Nicole Dee’s article Coca-Cola Far from Bearish in Regards to the Value of Sustainability talks about Coke‘s new Artic Home campaign, in which all their iconic red cans have been turned white in order to raise awareness in protecting polar bears’ homes. Nicole mentions that she is struck by Kaite Bayne’s (Coke’s president of sparkling beverages) claim that iconic brands SHOULD raise awareness, but I for one completely agree with this statement. Iconic brands are like famous people, they are known by all and have a certain reputation to keep up. It’s hard for people to ignore a campaign from a brand so big, which gives them a lot of control and opportunity to raise awareness, so why not take advantage. My problem with Coke’s new campaign  is that it highly benefits them, which wouldn’t be a problem if the polar bears were also highly being benefited, except for that the amount of money Coke is donating to the cause is very weak. Coke is donating only $2 million to WWF (World Wildlife Fund) over a five year period (pocket change for a company that makes a profit of over $6.8 billion a  year) and in return they get great branding, higher sales and the reputation that they are being sustainable. Coke is clearly getting a lot more out of this campaign than just helping the polar bears, which seems a little selfish to me.

In Xin Tian Han’s blog, Is Real Estate a Good Investment, Xin Tian argues that real estate is most definitely not a good investment as the market is very unstable. I agree with her argument to an extent, as it is true that the real estate market is unstable, but this may be the very reason why it could be a good investment. If a person is knowledgeable in investing in real estate, they could potentially make a lot of money. This is comparable to buying shares in a stock market, if you are familiar with the details of different stocks, you could gain a good return for your investment. With either example, there is always a risk. It is hard to predict how the market will change, and how suddenly it can do so. The positive outlook on this is that if you know how to invest properly and when to do so, the investor could end up with a very sizable profit when the market does shoot up. As of right now, investing in Canadian real estate is beneficial as the market and value of houses is slowly going up as our economy gets better, whereas I would recommend staying away from the US’ declining economy and real estate market.

With nothing more than a stick of butter, vanilla and chocolate chips, Debbi Fields became an entrepreneur and created Mrs. Fields Cookies. In 1977, she decided to open a cookie shop. By midday on opening day, when no sales had been made, Debbi started handing out free cookies to passersby. As we learned from Joel Primus, when developing a product, we must try and show customers what they like. Once Debbi’s customers tasted her cookies, they liked them so much that they kept coming back to her store. Debbi’s greatest priority was customer service, which we’ve learned is crucial in a business, and as we can see clearly helped the success of Mrs. Field’s Cookies. As Joel also told us, a brand is not just a name, it’s a feeling, “I’ve never felt like I was in the cookie business. I’ve always been in a feel good feeling business. My job is to sell joy. My job is to sell happiness. My job is to sell an experience,” said Debbi Fields. Only a few years later did Debbi sell the company for over $450 millon, a true example of the speed and amount of wealth creation.

Although trying to build a million dollar company from homemade cookies seems risky, Mrs. Fields accomplished a perfectly successful entrepreneurship. She took her customer base into account and really believed in what she was doing by dedicating herself to her company.

Buying stocks can sometimes be very risky, so blogger Scott Rothbort from The Globe and Mail has provided a list of the top five high-quality, low risk U.S. stocks. In his criteria, he has included:

• earnings-per-share revisions greater than the Standard & Poor 500 over the month of November (“heart of earnings season”)
• price-to-earnings ratio less than that of the S&P 500
• S&P’s credit rating of Better Business Bureau (or better)
• dividend yield greater than 2.2% (the S&P 500 dividend yield)

Rothbort used the Bloomberg Professional Service to find results based on that criteria and found 14 different stocks. He then redefined his search by excluding stocks from financial companies because of their poor track record and unreliability. Rothbort finished off his search by carefully going through the data to check their accuracy, which left him with 5 companies following the proper criteria for his search. These companies included:

Intel (semiconductor manufacturer)

Norfolk Southern (commercial railroad company)

Time Warner (media content provider)

General Dynamics (global aerospace and defense contractor)

Hubbell (global manufacturer and districutor of electrical and electronic products)

The kind of information provided in this blog is useful for those who like to invest, but are cautious of how risky it can be, as well as for those who are not as confident in the investment market. I would only recommend that the blogger included returns for each company, as that is an important investing characteristic for people to know about.

Keek: Like Twitter, but Video

By Mark Evans

The social networking is a strong, but competitive marketplace, in which the barriers to entry are very high. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped Keek from trying to get a foot in the networking door. Keek, a toronto based company, can be described as twitter for video, where one can post a 36-second video clip captured with a webcam or from you camera phone. (POP) Keek is designed to be the fastest way to create and upload video status updates, (POD) which can be shared on Keek’s network as well as many other social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Keek aims to target a market that craves more than telling their story through words. Video will help those who want to show moments of their lives and take a look into the lives of others, Keek’s mission being to, “enable a global community to see through each other’s eyes.” (Isaac Raichyk, founder of Keek)

Keek seems to be heading in the right direction by working with facebook and twitter, as this will help with brand building. It may take a while though to develop a stable network as most user traction comes from word of mouth, so Keek must create a great user experience and value proposition so users will want to tell their friends and others around the world.

Example Uploaded Video from Keek

McDonald’s To Launch In-Store Channel

by Greg Braxton and Joe Flint

McDonald‘s is introducing something new, and no it isn’t a new deluxe burger. The global fast-food chain is using a strategy to create a way to speak directly to customers in an environment that is not cluttered with other media and what better way to get customers to hear you out than to launch a McDonald’s television channel. McTv will include entertainment features, local news and reality tv shows and will be tested in L.A, Las Vegas and San Diego (IT Experimentation) expecting to reach 18 million to 20 million people a month. If the project is successful, it may expand nationwide. The dining areas in McDonald’s restaurants will be equipped with two televisions that can be seen from 70% of eating areas, with audio coming from the screen or ceiling speakers. Customers that do not want to see or hear the channel will be able to sit in a “quiet zone.” McDonald’s hopes that customers will now have a reason to spend more time with family and friends in their restaurant than just treating it as a place to “grab a quick bite.”

Wherever you go, McDonald’s will follow and as if eating in their restaurant isn’t enough, they must trap you into the ultimate MickeyDee’s experience, “While they’re in line getting their hamburger there is no escape,” said Allen Adamson, from Landor Associates, a firm that specializes in brand building. I think McDonald’s is pushing their brand a little too much with McTv, but in the world of business, it just might work.

iPod Creators Unveil Nest, the Smartest (and Prettiest) Thermostat Yet

by Devindra Hardawar

As learned in Tuesday’s lecture, space heating and cooling in British Columbia accounts for 16.6% of GHG Household emissions (second largest cause for emissions after cars and trucks). With the help of Apple’s former lead engineer (Matthew Rogers) and senior VP of iPod (Tony Fadell), houses all over the world can stop using unnecessary energy. The Nest is a highly technological thermostat that can learn your heating preferences and modify your home’s temperature to save energy, promoting sustainability. Within a week, the Nest will be able to automatically adjust the home’s temperature by learning your heating routine. Sensors are built into the Nest to track such things as temperature, motion, humidity and natural lighting. Instead of relying on a time schedule like other thermostats (POD), the sensors can determine when you’re home. Not only does the company help keep home’s more sustainable, but by using the Nest, you can save around $173 a year in heating costs.

I think the Nest is a great way to start reducing your carbon footprint. Sometimes being more sustainable means spending more money on goods that are better for the environment, but in this case, the Nest pays for itself by all the money saved annually on heating costs. This will help people realize how much they overuse certain resources.

The Black-out Berry by Michael Babad

Almost a year ago Steve Jobs stated that Apple was, “out to win this one,” officially declaring war on the blackberry and today, it seems like Apple is winning. Apple seems to be doing better than Research In Motion (RIM) (the company behind blackberry) who’s share in the market has fallen to 7.1 percent of mobile subscribers, compared to Apples 10 percent. On top of this, RIM’s quarterly results disappointed investors, their PlayBook launch was somewhat of a failure, and some are beginning to question the company’s management structure. What terrible timing for Blackberry’s email, BBM and Internet services to fail, taking RIM three days this week to get those services up and running again. The consequences involved a few million outraged Blackberry users, along with the term, “Blackout-Berry” being dubbed and a few humiliating jokes made, “RIM holds three days of silence in honour of Steve Jobs.” RIM is usually known for its reliability, but many believe that, “the problems for RIM are just the beginning.”

When blackberry’s systems are crashing, it isn’t easy for the company to try and convince consumers to buy their new phones or even stay with the company, especially when Apple has new, improved products coming out. One of the biggest reasons I am a blackberry user is because of BBM (point of difference), and if those services aren’t working, I’m ready to jump on the iPhone train. (buyer power)

Author’s Comment: “Still, if I were Steve Jobs I just might be LMAO in Heaven today*.”

*ps. the article’s author is very humorous, consider him for your future articles.

This Bud’s for You

By Clementine Fletcher

The land of the free is coming to Brazil. Anheuser-Beusch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, is bringing Budweiser to the country with the world’s third largest beer market in hopes that it can turn Bud global. “The plan is to sell the American Dream in a bottle,” says Chris Burrgraeve, the chief marketing officer for AB InBev. In order to enforce the dream, the company has used tactics to introduce Budweiser by setting up promotions at concerts, hiring influential Brazilians to raise awareness of Bud and sponsoring the World Cup soccer finals taking place in Brazil in 2014. If Bud is successful in Brazil, it could help the company develop quicker in a new market. There are mixed feelings towards the outcome of Budweiser as a global brand. On one hand, Burrgraeve thinks it might be tough for beer to gain the same attention as other products since beer drinkers tend to be loyal to their local brews. On the other hand he thinks that Bud’s American roots could potentially be a reason it could become a big brand (points of difference), stating that, “Many brazilians have never been abroad, we’re bringing abroad to them.” (strategy)

I think that although it will take a great deal of money and effort, over time Budweiser could become a popular international beer. Many consumers are interested in “foreign” cultures and products. The company needs to develop a good team, with representatives from each country, each working on Bud brand recognition.

Walmart Canada will be ready for Target

by Allison Martell

Although a new threat for Wal-mart will arise from Target‘s plan to open stores in Canada, the world’s largest retailer does not seem worried. In an interview with Reuters, Wal-mart’s Chief Executive David Cheesewright stated that the company would not be making any big tactical changes to deal with Target’s arrival, as for them it’s not a matter of high importance or high urgency. Instead, Wal-mart will continue to expand their superstores and open new stores. The company already has more than 300 stores nationwide, more than double the amount that Target plans to open. Cheesewright explains that consumer confidence has been down for a few years now, and with the economy at a down point, consumers are more focused on value from their products. “Its tough, but stable,” says Cheeswright. This may not be enough for Wal-mart, as Target’s discounted retailing presence might force them to have to drop their prices. Cheesewright mentions that Wal-mart is prideful on it’s green initiatives (such as reduced packaging – sustainability), which not many other companies have.(POD)

This is a positive thing for Wal-mart, but it may not change a customers mind when considering which retailer to go to. Wal-mart does have a head start by entering Canada first, encouraging brand recognition, but many consumer’s want lower prices and if Wal-Mart can’t offer that, they may see their customers heading over to Target (threat of substitute). Wal-mart seems to think they have everything under control, but they may want to start seriously thinking about how to beat the competition.