Thursday, October 13

Media File #28

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Sympathy cards for the jobless


29 Sept 2011, SMH

This article is talking about a new range of hallmark cards being released in the US. These cards are targeted for people who have lost their job because unemployment is so high. Hallmark is meeting the "demand" in a way and adapting their range to the times. This concept is quite interesting because it has been done before; in the past, Hallmark has also released cards referencing military draft in the 1960s, nuclear warfare and even the Great Depression and more recently,  September 11, 2001. I think this is a great way to get more sales by moving with the times because businesses have to keep changing their service to adapt to the context of the times just like hallmark has been doing. This relates to what we have been learning in commerce because this is a strategy to get more sales like we learnt in the promoting and selling topic. 

Media File #27

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Bosses use high-tech surveillance equipment to spy on workers




May 1 2011, Daily Telegraph




This article is talking about a campaign that the Australian Workers Union has launch to stop employers monitoring employees movements through surveillance technology and GPS tracking. A member of the AWU said that changes would need to be made to the Workplace Surveillance Act because of the excessive monitoring of employees. This relates to commerce because the situation is an employment issue that we learnt in the employment topic in commerce. The employees are being monitored too much by their employers and they want changes, so they went to the unions for assistance and now a campaign is being launched as a result of them speaking up.

Media File #26

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Live exports back on track - but long-term damage to industry remains to be seen

7 July 2011, SMH



This article is talking about live exports being allowed again, although the ban has caused some potentially lasting damage to the industry. Cattle exporters just weren't getting the income they needed to keep running their businesses. So overall a substantial amount of money has not been received in exports because of the temporary ban. Business for cattle growers was tough with a lot of their meat going overseas. This relates to the commerce topic of business studies because of the direct reference to the cattle exporting businesses that are currently struggling as a result of the live export temporary ban. Unfortunately a whole industry can be ruined as a result of a law change and luckily in this case that has not happened but that's not to say that it will take a long time before the cattle industry gets back on its feet.  

Media File #25

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Carbon price tag blamed for scaring shoppers


July 12 2011, SMH

This article is blaming the carbon tax because retail spending is down as well as consumer confidence. Although the Australian National Retail Association's CE argued that with uncertain interest rates, a slowly recovering financial crisis and natural disasters all happening before a mention of the carbon tax are the main contribution. But the main issue is that retail business is not making as much money as it should. This relates to what we have been learning in commerce because it makes reference to businesses losing profits due to low consumer confidence which is something we learnt. It shows profits and losses in business are not entirely in the owners control and other factors will contribute. In this case they are arguably the carbon tax, natural disasters and the back end of a recession. With consumer confidence down the economy will start to contract because less money is being spent. 

Wednesday, October 12

Media File #24

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Sydney Ferry franchise process advances


July 5 2011, SMH

This article is talking about Sydney Ferries turning into a private franchise rather than government owned. Companies which apply may be short-listed to participate in a tender to see who will own the franchise later this year, companies like Captain Cook Cruises and even the Commonwealth Bank have applied to potentially own Sydney Ferries. Although this  has its positives and negatives. On the positive side, the conditions of the ferries may improve with a soul company operating and investing money unlike the state government who has many other avenues like health to invest in. Although conversely, some negatives may include the price going up now being private and also this is one less asset for the NSW government. This relates to the commerce topic of business studies because it is a real life example of a privatisation and franchise of a company being Sydney Ferry.

Media File #23

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Shop 'with Israeli links' targeted

example of negative promotion
Sept 11 2011, SMH


This article is talking about  the protests occurring against Max Brenner chocolate cafe. The protesters are claiming that the Australian owned business has links to the Israeli military because Max Brenner is owned by the Strauss Group which is Israel's largest food and beverage company who supply the Israeli military. It seems a little far fetched but it hasn't stopped the boycotter's, and it is giving Max Brenner some negative advertising - part of the purpose of the protest. This negative advertising could potentially cause a decline in sales. Negative advertising is something that is related to what we have been learning in commerce this year as part of the promoting and selling topic, it is promoting a rival negatively which is what the protesters are doing.  Generally this is a common occurrence in politics but in this case it is being used in a protest.      

Activity 8,9, & 10 P325

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ai2owCP5o8wWdEo2UHpwMElwc1BhTFRnQW84NDFTZkE&hl=en_US

Analyses of 2 Ad Campaigns

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iAWdVLKrSpQSD9RmNI_qPBzrJrh6tzPRjCXr4u_B0u0/edit?hl=en_US

Media File #13

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Qantas strike chaos to drag on to Christmas

October 11 2011, SMH


This article is talking about the Qantas engineers who are planning to walk off the job for 4 hours this Friday (14th October), this will ruin the flying plans of thousands of passengers and is likely to get worse leading up to Christmas. The Transport Workers Union is the organisation behind all this and it is all over protracted pay disputes, obviously more pay is wanted. This closely relates to the employment in commerce because it is talking about strikes- usually a result of discrimination. The unions exist to assist and fight for workers rights and they can facilitate a protest in the form of a strike when any form of discrimination takes place. Although in this case employees are fighting for better pay. Part of being employed is making sure the employer is meeting all the standards in terms of OH&S, pay, hours, breaks and many more. So this relates to commerce because it is talking about strikes, a something employees do when they are not happy with a certain thing.   

Media File #22

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Does it help to be a woman for some jobs?



25 Jan 2010, SMH


Although this as an old article I think it presents and interesting view, it is suggesting that while women suffer from more discrimination than men, is can be easier for them to get some jobs than men. This is basically saying that man also suffer from considerable discrimination in jobs dominated by women such as airlines, waitstaff, banks, hotels and cafes. The study that was performed showed that applications with male names had an average call-back rate of 25%, and for females 32%. So this article makes direct reference to discrimination in employment- something that I have leant in commerce, and it relates to it in this way. The study also mentioned that the results would also swing the same way for men in jobs that are dominated by them like engineering. This comes to show that no there is usually going to be a stereotype with certain occupations which may lead to discrimination.  



Media File #21

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Goldman Sachs cops sex discrimination suit


16 Sept 2011, SMH





This article is talking about a sex discrimination law suit in New York where Goldman Sachs (global investment baking and security firm) was accused of gender discrimination against female employees. The main basis of the case is that Goldman gives its managers, (mainly men,) non-monitored power and authority to  decide who gets administrative support and training and assign accounts. Apparently this causes female employees to be poorly represented in management so as a result 14% are partners, 17% are managing directors and 29% are vice presidents. According to the complaint, "Goldman Sachs has intentionally implemented these company-wide policies and practices in order to pay their male employees more money than their female counterparts, and to promote them more frequently." This all relates the the employment topic in commerce particularly discrimination, it is a real life example of gender discrimination. The discrimination is in a way quite subtle and not direct so it shows that companies have to be very careful to make sure they are not discriminating against people because it can be easy not to realise they are doing it. 





  

Meida File #20

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Unemployment rates fall in most US cities


Sept 21, 2011, SMH



This article is talking about unemployment rates actually falling in the US. How does that work, with a constantly deteriorating economy, how can unemployment rates fall? It's not the way it seems because the government only counts people as unemployed if they are actively seeking work, so in the US the number of people who are actively seeking work has dropped causing unemployment rates to decline. This is in my opinion very misleading because that means that the unemployment rate is an inaccurate indicator. This information from the article also indicates the state of the US economy because it shows that people are losing confidence and hope causing the economy to suffer with jobs being a rare find. This relates to what we have been learning in commerce because it makes reference to unemployment, a part of the employment topic which was discussed in this article.

Media File #19

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Syringe-inspired burger marketing ploy attracts pointed criticism


Sept 30 2011, SMH

This article is talking about the legal action that has been taken against the "Burger Urge" new pens, they are shaped like a syringe filled with blood. The punch line of the burger shop is "taste addiction" and the pen design flows on from that, Colby Carthew (the co-owner) said. The polices main concern that they voiced was that the
 syringe-like pen could be used to commit robberies and recovering drug users have come forward and said that the pen made them want to take drugs again. Although Colby Carthew said he never wanted to promote drugs in the campaign. This article is related to the promoting and selling topic in   commerce because the pen made by "Burger Urge" was a promotion tool to make people want to have a burger from their restaurant. In my opinion it is a clever tool because it has strong ties to the recurring theme in "Burger Urge" which is addiction to their burgers. Although to an extent, I would agree with the police because like it mentions in the article, children in schools would likely to be playing with it and pretending to inject themselves and also it has made recovering drug users want to relapse. It is for this reason that it is very important that advertisers be careful to consider all people (even those who may not be their target market) when planning their campaigns. 

  

Meida File #18

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Brands missing out on customer loyalty


7 Oct 2011, SMH


This article is talking about the retail sector in reference to customer loyalty; with websites like Living Social people are naturally looking towards the cheapest price rather than sticking to one store. This means that the stores are lacking in consistent customers and in turn less sales unless prices start to come down. People are not only looking for cheap deals, they are looking online making it even harder for retailers who don't have online stores. This relates to the business studies topic because part of having a successful business is repeating customers, but that is on the low side at the moment. All of these things are discussed in that article, which we have learnt in commerce.

Media File #17

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Billboard campaign something to yell about

2 Sept 2011, SMH


This article is talking about the new campaign that Yellow Pages has just launched. This campaign is targeting the younger generation with an app that will be linked with a number of billboards around Sydney and Melbourne. The concept is that the smart phone is used as the controller when standing in front of the billboard, and they can play against themselves or others. But the main point of this is that the intention is to capture the digital generation, they are attempting to introduce a new age group and expand their target market. This relates to commerce because in the promoting and selling topic we learnt all about demographics and target markets so this article is a perfect example of this.

Media file#16

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KFC pulls 'free roam' ads after watchdog bites chicken suppliers

Sept 14 2011, SMH


This article is talking about the ACCC taking federal legal action against Baiada Poultry and Bartter Enterprises, which supply chickens under the Steggles brand who also supply KFC. The reason for this legal action is because the ACCC is alleging that Baiada Poultry and Bartter Enterprises do not have "free range" chickens. This links to KFC because they claim that their chickens are NOT kept in cages but now it has become apparent that they are. This relates to the legal side of the promoting and selling topic because false and misleading advertising is a serious offence and KFC would have potentially been charged with this. So to avoid this possible legal mine field KFC has pulled its ads promoting their "free range" chicken. We have leant all about these things in commerce this year.  

Media file #15

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Online video ad market surging


30 Sept 2011, SMH




This article is talking about ads before videos mainly on Youtube, these ads are of  big brands that are linked appropriately to the video about to be played. This is great because it puts the ad in the perfect demographical situation, so a fishing ad may come up right before a fishing video being watched by someone who likes fishing, a simple but extremely effective concept. This concept is currently exploding and it is being driven by cheaper bandwidth and greater choice of online content. It relates to the commerce topic of promoting and selling because part of advertising is the placement of the product in an area that the target audience will view it. This sky-rocketing new industry will change advertising and is making it better and better.     

Media File #14

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Make shopping click, supermarkets urged

30 Sept 2011, SMH


This article is talking about the Coles and Woolworths iPhone app recently released so shoppers can buy online and even scan bar-codes to add to shopping lists. This would be one of the latest technology that the supermarket giants have embraced recently. Part of this is that they have to keep up with forever changing technology to keep up sales and stay fresh. This all relates to the promoting and selling topic, part of promotion is utilising many different avenues, like TV, news papers, billboards, and in this case they are using the technologies of smart phones to promote their service. This also makes the major supermarkets available to more people more of the time. Like in the 4 P's of marketing this is targeting placement- as learnt in commerce.

Meida File #12

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Gruen ad men back, with a spinoff


29 July 2011, SMH




This article is referencing The Gruen Transfer on ABC, it is a TV show all about advertising-particularly in Australia. The show is just about to start its new season. The show its self analyses ads with a panel of judges who are prominent personalities in the advertising world. But how does this relate to commerce? Obviously the link is with the promoting and selling topic, and this article is a great ad for this TV show because it is putting the show out there so more people can know about it. If you don't promote your business then nobody will know about it; the newspaper article is promoting The Gruen Transfer. Another way that it is promoted is through the mention of current issues like the carbon tax to entice people to watch it. So The Gruen Transfer is being promoted through a news paper article which relates to the commerce topic of promoting and selling.    

Madia File #11

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My store, their postage


2 August 2011, SMH


This article is talking about Myer offering free delivery to entice online shoppers in competition with international online stores(normally cheaper than buying locally). The main reason people are searching offshore for goods is because of the strong Australian dollar compared with especially the US dollar at the moment. Last year $4.2 billion went overseas in our total online shopping spending, this is almost half the total spent- to put the issue in perspective. This strongly relates to what we have been learning in commerce, especially the promoting and selling topic and it briefly touches on economics. This article is a perfect example of competition in action - Australian department stores verses overseas online market. Businesses great and small all have to make sacrifices in order to stay afloat and Myer has made one to have free delivery. This will make them lose money in the short run but in the long run its intention is to raise sales and make more money.

Media File #10

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US debt deal wins approval in House of Representatives

2 August, 2011, SMH



This article is talking about the US raising their debt ceiling. This means that the level of government borrowing allowed by Congress has been raised. This means that they will have the permission to borrow more  money to pay off further debt. This is no easy fix but it will keep the US going until 2013. This will cause them to have more to pay off and this could cause further problems but they didn't have much other choice. This relates to the topic of economics in commerce because it directly makes reference to the US economy. This higher debt ceiling will stop the US economy from totally collapsing, if the debt ceiling wasn't raised the US economy would have run short of money by the 3rd of August this year, this would cause a potential depression-lower than the US current recession. All these things I have learnt in commerce this year.   

Tuesday, August 2

Media File #9

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The journalist who brought down a newspaper


14 July 2011, SMH


This article talks about the Rupert Murdoch "News of the World" Scandal and how he was eventually caught out by Guardian journalist Nick Davies. It all started in 2005 when a story about Prince William suffering a knee injury was published, this raised questions because the only way for this information to be found out would be to listen to the Princes phone messages. The police were asked to investigate, in the end two men working for News of the World were jailed in 2007. But questions were still being asked when it was made obvious that Rupert "Murdoch's papers had paid out more than £1 million to settle lawsuits involving allegations of hacking into phone messages, as well as illegally accessing tax records, social security files and bank statements of politicians, actors and sports stars." The interest in this story declined until very recently when this scandal took shape and it was revealed that News of the World had hacked into the phone of a 13 year old murder victim. This re-sparked the police investigation into her murder because the hackers had been deleting messages.
This article relates to what we have ben learnig in commerce because it is a perfect example of unethical activity. It is a British digrace and a huge embarrisment to many people. It was bad enough that News of the World were hacking celebrities phones to make a bit of money, but hacking a murder victims phone is very low of them. This is something that will hopefully never happen again.

Tuesday, July 19

Media File #8

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July 25 2011, SMH


Just recently Google has entered the pricey world of TV advertising for the first time with an ad for its web browser Google Chrome. This ad has the celebrity endorsement of the international super star, Lady Gaga. The exact price is not listed but I would imagine it to be quite a large budget. This as promotes Google Chrome by showcasing the power of the internet and goes by the slogan "the web is what you make of it". Google's Australian head of marketing, Lucinda Barlow, said Google Australia's move to TV was brief and timed to coincide with Lady Gaga's appearance in Sydney. This, in my opinion is great because it promotes not only Google Chrome but also Lady Gaga so its like duel advertising. A very clever strategy used by Google!


Below is the Google ad:


Madia file #7

What is price? Basic Ideas of Economic Literacy
DVD Produced by Marcom Projects in 2006
Learning Seeds


This DVD asks the question, What is price? And it defines price as part of a conversation between the buyer and the seller, essentially a mutual agreement. That is usually what will drive the consumer to make a purchase; if they are willing (and not necessarily able) to outlay a certain amount of money that will be exchanged for the product. This means the price is subject to change with negotiations between the seller and the buyer. But obviously the seller wants the price to be as high as possible and the buyer wants the price to be as low as possible and the sell price is usually when the two meet in the middle. Although the seller has the final say in the selling price.

Media File #6

Video, Invisible Hand: the Economics of Daily Life
Produced by Marcom Projects (2004) - Learnifng Seeds

economics is all about opportunities, we make economic decisions  everyday and it may not have anything to do with money. Money is something that gets passed around and it circulates arund the economy. The Price of a product effects its demand, the price of a product helps balance supply and demand. Usually the higher the price of a product, the lower the demand so therefore the supply is lower. But that isnt the only factor people or the consumer respond to incentives like rewards, so they may pay a higher price for a products with incentives. When the product being purchased involves risk, if the rewards outweigh the risks the consumer are more likely to make the purchase, for example a certain home loan with a vairable interest rate.                                                

Tuesday, April 5

Media File #5

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Price wars help 'struggling' families: Coles


march 29, 2011 SMH


This article relates to what we have been talking about  in  commerce because it is talking about the "competition" price war between Coles and Woolworth's. they have recently permanently reduced their  homebarand price of milk to just $1 a litre this is not only competition between Coles and Woolworth's but it is  also ultimately driving small independent fruit shops out  of business. But Coles claims that ,"Our job...is to offer all our customers quality food that costs less and the information we have released today shows that we are doing this. No matter what your household circumstances, our Down Down price cuts are bringing real savings to real Australian families every day.'' This is interesting because obviously Coles would not say that they are trying to drive out smaller business but many are saying that, "the price war will drive customers to own-brand items and lead to reduced competition in the long-run." What Coles and Woolworth's are doing is "unethical", but it is part of business, survival of the fittest.

Wednesday, March 2

Reserve Bank REPORT

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Media File #4

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Talk of carbon tax already pushing up electricity prices 
1 March 2011, SMH
This article is talking about the carbon tax plan. Australia's biggest electricity users are complaining about the fact that electricity prices have risen by up to 4% since the announcement. The carbon tax hasn't even been implemented yet. This will also soon affect households and in turn slow spending and economic growth. Hopefully that will be balanced out by what the government spends future taxes on. (if the scheme gets through parliament) In the mean time I guess people will have to put up with the extra price rise in electricity. It seems that nothing good can come of the Carbon Tax and the majority of the Australian public disagrees with it. The question in my mind is that if nobody agrees with the Carbon Tax then why implement it, it is not a good thing to do if they want to with the next election. In commerce we have been talking about the economic cycle and this Carbon Tax is putting a strain on the taxation sector.

Media File #3

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Queensland estimates flood bill to top $5b

28 Jan 2011, SMH



This article is touching on the elaborate price tag for the recent Queensland floods; at least 5billion dollars. To help reduce this huge deficit the Gillard government has devised a temporary tax rise and budget cuts. This will slow the economy because there will be less spending by consumers with more taxes and economic leakages like government taxation. On top of all that basic fruit item costs will rise as a result of damaged crops which will also slow economic growth. This shows that a natural disaster can damage the economy in some cases as much as a dramatic interest rate rise. The insurance companies will suffer the most from all this because they are billions of dollars to pay off to all the suffering holders; as a result premiums will also go up for unaffected insurance holders. This is more money for consumers to have to pay and further economic decline.

Media File #2


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Egypt's stock exchange remains closed

Feb 21, 2011 Sydney Morning Herald
This article is talking about the fact that Egypt has closed its Stock Stock market due to the government issues in their country. This will mean that any publicly listed companies will not be trading and billions of dollars will be lost as a direct result. I believe that anger among the companies will spark and this may cause more problems than there already are. This relates to what we have been working on in commerce because it is talking about the economic cycle; and a part of it is dysfunctional at the moment. When part of the economic cycle is dysfunctional it cripples other parts, it shows that everything is linked and it almost causes a domino effect. If this goes on for too long and even now; Egypt has a long road to recovery, if they do. Investors are in doubt and the economy has been put on hold; it will be a slow and steady process to a recovery.   

Tuesday, March 1

Media File #1

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Oil prices rise on news from Libya

25 Feb 2011, Sydney Morning Herald


This article relates to what we have been learning about the economic cycle. The article is explaining how crude metal and oil prices have risen as a result of the revolt in Libya. They have stopped oil productions causing the economy to contract because of falling levels of production (output). This is a bad thing because it means that no money is being injected into the economy and as a result it is not growing. Oil is one of the biggest industries in Libya and now it's production has been put on hold. This also affects other countries indirectly because less oil will be sold to them and fuel prices especially will increase, making the public quite unhappy.  Saudi Arabia, said that it would increase oil production to make up for the lost production in Libya, if necessary. Saudi Arabia currently produces about 8.5 million barrels of oil a day and have the capacity to produce more than 12 million barrels a day. I find it interesting that the stopped production in Libya has pushed up the prices of so many raw materials like gold, silver and oil and affected so many other economies