WEF Davos : Capitalism and Democracy try to find balance through CSR

This year (2012) there seems to be a marked and discernible change in this gathering’s tone and tenor. Leaders of both Governments and Businesses seem to realize that becoming richer and richer is probably not enough. This realization as capitalism,democracy and affluence rises worldwide , 1 billion more global middle class by 2020 according to Muhtar Kent of Coca Cola ( see accompanying video). Here is some interesting stuff to think about from happenings at Davos in 2012:

Digital marketing logjam between organization,IT,Marketing and Ad-Agency

Digital marketing has two words and the first is digital whose legacy meaning is IT or information technology. The legacy meaning of  marketing in digital marketing is about being a "peoples person", being "creative" and as this blog  mentioned in a previous post – generally in favor of  an open bar in any celebration!The ITContinue reading “Digital marketing logjam between organization,IT,Marketing and Ad-Agency”

SOPA : conflict between content providers and distributors in the digital age

Distributor-Manufacturer conflict and struggle for power is not new. Only now we have media content providers and tech distributors like Google and Wikepedia in conflict over SOPA. It's quite amazing that once a manufacturer has a great product the tendency is to believe that you don't need marketing. Notable exceptions include Apple and the retailContinue reading “SOPA : conflict between content providers and distributors in the digital age”

Doctor private practices are caught up in $1 Trillion health insurance B2B negotiations

Call it the mother of all high value B2B negotiations– estimated at $1 Trillion  and 40% of total health-care spending in the US. This from research by Robin Lee of NYU who made a great presentation of  his work at Yale  School of Management, last month. When you hear of doctors going broke with privateContinue reading “Doctor private practices are caught up in $1 Trillion health insurance B2B negotiations”

Starbucks:raises prices promotes “Create jobs for USA”

What is the price of a small (called tall for that upbeat feel) Starbucks regular coffee ? Well, the Pike Place Roast does does come under $1.60 but it doesn't matter as most people order something much grander and spent over $6 on average per visit in 2008. Starbucks re-organized under founder Howard Schultz andContinue reading “Starbucks:raises prices promotes “Create jobs for USA””

As the economy turns around in 2012: re-training opportunities in the healthcare value chain

As 2011 winds down there is positive news in the quarterly jobless numbers,in real estate and the stock market. 2012 should be better than the last four years of the recession. OK it may not be boom time but there does appear to be the right signals for at least modestly better economic times aheadContinue reading “As the economy turns around in 2012: re-training opportunities in the healthcare value chain”

College Text Book Rentals: Chegg is like Netflix for the supply chain- but a social cause marketer at the front end

Ask any US college student and they’ll tell you how expensive college books are. To come up with a working textbook rental model for this $10 billion segment of the book market is just brilliant for Chegg.com. At the back end Chegg.com has a Netflix type model for logistics. It even has former Netflix Chief Operating Officer Tom Dillon to manage the logistics and distribution (as of January 4, 2011) .

Where did medical transcription, tax preparation, legal documents work get outsourced? To self-service technology

Just a few years ago if you traveled in small town India you would see billboards  offering medical transcription training. Students would be put through rigorous training to learn medical terms and also go through intense training to understand the American physician's accent on each of these highly technical medical terms. For the assurance wasContinue reading “Where did medical transcription, tax preparation, legal documents work get outsourced? To self-service technology”

Integrating web marketing to Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

It was in the 1990's that IMC started getting popular in marketing. The Internet was just getting started and social media was in the distant horizon.By the early 2000's  organizations particularly in consumer products started figuring out IMC between their packaging,billboards,TV ads,magazine and newspaper ads and Point of Sale materials. The time has now comeContinue reading “Integrating web marketing to Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)”

Search marketing explains the 15% rise in online sales?

In a slow US economy it's refreshing to know that online sales grew by 15% over last year. This huge increase is really because customers searched on line for the best deals and took them! The ability of customers to search and initiate contact is a fundamental shift in marketing that organizations have not fullyContinue reading “Search marketing explains the 15% rise in online sales?”