MySpace to YourSpace

          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

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

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

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

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

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

          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