Black Tap Makes Viral Milkshake Creations A Branded Effort

For two years Black Tap located in Manhattan has been creating pricey kitchen sink milkshakes. These shakes are topped with any and every decadent dessert you can think of, some reaching well over 1600 calories. In fact they are so popular, people will wait four hours in line just to get their hands on one.

Black Tap has decided to work with other restaurants and entertainment companies to create milkshakes inspired by their business, for they will be using their shakes as a way to advertise their brand. Their goal is to get as much attention possible by piggybacking on other company’s name.

This way of branding and advertising is quite smart. By working with already widely known companies, it will be very easy for Black Tap's name and product to be recognized. Thus eventually leading to the growth of their company.



Janelle Mendez
MKTG 3343

https://www.wsj.com/articles/black-tap-makes-viral-milkshake-creations-a-branded-effort-1488450600?mg=id-wsj

Joy Time For Bruno Mars Is Not By Chance

  Bruno Mars is launching a tour this year for his recent album "24K Magic." Over the course of his career, he has had 21 Grammy nominations, sold over 170 million singles and 26 million albums worldwide. "24K Magic" was his third album released in November of last year, and it stayed in the top five for more than two months. This success is not merely by chance. Bruno Mars explains some of his Marketing Strategies.

Bruno Mars already has 100 dates for his “24K Magic” tour in many places outside the U.S such as Japan and Belgium. He explains that he always wants to deliver a powerful and memorable show that people can remember and also feel like their money was well spent. Bruno Mars put so much work into each song in his last album that he said “I wanted to make a movie, where each song has its own moment.”

In 2014, he released the song “Uptown Funk” that won three Grammys and was the N#1 song for 14 weeks, which made this song the 8^th single in history to achieve this. In his article he explains how the preparation for this song went through many tribulations because Mark Ronson (a musician he worked with for this song), and him would go back and forth in what sounded better.

Bruno Mars is one of the few performers who had the opportunity to do the half time show at super bowl twice in 2014 and 2016. Is his success by luck? His brother who plays in his band says about him “He sees something lacking in the business, maybe something we were influenced by as kids that’s missing today, and he sticks to his vision.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-joy-time-for-bruno-mars-1488382054

Priscila Quimboca
MKTG 3343

YouTube Goes into TV Service

This week, YouTube revealed that they will begin to offer a web-TV service that will include broadcast and cable channels for only $35 per month. In an evolving society in which streaming services are now taking over traditional television, Google’s own YouTube is roaming new but promising territory. This service will be called YouTube TV and is slated to launch within the next few months. It will include all the major known household channels. 

The outlook seems very promising, since society is very entertainment-oriented. Just as YouTube’s chief executive Susan Wojcicki said in the article, “There’s no question millennials love great TV content, but what we’ve seen is they don’t want to watch it in the traditional setting.” Since people nowadays have many streaming subscriptions because they are always on the go, YouTube decided to cater to this market by providing this service, which can be watched on any device on the go. Through YouTube TV, Google also wants to have targeted advertisements for the viewers.

It is expected for many of the traditional TV companies to possibly roll out something similar, as DirectTV tried it but failed. Since YouTube is such a household name and is used by many, it may be expected for Google to find success in this new project. Because this service is still new, when it barely comes out, it will be in the market introduction phase. Hopefully, it’s product life cycle will last so it can be a hit and a game-changing innovation. 

Original Article: 
Google’s YouTube to Launch $35-a-Month Web-TV Service

Living Near Your Parents Could Help Limit The Long-Term Damage of a Layoff

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2017/02/14/living-near-your-parents-could-help-limit-the-long-term-damage-of-a-layoff/

Job loss can cause magnitudes of problems in your life, but some new insights on the effects of job loss have led to people to think that living near your parents could lessen the impact on future earnings. People who have had job loss in their early lives have been shown to have less chance of recovery when they live near their parents. Due to factors such as moral or financial support, young people who live near their parents will have a better chance at earning more money when they decide to return to their job. Children who live away from their parents have been shown to have lesser earnings their counterparts who do the same work they do. Younger children would still be able to receive support and be able to feel better confidently and financially when they reenter the workforce. In a way, you could use this sell more housing by helping future buyers to advise them this could be for their benefit. 

Hollywood became a major target for Chinese investment.

China was planning on taking over MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer), one of the biggest studios in Hollywood. Chinese firm’s interest in Hollywood started after the 3.5 billion deal of Legendary Entertainment. Though, MGM spokeswoman stated that MGM is not for sale. Even Though, It is way smaller now, and owned by a small private equity firms.

Lately, China has become a go-to source of Hollywood funds. There are many firms who financed with Chinese firm’s and earned billions in ticket sales.

On the other hand, Hollywood executive thinks that dealing with china may have some negatives “You have no way to assess what they might say about a deal”.

Later on, China’s pocket becomes a regular subject of speculation among entertainment executives. According to Chris Fenton (President of DMG entertainment), China’s investment in Hollywood decreased prior the election and it’s almost disappeared by this time.

In December, Chinese firm’s pulled about $350 million of Voltage picture without giving a reason. That led Voltage to sue the Chinese firm for $300 million damages.

Nevertheless, China announced an offer for $100 million to pay 51% stake of Millennium Film, who produce The Expendables. Millennium’s great hit in Chinese theater is the reason behind this offer.

I think Investing in Hollywood can be a great hit for China, and Hollywood studios can benefit from that, but it may lead The Chinese firms to take control over of the studios and over Hollywood.

Original article:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/capital-control-policy-puts-brakes-on-chinese-investment-in-hollywood-1487965450

 Mohammed Almomen

The Urban Condo Boom Has Reached Its Final Frontier: Detroit

David Di Rita first attempted to develop luxury, high-rise condos in America's poorest city of Detroit almost a decade ago. Now that every other major city has slowed their develop of these condos, Di Rita is once again going to erect a high-rise condominium building in Detroit.

 This is considered to be quite the gamble due to a continuous decrease in population, an unemployment rate double the nation's average, and banks with little to lend. The developers and Di Rita are hoping that this new endeavor isn't a flop. The development itself, called The Griswold, is 15 stories tall and features 80 units total. Di Rita reports that it is already 50% leased despite having a rent price triple the amount of leased homes in the area.

Di Rita is not the only developer to target this particular market of real estate. Over 2,000 new units have popped up all over downtown Detroit. Despite the development of several new apartment buildings in a city where 99% occupancy is centered in the downtown area, the leasing of these new developments began to drop off.

Original Article: WSJ

Kara Key

HP Revenue Grows Again on PC Rebound

HP’s revenues started to rise again after a period of decreasing sales of desktop computers, notebooks, and inks and toners. They began to release products for more specific target market groups of gamers, corporations, and younger consumers and received a growth in revenues.

This growth mostly came from their new gaming line, OMEN, with a 16% increase in notebook sales. In addition to their gaming line, HP received an increase in sales of their high-end corporate notebooks. HP’s new pocket printers, Sprocket, which are aimed at younger consumers and can be paired with smartphones, also contribute to HP’s recent growth in revenue.

As a result of HP’s increasing revenues, their shares have also increased by 0.5% with each share now being 38 cents. Their aim is to “stabilize supplies, revenue and constant currency by the end of this year,” according to HP’s Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak.

Original article: Wall Street Journal

Linh Tran

MGKT 3343