Stocks in the News: Sue & Settle Edition
Posted by William Sellers - Wednesday, February 22, 2012
You've Got a Target on Your Back
Posted by William Sellers - Tuesday, February 21, 2012
It looks like Target's name and logo have more meaning than you previously thought. While you might have missed the New York Times' Magazine feature on the subject, How Companies Learn Your Secrets , the headline that likely got your attention came from Forbes: How Target Figured Out a Teen Girl was Pregnant Before Her Father Did .
The short of it is, Target
Of course, this wasn't an isolated incident. Target has identied 25 products which it uses to assign every shopper with a "pregnancy predictive" score. And beyond that, as one Target executive admitted, they could send out a personalized ad mailer to every one of their shoppers. To avoid looking too knowledgable about its customers, they've even gone as far as putting lawnmower ads next to ones for diapers so that it all seems random.
Target obviously did not want to share all of these details about its operations. Even if consumers are generally aware these days that businesses are keeping track of more and more of their personal data, the actuality can be a little shocking when you see it in practice, especially when a company seems to know more about your family than you do. New York Times staff writer, Charles Duhigg had numerous conversations with Andrew Pole, a member of Target's Guest Marketing Analytics department, before the company got wind of it . Eventually Pole said he could no longer talk about his work and, attempting to talk to someone at Target's headquarters, Duhigg found out he wasn't even allowed in the building.
This story will likely lead to others as journalists begin to peek behind other corporate curtains to see how our data is being used. In the NYTimes follow-up, Behind the Cover Story: How Much Does Target Know? , Duhigg mentions how credit card companies look for signs of a marriage leaning toward divorce and that putting your marriage counseling sessions on plastic might get your credit limit lowered. With the Big Data movement still getting up to speed, this revelation is likely just the beginning.
How do you feel about it? Do you accept these strategies as the new business-as-usual or do you think retailers are trying a little too hard to make a buck?
Stocks in the News: International Edition
Posted by William Sellers - Monday, February 20, 2012
The History Detectives Hunt Down the Validity of a Stock from 1892
Posted by William Sellers - Friday, February 17, 2012
Here's a great episode from PBS' History Detectives where they dig into the story behind a share of stock from The Harlem Associated Heirs Title Company dated 1892. As they point out in the segment, stock certificates are becoming increasingly rare these days as companies move away from paper certificates to electronic recordkeeping. Back in the day, however, the paper certificates were all you could get and what remains of these historical documents are collected and studied by scripophiles, who, as we find out, don't always know whether the share was real or part of some swindle.
Was this a real share of valuable Manhattan real estate or the equivalent of buying the Brooklyn Bridge ? Find out what the History Detectives were able to dig up...
If you're looking for something a little lighter for your Friday, check out Saturday Night Live's latest commercial spoof where they take a swipe at the complexity of buying a phone from Verizon
Stocks in the News
Posted by William Sellers - Thursday, February 16, 2012
Hasbro Tries to Keep Up with Mattel at the 2012 Toy Fair
Posted by William Sellers - Wednesday, February 15, 2012
As Toy Fair 2012 wraps up today in New York, Mattel racked up four "Toy of the Year" awards . The Angry Birds Knock On Wood Game swooped down to take Game of the Year, while Mattel's collaboration with Radica, their Fijit Friends Interactive Figures, took Girl Toy of the Year. Then Hot Wheels Wall Tracks rolled in to take both Innovative and Boy Toy of the Year awards. Other notable Mattel unveilings included a breakdancing Mickey Mouse from Disney Apptivity line of toys made to interact with iPad games and a Barbie with a built-in 5 megapixel digital camera.
The announcement that really caught everyone's attention, however, concerned the Back to the Future Hover Board ...
Before you get too excited, note that it says the Hover Board only "Glides" over most surfaces, excluding water (so get this image out of your mind). For actual hovering, you're going to have to wait until 2015 , but from March 1st through the 20th, 2012, Mattel will begin taking pre-orders for the Hover Board. Unfortunately, because of the expense of producing the item, they've set a minimum level of pre-orders that will be required for the board to actually go into production. If you want to watch the movie-magic version of the Hover Board from Back to the Future 2 before you decide whether you want one under the tree next year, you can check out the clip here .
As for Hasbro OneShare Newsletter is about corporate rivalries, which is why that comes to mind.) The good news was Playskool's win for Infant/Toddler Toy of the Year with their Elefun Busy Ball Popper. Hasbro also got some good buzz with their toys for the movies, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Avengers, both set for release this year. Otherwise, there's only conflicting reports about Hasbro's brand-based movie projects, including how Candy Land was dropped by Universal only to be picked up by another studio.
I don't know. I just can't imagine the value of a movie set in Candy Land. Can you?
Stocks in the News: New Business Edition
Posted by William Sellers - Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Ranking of Corporate Intangibles
Posted by William Sellers - Monday, February 13, 2012
Back in October we looked at the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index , which looks at the psychological elements behind brand loyalty. Now with David Brand Capital , we find another measure of brand value, this time concerned with "brand capital". According to Davis, brand capital is "an amalgam of intangibles creating value in the intellectual economy. When managed properly, it aligns brand value, competitive performance, innovation strength, company culture and social impact."
Where there is such a specific formula, there will be rankings to go with them. Below we have Davis' list of the top brands of 2011 ...
The big news is Apple's displacement of IBM from the top spot, which they also did recently to Exxon in terms of market cap . General Electric fell a couple of spots for the second year in a row, while Microsoft , Hewlett-Packard , Procter & Gamble and Intel all maintained their general positions in the top ten. Big movers in 2011 included Google , Coca-Cola , Disney and Johnson & Johnson , along with Pepsi , Toyota and AT&T who are back on the list after falling off in 2010. Wal-Mart suffered the largest drop, from 5th to 24th place, while Samsung, Volkswagen and Nestlé also took tumbles. Meanwhile, Daimler, Citigroup and Wells Fargo all debuted in the second half of the list.
How does that match up with your thoughts about these brands? Any names missing that you would expect to see?
Stock in the News: Fun Friday Edition
Posted by William Sellers - Friday, February 10, 2012
Introducing... The Facebook Stock Certificate!
Posted by William Sellers - Thursday, February 09, 2012
Though the IPO is still months away, Facebook's latest filing with the SEC included a preview of the stock you are going to hear a lot about this year.
To say there's excitement about this stock offering is an understatement, but as far as the stock certificate is concerned, the Wall Street Journal is calling it "a real snoozer ". And sure, you would think that the shares of a company potentially worth $100B might merit a little more design, but perhaps there's something to be said for the simplicity of it. Initial speculation that the shapes on the sides matched the insignia on the inside of Mark Zuckerburg's hoodie has been dispelled by TechCrunch , who, in addition to mentioning OneShare, pointed out that the same design can be seen on Apple's certificate. So much for originality.
But as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What do you think of Facebook's certificate?
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