Surfing the I stumbled across an article about Starbucks’ inefficient supply chain & I remembered what  Mahesh told us a couple of weeks ago about supply chain operations. It takes a well-run supply chain to ensure that a barista pours a good cup of Starbucks coffee, as i is known that the journey from bean to cup is quite complex. Simply put:

“Coffee and other merchandise must be sourced from around the globe and then successfully delivered to the Starbucks Corporation’s 16,700 retail stores, which serve some 50 million customers in 51 countries each week.”

What was holding Starbucks’ pure success back was partly due to Starbuck’s rapid expansion and the difficulties that emerged in the supply chain organization trying to keep up with these worldwide expansions. But let’s face it, Starbucks was facing a HUGE challenge, imagine reorganizing the whole supply chain organization of a company as big as Starbucks. Primarily, the they had to reorganize the supply chain functions and consequently reduce costs and improve efficiencies. That is why people like Mahesh are crucial for a business’ success.

After reading @matthewchan94 ‘s blogpost The Online Video Marketing Scheme dealing with BMW’s stretegy for marketing, I decided to lookup the importance online marketing has on consumer behavior.

Nowadays, it seems as if the internet were our oxygen. Our dependency on technology has become somewhat ridiculous, as we seem almost useless without it. For this reason, businesses are taking advantage, and using online resources to influence why consumers choose one brand over the other. Simply put, without online ads most of us wouldn’t even know about the existence of such businesses. Has online marketing become not only a fad but a need? Would businesses endure without it? Take a company like Coca-Cola, whose ads have been not only memorable but controversial. Sure, one could argue that it has already gained sufficient importance so that consumers will still consume Coke despite the lack of advertisements. But what’s important here is that online marketing allows media to evoke emotions on consumers that they never thought they could have. Take for example, Coke’s video The Coca-Cola Happiness Machine , where the faces of the young showing surprise and joy cannot but produce sympathy and joy, allowing consumers to associate Coke with happiness and thus buy more Coke

Coca Cola Happiness Machine

  Jobs not TOMS

We’ve all seen the new fad of wearing the ‘socially responsible’ shoes. Yes, the shoes whose makers claim that for every pair of shoes bought, “TOMS will give a pair of shoes to a child in need”. Sameena Kamdar‘s post “Socially Responsible” Intentions: Purely altruistic, or profit-driven? reassured the point of view I had regarding how TOMS’ “philanthropist” ideology may be great marketing, but it is a perfect example of bad aid.

Some may ask whether ‘bad aid‘ exists, but there actually is such a thing. In her blog, Sameena pointed out the ethical perspective of using charity as a “business booster”. However, this goes way beyond TOMS as a business, it touches topics both political and economical for developing countries. The first example of TOMS granting bad aid is the fact that it will undermine local economies. Not only will it damage local shoe making economies but it also leads us to question TOMS’ apparent philanthropic deed; developing countries may need shoes for sanitary reasons, but what they actually require are fair jobs and quitting the dependency on other countries.   The following video encapsules how TOMS is promoting bad aid to developing countries:

A Day Without Dignity

Sources:

TOMS “Socially Responsible” Intentions: Purely altruistic, or profit-driven?

http://humanosphere.kplu.org/2012/04/its-day-without-dignity-day-skewering-kony-2012-toms-shoes-and-other-bad-aid/

After reading @Luai Ghazi’s Blog on “What is Facebook?” I pondered on his questioning on whether  Facebook should expand into the markets of  “online shopping as well as incorporating a search engine into the website”. Although Luai has a good point that by expanding into these markets Facebook would confront too big of a competition but possibly increasing profits, I also believe that online shopping would be a ‘no-no’ for Facebook. Firstly, if we consider the advertising fiasco on Facebook we may reinforce the belief that online shopping would not work as Facebook users claim that Facebook ads are distracting or not relevant as all they want to do on Facebook is communicate with their friends. However, it should also be taken into account that users don’t necessarily have to click on the ads, as it is said that “as long as the user sees your ad, they’ll want to buy your product or service.”

Similarly, I agree with Luai’s stand point that by trying new paths and opportunities the brand may expand and thus increase profits, just like other innovative social networking sites such as Instagram. But the real questions lies on whether Mr. Zuckerberg will take wise risks?

Sources:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/luaighazi/2012/10/07/whatisfacebook/

http://www.webpronews.com/facebook-to-advertisers-users-dont-have-to-click-for-it-to-pay-off-2012-10

http://www.google.com.mx/imgres?q=facebook+risk&um=1&hl=es&rlz=1C1CHFA_enMX491MX491&biw=1280&bih=562&tbm=isch&tbnid=64hGdXFJSw2WuM:&imgrefurl=http://www.seoconsult.com/seoblog/social-media-optimisation/5-facebook-risk-factors.html&docid=jgLkgAC4OXFSSM&imgurl=http://www.seoconsult.com/seoblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Facebook-Facts.jpg&w=634&h=810&ei=rXdzUN-WCYHliALF9oDYDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=104&vpy=232&dur=2583&hovh=254&hovw=199&tx=124&ty=138&sig=110568508630677761705&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=127&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:87