HGU - Marketing "Laguna"

US's struggles to recover their domestic manufaturing

2008-06-20T22:18:00.002+09:00

I read an article about the movement of labor force from US to China. It seems like an old story, but just a decade ago, US produced their core products in US. Then, why they had to move to China? First, it's because of the rises in oil prices. If oil price is rising, the shipping costs and also the wage rates will rise. Accordingly, US manufacturers realized that they will bankrupt if they keep producing in US. Now, most of US's labor concentrated industry had moved to China. As a result, the value of US dollar is fall relative to Euro. Also, there are constant threats from rising oil price.
Some of US companies now try to make manufactures in US. Because there are fewer producers in US since they moved to China. Accordingly, American citizens' demands are not satisfied. If they can initiate production in US, they can earn considerable profit. But the cost of infrastructure is very high. US manufacturers destroyed their original production base when they moved into China. Then, is China a eternal labor advantage nation? It's not. Because already the productivity of China's workers are rising, also the oil price is rising in a very fast pace. If US manufacturers sustain China, eventually, there businesses will lose their cost advantage. But still China has labor cost advantage about 40~50% compared to the US labor market.
Then, what's the best strategies for the manufacturers who already made huge production base in China? The author suggested that they should continue production in China. Because still China has huge cost advantages. If they are concerned with the future and go out of the industry, their huge investment that is a fixed cost will go away. Yet the costs are not sunk costs. Also, Chinese government keep controlling the rising of labor costs. Accordingly, in the short run, it will be a good choice. But they must find other alternatives. Actually, many of regions remain undeveloped. For example, the Africa and south-east asia regions have great potentials.
If US government will not support their domestic industry, ultimately, their industried will be controlled by China. I think it's the worst situation for US. US has been always a top position of world economy. But now their dollar value are dropped by 50% and their industries are strongly dependent on low cost nations. Additionally, US is a huge consumer of Oil. Accordingly, if oil price is rising, it will more impact on US than China. I think the high efficient and low labor cost products can activate the US's domestic production. If they can invent products like eco-friendly vehicles, cell phones, and home appliances, they can re-emerge their influences to the world. Now, Korean company also move their production base to China. Maybe, Korea's situation has many commons with US. We can analyze our future alternatives through US's solutions.

Author: Pete Engardio
Title: Can the U.S. Bring Jobs Back from China?
Date: June 19, 2008, 5:00PM EST
Page: 2

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_26/b4090038429655.htm
entry#15 20700067

Accepting and learning from defeat

2008-06-13T22:38:00.003+09:00

How to Lose with Grace and Dignity
　
1. Be Angry, But Not for Too Long. It's understandable to be upset when you lose, but dwelling on the loss, obsessing over it, or making it the focus of your life is more hurtful than helpful. In an earlier column, I offered five steps for dealing effectively with anger (BusinessWeek.com, 4/8/08), and as difficult as it may be to do so in every upsetting situation, it is in your own interest not to let anger get the best of you.
　　
2. Accept Reality. We often tell ourselves, "Where there's a will, there's a way." Unfortunately, we have less control over our lives than we'd like to believe, and there is nothing we can do to alter this. All the determination in the world cannot make other people do, say, or vote for something if they don't want to. It should lessen the blow to realize that there is only so much we can do to affect the change we seek.
　　
3. Look for the Lesson. Yes, we learn by winning. (Think about how you surprised yourself the last time you accomplished something you thought would be too difficult to achieve.) But we also learn by losing, if we have the courage to pay attention. In looking honestly at a failed attempt to get a job (BusinessWeek.com, 5/8/08), for example, or develop a romantic relationship, the lesson could be that we need to rethink our approach, or we need to change something about ourselves. The best way to succeed next time, or to learn how to handle defeat better, is to find the lesson from our loss and take it to heart.
　　
4. Cut Yourself Some Slack. I've said this before, but it bears repeating: The ethical responsibilities to be fair and compassionate apply to how we treat ourselves, not just others. Berating yourself for losing isn't a kind or decent way to treat yourself, and doing so prevents you from getting back into action, which can lead to further losses.
　　
5. Keep on the Sunny Side of Life. How many successful people do you know who are burdened by the weight of their past failures? If you let losing get the best of you, it will be all but impossible to go forward. Allow yourself to feel angry, but accept reality, learn from the experience, don't be too hard on yourself, and move on.
　
These guidelines are intended to help you make the best of a losing situation. Let's not forget, though, that the first order of business after losing is to congratulate the winner. Anyone can win. It takes a person of courage and grace to accept defeat and honor the victor. Such a person will move beyond loss and emerge a stronger and better person—and a true winner.
　
20700110
14th entry
author : Bruce Weinstein, PhD
title : The Art of Losing Well
date : May 20, 2008
reference : http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/may2008/ca20080520_180718.htm?chan=careers_managing+index+page_managing+your+career

US Beef Boycott in Making

2008-06-13T22:08:00.004+09:00

Despite of Korean government's efforts to make a deal with the U.S. for the beef trade, marketing in many businesses in Korea has changed dramatically to show how safe their foods are and free from the the problem concerned with the U.S. imported beef - the Mad Cow disease.

Food industries in Korea including both major and minor restaurants are promoting "no U.S. beef" policy in order to assure their customers that they are providing safe food that the customers do not have to worry a single thing about consuming the food at their stores.

The reason why these food manufacturers are simply they do not want to take a chane when the public is clearly against consuming the U.S. imported beef; "...it's important to win over consumer trust from the start" (BusinessWeek).

The beef that are used in most of the food chains are from Australia, and food manufacturers are guaranteering they will only use the Australian beef. For example, the Korea-based fast-food chain Lotteria, which has more than 740 outlets nationwide, issued a statement that they have "no plans to use U.S. beef even in the distant future." Also the most well-known burger maker in the world, McDonald's, has been stressing out its corporate policy that is against of making patties with beef from America.

All the other family restaurants including Outback Steakhouse, VIPS, Sizzler, T.G.I. Fridays and Bennigan's are also emphasizing their plans not to use beef from America and making sure that they will not do so in the future as well. However, there decisions are not helping the local beef importing companies since the public perception has critically ruined the business already; even though they don't import American beef, just doing the business with other countries is interrupting its brand image.

As we have seen on the media and from many other sources, the problem concerning beef imports from the U.S. is getting deeper and deeper everyday. It seems like the flame of the candle-demonstration is becoming a new way of expressing our thoughts and beliefs. I hope the president Lee would regard and hear from the public what we are trying to say and have reconsider the deal with the U.S.

Reference;

Han, Jane. "US Beef Boycott in Making" KoreaTimes. June 13, 2008.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/06/123_25853.html

20601008 - 14th Entry

Sony

2008-06-13T21:41:00.005+09:00

The prospect of a global economic downturn should make Sony (SNE) nervous. After all, you can't expect consumers to shop for giant flat-screen TVs and other pricey consumer electronics if they're worried about losing their jobs. A drop-off in TV sales would do more than dent Sony's earnings outlook.

It would also dash Chief Executive Howard Stringer's hopes of ending the losses from TVs that have plagued the company's electronics business for several years. But on May 14, the Japanese electronics and entertainment company predicted a big jump in unit sales of flat-screen TVs. The company, which reported full-year earnings, forecast sales of 17 million Bravia liquid-crystal-display sets this fiscal year, which ends in March, 2009.

That would be 70% more (BusinessWeek.com, 5/14/08) than the 10.6 million it sold globally in the year just ended through March 31, and nearly three times what the company sold two years ago. The forecast also beats those of its most formidable domestic rivals. This year, Sharp (6753.T) is expecting to sell 10 million LCD TVs, while Matsushita Electric Industrial (MC) is betting on 11 million Panasonic-brand flat-panel sets (BusinessWeek.com, 4/29/08). LCD TV sales are expected to top 100 million units this year and come within reach of 125 million in 2009, according to iSuppli.

A day after Sony reported earnings, its shares rose 8.7% in Tokyo, vs. an 0.9% rise for the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average. Since the beginning of the year Sony's shares have lost 16%, compared to the Nikkei index's 3.9% decline. On closer inspection, Sony's TV gains aren't as significant for the bottom line as they might seem at first glance. One telltale sign: Despite rising unit sales, LCD-related revenues this year are expected to stay flat at $1.25 billion. The figure is also 7% less than sales two years ago. Sony executives say they are working to make the division profitable. "The main risk is profitability in LCD TVs near term," Goldman Sachs (GS) analyst Yuji Fujimori wrote in a May 15 report. The combination of higher volumes and lower revenues reflects a harsh reality in the TV business. Until now, companies like Sony, Samsung Electronics, Philips (PHG), Sharp, and Matsushita have been at the cutting edge of producing bigger TVs more efficiently. To do so, they have invested billions of dollars in sophisticated plants that can pump out the giant sheets of specialized glass that are cut to make TVs.

Theoretically, a bigger glass sheet makes more TVs. But they haven't only been competing with each other; they have also had low-cost manufacturers in Asia nipping at their heels (BusinessWeek, 2/26/07). That meant offering discounts so the low-cost brands didn't lure away all but the wealthiest of buyers. It also meant finding new ways of lowering costs so that profits didn't get decimated by rising materials and energy costs and falling TV prices, which have been sinking at a rate of roughly 25% every year. Not many companies have been successful at doing that.

Author:Kenji Hall
date: December 11 2007
site:http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2007/gb20071211_409881.htm?chan=search

20300780 entry 14

India's big pharma deal

2008-06-13T12:13:00.002+09:00

I read an article about India's big acquisition deal. The main players are Ranbaxy Laboratories and Daiichi Sankyo. Ranbaxy is the largest drugmaker in India. Also, Ranbaxy is a pure domestic company. Daiichi Sankyo is a Japanese drug company that has 3rd largest drug market share in Japan. Daiichi Sankyo wants to acquire 50.1% stake in Ranbaxy for nearly $4.6 billion. It's a 31% premium over Ranbaxy's current share price. Through this deal, Daiichi Sankyo can jump to the world No.15 drugmaker. But Ranbaxy is very successful company in India and they had received respects from Indian. Because they are a pure domestic company and Indian was proud of this fact. Additionally, until recently, Ranbaxy has been at the forefront of Indian efforts to expand beyond the country's traditional strength in generic drugs by focusing on research and development for new drugs of its own. For instance, Ranbaxy has formed research alliances with Big Pharma giants like GlaxoSmithKline.

Then Why they sell their stake to the Japanese company? It's just because Daiichi Sankyo suggested the most attractive deal to them. Ranbaxy also is facing challenges as it tries to join the drugmaking big leagues. It has had to contend with ongoing legal battles brought by rivals such as Pfizer, which has challenged Ranbaxy's right to make generic versions of Lipitor since 2005. Also, recently, they failed to develop new drug. In the market, R&D is the core of a company's survival. Accordingly, Ranbaxy struggled with the development and they thought if they will receive good proposal, they will sell the company. Additionally, they have some problem with management. They were the first India company which employed professional manager. But now, they lost their managers: Managing Director A.S. Brar in 2004 and then-CEO Brian Tempest in 2005.

Actually, Ranbaxy had tried to find partners that will buy their stakes. They requested the deal even to their rival, Pfizer. Finally, Daiichi Sankyo suggested very attractive deal, and the deal will be accomplished within a few days.

Then why this Japanese company wants to acquire India company? Because now the Japanese drug market is saturated. Accordingly, Daiichi Sankyo decided to expand their market to the several countries that didn't develop. I think the case is a good model to our drug company. For example, Yuhan, korea's largest drug company, now needs to expand their business to the world. Japanese is an advanced country that Korea, so we can learn many things for our future from Japanese companies.

Author: Nandini Lakshman

Title: Inside India's Shocker Pharma Deal

Date: June 11, 2008, 7:16AM EST

Page: 1

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2008/gb20080611_987609.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

entry # 14 20700067

Fedex office

2008-06-11T19:50:00.001+09:00

Fedex acquired printing chain Kinko’s in 2004 for $2.4 billion. The goal was a digitally linked network for customers to print, pack and ship anything.
A new name and logo merged the two identities and added multicolored icon as you see in the picture. Kinko has a nostalgic brand image but it also limited. Kinko cannot catch up recent trend like the quick-print business, direct mail and more creative jobs.
The process of changing the name does not cheap. It costs $891 million in its fiscal fourth quarter. This means that Fedex will serve as the office for traveling professionals, a medium and large size business and the small businesses.
They give up keeping Kinko’s because of the consumer research result that showed customers now know more about the wide range of services Fedex offers.
Kinko’s was named after its founder Paul orfalea whose nickname was Kinko because of his curly hair. After the years, Kinko’s reputation was going bad. It was a place where you would invariably find big, noisy copy machines, piles of paper boxes, and sometimes sleepy employees. Furthermore, the cheap printers and PDF files make the concept of the copy shop very irrelevant. Kinko’s brand did not survive in technological advances.
Many people said that the Kinko’s brand was not elastic and evocative enough to move into the Thrid econmy. The name of office will transfer Kinko’s image to more modern and utilitarian. Moreover, this has more various meaning such as a place where work, a laboratory to invent something, a place to go create.
Changing the name or logo is really important to brand image. I think that it can make totally different image and even companies’ culture. For example, Hanhwa is look very boring and little simple but after changing the logo It looks more humane and human central culture.

http://www.businessweek.com/
June 9,2008 - Inovation

20600171 14th entry

Europe mobile-telecoms market

2008-06-06T22:47:00.005+09:00

The world is getting smaller for the phone. France Telecome begun to discussion about a long-anticipated takeover offer for the Swedish firm. They trade it for $42 billion. This is unusual deal comparing America’s largest mobile company named Verizon Wireless which normally deal with $27 billion. The growth of mobile phone market is poor. In many countries there are more mobile phones than people. Therefore, bulking up is a good idea to expand the market and for achieving an economies of scale.

In Europe mobile-telecoms markets are taking more consolidation. France Telecome cannot yet create Europe’s biggest mobile-phone company which will be dealing with 237million customers in 30 countries. They try to entice the customers with its more mature mobile and fixed-line operations in the Nordic region where the businesses in Eastern Europe and Central Asia come faster growing now.

And also there are plenty of other possible targets to tie-ups such as smaller firms in Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland. Vodafone may bid to extend its stake in Vodacom, a South African operator.

Mobile market is limited like an energy market. I think that mobile or other wireless communication systems finally will be used in common share. If the hardware system is to be a public assets, companies should compete in the software market. Still governments in each countries prevent their own countries mobile market from hunting by other countries. However, I think that the bulking up with mobile companies is only a matter of time.

http://www.economics.com/
20600171 13th entry

Apple won't be exclusive?

2008-06-06T22:00:00.004+09:00

"create our own version," - Apple's new story in Japan.

Softbank, the No. 3 mobile operator, will sell the coveted cell phone in Japan.

Softbank's June 4 announcement that it has signed up to sell Apple's (APPL) popular iPhone in Japan might seem like a major coup for the country's third-largest mobile operator. A new and improved iPhone, which Apple is widely expected to unveil at the Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco next week , could help Softbank narrow the gap with the two largest wireless carriers, NTT DoCoMo (DCM) and KDDI. The buzz alone should boost Softbank's brand image with consumers and its standing with software developers and Internet content creators.

But the company's one-line statement that it plans to "bring the iPhone to Japan later this year" was revealing in its brevity. One issue that Softbank avoided mentioning was whether the deal with Apple is exclusive. That's unlikely to happen, industry executives say, because Apple has moved away from the type of exclusive deals with operators that it favored when the iPhone debuted last year. Earlier this month, Apple granted both Vodafone Group (VOD) and Telecom Italia (TI.A) the right to sell the iPhone in Italy.

Apple also won't want to limit itself to Softbank's 18.8 million subscribers. In recent months, Apple execs have held several meetings with officials from both Softbank and DoCoMo at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., according to industry executives. Apple's best shot at gaining a toehold in one of the most sophisticated mobile markets on the planet is to appeal to as many of Japan's 108 million mobile subscribers as possible. Success would help its chances in other markets. Another incentive: Japan accounts for nearly a quarter of the $105 billion in global cell-phone sales annually, according to Tokyo research firm Eurotechnology Japan.

Why greenlight Softbank first? Some telecom execs suspect Apple is trying to gain the upper hand in talks with DoCoMo. "DoCoMo is proud and it might say, 'we don't want the iPhone,'" says one telecom executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. "But it risks losing market share and a product that Softbank could use against DoCoMo." A DoCoMo spokesman would only say that further talks with Apple were possible.

DoCoMo might not cave to the pressure. Japan's dominant carrier is used to calling the shots when dealing with handset manufacturers. Apple's demands for 30% of airtime revenues from every iPhone user and permission to activate new subscribers through its iTunes online store could be a deal-breaker. And DoCoMo knows that if it gives in to Apple it will have a dozen or more other tech companies whose handsets connect to its network asking for similar concessions.

　
All the hype won't do much for Apple unless its new iPhone stands out from other feature-packed handsets in Japan. A touch screen, user-friendly software, and Internet connectivity are hardly novel. These days handsets in Japan double as credit cards and commuter passes, sport high-end cameras and bar code readers, boast Internet browsers over high-speed connections, record TV broadcasts, and do e-mail, and many come with customized Web-based services.

20700110
13th entry
author : Kenji Hall
title : Apple's Japan iPhone Strategy
date : June 5, 2008

reference : http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2008/gb2008065_996799.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

POSCO Burnishes ‘Steel’ Image

2008-06-06T21:48:00.004+09:00

          POSCO in Pohang, Korea is now becoming the central place for the local community from its old company image as the "steel central" of Korea. Having a showroom, a classical concert, or sometimes a rock concert, POSCO is now able to approach to people with softer image. Since they started the monthly classic concert for local community, average of 2,000 audiences come to this free concert and enjoys the every moment.

          The spokesman of POSCO states that "...``We try to soften up people's perception that the steel industry is stiff business through various initiatives" (BusinessWeek). So when people visit POSCO for such events, they could also take a tour around POSCO, from the museum and a showroom with comtemporary arts on the ground level of the southern Seoul high-rise tower.

          POSCO not only sponsors these classical concerts around their area, but also to have such great sympony concerts at universities nationwide. Because of POSCO's great effort to have a close relationship with the public, the firm states they have established ties with almost 70 percent of Pohang's population.

          I think POSCO is trying to place its brand image among the people in order to diminish the public's perception for the steel group as bold and strict image. First, I thought why POSCO would put so much efforts to have that kind of keen relationship with local community; however, as I have spent more time in Pohang, I realized having such factories around the city could make a bad impression for the whole community. However, since POSCO has created ties between both parties, local communities can now have more smoother perception towards the firm. I think this strategy would allow POSCO to have great advantages for moving forward its business aruond Pohang in the future.

Reference;
Han, Jane. "POSCO Burnishes ‘Steel’ Image" KoreaTimes. 2008/06/05.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/06/123_25362.html

20601008 - 13th Entry

Wal-Mart's expansion to the medical area

2008-06-06T14:34:00.004+09:00

I read an article about Wal-Mart's expansion to the medical area. Originally, Wal- Mart is popular in glocery area. But now Wal-Mart decided to challenge in medical area. When they started the business, many critics said that they will fail in the business because medical area is something like professional area. But now the drug and health business is about 9% of the all Wal-Mart's revenue. Wal-Mart always considers changes. The management is so amazing and creative. Even if they are a leading company in the world, they always innovate themselves.
Then How they developed the medical area? They catched the baby- boomer generation. A few years later, they will be almost 50 years old. At that age, people always think that they have to manage their health. But the generation is too many and the market couldn't supply enough amount of drugs and health foods. Wal-Mart knew the problem, and they started to supply many medical stuffs at low prices. The price is almost half of the generic drug stores. For the low price supply, they always find many channels. Accordingly, their strategy is low-cost, and it also benefits to the dividends. Now Wal-Mart's stock price is almost $60.
The health market is always confused because of prescriptions. When people want drugs, there are some drugs that cannot buy or sell if the buyer don't have prescription. Wal-Mart solved the problem. They supply good quality drugs that can buy without prescriptions. And the drugs are very effective to human body. They also supply drugs that are so cheap that even low income consumers can buy. In America, the costs of medical insurance are very high. Therefore, many Americans don't have the insurances. Wal-Mart catched the point and supply cheap drugs that can be available without medical insurance. Through these strategies, Wal-Mart could achieve humongous profit.
Then how is their employee management? The management of Wal-Mart provide good service to their employees. Employees can benefit from insurances and also can enjoy the openness of Wal-Mart. Actually, Wal-Mart don't demand employees to work hard everyday. Instead, they try to motivate employees to work creatively. In other words, Wal-Mart's employees are not simple workers. They are co-managers. They can suggest their idea to the management and sometimes their idea can be achieved. I think these cultures are one of the most good point of Wal-Mart.
In Korea, there are few companies like Wal-Mart. In fact, Wal-Mart completely failed in Korea. I think Korean has special character when they buy something. Korean focuses on the quality and brand. Actually, Wal-Mart thought that cheap products can penetrate korean market. But they ignored korea's specialty. They buy satisfaction that can be achieved by good service and sometimes high price. Accordingly, Wal-Mart's case cannot adapt to the Korea. But I think we can learn many important points from Wal-Mart. Their customer management or company cuture is the example. Also, we have to learn Wal-Mart to expand ourselves to the world. Because Wal-Mart rules the world's retailing market except Korea. Now it's the time to challenge. I think Korean retailing companies can be world class companies.

Author: Pallavi Gogoi
Title: Wal-Mart, Your Friendly Drugstore
Date: June 5, 2008, 12:10AM EST
Page: 2

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2008/db2008064_545169.htm
entry # 13 20700067

What recession?

2008-05-30T23:00:00.002+09:00

Google do not know the recession. Google continued prosperity to its ability to keep innovating both in search and advertising operations. And also they launch new lines such as online office-productivity software. Many companies usually face the recession and they need a innovations that change the game in their industries. How Google manages the innovation?
First of all, they do not treat the innovation in recession. They think that a hot product will sell just as well in a recession as it will in a nonrecession. It means there is no other special way to overcome the recession. I think this is the key of success of Google. They are always innovating. Innovation is not only an option depending on situation when the company faced on the recession but also a necessary part of managing company.
Especially, Google has a unique culture of innovation. Engineers usually spend their 20% of time on project related to innovation outside their main job. It can be possible to do because nobody legally can not press them. It means the managers can't screw around with the employees beyond some limit. This innovation escape-valve model is applicable to essentially every business that
A problem that they face now is that people in multiple sites, 50 locations because Google always do face-to-face contact when they have a meeting. So they think first programming is "telephone call," which is two people, you and I, programming together. Second choice is everybody fits into a single room. It means other variants are bad. They really emphasize the man to man style meeting.
Google’s whole asset is the people, their ideas. Nowadays, the main power of business is the man. In the financial industries, they really need a man power to keep going or expand their business. I think that ability of employee is not too much important. The most important thing is the system which make employee do their best and keep their best condition such as freedom to talking about own ideas.

20600171 12th entry
http://www.businessweek.com/

Product Advertisements in TV Dramas Go Subtle

2008-05-30T21:01:00.005+09:00

In an effort of appealing one's product or services, firms are now using various ways of promoting their brand. One of the most fast growing marketing strategies is product placement. Product placement is having company's product or service on a show, drama, or even on movies so that whoever sees that on any media can be aware of what kind of product they are promoting.

One example that the article states is the resent hit drama from SBS called "One Air," where the main character frequently used a coffee maker from DeLonghi to brew the espresso. After few exposure of the product, the sales of the coffe maker from DeLonghi jumped about for 20 percent. It surely show how effective it is to have such a marketing strategy in order to promote their products in a short period of time.

Experts elaborates the benefit of using product placement stating that since viewers tend to related themselves into main characters in the drama or movie, companies can easily attract their product or services to customer's' daily lives. Instead of using great amount of advertisement budget on a single TV commercial, it's much economic for the company to simply sponsor hit dramas or movies. One of the good successful example would be Coca-Cola supporting American Idol which is the greatest hit reality show in America.

However, it could be vulnerable to the success or failure of the drama. For example, according to the article, "SAAB convertibles were painted as cars for the air-headed rich, after a male star carelessly drove around in one in the 2000 drama ``Juliet's Man.'" (KoreaTimes).

I personally don't like having certain company's products on the shows, drama, or movies because they often distract me from fully enjoying them. I can assume that it's a "Win-Win" situation for both production and the firm to have such strategy since the production can get sponsers easily and the company can get a great output from it. However, I belive overusing such promotion can be also risky for the production because of viewers getting annoyed by too much ads on the show, and the company having a risk for depending a lot of the success of the show. I hope both parties would find the right equilibrium for using product placement strategy.

Reference;
Han, Jane. "Product Advertisements in TV Dramas Go Subtle" KoreaTimes. May 29, 2008.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/05/123_24958.html

20601008 - 12th Entry

Joining big houses to advise on high-profile deals

2008-05-30T20:58:00.005+09:00

Boutique Banks Find a Niche in Tech

A new breed of boutique investment bank is making its mark on the merger-crazed tech industry. Unlike the niche securities firms that a decade ago focused on research, stock sales, and initial public offerings in addition to mergers and acquisitions, this crop focuses more narrowly on matchmaking but is no less adept at getting in on some of tech's most lucrative deals.

　　
Consider the Yahoo-Microsoft mating dance. In February, Yahoo (YHOO) hired Moelis & Co., the Los Angeles firm started last year by former UBS (UBS) investment banking head Ken Moelis, among other banks, for advice on resisting Microsoft's (MSFT) unfriendly offer, then worth $45 billion. Meanwhile, Google (GOOG) hired Frank Quattrone's new Qatalyst Group for advice on how to respond to Microsoft's bid (BusinessWeek, 3/27/08), according to published reports, supplementing services from Credit Suisse (CS).

　　
Boutiques Offer More Flexibility
More and more, small banks that specialize in mergers and acquisitions and landing investments for privately held clients are joining high-profile houses such as Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Citigroup (C), and Merrill Lynch (MER) in helping to stitch together deals.
Boutiques that employ at most a few dozen bankers are using a combination of long-standing industry relationships, small teams that assign senior staff to deals, and the flexibility to dart in and out of smaller buyouts to win business. They're gaining prominence as some of the top banks have cut or reassigned tech bankers amid a credit crisis and lull in IPOs.

　　
GCA Savvian Group advised on 45 M&A deals worth $23.6 billion in 2007, pushing it to 59th place based on deal count, from 71st in 2006, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters (TRI). "Our pitch is all around being a trusted adviser," says Rich Jasen, a Savvian managing director. "This is not something where a managing director shows up for the pitch, and the next time you see him is at the closing dinner."
　　

Filling an Important Niche
Boutiques' influence is being felt around the computer industry. Electronic Data Systems (EDS) hired Evercore Partners (EVR) to help structure its $13.9 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), announced May 13. Evercore has been among the top 25 banks based on M&A transaction value the past four years, after ranking 104th in 2003. Other recent deals include advising IronPort Systems on its $830 million sale to Cisco Systems (CSCO) in January, 2007.

　　
Investors and entrepreneurs say the boutiques fill an important niche in personalized investment banking that's been absent from Silicon Valley since four powerful boutique banks of the '90s—Alex. Brown, Hambrecht & Quist; Robertson Stephens; and Montgomery Securities—either closed or were subsumed by larger firms in the wake of the dot-com crash. The new crop of boutiques is a welcome presence at a time when the IPO drought has made it tough for venture capitalists to get the attention of senior bankers at the so-called bulge-bracket firms—even for a sale. "We can't get our companies out, and one reason is, we can't get the attention of the investment bankers," says Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Assn.

　　
Unlike those '90s firms, the new boutiques tend to focus on M&A advice and fund-raising, eschewing IPO underwriting, sales of securities, and extensive research. "We're not trying to be everything to everybody," says Brian Roberts, a senior managing director at Evercore. "We would much rather have a dialogue with the CEO about what keeps him up at night."
Union Square Advisors, founded last September by a group of former Quattrone colleagues, has quietly won several M&A and fund-raising projects, and is in talks with large tech companies about future work, say people familiar with the firm's plans. The Yahoo assignment helped catapult Moelis to 12th most active, based on deal value in the first quarter.

20700110

12th entry

author : Aaron Ricadela

title : Boutique Banks Find a Niche in Tech

date : May 23, 2008,

reference : http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080522_989912.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_tech+investing

Nike-golf

2008-05-30T17:02:00.004+09:00

"In 1996 a group of Nike marketing executives gathered in a fourth-floor conference room on the company's Beaverton, Ore., campus and looked into the future. On the whiteboard were the names of five possibilities for the company's next big sponsorship push. Two of them, the NFL and the NBA, were in sports where Nike was well established, but the other three represented worlds where Nike was all but unknown: the Brazilian soccer team, the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team and a teenage golfing phenom named Tiger Woods. Wall Street was waiting to see what Nike would do to follow up Michael Jordan and the enormously successful Air Jordan line of footwear.

When the company announced that it had signed a multiyear, multimillion-dollar deal with Woods, the reaction was swift--Nike stock fell 5%. Says Bob Wood, one of the officials in that room: "They thought we had overpaid for him." When Tiger Woods came on board with Nike Golf in 1996, the company was a $120M business, based primarily and apparel and footwear sales. Fast forward to today, 11 years after Nike Golf signed Tiger Woods. Nike Golf is a thriving $600M business now built around clubs and golf balls in addition to just apparel and footwear.While Tiger Woods is one of the main reasons for Nike Golf's enormous success, he's not the only reason the company is thriving.

Club guru Tom Stites and golfball guru Rock Ishi have come up with innovative products ranging from the SUMO square driver (KJ Choi has ridden the driver to multiple tour wins this season) to the Nike ONE golf ball. Nike Golf has invested substantial money in their 31,000 square foot plus Research and Development facility outside of Dallas.And while Nike Golf might not have the large stable of athletes that Titleist and Callaway possess, they certainly have quality endorsers led by Tiger Woods. Justin Leonard, KJ Choi, Trevor Immelman, Stewart Cink, Rory Sabbatani and of course Michelle Wie. Nike Golf's endorsers, by the way, sport nothing by the Nike swoosh on their apparel, footwear and headwear.......a pre-requisite for any athlete who signs with Nike Golf.Nike Golf Global Sports Marketing Director Kel Devlin will join me on this weekend's edition of Sports Business Radio to discuss the growing success of Nike Golf.

Devlin is attending this week's PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.I'll also be joined on this weekend's show by Lamell McMorris, the spokesperson for the World Umpires Association. The Major League Baseball umpires union said Monday that it is refusing to cooperate with a request for background checks from commissioner Bud Selig's office, calling the initiative a "knee-jerk, misguided witch hunt" in response to the NBA betting scandal involving referee Tim Donaghy.The umpires are willing to consider submitting to background checks, but only if MLB comes to the bargaining table and negotiates the provisions in "good faith," Lamell McMorris, was quoted as saying earlier this week.I'd like to get McMorris on the show this weekend to find out what the World Umpires Association is looking for from MLB in order to cooperate with these background checks. For the record, I happen to agree with Mr. McMorris that this initiative by Selig's office is a "knee-jerk" reaction to the Tim Donaghy gambling scandal in the NBA. Why hasn't Selig subjected his umpires to background checks before this?

And how should an umpire like Ed Montague, with 31 years of experience feel when someone tells him that after three decades of loyal service, they now need to cavity search him to make sure he hasn't decided to go "rogue" like Donaghy.Think about it. How would you feel if you were sitting at your desk today and your boss came up to you and said you needed to pee in a cup, take a lie detector test and hand over your personal information so he or she could conduct a thorough background check on you because Tom over in accounting was found cooking the books last week?I understand the cause for heightened security by MLB, the NBA and other sports leagues. The integrity of their games is of the utmost importance. But these leagues had better not go about conducting these background checks in a heavy handed manner or I really think it will come back and bite them in the end.

title: "Nike sprit ahead"

date: june 27, 2007

page: 1

references: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jun2007/pi20070627_863339.htm?chan=search

20300780 entry 12

Weekend web-New territory of network

2008-05-30T14:43:00.002+09:00

I read an article about 'weekend web'. Weekend web is a type of web service that provide in weekend. You know, people use web service variously in weekend. Most people want to enjoy in weekend and leisure and entertainment information is often used in online. Now, many huge web sites are trying to offer customers more valuable service for their weeks. For example, the yahoo and google provide service for map searching and travel sites. But many people isn't use PC for internet in weekend. Because, when they need the online service, they simply click their mobile phones. But this service isn't affordably available yet. In Korea, the most developed internet country, many people use mobile internet. But the service costs are very high and people often hesitate to use the service. In US, many people use mobile internet, but there are not many service and also costs are high. Many US customers want to get information easily in weekend and if the service is available at affordable price, the mobile internet market will grow humongously.

As I wrote on upper side, people use different set of web sites between week and weekend. In week, people mostly use their PC to access the Internet, but in weekend people use mobile phone to access the Internet. In other words, the development of weekend web can be inplemented only if the mobile Internet is developed. Accordingly, many Internet companies are now trying to cooperate with mobile device companies. For example, iphone, Apple's star product, is the most popular mobile device in US, and web companies like Google or Yahoo suggented them to use their mobile version website. Apple also could be better off if they contain many internet service and they accepted the deal. Now, Americans use more mobile Internet in weekend. Through these developments, US Internet companies could find a breakthrough from the very competitive web service market.

I think korean web site Daum and Naver, doing very well in their small market. Their market share in korea is very high and even Google and Yahoo could't win them. But the Google and Yahoo rule the world Internet trend and our companies are just local marketers. Korea's mobile Internet technology is world No.1. But the regional limitation prohibit them to make services like weekend web. Korea have small territory, and people don't use mobile Internet in the weekend. On the contrary, people use more mobile Internet in week. And the most users are 10s. I think it's a creative web service. Because in korea, many entertainment companies are joining the mobile Internet and provide their service. It also the reason of developing game industry. Although there are many web service in US, we also have our definite territory and can be better off by developing new technology. But we have to cultivate our new territory in the worldwide market. For this innovation, our web sites need to equip more international service and capacity for images and information.

Author: Olga Kharif

Title: Welcome to the Weekend Web

Date: May 29, 2008, 12:01AM EST

Page: 2

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080528_406846.htm

entry # 12 20700067

Unlimited Tunes from Apple?

2008-05-23T22:50:00.002+09:00

I use ipod and i-tunes. Unfortunately I cannot use a itune store in Korea, but I always wait for launching it in Korea. I heard that Ipod users feel more comfortable to use itune stores than other site for purchasing music. I think that if the ipod ensure the supply of all music, it can make a huge market of music record and also can expand its own product sales.
Apple already have enough money from charging for ipod and iphone devices to cover the cost of licensing entire music collections. Therefore, they can create a market selling the music with subscription system. Trouble is nobodies are talking about it. Insiders at major music labels were arrogant. The idea of subscription plan has been "kicked around" for about a year.
That doesn't mean the music industry wouldn't welcome Musician can get a chance to distribute songs and albums through a subscription plan. For Apple, subscriptions will provide a reliable revenue stream. And also consumers would really welcome this chance to purchase the music at more practical price. If this system start consumers can pay $7 to $10 a month for all the music,
Itune has become the second largest music retailer in the U.S. behind Wal-Mart Stores. It means over 50 million customers and has sold some 4 billion songs since its inception in 2003.
More important point for Apple, the online music store is can make sales more profitable. Apple has sold nearly 142 million iPods, plus 4 million iPhones. Total them all up and you find that the average iPod or iPhone owner buys. However, the actual sales of music are fewer than 30 songs for each unit because so far people usually tend to fill the iPod with music from an existing CD collection or other means. It means there are enough market to expand.
However, there are other sights to see this subscription market because there will be keen competition. New competition, MySpace, have their own music-store plans in the works. MySpace would let users stream music for free, and pay to download MP3 music files à la carte, similar to a service introduced by Amazon.com late last year. A strong competitive threat from MySpace, Apple have to be different marketing and system which satisfy their customers needs.
Music record market faces the crisis. In contrast, new music market definitely will get a great success. Who are going to finally occupy its market is very interest thing for me. I think that there must have a huge change in distribution of revenue.

http://www.bussinessweek.com/
March 20, 2008 by by Arik Hesseldahl

20600171 11th entry

European companies in BW's IT 100 know the future is in emerging markets

2008-05-23T20:13:00.003+09:00

When Deutsche Telekom (DT) agreed on May 14 to pay $5 billion for a 25% stake in Greece's OTE Hellenic Telecommunications (OTE), the German company wasn't just interested in a piece of the Athens mobile market. The real attraction was OTE's assets in fast-growing Eastern European countries including Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia. OTE's holdings in southeastern Europe make OTE "an important partner," Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Officer René Obermann said in a statement. 　

　
The deal was yet more evidence that emerging markets are where the action is in telecommunications these days. If you want hard data, look no further than the 2008 edition of BusinessWeek's IT 100, the annual ranking of the globe's most dynamic tech companies prepared in conjunction with Standard & Poor's (MHP). Telecommunications companies active in emerging markets—or companies that provide them with equipment or services—account for almost all of the 19 companies from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa that made the IT 100. Examples include South Africa's MTN (MTNJ.DE), which pioneered cell-phone service in Africa, and Egypt's Orascom Telecom Holding (ORTE.CA), which did the same in the Middle East.
Nokia, the Finnish handset maker that is No. 7 overall on the list—the best showing by a European company—arguably created the conditions that have allowed the others to thrive. Early in the decade, Nokia (NOK) began designing handsets specifically for emerging markets. They were affordable and rugged, and able to go many days between charges. That's an important feature in regions where car batteries are often the main source of recharging power.
Lots of Room to Expand

　　
Those handsets in turn helped make it profitable for mobile network operators such as Luxembourg's Millicom International (MICC), ranked No. 32 on the list, to push into markets like the Democratic Republic of Congo or Sri Lanka that are better known for guerilla warfare than text messaging. Business in those risky markets is surprisingly profitable: On Apr. 22, Millicom reported a 78% increase in first-quarter profits to $158 million on sales of $801 million.
What makes these markets particularly attractive is that there is plenty of growth left. Large swaths of rural territory, along with billions of people, still remain out of reach of mobile networks. And the Internet has only just begun to penetrate the developing world. Since PCs remain unaffordable for many people, or simply impractical because of a lack of electric power, mobile handsets will provide the likely entry to the Web for most of Africa and rural Asia. "Like a lot of people who made their first call on a mobile, they will have their first experience with the Internet on a mobile," says Carolina Milanesi, research director, mobile devices, at market-watcher Gartner (IT).

　　
Nokia is already bringing some basic Internet features to its handsets for emerging markets, including the ability to fetch Web-based e-mail. "Think about the next billion customers," says Kai Öistämö, Nokia executive vice-president in charge of devices. "This is how they will first know what the Net is all about. That is a fascinating thought, and a huge opportunity."

Author: Jack Ewing

Title: Telecom's Last Great Growth Markets
Date: May 22, 2008, 5:00PM EST

Page: 1
references: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_22/b4086056645511.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories
entry # 11 20700110

GE's dillema in kitchen industry area

2008-05-23T17:08:00.006+09:00

I read an article about GE(General Electric)'s turning point in its business. GE is a famous kitchen appliance company. Even though they do enormous businesses, the kitchen market is also a key part of GE. But as the market's competitors grow very fast and GE's position can be threatened. Also, GE is now allocating its budget to various industry area, so if the business is not successful at all, GE can remove it from their portfolio. Actually the scale of kitchen area is only $7 billion, and the total revenue is $173 billion. It's very small business to GE. And they now focus on the market outside of USA. The kitchen market is completely USA market, so GE now consider to give up the kitchen industry.

There are many companies that gave up their core industry and changed their portfolio. For example, Intel is now just an service company. A few years ago, Intel gave up their product line and decided to focus on the service area. Now, if you see Intel brand computers, actually, it's not a computer intel produced. Intel decided their core industry, but now they do very well in service area. If they remained the manufacturing industry, maybe they failed in the competition and also could be bankruptcy. I think GE is now facing the turning point. I think they have to get out of kitchen industry and invest in the promising industries. Author say that 'the company's future growth will largely be fueled by its health-care and energy businesses, much of it from outside the USA'. Accordingly, it's the matter of timing not the option problem. GE has to depart the old core industry and invest in the new industries. I think the resource area can be a promising industry. Though the probabillity is low, at some time, natural resources will be exhausted. If a company can be a entrepreneur in that area, it can fail in the industry. In the business life cycle, GE is now facing the maturity time. If they could't rebound, they will be a loser in the industry and fade away from market.

Korean companies also reach the maturity gradually. For example, the semiconductor is now facing a recession. At first, Samsung was a monopoly company in semiconductor market, but now many Taiwan and Japanese companies developed semiconductor technology. Accordingly, the market is now a price competition market. The demand for D-ram is also decreased. I think Samsung has to change their view to semiconductors. If the technology cannot improve anymore, the market is not a precious one. We have to find the Blue Ocean industry. Korea has many world number one products. But the premium is not eternal. At some time, we can face some competitors, and can lose from the competitions. In other words, we have to innovate ourselves and try to develop new technology. You know the iRiver, past MP3 dominator, is now facing a bankruptcy. The cause of the failure is laziness in innovation. Monopoly is a sweet one, but it can steal companies' life at the end.

Author: Matt Vella

Title: Why GE Is Getting Out of the Kitchen

Date: May 16, 2008, 12:01AM EST

Page: 1

references: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2008/id20080515_212057.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+++design_top+stories

http://cafe342.daum.net/_c21_/bbs_search_read?grpid=18xYo&fldid=DIKj&contentval=0001Ezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz&nenc=VQLH-6.4PtI-mDSxpdiF4A00&dataid=76&fenc=gTqfTm_BfZw0&docid=18xYoDIKj7620070618071951&q=%B9%DD%B5%B5%C3%BC%20%BA%D2%C8%B2&srchid=CCB18xYoDIKj7620070618071951

entry # 11 20700067

Hongkong Disneyland

2008-05-23T16:27:00.003+09:00

The fifth Disneyland style park, the park is located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. After years of negotiations and construction, the park opened to visitors on September 12, 2005, considered an auspicious date according to Chinese almanacs for the opening of a new business. Disney attempted to avoid problems of cultural backlash by attempting to incorporate Chinese culture, customs, and traditions when designing and building the resort, including adherence to the rules of Feng Shui.

The park consists of four themed lands similar to other Disneyland parks: Main Street, U.S.A., Fantasyland, Adventureland and Tomorrowland. There is as yet no Frontierland, although it may be included in future expansion projects. The theme park's cast members use English and Chinese, including Cantonese and Mandarin dialects, to communicate verbally. Guide Maps are printed in both Traditional and Simplified characters, Japanese, and in English.

The capacity of the park is 34,000 visitors per day, and is the smallest Disneyland park. It has so far fallen short of meeting its targeted visitorship figures. The park attracted 5.2 million visitors in its first year, below its target of 5.6 million. Visitor numbers fell 20% in the second year to 4 million, which was below company targets, inciting criticisms from local legislators.

The resort currently has 310 acres (1.3 km²), with the actual park taking approximately 100 acres (0.4 km²). With its small size cited often to explain its under-performance, the park has announced various plans for expansion. The classic Disney attraction, "it's a small world", opened on 28 April 2008. Furthermore, according to Bill Ernest, the executive vice president and managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland, the park is planning to add two unique theme lands in its future expansion. Over a 15 year expansion period, the park capacity will increase to handle up to 10 million visitors annually

Author: Doris Ho
Title: "Hongkong Disneyland
Date:FEBRUARY 15, 2006
page:1
Refrences: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2006/id20060215_677377.htm?chan=search

20300780 Entry 11

American Idol's Ads - TOO MUCH

2008-05-23T10:22:00.006+09:00

          Has been one of the most watched show, American Idol from Fox Entertainment is facing some criticisms over its overdose use of ads in its show case. In the recent episode, Ryan Seacrest, who is the host of the show, constantly flashed Apple iPhone for nearly a minute elaborating what it can do and how nice it is to use when viewers vote for their favorite contenders. Also, in front of the judges, there are always red cups written in Coca-Cola.

          The show has been running for seven years introducing many talented amateur singers to the world and been recognized one of the most successful reality shows in America. However, now a day it seems like it's more like a marketing showcase rather than musical competition. All the major corporations sponsoring the show, including Ford, Apple, Coca-Cola, AT&T and more, are putting their best efforts to appeal their logo on the show; however, it seems like it's getting out of control.

          Compared to the previous seasons, now American Idol is starting to show its decline in rating, according to the article, "...the ratings before the May 21 finale were off about 10% from last year" and a question has been raised, "Will product placement kill the video star?" (businessweek).

          Another problem that the show is facing is that it's targeted segment is aging faster than any other shows. What first started as teen's must-see kind of show, the current median viewer age are 43. Even though the show is still highly attractive for many companies to put their ads on, if it gets too much, young viewers are the first ones to notice.

          When I saw the show few years ago, I also notice that they are putting too much ads on the show, and now it's saying that it got worse. American Idol is such an exciting show, and people love to see unnoticed amateurs to become America's top singers. However, putting too much ads would distract the viewers to concentrate what the show is really trying to appeal and fade away the important characteristic it has: interaction with viewers. Even if the companies still think it's beneficial by putting their ads on the show, they should realize one day, people would say "I had enough of this."

Reference;
Grover, Ronald. "American Idol's Ads Infinitum" BusinessWeek. May 22, 2008.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_22/b4086038607130.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_news+%2B+analysis

20601008 - 11th Entry

"people's car"

2008-05-16T23:42:00.006+09:00

The tale of the creation and design of the world's cheapest car is one of innovation and ingenuity, both inside and outside Ratan Tata's organization

That picture is The "Luxury" version of the car features fog lamps, power windows and A/C. (Tata Motors)

Tata Motors Chief Executive Ravi Kant says "Every day we invite people to come and examine the car and ask: 'How can we make more savings?'" That quest to build the world's cheapest car hasn't ended.

particularly as the price of raw materials like steel have more than doubled in the past four years, and the company has to follow new

Still, the story of the Nano is not confined to its impact on the auto industry. It's a tale that illuminates the India of today—an eager, ambitious nation with a combination of engineering talent, a desire for low costs and value, and the hunger of young managers looking to break from a hidebound corporate environment. Indeed, the team that worked on the Nano—on average aged between 25 and 30—has helped to flatten Tata Motors' stodgy, multilayered management structure, which has resulted in an unexpected side-benefit Wagh calls "organizational innovation". Ravi Kant says. "We are hungry for growth—and innovation is a by-product of that."

Author: Kripalani

Title: Inside the Tata Nano Factory
Date: May 9, 2008
page: 1-2
Refrences: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2008/id2008059_312111.htm

20700110 Entry 10

2008-05-16T22:54:00.003+09:00

          Since its hot debut in the digital camcorder industry in May of 2007, Flip has been embraced by many people for its affordable price and outstanding quality. While others go as much "technology" as possible with their newly introduced models, Flip keeps it simple but high quality.

          Flip has gained its popularity among celebrities as well; especially Oprah Winfrey and Rosie O'Donnell. Unlike those major electronic producers such as Sony or Samsung, Flip has only 80 employees who have introduced a camcorder that costs around $120 to the average of $314. According to one research, Flip sold about 6 million camcorders in the U.S. market only in 2007.

          What has been the major customer demand driven factor? Flip simply transformed their customers into amateur film makers with its easy-to-use functions of the camcorder. It's the size of a bar of soap and does not require any cables to transfer the video file from the camcorder to computer; users simply connect the device to the computer with built-in USB connector. According to the CEO of Flip, their target was to "...strip away all control buttons and features from a typical camcorder and add back only the essentials" (BusinessWeek).

          Their new model which is slightly smaller in size is sold in 20,000 stores, including Wal-Mart, Costco, and Best Buy. The prices are comparably cheaper - as usual - and come with different colors: stark white, black, orange, and pink.

          It probably had been a tough journey for the firm to compete in one of the most competitive markets. The major brands such as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, and more are already sharing the limited market, Flip has targeted the small segment where people don't want to spend much but like to own a camcorder that is affordable and well equipped for the price.

          Concentrating on such segment became the competitive advantage for Flip and therefore is able to meet the demand for the segment. This article opened my eyes that one does not always have to follow the trends, and those who know how to differentiate their products in the saturated market are more likely to be successful with their business.

Jana, Reena. "Pure Digital Flips the Script" BusinessWeek. April 17, 2008.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081076893508.htm?chan=search

20601008 - 10th Entry

Mid-range hotel in China market.

2008-05-16T22:30:00.004+09:00

Chinese business market is bigger and bigger nowaday. As China expand the market more and more, so many business people have to visit China oftenly. It means the demand of the business hotel will also be increase. The Chinese hotel boom continues. Hotel Jen as the newcomer is unlike any other brands that already have sprouted in China's fast-growing hospitality market. Hotel Jen has a ultramodern design; light, airy rooms are equipped with high-speed such as wall-mounted flat-panel TVs pulse with rapid-fire images. A rooftop pool overlooks the city's harbor.

Hotel Jen is an experiment and this is the first successful in a line of mid-range hotels based on a population of Chinese business travelers. Hotel Jen is born into a rapidly changing environment.

Hotel Jen's aim is the place which is affordable but attractive. Busnessman usually just stay for 3 or 7days and the expensive hotels are not attractive to the busnessman who often visit China. They do not feel any more valuable to stay in high quality hotel. Instead of that kinds of hotel for tourists, bussiness man find some practical and comfortable to work place.

I think that mid-range hotel demand will be more and more high and it might be a big market. And also Korea need a mid-range hotel for foregin bussinessman.

Businessweek.
May 2, 2008, 3:08PM EST
Written by Matt Vella
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/may2008/id2008052_319492.htm

20600171 - 10th entry

Microsoft's strategy to improve their influence

2008-05-16T14:53:00.004+09:00

I read an article about OLPC( One Laptop per Child). OLPC is a nonprofit organization that try to provide low cost's laptop pc to the poor countries' children. And they allied with Intel and Microsoft. Originally, the lap top PC used Linux OS, but there were many complains and they allied with MS to use Window XP as an OS. Even though the organization has nonprofit objectives, maybe the two big companies have some intentions. Microsoft can expand their influences to the third world's children. Through these marketing, they can occupy sustainable advantage in OS market.

I think there are many companies to expand their presence to the world. Microsoft performs this task through free service. When a company's scale is worldwide grade, the management must improve their brand power rather than profits. Of course, profit is very important factor to companies, but I think brand power is more important. With brand power, companies can have advantage in competence with other companies. Microsoft may want to include the image of public sevice in their brand. Actually, Microsoft do many charity businesses and it contributes to the image of Microsoft. You know there is a survey about brand power. In the survey, Microsoft got 2nd rank follwing Coca-cola. The value of Microsoft calculated about $58 billion. It's a great value and maybe the implicit value more bigger than the index.

The value-based marketing is very critical in our period. You know Nike's shoes produced in south-east asia. But many people pay high price to buy Nike's shoes. It's the power of brand. People feel if we wear Nike's shoes, we can jump and run as the sports stars. In Korea, there are many franchise branches. If you get a Mcdonald's branch, you have to pay about 1 million dollars and have to pay royalty that is 20% of all sales. But many people want to buy the rights and pay huge money willingly. Actually, if you open franchise like that, you will not lose your money. In other words, the brand insure your success.

In korea, there are only small size franchises. In fact, worldwide franchises don't exist in Korea. I think that if we try to make our brand globally and invest in the advertisement constantly, we also can have our own worldwide franchises. It's time to invest in the intangible values.

Author: Steve Hamm

Title: Microsoft Joins One Laptop per Child

Date: May 15, 2008, 8:57PM EST

Page: 1

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080515_605667.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories

entry # 10 20700067

"RFID: On Track for a Rapid Rise"

2008-05-16T13:06:00.002+09:00

RFID is in use all around us. If you have ever chipped your pet with an ID tag, used EZ-Pass through a toll booth, or paid for gas using Speed-Pass, you've used RFID. In addition, RFID is increasingly used with biometric technologies for security.Unlike ubiquitous UPC bar-code technology, RFID technology does not require contact or line of sight for communication. RFID data can be read through the human body, clothing and non-metallic materials.

A basic RFID system consists of three components:
1. An antenna or coil
2. A transceiver (with decoder)
3. A transponder (RF tag) electronically programmed with unique information

The antenna emits radio signals to activate the tag and to read and write data to it. Antennas are the conduits between the tag and the transceiver, which controls the system's data acquisition and communication. Antennas are available in a variety of shapes and sizes; they can be built into a door frame to receive tag data from persons or things passing through the door, or mounted on an interstate toll booth to monitor traffic passing by on a freeway. The electromagnetic field produced by an antenna can be constantly present when multiple tags are expected continually. If constant interrogation is not required, the field can be activated by a sensor device.

Often the antenna is packaged with the transceiver and decoder to become a reader which can be configured either as a handheld or a fixed-mount device. The reader emits radio waves in ranges of anywhere from one inch to 100 feet or more, depending upon its power output and the radio frequency used. When an RFID tag passes through the electromagnetic zone, it detects the reader's activation signal. The reader decodes the data encoded in the tag's integrated circuit (silicon chip) and the data is passed to the host computer for processing.

Author: Olga Kharif

Title: "RFID: On Track for a Rapid Rise"

Date: Feburary 4, 2004

page: 1-2

Refrences: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2004/tc2004024_8389_tc165.htm?chan=search

20300780 Entry 10

MySpace to YourSpace

2008-05-09T22:00:00.003+09:00

Broadly loved social-network web site MySpace is moving forward. Online users for MySpace soon will be abled to move their profiles to other web portals such as portal site "Yahoo.com," blogging service "Twitter," or even "eBay." The major reason why MySpace is having a such service integration among many other major web service providers is to simply meet the market trend of eliminating invisible walls between different web sites.

Unlike in the past, now many online service providers are letting users to move back and forth with their own information or profiles freely in order to allow a convinience to each customer on the internet and have a full advantage bring different services together. By doing so, instead of taking away each other's customers, this kind of integration actually has accelerated the web traffic on each web site meaning that more users are visiting or using their services.

The growth rate of personal social-network service has been declining since many firms now offer similar services. In order to compete and differentiate their service, MySpace is having a service integration to move into the new markets.

However, there is also a problem to be solved. Since users of social network services do not actively engage with the ads or so calld "banner-clicking," directing their attention to such service integration would be tough. When users are so concentrated just interacting with their friends through the service, they are not likely to be involved in clicking or paying attention to the ads.

I think having a such integration is an innovative idea for MySpace to overcome its current situation. I had read some articles about MySpace that they are not doing so well lately. They even have opened up Korean version MySpace few weeks ago which most Koreans do not even aware of. Having a similar service among many other providers would be a major disadvantage for the firms to overcome. However, by emerging the service with other major web-based corporation such as Yahoo or eBay would definately help MySpace to reachieve its reputation in the personal social network industry.

Reference;
Holahan, Catherine. "MySpace: Going Places" BusinessWeek. May 9, 2008.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc2008058_088592.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

20601008 - 9th Entry

Nokia's innovative strategy

2008-05-09T18:15:00.005+09:00

I read an article about Nokia's development strategy. When you entered Nokia's website, you can download some sports tracking programs. Of course, these softwares are completely free. Then why Nokia do things like that? Nokia knows that inventions usually came from customers' feedbacks. And they just applied the truth into their website. Through these open strategy, they can achieve more better products. Customers are very helpful assistants and they sometimes think great business ideas.
Professionals call the strategy as user-generated strategy. If you have to invent products, you will need some comments and also make some market surveys. Like this, Nokia is doing some market surveys through free distribution of their softwares. And also, the softwares will improve by customers' feedbacks. Accordingly, we can call these processes as user-generated strategy.
Then how can we achieve this strategy? The author say that it needs to tarket specific customers. Generally, the main tarket of marketing is urban populations. You know, the urban populations are almost 50 percents of world populations. And they have more wealth than any regions of the world. They even buy something for their beauty and convenience. Because of these facts, we need to focus on the urban populations. Nokia make good website for urban people, and they can achieve valuable feedbacks through well-tarketed strategies.
Among these urban populations, Nokia mostly tarketed for tech buyers. Tech buyers are people who need high technologies and want to achieve tasks through these technologies. Since they like these tech, they even buy expensive products. Nokia noticed these features and they tarketed their products for tech buyers. In fact, they did so well in the process of tarketing, and they can achieve great reputation through these processes. Now, Nokia is world's top moblie device company.
I think korean companies are so poor in the process like that. Because korean companies have some prouds of their technologies and ignore customers' feedbacks. They just excused themselves and couldn't make sustainable advantages in their market. If they developed customer-based website and tried to gather feedbacks from customers, they can be worldwide companies. But now, they are not world-class companies. I think the capitals or high achievements cannot tell the class of that company. Rather, the respects to customers and corporate cultures can make a company real meaning world class companies.

Author: Jack Ewing
Title: 'How Nokia Users Drive Innovation'
Date: April 30, 2008, 1:15PM EST
Page: 2

references: http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb20080430_764271.htm
20700067 entry # 9

Success of Samsung

2008-05-09T13:06:00.002+09:00

Samsung Electronics Co. rose to the top in the crucial North American LCD TV market in the first quarter of 2008, amid a cut-throat price competition among top-tier TV brands.
According to Display-Search, a U.S.-based market research firm, yesterday, the Korean TV maker accounted for 12.8 percent of the total LCD TVs sold in North America, edging slightly higher than its archrival Sony Corp. which ranked No. 2 with 12.6 percent.

LCD TV was a highly competitive category in the first quarter of 2008 with the top three brands-Samsung, Sony and Vizio-separated by less than half a point of unit share at 12.8 percent, 12.6 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively.

The firm is aiming to sell 180 units in its LCD TVs and 30 million units of PDP sets globally. Data compiled by another research firm NPD shows Samsung also ahead of its competitors with a market share of 19.4 percent. It puts Sony in second place with 18.3 percent, LG in the fourth place with 6.4 percent and Vizio in the sixth with 4.2 percent.

What makes Samsung Tops in TV? The elaborate system is the crucial weapon that has enabled Samsung to pull off a coup in the ruthlessly tough home electronics industry. Company executives believe the system, together with innovative design and parts standardization, has propelled Samsung ahead of Japanese electronics giants Sony, Matsushita Electric Industrial, which is adopting its popular brand name Panasonic as its corporate moniker, and Sharp in the television industry.
In an industry where prices fall at breakneck paces, maintaining a low inventory level is vital. Further pressuring the TV makers: Whenever retail prices fall, big electronics channels such as Best Buy and Circuit City require them to compensate for the gap between new and old prices for their inventory kept in the stores. So reducing inventory levels is crucial. Samsung's dropped to 15 days last year from 21 days in 2004. The company's Korean and Japanese rivals don't release their inventory levels, so it's hard to make comparisons.

Annotation
"SamsungWay", http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_24/b3837001_mz001.htm?chan=search June 16, 2003

20300780 Entry 9

Samsung phone sales soar in China

2008-05-09T10:17:00.002+09:00

Samsung Electronics shared 16.3% in the Chinese mobile phone market. It means Samsung already over the Motorola’s market share(9.2%). Samsung now reached the third-largest player in China. Nokia is the most powerful corporation in China sharing 44% in the market. Furthermore, Samsung’s sales also is rising. Since 2007 60 percent is rising up from 1.53 million.
The reason of the rising is that expensive mobile phones are more being sold in China. In 2008, Samsung expected that totally 173 millions phones will be sold and 70 percent of these phones are made up of the more expensive models.

Especially, you have to focus on the Armani phone which is a new model Samsung launched. It is a luxury phone which is made by Samsung and Italian fashion brand. It costs $1,189. In addition, a smartphone F488e which is used most recent technology ‘touchpad’.

In conclusion, in the future, Samsung’s main targeting in Chinese will be people who are enjoyed luxurious life style. They will show premium product line further more.

I agree Samsung’s strategy. In china, there are so many people and it means there also lots of the rich in china. Samsung have to share this market first of all. And then Samsung can be more easily occupied the second level market because at that time they can get a powerful brand in China. Therefore, Samsung have to make a new style, design and high technology phone to attract the rich people in China.

http://www.koreaherald.com/
written by Choi He-suk in 2008.05.06

20600171 9th entry

IKEA is just Kamprad

2008-05-03T00:01:00.003+09:00

IKEA which is the biggest furniture company established in 1943 Sweden by Kamprad. He had a unique philosophy of management at that time. This is a very simple and a deserved thing but it is hard to do for company’s profit. Making a good quality and low cost products is the purpose of the business in IKEA. Nowadays, he’s management is the good example to other many companies. IKEA has been bigger and bigger until now. It has big 190 malls in 30 countries, sales over 15 billion dollars per year.

What is the main reason of success? CEO-Kamprad is the key of success himself. Here are several his principles.

1. Variety but do not lose IKEA’s true colors.
Personally, I think that this principle has been truly working now. There are all kinds of furniture from kitchen to kid’s room. And even sell a lot of interior small pieces such as the toys, dishes, pictures, trash can. Even though there are countless goods, I can always distinguish IKEA’s product. IKEA has its own color.

2. Practical philosophy and Realism.
IKEA’s furniture is very simple and practical. Their furniture has a unique idea for consumer and it makes people comfortable in their life.

3. Profit is a source for management.
I am very impressed about this principle. Making a profit is not just for personal interest but for company and its development.

4. The smallest input and the biggest output.
IKEA only use a catalog for P.R until now. It is the cheapest marketing method but it is working so much well. In catalog, cheap and pretty stuff is decorated and it attracts people to IKEA.

5. Frugality (simplicity) is the virtue.
The CEO, Kamprad live frugally. He lives in a small house, uses a compact car even though he is one of the richest in a world. This kinds of personality of CEO reflect IKEA’s business.

6. Endless bright ideas.
IKEA’s furniture is not just normal furniture. The unique and bright ideas make the products unique and it is the IKEA’s market power.

There are many analysis information of IKEA’s business. For example, how to reduce the cost of production and operating or how to find a larger market abroad. However, I just want to focus on the Kamprad’s principle. This is like a frame of IKEA’s all kinds of marketing. And I do know that all elements doing in IKEA are fit in this frame. If the company has no its own clear color, no definite principle of business, this company cannot impress its customer.

http://cafe.naver.com/sgmba54mu4.cafe?iframe_url=/ArticleRead.nhn%3Farticleid=138

20600171 - 8th entry

Local Currency Program

2008-05-02T23:10:00.003+09:00

Steve Carlotta, owner of the three-employee Great Barrington (Mass.) camera store Snap Shop, had been losing business for the last five years to discounters on the Internet. Then, in September, 2006, his town launched a currency program called “BerkShares” designed to strengthen the local economy by encouraging consumers to support local businesses. Participating businesses agreed to offer shoppers who used the program's BerkShares paper scrip instead of dollars a 10% discount on all purchases.
The program works like this: Shoppers visit one of 10 branches of four participating local banks and convert their cash into BerkShares scrip. For every 90 cents, they receive one BerkShare note, that is accepted at some 280 participating area businesses; it's also honored at about 250 other businesses throughout the Southern Berkshires region that aren't officially registered, but still do some business in BerkShares.

Some research has pointed to devastating effects of big-box stores on local communities. One study in Maine by the ILSR found that, for every dollar spent at a big-box store, about 14 cents stayed in that state. The researchers then compared that to locally-owned businesses, where they found that 54 cents of every dollar stayed in the state. "If you can shift 10% into retail businesses, you generate more jobs and income. Community currencies can be an effective tool for that as they allow people to see what happens to the dollar," says Mitchell.
But starting a new currency is no picnic. For local merchants it involves more difficult accounting, and possibly separate cash registers to keep the community currency and federal currency separate. Organizations that produce local currencies are prohibited by U.S. law from producing coins or printing bills that resemble federal dollars. There are also some minor complications with reporting sales tax to the state, which Carlotta says takes him about one extra hour a month to sort out. Perhaps most importantly, merchants have to devise a way to spend the currency, which can be a problem if they're using suppliers out of their local area.

Refrences:Businessweek.com

20300780 Entry 8

Popular vidio games players doing well

2008-05-02T19:34:00.002+09:00

          The competition has been always tight in the video game consoles market in the states, targeting upcoming Children's Day on May 5th, the new spark is lightening up in Korea as well. There are three hot video game consoles in the market; they are Wii from Nintendo, Xbox from Microsoft, and PlayStation 3 from Sony. Since all three companies are spending a lot promoting their consoles for the holiday with new releases of games, the competition is expected to boost up a lot more.
          One of the most aggressive spender in the market is Nintendo who just launched it world-wide popular game console Wii on April 26. With a famous Korean actor Won Bin in their TV commercials, magazine and newspaper ads, experts is estimating more than 10,000 units were sold for the first four days of its launch. Since people spend a lot of money buying presents for their children, Nintendo is forecasting sale increase over the holiday weekend.
          For Nintendo DS player, which is sold more than 1.5 million units in Korea, has been a most loved portable game player among young boys and girls, people have a great interest on Will because of its uniqueness and convenience. Unlike other game consoles which use joysticks or pads, Wii has “… a motion-sensitive remote controller, called ``Wiimote,'' with which gamers can imitate various actions, such as swinging a baseball bat, hurling a bowling ball or pointing a rifle at a target” (KoreaTimes).
          Wii is currently sold at 220,000 won whereas Xbox is 369,000 won, which has been lowered by 20,000 from its first launch last year. Xbox has been the leading game console in Korea selling 50,000 units more than Sony’s PlayStation 3. Sony, on the other hand, is selling PlayStation 3 for 348,000 won and by partnering with KT, people who first subscribe cable or internet service from KT can purchase PlayStation for only 90,000 won.
          However, there are some complains about Wii; people cannot play game CDs that are purchased outside of the countries and does not allow language translation between games in English or Japanese to Korean.
          I’m not an aggressive game player anyway, but every time I pass by game stores in the mall, these game consoles always grab my attention because of their high quality game functions and graphics. Some of them I believe to have a better visual effect than high tech personal computers. My friend owns Wii from Nintendo, and he loves it because you don’t just sit and play the game for hours like an couch-potato; you actually have to swing, turn, and trigger Wii’s unique remote cotrollers, Wiimote. All parents want to give a best or something that would remain in children’s memories in Children’s Day. I think buying one of these game consoles would be an unforgettable gift for any children.

Reference;
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/05/123_23554.html

20601008 – 8th Entry

Korean Phone Makers Are on the Prowl

2008-05-02T18:55:00.004+09:00

Samsung, LG, and others(Korean cell-phone makers) are trying to grab market share with stylish models and nifty features. They should take the initiative in this market. Such a great competitive power is caused by creative power.
And we are expecting more original works.

(a news item)
Don't tell Korean cell-phone makers it's time to stay conservative and cautious in the face of faltering consumer sentiment. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are making an all-out effort to grab market share with their stylish phones with nifty functions.

While Nokia (NOK) remained the clear leader in the industry, the Koreans were the star performers in the first quarter of this year. LG, which until a year ago was seen as a second-tier vendor, overtook Sony Ericsson as the world's fourth-largest player in the quarter by increasing sales 54% from a year earlier. It is now threatening to catch up with Motorola (MOT), which Samsung overtook last year as the second-largest maker. Here's a look at some of the Korean phones that are creating buzz

20700110 - 8th entry
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/04/0430_phones/index_01.htm

Virtualizaion : Future of cell phones

2008-05-02T13:01:00.002+09:00

I read an article about 'Virtualization'. Virtualization is a technology that can link to the virtual sever. As a result, processors link to the virtual segment regardless of real network passages. Recently, virtualizaion was applied to cell phones. It's still early technology, but some companies like Motorola, Cisco, and Intel accepted the technology. Virtualization make it available to link the OS system through cell phones.
The issue with phone OS virtualization is that much of a phone's unique appeal are its physical attributes, and not only its software features - such as Blackberry's QWERTY keyboard, iPhone's touchscreen, etc. These physical features are then exploited by the software. This is in contrast with PC virtualization, where user interfaces are essentially standard (e.g. keyboard, mouse, screen). Thus the challenge in development of phone virtualization is greater, while the utility is less than of PC virtualization. iPhone software will thus always run better on an an iPhone platform than on a Blackberry.
The virtualizaion for cell phones can upgrade the technology for OS. Through virtualizaion, OS developer's can make tiny and compact OS system that can be applied to the mobile devices. I think korean companies also have to apply these technologies. And we can make our own OS system through virtualizaion. Actually, the OS market is dominated by Microsoft. When we used their software, we had to pay high royal fee. As a result, Microsoft dominated all of our computerized industries. I think it's a great chance for our companies. If we can make our own OS, we can dominate the mobile market more strongly than before.
The mobile internet and virtualizaion are uncultivated sectors. Korea is now standing a crossroad. If we can survive from these technology war, we can be a great nation of world. However, If we can't innovate our technology, we will be a weak country. The innovation cannot occur in a few years. For innovation, we have to accumulate our know-how and technology through ceaseless research and benchmarking.

references: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc20080421_235517.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_telecom

20700067 entry #8

Good Design, Good Business in China

2008-04-25T23:16:00.006+09:00

We often seem to speak different languages. Architects love to talk about space, light, and "transcending morphology."
Market is changing and a need today for this sort of design. Let's find efficient language
---------------------------------------
The goal of the BusinessWeek/Architectural Record Awards is to create a dialogue between these two worlds and honor examples of architects and their clients working together to further each other's goals. Two years ago we brought the awards to China on a biannual basis, believing the message "good design is good business" would find fertile ground here.
This year we honor 13 building and planning projects including a small house in Hong Kong, a new railway hub, an architect's studio in Shanghai, and Finance Street, an 860,000-square-meter, mixed-use development in Beijing.
Far and away the most awards were handed out in the Public category, to buildings that serve a community or unite a neighborhood. Many of these awards went to cultural institutions, such as the Dafen Art Museum in Shenzhen, which attracts tourists to a district already thronging with art-school graduates, and to I.M Pei's design for Suzhou Museum, which juxtaposes the ancient collection of precious ceramics, paintings, and jade with a stunningly elegant exterior. AREP Ville's design for the South Station in Shanghai features a huge, dramatic, flying-saucer shaped roof, which shelters the thousands of daily commuters. The roof's design is not merely about being aesthetically pleasing: its perforated panels filter and diffuse the sun's rays, spreading a soft glow around the waiting hall and reducing the need for electric lighting.
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/apr2008/id20080421_404170.htm?chan=innovation_architecture_top+stories
20700110 Kim sungKi
7th Entry

Starbucks Company

2008-04-25T22:04:00.004+09:00

About Starbuck

Starbucks Corporation is in Seattle, Washington, based coffee company. It Buys, roasts, and sells whole bean specialty coffees and coffee drinks through an international chain of retails. Also, It beginning as a seller of packaged, premium specialty coffees. Starbucks has consistently been one of the fastest growing companies in the United States. Over a ten-year period starting in 1992, the company’s revenues increased. Also, Starbucks store locations are increased.

Building a Unique Culture
Starbucks promotes an empowered employee culture through generous benefits programs, an employee sticks ownership plan, and thorough employee training. Each employee must have at least twenty-four hours of training.

Leveraging the Brand

Multiple Channel of Distribution
Besides its stand-alone stores, Starbucks has set up cafes and carts in hospital, banks,office building, supermarket, hotels, airline. Office Coffee is a large segment of the coffee market. Starbucks provides coffee,near the business office around the united.

Brand Extension
Starbucks coffee is also making its way onto grocery shelves via a carefully planned series of joint vertures. An agreement with pepsiCo Inc. brought a bottled version of starbucks Frappuccino to store shelves.

References:

Starbucks.com

20300780, Entry 7

University marketing

2008-04-25T20:02:00.002+09:00

In the season of entering university, we can see so many advertiseing and marketing of universities. I don't think students much depends on publicity or advertisement choosing their university. However, it is working.
For my own example, as I was a high-school student, S universtiy was more low level than now. This university has no speciality in any area, and its image makes students who enter this Univ. be looked down on. Since the new adevertising and various brand making strategy were start, S univ. could be a pretty 'good' school attracting more high quality( high score level in entering exam)students.

Coupons Going Digital Too

2008-04-25T19:28:00.002+09:00

          What used to be a shameful miser or people with no money do is now having a complete make-over and being a new successful business model for boosting up the sales. Coupons or promotional discount fliers are transforming its classical look and are distributed through phone services.

          Firms using such marketing strategies to increase their sales are cooperating with wireless carriers such as SK Telecom, KTF, and LG Telecom to provide their coupons to as many people as possible through free downloadable coupons and bar codes. Because of its convenience, people now don't have to go through all the booklets or vouchers to find the coupons and easily just press few buttons on their cell phones and download it in a few seconds.

          SK Telecom has been providing such service through "OK CouFun," which lets subscribers to have an access to varieties of coupon and discount promotions that could be reclaim at any given time. This service offers "...savings anywhere from getting hamburgers, attending musicals, renting cars and joining fitness centers" (KoreaTimes). One of the major benefits for using the service is that it's available for free.

          The wireless carriers are expecting more and more subscribers would use the service as economy gets tough and therefore, their efforts to look for more discounts will be increased as well. Since its success is boosting up the sales of the stores, many franchise chains are now asking the mobile service providers to work together in order to attract more varieties of customers.

          In the marketing class, I've learned that lowering the cost, differentiating products, creating strong suppliers and customers relationship, and targeting the niche markets are the key components to achieve competitive advantages. What use to be just an ordinary way of marketing the products or services is now having a totally different look and creates a great bargaining power which increases the sales. E-coupons, as the article illustrates, now became a strong niche market that differentiates its way of promoting organizations' goods and services and also at the same time, tightens the relationship with customers and creates royalty. I've used these electronically available coupons on few restaurants, and the way it works is unbelievably convenient and fast. This article showed me how this kind of marketing strategy can also affect the way people react to the products that the firm provides.

Reference;
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/04/123_22703.html
20601008 - 7th Entry

Pure Digital Flips the Script

2008-04-25T17:57:00.002+09:00

I read an article about flip camcorder. You know the camcorder market is almost dominated by SONY. SONY is a huge japanese electronic company that has great power to the electronic market. And strangely, the simple and no brand name flip camcorder became the most popular product. The Pure Digital, the brand company of filp camcorder, just change some design and make it more simplier than their huge competitors. As a consequence, they hit a great homerun! The selling index in flip camcorder is more higher than the SONY's product. You may think that the customer considers the brand name importantly. But the design and convenience are more important than brand name. Maybe in Korea, the brand name is the most important factor, but westerners think that the brand name isn't very important. These are differences between two cultural locations. A good marketers must have to figure out the tendency of each different market.

Look at the picture. When I saw the picture, I thought that this may be an MP3 player, but this is a camcorder. Generally, camcorders have many buttons and these can make users afraid of the camcorders. Pure Digital removed the unnecessary and complicate buttons and make the design as a user-friendly product. The proto model of flip camcorder was sold in a drug store. And it make people interested and people began to indicate the weaknesses of the proto type model. Through these helpful feedbacks, Pure Digital innovated the first model and now the flip camcorder is a worldwide sensation in camcorder market.

If you want to become a successful marketer, you have to change the existing market. And this processes are often difficult to execute because creative thinking is necessary to the dominant product. Pure Digital just changed the design and improve convenience of the camcorder. The fuctions of the flip camcorder are poorer than it's competitiors, but they improved themselves by focusing on the needs of customers. The success is not away of you, actually, it's very near and you can derive these ideas an any time. I think the breakdown of stereotypes and prejudices are very important to the success of products. In the global market, these creative destructions are keys to the survival of companies.

references: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081076893508.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories

20700067 entry # 7

satisfiy your customer needs.

2008-04-19T23:33:00.002+09:00

The point of success in business such as a restaurant is to make a regular customer. They even joyfully wait for eating in a long line over 30minutes. As you see, good quality customers make money to owner steadily. To make regular customers you have to be sure about not only quality of goods but also the marketing strategy. For example, there are two ideal cases of Japanese corporation.
The baseball team named ‘Rakuten’ is cellar-dwelling team since 2005. However, the number of spectators is more and more growing. The reason is that they upgrade baseball stadium facilities and create many events for customers. They draw over 60 restaurants and make a luxurious bar for first seat customers. And also make a room for woman. People can use this baseball park as a them park for rest with family in a weekend. About a baseball game, they make a lot of event which make spectators participate themselves. For example, a national anthem played before game is sang by local school students or local chorus. In addition, families can enjoy themselves such as a catch ball in the play ground before the game start. In summer vacation, they invite child customers for camping event using the play ground. They can advertise their baseball team and also increase the interest of local people about baseball.
Another case is the small supermarket ‘Harashin’ located in local area in Japan. The special character of this supermarket is packing service. It is not normal packing service doing other supermarkets. The staffs of Harashin train hard to pack 20 stuffs in a 2minutes. And also they try to make a better wrapping design for customers can carry their stuffs easily.
To success in business, company has to focus on their customers needs. A little different strategy can make a huge different revenue in business. Make a different something compared with other companies.

http://www.economist.co.kr
20600171 6th entry

Construction Company

2008-04-18T22:55:00.004+09:00

Do you know the Caterpillar? Caterpillar managed to as a high-tech, globally competitive, growth company. Caterpillar expanded its rental equipment business, reaching a new category of customers both at home and abroad. Actually, they sold or rented equipment to rental centers, and these centers, rerented the equipment to end users. Rarely did Caterpillar rent directly to customers.

Caterpillar is good at network of dealership. Many of Caterpillar’s dealership were privately owned. Also, the informal relationship between the company and its dealers were far more important than the formal contractual relations. Caterpillar had always protected its dealers against failure, under owner’s direction. In this reason, Caterpillar grew up, more quickly and highly.

As I know, In 1999, about 80 percent of the world’s population lived in developing countries, and Caterpillar’s sales to developing nations accounted for only about 20 percentage of the total company’s sales. Developing countries had limited access to water, electricity, and etc. Therefore, they needed to invest in building highways, bridge, dams, and etc.

Caterpillar want to made up to these customer’s needs, therefore, they focused on customer’s satisfaction and all things.
Now days, Caterpillar is one of the best construction-company in the worlds.

References

Koreaherald.com

www.cat.com

20300780 Entry 6

The iPhone in Europe: Lost in Translation

2008-04-18T20:29:00.008+09:00

We discussed about euro disney with such a question. why was the launch of euro disney a failure? and here is similar (the market)situation. Apple's U.S. blockbuster isn't a hit across the Atlantic. How will it fare elsewhere?
Main problem is diffrent from euro disney. if you ask me. That is price!!

When Apple's iPhone first went on sale in Europe six months ago, hopes were high that the device would be just as big a hit there as it had been in the U.S. But analysts are now raising concerns that the iPhone may not translate as well overseas, with sales sluggish in Europe because of the device's high price and strong competition from Nokia (NOK) and others. "Our research indicates that European shipments to date have been far below [expectations]," says analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura Securities (NMR).

Mixed Signals
Apple and the three European car�riers have not disclosed up-to-date sales figures, and the company declined to comment on European sales. The carriers all have said they are happy with demand for the device.
Still, the iPhone's price has been an issue. Most phones in Europe are heavily subsidized, and customers can get even some high-end models for free. The iPhone had not been subsidized, selling for $600 or more with a 12- or 24-month service contract. In the past two weeks, however, two carriers have reduced the price for the iPhone.

A New Approach?
The Cupertino (Calif.) company drives a hard bargain with its wireless partners, which may make them reluctant to subsidize the iPhone. It takes a cut of the revenue that wireless operators collect for voice and data services each month, something no other phone�maker is believed to get. Strategy Analytics estimates Apple gets $5 to $20 per month for each customer from its wireless partners.
Apple's experience in Europe raises questions about the iPhone's prospects around the world. The company has said it wants to sell 10 million units by the end of 2008. But Apple may need to change its business model to reach that target, perhaps by moving to nonexclusive contracts or giving up its cut of service revenues. The company may make less money off each iPhone, but it could sell many more. "If they really want to be successful in this market, they had better [change]," says Shiv K. Bakhshi, director of mobile research and devices at research firm IDC (IDC).

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_17/b4081000500950.htm?chan=rss_topStories_ssi_5

20700110 - Kim SungKi
6th Entry

Ford's marketing strategy: Equity

2008-04-18T12:44:00.005+09:00

Ford is a huge car manufacturing company. And their market ranged all around of the world. If you're the manager of Ford's marketing division, what will do for marketing? Maybe most of us cost a lot for the product. Because the market is so wide that we have to make product's image different. But Ford's marketing was different from our guess. Instead of making name complicately, they maintain their car name consistently. For example, the Fiesta, Ford's small size car, is all same around the world.
Through this marketing strategy, they can cut their marketing cost. But there are also much risks you can face if you use this strategy. Actually, the mainstream of marketing is diversification. Many global companies are now trying to make their product's image localized. Because values of each country are very different. If you try to use the Equity strategy, you should be careful about these aspects.
Then what's the main reasons about Ford's marketing success? I think it's their constant marketing efforts. Fiesta was firstly introduced in the late 70s. At that time, Fiesta was so unpopular that they didn't get any market share. But they focused on the cheap price of their product and 'Fiesta' is sound like 'cheap'. Through this differentiation strategy, Ford can make their product competitive and it's the main reason of long life of Fiesta. Naturally, Fiesta is intimate both America and other world. Now they enjoy their marketing cost reduction and they can make their product more cheaper than past period.
What's the lesson of Ford's marketing strategy? I think it's the constant effort to make their product intimate. In Korea, many products are disappearing fastly. Consequently, companies always find the creative way to express their product very attractive. But I think these kinds of marketing cannot make continuous profit for companies. I want to expect that someday in korea there must be a historical and valuable products through equity and constant marketing strategy.

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_12/b4076063825013.htm?chan=innovation_auto+design_top+stories

entry 6 20700067

Starbucks' Retro Logo

2008-04-17T13:40:00.005+09:00

          Instead of its green-based logo, in an effort of restoring some of the goodwill and image for the brand, Starbucks is now going to use its traditional image of the twin-tailed mermaid inside the brown medallion,which was used when the Starbucks was first established, for certain periods of time. This brown logo was first introduced in 1971 and had changed for many times until it finally settled with the current image.
          This is their second time restoring the use of the traditional logo; in 2006, to celebrate Starbucks' 35th anniversary, this was also used for a certain period of time. The main reason for this year is to "...restore some of the goodwill and warm feelings for the brand that have gone by the wayside because of increasing coffee prices, machine-made lattes, and bad press" (BusinessWeek).
          Furthermore, Starbucks will introduce the new blend which has been crafted for a smoother and cleaner finish than other traditional blends of Starbucks after criticism they have received from the reviewers of Consumer Reports that those blends taste burned.
          Some worry that this promotion would hurt the company's brand image because the traditional logo is brown-based and includes a mermaid with bare breast. However, Starbucks is only planning to have this promotion for only 8 weeks, and they will go back to its well-known green color logo leaving the traditional one only in ads and as the logo for Pike Place bags of coffee.
          As a marketing student, now I realize more than before that how brand's logo or image can affect customers greatly in many ways. Introducing or changing brand's logo would not be a easy decision to take even if it would last only for a short period of time. However, in a way that Starbucks tries to remind its customers where their roots started from by showing its traditional logo, I think it's very fresh and quite touching strategy for people to actually feel that they are a part of their favorite coffee brand's heritage.

Reference;
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/apr2008/id20080411_065581.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories

20601008 - Entry 6th

Contemporary Art Tops the Auction Charts

2008-04-11T23:17:00.003+09:00

At auction houses across the globe, led by the work of artists such as Andy Warhol, contemporary art is bringing in big bucks as the best-selling category

From New York to Jakarta, contemporary artwork is riding an unprecedented wave of commercial success. New Indonesian and other Southeast Asian artists are commanding five- and six-figure sums for their work, which is being snapped up by collectors, galleries, and auction houses around the world. Takashi Murakami, often called the Japanese Andy Warhol, has become a household name thanks to his whimsical designs for Louis Vuitton (LVMH.PA) bags and his major expositions this year at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Brooklyn Museum in New York. And in 2007, Warhol himself unseated Pablo Picasso from the top spot on a list of painters ranked by sales of their works at public auction.
"Contemporary art is now the driving force of an auction house," says François Curiel, the Paris chairman of Christie's Europe. Last year, Christie's International achieved $1.56 billion in sales of postwar and contemporary art around the world, 25% of its total revenues, narrowly edging out Impressionist and Modern art sales. A May auction of Andy Warhol's Green Car Crash at Christie's New York brought in $71.7 million, the highest price fetched at the auction house last year.
At Sotheby's, contemporary art sales grew 107% over 2006 to $1.34 billion, becoming the auction house's top-selling category for the first time. In comparison, sales of Impressionist and Modern art rose by 24%, to $1.16 billion. The sale of contemporary Irish painter Francis Bacon's Seated Woman (Portrait of Muriel Belcher) in Paris last December fetched the highest price for a work of art in France since 1989: $20 million.
Weak Dollar Draws Foreign Buyers
Auction house representatives in Europe, North America, and Asia say the rise in prices is continuing unabated despite the economic downturn in the U.S.—even in the capital of the art world, New York—because of the international nature of the market. Auctions in New York draw bidders from Russia, the Middle East, and other cash-rich regions, and don't rely on local collectors to sustain sales. Furthermore, the weakening dollar has proven a big draw for foreign investors while wealthy Americans have turned to collecting as a safer form of investment than stocks and money markets.
The rising popularity of contemporary and postwar art—the two are often coupled but comprise different genres—stems in part from the lack of older works available for sale. They have largely been acquired by museums. A decade ago, Christie's began introducing at auction in London and New York contemporary works that had been created in the previous three or four years. Until then, young artists had launched their careers primarily through dealers, says Brett Gorvy, the international co-head of postwar and contemporary art at Christie's New York. The open competition at auction houses drove prices for fresh art way up, generating a new market for works by young artists.
A plentiful supply of contemporary works is fueling the boom in sales. "The good thing about Warhol is, he's a serial artist," Gorvy says. If one Campbell Soup (CPB) painting sells well, that virtually guarantees the next Campbell's painting will fetch an even higher price, and so on. The trend also "reflects people's confidence in their own culture," says Jonathan Stone, international business director for Asian art at Christie's in Hong Kong. Artists who may have once tried to emulate European or American masters are creating new styles drawn from their own cultures, as seen in Japan's flourishing contemporary market (BusinessWeek.com, 7/25/07).
France Plans to Boost Home Market
One country that has had difficulty cashing in on the contemporary craze is France. While works by artists born after 1945 account for 10% of global art sales, the figure is less than 3% in France, according to Artprice, a French group that tracks fine-art sales from 2,900 auction houses worldwide. Part of the problem is a tax of 1% to 4% on art created by living artists or those dead fewer than 70 years. Also, many young French artists have moved to places with lower costs of living such as Berlin, creating a dearth of talent back home. "You have a great horse," says Curiel of the contemporary market, "but you can't give him hay."
On Apr. 2, French Culture Minister Christine Albanel announced a plan to revitalize the country's art market by providing zero-interest loans of €5,000 to €10,000 ($7,865 to $15,706) for buyers, more tax breaks for companies that purchase contemporary art, and fewer restrictions on auctioning, among other initiatives. Currently, France controls 6.4% of the global fine-art market, vs. 43% in the U.S., 30% in Britain, and a surprising 7.3% in China, according to Artprice.
Albanel's proposals, if ratified by the French Parliament, will take effect by June, 2009. Given that auction houses waited 450 years to be able to hold sales in France—the first took place only in 2001—they'll undoubtedly take the yearlong delay in stride. In the meantime, the global stir is encouraging ever more creative types to jump on the contemporary bandwagon. Says Francis Outred, head of evening auctions and private sales at Sotheby's in Britain, "It's not such a bad word now to be an artist these days."

Fishbein is a reporter in BusinessWeek's Paris bureau .

As we see, France announced a plan to revitalize the country's art market and the contemporary art has important position in the auction. Generally the rich seek for art. When we do market segmentation, such a chaging is helpful for that. As he said "It's not such a bad word now to be an artist these days.", "It's also not such a bad word now to use targeting to the rich with contemporary art.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb2008048_515555.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories

20700110 - 5th entry

trand maker 'vogue'

2008-04-11T23:11:00.005+09:00

I often buy a fashion magazine to see a latest trend. Vogue is the best magazine in the fashion magazine markets. It has a great brand power is not named on the same day with other magazines. A lot of popular celebrities, famous photographers and models want to work with Vogue. I used to be surprised how to contact with that kind of people who are really influenced and unknown to the public such as a great designer, artist.

First of all, vogue is published all over the world. It means they have a Global power. Vogue is published in 15 countries. Young people can get a idea of style and color through the vogue and it means vogue leads a world fashion trend. Therefore, they always try to keep their unique. They said, they stay at the avant-garde position which means it has to be gorgeous but also gorgeous.

People who work in Vogue feel so proud about their company and job, and they try to maintain their brand power, image and style which attract a customer. They said, it was just as well they do not have marketing because vogue needs to make a mystery to maintain their luxurious image. I think that nothing to do marketing is vogue’s marketing. Instead of advertising a magazine, they focus on employing a talented people who are the best in editing.

Actually, Vogue’s amazing brand power was already made for a long time ago by Condenast who established publication and Vogue. He is a genius as a advertisement salesman. He defined the important factors of successful media products: monopolization, affordable high-grade products, and the highest standard.

20600171 - 5th enter

http://blog.naver.com/topcpa?Redirect=Log&logNo=20048016792

Southwest airlines

2008-04-11T19:35:00.003+09:00

Southwest airlines had long been one of the standout performers in the U.S. airline industry. As you know, it is famous for it’s low fee, which are 25~30 percent below those of its major rivals, and these are balanced by an lower cost structure, which has enabled it to record superior profitability even in bad years. When the industry faced slumping demand, Southwest was the only airline among the top eight in the united States to show a profit for the quarter.

Southwest’s low cost structure seems to be very high employee productivity? I think that one way the airlines measure employee productivity is by the ratio of employees to passengers carried.
How does it do this?

First, Southwest devotes enormous attention to the people it hires. On averages, the company hires only 3 percent of those interviewed in a year. When hiring, it emphasizes teamwork and a positive attitude. Southwest rationalizes that skills can be taught but a positive attitude and a willingness to pitch in cannot. Southwest also creates incentives for it’s employees to work hard. All employees are covered by a profit-sharing plan has to be invested in southwest airline stock.

This gives rise to a simple formula. 1st: The harder employees work, the more profitable southwest becomes, and the richer the employees get. The results are clear. At other airlines, one would never see a pilot helping to check passengers onto the plane.

At southwest, pilots and flight attendants have been known to help clean the aircraft and check in passengers at the gate. They do this to turn around an aircraft as quickly as possible and get it into the air again, because an aircraft doesn’t make money when it is sitting on the ground.

References: www.southwest.com
koreaherald.com

20300780 entry 5

McDonald’s Seeks to Double Local Presence

2008-04-11T18:57:00.003+09:00

          Ever since McDonald’s opened its first branch in Korea 20 years ago, it popularity and fame have been almost impossible for other similar companies to overlook at and have been opening about 350 stores at different locations all across Korea.
          However, since its peak in 2002, the concept “well-being’ and all the incidents about mad-cow disease have affected the firms lowered the sales and forced the company downsizing over the past few years. The first McDonald’s ever launched in Korea in Apgujeong-dong 20 years ago, recently went out of business and is closed now.
          Ray Frawley, the President of McDonald’s Korea, says that it’s just another step forward for McDonald’s to jump into a new business in the future. According to the article, McDonald’s is doing its best to serve their customers and at times, “… those aggressive decisions and changes are needed” (BusinessWeek). Also, Frawley states that the number of new opening stores is growing again and their business is having a ‘double-digit’ growth.
          In an effort to regain its customers’ loyalty and satisfying them with better services and food, McDonald’s has been implementing some new marketing and business strategies such as introducing “the popular McMorning Breakfast menu, premium coffee, cushioned seats, 24 hour operation, drive-thrus and even delivery services in limited locations.” (BusinessWeek).
          I personally don’t like to eat out at the fast-food restaurant, but I can’t deny that sometimes it’s very convenience to just grab a burger and eat on the way. The star product of McDonald’s which is Big Macs is still loved by a lot of people and the demand for fast-food would not be completely disappeared even with people’s concerns about their health. I think one way for those fast food companies to retain their positions in the market would be targeting those people, who have great interests about eating healthy food, by introducing menus using fresh and high-quality ingredients.

Reference;
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/04/123_22214.html

20601008 – 5th Entry

The importance of image marketing

2008-04-11T13:00:00.007+09:00

I read a ariticle about difficulties of Lexus sales. Lexus is a dominant car model of Toyota. And it impacted the American market and captured much of the car market. But now Lexus sales are declining between Japan and USA. The reason is Lexus is too japanese style. In Japan, people think Lexus is not attractive. Because it's too nationalized and don't appear as a high-quality sedan. And Japanese are in favor of German cars and USA cars. The example is BMW and Mercedes Benz.

It's similar to the state of Korea. In Korea, people love to buy a foreign car. Even if the qualities of korean cars are good as the foreign cars, Korean thinks foreign brand cars are much more luxurious that Korea brand cars. But interestingly, the sales forces of Korean cars are increasing outside of Korea. And it's the same in the case of Japanese car. Although the sales forces of Lexus in USA are now declining, originally the share of Lexus in USA is large.

In these two cases, I realize that the image of a product is so important. The common problem is the images of the brand. In fact, the design and quality of Japanese and korean cars are so competitive in the global market. But the members of two nations think their product is inferior to the their foreign competitors. And now companies have to reposition their brand images in own nations. I think Samsung is a good example that balanced their images between Korea and global market. Samsung's products are treating as a the highest grade both in Korea and global market. I think the reason of these results is Samsung's constant marketing efforts. Through a few years, Samsung exert to improve their image. In Korea, they continuously advertise their new logo and their fresh image. And in global market, they sponsored several popular sports team and advertise in the center of USA. Through these processes Samsung's image completely changed and now they are a global leading company. Consequently, the image marketing is a key to success in global and domestic markets.

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_13/b4077072420049.htm?chan=innovation_auto+design_top+stories

entry 5 20700067

'Lotteria' How to survive?

2008-04-04T23:41:00.004+09:00

I always have a question why 'Lotteria' is still survied in the fast food market. I really hate the 'Lotteria' since when I was young. The iamge of 'Lotteria' was just cheap fast food restaurant and a follower of foreign fast food restaurant such as Mcdonald. Its interior used red color and is similar to Burger king's. However, 'Lotteria' was just use 'red' and unfashionable in contrast to the burger king which has a unique style and concept. Even though I didn't know the difference of quality or taste of burger, I do not choose 'Lotteria' but another fast food restaurant. So far, t was just my idea and feeling about 'Lotteria'. I want to know the real situation or position of Lotteria in the fast food market.

I searched the news about Lotteria, and I am really surprised that Lotteria occupied great positon in Korea. Amazingly, Mecdonald does not a market leader in the fast food market and the first company is Lotteria which occupied a market share over 40% in Korea. the reason of this high market share of Lotteria is the advantage of prior occupation. And also, Lotteria tried to make a new taste burger for Korean such as a Rice burger, a Bulgogi burger and a Kimchi burger. I didn't like that kinds of burger but it is true that those effort must have helped its success.

Nowadays, Lotteria is trying to survive in a tight competition of fast food market. First of all, they compete with a burger price of other fast food restaurant. For example, they have to drop the price of burger set menu to survive as McDonald come out a promotion which supply a hamburger with a cheaper price. Furthermore, they are changing an interior. I think this is the most important point in the marketing because the interior means the image of restaurant. These days there are so many fancy and cheap restaurants in Korea unlike 10 years ago in Korea as Lotteria opened. In this situation, Lotteria needs more luxurious and modern image and then have to make a certain unique stlye to survive. For instance, in Hongdae, they renovate an interior with a famous artist. As you see the picture, they change the restaurant like a cafe which make people feel comfortable, luxurious and trandy.

Any kinds of restauraunt always must try to catch up a recent trand and style. Lotteria would not survived in the future if they have no change. It means the marketing always have to be active for good until the company exist.

http://k.daum.net/qna/view.html?boardid=QMB002&qid=0B9y5&q=%B7%D4%B5%A5%B8%AE%BE%C6+%B8%B6%C4%C9%C6%C3&srchid=NKS0B9y5
http://www.simonsearch.co.kr/story?at=view&azi=31621&srchid=BRDBBS6mJg0

http://www.e-today.co.kr/200707/news/newsview.php?TM=news&SM=0101&idxno=162350

20600171 - 4th entry

LG to Sponsor Snowboard World Cup

2008-04-04T19:45:00.002+09:00

          LG electronics is planning to sponsor the International Ski Federation's Snowboard World Cup for the 2008-2009 season. The reason for the sponsorship is to show LG's effort to market young and enthusiastic events and teams. Compared to Samsung's marketing strategy, which values classic and high-profile events or established teams, LG targets younger generations by supporting such events.

          According to the article, the head of LG's Global Brand Marketing team explains that the sponsorship "...fits well with our image as a company that takes on new challenges to create electronics that are stylish, innovative and in tune with our customers' needs" (BusinessWeek).
The world cup will be held in 22 cities in 16 countries between September and next March, and LG assumes that all the broadcasting media around the world would show LG's logo on athletes' uniforms, billboard signs, and product experience booths that would open during the event.

          LG's been sponsoring many other sporting events to show how interested they are on such energetic events that are similar to their marketing strategies as a enthusiastic challenger in the market. When Samsung has been supporting Chelsea Football Club, which is one of most famous teams in the English football league, placed 2nd, LG's been sponsoring Fulham from the leage.

          In my opinon, since LG is doing its best to appeal their brand by supporting such events, it inspired me to see a big picture even at the fields that seem like nothing to do with what I'm concerning about. When I first saw the article, I was wondering why LG is sponsoring for Snowboarding World Cup that is nothing to do with electronics, but as I found out that it's to show their interests in such events as part of their marketing strategy, I was very surprised how marketing strategy can be differed for each time.

Reference;
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2008/04/123_21972.html

20601008 - 4th Entry

Recruiting strategy: Find a precious stone

2008-04-04T17:13:00.003+09:00

I read a article about recruiting. But it's not about interviewees but interviewers. In Korea, there are many people to find job. You might think that recruiting is only the problem of job seekers. But actually, it's a big deal to employers. Even though many people submit resume to company, there are few people qualified. To find talented candidates, they distributes e-mails and sometime tack a notice to the internet websites. But these traditional ways cannot attaract competitive candidates.
Generally speaking, jop candidates are essentially passive. If we contain the employed candidates, the possibility that candidates are passive even more bigger. And most of the cases, many talented candidates are already employed. Then, how we recruit talented candidates if we start a new business? When we consider the way to attract people to our company, we first think the rewards. And sometimes we convince that higher salary can attract the most talented candidates. But this assumination is wrong. Though a company gives high salary than any other company, they cannot have confidence in recruiting talented people. As I said top of the journal, people are essentially passive. On the contrary, making the rewards outweigh the risks. The real attractiveness to jop seekers is something like an atmosphere and expansion possibilities... etc.
Then how we can attract candidates at first? The article said personalization. If we distribute the ads of recruting, it can be seen as a kitschy company. Accordingly, when we prepare job recruiting we have to investigate candidates beforehand. Secondly, we have to distribute ads to that candidates. Through this process we can pick out talented employees.
I think now Korea companie have to prepare recruiting carefully. In outward appearance, Korea is already a advanced country. Though, this time is beneficial to employers, but the other day Korea companies have trouble with finding talented candidates.

20700067 entry 4

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2008/ca20080325_344901.htm?chan=careers_managing+index+page_top+stories

Gap Internaionals.

2008-04-04T14:14:00.002+09:00

Gap international corporation,advertised it's product in a number of ways. I knew that each of the three main brands, has it's own marketing team headquartered in the SanFrancisco Bay Area. Marketing team created anything from TV,Print,Outdoor-Ad to Internet.

Tv-ad were aired the US,UK,Canada,Japan.Actually,they spent ad during the prime-time program. (eg, CSI,Friends,NBC etc.) Also, they print ads appeared about 40 international magazine, which include( Instyle, GQ, Vogue etc.) These activity also appeared in major newspaper. Many people saw the ads,because of their efforts.

How ever, I feel so bad, Gap pop-up ads and banners appreard on various popular pages, such as yahoo.com and Popular websites. Pop-up ads, was sometimes comfusing. These activity were negative feedback to Gap international.

You knows,Gap internationals contained website like (gapbody.com gapkids.com,etc.) These web site's designs are very simple and well-organized categories. Gap corportion's these efforts are satisfied Customer's desire and needs .

20300780 entry-4

A CEO Manning the Phones Each Day?

2008-03-28T23:36:00.008+09:00

What sounds like a customer-service gimmick is helping the co-founder of a personal finance Web site build trust
- Wesabe's home page invites users to reach CEO Jason Knight by phone during a four-hour period seven days a week.

When Alden Kellogg discovered a glitch on Wesabe, he went to the personal finance tracker's home page, looking for a tech support number or e-mail. Instead, he found a link labeled "Talk to Jason, CEO of Wesabe."
The page invites users to reach CEO Jason Knight by phone during a four-hour period seven days a week. Kellogg, a 35-year-old attorney in New Orleans, called the number in July, and Knight picked up.
"It basically was like calling member services or technical support of a company," says Kellogg. "You were talking with someone who knew how to deal with a customer and get to the issue you wanted to talk about, rather than [feeling like] I'm on the phone with an executive."
The call is one of hundreds that Knight, 37, has taken since he and co-founder Marc Hedlund launched Wesabe in November, 2006. The site encourages users to upload their financial information to track their spending, set goals, and get tips from other users relevant to their specific purchases. But Knight and Hedlund recognized that, as an unknown startup, Wesabe needed to establish credibility before people would trust them with financial data. Inviting users to call Knight directly would help build that trust.
Now, as the bulk of questions have moved from concerns about privacy and security to reporting bugs and requesting new features, Knight says he can't imagine not spending part of his day taking calls. He sees it as the perfect opportunity to push the brand and get customers to evangelize about it.
"A lot of times people think customer service is just selling, but it's not. It's about helping people make good decisions, and then they'll come back," Knight says.
Matter of Credibility
Wesabe is one of a growing group of personal finance Web sites that have emerged over the last two years as free alternatives to software such as Quicken (INTU) or Microsoft Money (MSFT). Although few of these companies are making money, some plan to profit with subscriptions to premium services or by selling targeted advertising. All make it clear they will not sell data. Knight's 15-person San Francisco company has attracted more than $4 million in venture capital from Union Square Ventures and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. And the evangelism appears to be working: Knight says registered users are approaching 100,000.
Establishing credibility is key for Web sites in this space, says Jim Bruene, editor of trade publication Online Banking Report, who tracks the growth of online personal finance sites. "There's trust issues on any site, but once you get into the financial services, it just multiplies a thousandfold," he says. Bruene predicts companies such as Wesabe will either have to partner with existing financial brands or invest heavily in building their own brands before taking off. "The question for those companies would be, 'can you afford to build it yourself?'"
Building Relationships
On most days, Knight's iPhone rings two or three times with a call from a Wesabe user. Callers ask about security, how to use the site, and whether the service fits their needs. Some offer feedback or suggest features. If Knight can't answer a technical question, he'll hand the phone to one of Wesabe's engineers.
At the core of Knight's approach is his belief that the relationship is more important than the sale. If committed Quicken users call and ask whether they should switch to Wesabe, he tells them not to if Quicken works for them. His bet is that the caller will tell friends about the experience.
"A really good salesperson is not going to treat you like a prospect. They're going to treat you like a human being," he says.

"And if they believe in their product, they're going to see a good fit between you as a human being they should care about and this product they believe in. If it's not a good fit, the ideal outcome is to get somebody into a service that will work for them."
It's a philosophy Knight takes in part from his wife, who owns a women's clothing store. She trains her staff to make sure customers leave the shop with clothes that flatter them—not necessarily the most expensive item they try on. Knight says all businesses should focus on good outcomes for customers, but small firms are ideally positioned to build those relationships. "At the end of the day, the one fundamental differentiator is that you care more and are more invested than any company that has achieved that kind of scale," he says.
Involve Upper Management
So how can businesses replicate the focus on customers that Knight espouses? He says top managers shouldn't shy away from talking to the people who use their products and services. He suggests, at a minimum, executives read customer e-mails. "If you're a CEO that's so busy you don't have time to hear what your customers think about your service, then there's maybe something wrong."
Knight admits he might have to modify his direct line approach if he starts to get more calls than he can handle. If necessary, he says he could cut the time allotted for calls down to an hour. But so far, he hasn't needed to. During an interview or gathering at a friend's house, he has no qualms about picking up his iPhone—which signals him that the call is coming through Wesabe's line—to chat with his users.
"The only time that I have learned to not take customer calls is during board meetings," he says. "My board does not appreciate it."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relationship with users does not guarantee success, and Wesabe is in a competitive niche.
I think that slight personal touch, no matter how brief that contact is, might be enough to tip the scales in that company's direction, because now we have a face to put to the name.
There will be success in a competitive niche.

20700110 Kim SungKi
3rd entry

the future of Australia wine

2008-03-28T22:13:00.010+09:00

I read the news about the wine market of Australia. Nowadays, companies which have grape farms in Australia face the crisis because of the drought which never has been serious like that in a century. Price of grape is falling and irrigation water is stopped. Of course, the main reason of shrinking the Australia wine market is the nature disaster. However, this kind of situation is even far before predicted by the wine market and associations of wine company for many other reasons. First of all, the big issue in nowadays is the world reputation of Australia for quality. By far, Australia compete the other companies being a price winner in the market. So, many consumers even include of me, usually easy to think that the Australia’s wine is much cheaper than others. Therefore, Australia's 2,000 wine producers is trying to invent a new tastes grape, and make a different style from other countries as French where Australians bring the way to crop the grapes. And also the point to see is marketing. The character of wine market is localization. Each country where product the grapes for wine has a unique tastes come from each nature of soil and climate. In order to survive in the world market, Australia needs a distinctive tastes, design, style, characteristic image. Actually, the marketing and making a new image is as much as important of quality. As you know, it is easy to see so many cases that the high technologies or skills cannot success in the market without careful marketing.Even though the bad crisis happened in Australia, they have a confident to rebuild the wine market as much as the period of wine boom. The Winemakers' Federation of Australia mentions that ‘the drought was a turning point, even if a tragic one in some cases, in forcing the industry back to “sustainable levels”. The planting rush has ended. The 3,600 hectares of new vines planted in 2006 almost equaled the 3,400 hectares of vines ripped out of the ground that year.”I also read the history of the wine market in Australia and I think that they can be success again. And I really expected and interested in what kinds of marketing are going to do, and how to they overcome this situations.

http://www.economist.com/

20600171 - 3rd entry

Tibet Over the Sponsors of Beijing Olympic

2008-03-28T14:37:00.003+09:00

          The long-lasting controversy between China and Tibet is breaking out again for the Olympic that will be held in China this summer. The Tibetan activists' main target is Coca-Cola, which is the co-sponsor of the Beijing Olympic torch relay. From Greece to Beijing, the torch will be passed through 21 different countries with more than 21,000 torchbearers by the opening ceremony. Including Coca-Cola, both Lenovo and Samsung are spending millions of dollars to sponsor the torch relay.
          But after the recent incident in Tibet where a great number of people was killed during anti-Chinese protest in March, despite of the sponsor company's effort for marketing, the corporate sponsors are being targeted for the blame.
          According to the article, Human Rights Watch issued a statement wishing that Samsung, Coke, and Lenovo to pressure the Chinese government for reopening Tibet and rearranging the path for the torch relay to avoid the region. Activists are not the only ones protesting Beijing Olympics, including French President Sarkozy and the U.S. President Bush are also showed their concern on the problem.
          The reason why Coca-Cola has been the major target of Tibetan activists is that Coke holds the most shares in sponsoring the relay, and therefore, the activists are pressuring them to remove their sponsorship and lobby the International Olympic Committee to rearrange its relay path that goes through Tibet and Mt. Everest.
          All the corporate sponsors have not directly made comment on it yet; however, they showed their willingness to support the relay since it's "...a unique opportunity to share the Olympic values of unity, pride, and inspiration with people all over the world." (BusinessWeek), and in fact, they are not to influence the politics in any ways.
          After reading the article, I could surely see that what it means by working through people within the market and how political or even social problems can affect firm's marketing and decision making. When two Korean girls were killed by a tank of Korea-based United States' Army, there was a big boycott in Korea not to buy any products, especially McDonald's. Since I wasn't in Korea at that time, I'm not sure why Koreans picked McDonald's as their main target or how it really affected the company either directly or indirectly. However, it was another good example how people react to certain problems and affect the management of firms even though they are totally not related. I can see how Coke, Lenovo, and Samsung are trying hard to sell their brand through sponsoring the Olympic relay, but I hope that they would also consider people who might use their products in the future, too.

Reference;
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2008/gb20080327_454941_page_2.htm

20601008 - 3rd Entry

Wal-Mart

2008-03-28T12:31:00.004+09:00

One of the foundations of Wal-Mart's advantage is the way it uses information and logistics to

manage its massive supply chain and closely match what customer need, what suppliers are

producing.

Wal Mart's aim is to have goods from a manufacturer arrive at a store and be placed on shelves

just before consumers walk into the store to purchase them. To gain further supply-chain

efficiencies, Wal-Mart also transmits sales information to manufactures on a real-times basis.

I think that this allow the manufacturers to optimize their own production schedules

and delivered products to a Wal-Mart distributor. Do you know a words 'Cross-docking'?

The merchandise from the supplier's truck in unloaded and then immediately transferred to

Wal-Mart trucks that are ready to sort and store inventory at distribute center.

Combine marketing(arranged the goods) and sort of Mechanism(Cross-duck) are competitive

advantage in Wal-Mart.

20300780- Entry3

Secret of Wii's great success

2008-03-28T01:29:00.003+09:00

I read a interview about the producer of Nintendo Wii. His name is Johnny Chung Lee. Wii is a game controller that can work as a motion-based machine. And this technology was created by him. Originally, he was a video producer. But when he was yet in his university, he was offered the position of game control producer. And, of course, he accepted it.

The critical reason that he accepted the offer is curiosity. He was played game controller that is equipped with accelerometers. It was cool and had elaborative realities. And he participated in the development of Microsoft Xbox. Microsoft and he wanted to install accelerometers. But it was too expensive to use accelerometers. And Microsoft gave up the technology. After that Lee saw an interesting game machine that have a motion sensor on it. This was the Wii. Lee was so impressed with the machine. And Lee partipate in Wii project and he made lots of capabilities of Wii and made it so cost-effective. And Wii is so attractive to young people and even more older people. Because it is so simple and easy to use. And also it is very fun machine.

I think Wii isn't a simple game machine. It is a innovative technology. The time of virtual reality is not anymore a dream in Wii. And also this machine can work with other equipments like TV, Video, Movie... etc. Wii is a successful case of marketing. Because the machine achieved many of Nintendo's worldwide objectives.

I was admired the fantastic functions of Wii. But I was even more impressed on the marketing strategy of Wii. Actually, the motion-based function or virtual reality was already tried in other game machines. But only Wii is a dominant product. Why? Because in the base of Wii's great success, there were great market strategy in Wii.

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2008/id20080324_098151.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories

20700067 - entry 3

Korean traditional food,Hongsam

2008-03-21T23:56:00.009+09:00

I always think that Korea has no ability to make a value from products, tourist attractions, foods, traditional clothes, history, beautiful city etc even though there are so many sources to marketing in Korea.

Especially, I want to talke about "Hongsam"which is Korean red ginseng. I met many forign friends and their families who really want to buy Korean Hongsam. They asked me to buy Hongsam from Korea and send it to abroad where they lived. I was very disappointed that Korean Government doesn't do anything about it. So many people in the world demand the Hongsam, but the market of Hongsam is limited development and loss the chance made the global size markets.

Scientists report a significant efficacy of red ginseng. Red ginseng is famous in Korea for a medicinal herb to prevent various diseases. And also the basic effect of red ginseng is its capacity to increase resistance to various adverse factors such as stress. Some scientists prove that ginseng helps reduce stress, increases stamina, and strengthen good physical condition.

I also everyday drink the Hongsam tonic for my health. and amazingly it works and is much better than vitamin or other western style medicines that I have ever eat. I can assure that HongSam has a great value to find larger market abroad.

Unfortunately, Korea has a big matching enemy in the Hongsam markets - China. Of course, there are great quality products in China but also there are low level and copy products which is similar to Korean products. Undoubtedly, Korean products quality is better even it cannot be compared but problem is price. It is difficult to get a patent because Hongsam is like a food which supports the health.

Nowdays, Hongsam is being known for its quality and effect by people lived in all over the world. Government and many companies have been studied ginseng and its marketing to the global market. I think that already Korean red ginseng is received much recognintion however still I feel it's not easy to buy in other countries. I was in singapore last semester for 6 months and in that time I really realized that Japanese's marketing power. First of all, there are two super big department stores and there are lots of foods,clothes, restaurants which are japanese style. People like Japanese style, and it is so easy to buy and eat japanese thing. Japan has a great capability to make their products be famillar to people. Korea also has to improve the maketing of traditional products.

http://blog.naver.com/gramy79?Redirect=Log&logNo=80048857556

http://cafe.naver.com/foodi2005.cafe?iframe_url=/ArticleRead.nhn%3Farticleid=258

20600171 - 2nd entry

Do you know Dell?

2008-03-21T19:34:00.009+09:00

Do you know Dell Corporation?

Dell has a sustained competitive advantage over its rivals. Good Efficiency? 0r Good Design?

I think that Dell corporation has a good marketing method : Internet!

Dell's website allows customers to mix and match product features such as micro- prosessors

memory, monitors, internet hard drive, etc.. So, customers can afford to mixmize thier own computer system. It is a cool system. Dell has also about 200, suppliers over half of them located outside USA. It uses the internet to feed real-time information about order flow to its suppliers so they have information about demand trends for the components they produce.

I think that Dell's suppliers use this information to adjust their own production schedules.

Maybe, this system allows, dell's system(eg, inventory on hand 3days)

I'm sure that Dell combine strong Internet-customer and efficient internet-operation in the futures

reference: http://www.koreaherald.com/

Grammar Start - Hackers academia,David Cho,2004

20300780- entry2

Two faces of digital media

2008-03-21T18:07:00.004+09:00

20700110 Kim SungKi

To see a project in Google Earth, we must download a "layer."(or some program) And we may see unconsciously their's ad as they are wanted. Also, we concentrate to what is on display. Digital media enables people to witness and participate, whether commenting on a blog, or sharing stories and conversation with distant correspondents. We're at a technological frontier that can take us much further. However, it is needed what is ability to see the otherside.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Right Click
Google Earth and YouTube can find your house or favorite music video in seconds. Can they help end genocide?

Anyone who has ever downloaded Google Earth knows that exhilarating swift plunge when you zoom in from a vantage point outside the planet, past continents, countries, street grids, and buildings, until suddenly, there's your childhood home. This unique online journey is now being recognized and harnessed as a force for good, using the all-seeing eyes of modern surveillance to shine a light into the dark secrets of injustice.
"Crisis in Darfur" is a section of Google Earth that superimposes documentary evidence of genocide and information about the Sudan conflict onto satellite imagery of the region. Place markers in the shape of flames and tents dot the geography like digital gravestones, linking to information, imagery, and firsthand testimony: more than 13,000 people displaced from Nertiti, a village in West Darfur; 133 buildings destroyed in Arrama Bir in North Darfur. The screen reveals one horrific story after the other. "The Janjaweed came in the morning, broke the shops, and took the money, the sugar, and the goods," reports a woman from Kutum, in North Darfur. "They killed 32 people in their houses." Rather than overwhelming viewers with flat numbers—300,000 dead, 2.5 million people driven from their homes—the new technology connects the universal and the personal in the form of an online narrative.
"Crisis" has become emblematic of a trend in which nonprofit groups are using the newest web technologies to present, in one place, satellite imagery, statistics, and video that can expose atrocity and prompt action.
Amnesty International is using satellite imagery on "Eyes on Darfur," its website that launched last June to keep watch over specific villages in the region—Hashaba, Deleba, and Selia among them—and to serve as visual proof of the brutalities being committed. Other initiatives are joining them, from Jane Goodall's Gombe chimpanzee research in Tanzania to Appalachian Voices' campaign against mountaintop removal coal mining. This broad scope offers designers an unprecedented opportunity to convey the complex dimensions of a given issue in a compelling format that accounts for history and the area's physical landscape as well.
"To be able to tell people what genocide looks like through photographs and through eyewitness testimony is very important in terms of trying to engage people to do something about it," explains John Heffernan, director of the Genocide Prevention Initiative at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which partnered with Google Earth in April 2007 to launch "Crisis in Darfur."
Of course, just because a site looks good doesn't always mean that it functions effectively as a tool for activism. To do so, it must be designed so users can easily click through to act—write letters, join a group, post comments, send a donation, forward information to others—in response to the information shown. In the same way that a commercial site is designed well if online shoppers find it easy to complete their purchases, activist platforms are successful when they convince users to undertake some kind of meaningful action.
To see a project in Google Earth, users must download a "layer," and within these layers, organizations and individuals can choose the set of visual elements that annotate the digital landscape, such as the icons and pop-up balloons used for entries. But the interface itself, and the method of navigating through it, are determined by the Google Earth software. Google's characteristic design philosophy is on display: Like its search function, the screen provides a wealth of information and encourages autonomous navigation. As such, "Crisis" captures the enormity of the horror, but the result is a visual cacophony. If a visitor downloads numerous layers—and chooses to display them simultaneously—the screen becomes awash in hundreds of tags and annotations, a representation of information that Edward Tufte would denounce.

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jan2008/id20080130_339019_page_2.htm

Xerox's strenuous efforts to escape from the past

2008-03-20T22:47:00.005+09:00

I read a article about the changes of Xerox's brand name. You know the first picture is the Xerox's past logo. And the next one is the innovated one. Then Why Xerox had to change their historic logo? The reason is that Xerox is too famous company. It sounds like a paradox. But this is the main reason for change the logo. Xerox is like a pronoun name in office supply industry. Then the name Xerox is now used as a verb. But Xerox's famous name is not a guarantee to success. Actually their market share in their industry gradually go small.

From the article's expression, the brand is far from dead or dying.

Then what's differences between the past one and the new one? When I looked at the first one, I think it's so solid and professional feeling. The past logo was developed in the era of IBM. And the logo became so familiar to people, and finally the logo is anymore working as a means of advertising. Because People is now glancing it over and ignore it. So Xerox thought that they have to innovate their name. And now look at the second picture. The font size is smaller than the past one. And the shape of each alphabet is more circle like appearance. Xerox said that the new design is devised to their image more approchable than the past. And the sphere shape at the right of last word symbolize the globe. Recently the globe types of advertisement are prevalent among major companies. For example, Samsung's logo is surrounded by a circle that means global presence of the company. But personally, I think it's not so effective way to Xerox. Because Xerox is a very old company and the logo was the major symbol of the company. So I'm not yet sure about the new logo's possibility. But I think this kinds of innovation are very important things to large major companies. Because if they neglect this marketing things, they soon fail in the tubulance business environment. I think the iriver is a good example of failed companies. A few years ago, they captured all of the world's MP3 market. But they neglect the innovation of their products, and Apple, once the best computer company, captured MP3 market by their special unit, the ipod.

Recently, the global presences of south korea's major companies were getting bigger and bigger. It sounds like a great chance, but I think crisis isn't far from now. It's time to reposition our global presence.

20700067 Kim Nam Joong entry2

reference: http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jan2008/id2008014_152649.htm?chan=innovation_branding_brand+strategy

LG Telecom is now launching 3G

2008-03-20T15:21:00.005+09:00

          LG Telecom, which is the third largest wireless company in Korea, is now launching its 3G service in coming April. March of last year, other two major wireless companies, SK Telecom and KTF (Show), introduced Korea's first 3G services, and the sale has been increasing greatly; according to the article, out of 44 million cellphone users, 17.7% of them are now using 3G services through either SK Telecom or KTF.
          LG telecom named their 3G service "OZ," which stands for "Open Zone," representing open internet space for people to surf internet with their cell phones. Unlike other two carrier's typical HSDPA network, OZ is extended or upgraded network of CDMA, which is called Revision A. The installation of the network was completed last month, and now it's ready for the service.
          Through this service, LG Telecom plans to offer internet function almost as same as the one we use on our personal computers; it will allow users to send e-mail and browse internet as well as video phoning which other two companies are leading the market now. However, LG Telecom will likely to promote more on its internet service than video phoning because, according to the article, "There appears to be no substantial demand for video phoning."
          One way that LG Telecom is going to differentiate their service is by providing lower price rate for the internet service than SK Telecom or KTF, and it will be introduced in next month. Also, to maximize its new service, LG Electronic is going to release a wide touch-screen cell phone with high resolution to express detailed view and smooth operation, which enables to have full-browsing function of internet.
          I’m currently using 3G cell phone from KTF, and ever since I bought it last year, I’ve hardly used the video phone function, because first of all, it’s as twice as more expensive than regular phone call and more importantly, I still feel very awkward having a conversation face to face on the phone. Both KTF and SK Telecom are pushing its 3G service through heavy advertisement and lowering the price of the cell phone; however, not that many people are actually using the function unlike the carriers have expected. If, on the other hand, LG Telecom introduces reasonable pricing rate for their new 3G service, OZ, with appropriate devices, I believe that LG would have a great potential to be a new leading carrier in the market. Including teenagers, people these days are eager to have more ways to enjoy varieties of multimedia, and in my opinion, one way for OZ to be successful is to manage that demand.

References;

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/ - LG Telecom to launch 3G service 'OZ'

http://www.munhwa.com/news/view.html?no=2008032001031424100002

20601008 2nd Entry

Girl power

2008-03-15T00:01:00.006+09:00

- Girl power may be just the thing for Asian GDP

India has found an innovative and provocative way to address one of its biggest challenges. It intends to pay for girls.
The government plans to offer as much as $5,000 to poor families to give birth to girls and raise them. The aim is to reduce a cultural preference for boys that's throwing the nation's gender balance out of whack and threatening the long-term outlook for Asia's third-largest economy.
Sex-ratio imbalances also are a growing problem in China, where sons are often preferred over daughters. The concern goes beyond young men with no prospects of finding mates in the decades ahead. Economists say the gap may undermine Asian growth and productivity, and lead to bigger budget deficits.
A study published in the U.K.'s Lancet medical journal found that about 10 million female fetuses may have been aborted in India over the past 20 years. The U.N. Children's Fund says India loses almost 7,000 girls a day through abortions after illegal sex-determination tests.
According to the latest census figures, India has 927 females for every 1,000 males and the gap is growing. Paying families to raise daughters isn't the most delicate way to approach the problem, but kudos to India for trying.
India is helping to highlight one of the biggest forces holding back Asian growth. Its push for more girls coincided with International Women's Day on March 8.
Sandra Lawson, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Hong Kong, marked the day with a report titled "Women Hold Up Half the Sky." It refers to a Chinese proverb about the pivotal role women play in economies. Lawson focuses on how things might be if governments did more to address the imbalance that persists between men and women in education, health, work, wages and political aspirations.
"At the macroeconomic level, female education is a key source of support for long-term economic growth," Lawson writes. "It has been linked to higher productivity, higher returns on investment, higher agricultural yields and a more favorable demographic structure."
It's the latter benefit India's latest initiative hopes to achieve by not only encouraging families to have girls, but to educate them better. That's why it is spacing out payments to families - to make sure girls end up in school.
"The economic growth that results from education feeds a virtuous cycle, supporting continued investments in education and extending the gains to human capital and productivity," Lawson says.
Gender discrimination isn't something on which investors tend to focus. It doesn't feed handily into stock valuations, bond yields or gross domestic product figures. Yet it's one of the region's least-appreciated weaknesses.
Lawson's report mostly emphasizes the BRIC economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China - and the "N-11," or the next 11 growth stars. They are: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam.
While it's a disparate group, Lawson estimates narrowing the gender gap could boost per-capita income by as much as 14 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030.
Economists such as Lawrence Summers have long argued that returns on investment in female education exceed those on boys. The more educated women are, the more likely they are to invest in the health and education of their families. It leads to an economic ripple effect from one generation to the next.
So if you are wondering whether to invest in India versus China, Thailand or Malaysia, you could do worse than track the level of commitment to educating girls. The payoff comes in higher wages, lower mortality rates, healthier workers and greater entrepreneurship.
The under-education of girls is driven by a complex mix of causes, often lumped under the heading of culture.
"Its prevalence across so many countries strongly suggests parents think the returns on girls' education are limited and lower than those of boys," Lawson says. "This perception is in fact a misperception, and an unfortunate one."
The issue transcends education. Look no further than Japan, where women are still struggling to achieve anything approaching equality. It's not about schooling, but institutionalized sexism.
In 2007, Grant Thornton International surveyed 7,200 privately held businesses in 32 countries, representing 81 percent of global GDP, to gauge gender gaps for top-level executives. Japan came in last.
Things were thought to be changing a few years back. In 2005, Tomoyo Nonaka was named chairwoman of Sanyo Electric Co. and Fumiko Hayashi became chief executive officer of retailer Daiei Inc. They were the first women to run major Japanese companies. Nonaka lasted only 21 months; Hayashi was knocked back to vice chairman after two years in the top job.
Japan is still tapping only half of its population, which means it's drawing from a weaker labor pool. It's the economic equivalent of tying one hand behind your back, and it's among the reasons Japan underperforms.
It's true that Asian governments are talking more about empowering women. Yet action is needed to make proverbs about women holding up half the sky more fact than aspiration. A bit of girl power could go a long way.
By William Pesek
William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. -Ed.
2008.03.13

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My thinking - Marketing to Single Women As we see, or feel, asian culture is changing. A point of view about women is also changing. Justly, to find novel concept is importance. However, it is also needed to grasp "a change". Others in my team indicate find something fresh(concept). So I'd like to analyze 'the change'. How about single woman? In a report by the Census Bureau released in July of 2004 it showed that there were over 95.7 million unmarried and single Americans. Over 53% of them were women. Are we missing one of the largest markets out there? I'm consistently amazed how in marketing and advertising we have mistakenly overlooked the single adult women's market. They have the ability to grow your businesses and increase your sales. Perhaps it's time we all began to speak clearly to this market.

20700110 Kim SungKi

Green marketing

2008-03-14T23:38:00.005+09:00

I read the report of ‘green marketing’ which is searched in google. And I found a example of this marketing in Korea.

I have been interested in the company named ‘Tae pyoung yang’. I like the cosmetic line of this company and these days I am very impressed by the marketing of ‘Sulloc’ which is subsidiary of this company and it produces green tea. Recently, ‘Sulloc’ opened the tea house applying ‘green marketing’.

'Green marketing is the marketing of products that pursue environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other; an example of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.' (from the report)
Before I read the report about green marketing, I just simply thought that this marketing is related to wellbeing products and it only targets to the old people who are interested in healthy life. However, it appears diversely in the market. Especially, already as I mentioned, ‘Sulloc tea house’ is what I really impressed and a good example of ‘green marketing’. I visited there last summer (2007) which is opened in Myoung dong in Seoul. It looked like a fancy café but only sells lots of kinds of green tea and various menus using the green tea. And also interior is like a green environment which made people feel relax. Entire mood of the tea house is very clean and healthy.
This tea house and marketing are working to various age consumers. And I think it can be a big rival to lots of coffee shops like Star bucks, Coffee been. In Asia, tea markets are very wide and people usually like it and feel comfortable. But, the marketing is not good to make this market larger to the world. I want to research more about the tea markets and appropriate marketing like ‘green marketing’.

http://www.marketingprofs.com/
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/marketing/

20600171 Kim Ji won

An important matter in "new corporation".

2008-03-13T21:24:00.017+09:00

Strategy in marketing is very important factors, in Corporation. Especially, marketing in soft drink industry an important matter. Coca-cola and pepsi-Cola, have created significant brand loyalty and made it very difficult for new competitors to enter the industry and take market share away from these two big company. When new competitors do try to enter, company faced with expenditure in advertising.

New company is struggle to solve the problem, "brand loyalty". However, this method will be solve the matter? I don't think so. Actually,Consumers have a preference for the products of established companies. So a established company create "brand loyalty" through continuous advertising of it's brand name. Thus they reduce the threat of entry by potential competitors.

"Intensity of rivalry among establishe firms" ◀-▶ "Risk of entry by potential competitors"

(Advertisement is important part of established firms)

New company spent almost nothing on advertising. Because of economics of scale. In this reason, New company have to concentrate on "Win-Win strategy". Wal-mart is one of the most extraordinary success strories in business market. New company asked Wall-mart for their existence. For instance,New company(eg,cott company) deal with a private-label(PL) products.May be, Wal-mart proved to be the perfect distribution channel for new company.

References:

http://koreaherald.com/

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/
http://www.businessweek.com/

Grammar Start - Hackers academia,David Cho,2004.

20300780- entry1

Apple's innovative Marketing Strategy

2008-03-13T19:50:00.007+09:00

I recently read about the new product of Apple. It is the iPod touch. iPod touch is a device that permits users to check e-mail, use Google Maps, see weather forecasts, take notes, and look up stock quotes. You know that Apple was one of the biggest companies in computer producing. But their Macintosh computer series were failed and they were almost kicked out of the market.

But recent 3 years Apple was chosen as a World`s Most Innovative company by BS(Business Week). Then how they could restore themselves from the mountain of depts? There are a few reasons to that.

Firstly, they are so opened to other's ideas. The iPod on the top of this writing, is the results of the openness to other's idea. As I know, the iPod was resulted by a outside consultant. If they didn't embrace the idea, maybe Apple is not the one now. Apple's force of competition comes from the ability to mix ideas and techniques from inside and outside the company. And they make great and wonderful products.

Secondly, Apple focused on the consumer's viewpoints. Even though there are many MP3 players in the music market, the iPod is the best selling product. What's the difference between iPod and other products? It's the touch screen technique. Touch screen is not that difficult technique to apply, but only Apple was focused on the comfort of consumers and they now the best producer in music market.

Thirdly, Apple can predict the future consumers. You know the Nintendo game machine 'Wii'. Nintendo saw the future gamers and Wii is the best selling product in game market. Similarily, at first Apple's iPod was not that well selling product. But the president Steve Jobs believed his intuition, and Apple got a Jack Pot.

Finally, and the most importantly the secret of Apple's success is wise failure. It sounds like a parodox, but it is the core of Apple's success. You know the iPhone, the legendary product of Apple, was born from the failure of Music Phone. In Europe, enterprises should not fail in business. Because there is a strict bankruptcy law. But from these restictions, Europian enterprises cannot develop any new technical product because they don't have another chance in businesss. But Silicon Valley was born from many trials and errors.

Today, the world is a global infinite competition market. So enterprises must change to adapt the changing environment. I learned a lot from the research of Apple. And this way is inevitably necessary to our Korean enterprises.

Thank you to read my crude writing. ^^

20700067 Kim Nam Joong

reference:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2008/tc20080312_217513.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives

http://blog.naver.com/zooty74/10024247226

Is It Worth the Price?

2008-03-13T14:29:00.006+09:00

I was reading the BusiessWeek online, and found about an article which compares the price over its quality. This article grabbed my attention since I was also looking for a new laptop and couldn't decide which one to buy.

Many people these days want to have something unique and special for their own satisfaction, and often the price doesn't matter for them to buy it. The article "Is It Worth It?" from BusinessWeek deals with this kind of question and tests to see whether people really get what they pay for.
First of all, the article gives a comparison between Krups XP7230, which is fully automatic Espresso Machine ($1,250), and Bialetti Moka Express ($25). Even though I love to have a cup of coffee every day or so, I thought buying a $1,250 machine just to have a esspresso sounded insane. However, after reading the article, I was so moved for what it can do. Including self-cleaning system, it can produce same amount of coffee with creamy foam on top of it each time by simply pressing a button.

Next, it compares two pairs of sneakers, one is Nike Zoom Kobe III ($130) , and the other is Stephon Marbury Starbury II ($15). Just for the design, the article describes the Starbury II as "...giving the appearance of a nurse's shoe gone bad." and Kobe III as "...likely meant to resemble a basketball net, but to us, they looked more like Spidey socks." Since I'm not that into shoes or sneakers, I always buy ones less than $50, and if they worn-out, I just throw them out and buy new ones. The article recommends the Starbury for the cheap price, but yet, fulfills its performance as basketball sneakers.
The last one to make me interested in was the comparison of razor blades, between Braun Pulsonic ($270) and Gillette Fusion Power ($13). I'm currently using Gillette Fusion Power and have no problem at all; however, since I have to replace the blades often for the best result, in the long run, like the article stated, the Fusion could cost more than just simply buying a electronic shaver for once.

There was also a comparison between two robot toys, but I didn't mention them because I was not interested purchasing the toys at this age. The article was really interesting to read because not only it showed me different aspects of looking at the products, but also taught me that sometimes it is really better to buy goods that are expensive for the uncomparable quality. I will be spending some time again to look for a good laptop to use at the campus, and like everybody else, I want the best one for my budget. Making a decision has been always hard for me, so I wish that I could pick a best choice for it.

Reference;

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2008/id20080310_958889.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories

20601008 1st Entry

Welcome to our team blog "Laguna"

2008-03-08T23:20:00.000+09:00

Hello,

We are team "Laguna" from Marketing class in Handong Global University.
There are five members in the team, and we look foward to have a great time together.
Our first plan would be having a dinner party together, and we are also going to post article assignments every week on this blog.
Please visit us frequently so you could see what kinds of interesting ideas we have for the class.
Thank you!

The team "Laguna"