Hollywood executives are breathing a little easier after the phenomenal first quarter it has had after coming out of a disappointing 2011. Last year had the lowest levels of movie attendance in 16 years when it dropped 4%. The newly-released "The Hunger Games" just had the 3rd biggest opening ever with $155 million dollars although it cost Lionsgate studios only a little more than $80 million to make the film. This has been the biggest first-quarter increase in years and this is changing the film industry's mindset that the first quarter and winter, in general, is only for the "least attractive pictures."
This winter has produced a number of hits with filmgoers such as "The Lorax," "Chronicle," "The Woman in Black," and the "The Devil Inside" which opened to a strong $33.7 million on the year's first weekend. Veteran movie producer Sean Daniel notes that "Word of mouth goes viral today," and that Internet trailers help build excitement and it keeps the audience in a "moviegoing frame of mind." Recent movies also have been so varied that it is attracting a wider scope of individuals. Furthermore, social media and targeting specific cable channels has made advertising more impactful and cost-effective.
This trend seems like it will continue because the two biggest films of the year, "The Avengers' and "the Dark Knight Rises" have yet to come out and those will definitely be breaking some records. All in all, 2012 does not look like to be the end of the world, at least not for the film industry that is, they will surely be resting easier once the year's sales figures come in in December.
The full article can be found at: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-fi-ct-projector-20120323,0,1353397.story
Wednesday
How Do You Say Delicious Around the World?
Kraft Foods is taking a new name
that it will attach to its global snacks business. Mondelēz International was a
creation from two employees in different parts of the world. Johannes Schmidt,
in Vienna, and Marc Firestone, from company’s headquarters in Northfield, Ill,
came up with the name because they wanted to work upon the idea of a “delicious
world.” The name has two main parts, “Monde,” which is French for world, and
“-delēz,” which is a play on the French word for delight, “délice.” It’s a word that very much exemplifies
the international focus this name is meant to embody. Some worry that
non-Spanish, Italian, or French speakers will have difficulty pronouncing the
name properly but the uniqueness of the name, in my opinion, adds to its’
appeal. They macron over the “e”
also helps make the word in the words of Kraft spokesman Michael Mitchell,
“more ownable.” The specific product names will remain the same, such as Oreo
and Cadbury but this name is for the corporate brand. I believe that this name
will be very successful for them and that it does an excellent job of working
with their strategy. Kraft will just have to wait to see if the general public
finds the name as catchy and interesting as the creators found it.
The full article can be found at: www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-21/kraft-mondelez-and-the-art-of-rebranding
Monday
UPS: Bringing the Brown Overseas
UPS recently spent $6.77 billion
purchasing Dutch rival TNT Express. This deal comes after weeks of negotiations
and UPS can now better compete with DHL. According to estimates, UPS will have
between ¼ and 1/3 of the European package delivery market. UPS sales will grow
from 26% to 36% with the acquirement of TNT. UPS shares rose 4.2 percent in afternoon trading; they had
total sales of $53.11 billion last year and it expects sales of $60 billion
with TNT. UPS also was in competition with FedEx Corp. for the acquisition of
TNT. By 2015, UPS expects savings to grow from $525 to $725 million a
year. This purchase will make UPS
a shipping powerhouse worldwide and FedEx will have to work hard to try to stand
up to this new shipping magnate. UPS was always one of the nation’s biggest but
now it will be one of Europe’s biggest as well.
The full article can be found at: http://www.lompocrecord.com/business/ups-snags-europe-s-no-package-delivery-outfit/article_4c976b15-dd2c-51d8-9021-a34c109e0e54.html
Sunday
Microsoft’s Video Game Market Looking Towards the Future
Microsoft Corp. is one of the three
big players in the video game market along with Sony and Nintendo. Their
console, the Xbox 360, has been on the market for seven years but still
continues to sell and was bolstered by the introduction of their new Kinect, a
motion-sensor accessory. It had its’ best year of sales in 2011. Even with this
success however, they are still looking to unveil the next version of their
Xbox console in 2013 or early 2014.
Releasing a new console into the
market is something that has to be timed perfectly. According to Michael
Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc., “Theyre still selling a lot of
Xbox 360, and they’re making money…I don’t think the world needs them to put a
new console out just because we’re bored.” The last fiscal year showed a 45%
sales gain to $8.91 billion and outsold both Nintendo Co.’s Wii and Sony
Corp.’s Playstation 3. Nintendo is releasing its’ new console, the Wii U later
this year but its’ once extremely popular console has been having dwindling sales
for years now.
Microsoft is in a very strong
position so they must be careful about which route they take. New consoles are
inevitable but new consoles tend to lose money at first and it isn’t worth the
hit if their current console is doing so well. Also, people may be turned off
from buying a new console if their purchase of their current console was made
in the past year or past couple years.
The full article can be found at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/microsoft-says-it-won-t-be-discussing-new-xbox-at-e3-conference.html
Sears: Saving Money by Closing Doors
Sears Holdings Corp plans on
closing 62 of its’ retail stores in order to reduce expenses. Edward Lampert,
Sears’ CEO, just had the company’s largest quarterly loss in at least nine
years. Its’ goal is to raise about
$770 million to help recuperate from that loss. Shares fell 1.1 percent to
$82.55 at the close in New York but shares have more than doubled this year
after falling 56% last year.
The company also owns Kmart and has
45% less cash than last year with $747 million in the fourth-quarter. Kmarts
have been struggling for years now and the amount of these types of stores have
been falling with the success of major player Walmart and also wholesalers such
as Costco and BJ’s. To survive, Sears not only has to raise money but find a
way to reinvent itself to survive in the new market.
The full article can be found at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-16/sears-to-close-62-stores-in-first-half-of-this-year-to-cu.html
Walmart’s Lines Are About To Get Even Crazier
Apple’s new iPad will be coming not
only to Apple Stores but also to Wal-Mart Stores eight-hours earlier. The world’s largest retailer will be
selling a limited number of iPads. This is a special arrangement because Apple
does not typically favor other retailers over its over 350 Apples stores. IPads
account for about 20% of Apple sales and it is the company’s second
best-selling product behind the iPhone. This is a huge competitive advantage
for Wal-Mart because it gets a head start over Best Buy and Target. Sales will probably not affect Apples
stores too much because of the limited quantity that Wal-Mart will be selling
earlier. Lines will form just as long around these Wal-Marts at each and every
Apple store.
The full article can be found at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/wal-mart-to-start-selling-ipads-at-midnight-before-apple-stores.html
Apple Might Not Control the Whole World Just Yet…
Cisco Systems is working to
reinvent the way in which we watch television. They announced that they will
pay $5 billion to acquire a British software company NDS Group. NDS says that, “An amazing user
experience is critical to the operator’s success. Thanks to powerful
MediaHighway® set-top box software and intuitive EPGS and UIs like the
award-winning NDS Snowflake™ UI, NDS makes it easier for your customers to
maximize their enjoyment and use more of the services you have to offer. The
NDS Studio Design team will create a unique look and feel for your operation,
or choose from a wealth of existing solutions.”
NDS
has a large assortment of technologies all designed to “maximize (a television
market’s) content investment and revenues, push your brand and give your
customers the flexibility to enjoy their content on all of the devices they
own.” Cisco wants to be ahead of the game and moreover, ahead of Apple in the
content area. Other competitors such as Rovi and Google are looking at this
same market.
Apple
is always at the forefront of the next innovation so other companies must take
any advantage they can so that they do not lose out. Portable and streaming content
is the next big revolution but the technology and means of distribution have
yet to be perfected. If this company’s technologies turn out to be successful,
it will be Apple that will have to find out how to “copy” Cisco’s innovation.
Read
the full article at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/03/16/watch-out-apple-itv-cisco-going-for-the-kill/
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