Recently in UK, HTC is forced to delay the release of their newest flagship phone, HTC One, due to deficiencies in its supply chain management. Considering how the smartphone industry is be coming out with newer and better products every other month, this delay is certainly going to cause some consumers that have pre-ordered the HTC One to consider switching to other phones.

I think supply chain management is especially important in the consumer electronics market. For example in HTC’s case, the delay has opened up opportunities for its competitors to get their product in consumers hand before HTC does. For consumers, an important consideration of buying a new phone is the specs of the phone. If consumers have to wait for a longer time to get a new product, then the product might no longer be as “new” and might not be the most innovative product out there. Also, considering how the prices of phones drop quite quickly after it has been released, the delay will definitely have negative impacts in not only HTC’s market share, but also its profit margin.

Prior to taking COMM 296, I thought that marketing is all about how to come up with a product and how to promote it and increases sales. I never really thought that supply chain is actually also a quite important element in the world of marketing. Now I understand that no matter how well a company has done in designing it’s product, pricing the product, and promoting the product, it all becomes a waste of effort it the company can’t get the product to its customers.

In her blog Why Starbucks’ Customer Loyalty Is More Lucrative Than Any Ad Campaign, Sheila Shayon talked about how Starbucks is more than just a coffee shop. The brand value and power of Starbucks is so strong that it is seen by customers as more of a lifestyle.

Compared to most companies are putting in more effort on marketing and making connections with consumers through social media such as Facebook, Starbucks seems to be taking a more laid back approach. Despite not being as active in social media interactions, Starbucks is actually one of the most “liked” brand, and receives much more “likes” and comment on posts when compared to its competitors. I think that today, social media has become a benchmark of how relevant or how well liked a brand is in consumers’ life. Therefore Starbucks’ results definitely shows how well received the company is by the people.

While other companies such as McDoanlds entering the coffee market, I believe Starbucks is able to protect itself from competition through it’s sustainable competitive advantage of having very strong customer loyalty. Starbucks can also protect itself from price war going on in the coffee industry due to its differentiation and image of being more than just any other coffee chain.