Online gambling : how has the market evolved since the opening of the market to competition?
On May, 13th 2010 the law was passed to open the market of online gambling to competition. Two years after, how does the market look like? Prior to that date online gambling was forbidden in France and gamblers using Gilbratar- or other exotic countries-based websites were in complete illegality. After May 2010 numerous new actors popped up and everyone was expecting hard times for the old and venerable PMU, which had the monopoly of horse gambling....
Lytro will fail and go bankrupt, unless …
Do you know Lytro ? Most probably not. The technology behind this new product is still in its infancy and distribution of the product has remained confidential. Yet it is a disruptive technology. What is Lytro ? There is a very good explanation on the science behind Lytro on their website. Let me nevertheless explain the product with my own words. Until now you were taking 2D pictures; zooming in, zooming out, focusing on one point...
Drawing some parallels between Volkswagen and Swatch: two very similar strategies
If you are reading economic newspapers those days, chances are high you come across articles on Volkswagen and Swatch. Both groups are profits champions and analysts just love them. On the one hand Volkswagen became the world’s #2 car manufacturer and ambitions to become #1. The current #1, General Motors, which still sells more vehicles than VW but it has undergone a difficult crisis (which led the Detroit-based giant to bankruptcy) and its profitability is far...
Low-cost and high-profits: business models reshaped
In times of economic crisis it is well known that price sensitivity increases. One visible consequence is that low-cost business models like Ryanair, Aldi, Colruyt, Ikea and the like are doing very well. They outperform actually older players and you just have to look at European airlines to feel the disruptive power of low-cost players. The airline industry is further consolidating like never before; I dare to say that even the consolidation of US airlines is...
Pay What You Want
In 2009 a paper was published in the Journal of Marketing on a new concept called “Pay What You Want” (PWYW) which seemed to be interesting for firms. This research showed counterintuitive results, namely that consumers will exploit their control and pay nothing at all or a price below the seller’s costs. The interest for this pricing method was born after the Motorhead proposed customers to pay what they wanted to download their latest album. The...
The coffee capsules war will not happen
Sara Lee launched last year its Nespresso-compatible capsules. In Paris only 100000 samples were given for free. In August Sara Lee announced that they had reached the 100m$ revenues with this product. Still, the question remains for me whether this can be considered a success. Last year we already challenged this assumption on our blog and we are confirming our analysis today. What if this result was only the consequence of a temporary switching from Nespresso...
A PESTLE analysis may have helped the eco-construction sector
One of the decisions the Belgian government took to reduce the debt was to cancel the 40% tax deduction on works carried out to reduce energy consumption (isolation, double-glass windows, …). The consequence of this decision will be to change dramatically the competition landscape for firms specialized in energy-reduction construction works. We can with certainty expect that the least robust of those firms (which have popped up in the last years) will die. I discussed my...
What a face !!
An article published in the latest issue of the « Journal of Marketing » (It’s got the look : the effect of friendly and aggressive « facial » expressions on product liking and sales ; Jan R. Landwehr, Ann L. Mc Gill, Andréas Hermann ; vol.75 May 2011, pages 132-146) confirms in a scientific manner what some of us may have discovered themselves: we perceive human faces in products shapes (the case study of the article...
What is the marketing positionning of Blancpain (Swatch group)
Blancpain is a famous watch brand owned by the Swatch group which, in my opinion, deserves attention for several reasons. Blancpain is first of all a brand with history; not only an historical tradition of watchmaking that goes back to the 18th century, but also a more recent entrepreneurial history when the brand was revamped by the great Jean-Claude Biver. Blancpain is today the result of a subtle positioning on its 280-year history and a managerial...
Sara Lee vs. Nespresso : missed target
When I attended the “stratégie clients” show in Paris two weeks ago, I heard Julien Morel, the COO of Nespresso, explain how Nespresso was able to keep its market share in spite of new players like Maison du Café (Sara Lee) and Casino. While in France I went to a supermarket to test the Sara Lee capsules by myself and I’ve got an explanation. Sara Lee’s coffee is simply not as good as Nespresso’s. From a...
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