Apple worth half a trillion dollars

It is amazing that Apple is now worth over 500 billion dollars or half a trillion dollars. This is the companies market value and yesterday their market cap reached over 500 billion dollars. There has only been 4 other companies that have ever done reached over that half trillion line. Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Cisco, and General Electric are the only other companies that have done this. The company had 127 billion dollars in sales last year which is higher than Qatar's GDP. I find it amazing how a company that was started in a garage can grow to be worth that much in just 30 years. The stock price is over 500 a share, which is pretty crazy because it is more expensive to by 1 share of stock than it is buy a brand new iPad. Do you think they will sustain thier growth further? or do you think they will slip back down like the other 4 companies that reached that half trillion market cap?

In response to Aislynn Sherry's Post

How do you feel about a driverless vehicle? Would you be an advocate for this type of technology?

I think that these cars are going to be awesome. It is going to be like in the movie I-Robot and it is actually considered dangerous to drive the car yourself. I think that advances in technology like this are going to revolutionize transportation. I would feel a little uncomfortable at first but I think it could eventually be safer and much more relaxing. It would solve drunk and intoxicated driving problems and would be very usefully in emergencies. also this could change the lives of some people who a paralyzed or disabled by allowing them to drive. I think it is going to be a few more years until we see this technology fully integrated in future car. I read a similar article about Google's radar based diver less cars and they have been talking to all the major car companies and their cars have already been spotted on the road driving along side with traffic. Does anyone else think these are going to be awesome or do you think they are going to cause a huge problem?

Staircase Advertisment

I came across this article and picture on Businessinsider.com and i thought it was a genius and cool idea. I have a feeling we are going to start seeing a lot of these soon. The company that does this is called UpStairs Media and they have been doing this since 2004. They have a machine that prints on to the side of the stair so you can only see the picture form a little bit of a distance and the stairs look normal as you are going up. They are starting to pop up in Boston, Philadelphia, Wahsinton DC, and Las Vegas.
Nationwide Insurance Comapny has one of these ad's in Las Vegas of a car on a road going out of control with the tagline "life comes at you fast." I think these are going to be huge for large museums because from a distance these stairs really grab your attention and would definitely draw people in. Does anyone else think these are cool? Would you advertise you company with one of these?

In response to Tylers Post about Starbucks

Do you think Starbucks is a sell out? Also do you think Starbucks would have to develop a custom marketing plan for Italy?


I guess Starbucks could be considered a sell out but then every other global franchise would have to be considered a sell out too. It is very important for global companies to market products differently in relation to each unique culture. Every culture has different habits, rituals, and beliefs so a coffee place in the US would not be able to make achieve maximum profit without fine tuning their marketing stagey for each region. I also don't think a franchise coffee store would do well in Europe, apart from London and Pairs, because their are so many small local coffee shops at every corner in cities like Rome or Venice. It is just their culture difference that cause people in Italy to go to their local coffee shop, drink some coffee, have some pastries and finish with a cigarette (cigarettes are HUGE in Europe). 

Pepsi Firing 100 of its 150 Advertisment Agencies

I recently read an article on Business Insider that stated that this week Pepsi was going to be firing 100 out of their 150 advertisement agencies for various brands. The article said that it wanted to centralize their marketing campaign because there are too many brands and they are spread over too many agencies. This came from the CEO of the company about a week ago and the agencies have  not yet been notified which ones are going to be let go. This is causing a frenzy with many ad agencies, the agencies are calling the brand mangers and other  Pepsi insiders to get the details but most companies are being left in the dark until the decision is finalized. I recently posted about Pepsi increasing their marketing budget by about half a billion so this new came as a bit of a surprise to me. I haven't heard anything more about their supposed budget increase so I'm not sure whether they are still doing that or not. It appears to me that Pepsi is in a little bit of trouble so it will be interesting to see what happens with their marketing campaign in the future. They are in a state of falling demand for their product so they need to do something drastic like re-branding or increase their marketing significantly. Has anyone else heard any news about their new strategy? Is anyone else surprised by the huge cut in ad agencies?  

In response to Ethans post about Facebook

 Is it ethical to change your business principles if it means potentially losing customers, in order to stay ahead of your competitors?

I think that it is not only ethical but also necessary for Facebook to grow. They were valued as one of valuable companies in the world before they went public because of their huge network of users. They have over 400 million users daily. It is necessary for them to go public so that they could actually raise the money that they needed to grow and become a better company. They have many threats such as twitter and Google +, but now they will have much more money than their competitors and will be able create better software. They have mobile apps to keep updating and they are working on a phone. I don’t think they will ever make people pay to use the site because they are making a killing from advertising. Also their are many games that people play on Facebook that charge you for additional characters or new levels and such, so they are making a lot of money off that as well. As a user I wouldn't be worried about the site charging money or getting worse, if anything, they will continually make the site better and easier for its users. Is anyone else thinking it is unethical or is anyone else worried about the company losing its way? 

Starbucks to Start Selling Beer?

I recently read an article that said that Starbucks was going start selling beer and wine at a few stores on the west coast to test out the idea. By the end of this year they plan on  selling it in a few stores in southern California and Atlanta. I think this a good idea for some places in California where house wife's might want something a little extra with their coffee but other than that I think it isn't going to sell well. they are planning on selling it for 5 or 6 dollars a glass or beer, so it is definitely not going to be cheap alcohol. I think that people actually go to Starbucks to get the opposite, they go there to get caffeine so they can be more productive and get on with their day  and I don't think most people go their to get a little buzzed. It is an interesting idea though because their are people that go to Starbucks to relax drink coffee and read, so adding a glass of wine isn't that out of the question for some Starbucks regulars. I am kind of excited to see how well these locations do. The article says that a few locations in Seattle have been doing it since 2010 and they seem to do well with customers coming in after work to unwind a little. Do you think you will see alcohol sold at your local Starbucks anytime soon? Would you buy a beer or a glass of wine with your coffee? Do you think there will be any problems with people mixing too much caffeine and alcohol? (remember the Four-Loco drink ban was because of the caffeine and alcohol mixture)