Month: November 2011

Four NBA players which include LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul “will be hitting the road next month for a four-game exhibition tour dubbed the Google+ Homecoming Tour.” There will be live streaming of the games through “the tour’s Google+ page.” Matt Lundy’s blog describes the marketing strategy for Google+ and also explains how Google+ will try and attract more users through this  “Google+ Homecoming Tour.”

I agree with Matt Lundy when he says “it seems like a good marketing poly: work with high-profile people, then leverage those relationships into better consumer traction.” This will be a great way to target more users who wants to live stream the games that will be on Google+ and to do so, they will have to join Google+. Google+ is targeting “high-profile people and brands” to use theirs pages and if they can, they would like to “offer stronger live streaming features than Facebook,” which would give Google+ one more advantage over Facebook.

View Matt’s blog here: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blog/tech/58419–google-plus-unlikely-winners-in-the-nba-lockout

Michelle Cheung has an interesting blog post titled “To be the world’s leading sports and fitness company” that is linked to our class on entrepreneurship. I agree with her opinion when she explains why Nike is an entrepreneurial company. Already having a strong brand image, Nike continues to add new products to expand its market. I believe that Nikes consideration to “reduce waste consumption” and promote its new sustainable line is a great way to attract today’s market since a lot of people are working hard in making the environment more sustainable. For Nike to continue “to be the world’s leading sports and fitness company,” it will need to focus on the current market trend and continue on making changes to keep the brand recognition high.

In 2004, Hampton Hotels designed an alarm clock. It wasn’t a fancy alarm clock, but after reviewing 130 clock radios, Hampton decided to create an easy to use alarm and a no-fuss MP3 jack. This clock was a hit, and soon the entire Hilton Hotels adopted similar gadgets.

The clock is a symbol of the spirit that Hampton embodies. This simple gadget is not trying to chase high-end hotels, but instead offer what customers need directly- “even if that means building a new radio.”

Not only was the radio an upgrade, but the company included a free hot breakfast (to-go option as well), free high-speed Internet available in every room, and other little touches such as a curved shower curtain rod. These little creations “bumped Hampton into the top spot as a value leader for mid-priced hotels.”

Hampton Hotels exhibits many characteristics of an entrepreneurial company. The company brought in innovation by adding new products that were in high demand, even though they were very simple. The company’s main goal was to fulfill the needs of customers and bring in “new products, new production methods, new markets and new forms of organization.”

Links: http://www.quickmba.com/entre/definition/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40609744/ns/business-small_business/t/what-makes-hampton-hotels-success/#.TruI7kOAqU8

Running 273 stores casually, the CEO of discounter Zellers Inc. (Mark Foote) will be in the midst of Canada’s largest retail liquidation preparing for the most of the stores’ takeovers by Target. In January, Target unveiled its $1.8-billion deal to buy most of Zellers leases and convert them into Target. It was hard for Mr. Foote to keep these outlets running since he knew the end was near. Zellers will provide a different case study to reach shoppers in a new way, including an interactive holiday Facebook campaign.

Mr. Foote, who arrived in 2008, was showing signs of progress for Zellers with estimated annual sales of roughly $4-billion, but for years it has been losing grounds. He is tackling a great challenge and is slashing costs and ramping up inventory levels. This strategy of keeping Zellers profitable will not be easy.

One strategy includes Mr. Foote adding fresh produce to five stores in the city as we read in the article, “Zellers Gets Fresh.” Adding food is a great strategy because “food is a big part of how we get traffic into the store,” Mr. Foote said. This strategy has already been used by a Zeller’s competitor, Wal-Mart.

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/zellers-ceo-rewrites-the-book-on-liquidation/article2220296/