Legalizing in sale of marijuana for recreational use will create new investment trend
Reuters) – Colorado and Washington became the first U.S. states to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use on Tuesday in defiance of federal law, setting the stage for a possible showdown with the Obama administration.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/07/us-usa-marijuana-legalization-idUSBRE8A602D20121107
This is a controversial issue under discussed . An reports shows that in Colorado state in 2010, the revenue of selling marijuana is 18million dollars which created jobs for 4200 unemployed persons. This new policy will also benefits the government in tax revenue. For people who against legalizing the marijuana for recreational use indicates that it may leads more under- age children addicted to marijuana. However , the fact is that the stock which related to marijuana was rised between 64% to 300% while other industries continuing to struggle in american stock market after the american presidential election. Obviously, a majority of people focus on the financial benefits rather than social ethic effects. I think there wil be more states legalizing the sale of marijuana for recreational use in the future, this is the new sources of american economic growth.
What is branding?
Brands are everywhere in our life. I used to think brand is a logo , a corporate identity. After took the class and read some related readings,i have some new understanding about “branding”. Branding was used for cattle initially; it is a stamp of ownership. Later, brands are burned on wooden cases, a guarantee of good source and good quality.
Now, brands are big business. For example, coca-cola, the most popular and biggest-selling soft drink in history,as well as the best-know product in the world. However, there are only 9 bottles of coke were sold 1886 and now the brand of coca-cola was valued at $70,452,000,000. Therefore It is a essential market strategy for a company. A successful brand can bring a set of unique values and usually achieve following objectives:
- Delivers clear message to customers
- Reinforces customer loyalty
- Confirms credibility
- Connects potential target
- Motivates the customers
Brands can take a company and consumers to new places. Brand can also be used as a verb, such as “google it” and “skype your family” and it is remarkable.
source link ：http://www.virtualvender.coca-cola.com/ft/index.jsp
TOMS and social entrepreneurs
Toms shoes has been rated the America’s most promising social entrepreneurs. The company was famous for its one-to-model ,which means ,for every pair of TOMS sold, the company donates a pair to a child in need. Since its launch, the company has denoted over 115,000 pairs of shoes to children in need all over the world.
when we talked about social entrepreneur, it connect the concept of business ethics in my mind. The company want to make money and also take social responsibility just like TOMS. This is the optimistic way in operating business. TOMS has earned an estimated 4.6 million since its launch. In this case, i think their one-to-one model is also a successful marketing strategy. It will stimulate consumption because consumers feel that they are helping people through the purchasing. TOMS has built a successful model which combined profit and social responsibility and also a positive corporate image and its meaningful in the long run development of the company (i.e., They also use one- for-one product with Tom glasses).
source link: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0403_social_entrepreneurs/26.htm
Respond to the post:Luxury fashion companies are having a slowing growth in China
In the original blog, Cristine indicates that while some luxury fashion companies ,such as Burberry and Tiffiany&Co.,are both having a slowing growth in china, sales of Prada still increasing.
By comparing Burberry and Prada,the author suggested that the different brand positioning made their profit growth, Prada is more diversify than Burberry.
I have some different opinions about this problem. I think the reason of this situation is mainly due to the regional price difference. To be more specific , the selling price of Burberry’s products have large difference in china and in some other countries ,such as the U.K. and the U.S. and the same as Tiffiany. The products were sold much cheaper in America than in China because China has high import tax, especially for luxury goods. Therefore,those luxury fans in China are more willing to buy stuff through Internet (i.e.,buy goods from America or other countries.) .However , the situation is a kind of different about Prada. First of all, there are many categories in Prada’s product and the big difference in price ,which means Prada may have more target consumers. Then , the regional difference in price is not that large for Prada. In this case, China is a large potential market for Prada.
original blog link: https://blogs.ubc.ca/cristineli/2012/09/24/luxury-fashion-companies-are-having-a-slowing-growth-in-china/
Vertu – luxury phone produced by Nokia
It seems that Iphone defeated Nokia which used to be the king in mobile market. While the marketshare of Nokia decreasing, their luxury division Vertu, continues to succeed.
According to Businessweek, Vertu has seen “high double-digit sales growth” since the beginning of 2010. While Nokia cut 7,000 employees to reduce costs, Vertu’s staff increased by over 50 percent since 2009.
Why Vertu succeed ? Think about would you buy vertu if you had the money? Would you like to spend over $5000 dollars on a phone?
I think the success of Vertu is based on its target consumers, a small group of people. This group of people can creates huge value for the company. The phone is low-tec and most of them even don’t have camera. However, because it is made of rare materials and precious jewels. It is popular in status-conscious emerging market. Additionally, the brand seems separate from Nokia and i think it is good to do that. For these target consumers, exception and less is what they are chasing for.
Source:
Nokia’s Bright Spot: Luxury Handset Maker Vertu
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/nokias-bright-spot-luxury-handset-maker-vertu-09292011.html
Why Starbucks succeed in China?
Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks , announced that China will soon become its largest market outside the United States.
I was interested in this announcement of Starbucks.How can they get success in china? However,they do succeed in Chinese market.
There are two main difficulties in spreading a coffee brand in China.Firstly,Chinese people have the tea-drinking culture and secondly,the selling price is not general acceptable. However,there are also some advantages in China.Compared to some european countries, although their people have the tradition to drink coffee, the large amount of competitors also make Starbucks to survive because Starbucks isn’t a price-competitive brand. After doing some research,i found that they did some change on their products when they started in China . Starbucks developed flavors, such as green tea-flavored coffee drinks, that appeal to local tastes. Meanwhile, instead of reducing the price, they sell the coffee far more expensive in China than in US, this is called high-pricing strategy. They use the high price to stimulate the up-and -coming middle class purchasing as a luxury ,a symbol of status.This strategy works pretty well in China.
This case indicates that consumer behavior is directed towards to the positioning of a company.
perceptual mapping practice
In class 5 we talked about positioning of brand and perceptual map.I made a perceptual map about women cosmetics.
On my perceptual mapping , the two criteria i give are price and the chemical composition involved in the cosmetics,which I considered as the important factors when buying cosmetics personally. Consequently ,i divided those brand into four different categories.Sometime i feel difficult to juge the brand accurately in the level of price.However, the map still gives a clearly guide of making decision.
When I was doing the map,I realized that during the process ,the consumer already know the information of these brand.what they are doing is to make a list of these brands in their subjective order.That indicated that the positioning of a brand is very important.To think as a consumer, and how to let your brand on top of that ‘list’ when they making a decision.
Barclays scandal reflects the lack of business ethics
Source link: http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/20232/barclays-scandal-underscores-need-for-business-ethics
The news indicated the Barclays scandal. In June 2012, Barclays was found that changing Libor(i.e., London Interbank Offered Rate)to increase their bottom line. After that, some world-dominate banks were under suspicion of cheating the Libor system. Investors had scammed by those greed capitalists.
This issue reminded people to think of the business ethic. What is the most important thing in operating a business? The answer should obviously be the profit. However, a successful business involves several groups of people, such as the customers, employees and the shareholders. The entrepreneur has to consider of creating the mutual benefit for those participators. If the CEOs only want to maximize their own profits, the business won’t have great success. Just as the Barclays’ case, the corporation was cheating the investors for their own benefits; consequently, the corporation was fined hundreds of millions of dollars. However, the worst result is not about the fine, some of the investors will lose confidence about the company forever. It is really difficult for a company to rebuilt its brand and good reputation. Therefore, operating the business ethically and honestly is the right way for companies to survive in the long run.
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