Week 7 BOC: Largest Retailers

Who is the world’s largest retailer?

            Its no surprise, Wal-Mart still holds the number one spot at world’s biggest retailer. As of 2012, Wal-Mart sales were $328,704,000 with a 4.0% growth. Wal-Mart currently operates under three segments:  Wal-Mart U.S., Wal-Mart International, and Sam’s Club. The Wal-Mart U.S. segment reaches all 50 states and Puerto Rico, the International segment reaches 26 different countries, and Sam’s Club reaches 47 states and Puerto Rico. Kroger is in second place as of 2012 with sales at $92,165,000 and Target in third place at sales of $71,960,000.

Who is the world’s largest fashion retailer?

            The world largest fashion retailer is Inditex, or as we commonly know it by their brand Zara. They are located in Galicia, Spain. In a time that GAP was struggling, Zara was able to expand its stores across the globe, making it not only number one in America but also number one in the world. Zara recorded a 9% increase in sales in its first quarter of its financial year while the GAP saw it revenue fall by 10% within that same period.  “Every one of Inditex’s brands — Zara, Zara Home, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear and Uterqüe — follow the Zara template: trendy and decently made but inexpensive products sold in beautiful, high-end-looking stores. Zara’s prices are similar to those of the Gap: coats for $200, sweaters for $70, T-shirts for $30.” Inditex now has more than 5,900 stores in 85 countries. Their main rivals are Topshop, H&M, and Mango. They have annual revenue of $15 billion. “While the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart has more than 10,000 stores, most of which sell apparel, Wal-Mart stores are classified as hypermarkets. Inditex is strictly a retailer of apparel and fashion merchandise, and therefore, is considered to be the world's largest fashion retailer.”

Who is the world’s largest music retailer?

            It is none other than iTunes. Although it is the worlds largest it is mainly popular within the states. “iTunes Store surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the US, based on the latest data from the NPD Group*. With over 50 million customers, iTunes has sold over four billion songs and features the world’s largest music catalog of over six million songs” With Spotify being the second largest source for music in the world, but number one in Europe. Spotify saw a 20% growth in its sales in Europe in 2010.

Citations:

Stores’ 2013 Top 100 Retailers List Shows Continued Industry Growth. Retrieved on August 21, 2013 from http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1612

Which Retail Clothing Chain is the World’s Largest Retailer of Fashion Apparel? Retrieved on August 21, 2013 from http://retailindustry.about.com/od/FrequentlyAskedQuestionsFAQs/f/Which-Retail-Clothing-Chain-Is-Worlds-Largest-Retailer-Fashion-Apparel-Clothes.htm

Zara overtakes Gap to become world’s largest clothing retailer. Retrieved on August 21, 2013 from http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/aug/11/zara.gap.fashion

iTunes Store Top Music Retailer in the US. Retrieved on August 21, 2013 from http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/04/03iTunes-Store-Top-Music-Retailer-in-the-US.html

Spotify Second Largest Source of Revenue in Europe For Labels. Retrieved on August 21, 2013 from http://www.arcticstartup.com/2011/02/09/spotify-second-largest-source-of-revenue-in-europe-for-labels/

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Retrieved on August 21, 2013 from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/wal_mart_stores_inc/index.html

Week 6 EOC: Rocky Ford- Restoring the Brand

What Happened?

A cantaloupe grower (Jensen Farms) was farming just 90 miles away from The Rocky Ford farm was miss advertising their cantaloupes as “Rocky Ford” cantaloupes back in 2011. The cantaloupes that were supplied by this company were not washed properly and developed listeriosis on the external skin; there was an outbreak in 19 states and infected 84 people and killed 15 people. “Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.”

 

How should Rocky Ford Protect Their Brand?

 

“Wal-Mart, Jensen Farms, and other food companies have a public responsibility to all consumers to sell and distribute food that is free and clear of dangerous adulterants such as Listeria–no exceptions,” said the Palmer family’s attorney, William Marler. “In this case, a lapse in food safety assurance has relegated an innocent man to a hospital bed for a long time.” In order for Rocky Ford to protect their brand they should recall all of its products. Although it was indeed a different supplier (Jensen Farms) who supplied contaminated products under their name they should still recall their products. Why you may ask? Well because it will give their customers the assurance they need to be able to trust their brand again. By recalling their products it will show that they care about their customers’ health and safety. Rocky Ford should also trademark its name so that no other companies can try to use their name for their production and have lower standards and processes. “A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” Also Rocky Ford should really try to develop good relationships with the companies that they do business with. I don’t know if Wal-Mart knew that it was getting its cantaloupes from a different farm that was just using the “Rocky Ford” name but they should have. Or Wal-Mart was just trying to get its cantaloupes at a lower price so they didn’t care that it was from a different supplier that was using a more trusted companies name.

Citations:

 Investigation Update: Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis Linked to Whole Cantaloupes from Jensen Farms, Colorado. Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/cantaloupes-jensen-farms/093011/

Lawsuit Filed In Rocky Ford Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak. Retrieved on August 15, 2013 from http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/09/lawsuit-filed-in-rocky-ford-cantaloupe-listeria-outbreak/#.UhQXk3-rPwl

Trademark, Patent, or Copyright? Retrieved on August 15, 2013 from http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/definitions.jsp

Week 6 BOC: Tylenol Scare 1982

What Happened?

On September 29, 1982, it was reported that seven people had died all of them took cyanide-laced capsules of Tylenol. After the seven deaths a man named James W. Lewis was arrested due to claiming that he was this so called “Tylenol Terrorist” and that he wanted the company Johnson & Johnson to give him a million dollars to before he kills more people. Lewis was found not to be the “Tylenol Terrorist" and this case still goes unsolved to this day.

How did Johnson & Johnson Protect Their Brand?

“Marketers predicted that the Tylenol brand, which accounted for 17 percent of the company's net income in 1981, would never recover from the sabotage. But only two months later, Tylenol was headed back to the market, this time in tamper-proof packaging and bolstered by an extensive media campaign.” Johnson & Johnson is committed to its mission statement of putting its customers first and that is ultimately the reason why they didn’t disappear after the 1982 Tylenol Scare. This was a great step for Johnson & Johnson to do, although it wasn’t their fault that people died using their product they didn’t just sit back and do nothing. “Tylenol maker Johnson & Johnson was quick to cooperate with investigators, ordering a mass recall of the medication, halting production and taking other measures to improve product safety. The company has been widely praised for its reaction.” After they did this huge recall they came up with new packaging so that no tampering could be done to their product, they also changed the design of their Tylenol by making them into caplets. They offered promotions through newspapers and phone calls to help motivate customers to buy their new Tylenol. Also “to recover loss stock from the crisis, Johnson & Johnson made a new pricing program that gave consumers up to 25% off the purchase of the product. (Mitchell 1989)

 Over 2250 sales people made presentations for the medical community to restore confidence on the product. (Mitchell 1989)”

Citations:

Rehak, J. (2002). Tylenol made a hero of Johnson & Johnson: The recall that started them all. Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/23/your-money/23iht-mjj_ed3_.html

The Tylenol Crisis, 1982. Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall02/susi/tylenol.htm

Noonan, J. (2009) History of the Tylenol Poisonings. Retrieved on August 14, 2013 from http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/Americas/2009/feb/History-of-the-Tylenol-Poisonings-.html

Week 5 EOC: Trend Predictions

Fashion Predicting can be very fun but also takes a long to and could become tricky. Next year’s trends are basically in the hands of the people who look for patterns, news, and do research on this kind of things.  “Fashion trend forecasting resources help predict trends in the fashion industry. Fashion & trend forecasting is the prediction of mood, behavior and buying habits of the consumer at particular time of season. It is no longer a question of finding your markets or consumers by age, geography or income, but looking into how and what they buy, based on their culture, mood, beliefs, occasion & geographic locations, it is also dependent on fashion cycle and plays a major role in introductory phase of recurring fashion cycles.” Fashion prediction takes things to a deeper and more personal level for the companies they work for, they help the brands find ways to bond with their customers.

In an interview, Shari Swan, a Trend Predictor gave some tips on how people buy, what companies should look out for, and what the future holds. When she is advising companies about what to look for, for inspiration and to set new trends she tells them “I preach the gospel to brands about ‘looking sideways’ at products and brands in markets beyond their own.” In other words look for inspiration within other industries, such as, technology, interior, engineering, etc. She also believes that brands will start to go back to the basics, become more simple and uncomplicated. Companies will go back to their roots, what made them successful in the first place. To keep being successful brands need to be authentic, honest, and sincere. She states “Brands will struggle if they don’t take ethical ethos and corporate principles seriously.”

Reading through Shari Swan’s interview, a few points really stood out to me. When she talked about companies should ‘look sideways’ was a great point. If companies want to stand out and be innovative they should look elsewhere. They don’t want to just look at what their competition is doing of what the other fashion trend setters are thinking of, because that would surprise anyone or make you the top brand to look out for. Also when Shari said “Social and ethical responsibility is now a given for doing business in today’s environment.” This statement is very important to all brands, shoppers nowadays want to buy from brands that are helping make a change in the world and they also like knowing that when they buy something that they are contributing to a great cause.

From a report from WeConnectFashion they have posted the trends for spring/summer 2014 courtesy of Fashion Snoops (Online Fashion Forecasting Service), Edie Sedgwick, Spice Trail, American Pie, and Grown Up Grunge.

Citations:

Davis, M., and Baldwin, J. (2006). More Than a Name: An Introduction to Branding. AVA Publishing. Page 153

Singh, D. Pink is out but Blue is in… Understanding Fashion & trend forecasting? Retrieved on August 10, 2013 from www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/9/836/pink-is-out-but-blue-is-in-understanding-fashion-trend -forecasting1.asp

WeConnectFashion. Women’s Top 4 Trend Themes S/S 2014. Fashion Snoops. Retrieved on August 10, 2013 from www.weconnectfashion.com/fido/getarticle.fcn?&type=trends&SearchString=women’s+top+4+trend+themes&id=737870PT0000145&start=1&tr=1

Week 4 EOC: McDonald's Response to Super Size Me

How did McDonald’s react to Super- Size Me?

Well, many of us have seen the documentary “Super Size Me” were a man does an experiment of his own based on the unhealthy McDonald’s menu. He wanted to prove how unhealthy and harmful the food is that McDonalds is advertising and producing. After this documentary aired McDonald’s started to get many complaints, so they eventually got rid of size “Super-Size.” McDonald’s stated “The reason for reducing the number of fry sizes is to simplify operations and enhance our ability to deliver better service to our guests,” the memo said, adding that the 7-ounce carton “will be eliminated as part of our healthy lifestyle initiative.” So now instead of a 7-ounce of fries you will only get a 6-ounce of fries. They started selling salads, fruit, vegetables, and yogurt. They have also make the portion of the fries in the Happy Meals a lot smaller and added a pack of sliced apples for a healthier choice, you could even opt for milk instead of soda. Another way that McDonald’s protected its brand was by filming their own documentary called “Salad Without Dressing Me,” which “presents the corporate giant as a business that offers a healthy yet delicious menu to its customers, treats patrons with respect, and is ahead of the time.” McDonald’s has said that this document has nothing to do with them trying to protect themselves from all of the criticism that has recently been said about them. Although they say that this documentary isn’t a response, it sure seems that way. Instead of eating Big Macs and fries for a whole month it shows a person eating McDonalds salads for a month and losing weight. "This just goes to show," said new CEO Charlie Bell, "that a person can eat at McDonald's for as long as they want and, as long as they live an otherwise healthy lifestyle, can lose weight in the process."

What do you think about it?

“When filmmaker Morgan Spurlock heard about a lawsuit that two overweight New York teenagers had brought against McDonald's, blaming the restaurant for their condition, he decided to conduct an experiment.” When I watched the movie “Super-Size Me” and heard about the two lawsuits against McDonald’s I had mixed feelings. McDonald’s is unhealthy and it’s pretty obvious. Although McDonald’s is promoting unhealthy food it is ultimately your choice to eat it. So I don’t think that they should have gotten as much criticism as they did.

Citations:

McDonalds’ phasing out Supersize fries, drinks. Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4433307/ns/business-us_business/t/mcdonalds-phasing-out-supersize-fries-drinks/#.UfmY-b_y-zY

McDonald’s Counters Controversial ‘Super Size Me’ Documentary with In-House ‘Salad Without Dressing Me.’ Retrieved from http://www.enduringvision.com/news/business_010404.php

From 2004: ‘Super Size Me.’ Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500183_162-615975.html