Boom for online fashion firm ASOS

a. Possible reasons for the success of ASOS.

I think this business is successful because

they have unique selling point. It is really

good idea to sell clothes of designs worn by celebrities

because demand for them is really high. Also this business

has really good advertisement because everybody can see

this clothes on celebrities and they can pay any amount of

money just to have clothes of their idol. Another possible

reason for the success of ASOS is that this business in a

niche market so there are not a lot of competitors.

b. Who the main competitors are?

The main competitors of this business might be famous

brands such as D&G, Versace, Gucci, Louis Vuitton etc.

Some celebrities prefer to buy their clothes from this brands

so they might be the main competitors.

c. Strengths/weaknesses of their products.

The main strengths of this business that they have

advertisement from celebrities and it is quite cheap clothes.

Also you can buy it on Internet. Weaknesses might be

that it will be hard to get clothes and get exactly right

sizes.

d. What steps can they take to ensure continued success?

I think they should advertise it more all over the Internet,

maybe give some discounts and organise sales.

Evaluations

1. "Add an 'I'm NOT Feeling Lucky' button to Google
that would automatically take users to a random
webpage that would NOT be the topmost return for
their query. This option would complement the 'I'm
Feeling Lucky' button, giving the search process a
creative twist." - would this be popular? Would this
increase Google's revenue?

I think that it is a good idea. People will more often visit
sites that they usually not visit. It is a good advertisement
for sites with poor popularity. The main weakness is that
it might be not so popular. People mighy think that it is
just for advertisement.

2. "Introduce mugs and cups with special sensors that
would give a voice alert like 'This is your third coffee
today', 'Your coffee is getting cold', 'I am empty; refill
me if you want', and so on." - would these sell well at
Christmas?

This product might be really popular especially at
Christmas Time. It is such a good present and very
nice souvenir. I think the only weakness of this
product is that it can be sold only at Christmas times,
New year etc.

3. "Insist that, instead of giving extra money to people
to help pay for fuel bills, the UK Government gives
everyone a voucher with which they could purchase
a good quality sweater/pullover or blanket. This
would encourage people to think about putting their
central heating on - thus reducing the size of fuel bills
and carbon footprints alike." - would this work/be popular?

I don't think that it is a good idea. People anyway will need
fuel and a good quality sweater/pullover or blanket can't
be close substitutes for fuel. I don't think that people will
use less fuel because they have sweater.

4. Is this a product extension strategy: "Make all car
windshields out of photochromic glass that darkens to
a moderate sunglass tint when exposed to sunlight.
This innovation would improve driver comfort and
safety, especially when traveling into the blinding
glare of a rising or setting sun."

I think it is brilliant idea. Usually people use
sunglasses to protect their eyes from the blinding
glare of a rising or setting sun but it will be more
comfortable if cars have that kind of windshields.
I don't see any weaknesses. That is great idea.

5. "Create a website where people could submit
tunes or songs native to their country/culture
that are unlikely to have been heard by people
around the world. The site would be easy to use,
allowing people of any age to easily grasp the
concept of uploading content or even recording
it directly using the website" Is this a viable business
idea?

I don't think that it is a good business idea. There are
lots of weaknesses. First of all I don't think that a lot of
people will use this site. Also there are a lot of
competitors.

6. "Produce CDs that sit in the CD player of rental
cars so that, when a new driver gets in, the CD can
tell them about the car, the local area, driving laws,
etc. It could also feature advertising for local businesses.
" Would you invest in this product idea?

That will be a good idea. I think it will be really
useful for tourists so they will know everything
about new city, laws, local shops and restaurants.
The main weakness of this idea is that it can be
successfully sold only in famous cities and tourists
might prefer special booklets.

Christmas sites!

I have looked up to the several sites about
Christmas. As we everybody know Christmas
time is really soon and everybody start to think
about Christmas presents. We should buy presents
for parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters and
of course for our lovely teachers! =) That is what this
sites about.

There are a lot of advises about what presents we
should give to teachers and what presents we shouldn’t.
For example, last year a lot of students gave to teacher
candles, sweets, pillowcases etc. Also in south-east London
one teacher received a Victoriana cat-in-a-basket
ornament from six different pupils on the same day.
That is a record!

So that it is not really good to give the
same presents to teacher and these sites help to find
really good ideas about presents. One of these sites
(http://www.christmasrants.com/) has a lot of links to another
Christmas sites where we can find lots of information
about Christmas which is really useful. People can buy
some presents and other things for Christmas such as
Christmas tree, cards on the Internet. All of these sites
encourage people to buy presents.

Charity vending machine

Concept: Most machines offer a product in return
for inserting money. This one offers nothing except
a feeling of contribution as you have donated that
money to one of the nominated charities on the
"vending" machine. A variation of this machine is
that you buy an item and have the option of donating
your change to a charity of your choice from the options
available.

I think the main strength of this idea is that people
always use vending machines because they are
available everywhere. Also they can easily donate
money to charity while they are buying some drinks
or snacks. So as I said before vending machines can
be located everywhere. That is another strength.
They can be located in schools, universities, offices etc.
I can't see any serious weaknesses. Maybe only that
not everyone would like to donate money for charity.

Discussion....New business idea =)

As we were discussing the previous Kirill's idea
about service in restaurants we thought about
new business idea which is actually connects with
the previous one. One of the most hardest business
is to start up restaurant business. There are a lot of
problems such as competitors, staffs, location etc.
We should have brand new idea to attract customers.
The first idea is to set up `Healthy Fast Food` cafe
such as McDonald's or Subway. The main strength
of this idea is that every food or products will be
healthy and also will include organic products such
as vegetables, fruits etc. Also it will be `fast food`
which is good for office workers, students because
service is really fast and cheap.
As I said before this idea connects with the previous one.
In this cafe we can put that slogans on the table so
customers will decide to pay or not to pay for service.
Actually they will pat if they like service.
Weaknesses are:

• staff
• location

Evaluating of Kirill's idea

First of all I'd like to explain his idea
because as I know a lot of people didn't
understand what it is about.
As we everybody know when we go to
the cafe or restaurant we should pay some
amount of money to waiters (usually it
is 10% of the bill) for their service.
Sometimes in some restaurants service
is not good enough. So we don't want to pay
for service because we don't enjoy it but we don't
have any choice because the bill is include
money for service. In this situation customers
start to feel presure and disappointment as
Kirill does in "Dong Dong" cafe.
So the main idea is to do not make any pressure
to customers and to take money from them by
another way. Kirill counted that in local pubs
and restaurants waiters and barmens gets
approximately 1.5 pounds for service per each
customer. In restaurants or in pubs on the tables
should be some kind of slogans where it will be
written: `We are happy to see your gratitude
for our service that you will leave on the table`.

I think that the main strengths of this idea is that
customers don't feel any pressure. They can decide
by theiselves if they want to pay for service or not.
Weakness of this idea is that some customers
may not like service so therefore they will not pay
for it. Restaurants should have qualified staff who
will be nice and kind with customers so maybe
restaurants should train staffs or motivate them.

It's an emergency. Long-term cures must wait

I've read an article about current credit crunch.
Anatole Kaletsky presents the credit crunch
as one kind of illness of the world economy like
cancer. He was talking about the main reasons
of this `cancer` and ways of solutions.

The main reasons of this credit crunch is excessive
borrowing, property speculation and reckless and
dishonest banking practices. Another cause of
this credit cancer was the global imbalance between
exuberant consumption and house-price speculation in
America, Britain, Spain, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe,
on one hand, and excessive saving and austerity, on the
other, in China, Germany and Japan.

Because of this problems required consumers in the US
and Britain to spend and borrow less, while the surplus
countries invested and spent more. Govenment must
support and subsidise banks to make eaier conditions
for people to borrow and spend money. They should do
everything to encourage consumption.

The best way to do it is to cut interest rates and taxes,
especially taxes on consumption and on lower income
households. As Mr.King said policymakers all over the
world must be willing to cut interest rates to levels never
imagined before. If it is necessary to cut it to the zero point.

If interest rates will be near to zero and taxes will be cut for
a big amount then probably in the middle of next year recovery
of the world economic system will begin. It will start in
America and China, spreading to Britain and eventually reaching
continental Europe in 2010.

Barclayloan for Business

I want to describe a loan scheme of one

of the UK's bank which is called Barclays.

I think everybody know this bank because

it is quite famous.

So the main idea of this scheme is that

with loan from £1,000 to £1,000,000,

you can use a Barclayloan for business to

finance a wide range of general business needs

from buying equipment and machinery to funding

your working capital requirements. Barclay promises

a quick decision and fast access ti the money.

For loans up to £25,000 you can borrow for up to

10 years and benefit from fixed monthly payments

so you know just what it is costing your business.

An optional 12-month repayment holiday and no early

repayment fees gives you even more breathing space.

If your business needs to borrow more than £25,000

you can borrow for terms up to 20 years with a choice

of fixed or variable interest rates and an optional

two-year upfront repayment holiday.

90 Second Dual Pizza Oven

Concept: One of the mantras of successful small
initiatives is to `do it faster` than your competitors.
This is 1440-watt high speed pizza oven certainly
fits that criterion.

Strengths:

• 15 times faster than traditional ovens
• High quality pizza
• It is new idea

Weaknesses:

• High price
• Competitors. There are a lot of ovens which are cheaper than this one.

About universities

I think it is time for all A-level students to think which

university we want to study in. Of course everybody

want to study in the best universities such as Oxford

university, Cambridge university, LSE or Imperial

College but there are a lot of things that we should

do before applying to univrsities.

First of all we should think about our subject combinations

because there are some subjects that were blacklisted by

TOP universities.

As we can read in newspapers "soft" sublects are accounting;

art and design, business studies; critical thinking;

communication studies; dance; design and technology,

drama/ theatre studies; film/ media/ TV studies; health and
social care; home economics; information and communication

technology; leisure studies; music technology; performance

studies; performing arts; photography; physical education;

sports studies; travel and tourism; business and management;

IT in a global society, theatre arts; visual arts.

So TOP universities prefer pure subjects such as Mathematics,

Further Mathematics, Economics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics

etc.

I have looked at LSE website and this is what they tell about it.

`The School considers not only the subjects offered by applicants

at A level (A2) and AS level, but also the combination of them.

The School generally prefers certain subjects because it considers

they are more likely to serve as effective preparation for studying

at LSE. Admissions Tutors will normally consider one of the subjects

listed below only if it is offered in combination with subjects that are

not included in the list. For example, Mathematics, French and

Economics would be a suitable combination for almost any of our

degrees. Mathematics, French and Business would be acceptable,

but we would prefer the first example. On the other hand,

Mathematics, Accounting and Media Studies would not normally

be considered as suitable as this combination includes two subjects

on the list. You should also note that we are less concerned with subject

combinations at AS level.`

Sunscreen vending machines

Concept:
If situated near a popular beach, this automated
sunscreen and tanning mist vending machine/booth
should do extremely well.

Strengths:

• People don't need to take their bottles of suncare cream and they will use this machine.


• Can locate near to famous beaches, golf clubs, hotels etc.


• It doesn't need any staff


• It is easy to use vending machine


• Early adopter. It is a new idea

Weaknesses:

• Quality of product. There are different types of suncare creams and people may prefer their own creams.


• It is not cheap. For example in the beach people need to use cream not just once. They will need it immediately after swimming. So they will use it at least 4-5 times therefore it is not as cheap as buying a bottle of suncare cream.

Cadbury's gorilla

Cadbury's gorilla becomes one of the most
famous advertisements in the UK.
I think that it is really nice advertisement
which I will definetely watch and interested in it.
So what makes this video so famous?
First of all I think it is really good
idea to make gorilla as a main character. He looks
like real one and everything especially his face
and eyes looks like real gorilla's.
The second thing that makes this advertisement
so famous is the music. Last year's soundtrack
was In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins, the reworked
version features Bonnie Tyler's classic 1980s hit
Total Eclipse of the Heart.
However even ifhis advertisement was really famous
it doesn't affected on Cadbury's sales because
Cadbury's is quite famous.
The original advertisement won the Film Grand
Prix at the prestigious Cannes Lions International
Advertising Festival in June.

My website!

I've created my first website =)
http://aidana.synthasite.com/

Ice Cream Vending Machine

Concept: A clever Massachusetts firm have created

an ice-cream vending machine capable of offering up

to 12 flavours and 6 mix-ins at once. Yum.

Strengths:

• Can locate anywhere


• Good quality of a product


• A lot of flavours of ice-creams


• Natural ingridients


• Cheap


• Don't need any staff

Weaknesses:

• I don't see any weaknesses. I think it is such a good idea!

Mohamed El-Erian

Mohamed El-Erian was born in 1958. He is a
famous economist. He got bachelor's and master's
degrees in Cambridge University and a second
master's and doctorate from Oxford University in
England. He speaks in Arabic, French and English
languages.

He heads up Harvard University’s $30 billion
endowment and also he is co-CEO of The Pacific
Investment Management Company (PIMCO).
PIMCO is one of the leading global investment
management firms, with over $500 billion of
assets under management.

He joined PIMCO in May 1999, after working
at Salomon Smith Barney/Citibank in London,
where he was a managing director. El-Erian
also has worked with the IMF for 15 years,
having joined the institution in 1983 through the
"Economist Program."

El-Erian was a subject of important newspaper
articles such as Barron's, Bloomberg, BusinessWeek,
Dow Jones Newswire, Euromoney, Fortune, Latin
Finance, and the Wall Street Journal.

Also Mohamed El-Erian is a member of the International

Center for Research on Women, the Peterson Institute

for International Economics, the US Threasury Borrowing

Advisory Committee, the International Monetary Fund's

Capital Markets Consultative Group and a lot of another

organisations.

Now I would like to talk about the famous book which
is called `When markets collide` written by Mohamed
El-Erian. This book was published in May of 2008.
The main idea of this book is that we can see significant
changes in the structure and flow of global capital markets
and that investors should know if they are to be successful.
Mohamed El-Erian gives in this book quite important
advices such as how to explain the markets, benefit from
global economic change and navigate the risks. This book
is the best book for investors and policy makers around
the world.

In this book Mohamed El-Erian presents some imortants

ideas such as emerging markets are seeing increased internal

demand and its growth leads to higher inflationary pressure

for the U.S., and the ideal allocations to U.S. equities

are diminishing.

Mohamed El-Erian is world's leading economists and his works

are vry important in economics.

Yes, my Mind Manager is working now! Thanks, Dimaaaaauuunt))