Description: A bill under consideration in Canada would require platforms like Google and Meta to negotiate payments with publishers when they link to their content. In response, Google, which opposes the proposed law, is testing blocking news in a small number of searches. Source: niemanlab.org Date: Feb 23, 2023 Link: https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/02/google-blocks-news-in-some-canadian-searches-in-response-to-proposed-media-law/ Questions for discussion: What does the report say… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Pricing
Starbucks Is Making a Very Big Bet on a Very Strange Idea, and I Can’t Decide if It’s Brilliant or Bizarre
Description: The coffee giant thinks adding olive oil to your latte is the next big thing. Source: INC.com Date: Feb 23, 2023 Link: https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/starbucks-is-making-a-very-big-bet-on-oleata-olive-oil-in-your-coffee.html?utm_source=newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inc%20-%20this%20morning%20newsletter.newsletter%20-%20inc%20-%20this%20morning%202-24-23&leadid=261346&mkt_tok=njewluxfrs04nziaaagkimezx0mmtfq8plilxhtngurkiykwljlynjt2lmgsju-cww_bozkupayokclv-fjxfn_dq3msk5tcf3kxubhay9pyzhq7uxqtpdch-ry Questions for discussion: What do you think of the idea? Do you think this opens the door to a variety of “health-related” additions that could boost consumption at Starbucks? Do you… Read more »
Hootsuite to ditch free plan, begin charging users for social media tool
Description: Hootsuite says it will eliminate the free tier of its social media management tool next month.The Vancouver-based technology company says the tool, which allows users to browse, manage and schedule social media posts, will come with a fee beginning March 31. Source: BNNBloomberg.com – video report Date: Feb 23, 2023 Link: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/hootsuite-to-ditch-free-plan-begin-charging-users-for-social-media-tool-1.1887983 Questions for… Read more »
The Brewing Backlash Over Rewards Programs
Description: Customers are unhappy when their favorite retailers make it harder to earn rewards, as Starbucks, Dunkin’ and Best Buy have recently done. But firms have to walk a fine line between customer loyalty and profits, says Wharton’s Raghuram Iyengar. Source: knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/ Date: Feb 14, 2023 Link: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/the-brewing-backlash-over-rewards-programs/?utm_campaign=KatW2023&utm_medium=email&utm_source=kw_campaign_monitor&utm_term=2-15-2023&utm_content=The_Brewing_Backlash_Over_Rewards_Programs Questions for discussion: What does the research… Read more »
Super Bowl ads are officially sold out and beer is spending big
Description: The hottest ticket in town for advertisers is officially sold out. Fox said Monday that in-game ads for Super Bowl LVII have all been sold. Source: Fortune.com Date: Feb 06, 2023 Link: https://fortune.com/2023/02/06/super-bowl-ads-sold-out-beer-crypto/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_6113321&tpcc=crmsubpromo Questions for discussion: What does the report suggest about the commercial value of the Super Bowl broadcast experience? Which metrics are most important… Read more »
A look at the sneaky fees at Canada’s biggest tourist spot that some call ‘a total cash grab’
Description: With around 14 million annual visitors, Niagara Falls is already a potential cash cow to the many area businesses serving tourists. But at some of them, visitors are finding contentious fees added to their bills — and CBC Marketplace has found they’re growing. Source: CBC.ca Date: Feb 10, 2023 Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-tourist-fees-1.6739759 Questions for discussion: What is… Read more »
The Manhattan high-rise that shrunk itself down
Description: In 1986, a New York zoning activist made a startling discovery: A newly constructed building was over a dozen floors too high. What followed was one of the strangest outcomes in the history of big-city housing. Source: TheHustle.co Date: Feb 03, 2023 Link: https://link.thehustle.co/view/6336092910af034736048108i4gus.4amh/236068f4 Questions for discussion: What does the article say about the… Read more »
The Great Construction Mystery
Description: Here’s something odd: We’re getting worse at construction. Think of the technology we have today that we didn’t in the 1970s. The new generations of power tools and computer modeling and teleconferencing and advanced machinery and prefab materials and global shipping. You’d think we could build much more, much faster, for less money, than… Read more »
Ask for Payment Before or After? The Effects of Timing in Pay-What-You-Want Pricing
Description: Pay-what-you-want is a pricing mechanism where consumers can decide how much to pay for a product or service. Variations of this idea have been employed widely over the years. Public museums, such as New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, have long allowed nominally free entry but with requests for donations at entry and/or exit…. Read more »
How a Drug Company Made $114 Billion by Gaming the U.S. Patent System
Description: AbbVie for years delayed competition for its blockbuster drug Humira, at the expense of patients and taxpayers. The monopoly is about to end. Source: NYTimes.com Date: Jan 28, 2023 Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/business/humira-abbvie-monopoly.html Questions for discussion: Summarize the issues related to how businesses, governments, insurance companies and consumers are connected to the drug Humira. Is this… Read more »