VW tries to recover from scandal, embarrassment

We very often hear of scandals that companies find theirselves in, which put their entire business at risk. Whether is be the banks on wall street, or Subway having to apologize for their longtime spokespersons legal issues, it is something that we all can learn from. In business, not everything goes the way as planned. So, it is important to know how to dig yourself out of holes that you may encounter.

Volkswagen is one of the most recent cases relating to this subject. In september, the EPA discovered that many VW cars being sold in the U.S. had a software in their diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, and would then change the performance to adhere to the EPA's standards. Long story short, they cheated on emissions tests.

VW now has to recall 8.5 million cars in Europe and 500,000 in the U.S. as a result. They are also facing up to 18 billion dollars in penalty fines.

The company has admitted to "breaking the trust" with their customers, and has since apologized for its actions. Obviously that isn't enough, especially from a major player in the automobile industry. They now have a long road ahead of them to try to improve their reputation, and gain their strength back in the market.

From a marketing standpoint, this is a disaster. VW has recently launched a campaign to provide a "goodwill package" for their affected customers, which includes a $500 prepaid visa gift card, and a $500 dealership gift card, along with 24 hour, no charge roadside assistance for 3 years.

This story is just an example of how wrongdoing in the business world has major consequences, and even though taking shortcuts can lead to success in a lot of situation, eventually it will catch up to you.

by Jack Denison

Sources:

Hotten, Russell. "Volkswagen: The Scandal Explained - BBC News." BBC News. BBC, 4 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772>.

Schultz, E.J. "Volkswagen's New Ad: 'We're Working to Make Things Right'" Advertising Age CMO Strategy RSS. Advertising Age, 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. <http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/working-make-things/301365/>.

6 Companies Run The Media

         

        There are six corporations that run 90% of American media. There is GE, CBS, Viacom, Time Warner, Disney, and News-Corp. These corporations own the most properties in television, News, radio, and films. In 1983, 50 companies owned 90% of American media. These companies have created a type of monopoly in the media. 

There is an illusion these companies cast over us. There are many different media outlets so we think we get a lot of choices. In actuality, among these six companies there are only around 50 men and women who make the decisions of what we all see in the media. If we see past the illusion we realize we are most likely not given all the information out there or they are changing what is shown so we perceive that differently. 

These companies are able to warp the way society sees reality. All this power that they have did not happen over night. There were business men and women who made deals and set up mergers to gain this power. 

By: Jordan Liddle

Lutz, Ashley. "These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 14 June 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

"Media Monopoly Revisited." FAIR. 1 Oct. 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

The Mistakes of Rolls-Royce

    

  Due to recent mistakes by the company Rolls Royce, they have found themselves in a minor predicament. In this past week after talking to the companies CEO an article written by Forbes magazine the company announced a 1 billion dollar decrease in pre-tax profit. The huge loss taken by Rolls-Royce included a 20% drop in stock market shares. The problems leading up to this unfortunate situation put the company in such a large hole that they aren't predicted to recover until 2017, but what is it exactly that caused this and what can we learn from it?

      Well, according to this scholarly article this turn of events wasn't completely the companies fault. Some of the factors contributing to this downfall were out of the companies hands, but a few were not. In this article the author, Richard Aboulafia, discuss how a lot of Rolls-Royce's problems can be contributed to bad marketing strategies and performance issues.

       In conclusion, there is much that can be learned from this companies mistakes; not only for the company itself, but for anybody interested in running a business someday. This article uses Rolls-Royce as an example to show how even some of the largest most luxurious companies can slip up. This serves to show how vital it is to never lose focus of your companies/your own goals and values, because even the smallest mistakes can turn out to be detrimental in the long run.
     


By Hunter Griffiths


Aboulafia, Richard. "Rolls-Royce: Bad Decisions, Tough Luck, and a Long Road Ahead." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 13 Nov. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.                         

What is Happening to Black Friday?

By: Vincent Kania

With Thanksgiving and Black Friday right around the corner, retailers are bracing for the craziness that comes with Black Friday. This year, however, Black Friday might not be as much of a hit to retailers as it has been in the past.

Physical retailers are reporting loses in profit, while online retailers like Amazon are reporting near all-time highs in sales. These stats could spell trouble for retailers who need Black Friday to be a major hit. It seems that this year, however, many people may be sitting the day out and simply taking advantage of the sales offered by online retailers. A survey conducted by retail research firm Conlumino shows that "45% of shoppers plan to spend less money on Black Friday this year than last, and 13% of people plan to sit out the day entirely" (La Monica para. 15). It is an interesting study, and shows that this years crazy shopping day may not be that crazy in stores, and that the real winners are the online retailers who are making more money than ever before.

Black Friday. Digital image. Forbes. N.p., 28 Nov. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

(GPS), Gap. "Black Friday Could Be Bleak Friday for Retailers." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

Apple Plans to Shut Down Beats Music

Everyone these days is well familiar with Apple.  I would be willing to bet that everyone that reads this owns an Apple product if not two.  This powerhouse of a company has a complete monopoly and essentially has control of the majority of that market.  Apple finds ways to continue to keep sucking our money away, with so called "improvements" and "upgrades."

Recently, it has been announced that Apple is going to shut down it's very popular Beats Music service that has gained so much popularity.  Can anyone guess why they're doing this?  Oh yeah, for money of course.  This Beats shutdown is taking place in efforts to push more and more users to the up and coming Apple Music service, hoping to take even more of our money.  Back in October Apple Music had 15 million subscribers, but they are looking to expand to around 100 million.  Last May, Apple purchased Beats for around 3 million, and we are finally coming to see what the ultimate goal of this purchase was, an attempt to reel in more revenue to Apple.

By: Cole Dolan

Snyder, Benjamin. "Apple Shutting Down Beats to Push Users to Apple Music." Time. Time, 13 Nov. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

Businesses using social media to their advantage

Social media is something that plays a role in most everyone's life nowadays, which has naturally attracted companies to advertise their products through it. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are three major platforms where you will see this practice most prevalently, but now, companies are starting to move towards Snapchat to help spread the word about their products. They have even taken it to the next level, and have used snapchat to actually recruit new talent.

Havas Chicago recently launched a "snapchat recruitment program for interns, calling on job seekers to create social media campaigns among seven causes, from fighting hunger to ending gun violence. The winner will get a 10-week internship and a chance to lead an agency wide initiative supporting the cause they pitched."

The goal that this company is aiming towards is to get perspective from someone in their target audience, which will in turn, help them connect with their target audience. They are very concerned with making sure that they have all of the possible advantages when it comes to being in touch with the millennial generation. 

I think this kind of story is important to note, because in this day and age, marketing/advertising majors need to understand that business just isn't the same as it once was. You have to be familiar with the fact that you need to tailor to your audience, and with the rapidly changing ways that the world is communications, you have to make efforts to adjust, just like this company is doing.

Source:

Johnson, Lauren. "Why Snapchat Is Becoming the Hottest Social Tool for Ad Agencies." AdWeek. AdWeek, 08 Nov. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. <http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/why-snapchat-becoming-hottest-social-tool-ad-agencies-167972>

Seaworld's Response to Blackfish

As many know in 2013 documentary called "Blackish" was released to show the public how the people at Sea World treat their animals. People were shocked to find out the cruel ways in which the trainers at sea world really treat the creatures they train. In time following groups of people began to boycott Sea World and their publicity took a turn for the worst. This poor publicity had a massive economic effect on the park as a whole and they finally decided to fix it.

According to an article in Time's Magazine, in response to everything that has happened to Sea World they have decided to no longer have live whale shows in the future. Instead, starting in 2017, Sea World is creating a "more natural setting" for the Orcas. Sea World's CEO discusses the effect the film had on Sea World's attendance and how their new attraction will provide a more natural looking and feeling environment for both the animals and visitors of the park.

By Hunter Griffiths



Feeney, Nolan. "SeaWorld to Phase Out Killer Whale Shows Next Year." Time. Time, 09 Nov. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.