Month: November 2013

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The Downside of Really Awesome Headquarters

The “Living Room” at Zynga’s SF Headquarters

 

Our discussion on the benefits of fostering a positive organizational culture through unconventional workspaces made me want to search and see if other companies were doing what Zappos and Google are. I found this article about Zynga, maker of many of the games featured on Facebook. They offer all the benefits and comforts of home including prepared food and lots of play time. Research shows a clear correlation between a positive culture and stimulating environment and increased employee productivity.

But is this even what employees want?

Employers are trying to encourage workers to stay longer and to incorporate their job into more aspects of their life. Sure it’s great that some companies now provide benefits like free gyms and even places to sleep. But has anyone stopped to analyze the effect of all this on the employee? Their lives become centered around their work, they don’t go home more often and their is no true chance to escape the work environment. One might ask why you’d want to escape such a great environment but “work” and “life” should still be kept very separate, in my opinion. Organizations should be hesitant to fully adopt this approach before understanding the full effects.

 

Sources

Image from Zynga Inc. at http://company.zynga.com/news/company-images

“What You Can Learn From Zynga’s Cool Company Culture” by Kate Freeman. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2012/05/20/zynga-office-perks/

 

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Google+ gets a C-

Google rarely fails at anything.

They’ve successfully expanded from a search engine to a corporation that is seemingly entrenched in every corner of our lives. But Google does have one project that isn’t a success right out of the gate: Google+. The service has been discussed a lot recently because of Google’s revamping of the notorious YouTube comments section that now forces YouTube account holders to make a linked Google+ account.

I can honestly say that none of my friends use Google+ (unless bound by rules like the above). And this is precisely why I don’t use it. If it’s a social networking site, then why isn’t my social network on there? If Google+ wants to compete with Facebook and Tumblr then it should have followed their example and first appealed to a niche market. Facebook was originally for elite college students. The “elite” factor made everyone else want to join. And when everyone and their cat joined, the new crop of cool kids moved onto Tumblr, whose attraction might be waning as Yahoo! takes over and companies swarm to self-promote on the site.

The lesson for Google here is that when it comes to social media, people seem to prefer what looks like organic growth spread by word-of-mouth over what looks like a hostile corporate takeover.

Source: “Why Google+ is Failing” by Rodney Brazeau

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Lighting Up Africa

Though some people still believe Africans to be destitute people living without running water and electricity in huts, this is simply not true. But during my family’s trip to Nigeria last year, it was clear that the nation did have an energy problem. Though estimates vary wildly, more people live in the former capital Lagos than in New York which makes it very difficult for the Power Authority to provide electricity to every home. As a result, rolling blackouts happen so frequently that most people just use a backup generator. But in my experience, these generators smelled terribly, were heavy, extremely noisy and clearly polluting the environment.

Enter Power for Africa, a company that is trying to change this reality. You can check out their website here. They sell the Solar2Africa400® solar-powered portable generator that can be set up quickly and easily.

All that’s included in the Solar2Africa Package

Products like these demonstrate the power of social entrepreneurship; this generator has the potential to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Africa is the “last frontier” in business — I’m excited to see the day she moves past her biggest obstacles and can fiercely compete on the world stage.

Source: powerforafrica.com

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Do you Want Shoes with That?

According to blogger Jason Del Rey, H&M and Zara are to haute couture as to what Triple O’s tries to be to fine dining: cheaper but still high-quality alternatives that get you the product faster and more conveniently.

First consumers wanted fast food and now we have fast fashion, where JustFab is charging ahead, mostly uncontested, in the shoe market. I think it’s obvious why they’re successful . It takes much less time and energy to buy shoes online than it does to pick them out in person.

But this isn’t a unique service. You can buy shoes online in many other places and for cheaper too. What is unique –and controversial– is their subscription policy where customers are automatically charged $39.95/month for a pair of shoes. A subscription is genius because it reminds the customer every month and keeps them coming back while the buying process is made easier with the “personalized boutique” that shows products the customer will likely prefer.

JustFab is merely taking advantage of the trend towards faster living — consumers want what they want and they want it now. In the future, will we want to buy homes online? Or Completely shift to opensource online university education?I just wonder what entrepreneurs will speed up next.

 

Sources

Jason Del Rey – “Is JustFab the Next H&M, or Direct-Marketing Black Magic?” (http://allthingsd.com/20130923/is-justfab-the-next-hm-or-direct-marketing-black-magic/)

JustFab.ca  (http://www.justfab.ca/how-justfab-works.htm)

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All Brand New

Just like my classmate Natasha mentioned in her blog, it seems that nowadays getting ahead in business is all about being different and not necessarily being better. I agree with her on the point that brand image has become even more important lately in an age where image is all about being first on the scene. People pay more attention to who is innovating, especially in the technology sector.

Take, Hewlett-Packard for example. I’m sure their PCs haven’t gotten any worse since they started making them, yet their name doesn’t even come up when you’re talking about the top tech movers-and-shakers. Whose names do come up? Google & Apple.

Apple didn’t invent the PC obviously, but they made it cool. While Microsoft and HP were waxing on about functionality, Apple created products designed like no one had ever seen. And everyone hurried to catch up.

This is exactly the problem.

 

Unless HP starts reallocating funds back into R&D and either produces something new or puts a shiny, new exterior on something old, then they’ll forever be playing catch up. The game isn’t about functionality anymore; you can buy a decent laptop/tablet/PC anywhere. I truly believe that quality isn’t as much a point of difference with average tech consumers anymore. They just want something new and different that’ll make them stand out, which explains why people will buy generations of products when there’s little functional difference between them.

 

Image from Syracuse.com at http://blog.syracuse.com/technofile/2007/08/why_apple_isnt_worried_about_h.html 

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Why Marketing Isn’t Always About You

First, watch this Budweiser ad:


Touching, right?

Scott Stratten discusses the brilliance of this ad on his blog, UnMarketing. This post is incredibly useful because it demonstrates an important rule of marketing that Cole Nakatani explained in class on November 12: When marketing your company, focus on the WHY and not the WHAT.

Why does your company make this product/offer this service? Because people need to know what your values are to form a connection. Stratten’s post highlights why Budweiser resounded more with consumers than any other beer company could simply by showing that they’re a brand of the people. They made it seem like the “Big Game” was just as important to them as they knew it is to millions of Canadian hockey fans. The crucial part of this advertisement was the fact that it wasn’t even about Budweiser; they didn’t ask you to buy their product, they simply unfurled the banners and let their name speak for itself.

 

 

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