McDonald's plans on switching their focus from customers who do not eat much fast food to their customers that eat fast food regularly. They are making changes to the menu such as serving breakfast all day long (yay!), any size drink for $1, and debuting "Signature Crafted" burgers to the menu (which will be on the "higher-end" and "customizable"), and switching from frozen beef to fresh beef. McDonald's Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook said each initiative is to "bring the biggest benefit to the most customers in the shortest amount of time.” Switching their focus on customers who do not eat fast food to their main regular customers is a safer way to go, in my opinion. If they improve and update their food for customers who love their food, it will keep them coming back for more. Trying to attract other customers gives the risk of losing profit.
Unlike its competitors such as Facebook or Twitter, Snapchat is not going for worldwide coverage. They believe a focus on high tech countries and fast internet will result in growth. Snapchat already lost around 2.2 billion on its 142 million revenue from costs.
Facebook and Twitter both have ambitions to be out in their world and be the app that everyone uses. One reason behind Snapchat's choice of a focus on first worlds countries rather than a broader worldwide usage is because with the introduction of advance additions like augmented reality, simpler and less sophisticated phones will not be able to work properly. Eventually Snapchat must cave in to the pressure of not trying to globalize, and international users are not going to wait but simply look for another outlet. Facebook has been trying to imitate some of Snapchats features such as stories and filters to countries like China, where Snapchat has neglected to influence with.
By trying to globalize, companies like Facebook and Twitter are losing out on a more specific piece of the market. The target market seems to be good in countries that have the money to spend on highly advanced phones. Eventually similar apps are going to overtake Snapchat because of a bigger market. Although globalizing might not seem like a good idea for Snapchat, in the long run, it might be the better choice for the company to remain competitive.
Amazon is planning on revealing a new Echo, a high tech commercial use machine that allows people to control certain aspects of your home with your voice, that is being released with a screen, different from its predecessors.
There are currently 2 different echoes out, 1 without a screen for $150 and 1 with a camera for $200. It will be announced as early as Tuesday, 5/9/17, which will allow the use of internet phone calls equipped with a touch screen and ways for easier access to information for consumers.
There are other competitors such as Alphabets Inc. Google Home with Alexa digital assistant and Microsoft with their voice controlled speaker Invoke, made by Samsung Electronics Co., however, none of them have a touch screen, yet. Thousands of applications have been added as well from Uber calls to ordering Domino’s pizza.
A touch screen device does sound more appealing than a device that does not have one, and higher competitions do create better businesses because it results in more companies trying to make an even better home controlled AI. Not everyone is going to buy one, but they are certainly the future of autonomy and progression.
Comcast Corp and Charter Communications Inc. have signed a
partnership with each other. With this partnership, neither companies are
allowed to acquire wireless carrier without each other’s agreement. They also
want to cut competition by offering packages that would be more attractive to
customers in order to keep old customers and gain new ones.
Their goal is to become more competitive among the wireless
services industry. Charter plan to offer wireless service next year, and
Comcast also plans to offer it soon. By doing this partnership, it allows both
Comcast and Charter to work together to figure out what’s good and bad, as well
as adding more competition to the wireless market against companies like
T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon.
This partnership seems like a great idea, but it is also
limiting on both companies. However, this partnership will only last one year,
so it is good for experimentation on the market.
Microsoft as recently unveiled a new laptop that is aimed at students. Microsoft hopes to compete with Apple's Macbook Air with new features. These new features include weighing less, thinner, less expensive, and a longer battery life. All of the devices run Windows 10 S which is a "new variant of Microsoft’s flagship operating system." The new laptop limits users to just the Windows store, but it increases the speed and battery life. If users want to use other apps that are not supported "such as iTunes or Google’s Chrome browser, they can pay $49 to upgrade to the Windows 10 Pro version of the OS sold to businesses." The laptops and app are all updated automatically which will help schools from manually updating each individual device themselves. Microsoft will also be providing new updates to their education version of the Microsoft 365 app and making it available to all "students, faculty, and school staff" for free. The target market of Microsoft with their new laptop is toward schools that use lots of technology. They have made their product more affordable and have some better features. Competing with the popular Macbook Air with exterior features such as weighing less, thinner, longer battery life, and less expensive making it more student-friendly. Allowing laptops and apps to update automatically will make it easier for schools to use the product without having to worry about manually updating each laptop. These features gives them an advantage over many products.
Coach Inc. is planning to make a deal to buy out Kate Spade for $2.4 billion. Kate Spade is a popular brand among younger customers, and they are seeking them with this deal. They also plan on expanding Kate Spade outside of the United States to reach customers in areas such as China and Europe. The plan is to not cross sell products, but to Kate Spade the way it is such as their product and employees. Both sides can terminate the deal if it is no longer supported, but either way it goes, Kate Spade will be required to "pay Coach an $83.3 million termination fee."
As stated in the article, Coach once tried to be more on the luxury side and reach "slightly older and wealthier clients with higher-priced bags, creating a gap for younger 20-something shoppers that it can fill with Kate Spade." With this deal, they are able to reach older customers as well as younger customers. This relates to the class because Coach is trying to expand their target market, seeking customers from every age group. They do not plan on cross selling their products, and rather keep them separate from each other. Coach gains profit from both the "slightly older and wealthier side" and also gains profit from the younger consumers of the product.
In show business, virtual reality is becoming the new “ingénue,” quickly spreading its wings to one day become the “movie-going” norm. The virtual reality began emerging at film festivals about five years ago as fascinating demos rather than intriguing narratives. These demos include things that movie executives using them to promote existing franchises and provide interactive extras for anticipated blockbusters. Recently, the entertainment industry has been pumping new levels of talent, money, and time into virtual reality projects due to its rapidly increasing popularity with people. Jon Favreau, director of “The Jungle Book” and “Iron Man” commented saying that we are witnessing the period in time where an idea, a blooming possibility, will come to be the thing we all experience and enjoy one day.
However, there are a number of difficulties and problems that old Hollywood movie magic expertise can be applied to. As a new medium of telling stories, many argue that while it's not necessarily a movie but it's also not a video game; it's something else entirely new, exciting, and its own. Many works would branch into alternate directions all based on where the viewers direct their attention. Writers must do a multitude of math in order to track a single story’s potential outcomes. Actors must perform long and continuous takes without the benefit of edits, remaining visible at all times. And filmmakers must search for new tricks and methods of directing their audience’s focus since they can’t rely on things like close ups and other traditional cinematic techniques to do it for them.
On the marketing end of things, because virtual reality is a creative niche that has yet to be understood, or even fully identified, enthusiasts and directors face a multitude of possibilities and possible challenges. They are unsure of whether their audiences will watch virtual reality movies wearing individual headsets in theaters or if they would rather experience them privately, like video games. They don’t know how long people are willing to wear the headsets in a single setting; considering that there are a number of people that find the 3D glasses to be bothersome and troublesome. It’s also unclear as to whether consumers would want to be able to interact with characters and alter the plots or if they would want to be a ghost-like observer to the story.
The main problems to be faced is gathering sufficient data regarding these unknown areas and finding ways to promote virtual reality experiences to a large enough demographic to turn over a profit. The demographic that would prove to be the hardest to advertise would be the older crowd that prefer “flat” movies with an exclusive observational role. The A-List Tackles VR by Ellen Gamerman
