Oh, The Humanity!!!!!

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-16/luxury-car-makers-bet-on-lower-priced-rides#r=nav-r-story I am truly shocked that it took so long for the “High End” card manufacturers to realize that they can produce more revenue and growth by appealing to the middle class consumer who was not their original target market. It seems that they have discovered that when you can start a consumer at a lower level of a luxury brand, they will aspire to continue into that brand because of the loyalty the brand name inspires. While some people argue that you are killing what it means to have a luxury brand, I would argue that you are actually motivating people to work harder and earn more money so they can afford the next model up. This really places the squeeze on American brands like Chevy, GM, Ford and Chrysler, who are not known for their luxury models. Will they try the same maneuver and create a luxury model (Cadillac not withstanding)? No one can be sure of that, however, I can promise you that they would have a much harder time selling up than the luxury brands had selling down.

The first time that I visited Europe, I was introduced to a fascinating new product that had been on Italian shelves in its current form since 1951 and has spread all over the continent. The Europeans slathered this hazelnut flavored chocolate spread over everything. As soon as I tasted it, I was in love. It was delicious and I would put it on anything or even just dip my finger in for a fix. For some reason, this product did not go mainstream hear until relatively recently. It has spawned Facebook fan pages,  blogs and websites (http://mentalfloss.com/article/50068/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-nutella). Due to the success of this product, all of the major brand have imitated the flavor and created their own spreads. So, it is no surprise that Hershey’s, the largest US chocolate producer, decided to do the same. They have also taken it one step further and developed additional flavors, which I think is a fantastic idea. I have tried several of their spreads and I think they are very well contrived. While they will never quite duplicate the exact Nutella taste, it is still a quality product that I would recommend.

While I do not know if Starbuck’s expansion into the fast-casual food market will be profitable for them, I think they would be remiss not to explore the potential. Starbucks has the name brand recognition, immense financial resources and thousands of locations across the country in primary, secondary and tertiary markets to make this successful. There also seems to be a need for this type of use, as witnessed by Panera’s dinner sales, especially when you add in the potential for wine and beer to be included in these new, upscale continental diners. The real question to me is whether or not they have the chops to put out a food product that can attract more than customers who are currently eating croissants and iced lemon cakes.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-04-29/love-or-hate-it-spirit-airlines-has-found-a-solid-business-in-cheap-fares I can honestly say that I am shocked that Spirit Airlines had earnings of $37.8 Million to go along with an 18% increase in sales despite being one of the most ridiculed airlines by customer complaint. Personally, I cannot stand being crammed into a tiny seat while breathing recycled air and eating food (if it is even available) that is one notch above Jack-in-the-Box. I think that this just goes to show you that price trumps animal comforts when it comes to travel, despite the fact that seats have gotten smaller and Americans have gotten bigger (http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/travel/feeling-cramped-battle-airline-seat/). Spirit seems to have found a very valuable niche of the “reluctant Flyer”. As stated by the CEO “They want the legroom and they want a can of Coke (KO), but they still like saving the money.”

In Homer Simpson’s opinion, saving Crumbs bakeries is a no-brainer. However, it the real world, whether it is worth saving is a legitimate question. After Crumbs shuttered all of its stores in a surprise move, it was “bailed out” by investors. Many people, me among them, are questioning the prudence of this investment and wondering if it is throwing good money after bad. Crumbs has been in financial decline for quite some time and even though it recently struck a deal with BJ’s wholesale to carry Crumbnuts (sort of like a cronut, but not as tasty) in their stores, there was no major financial boon to help their bottom line. It is a highly competitive market (Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Local Bakeries) where commodity prices can make or break the company and it is possible that the cupcake fad has already "jumped the shark", so to speak. There is also a major question as to whether there is actually a market for a national cupcake brand since most of the smaller, local/regional bakeries are doing so well with their sales. It should be very interesting to see how this plays out. Perhaps the people who brought us Dippin’ Dots and Camping World will be able to figure out a way to turn this around. Or, maybe Crumbs will go the way of the original Krispy Kreme.

This article is a “must read” for anyone interested in social media or that has (or wants) a career in marketing. As we all know, Social Media is of the utmost importance to almost all companies and marketing professionals in this day and age. This article provides some great and surprising information that can be used to help you market yourself as well as market your company in the most effective way possible. Among the more surprising revelations: Written Content Trumps Visuals, You have less than an hour to respond on Twitter and Late Night is the Best Time for Retweets. While I may not be the most avid social media user or advocate (because of privacy concerns), I can certainly see the potential and how social media can be used to interface personally and professionally with everyone, even if they are a world away.

This is one of the more intriguing technology articles that I have read recently. The paring of two very unlikely partners, with completely different corporate cultures and areas of expertise should be very interesting to watch of the next year or two. If they can pull it off, it could be a major boon to both companies because the whole offering will be much greater than the sum of their individual parts. By taking the strengths of Apple (customer experience, ease of use, development applications) and combining them with the forte of IBM (Data, Analytics, Serverware) should open up major opportunities for both companies in the corporate and industrial world. No longer will Apple be relegated to retail or “artsy” uses. No longer will IBM be just a name you hear in reference to enterprise innovation. If these two seemingly opposite companies can figure out how to work together it could revolutionize how we use enterprise technology. As outdated as my company's technology is at this point, I hope this is something they consider.

This is at once one of the funniest, saddest and aggravating things I have read/heard in quite awhile. If I did not read it on several different websites, I would have believed that it was a prank being pulled by a blogger. As a current Comcast customer, I can completely understand how frustrating it can be to deal with their customer service representatives. However, nothing that I have experienced in the multitude of interactions that I have had with Comcast compares with this. In this day and age where customer service is of the utmost importance for every company because of the amount of competition in almost every field, Comcast still cannot seem to get it right. In fact, they seem to be going out of their way to train their customer service representatives not to take no for an answer. It almost seems like this specific customer service rep WANTS to aggravate the customer because they decided to leave the service. I am all for cross-selling and promotion, but if you want to retain customers and have customers return to you after they leave, this is the absolute wrong way to do it. Simply stunning that Comcast, a Fortune 50 Company with revenue in excess of $17 Billion, would treat their customers, who are the backbone of their business in this manner.