Auto Bailout Collapses on Wages

This has been quite a semester. I learned a lot on the elements of marketing and started my blog on GM while i was discussing the auto industry. I was very surprised to read that although the U.S economy mostly relies on auto companies still, the Senate Republicans refuse $14 billion in aid after UAW's Gettelfinger balks at fast wage cuts. In addition, GM and Chrysler are hiring bankruptcy advisors. I hope that our new president will implement his promises and we will have a turning point in our economy.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/dec2008/db20081211_939643.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Emotional Branding

Last class, as we watched the persuaders i noticed that i looked on the cheerios ad in a different way. Emotional branding, was something that i paid attention for. In the Cheerios ad, there was a grendma talking with her baby grandchild and explaining him through the pieces of the cereal were the locations of his entire family. I noticed that Cheerios didn't try to deliver how the product tastes or how healthy it is, but tried to approach our emotion by giving us the feeling that cheerios connects between people.

Volkswagen's Big Bet on Tennessee

Despite the industry's travails, the German automaker expects to boost U.S. sales with its $1 billion investment in a Chattanooga factory set to make midsize cars.
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/dec2008/gb20081210_339439.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Amazon: Armed to Beat the Recession

Amazon.com , lets users take mobile photos of items they want to buy, store them in an online shopping cart, and purchase them whenever they want typically at a discount via the online retailer. The application, designed for Apple's iPhone, gives bargain hunters on the go a quick reference for prices and customer reviews of all the items sold by Amazon, as well as one-click purchasing. The smart consumers buy online...
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2008/tc2008128_586651.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

High-fliers Toyota, Honda are struggling, too

Toyota was supposed to clean up this fall, with its rock-steady finance arm and an ad blitz to promote 0 percent lending. Likewise, Honda, with a lineup of fuel-efficient cars, looked ready to ride out the storm. But Toyota's promotion has been a disappointment, And while Honda has surpassed 10 percent market share this year, it has staggered since September. Some Honda dealers complain that the company isn't doing enough to jump-start sales. The dealer ad associations are running the same commercials regionally.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20081208/ANA03/812080345/1078

Classic toys make a comeback for the holidays

Recent eBay survey says Barbies and board games are back on top of holiday wish lists, and a trip to the Times Square Toys "R" Us finds many kids picking out the toys that their parents once played with.

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2008/12/07/2008-12-07_classic_toys_make_a_comeback_for_the_hol.html

A New Look for McDonald's

McDonald's is starting to redesign its appearance. In the next few months we will see new packaging, new tv's, tables and chairs. Is now the right time to invest money in redesigning?

it might be, some will believe that in order to make money you need to invest money.

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/dec2008/id2008123_918813.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_innovation+%2Bamp%3B+design