Archive for 2011
Killing the Golden Goose
In a marketing blunder that rivals Coca Cola’s (temporary) abandonment of its original formula in favor of the sweeter “New Coke,” Netflix (NFLX), despite its incredible success and customer affection, decided to raise its prices 60 percent. Stock tumbled 19 percent. One million customers instantly abandoned Netflix. Was this incredible greed, stupidity or just plain ignorance?
Read MoreThe Hidden Marketing Asset
A number of years ago, I was contacted by an attorney who was representing an inventor. It seemed that inventor had created a universal cap for an automotive water heater. This cap could work as a replacement for any water heater.Like most inventors, this one happened to be mentally long on technical expertise and mentally short on the realities of the marketplace. Also, like many investors he was working on a shoe-string.
Read MoreGroupon – Show Me the Money.
Groupon has shown the world a new way to do coupon promotions, but is it any better than traditional couponing? In this article, provide an academically proven and industry best-practice approach for evaluating coupon promotions, be it Groupon or any other type of couponing.
Read MoreTop 6 – September 2011
“Find the problem that other people have ignored.” Scott Cook, co-founder of Intuit Inc. August 18, 2001, WSJ. A good idea needs a good patent strategy. Protect your jewels. “Big organizations get committed to the way things were. It’s the small team led by an entrepreneur that can invent the way things will be.” Scott…
Read MoreTop 6 – August 2011
Summer Heat Beats Play Ball! If only ticket sellers would! The boys of summer shop ‘til they drop Mother knows best! And don’t you forget it! A picture’s not worth a thousand words? Go Meat!!! August Vacation … NOPE. Fall Reporting and Planning Season. 4 months to deliver results.
Read MorePlay Ball!
Preventing the Resale of Sporting Event Tickets
StubHub, TicketNetwork, and eBay are marketplaces that allow customers to buy and sell unwanted tickets. For example, a season ticket holder uses StubHub as form of consignment to sell a Dallas Mavericks basketball ticket to a consumer that is available and willing to attend the game. The sellers of tickets in the secondary market are capitalizing on possessing elastic demand characteristics. But what about the team owners?
Read MoreEastman Kodak — Another Corporate Icon Fights to Survive
The 2011 graveyard of dead icons might get another — Eastman Kodak. This 131-year old mainstay of Corporate America is struggling to survive. It recently posted a much higher than anticipated loss and lower revenues. It continues to struggle from selling film to selling digital camera and printers.
Read MoreDeveloping Nations: Pure Price Buyers or Not?
Last year, a Malaysian executive told me that she must compete on price because Malaysians only buy on price. This year, an Indian executive told me that he only sells commodities because that’s what his nation buys. On both occasions, I countered with a strong push to find ways of meeting their customer’s needs better to reduce downward price pressures associated with selling commodities.
Read MoreBack to School Shopping – and Selling
According to Ypulse research, teens and college age men spend more per shopping trip than young women ($94 vs. $81)? That’s because guys want to get in and out of stores fast, and avoid shopping for awhile.
Read MorePricing Can Be Hazardous To Your Career
As the global economy continues to be stressed and prices for all kinds of raw materials continue to rise, manufacturers are looking for ways to preserve profits. Although manufacturers are substituting materials where they can and locking in long-term contracts to protect themselves from price hikes, they may ultimately face the conundrum of passing along rising costs in the form of price increases to their customers. Will it work? Mixed results.
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