Kiki Jiang's Blog

Reading has taken a turn as technology has made it possible to read without ever picking up a book. And its about to get a whole lot easier as Google’s Google Books project won the copyright’s fair use doctrine which means they are now able to “scan millions of books to build a book search engine”. Google’s goal is to make lives easier by providing access to a huge pool of books while also helping consumers discover unknown books.

Google is implementing this project as a way of expanding their business canvas model and increasing the revenue. Google Books will provide a new revenue stream for the company with new opportunities for advertising and partnership. Google, being the big search engine it is, has valuable data on what the consumers are searching regarding books. This will be valuable for bookstores, as they want to know what books readers are searching up. Google Books adds on to the every growing business of the digital market, as you don’t ever have to set foot in a library or touch a book again.

Lee, Timothy B. “Google Books Ruling Is a Huge Victory for Online Innovation.” The Washington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/14/google-books-ruling-is-a-huge-victory-for-online-innovation/>.

When my parents got my little brother a MacBook Pro for his 10^th birthday, I was furious. When I was his age, the coolest thing I had was a black and white knock off Gameboy that had one game on it. But the fact is, kids these days are exposed to technology at a young age and it’s no longer a luxury to have, but a necessity.

Jimmy Kimmel’s parody video on kids using iPads

The tablet market has expanded its customer base into the precious target market of children. Tablet manufacturers and App developers are looking for new ways to attract children for the upcoming holidays. Even companies like Toys R Us, who should probably be rename “Tablets R Us”, are selling children’s tablet as a way to increase profits this season. They’ve even cleared out a “tablet-testing area” in their stores for kids to try up to 30 devices. This is a genius addition to new customer segments with room to grow. Soon enough, they’ll even come up with an app on how to raise your kids.

iPotty, is a portable potty that has an iPad holder

“New Potty Training Chair Sounds Terrible for the Whole Family (VIDEO).” The Stir. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/149363/new_potty_training_chair_sounds>.

Bhattarai, Abha. “Could Kid Tablets Be a Bright Spot for Retailers.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/could-kid-friendly-tablets-be-a-bright-spot-for-retailers-in-a-tough-holiday-season/2013/11/14/ae4f5078-4339-11e3-a751-f032898f2dbc_story.html>.

WestJet

WestJet has announced plans to expand flights into Europe but the destination the company is heading might not be the right path. In Chris Sorensen’s business blog, he describes WestJet’s plans to implement premium economy seating, which means WestJet will need bigger wide-body aircrafts. Even though expansion and premium seating seem like a good idea, and make are “big money makers on overseas flights”, it may ultimately cause them to loose a lot of their customers.

WestJet’s business model and competitive advantage is flights at a discounted cost. According to Porter’s generic strategies, WestJet current falls under low cost focus strategy. They have an all economy class seating system in a single type of plane to lower their costs, which is a system that has brought them success. It seems though now WestJet is trying to find ways to increase profit, and the way they are going at it is contradicting their original business model. WestJet’s customers who were originally attracted by the low prices will be turned off by the direction the company is heading.

“Business Blog.” Macleansca WestJet Bound for Europe Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. <http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/11/15/westjet-bound-for-europe/>.

In a blog post by Nick Haggerty, he expresses the “insane mistake” Marissa Mayer, president and CEO of Yahoo is making by placing her employees on a bell curve in attempts of increasing motivation. It may seem ludicrous that anyone would even think it’s a good idea to put employees against each other and threaten them with their jobs, yet this insanity happens more than you think.

Meg Whitman, CEO of HP

HP CEO Meg Whitman has been laying off employees simply to cut cost and “reinvest in research, development and innovation”. The employee’s that are laid off are not chosen based on skill, but at random. The company has fired 27,700 people from its workforce and plans to cut 29,000 more. There is no sense of job security, job satisfaction or organizational culture. But these damages can’t all be blamed on Whitman. HP’s previous CEO, Mark Hurd’s cost cutting measures were making “employees work from home and pay for their own Internet service, office phones, and other equipment.” There are no intrinsic motivators, making it easy for employees to quit and find better jobs, thus explaining a high turnover rate.

Instead of investing in “innovation”, what HP really needs to invest in is some common sense.

“The 7 Biggest Ways Meg Whitman Is Struggling At HP.” Business Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-7-ways-meg-whitman-is-failing-at-hp-2012-5?op=1>.

“HP Has Chopped 22,700 Employees From Its Workforce Since Last Year.” Business Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.businessinsider.com/hp-cut-22700-jobs-2013-9>.

“Nick Haggerty’s Business Blog.” Nick Haggertys Business Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/nickhaggerty/2013/11/14/yahoo-for-bell-curves-not/>.

Canada has always been increasingly influenced by the American culture, and some may say that they are taking over our markets. From TV shows to music, they’re dominating almost every industry, even beating us at our own sport, hockey.

According to Porter’s Five Forces, a low barrier to entry makes it easy for substitutes to enter the market. And since buyers are powerful in the industry of retail, it is easy for them switch between substitutes, looking for the best deal possible. Metro Inc, Canada’s No.3 grocery store has been hit hard by the gruesome competition of U.S retailers that have been increasing in our home market. Target has stormed into the Canadian market this year, with “plans to have 124 Canadian stores by the end of the year”, and “hopes of growth over the next five years”. However, Metro is planning a comeback with plans to invest $250 million and converting half a dozen of their stores into Food Basics discount outlets. Sounds a lot like Costco if you ask me. Metro is confident that these measures, along with “efficient merchandising strategies” will bring them out of the gutter. Hopefully their fate will be better than of those still waiting for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanely Cup.

Metro Store

“Metro’s Profit Falls as Competition Intensifies from U.S. RetailersAdd to …” The Globe and Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/metros-profit-falls-as-competition-intensifies-from-us-retailers/article15410066/>.

“Romania-Insider.com.” RomaniaInsidercom. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.romania-insider.com/with-new-store-in-bucharest-metro-cash-carry-reaches-eur-500-mln-investments-in-romania/>.

Wild Fusion’s website

As Jeff Kroeker once said: the money in your business is your oxygen. You may have the best business out there, but without your oxygen, you will not survive. Starting a new business is hard, especially in the competitive society. But starting a digital marketing firm in Africa, with “only 16% of Africa’s one billion people” using the Internet, may seem like all the odds are against them. However, that didn’t stop Abasiama Idaresit to start his own digital marketing firm just 3 years ago in the bustling economic capital of Nigeria. He thought he had everything he needed: the idea, the competitive advantage in a slim market, and the drive. The only thing he needed which happens to be the most important, is his oxygen. Enable to get oxygen, he needed to hire the best talent to make a viable product. But to achieve that, he needed money. He went 8 months desperately trying to find oxygen, and at one point he “wondered if it was worth it.”

Flash forward to today and Idaresit’s firm, Wild Fusion is now a partner with Google Adwords with a value of $20 million. As Chelsea Maguddayao said in her blog post, “he saw an opportunity,” “took the risk and was rewarded with success”. Idaresit took a risk with his idea and through his hard work and determination, he was rewarded with success.

“Wild Fusion | Africa’s Leading Digital Agency in Ghana, Kenya & Nigeria.” Wild Fusion | Africa’s Leading Digital Agency in Ghana, Kenya & Nigeria. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.wildfusions.com/>.

“Some African Tech Startups Thrive despite the OddsAdd to …” The Globe and Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/african-and-mideast-business/african-tech-startups-held-back-by-lower-internet-penetration-scarcity-of-early-stage-capital/article15424220/>.

“A Budding Local Entrepreneur.” Chelseas Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/chelseamaguddayao/>.

Currently, Twitter has a wide user base of over 550 million active users online. Their projected revenue for 2013 is expected at $582 million, compared to last year’s $317 million. However, this little blue bird is looking to fly a lot higher. They are looking to broaden their market as they expand on the relatively small niche of digital advertising campaigns. TV ads allow them to diversify its revenue stream, which will attract potential investors.  “Ad revenues shot up 247% last year”, and will continue to increase the new social activity in TV programming. A 24% increase means 19 million people tweet about TV shows, while the Twitter TV audience for an average episode is 50 times that amount. Twitter is planning on making their entrance into the TV market smooth and gradual. Twitter only gets 1% revenue of TV deals for the first transitional year into the market, with deals expected to increase after that.

Twitter has become another way of communicating; another way for people to express their thoughts and share their ideas. In a society with constant new information, twitter is a safe heaven for those who wanting to voice their opinion. The need to express must be fulfilled, which means that twitter will have a long road ahead of them.

“The Vancouver Sun.” Www.vancouversun.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. <http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/personal-tech/Twitter plays card jolt revenue/9007071/story.html>.

As Samsung’s new release of the Galaxy Gear smartwatch hits stores Oct. 4, people are questioning whether it will be a hit or miss in the blooming market of wearable technology.

Samsung’s Galaxy Gear is a smartwatch that has the basic functions of a phone, made convenient to wear on your wrist. Comparisons are already being made between Samsung’s Gear and the hugely popular Pebble smartwatch. At first glance these two watches may be quite similar, their functions will beg to differ.

While the Galaxy has segmented their target to only Samsung users, Pebble’s wide target market can range from iPhone to Android users. The Gear and Pebble can perform similar tasks, from reading a text message to sending an email. The biggest difference between the two is the Gear’s touchscreen feature, camera, and phone calls, but on the other hand, Pebble has an impressive 7-day battery (compared to Gear’s 24 hours) and up to 5ATM waterproof.The Gear is a hefty $300 while the pebble will perform basically the same tasks at just half the price.

The battle between the Gear and Pebble is on and in my opinion, Pebble has the better brand positioning and a larger target market that will allow them to reach out to more consumers. This huge setback for the Gear could possibly send the product back to the drawing board.

Samsung Galaxy Gear

Pebble Smartwatch

“The Vancouver Sun.” Www.vancouversun.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. <http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/personal-tech/Samsung%20Galaxy%20Gear%20Canada%20Pebble%20smartwatch/8998169/story.html>.

https://getpebble.com/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=bufferf38af&utm_medium=twitter

BlackBerry Z30

As the launch of the Iphone 5s in mid September became a huge success, Blackberry will once again be over shadowed and fall one step behind Apple. However, BlackBerry says its latest Z30 touchscreen smartphone will be available in stores starting October 15. Will launch of the new phone have the available to potentially save BlackBerry?

BlackBerry’s Z30 is the last strand of hope for the company. With such great points of parity as other smartphones in the smartphone industry, BlackBerry fails to include their most compelling point of difference-which is the keyboard. Many BlackBerry users are committed to the keyboard and prefer BlackBerrys over other smartphones for this very reason. With their newest smartphones being a touchscreen, Blackberry loses that comparative advantage over the other brands. Furthermore, with multiple substitutes leading in the touchscreen category, consumers will prefer the brands like Apple who are famous for their touchscreens.

BlackBerry’s earlier attempt to relive the brand with the Z10 touchscreen failed and it seems like they will once fail again.The BlackBerry Z30 may possibly be the company’s last phone.

“The Vancouver Sun.” Www.vancouversun.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. <http://www.vancouversun.com/business/bc2035/BlackBerry struggles sets date latest device Canada/8993649/story.html>.

The cosmetic industries have been blooming for the past decade, especially sky rocketing in the past 8 years.  And for the past 30 years, the fight against animal testing for cosmetics has been an on going struggle. However, with more people using cosmetics, the fight is finally seeing a victory. Or so it seems.

If you walk into a makeup department, you should be able to tell from the packaging whether the makeup you want to purchase is cruelty free. What many people don’t know is that “lots of major cosmetic brands are failing to inform consumers that their beauty products are tested on animals”.  The twist is that their beauty products were tested in china and exported to different countries. Also, if cosmetics companies want to break into the Chinese market, it’s in fact mandatory for your products to be tested on animals. If the value of expanding and profiting outweighs the value of animal rights, a company may justify their actions on deceiving the public. But once news gets out of these unethical actions, the damage to the company’s reputation could be irreparable. Consumers started to blacklist the companies when news of this surfaced. A makeup hoarder such as myself, cosmetics companies that still unnecessarily exploit animals and then deceit the customers will get the cold shoulder in my books.

Lush’s Fight Against Animal Testing Movement