Misalignment

My family has some serious misalignment when it comes to my parents incentivizing my siblings and I to work. My parents are pretty generous with helping us out and paying for college and expenses. They say they'll cut us off once we get a job and/or get married. None of us complain that we get help just that those who are working to support themselves don't get any help while others who aren't working still get money.

I am about to graduate and unlike many seniors I do not feel the extreme sense of urgency to get a great job. I know that if I get a great job I'll be expected to pay for everything (as I should I guess), however, if I get an OK job that doesn't pay well I know my parents will pay for any discrepancies between my pay and my expenses. I know that I should go for the best job, but supporting myself is a scary thing and having my parents money to fall back on is comforting.

Groupon to Decrease Marketing Expense

Groupon in its newest filing with the SEC announced plans to cut marketing spending. The cuts will only happen once it sees diminished value in marketing dollars spent verses new customers gained. Groupon is spending a lot of money currently in new customer acquisition and less in getting current subscribers actually buy their daily deal. Groupon said that it sees a few different reasons to decrease marketing expenditures like market saturation of an area.

I think it is a great idea to shift marketing efforts from customer acquisition to customer retention/repeat purchases. I know many people including myself that get Groupon emails everyday but do not buy them. I think I have bought two in the last year since I subscribed. It is not enough to simply have a lot of subscribers, Groupon needs subscribers who buy the daily deal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203388804576617080994448662.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

Boeing's Dreamliner Valuechain

Boeing is going to deliver the first Dreamliner aircraft three years behind schedule. The construction and development of the Dreamliner involved a complex supply chain. Boeing is outsourcing parts from companies all over the world, using new materials, and manufacturing in two Boeing plants on different coasts. Boeing traditionally did everything in house. They made every part on each plane they built. Their new supply chain changes where Boeing derives its value. Is it their superior engineering, innovative design and technology, or will it become their supply chain as they begin to roll out more Dreamliners. Problems with the new supply chain are behind the three year delay, however, in the time since construction started Boeing has reworked and fixed the supply chain and they plan on increasing their output of Dreamliners from two to ten per month. Outsiders doubt Boeings ability to produce ten a month but Boeing and its suppliers are confident they can.

Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904563904576585250595434650.html?mod=WSJ_business_LeftSecondHighlights

Missoni at Target

On Tuesday Target launched their Missoni for Target line of women's clothes, housewares, furniture, and even a bike. Target has collaborated with many high end designers in the past, with success for both Target and the designers. How can these two groups collaborate so successfully without the designers sullying their brand?

Target in each collaboration is an obvious winner, offering designs, styles, and names millions could only dream of ever owning. However, brands like Missoni, Zac Posen, and Rodarte are built upon their exclusivity, the inability of the masses (Target's customer bases) to own and wear them. These upscale brands keep their exclusive image after working with Target by creating a different type of exclusivity--time -- collaboration only lasts a couple months with limited number of each product available. Shoppers have to race to the stores, or go online at 6 am when the lines are launched if they want to be able to buy any of Target's exclusive offerings.

Missoni and the other high end brands maintain the upper class status by temporarily switching their type of exclusivity (from price to time). They avoid the pitfalls of so many other designers going cheap that lose their status. Those other brands sell to many retail chains and have multiple collections each season. Where is the exclusivity in that?

Article

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/business/demand-at-target-for-fashion-line-crashes-web-site.html?WT.mc_id=BU-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M219-ROS-0911-HDR&WT.mc_ev=click