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Social Networking sites are growing exponentially. This implies that social media is essential technology which allows businesses to collect customers. The relatively low cost on social media marketing allows many small businesses to promote their business in a cost efficient ways. Moreover, the growth has also caught the attention of big companies such as Pepsi Cola.
Social media is the future major platform for companies in promoting their products. Companies are taking a new approach in marketing where companies no longer selling their business but to creating connections through communities. Technology allows companies to target potential customers. For example, companies could create facebook advertisement and chooses the criteria (e.g. geography and age) of targeting audiences. The word-of-mouth marketing is a special feature of social media marketing. To ensure effective social media marketing, businesses should frame their story in an understandable way. Also, it is recommended that the business should engage in social network marketing on a daily basis.

Reference: Social Media Marketing

The Indian prime minister has approved the proposal of allowing foreign companies to hold 51% stakes in supermarket chains in India. However, the move is considered as deeply controversial. As India has committed to economic self-reliance for decades, the ambiguity created by the big change has caused fears among local retailers. Critics say it would mean lower price paid to farmers and huge job losses.

On the other hand, the presence of global giants such as Wal-mart and Carrefour would increase competition in the market and hence bring down soaring food prices. The foreign direct investment brought by theses multinational companies can be considered beneficial to the India’s economy. Although India had been experiencing a high economic growth, India’s poor infrastructure has always been commented as a constraint of the further growth in the economy. The massive investment used in enhancing the distribution network could boost the economy. The problem of job losses may not be significant as the unemployed could be absorbed in the market with the presence of these multinational supermarkets. Also, there has been evidence of multinationals engage in joint venture with local partners. For example, Tesco linked up with the retail arm of India’s Tata conglomerate three years ago and has opened opened 13 “Star Bazaar” hypermarkets.

Reference: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/24/india-allow-foreign-supermarkets-stores

In Johnson Kim’s blog, he mentioned that neuroscience could be added to the   three pillars of marketing: the cultural, social and personal factors. Neuroscientists tell us about a very powerful centre in our brain called the passion centre. Marketing managers should consider of creating campaign which strokes the passion centre.  

With overloading information nowadays, we encounter a lot of advertisement every day. Hence, when creating an advertisement, the kind of stimulation which the advertisement creates can ensure a long memory of viewers. The psychological needs of potential customers have always been considered before a product is launched and being promoted. Now the scientific research is a good evidence to back up the behavior of customers preferences. Neuroscientists claim that they could use technology to measure emotions of people. This addresses the difficulty in evaluating effectiveness of an advertisement due to various variables which contributes to the demand of a product. With current technology, viewer engagement on advertisements can be measured by webcams. All in all our daily activities are controlled by our brain, Neuroscience is proved to be a new strong pillar in marketing.

Video shoing how technologies used to measure emotions:

http://youtu.be/1dmqR1X0TZA

Due to globalization, the carbon emission has been increasingly tremendously. To curb the problem of high emission of carbon dioxide in the transportation process, environmentalists have been encouraging companies to sell more locals food. However, it would be difficult for companies to implement this strategy in servie oriented countries.

 Referring to Andrew Winston’s blog post, just moving away from meat for one day a week is more effective than buying everything you eat locally. Data has shown that 83% of the average U.S. household’s carbon footprint for food comes from growing and producing it. This suggests why the global call for “Meatless Mondays” is gaining steam.

In my opinion, both companies and household should involve in tackling climate change to ensure effectiveness. Hence, carbon footprint of companies in the primary industry should be tightly monitored by the government. Companies having significant contribution on reduction in carbon emission should be recognized. It is of paramount importance for companies to take up Corporate Social responsibility to allow the country to achieve a high long term economic growth. On the other hand, promotion on the idea of sustainability is required to educate household to support products produced in a “sustainable way”.

Meat Free Mondays

In general, there are two types of organizational structure: Centralized, Decentralized. A centralized can be characterized by decisions taken by the senior level and central level; a decentralized structure can be defined as a structure where decisions taken by lower level.

An example of a decentralised structure is Tesco the UK supermarket chain. Each store of Tesco has a store manager who can make certain decisions concerning their store. The store manager is responsible to a regional manager.

Decision making is a form of empowerment. Empowerment can be defined as giving the employees the responsibility of what they do. Empowerment can increase motivation and hence increase the labour output. Empowerment makes it easier for people to accept and make a success of more responsibility.

However, in some industry such as the banking industry, many financial information and client information are confidential. A centralized structure can ensure a lower risk of leakage of confidential information. In addition, a centralized structure allows a faster, easier to undertake organization-wide activities.

http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/research/publications/wp/igovernment/documents/igov_wp07.pdf

In Rachel Lee’s blog, she explores the complexity of the supply chain of Apple. She mentioned that Apple outsources to small factories largely located in China. This allow Apple to cut cost significantly as labour costs in China are lower. Report indicates poor environmental and labour conditions both in factories and their surrounding areas. In order to develop a good image of being an environmental friendly company, Apple should start tackling the pollution problems they have created rather than being secretive about their supply chains.

 On the other hand, the complex supply chain has also created a barrier for Apple to monitor the pollution level during the production process. To ensure a stable and low cost supply of components, Apple order components from many different vendors such as Samsung and Toshiba. It is not difficult to understand Apple’s approach after witnessing the devastating effect that the Japan earthquake had brought to the global supply chain. However, it is difficult to trace the whether or not the suppliers had fulfilled Apple’s supplier code of conduct.

Many companies could include social objectives in its missions, but social enterprises are distinctive because their social main objective of their businesses. Their profits are reinvested in activities according to their social goals.

 Jamie Oliver has a big ambition of bringing a food revolution: saving American’s health by changing their way of eating. Five years on, James Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen is turning over £4m a year and has successfully opened three other branches – in Cornwall, Melbourne and Amsterdam. Being a social enterprise, their aim is to make a social impact for having all our profits go back to the registered charity (Fifteen Foundation).
Every year, each restaurant takes on unemployed and under-qualified young people and trains them to become qualified chefs through a unique Apprentice Programme.

 Their charity objective has added value to the company’s brand. The foundation focuses on training young people to love and respect food. Their approach of training young people can allow a chance of unemployed to change their lives, as well as the others. Moreover, the social business can continue as the trained young people will be the pillar of the future society.

Nissan is definitely a company which should be considered being entrepreneurial. The Leaf (as a acronym for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car) is the new product of Nissan. CEO Carlos Ghosn’s stubborn insistence on investing in hybrid cars had been challenged by the skeptics, including Nissans employees. It is a challenge, admitted by the Ghosn.

Embracing Change

Having a deep knowledge of the emerging markets, Ghosn has been leading the Nissan into innovation. Possessing the awareness of environmental issues and the future social trends, he was determined to create new demand of the product. His ambition is clear from his statement – “I don’t want to make a niche market.”

Innovation and Risk go hand in hand.

Not only spending on the development of unproven all-electric technology, Nissan has overcome opposition from 350,000 employees. Running the risky business requires new forms of organization and communicating the company’s vision to the employees.

As a farseeing leader, Carlos Ghosn has been successfully leading the company going through changes in the company. Nissan was ranked fourth on The Worls’s Most Innovative Companies 2011.

Blackberry network failure has agitated users worldwide. The glitch affected email, messaging services and web browsing on the smartphones. Due to the breakdown of BBM messaging service, users are forced to send text message which comes with a cost.

Research In Motion’s offer to compensate its users affected by the BlackBerry network failure of the past week with $100 of free applications. To Blackberry, this tactic has a no distribution cost involved at all. This is probably the best thing to do to compensate the users rather than giving a mere apology. Some argue that the costly mistakes cannot be easily forgotten. However, strong rival companies have also encounter major problems such as signal problems before. After talking to friends who uses Blackberry, I realise that the good reputation Blackberry has built up for decades will not be easily destroyed if Blackberry can ensure the breakdown will not happen in a frequent pattern. To maintain its users’ confidence, RIM need to figure out the cause of the breakdown and creates a feedback system when the next problem encounter. The real crisis for RIM arises as its rival Apple has launched its “bbm”- iMessage. Apparently, it’s  time for Blackberry to create a newpoint of difference.

Labeling their coffee as fair trade in no doubt is a very shrewd PR tactics. In the highly competitive coffee market, consumers are not solely looking for the aroma of high quality coffee beans, but also the taste of ethics. Fairtrade sounds ethical as it guarantees a minimum price that tracks slightly above market rates, plus a “Fairtrade premium” that can be invested in projects that enhance social, economic and environmental development.

However, does selling fairtrade coffee itself makes an ethical company? Despite Startbucks’ strategy of converting all its espresso-based drinks in the UK and Ireland to Fairtrade, Starbucks comes bottom of Ethical Consumer’s rating table.

Ethics in the production also includes the treatment to their staffs. Starbucks has been criticized for improperly requiring the workers to share tips with their bosses. It is sarcastic that Starbucks express their concern towards poor farmers (under the fairtrade trademark) but on the other hand depicting their indifference towards the welfare of their low-wage workers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2011/feb/28/coffee-chains-ethical?commentpage=2#start-of-comments