Chapter 14: Product and Price - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Drop in ESPN Viewership Has Disney Worried

December 9, 2016

While a major entertainment conglomerate like Disney has many sources of income, the iconic brand earns the bulk of its revenue from TV networks like ESPN and ABC. This year these channels have brought in nearly $24 billion, exceeding the company’s theme park earnings by 40 percent. But this enormous payout doesn’t tell the whole story about Disney’s TV holdings. For the past few years, subscriptions to its premium channels have dropped significantly, leading to a similar dip in the Continue reading →

Sports, Entertainment, Television, Disney, Product Distribution, ESPN, Cable, Cord Cutting

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] How China Is Changing Hollywood

December 6, 2016

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Thanks to a rapidly growing middle class, China has transformed into the largest moviegoing market in the world. And while Hollywood is the source for many of the nation’s hit flicks, American filmmakers still face a number of hurdles before they can do business in China. This video looks at the ways Hollywood tries to appeal to Chinese culture in order to break into this tough but rewarding market.

Questions:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of China’s revenue Continue reading →

Product Development, Entertainment, China, Marketing, Product Distribution, Global, Movies

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

Black Friday Shoppers Spend Big Thanks to Deep Discounts

November 29, 2016

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This past weekend the holiday shopping season kicked off with a bang as millions of Americans sought out Black Friday deals both in stores and online. While brick and mortar sales rose about 8 percent from last year, online outlets saw sales increase by 11 percent. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), this spike in e-commerce can be credited to the more than 108 million consumers who shopped online over the weekend. Meanwhile, approximately 99 million people visited physical Continue reading →

Black Friday, E-commerce, Discounts, Promotions, Retail, Pricing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] When Carmakers Taunted Horses

November 22, 2016

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With 43.5 million Americans expected to hit the road for Thanksgiving this year, drivers will likely have to deal with more traffic jams and slowdowns than usual. Then again, at least these dedicated travelers will be making their journey by car rather than on horseback. But while this preference for pedals seems like a no-brainer today, the situation was much different a century ago when automobiles were new and confusing to many consumers. This video shows how carmakers marketed these Continue reading →

Marketing, Horses, Product Development, Promotions, Cars, Transportation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Videos

Newman’s Own Revamps Marketing Strategy to Focus on Charity

November 18, 2016

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Older Americans should have no problem remembering Paul Newman, the iconic star of classics movies like Cool Hand Luke and The Sting. And while younger people might not know his Hollywood credits, they’re likely to recognize the actor’s trademark grin from browsing the supermarket. Since 1982 Newman’s Own has placed Paul’s face on everything from salad dressing to snacks, but not in the name of making a buck. The brand donates all of its profits to charity, amounting to Continue reading →

Branding, Philanthropy, Packaging, Marketing, Newman’s Own, Food

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Online Retail Sales Soar After Singles Day in China

November 17, 2016

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While the holiday shopping season in the U.S. doesn’t officially kick off until next week, Chinese retailers are already counting their profits from the phenomenon known as Singles Day. Founded in the 1990s by a group of college students celebrating their bachelorhood, the November 11 holiday has since morphed into a nationwide shopping spree. This year the online retailer Alibaba brought in nearly $18 billion in sales, far more than what the entire American retail industry earns during Black Friday Continue reading →

Promotions, Retail, Marketing, China, Global, Black Friday, Singles Day, Alibaba

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Cell Phone Numbers Become Key Pieces of Personal Information

November 15, 2016

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From a young age Americans are taught to keep a close eye on their Social Security number. After all, this unique code acts as an identifier for everything from bank accounts to medical records. If it falls into the wrong hands, all of your personal information could become compromised. To prevent this from happening, the government requires companies to keep Social Security numbers private while advising individuals to reveal it only to trusted parties.

But in today’s digital age there’s Continue reading →

Social Security, Security, Mobile, Personal Information, Ethics, Identity Theft

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 20: Money and Financial Institutions, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Bonus Chapter D: Personal Finance

[VIDEO] Inside the Factory Where Robotic Dinosaurs Come to Life

November 10, 2016

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When a group of Australian special effects artists were having trouble finding work, they decided to pool their resources together and create their own animatronics company. Most had planned to return to working on movies and television once they’d made a splash with their enormous, lifelike representations of dinosaurs and monsters. But Creature Technology wowed the world with their creations, leading to the bustling and almost magical workshop shown in the video below.

Questions:

Why must Creature Technology keep Continue reading →

Global, Creature Technology, Entrepreneurship, Special Effects, Australia, Product Development, Entertainment, Operations Management

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Videos

Companies Blame Poor Performance on Presidential Election Interest

November 8, 2016

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No matter which candidate you support, it’s safe to say that the 2016 presidential election has been absorbing to watch. According to many executives, however, that’s been a bad thing for business. In a recent study conducted by Bloomberg, more than 500 corporations blamed their poor performances on the presidential race or some form of “political uncertainty.”

In fact, even the NFL claims that obsession with the election has led to a drop in viewership. Ratings for Monday Night Continue reading →

NFL, Politics, 2016 Election, Management, Performance, Motivation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Patagonia: Attempting to Operate Ethically While Pursuing Mass Appeal

November 3, 2016

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Since its founding in 1973, the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia has strived to make quality goods in an ethical manner. This combination of strong values and superior products has allowed the company to grow into an $800 million brand. But over the years Patagonia has run into a number of roadblocks in their quest to “build the best product” and “cause no unnecessary harm.” For example, in 2010 an animal rights group revealed that the company had been buying goose Continue reading →

Product Development, Ethics, Branding, Supply chains, Sustainability, Patagonia, South America, Taiwan, Apparel, Clothing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution