India, an emerging economy who hates girls!

7 millions of new born girls are left out, all alone, in the bushes of rural India.
Yes read well! 7 millions! and maybe even more?!!

Why on earth a country (and people) that is, desperately, positioning itself as one of the new economic power, - and, purportedly, member of the so-called BRICS countries- still does not tacle this serious, segregationist, gender-hatred, medieval tradition?

Why is having a boy is still considered a gold mine? Why kill a future Indira Gandhi?

The Times of India:
"Even as the world celebrated the Women's Day on Tuesday, a newborn girl child died after being abandoned by her parents. The girl was mercilessly thrown into bushes soon after the birth. She was found by a couple who got her admitted to hospital where she died after battling with life for almost 12 hours.
Kumar heard a child crying while he was on his routine morning walk at Shubham Vihar colony near Munshipulia. He found an innocent baby with umbilical cord lying amid thorny bushes without even a piece of cloth. Her body was full of insect bites. Kumar and his wife rushed the baby to Ram Manohar Lohiya Hospital where she was diagnosed with `hypothermia' (low temperature) and breathing problem. She was put in the intensive care unit (ICU) but despite best efforts of doctors, the baby did not survive for long."

The end was tragic.

Abandoning newborn girl child is becoming usual in India; if they are not abandoned in the bushes, they are -if lucky- abandoned in orphan houses.

Why Indians, Government and people, this "emerging" economic power does not act upon this horrible, segregationist plague?

Is Groupon Business Model profitable for Merchants? for Consumers?

Best known among voucher vendors is Chicago-based Groupon, a 2,5-year-old startup already touting a ten-digit valuation and, purportedly, recently rejecting a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google (should have they really?).

Groupon business model is illustrated below using Osterwalder’s canvas.

Groupon Business Model

Hundreds of websites offer discount schemes similar to that of Groupon.
Many studies, from both academics and business activists, have been conducted on the Groupon business model profitability for merchants and consumers. See references at the end of this post.
The results of the studies were not totally rosy to a certain category of merchants, and consumers.


Here is a summary of some of the concerns:

Consumers:

The discount vouchers service presents many intriguing questions: 

1. merchant goes bankrupt after issuing vouchers but before performing its service?
2. What happens if a merchant simply refuses to provide the promised service? 
3. Since vouchers entail prepayment of funds by consumers, do buyers enjoy the consumer protections many states provide for gift?
4. Must consumers using vouchers remit tax on merchants' ordinary menu prices, or is tax due only on the voucher-adjusted prices consumers actually pay?
5. What prevents consumers from printing multiple copies of a discount voucher and redeeming those copies repeatedly?

Merchants:

merchants considering whether to offer discount vouchers, the most important question is the basic economics of the offer: Can providing large voucher discounts actually be profitable?

Voucher discounts are worthwhile if they predominantly attract new customers who regularly return, paying full price on future visits. But if vouchers prompt many long-time customers to use discounts, offering vouchers could reduce profits.
For most merchants, the effects of offering vouchers lie between these extremes: vouchers bring in some new customers, but also provide discounts to some regular customers

The findings of an academic study of Rice University from 2010, 
from 150 Groupon businesses in 19 cities 66% profitable; 32% unprofitable.

• Restaurants were the most unprofitable category, describing Groupon customers as "entitled," poor tippers, and definitely not repeat customers.
• Spas, on the other hand, were the most profitable
• 42% said they would not use Groupon again

The recommendations include: selective, partial offers, designed to link to repeat behaviour.

References:

http://www.blogs.ubc.ca/paulcubbon/

http://mashable.com/2010/08/19/gap-groupon/
Harvard Business School: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-063.pdf
http://primitus.com/blog/whats-the-secret-success-of-groupon/
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~dholakia/

Why Most Product Launches Fail?

An interesting HBR article from Joan Schneider and Julie Hall and interview.

40 ways to crash a new product launch:

Pre-Launch Phase

1. No market research on the product or the market has been done.

2. Most of the budget was used to create the product; little is left for launching, marketing, and selling it.

3. The product is interesting but lacks a precise market.

4. The product’s key differentiators and advantages are not easily articulated.

5. The product defines a new category, so consumers or customers will need considerable education before it can be sold.

6. The sales force doesn’t believe in the product and isn’t committed to selling it.

7. Because the target audience is unclear, the marketing campaign is unfocused.

8. Distribution takes longer than expected and lags behind the launch.

9. Sales channels are not educated about the product and thus slow to put it on shelves.

10. The product lacks formal independent testing to support claims.

11. The marketing campaign is developed in-house by the manufacturer and lacks objectivity.

12. The product is untested by consumers; only the company can assert its benefits.

13. The website is the primary place to order, but the product description is unclear and the site isn’t fully functional.

Launch Phase

14. The product is launched too hastily and doesn’t work reliably.

15. The launch is aimed at the wrong target audience.

16. Supplies of the product are insufficient to satisfy orders.

17. The product is launched too late for its key selling season.

18. The product doesn’t fit into any key selling season.

19. The manufacturer’s claims can’t be backed up.

20. A governing body (the FTC, the FDA) pulls the product, citing false claims.

21. The product is given a limited “trial at retail” but without public relations, marketing, or promotion to “turn” it.

22. The product is launched without influencers to promote its efficacy.

23. The launch budget is insufficient to “pull” the product off the shelf.

24. The product has no trained spokesperson to educate the media.

25. Management launches the marketing campaign before distribution is complete.

26. Management has promised the board and stockholders an instant hit without considering how much time is needed to educate consumers about the product.

27. The ad campaign is untested and ineffective.

28. The launch campaign depends solely on PR to sell the product.

29. The company spends the entire marketing/advertising budget at launch, so no funds are left to sustain the campaign.

30. Company executives underestimate the value of Twitter and Facebook.

31. Retailers are given no incentives to feature the product.

32. All marketing dollars go to advertising and public relations, none to social media.

33. Line extensions aren’t test-marketed as thoroughly as the original product, so they fail.

34. The product is launched to capitalize on a fad that soon fizzles.

35. The product design is unique but confuses consumers, who don’t understand how the product works.

36. The spokesperson is a bad fit with the product, creating a discordant message.

37. The product is priced too high for mass adoption.

38. Consumers are unclear about what demographic the product is geared toward.

39. The product is manufactured offshore; quality control issues result in negative consumer feedback and product returns.

40. The ad campaign is launched before the sales force is fully briefed, so customers know more than salespeople about the product.

JOIN The Stockholm Business Model Design and Innovation Circle!

You are welcome to join and become an active member of the newly created 
Stockholm Business Model Design and Innovation Circle.

Group description:


"The Stockholm Business Model Design and Innovation Circle is a group of academics and professionals from different industries driven by the passion to learn, to share and to debate on Business Model Innovation topics and how to create a better business.

Business Model Innovation is increasingly becoming a hot topic on every manager, leader and strategist table. Business models trumps technology, enables growth and create economic value.

Our ambition is to bring in together successful entrepreneurs and academics in order to create a space for game changers, visionaries and forward thinkers.

We will look at all aspects of ideas that create value for companies, customers and society.

How an idea can become a sustainable business? How an idea can create economic value for firms and society? How an idea can evolve to build up the 21st century capitalism?

Our guest speakers include entrepreneurs, academic and professionals.

We are convinced that being connected and sharing experiences and knowledge will benefit individuals, customers, companies and society."

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