Blog Post 10

Giving Consumers Something To Complain About

Businesses today are being attacked for “planned obsolescence” of their products, or in other words, causing their products to become outdated before they actually need replacement. Products are breaking before they should, just so you have to go buy the newer updated version of the product. Also, companies are being charged with perceived obsolescence. In this case, consumers are accusing companies of continually changing consumer concepts of acceptable styles to encourage consumers to buy the modernized version earlier than actually needed.

http://phys.org/news/2014-09-chinese-buyers-iphone-global-debut.html

One example of this is the ever-changing IPhone. It seems that once you are comfortable to the newest version of the IPhone, Apple comes out with a new software update or an entirely new phone. This makes your now old version of the IPhone seem… well, old. Consumers’ perspective on this is perceived obsolescence. However, think of this from the business perspective. If Apple stopped making newer models of the IPhone, then competing companies would come out with a newer and cooler phone. Consumers would then desire that phone over the outdated IPhone. Companies are constantly improving their products becau

se consumers want the latest high-tech innovations FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS.

https://fau4u2.wordpress.com/2014/06/01/big-news-apple-rumor-
final-roundup-13-apple-may-announce-the-iphone-6-at-wwdc-2014-event-june-2-2014-
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To address the accusation that for example, Apple plans on having their phones break so we buy the newer model IPhone. This is just simply not true because if they planned on having their products break then they would lose customers to competing brands. I, for one, do not take care of my IPhone. I have spent well over $500 on fixing broken screens, replacing the phone all together because of damage, etc. (which for the record is not something I am proud of). Just this past week, I spent $115 on a brand new screen after dropping it and my screen completely fell off. As I am on Amazon buying a new case, I happened to hit my newly fixed phone off my counter onto my nice tile floors. The 115 dollars lasted a solid 6 whole days before I shattered my screen. The IPhone as I learn the hard way is a high-tech piece of technology that cannot be thrown around, dropped, kicked, etc. How you treat your technology is a determinate for how long the piece of technology will last. By dropping the IPhone for example, you are rattling the insides and shaking technology that is not made to be. This will in turn cause the phone to have a shorter life span.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijustine/3025807213/

An example of this phenomenon is the contrary to my IPhone sob story. My Mother (Beth, she’s a great lady) has had the same IPhone for four years now and has never shattered or needed to get it replaced. (You can only imagine how the phone calls go when I tell her I broke my phone again.) She has a protective case and never drops her phone. The phone has never had issues, has never had a glitch and barley has a scratch on it. Her phone is lasting better against time compared to my phone because she takes care of her phone more than I do.

Companies do not plan on having their products become obeslete, they are constantly innovating their products and coming out with new models to please their customers. They are taking into consideration the feedback they get from consumers and putting that directly back into their products to please no one else but us. They are giving the consumers what they want and what do the consumers do in return? They either go out and buy the new product, or complain about how their phone is now outdated. You either make the customer happy or given them something to complain about.

Blog Post 9

Steve Howard: The Man Who is More Powerful Than a Wind Farm

This week I presented my TED talk. Steve Howard, who is the CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) at IKEA and a co-founder and CEO The Climate Group, gave the talk. His goal is to make sustainable products available for not only large corporations but for the masses. He started off his talk by naming 3 numbers, 3, 6 and 12.

http://blog.tradegecko.com/ikeas-inventory-management-strategy-ikea/

3. Represents the 3 BILLION people that will be rising out of poverty into the global middle class by 2030. With the 2 billion people already in this middle class, that makes the middle class of 2030 5 billion people. This is an issue because today we are faced with resource scarcity.

6. Represents 6% centigrade. That is the percentage we are heading towards in terms of global warming. The weird weather we are experiencing lately is due to changes of 1% warming. Therefore, a 6% change would drastically change our environment.

12. Represents the 12 world cities that in the beginning of the last century had 1 million or more people living in the city. Today, more than 500 world cities have populations greater than 1 million.

How does businesses respond to these powerful numbers?

       

                Howard explains how companies have to stop seeing sustainability as something nice SOME companies do, and make it a priority in their future business strategies.

This can become a reality if businesses stop viewing sustainability as a “nice-to-do” and more as a “must-have.” By going all in with sustainability in businesses, they are  taking full responsibility for the impacts of the supply chain.

                  Howard has gone all in with sustainability with IKEA. He has made sure that the entire supply chain of IKEA is sustainable by following a Code of Conduct they call, “IWay”. This code of conduct protects human rights and the total value chain promotes a better quality of life by specifying environmental and social requirements for sourcing and distributing. Howard goes on to say how businesspeople need clarity because when they have a clear goal they can get the job done and get it done right. Therefore businesses should make their businesses 100% sustainable, so there is no way around it. They are all in.

http://www.theclimategroup.org/what-we-do/news-and-blogs
/ikea-group-unveils-new-sustainability-strategy/

            Howard explains the importance of making day-to-day operations sustainable. He states how we will always have sun shining and wind blowing. Why not use this natural FREE resource to our advantage more often? Companies should invest in wind farms and solar panels for electricity. A costly endeavor, yes but one that is worth the investment. In 7 to 8 years solar panels pay for themselves. That means for businesses that they are receiving free electricity, a cost they do not need to pay for anymore. What does that means for the consumer? This means that the corporations will be able to lower their cost of production and therefore lower the cost of their products. This makes their sustainable products less expensive and consumers demand affordability in their products.

            This will cause a domino effect, the companies who go all in in terms of sustainability will gain more and more of the market share in their given industry. Eventually driving out less sustainable companies or forcing other competitors to also join the movement towards complete sustainability. For instance, Howard explained how raw materials such as cotton is a very dirty material because of pesticides and uses lots of water. By cutting the amount of water used and using fewer pesticides, they are able to lower the costs of farming. By lowering the production costs of farming they are able to make more of a profit. Farmers are rising out of poverty and are a part of the 3 billion people projected to enter the global middle class by 2030.

            There is no reason to wait, Howard claims that everyone should follow IKEA’s example and lead the change. Make sustainability a must do.

https://www.ted.com/talks/steve_howard_let_s_go_all_in_on_selling_sustainability#t-5520

Blog Post 8

Companies Who Save the World Own the World

In today’s business world, it is extremely difficult to get to ahead of competitors and more importantly continue to stay ahead of them and we, the consumers, are not making it any easier. We want quality items and services, at low prices, services and products to be technologically advanced and now communities are pushing to be environmentally friendly as well. These are tall orders to fill, especially the push towards companies becoming environmentally and socially responsible. This is known as sustainable marketing; social and environmentally responsible marketing that meet the present needs of consumers and businesses while also preserving the ability of future generations to meet their needs. This concept of becoming environmentally and socially sustainable to provide more for the future is becoming more widespread and is changing consumers buying habits.

            Here are two commercials for dish soap. The first commercial is for Dawn and the second commercial is for Palmolive. Both claim to have dish soap that is soft to the touch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysTFRcBqFpE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ZeJzUilgM

POP QUIZ:

1. After watching these two commercials which company are you most likely going to chose next time you are shopping at the grocery store?

            A) Dawn

            B) Dawn

            C) Palmolive

            D) A or B

If you picked C you do not have a heart and you also failed todays assignment, so go hit the library. Anyways, environmentally and socially responsible companies today have an advantage over other companies. Consumers will be more likely spend extra money on the brand that saves little ducklings from oil spills than on a different dish soap brand that is potentially cheaper but lets the cute ducklings have oil covered coats. Dawn uses the slogan, “Save on the brand that helps save lives”. What is more heart warming than saving a life by cleaning up after your ungrateful children who leave their dishes in the sink for the non-existent maid to clean? (I have heard a similar lecture once or twice before because I myself am an ungrateful child.)

           

Food corporations in particular are being pushed towards changing their recipes to being healthier or they are now providing healthier alternatives. At McDonalds fries can be substituted for apples, (for the record, this is the third blog post that I have mentioned McDonalds, that’s unhealthy) and everything has to have the nutritional facts posted about the product. Food corporations who are not socially responsible are quickly falling behind other responsible companies who have changed their ways to adapt to the needs and wants of their consumers.

Trader Joes and Whole Foods has become an increasingly popular grocery store in this day and age because the healthy options they provide. They are smaller stores and do not provide the variety that a Market Basket or Stop and Shop does but they provide a more concentrated selection of products. They also are significantly more expensive than other grocery stores they are competing with but they have something others do not. They have a vision of the future in mind for their customers, not the company. They want to provide the best for their customers and they hope that their customers return the favor by accepting the challenge of paying higher prices for higher quality foods.

Trader Joes Mission Statement:

“The mission of Trader Joe's is to give our customers the best food and beverage values that they can find anywhere and to provide them with the information required to make informed buying decisions. We provide these with a dedication to the highest quality of customer satisfaction delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, fun, individual pride, and company spirit."

Whole Foods Mission Statement:

“Our motto—Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet — emphasizes that our vision reaches beyond food retailing. In fact, our deepest purpose as an organization is helping support the health, well-being, and healing of both people — customers, Team Members, and business organizations in general — and the planet.”

Blog Post 7

Breaking News:

Homework Doers Are More Successful

            When a senior in high school, I got the privilege to go on a 10 day trip to Spain and France with some of my classmates and teachers. It was an amazing experience and I learned a lot on this trip, I learned I couldn’t read map to save myself, French people are not very friendly to foreigners and they are even more unfriendly when you butcher their language by attempting to use your five years of French to ask where something is located (because I couldn’t read the map). But anyways, we first went to Madrid in Spain. We had 3 hours of free time to get lunch, shop and do some sight seeing on our own. Having been traveling for over ten hours between the plane and the bus and the train, we were starving, jet lag was creeping up on us quick and the plane food wasn’t cutting it. Across the street was a mall, a park, which was surrounded by cafes and restaurants serving delicious foreign foods, I’m sure. But where did we end up eating that afternoon? McDonalds. Good ole fast food. My parents were thrilled when I told them my first meal abroad was fast food, the same fast food as I could have gotten in the United States. Heck I was spending all this money on a trip abroad, why spend money at a café or good restaurant food, right? We didn’t choose McDonalds because they had bet

http://www.indexmundi.com/blog/index.php/2013/02/25/
the-presence-of-mcdonalds-across-the-world/

ter food or service. We chose McDonalds because it was familiar and in a sense safe. We do not know what is in the other foods being served at the restaurants were; only half of us spoke Spanish therefore only half of us could read the menus at other restaurants. But you bet we knew what a number 10 was at McDonalds. That, my friends, is Americanization. The phenomenon of Americanization in the dictionary is defined as, to make or become American in character; assimilate to the customs and institutions of the U.S. Simply, other countries losing their national identity and becoming more and more like the United States.

            McDonalds is a global firm; it is everywhere in almost every country. It does not have such dominance abroad for there are not as many franchises as compared to how many there are in the United States. Is this surprising? America is the most obese country in the world, we love our food, we like it fast and we like it as convenient as humanly possible. On the contrary, for example, the French have a very exquisite taste when it comes to food. “French cooking has influenced the cuisine of the rest of Europe, the Americas, and parts of Asia and Africa to a remarkable degree.”[1] Countries have different cultures, different life styles and different tastes in food. Companies must adapt, not only what they they sell, but how they sell that food to the different consumers. Every nation is diverse and unique when paralleled to other countries. The company or organization must research, recognize, and understand the quirks of each individual country before entering the market. Failing to do proper research on countries can result in a failed business venture.

For example, Wal-Mart has failed in India, Germany, Russia and South Korea.[2] Business Insider attributes the failures to the lack of research on tariffs barriers, cultural differences, and other barriers.  Other barriers include, situations such as in the case of India, 30% of the items in the store had to have been bought from a small to medium, specially, Indian business. This only goes to show that, “Wal-Mart's failures in four major countries shows there are some obstacles even the world's most powerful retailer can't overcome.”[3] Doing proper research into the country you are about to set up in is important and could be detrimental to your organization if a country rejects your business.

There is much more than geographically coordinating where to put your business. It would just be illogical to set up a surf shop in Montana or another land locked state. For the obvious reason being… it is land locked. Another reason is they want to put their luxury and recreational money into something more useful to them. It is also very much so important to take into consideration demographic characteristics of the country and economic factors specific to that country.

           

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[1] “France; National Cuisine” Global Road Warrior (2014): http://www.globalroadwarrior.com/ContentInfo.asp?iso3ltr=FRA&nid=20.14&cid=52&next_nid=20.15&parent=Food%20and%20Recipes

[2] “4 Countries Wal-Mart Failed to Impress,” Business Insider, http://www.businessinsider.com/countries-that-wal-mart-hasnt-dominated-2013-10

[3] Ibid.