MARINA STRAUSS AND AND STEVE LADURANTAYE

From Friday’s Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011 4:54PM EST

Last updated Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 1:42AM EST

When Thanksgivings come, so do Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Retailers of the United States are preparing to offer steep discounts for certain items in their inventory to spur the shopping frenzy that prolongs over the weekend. This year, U.S. sales are expected to rise 2.8 percent from 2010, but it is below last year’s increase by 2.4 percent. Nevertheless, this will be a good opportunity for U.S. economy to kick off for holiday season as the consumer spending came to a standstill in a slowing economy.

The race for deals comes all too sweet for Canadian above the border. As a student with limited budget, I am also looking forward to purchasing an electronic gadget from online websites. It is expected that Canadian retailers will lose about one of every shoppers to U.S. Black Friday-Cyber Monday discounts. As a response, Canadian businesses like Wal-Mart Canada Corp and Lululemon Athletica Inc. are trying to come up with their own Black Friday deals that would enable them to retain customers’ exodus to south of the border or to computers. This is beneficial to consumers. I think businesses must take cautious approach to the occasion as bargain-hunting can be short-lived. Once the weekend is over, the sales could sink until Christmas.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/black-friday-sweeps-north/article2248092/

JEREMY TOROBIN

From Friday’s Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011 11:37AM EST

Last updated Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011 10:31PM EST

With global economy plummeting amid fears of double dip, Canadian economy struggles to find balance. While the inflation rate continues to surge, households are experiencing difficulties in dealing with unusually high energy and food costs. The weak job market makes it difficult for workers to demand pay raises, decreasing real value of their wages and further contribute to freezing consumer spending.

Average weekly earnings are high in Alberta and Saskatchewan; powered by global potash and oil market. Other drivers of economy include retail and construction sectors as well. On the other hand, Ontario, the former manufacturing powerhouse of Canadian economy, is losing ground against jurisdictions all over North America in term of per capita economic output. The decline in factory sector caused the employment rate to fall to the lowest on record. Ontario is indicative of sagging consumer spending which accounts for half of Canada’s economy. Consequently, Canada is being divided into have and have-not regions. It is imperative for the government to address 7.3 per cent unemployment rate and find balance between these regions.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/canadian-paycheques-failing-to-keep-pace-with-cost-of-living/article2247551/

By John Connors on January 7, 2010 at 3:57pm in Asides, Bell Mobility News, Mobile News, Various News

The ultimate purpose of the investment for many companies is to improve their brands’ awareness in the market share, but some people primarily take notice and give attention to the amount of money Bell invested for exclusive right in 2010 Olympic. The general public might think the investment is dumbfounded; however, the outstanding work done by Bell through the Olympic in Vancouver, was the one of the successful sponsorship right in the history of the business. Bell built strong customer base in west coast with gained trustworthiness and profit by proving their advantage in the industry of the mobile technology. Therefore, after the 2010 Olympic, Bell, an Ontario base company, challenged the west coast and was a huge success. Also they skyrocketed their quarterly profit and were able to open many branches. Whatever the process may have been, they accomplished fruitfully. Conversely, the company’s upward tendency in the future is unpredictable. It is recommended that Bell should donate more money into the social corporation responsible in order to keep their customer base and to carry out their excellent image. With these information Bell is able to constantly increase their stocks and profit.

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http://www.bce.ca/en/aboutbce/olympics/index.php

http://mobilesyrup.com/2010/01/07/bell-ice-cube-perfectly-set-up-to-promote-products-during-the-vancouver-olympics/

Price of fuels is constantly rising all over the world. Since a lot of people need cars especially to go to their work place, concerns about the price of gas increases as time goes by. However there is a way to handle this problem. Instead of travelling to offices to work every day, people can work in their houses for three days and work in their offices for two days. This can lower the peoples’ fuel bill by 60% of the original amount they usually pay in a week. Most businesses would benefit as well since they don’t have to spend money by providing tools such as electrical devices, desks, chairs and so on. Big funds or companies take an advantage by considering this alternative way to lessen their additional consume for devices for their workers as well as decreasing use of money for gas price by reducing traveling to work places. In my opinion the idea of reducing days to go to the workplace can directly decrease consuming gas as well as being beneficial to companies by decreasing costs of buying additional devices.

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http://sme-blog.com/cloud-computing/60-lower-fuel-costs-for-small-business-employees

In Canada and the U.S., this holiday season, Coca-Cola has made the radical switch from its classic red cans to white cans which feature polar bears. Nicole wrote about this decision a few days ago, talking about how this move relates to corporate social responsibility and marketing.

Now that we’re further into the holiday season, it is interesting to look at how Coca-Cola is doing. It is in the midst of its Arctic Home campaign, and it has launched a QR campaign which supports the Arctic Home campaign. Using QRs will tap into the popularity of smartphones.

In the U.S., 7-Eleven is partnering with Coca-Cola to support Arctic Home. They are offering a gaming app in which points can also be earned through codes on Coca-Cola cans and Slurpees.

These are good decisions which strengthen the Arctic Home campaign through technology and collaboration.

Meanwhile, in the U.K., Coca-Cola’s holiday truck has just begun travelling around the country. And, Coca-Cola Singapore was recently commended for being green. These moves show that although Coca-Cola has different geographical tactics, it has a cohesive brand strategy for the holidays and in regards to being green.

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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1167430/1/.html

 https://blogs.ubc.ca/nicoledee/2011/11/01/coca-cola-far-from-bearish-in-regards-to-the-value-of-sustainability/