#consumer perceptions

[guyrcook]

Bright lights

The new 3 bulb lights in the “long room” have exceeded expectations for bright.

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[guyrcook]

Audi service call

Audi of TRI CITIES does great service, but doesn’t have recliners to wait in 🙂 2 hours of just sitting. Mounted the same STRATEGO to keep same.

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[heliosmou]

When what you’re buying online is not what you think you’re buying. RUSTICO

Know WP switched to Block format. Wished they offered that as option instead of default. Just saying. Have no idea how it’ll look when published, cause I never bother to. It was a WP glitch. Oh, well. The RUSTICO Experience Just received messenger bag. I’d like to know who designed it and what they were thinking when they designed it. This bag is seriously flawed. When I tried to adjust the…

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[contoh-skripsi-blog]

http://contoh-skripsi.com/ramdhani-muhammad-iqbal-and-magnadi-rizal-hari-2014-analisis-perbedaan-persepsi-konsumen-terhadap-kualitas-produk-international-brand-spare-part-dan-local-brand-spare-part-studi-pada-toko-spare

RAMDHANI, Muhammad Iqbal and MAGNADI , Rizal Hari (2014) ANALISIS PERBEDAAN PERSEPSI KONSUMEN TERHADAP KUALITAS PRODUK INTERNATIONAL BRAND SPARE PART DAN LOCAL BRAND SPARE PART (Studi pada Toko Spare Part Nufi Motor Kudus). Undergraduate thesis, Fakultas Ekonomika dan Bisnis. http://contoh-skripsi.com/ramdhani-muhammad-iqbal-and-magnadi-rizal-hari-2014-analisis-perbedaan-persepsi-konsumen-terhadap-kualitas-produk-international-brand-spare-part-dan-local-brand-spare-part-studi-pada-toko-spare

[wantedworldwide]

Lexus – Not so big in Japan or: How to shift consumer perceptions

Lexus arrived in America in 1989 as part of Toyota’s effort to compete directly with German’s top luxury sedans without challenging its economically conservative image by importing high-end domestic automobiles and rebranding them; Honda and Nissan did the same with Acura and Infiniti, respectively.

 Their approach was simple – leverage the renowned Japanese manufacturing expertise, over-engineer the heck out of the car, use compelling advertising and sell it at a significant savings over a Mercedes Benz. As they say, “The proof is in the pudding,” and for nearly a decade Lexus was the automotive industry’s leading luxury sedan. Of course, having rappers like Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G idolize the brand didn’t hurt, either.

 So naturally, when my Japanese colleagues told me that Toyota is making significant effort to compete domestically against Mercedes, Audi and BMW, I quickly responded “Why not get some rappers to rap about it?” After several minutes of playing charades and grasping for a more suitable word for “rapper,” I remembered how vastly different Japan is from America and switched gears.

 During my three year stint in Tokyo, I became quite familiar with the older, conservative Celsior owner who - through no choice of his own - is now driving a Lexus LS series sedan.  Of course he could care less because he wouldn’t think of driving anything foreign or even driving for that matter as a majority of these cars sold are chauffeured.

 Strangely enough, the younger audience Toyota is targeting shares this extreme sense of pride and although they want a BMW as soon as they get one they often end up driving their father’s Lexus because they don’t like the harsh handling German sedans are renowned for.

 So why are they buying a BMW in the first place, and what can be done to change this? Here are a couple of quick thoughts:

   Communication

The first thing you notice when you go to Lexus Japan LS web page is a “gaijin” (foreigner) who is eventually driving with a beautiful Japanese woman. While Japan may be perceived to be enamored with Western trends (John and Yoko aside), if you are a young Japanese man with an inherited sense of national pride, are you really dreaming up this image? Loose the gaijin (unless they are wildly famous and speak to your audience, i.e., when Leonardo DiCaprio started driving a Prius, everyone was talking about it in Japan). Make the car and being Japanese the hero. Make it undesirable to buy anything except a Lexus and show the car driving in Tokyo and not some mountain road because who really goes there anyway?

   The Hero – Limited Edition

The Japanese are masters of the “limited edition.” They love them. So why not take the “F-line” and make it relevant to this audience. Create a new version of it - and whatever it is, keep the naming direct and simple. The best part about this is that it can be entirely cosmetic:

 Lose all the chrome

 Body match or use limited edition accent color for all emblems, trim, etc.

Offer limited edition paint in three colors – with one additional color only available that specific model year

Make one unique branded style of wheels – make them good!

Monochrome the interior instrumentation and illumination

Custom stitch the leather and wrap the entire interior in it including the dashboard.

It is possible to take this a step further and tweak the performance, in which case you would delineate it  as ”Stage 2” or something akin to Audi’s “S” and “RS” lines.

  Curated Lifestyle

Japan does not have the same dealer network as the United States and therefore cannot distinguish itself with luxury amenities and services that America does.  What it does have is an endless sea of new restaurants, cocktail lounges, high-end clubs and luxury stores hidden behind secret entrances or flaunted in Aoyama and the tops of skyscrapers. Now that we made the car “cool,” curate the rest with an exclusive membership card providing access to pre-openings, shopping events, exclusive nights out, etc.  If all else fails, do a massive collaboration with Louis Vuitton … who wouldn’t want an LV-LEXUS?

  To be continued… 

[tradingbulletin-blog]

New Post has been published on Trading Review 360

New Post has been published on http://tradingreview360.com/grinches-at-citi-fire-11000-but-its-the-right-move/

Grinches at Citi Fire 11,000 … But It's the Right Move

[Stocks Technical Analysis] TradingReview360.com: We aim to bring you the best articles from around the globe. The post below is for those interested in Trading of Penny Stocks.

Warning: Penny stock/ micro-cap trading has high potential risk and should not be attempted until a full understanding of them is attained.

Read on to learn more:

Citigroup (NYSE:C) just installed a new CEO in October, and Michael Corbat certainly isn’t wasting any time in his new role.

Even if it means ruining some bankers’ holidays.

We’ll get to the details in a second. But the million-dollar question is, of course, whether this move is good long-term for Citi. My take is that it likely will be – simply because of the seismic shift in the banking environment, regulatory environment and consumer perceptions of big banks over the last five years.

Consider Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), which cut 30,000 jobs amid the financial crisis … and then announced another 16,000 layoffs in September to send its headcount back to crisis-level lows. BofA adjusted down correctly, but adjusted up prematurely.

This summer there were rumblings of piecemeal banking layoffs at Citigroup, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and others. But clearly if the environment remains unfavorable to banks, they should adjust to the “new normal” rather than act like things are hunky-dory when they are not.

It has been a good year for banking stocks, with the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE:XLF) up 20%, nearly doubling the market’s return in 2012. The XLF is led by Bank of America stock, which has doubled year-to-date, and nearly 30% returns for both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. That’s because profitability has markedly improved at most of these bank stocks.

But this optimism has occurred despite continued top-line declines. Bank of America has seen revenue plummet from $150 billion in 2009 to a pace of just $89 billion for the current fiscal year – and a meager forecast of just $92 billion in 2013. Citigroup is in the same boat, with revenue of $108 billion in 2009 but a pace of just $71 billion this year and forecasts of $79 billion in 2013.

The only way to make more money is to cut. And Citi and BofA are tired of cutting a little here and a little there, and have decided to really gut operations in late 2012 rather than draw things out any longer.

Considering the stagnant top line, this is the right move for Citi – even if it’s unfortunate for the bankers who have been living on edge for months and will certainly have a gloomy holiday as a result of the news.

Layoff Details

In case you want specifics, Citigroup just issued a press release announcing it will cut 11,000 jobs. Citi will take a $1 billion charge this quarter as a result, and another $100 million in restructuring charges across the beginning months of 2013. But Citi stock seems to think that’s a small price to pay for efficiency, with shares trending up at the opening bell on the news.

Citi expects “repositioning activity” to be largely focused on the Institutional Clients group and the Global Consumer Banking division. In total, 88 branches will be closing worldwide, including 44 in the U.S.

The choice line from Citi’s release is this quote from Corbat:

“These actions are logical next steps in Citi’s transformation. While we are committed to – and our strategy continues to leverage – our unparalleled global network and footprint, we have identified areas and products where our scale does not provide for meaningful returns. And we will further increase our operating efficiency by reducing excess capacity and expenses, whether they center on technology, real estate or simplifying our operations.”

Related Reading

Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com and the author of “The Frugal Investor’s Guide to Finding Great Stocks.” Write him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.

Check out the original source here.

What Are Penny Stocks?

Penny stocks, also known as cent stocks in some countries, are common shares of small public companies that trade at low prices per share. In the United States, the SEC defines a penny stock as one that trades below $5 per share.[1] In the United Kingdom, stocks priced under £1 are called penny shares. In the case of many penny stocks, low market price inevitably leads to low market capitalization. Such stocks can be highly volatile and subject to manipulation by stock promoters and pump and dump schemes. Such stocks present a high risk for investors, who are often lured by the hope of large and quick profits. Penny stocks in the USA are often traded over-the-counter on the OTC Bulletin Board, or Pink Sheets.[2] In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have specific rules to define and regulate the sale of penny stocks. [edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_stock