Product Distribution - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

[VIDEO] The Multi-Billion Dollar Business of BTS

December 14, 2022

The members of the K-pop group BTS are more than just entertainers: they’re financial juggernauts who have contributed billions of dollars to the South Korean economy. The video below looks at how BTS leverages their massive global audience to develop lucrative brand partnerships with everyone from McDonald’s to Louis Vuitton. This bonanza of cash might not go on forever, though, with the group announcing they were taking a brief hiatus that could potentially blunt their branding power.

Questions:

What Continue reading →

Marketing, Entertainment, Global, McDonald’s, Music, Product Distribution, South Korea, Celebrities, Product Development, Branding, Promotions

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

Amazon’s Echo Fails to Live up to Expectations

December 7, 2022

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When Amazon launched the Echo in 2014, both the e-commerce giant and media observers set the bar very high for the smart speaker. One publication likened the voice-assisted machine to something out of Star Trek while others called it the “computer of the future” that would soon be in every home. These predictions seemed reasonable enough as Amazon sold more than 5 million Echos in the device’s first two years on the market. By 2016, the Echo and its voice Continue reading →

[VIDEO] How Retailers Deal with Returns

November 30, 2022

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The National Retail Federation says that customer returns are increasing across the industry, driven primarily by online returns that have more than doubled in the last few years. Contrary to what many consumers may think, these products don’t simply boomerang back onto store shelves. As the video below shows, returned items take a complicated journey from warehouse to warehouse that frequently ends either at a secondary resale center or a landfill.

Questions:

Why do many returned products end up in Continue reading →

Amazon, Marketing, Operations Management, Product Distribution, Ethics, E-commerce, Product Returns, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

Ticketmaster Buckles under the Pressure of Taylor Swift Tour

November 18, 2022

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Last month Taylor Swift released her 10th album Midnights, which shocked the recording industry by selling the equivalent of 1,578,000 copies. Songs from the album also occupied every slot of Billboard’s Top 10 singles chart, the first time in history that an artist has achieved this feat. Needless to say, anticipation for Swift’s upcoming tour grew to massive proportions on the eve of a pre-sale event planned for earlier this week. Ticketmaster established a Verified Fan program to keep Continue reading →

Entertainment, Regulation, Music, Product Distribution, Monopolies, Supply & Demand, Marketing, Promotions, Ethics

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

[VIDEO] How Junior’s Bakes Millions of Cheesecakes

November 11, 2022

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The New York bakery Junior’s has been selling enormous cheesecakes to customers since 1950, but 2022 has probably been the toughest year for the company since its founding. Along with examining how a cream cheese shortage and skyrocketing ingredient prices have threatened Junior’s bottom line, this video also examines the company’s history and the intricate production processes for its many baked goods.

Questions:

How have rising ingredient costs affected Junior’s business?
What role does automation play at Junior’s Continue reading →

Marketing, Operations Management, Pricing, Entrepreneurship, Manufacturing, Product Distribution, Food & Drink, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

Meta’s Market Value Plunges by $700 Billion

November 4, 2022

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2022 has been a tough year for Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. In February we examined how the social media giant lost $230 billion in market value in a single day. Then in September, we looked at the company’s premier platform Instagram and how it angered many users by trying to emulate the short-video format of TikTok. Many of Meta’s woes stem from recent changes to Apple’s terms of service that prevent digital advertisers from collecting data Continue reading →

[VIDEO] Drying Mississippi River Disrupts Another Supply Lane

November 2, 2022

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The Mississippi River serves as one of the nation’s most vital supply routes, with slow-moving barges carrying everything from agricultural products to oil and building materials. Due to a drastically dry spring and summer, however, the river is running too low at some points to allow vessels to pass through. This video looks at how plummeting water levels on the Mississippi are disrupting the plans of farmers and manufacturers who rely on the river to get their goods to market. Continue reading →

Product Distribution, Operations Management, Shipping, Global, Logistics, Supply & Demand, Supply chains, Transportation

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

Enthusiasm and Inflation Drive Increased Halloween Spending

October 28, 2022

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After years of unease, this year Americans are approaching holidays like Halloween with a level of enthusiasm not seen since pre-pandemic times. According to a survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF), 69 percent of consumers plan to celebrate Halloween this year, an amount that is on par with the stats from 2019. “As consumers continue to return to pre-pandemic behaviors, retailers are prepared to meet that demand and help make this holiday a fun and memorable one,” said NRF Continue reading →

Inflation, Promotions, Marketing, Pricing, Global, Supply chains, Product Distribution, Halloween, Holidays, Supply & Demand

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

How Warehouses Are Reshaping the Nation

October 21, 2022

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Earlier this week, we posted a video about a seemingly unremarkable highway corridor in Arizona that turned into a haven for enormous warehouses. Logistics hubs like these are becoming increasingly common around the U.S., from Southern California’s warehouse epicenter in the Inland Empire to multi-million square-foot facilities in Ohio and New York. Satellite images collected over the last 20 years show how warehouses have transformed acres of wide-open space into concentrated networks of huge buildings swarming with workers. In fact, Continue reading →

E-commerce, Logistics, Supply & Demand, Warehouses, Ethics, Unions, Supply chains, Labor Relations, Amazon, Product Distribution

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] Why Arizona Is Becoming a Logistics Hub

October 19, 2022

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On a stretch of highway near Phoenix, property developers have constructed dozens of industrial warehouses with millions of square feet in storage. These enormous Arizona facilities are attracting big companies like Amazon, UPS, Walmart, and many more tenants that are looking to avoid California supply chain bottlenecks. This video looks at the reasons why some businesses are starting to center their logistical operations in the American Southwest.

Questions:

What are the benefits and drawbacks for companies that use storage facilities Continue reading →

Product Distribution, Operations Management, Logistics, Global, Facility Location, Supply & Demand, Warehouses, Arizona, Supply chains

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos