts at Nasdaq expect earnings to grow at an annual rate of 26.67% for Netflix which is much higher than expectations of their competitor which is expected to grow earnings at an average annual rate of 7.27%. In full, I believe it is safe to say we can all rest easy knowing that if anything Netflix is going to grow in the coming years.

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References

Duberstein, B. (2017, November 11). Amazon Is Winning the Battle for the Connected Household. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.nasdaq.com/article/amazon-is-winning-the-battle-for-the-connected-household-cm875923

Munarriz, R. (2017, November 11). Netflix Doesnt Have to Lose for Disney to Win in Streaming. Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.nasdaq.com/article/netflix-doesnt-have-to-lose-for-disney-to-win-in-streaming-cm875908

Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) Forecast Earnings Growth. (2017, November 10). Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/nflx/earnings-growth

Walt Disney Company (The) (DIS) Forecast Earnings Growth. (2017, November 10). Retrieved November 12, 2017, from http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/dis/earnings-growth

Rocio Lorenzo, a management consultant and diversity researcher, has discovered something that should show businesses all over the world how they are failing to make their companies successful. Rocio conducted a research study at the Technical University of Munich where they surveyed 171 companies in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland asking how diverse they are and how innovative they are. They asked how many creative ideas they have had that have turned into products and services making the company more successful.  To measure diversity, they looked at six factors; gender, nationality, career, industry, age, and education.

The results I would have expected to come from the study were such that companies with less diversity were not necessarily less innovative. My thinking was that even if a company is less diverse but with an equal number of people working for it, there are still the same number of creative minds to come up with products people want to buy. However, further into Rocio Lorenzo’s TED talk she proved that if a company treats diversity as a competitive advantage they will be able to produce fresher and more creative ideas (Lorenzo, 2017). There was also an emphasis in the talk around woman in leadership and cause and effect relationship between the number of female leaders a company has and innovation revenue. The chart below shows that in order for a company to have above average success the share of females in management needs to be greater than 20%.

It is then discussed in Lorenzo’s TED talk that the number of companies that are actually more diverse and have at least one woman on the board of directors or with the role of CEO is 30% based on her sample (Lorenzo 2017). This means that 70% of companies could be doing marginally better if they found ways to make their companies more diverse. By making strategic decisions of who to hire and who to develop and promote a company can greatly improve their employee diversity.

It is surprising to think that so many companies in today’s business world are male dominated when there is always an emphasis on how diverse and welcoming newer generations are. Business schools have started treating diversity as something to strive for, the percent of women in the MBA program at the Sauder School of Business is 35% but the goal is to reach 40% sometime soon (Lewington, 2017). As a woman starting out in business I wonder how these statistics may affect my ability to become a powerful business leader. Will the diversity goals set out by companies be met by the time it is our turn to rise to the top or, will we still be struggling?

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Lewington, J. (2017, March 24). Women a growing presence at business schools globally. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/business-education/women-a-growing-presence-at-business-schools-globally/article30374240/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theglobeandmail.com&

Lorenzo, R. (2017, October). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/rocio_lorenzo_want_a_more_innovative_company_hire_more_women?utm_campaign=tedspread–b&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

What does corporate social responsibility really mean? This is a question that may seem simple but has daunted large businesses for a long time. Perhaps one could say that the issue really isn’t a misunderstanding of the term itself but rather a fear of what it could imply for your company’s total revenue.  The beauty and fashion industries specifically have struggled with this dilemma over the years. To test on animals or not to test? Should our company produce products in sweat shops to cut down on price? Real fur or faux fur? These all may seem like redundant questions however in today’s market companies really do struggle to put the good of the world ahead of their profitability, simply by cutting down on costs businesses can make more money so why not?

Millennials however, have an increasingly loud voice that stands against companies with harmful or inhumane practices. They have simply said they are not going to purchase the products of unethical companies. Fashion powerhouse Gucci has heard the objections of their customer base and decided to put an end to the use of fur in all products. This doesn’t mean that they will stop using animal resources all together (the Gucci signature crocodile-skin handbags will remain on the market) however it is certainly a step in the right direction. In fact, Kitty Block, president of the Humane Society International said, “For this powerhouse to end the use of fur because of the cruelty involved will have a huge ripple effect throughout the world of fashion” (Williams, 2017). Gucci is leading the race in producing high end fashion that corresponds to the ethical, environmental, and social awareness desired by consumers.

Gucci is arguably today’s most influential brand in fashion, they never fail to create iconic pieces admired by all. With this is mind if Gucci commits to taking responsibility and creating conditions for a sustainable approach to fashion, other major designer houses will soon follow. The luxury fashion industry is getting pushed by its followers to become more environmentally aware, to lose the large carbon footprint, and treat runway models better. Along with Gucci’s announcement, Louis Vuitton has made an effort to stop using ultra skinny and underage models on their runway (Agnew, 2017) and Stella McCartney has started advocating for synthetic leather footwear.

While the fashion industry still has quite a long way to go in terms of corporate social responsibility, one positive note to make is that fashion is what designers make it. “Creativity can jump in so many different directions” (Williams, 2017) hopefully with enough persistence from customers fashion can be rebranded to exclude any and all cruelty to the environment and animals.

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Reference

Agnew, H. (2017, September 06). Subscribe to read. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://www.ft.com/content/724ca74c-6f2f-3bfc-a378-de7df2508e4f?mhq5j=e5

Williams, R. (2017, October 12). Fur Suddenly Looks Unfashionable in the World of High Fashion. Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-12/fur-suddenly-looks-unfashionable-in-the-world-of-high-fashion

There has been a shift in the way people do business. As millennials conquer and divide new trends are constantly developing and changing the way of the business world. One trend that has changed the face of today’s marketing industry started when entrepreneurs asked the simple question, how could they share their product with the rest of the world while staying true to budget? The answer was simple, in fact it was free; Instagram, Twitter and many other social media platforms have become the most valuable tools to both new and established businesses to curate brand recognition. Emily Weiss, founder and CEO of Glossier, one of the world’s most popular and in-demand beauty companies, is a prime example of how one can utilize social media to put your brand on top. Weiss went above and beyond, using Instagram to not only display and market her aesthetic products, but as a platform to connect with customers and find out what they wanted. Her company was able to use Instagram to build mini focus groups and quickly create products based on findings (Giacobbe, 2017). Glossier has created a cult-like following with 745 thousand followers, new posts pop up every day of girls using the products and tagging Glossier, essentially doing the companies advertising for them.

Glossier is not the only company utilizing social media to drive sales, every single industry that has to do with lifestyle, in other words fashion, food, beauty, home furnishings, cars etc., have recognized the extent to which social media touches the customer. In this day and age customers live on social media, they see people use and love products and are instantly sold, we get our inspiration to buy from our feeds.

In addition to directly marketing to customers social media has created a platform where customers can openly and honestly share their opinions about products. Companies now have the power to monitor these comments and learn about what the customer wants, how they can improve, and respond appropriately to better serve customers. Meltwater is a social media monitoring company that does just that. They provide a software that allows you to track your brand and your competition on blogs, social media conversations, and editorials to get insights needed to understand and drive brand perception for your company. Social media is a powerful tool that allows companies to listen to everyone, appreciate the value in what they are saying, and harness that information to better the company. All this information causes me to ask the question, “how many times has social media tricked me into buying something?”

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Source:

Giacobbe, A. (2017, August 15). How Glossier Hacked Social Media to Build A Cult-Like Following. Retrieved September 26, 2017, from  https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298014