Apple recently launched the new iphones and the new ipad, but they have not been able to make some great changes in their new products!

Business Innovation is important in all the sectors of an economy. Apple loyalists have high expectations with every product as that was the unique thing about Apple and its products. They came up with something new and unique with every product. But after the death of Steve Jobs, the company seems to be losing out.

Its innovation has been going down which is impacting its market share. Their main competitor Samsung is cashing in on this golden opportunity. This clearly brings us to the conclusion that customers will not pay for a product that is slightly changed, innovation is the key to capture the market. Business innovation not only helps with new product ideas but is also beneficial in getting new production techniques that keep costs low.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-10/apple-releases-two-new-iphones

One of the best stories of Samsung is the one I’m going to talk about, I read this in a blog post by Rodney Barnes who writes for “fullyc.com”

Recently a Samsung fan messaged them asking them for a free S3 since he has purchased so many products.

Samsung replied in an unusual manner. This is what they said :

Soon their reply went viral and this story was all over social media. What Samsung did next shows us why their are leaders in the smartphone segment.

For any business to do well, it needs to keep its customers satisfied. Samsung time and again does make sure that the customers are satisfied and this is just one way of how they make sure each customer is happy. From a simple message on Facebook, Samsung did reply in a unique way and then even went out of its way to make sure the customer was satisfied. Every customer is important and Samsung is doing well to make sure they score a 100% in customer satisfaction.

http://fullyc.com/this-guy-asked-samsung-for-a-free-smartphone-samsungs-response/

I came across an interesting blog by Daniel Shippen. He spoke about how McDonalds should focus on their food products and not on their drinks.

In my opinion, McDonalds is doing the right thing by expanding and promoting its drinks menu. McDonalds has started a new venture called “McCafe”. It covers a lot of drinks and has its own separate menu. Ofcourse McCafe cannot compete with established coffee chains like Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Dunkin, etc but it definitely adds value to McDonalds as a brand.

McDonalds is primarily known for its food products, but by expanding and diversifying its product line, it is increasing its scope to do well even further. They do not have undertake extensive marketing strategies just to market their drinks as they can market it along with their food. This will help them raise sales revenue and slowly establish McCafe as a brand in itself.

In today’s world, a business doesn’t have to focus just on its products, a lot of other things are taken into consideration by buyers, and one of the biggest factors is Corporate Social Responsibility.

CSR can be undertaken in various ways, through awareness campaigns, ethical practices, helping NGOs, raising awareness about social issues and the list goes on.

Recently I have been reading a lot of positive articles about Google. They have invested $80 million in six solar facilities in California and Arizona. These plants can power up to 17000 homes in the United States. Overall Google has pumped in more than $1 billion in clean energy projects. This is a huge positive marketing strategy for Google as everyone is making environmentally aware.

In India, Google recently released an advertisement that has taken the whole sub-continent by surprise. This ad concentrated on their search engine but in a really unique way. It showcased the value of the search engine by relating two countries that are similar but are also enemies- India and Pakistan. It tried bringing the people of both the nations together and at the same time showed the value of Google.

Google is indeed following the right path in running a successful business and has an even brighter future.

With reference to Sid Mookerjee’s blog post on football and business, I would like to share my view on football as a business.

Sid talks about the team having chemistry and work ethics which is also required by any business to do well, the employees have to work well together to reach the business’ goal and the players need to work together to win the game.

Human Resource Management is vital in any business. The business needs to have the right people working on the right job to produced the desired outcomes, and a team needs to have the right players at the right position to win a game.

Manchester United are also listed on the stock exchange and generate huge amounts of profit, that perhaps only huge businesses can reach. The club has recorded record revenues of £363 million in the past year and made a net profit of £146 million.

Not just football, all major sports do resemble a business, be it cricket, tennis, golf, ice-hockey, etc. The only thing that concerns me is whether sports will soon lose the spirit of the game and be played only because of the money.

Recently in class we got to know about the Arc Initiative that enlightened all of us. One of my friends back in India, has just started a new and unique venture. It is similar to the businesses we read about in the arc initiative as Matos is an upcoming social business.

Matos, makes shoes for men, and has the following unique features:

1) Animal Friendly: Matos’ shoes don’t  of animal materials and use only natural materials.

2) Eco-Friendly Packaging: Matos uses recycled materials to make their packages, and it is water-proof too. They are concerned about Mother Nature.

3) Social Good: This is one of the most striking features. For every product sold, Matos donates a learning kit to an underprivileged child. They work with some NGOs in India and help them in uplift the lives of unfortunate children.

4) Made In India: Mahatma Gandhi promoted the idea of “Swadeshi” goods. Matos produces all its goods in India, and does try and help the society in its own way.

Social businesses are gaining great importance in todays world. Matos has combined this concept with the growing online selling segment. It sells its products only online and is slowly gaining popularity all over India.

http://matos.in/how-you-matos/

http://matos.in/we-matter.html

One of the biggest business rivalries is that of Samsung and Apple. This fierce competition leads to innovation in their products with every new model and software launch. Innovation is the key for any business to be successful, it is one of the key concepts in business. It is the practical application of new inventions/thoughts to existing or new products, and does help a firm to generate a point of difference.

In todays world, online shopping has been growing a lot, people do not get out of their homes and buy several things online. The idea of Visa tying up with Samsung can be revolutionary since smartphones are replacing PCs and even laptops. People use their smartphones for everything and will start using it to purchase items online since this idea would make it so simple.

The software will come preloaded on all Samsung phones that have near-field communications technology, which allows users to tap their phones against a payment terminal to exchange information.

There have been several payment applications for phones but this is set to penetrate the market, and also help mobile payments gain huge traction.

The article link:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-25/visa-teams-up-with-samsung-on-contactless-mobile-payments.html

Picture taken from :

https://www.google.com/search?q=visa+teams+up+with+samsung&es_sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bLVTUqSJMeqWigKB9oCQBg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1163&bih=581&dpr=1#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=YcY0xyPrdPcDHM%3A%3BSUowV58zffWa2M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdroiddog.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F02%252Fvisa-paywave-olympics-660×440.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.droiddog.com%252Fandroid-blog%252F2013%252F02%252Fsamsung-teams-up-with-visa-for-paywave-nfc-payments%252F%3B660%3B440

The Iphone 5s launch attracted the whole world, I came across an interesting article that said Japans leading service provider has been facing losses due to the poor availability of the new Iphones for its company.

DoCoMo despite being huge in the telecommunications market of Japan, did not  partner with Apple to bring in Iphones before the 5s and 5c, these are their first products. This is really surprising on their part as Apple is one of the leading companies in the phone world, and it was not a wise decision to not partner with the best. This decision has not affected their previous sales but is also affecting them now as they are not getting enough of the new models.

NTT DoCoMo lost a net total of 66,800 subscribers in September, the worst loss ever, according to a report in Japan’s Nikkei on Monday. They also lost 133,100 customers due to the mobile number portability system, who are switching to other carriers that have the Iphone 5s and 5c in abundance.

The article link :

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57606410-37/iphone-5s-poor-availability-hurting-japans-biggest-carrier/

Hello World,

I came across this brilliant ad a few months back in India and wanted to share it with you guys. Coca-Cola is one such company that does not focus just on its products in advertisements. They try and focus on larger issues and then leave an impact on the consumers minds which in my opinion is the best thing to do in todays competitive environment, get the brand name fixed in consumers mind.

In the following ad, they highlight an important issue of tension between India and Pakistan which has been going on for years. Through this not only are they trying to bring the people of the respective countries together but also portraying about how Coca-Cola cares not only for its products but for larger issues too. For any company to be successful in todays times, it is important for it to be socially responsible and aware, Coca-Cola does this extremely well with such campaigns.

This Advertisement is a must watch!

Ethics are those moral guidelines that businesses in today’s world should follow before taking any decision. In the 21^st century, it is really important for any business to be ethical as the consumers are becoming more aware and do think of a company’s actions before purchasing any product.

The question that arises in most managers’ minds is to what extent should businesses take ethics into consideration when making decisions? In today’s world there is enough evidence that most companies are considering the ethical dimension of their actions and not just the impact it has on their profits. In my opinion, being ethical will help a business survive in today’s competitive environment where the buyer is aware of a businesses social responsibility.

Coca-Cola is one company that has always been brought up when it comes to ethics. Their products have been questioned and so has their marketing technique. They were accused of making a unhealthy product and then marketing it widely. In my opinion, this is totally wrong. Coca-Cola is one company that is socially aware of its actions and also does not use aggressive marketing strategies to sell their product. Recently they came up with an advertisement that told the people that drinking a lot of coke is a threat to ones health. Their marketing strategies do not focus directly on their product but on different aspects like happiness, peace between India and Pakistan, recycling and spreading joy.

This is one their ways of marketing.

I have also posted a link to their advertisement below where they talk about the health risks of drinking coke:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/business/media/coke-tv-ads-confront-obesity-and-sodas-role.html?ref=cocacolacompany&_r=0

http://www.upworthy.com/the-brutally-honest-coca-cola-commercial-youll-never-see-on-the-air?g=2&c=tkp1

Reference for Image:

https://www.google.com/search?q=business+ethics&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=gPcxUrmBGOfkiAL2wYHQBw&ved=0CGIQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=512&dpr=1#q=business+ethics+coke