Is Boeing 787 Really a Dreamliner?
February 20, 2012 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: The Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” was billed as a revolution for travelers, offering a more humid, comfortable cabin and lighting that would lessen fatigue, dry eyes and jet lag. Scott McCartney on Lunch Break looks at the validity of those claims.
Source: Moneywatch.com – video report
Date: 02/15/2012
Questions for discussion:
- What are the important selling features to managers of airlines buying these planes?
- What are the features that would be important to passengers?
Google’s Bid to Be Everything to Everyone
February 20, 2012 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: A rumored audio device and new testing facilities hint at the search giant’s hardware ambitions
Source: Businessweek.com
Date: 02/16/2012
Link: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/googles-bid-to-be-everything-to-everyone-02162012.html
Questions for discussion:
- Highlight Google’s strategic planning described in this report.
- Do you think they will be successful with this approach?
- Who would be Google’s competitors in the future if this approach is launched?
- How would you expect competitors to respond?
How Millennial Men React to Mobile Ads
February 20, 2012 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management, Part 5 Managing Technology and Information
Description: eMarketer estimates that the number of US smartphone users will rise 44% this year to over 106 million. And as these users continue to do more activities on their phones, their likelihood of exposure to mobile advertising becomes assured.
Source: eMarketer.com
Date: 02/13/2012
Link: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008834&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4
Questions for discussion:
- What does this research suggest to marketing managers, from a strategic planning point of view?
- Do you think this phenomenon will affect overall advertising planning in the future?
250,000 ask Apple to change its labor ways
Description: Petitions with over 250,000 signatures were delivered to Apple stores calling for reforms to working conditions in its suppliers’ factories.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/02/09/t-ts-change-org-signatures.cnnmoney/
Questions for discussion:
- Do you think Apple is being singled-out when the concerns likely apply to any company manufacturing in China?
- How should Apple’s management deal with group?
Sell more stuff by giving it away
February 13, 2012 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: (MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY We’re all in business to sell something, but sometimes one of the best ways to do that is to give it away. For some owners, that tactic’s anathema — “I’m in business to sell, not to give” — but their attitude is short-sighted.
Source: MoneyWatch.com
Date: 02/07/2012
Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505143_162-57371972/sell-more-stuff-by-giving-it-away/?tag=nl.e857
Questions for discussion:
- Do you agree with these marketing suggestions?
- Using an example of a business you are familiar with, list two “give-away” strategies and how the firm would recoup the costs.
Tesla’s Model X: Finally, an electric car we all want
February 13, 2012 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: Commentary Tesla Motors is helping destroy the notion that electric vehicles are green cars with unfortunate compromises.
Source: CNET.com
Date: 02/10/2012
Link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57374536-76/teslas-model-x-finally-an-electric-car-we-all-want/
Questions for discussion:
- Do you think this vehicle is “what we all want”?
- How should the industry market the concept?
How Zuckerberg changed the game
Description: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg grew the college dorm room startup to a global tech giant with more users than most countries’ populations.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Date: 02/03/2012
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/02/02/f_game_changers_facebook.fortune/
Questions for discussion:
- Who is Mark Zukerberg?
- Do you think his engineering background affected the way he managed the development of the company?
Super Bowl ads are GoDaddy’s domain
February 6, 2012 by Brahm Canzer
Filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 3 Management: Empowering People to Achieve Business Objectives, Part 4: Marketing Management
Description: The web hosting company has seen its market share increase exponentially since its first Super Bowl ad in 2005.
Source: CNNMoney.com – video report
Date: 02/02/2012
Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2012/02/01/t-bcos-godaddy-superbowl-ad.fortune/
Questions for discussion:
- Why has GoDaddy been so successful using Super Bowl advertising?
- Who is the target market?
- What are the pros and cons of managing your own advertising production studios?
The $1.6 Billion Woman, Staying on Message
Description: SEVENTY-TWO hours before Facebook’s big moment, Sheryl K. Sandberg was half a world away, hobnobbing with the likes of Bill Gates and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Source: NYTimes.com
Date: 02/03/2012
Questions for discussion:
- How would you describe Sheryl Sandberg?
- Do you think her gender has helped, hurt, or made no difference in her success?
Small Business Exports Edge Up
Description: Small businesses have increased their share of exports in the two years since President Obama set a goal to double U.S. sales abroad by 2015, according to new federal data.
Source: Businessweek.com
Date: 02/02/2012
Questions for discussion:
- What are the reasons for the improved exports by small businesses?
- Can this be sustained? If so, how?
