EOC Making Money for Good

Companies that give to charities, or have direct philanthropy are far more prevalent than people think. It is important to understand that companies can benefit financially through donations and/ or philanthropy through expanding their company’s vision and name in the world. According to Forbes.com "Corporate 'philanthropy' is a really misnomer, because it benefits the company through a number of different ways," says Indiana University's Burlingame, who prefers "corporate citizenship."  (Forbes.com)  One of the best companies known for its philanthropy is Target, owned by Dayton Company, a founding member of the 5% club, which donates 5% of its earnings back to the community.  The following companies are known for their donations around the world, Coca-Cola Fund: $1 million to the Red Cross, United Parcel Service Inc: $1 million in aid, half in cash and half in services,  Lowe’s Cos Inc: Donating $1 million to the Red Cross, Google Inc: Donating $1 million, Bank of America Corp: $1 million, Abbott Laboratories: $1 million in humanitarian aid, including donations of medicines and nutritional products. (http://www.businesspundit.com).  It is easy to see why companies would donate to charities, because of the social implications that go with it. If a company looks bad to the public for something they have done, then they will sometimes make donations to that group to show the public that they do care. It is important to make a good public image to the world, and maintain a high level of integrity. I hate to think of charity as buying something, but for some companies it is. On the other hand you have companies like TOM Shoes that make it a part of their business model to donate to charity. These companies perform at the highest level of charity in my opinion. Who goes into business to give parts of their profits away? Good ones.

Week 3 EOC; My Demographics

Generation X, is defined by, “The 45 million people born between 1965 and 1976 in the “birth dearth” following the baby boom.(Marketing: An Introduction Armstrong & Kotler). This are my people. To truly understand Gen Xers are defined by the following, “defined as much by their shared experiences as by their age. Increasing parental divorce rates and higher employment for their mothers made them the first generation of latchkey kids. Although they seek success, they are less materialistic; they prize experience, not acquisition. For many of the Gen Xers that are parents, family comes first—both children and their aging parents—and career second (Marketing: An Introduction Armstrong & Kotler). I have to admit I hit almost every criteria in this statement. My wife and I (both Gen Xers) grew up on opposite sides of the country but still share so many experiences it’s scary.  As far as divorce, I was fortunate to have my parents stay married, only to separated by death. I didn’t know as a child that I was a latchkey kid to many years later as an adult. I thought caring for myself was something that “big boys” did. I have never been materialistic. I am not sure if that is a product of my generation or my parents practical sensibilities, but it exist. Experience has always been key. My younger friends remark to me all the time, “what haven’t you done”. I have never had much, but to be honest, things always seemed like more trouble than they were worth. Being a good son, has always been very important to me. At times more important than my own happiness. As I watched my mother pass away last year the first thought that came to my head was, taking care my father.

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

According to the above mentioned article the video game industry is suffering in the current economic market. The value for video games seems to be in question. People seem to be downloading more games for phones and other handheld units rather than buying game consoles. “ … higher sales from used games, digital downloads, games for smart phones and games played over social networks kept video game content sales at $15.4 billion to $15.6 billion for 2010, flat with 2009.” (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Video-Game-Sales-Decline-in-zacks-3332226628.html?x=0&.v=1)  The consoles are very over priced and the more they require add on’s  to play these games seems to be driving the industry further down. According to seeking alpha.com, “declining hardware sales, which declined 13.0% year over year to $6.29 billion “(http://seekingalpha.com/article/247116-video-game-sales-decline-in-2010). As a parent it is impossible to keep up with all the add on’s for each console but it makes more sense to allow my child to play a free game on the internet. According to casualgaming.biz, “The free Lite version of Angry Birds has been downloaded more than 11 million times; YouTube videos relating to the game have topped six million views; and more than 77% of players grab updates when they're made available. (http://www.casualgaming.biz/news/30380/Angry-Birds-iPhone-passes-65m-sales-milestone). Gaming consoles have been a cash cow for a very long time. No longer is this the case. With the IPad, and various multi-format phones that are available there is not that direct need to have a true gaming console. The video game companies need to look at gaming from a different point of view if they want to capture the ever growing market of internet gaming. The ability to enjoy these games, especially for families on the go (such as mine) requires something new. Something to be accessed anywhere, anytime, at the touch of a button.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

Customer service in my opinion is the greatest value a company can give its customers. Some people look at who has the best price, or who has a better product. Those two things are important and I do not mean to make light of them. In today’s economy everyone is looking for the best deal. Lets think about it for a moment, how does a company keep its customers, especially when companies are lowering prices all the time to get people in the doors. If one store is selling the same item at a lower cost one week they win the customer. If the following week a different store has a lower price, then the customer will shop there instead. So how do we keep customers coming back? They must offer superior customer service to create customer relationships. As a former employee of Nordstrom I saw customer service at its best. “Marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. The twofold goal of marketing is to attract new customers by promising superior value and to keep and grow current customers by delivering satisfaction.” (Marketing: An Introduction p.3)