Merry Christmas

B.M.M.O. Consulting would like to wish you a Merry Christmas!  Thank you for all your support and following.  We look forward to continuing to provide you great market research analysis articles and services as well. Have a happy holiday and enjoy time with family.


Merry Christmas from B.M.M.O. Consulting

Dannon's Activia Being Sued Over False Marketing

                   

Do you consume Dannon Activia products??  Why???  Is it because of the “special” bacteria that will keep you from catching colds or the flu???  What would you say if all of that was just a fallacy?  Guess what, it is!

Dannon has agreed to pay $21 million to Illinois and 38 other states, and to drop the false health claims.  Dannon created one of marketing’s biggest no no’s, don’t say you can do something when you really can’t.  It can really cost you, for Dannon it was $21 million.  False representation of your product creates a liability that companies really don’t want.  Dannon can’t make a claim like this without it being approved by the FDA.  Shockingly enough, this isn’t Dannon’s first time, let’s hope this time they got the message.  Passing your product off as something it is not is unethical and in this case unhealthy!  Dannon stands by its product and plans to do more research to be able to prove that it enhances the immune system and helps prevent colds and the flu.  Note to Dannon, next time just get the FDA to believe it and then you can legitimately market your product that way.  Until then, Dannon should stick to proven facts, not  false marketing tactics.

So, are you going to be buying Dannon Activia Products anymore?

Chick-fil-A...Coming to A City Near You

Are you in love with Chick-fil-A????  Do you crave them, but live too far away to have them as often as you want to???  Well guess what?  If you live in Chicago, you might be in luck!!!  Chick-fil-A is trying to move to the north side.  They are proposing to move to 2579 N. Elston, on the Home Depot property.  They would like to open it with a drive thru.
So how does this benefit Home Depot?  Well for starters it will bring in revenue.  Either Home Depot can sale the land or rent/lease it out.  Chick-fil-A has become its own phenom, the location is prime and I'm sure Home Depot would like to hope that after picking up some chicken, consumers will need to grab something for their home projects.  Good location for Chick-fil-A and could be double rewarding to Home Depot.
How will the consumer be affected?  The positive is that the die hard Chick-fil-A fan will have another option to get their fix.  The down is the continued traffic issues of the area and parking decrease for Home Depot customers.  But Chick-fil-A customers can't expect that much space either.  If you love Chick-fil-A, you're happy any way that gives you more Chick-fil-A!!!  Stay tuned for more updates.

Who's E-Books Are YOU Reading??

With electronic reading devices on the rise, so is the need for sales of e-books.  So I ask the question, who's e-book are you reading?  On Monday, Google launched its version of an  E-Book website, it plans to have more than 3 million books and is for the US only.  It's racing against its competitors of Apple, Amazon and Borders.  Google wants to differentiate itself by allowing its books to be able to be read on any device and anywhere.  Right now books can be purchased and used for all E-Readers, except the Amazon Kindle through Google checkout. 

The problem that Google’s competition has found with it’s over 3 million book collection is that most of those books are no longer under copyright and have been scanned in by Google from University libraries.  Most of these scans were done without permission.  By using these books, it is the belief of Amazon that it gives Google an unfair advantage.  Google said it would allow others to use these books also, now federal courts are looking into the matter.  Google has not added these books to their online store yet, pending the final judgment.

Google is known for being everywhere and this E-Book site is no different.  Google set up a marketing plan that benefits them two fold.  They own Google so all of their advertisements are free.  Then they are partnering with independent bookstores so that their books can be sold on the bookstore’s websites.  It has also scored a partnership with Goodreads so that readers can buy the book right off the reading list.  Also, whenever a book comes up in a search, you will now be able to purchase it right there through Google.  First Google began to take over the phone technology, looks like they’re headed for the book technology next.  Watch out, who knows what is next.   Google has a clever strategy, competition, beware!!!

Women Will ONE Day Own Chicago!!

Number of women-owned firms sets Illinois, Cook ahead of nation

By: Paul Merrion
December 07, 2010
(Crain's) — Women own more than a third of Chicago businesses, and Illinois generally is a female-friendly state for entrepreneurs, the Census Bureau reported.
Statewide, the Census Bureau counted 343,117 woman-owned firms in Illinois, fourth-highest behind California, Texas and New York. The percentage of firms owned by women in Illinois was 30.5% vs. the 28.7% national average.
The numbers do not include 805,533 publicly held companies nationwide and other firms whose owners’ gender could not be determined, which accounted for 3% of all businesses and 63.6% of all receipts.

In what is such a male dominated world, it is great to see the progress that women are making in Corporate America.  Women are more educated and have more work experience than they have ever before.  They are not their grandparent's generation where their place was at home taking care of their family.  They're not even their parent's generation where they gave their life to one company.  No!  Women are more independent than they have ever been.  They are ruling Corporate America and even better, starting their own businesses.  The days of women being silent have long passed and the generation of women who want to have and do it all is on the rise.  This article is not to dismiss men, but to make it known, women are a force to be reckoned with.  They have sat on the sidelines far too long and are now taking control of their life and their families. 

Many women owned business began when women became pregnant and didn't want to return to work.  They wanted to be able to set their own schedules to be mommy, wife and employee.  This new era of women owned business are women who are focused on making things happen.  They've gone to college, they've studied the successful people and decided they can do it too.  They can use all their experiences and be the independent women they aspire to be.

So today, encourage another woman to start that new business, let her know, the odds are in her favor!

Every Sale is Not a Good Sale!

              

U.S. Seizes Websites, Alleges Fake Nike, Coach Sales

“If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Holder said at a news conference in Washington.

Counterfeit goods result in “billions of dollars” of lost revenue for legitimate businesses and taxes for the government, said Ronald Machen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

‘Not Victimless’

“Intellectual property crimes are not victimless,” Holder said.

Earlier this week Bloomberg  Businessweek reported on the U.S. Federal Courts seizing 82 websites that were selling counterfeit products.  This is the perfect time for counterfeiters to prey on eager shoppers who want to find a deal.  For some they don’t care, but others want to make sure the products they buy are authentic.  The Justice Department has shut down the domain in hopes that it will take them some time to recover, but they expect that they will reunite under a different name and go back to selling fake products.  By selling counterfeit products they are violating copyright and other intellectual property laws.  Some of the brands being falsely sold were Coach Inc., Walt Disney Co., Oakley Inc., Timberland Co., LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA and Nike Inc .  So if you bought any of these brands, beware and check for authenticity. Counterfeit sales are bad for everyone around, billions of dollars are lost in revenue and governmental tax dollars.  It’s very unfortunate for the brands and the consumers when products are counterfeited.  Brands spend time and money to make what they consider quality and trendy products and then counterfeiters sell lower quality copies and a lot less money.  Consumers are sometimes left to bear the onset of higher prices that “guarantees’ their authentic product.  All of these are brands that have been around and aren’t new to the counterfeit game, while they don’t like it, they are prepared and happen to expect it.  Enjoy your holiday shopping and good luck finding deals, but be careful, all sales aren’t good sales!