Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

My demographic group is the Millennials. Millennials are the generation born between 1977 and 2000. As a group we are larger than the Baby Boomers. We will account for one third of all retail spending in 5 years, and soon Millennials will be 50 percent of the workforce. Goldman Sachs recently published a report called, “Millennials: Coming of Age in Retail.” Some of their findings were, that we were hit hard by the recession, we are less likely to get married and start households, more health conscience, must more tech savvy/ love social media, and we are willing to share opinions and experiences.  “Millennials are Early Adopters, because we are so digitally engaged, and have shared so much knowledge with our peers, we are early adopters of new ideas, concepts and products. This will drive the speed of change even faster that what we’ve known. Leveraging early adopters will build brand equity.” 

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattpowell/2014/08/06/sneakernomics-marketing-with-millennials/

“Millenials have been called a lot of names, narcissistic, lazy, and indecisive. They have been labeled the boomerang generation for the many unable or unwilling to leave their parent’s hoe, or even more negatively, the Peter Pan generation because we won’t grow up.”  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/business/marketers-are-sizing-up-the-millennials-as-the-new-consumer-model.html?_r=0

There will be no way retailers and marketers will be able to dismiss us as a group. They can see the Millenials are likely to directly affect their bottom line, and we will be a driving force for the economy in the many years to come.

Millennials are obsessed with technology. We live on our phones. Some of us can barely remember a time when we had a cord that held us captive next to the phone that was connected to the kitchen wall. With technology and the craze to always be connected to the world through social media and the internet companies needed to adapt to a new way of marketing and connecting to their customers. “Convenience is important to a Millennial. Brands need to be timely with information and consistent with messages coming through different spectrums. In some respects, a small company has it easier than a large one, because it inherently more agile, and can respond quickly to what’s going on in the world.”

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6602-selling-to-generation-y.html

Week 3 EOC: Making Money for Good

Companies that create shared value adopt operating practices and pursue policies that enhance the competitiveness of the company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates. Shared value creation is different from corporate philanthropy and social responsibility programs, which are often tangential to a company's core operations. A shared value approach, instead, entails reconceiving a company's product and markets, reinventing its value chain, and strengthening the productivity of the communities in which it operates.

For example, when senior GE executives directly engaged with the health problems of the world's poor through GE's new approach to philanthropy, they saw the tremendous range of opportunities for their business. The company couldn't sell the same products it sold in developed markets, but it could design new products that would meet the needs of the developing world. Innovations based on GE's core technologies, like an inexpensive ultrasound scanner that transmits its pictures over the Internet without a computer, are already changing the lives of women in rural villages across the developing world.  

http://www.fastcompany.com/1743529/how-ge-changing-business-through-shared-value

The GE Foundation, the philanthropic organization of GE, has a rich history of building a world that works better. They empower people by helping them develop the skills they need to succeed in a global economy. They equip communities with the technology and capacity to improve access to better health and education. They elevate ideas that are tackling the world’s toughest challenges to advance economic development and improve lives. The GE Foundation is powered by the generosity and talent of their employees, who have a strong commitment to their communities.

GE has been working with many different charities and foundations since 1950. The GE Foundation and the wider GE family played a integral part in addressing natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia. The GE Foundation also led the response to 9/11 with a $10 million contribution to the Twin Towers Fund.                                       http://www.gefoundation.com/about-ge-foundation/   

After the GE cut its donations by 6 percent due to the sale of its NBC unit to Comcast, GE say s its stepping up its pro bono work. It made $17.5 million in grants to 72 health clinics in regions that don’t have adequate medical services. GE donated $144,100,000 in cash and $1,900,000 in products in 2011.                                        http://philanthropy.com/article/10-Companies-That-Gave-the/132991/

Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

There is a lot to say about the Video Game Market. I feel it’s a buyer's market, no doubt. As a consumer we can choose from the Xbox, PlayStation, and we can play video games on our phones. It is a very competitive market and everyone is trying to come up with new ways to attract new buyers and to keep the ones the already have. My opinion of the market can be compared through a BCG analysis of the video game market.  I would say the AE Sports, Electronic Arts, is a cash cow. Cash cows are low-growth, high-share businesses or products. These established and successful SBUs need less investment to hold their market share. Thus, they produce a lot of cash that the company uses to pay its bills and to support other SBUs that need investment. "While physical sales of games continue to decline, EA’s digital sales — games and add-on content delivered over the Internet — are soaring. The company’s shares are at their highest point in almost six years.  For us, whether you’re spending $50 or $60 on a console game or you’re investing nothing but time in a mobile game, it’s important you feel value for that. We’re as focused on investment of time as investment in money. Engagement is the world’s new profit metric."

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/a-conversation-with-andrew-wilson-chief-executive-of-electronic-arts/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

I would the classify Nintendo and their new Wii Fit into the Star. Stars are high-growth, high-share businesses or products. They often need heavy investments to finance their rapid growth. Eventually their growth will slow down, and they will turn into cash cows. I think that they will do very well with this new addition, but I think they will eventually fall back to a cash cow. They are always looking for new ways to grab that piece of the market. "The videogames business, after hitting a new sales high last year, this week plans to showcase new technologies to help spur further growth -- including a new product from Nintendo Co. to get users to exercise using their Wii game consoles. {Wii Fit}. Overall, computer and videogames have become a big business, generating $17.94 billion in hardware and software sales last year, up 43% from the prior year. Beyond Nintendo, technology companies are touting innovations, such as voice communications among gamers and even a headset that lets users control actions using their thoughts." http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB120347378492578983

Finally I would list Microsoft a question mark, their video game console Xbox. Question marks are low-share business units in high-growth markets. They require a lot of cash to hold their share, let alone increase it. Management has to think hard about which question marks it should try to build into stars and which should be phased out. "In addition to selling at least 2 million fewer players than Sony, Microsoft has lost $1 billion in future sales, based on how much gamers spend over the life of a console, according to Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst who predicts the company will bounce back. Further market-share losses would give Sony greater influence with the companies that create the most-popular games and applications."  http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-06-06/xbox-looks-for-do-over-with-gamers-as-sales-trail-sony-s