There have been many reports on Netflix and its unintelligent decision to split the services with a 60% price increase, then sending emails to all its loyal customers weeks later to admit that it has made a mistake and that it has “misjudged [its] customers”. Here is an interesting analysis of the situation, and how this customer feels that Netflix completely misjudged the situation by not understanding what the consumer wants: silence.

It is interesting because the price increase issue is already considered an imprudent move, but this consumer views receiving random information from the company as annoying. This is demonstrating a lack of market research for Netflix, because the company’s point of differences is providing quick service in an anonymous method. By sending multiple emails informing users about changes, it already annoys customers who have no prior knowledge to the price changes, simply because they have no desire to continue with a provider that constantly bombards them with extra information. With this unique angle, it once again proves that Netflix is still nowhere near the market shares that it once possessed, because the whole debacle has exposed the company being uninformed when it comes to the price of the service and the type of the service that a customer wants.

While sustainability is becoming a prevalent statement when companies are trying to promote their visions, I feel that it is mostly for lip service and utilized as a vehicle to enhance a company’s profile. This is discussed in Vivian’s post, where she poses some questions that influential companies like Coco-Cola state sustainability is “the most critical issue”, but are “they doing it for the right reason?”

I feel that most companies do not; while there may be individual companies that have sustainability as a fundamental value, many publicized companies such as Coco-Cola and Pepsi are about jumping on a bandwagon, merely stating the desire to help improve the world and asking people to support the movements. Ultimately, the major companies are still maximizing their profits, and if marketing the brand as a socially aware company sells, they will incorporate it as a tactic. Last week I went into the Body Shop, and while there are two sales associates explaining the various deals that the company offered, they did not focus on the ethically produced products.

Unfortunately, it seems rather idealistic to hope that sustainability becomes mainstream as it seems to be merely another marketing tactic for companies to entice consumers.

Picture URL: http://2sustain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Coca-Cola_GiveItBack_logo1.jpg

Generally, it is free will that dictates a person’s choice to consume a product. However, the Danish government decides that it should impose a tax on food that has contains more than 2.3% of saturated fat.

In Lu’s blog, she discusses how it is a bad idea since it will damage local business selling food that is categorized as ‘bad’. I agree with her argument, because by imposing a tax on the good, it implies that there is now an extra cost to purchase the food, and consumers will rather take their money and spend it on somewhere else. If the opportunity cost of buying food is now forgone because the consumer does not value the food as much anymore, this decreases the overall demand for the item and suppliers will suffer as a result.

The tax is simply asking businesses to sell fewer goods for the same price, because the extra cost eventually goes back to the government, and this law is simply a method to enrich the government’s coffers. If the Danish government is truly concerned about its people, they should look for methods that will discourage people from buying unhealthy food in addition to not damaging local businesses.

Picture URL: http://kimoracochran.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/happy-meal.jpg

Susan Cumberland has little idea of what the meaning of entrepreneur is, yet she continues stumbling forward, creating a tutoring service that now spans in Vancouver, Victoria, and the States. And while she is humble about what she does, there is no doubt that Cumberland is a true entrepreneur that learns from her past mistakes.

After realizing her first business model isn’t working, Cumberland promptly hires help to ensure that she can build a model to allow her operations to run more smoothly. By taking chances such as hiring a technician to create a database that everyone else “tore [the proposal] apart and said he didn’t know what he was doing”, she capitalizes on an opportunity that prove to be successful, since the database allows speedy responses that clients did not expect. Another aspect of Cumberland’s success is having a vision that translates into a business plan for the business next five years; acting as a manual to refer in order to expand the business.

Without taking risks and accepting innovations, Cumberland would not have succeeded tremendously.

Nordstrom wants to expand into Canada; particularly in Vancouver as it views expansion would be a good step in the company’s overall strategy, as well as opening up new markets. However, Nordstrom also understands that it needs to complete its market research first, thus a spokesperson has stated that the company is still “doing its homework”.

While the upscale retailer has been doing research and has identified some good strength to enter the market such as the Canadian economy is doing well and that the shopping culture between the customers is similar, Nordstrom should consider the barrier to entry as well as the buyer power. There is already Holt Renfrew located in Vancouver, another upscale retail that sells designer goods. And while there are customers who are willing to pay for the designer products, the majority of consumers in Vancouver are middle class and cannot afford all these luxuries at an ongoing basis. Therefore Nordstrom needs to find a way to differentiate itself from Holt Renfrew before it can fully establish itself in the Vancouver market