Should GM Go Through A Corporate Name Change?
October 12, 2009 by Jennifer McClelland · Leave a Comment
There have been more than a few companies that have replaced their names subsequent to coming under attack and going down into economic failure. Some of the companies that have done that include ValuJet or at this time known as AirTran, Altria or as you may have formerly known it, Philip Morris, and Xe, that was once known as Blackwater. Even electronics manufacturer LG has altered its name from Lucky Goldstar to simply LG and claimed that it stood for Lifes Good and now its performing very well with its sales of consumer electronics and appliances.
These corporations have done well with the name modification; it is as if they are cracking what they once were and becoming a another company with a polished, pure representation.
Marketing professionals nationally agree that the rebranding of GM could be a good thing. If the target is to attempt and put this company on a massive diet and just turn it into a smaller car manufacturing undertaking, Im not certain thered be that much damage in rebranding, said Jean-Pierre Dube, a University of Chicago marketing professor. The title isnt in good form, he said, so they have not much to lose.
The General Motors make has already grown to be a stained brand, with a reputation of constructing shabby quality cars and now with a gigantic insolvency filing under its belt, not to bring up what everyone thinks about the corporation taking all that national cash to keep from having to file for the vast bailoutwhich they filed in any case.
Of course, at the moment many GM officials are sticking to what they know and not wanting to rebrand the business. CEO Fritz Henderson stated that rebranding wasnt very high on his list of things to do in the corporation. Which is maybe a good thing to do taking into consideration all the troubles he inherited, but couldnt rebranding be given to the marketing division? In spite of everything, GM still has one of those and it really doesnt have the money to be throwing into high-cost television spots at the moment.
Little bits and parts of GM have by now begun to be rebranded; GMAC monetary services has changed its name to Ally Bank and General Motors Asset Managemnet is at the present known as Promark Global Advisors.
However, with a company that is as well known as GM might it work?
I dont see anything wrong with attempting to perhaps advertise the company another way than previously, but an entire new brand could be difficult to pull off for the corporation. I feel that the best implementation of rebranding could come from if it were to rebrand some of its subsidiaries such as Chevy or Cadillac.
Buyer Self-Confidence Reaches Six Month High-Level
October 12, 2009 by Jennifer McClelland · Leave a Comment
The customer confidence level has increased at a fairly solid rate for a couple of months, but the figures which came out today were a good deal higher than estimated as far as the increase goes. The Conference Board?s Consumer Confidence Index has a 14.1 point surge; increasing to 54.9 for the month of April. Economists were expecting a Confidence Index of 42.3. This comes just months after February?s lowest level ever of 25.3.
The buyer confidence interval is determined by a mail survey of a sample of 5,000 households in the United States from May 1st to May 19th.
The confidence interval increase means that many people are feeling more optimistic about the future of the economy including unemployment numbers. However, it is likely that the unemployment rate will hit just above 9% in the next month or two. It is nice to see that people think that things are getting better even when there are is a large number of bleak news coming from fiscal indicators.
Today when the shopper confidence index increased, so did stocks. The Dow Industrial Average increased over 200 points, or 2.4 % today after the information about shopper confidence came out.
The customer confidence index began going down in October, when it fell to 38.8. At the occasion, it was the lowest number that had ever been seen from the time when the Conference Board started tracking the confidence index.
This, by no means, means that people will begin throwing their money away on expensive clothing or other things that have been deemed ?unnecessary? in the past few months. What was once just something that may have been a splurge is now seen as frivolous and is possibly frowned upon in some collective circles.
One more reason that people aren?t spending their cash on those possessions is that there aren?t as many jobs going around anymore and that the actual wealth going around is much less than it was even a year ago. With people having less and less money, I am actually pretty surprised that the consumer confidence index has risen. Maybe people are getting so tired of the current economy that they are being overly hopeful on the surveys that are being sent out.
I mean, even this news broadcast is coming out in a helpful light following the reports last week that home prices have fallen in the sharpest turn down in the first quarter of the year.
In my hopeful point of view, perhaps this is the beginning of some sort of financial increase. If you follow the stock market, commodities market, and other indicators, then perhaps things are starting to pick up.
Polls Show Big Support For The Public Option
October 11, 2009 by Edward Ronald Jacobson · Leave a Comment
The public option has not been given a fair representation by the media or by many politicians (all Republicans and many so called “conservative Democrats.”) To hear them talk about it, you would think that the public option is some fringe idea. But the truth is even more Republican voters are for it than against it and Democratic & Independent voters are overwhelmingly in favor of it.
A recent poll from CBS/NY Times shows that a 65% of Americans support the inclusion of the public option as a part of health care reform while only 26% are opposed to the idea (the other 9% have no opinion.)
While that overall number is very impressive, I think when you break the polling numbers down by party the widespread support for the choice of a medicare type program for all Americans is even more clear.
It’s no surprise that support for the public option is strongest among Democrats. 81% of those in the Democratic party support it’s inclusion as a part of health care reform. What’s surprising is how many Democratic Senators are willing to vote against their own constituents in favor of the health insurance industry. Democratic Senators Baucus, Conrad, Lincoln, Nelson, & Carper all voted against the public option amendment on 9/29/09 and should all be voted out of office next time they are up for re-election in favor of a real Democrat (obviously Republicans shouldn’t even be considered, their party is so insanely out of touch as to not be relevant.)
Considering the fact that a huge majority of Americans support the public option and the fact that it’s been estimated that it will save billions of dollars, what reasons could a Senator have for voting against it?
People who are neither Republicans or Democrats (the all important “Independent” voters who usually swing general elections) support the public option by a 2 to 1 margin (61% to 30%.)
As strong as the support is from Democrats & Independents, I think the most impressive part of this poll is that 47% of Republicans support the public option vs. only 42% who are opposed to it! This is despite the massive amount of anti public option propaganda (lies) spread by the right wing media (Fox News) and Republican politicians.
It’s obvious that the public option must be included as a part of health care reform so that it’s meaningful reform that creates real options for the American people and real competition for the private health insurance companies. And it’s clear now that all of the nonsense and lies of the right wing propaganda machine have started to die out that the American people strongly support the public option. Now it’s time for the politicians to do the right thing for a change and make the changes that we voted them into power to make.
Unemployed Claims Are Starting To Drop
October 11, 2009 by Jennifer McClelland · Leave a Comment
The quantity of people who are newly unemployed are starting to request less unemployment benefits. The government claimed on Thursday that the quantity of requests for unemployment benefits are finally starting to taper off. The unfortunate news is that the number of individuals who are still collecting jobless benefits has risen to 6.78 million, which is the biggest amount on record ever since 1967.
The Labor Department claimed that the amount of primary claims for jobless benefits has decreased from 636,000 to 623,000. The figure is less than the estimates given from analysts of 635,000.
Additional good news came from the government today stated that demand for ?expensive manufactured merchandise? posted their second rise in three months in April. This may possibly mean that the manufacturing downturn is finally lessening also.
There was also bad news in the report from Thursday. The government released information stating that the sale of new houses were dull in April. At the side of that information, 12% of homeowners were behind schedule on their mortgage payment or were previously in foreclosure.
Needless to say, there were numerous lay-offs to be reported through the jobless claims. Many of which were directly connected to the Auto industry.
Initial unemployment claims a year ago were at 378,000, and we were technically in a downturn then as well. The numbers at the moment are still far-off from what a booming economy should be performing at. With unemployment claims increasing, even if they aren?t growing at the pace that some were predicting, many are predicting the jobless numbers to rise from 8.9% in April to 10% by the end of the year. 5.7 million jobs have been lost since December 2007 ? The most since World War 2.
California finished ahead reporting the biggest increase in claims of only 5,447. The increases could be directly attributed to layoffs in construction, commerce and service industries that are inclined to cater to wealthier patrons. At the same time, Michigan reported a reduction in claims. A plunge of 9,758 in that state was said to be directly correlated to the cut in layoffs in the auto industry.
It is nice to observe some development in the unemployment claims across the board. Once more, as a brand new graduate any information coming from the employment area in the upbeat direction is welcomed information. I?m confident there are an abundance of individuals who are either without a job or who are apprehensive about their own job security that are looking at this news and breathing a tiny sigh of relief at the same time.
Out Of Work Claims Are Beginning To Fall
October 10, 2009 by Jennifer McClelland · Leave a Comment
The amount of individuals who are recently jobless are begining to apply for less unemployment benefits. The government said on Thursday that the quantity of requests for unemployment benefits are finally beginning to calm down. The regrettable news is that the quantity of individuals who are still receiving unemployment benefits has risen to 6.78 million, which is the highest number on record since 1967.
The Labor Department said that the number of primary claims for unemployment benefits has dropped from 636,000 to 623,000. The amount is lower than the estimates given from analysts of 635,000.
Extra sunny news came from the government today saying that demand for ?big ticket manufactured goods? posted their second rise in three months in April. This may perhaps mean that the manufacturing downturn is finally lessening also.
There was also bad news in the report from Thursday. The government released information stating that the sale of new houses were dull in April. At the side of that information, 12% of homeowners were behind schedule on their mortgage payment or were previously in foreclosure.
Of course, there were quite a few lay-offs to be reported through the jobless claims. Many of which were directly related to the Auto industry.
Initial jobless claims a year ago were at 378,000, and we were officially in a slump then also. The figures at the moment are still far-off from what a prosperous economy should be functioning at. With jobless claims rising, even if they aren?t rising at the pace that some were predicting, many are predicting the jobless numbers to rise from 8.9% in April to 10% by the end of the year. 5.7 million jobs have been lost since December 2007 ? The most since World War 2.
California finished ahead reporting the biggest increase in claims of only 5,447. The increases could be directly attributed to layoffs in construction, commerce and service industries that are inclined to cater to wealthier patrons. At the same time, Michigan reported a reduction in claims. A plunge of 9,758 in that state was said to be directly correlated to the cut in layoffs in the auto industry.
It is good to observe some development in the unemployment claims across the board. Once more, as a brand new graduate any information coming from the employment area in the upbeat direction is welcomed information. I?m positive there are an abundance of individuals who are either without a job or who are worried about their own job security that are looking at this news and breathing a small sigh of relief at the same time.
Killing for Ratings?
August 30, 2009 by Josh McDowell · Leave a Comment
Literally. That is the accusation against Wallace Souza, a former police officer, politician and television host in Brazil. Souza hosts a highly-rated real crime television program based in Manaus, a city deep in the Amazon rainforest. Souza and his son Rafael (who is currently incarcerated on multiple charges, including homicide) are accused of orchestrating murders, and then sending out his TV crews to get exclusive video and thereby boost his ratings on his TV show Canal Livre.
But wait, theres more: Souza is also accused of being a drug trafficker, and that the murder victims were often his competition for drug operations in the area. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
State police intelligence chief Thomaz Vasconcelos said in an interview with The Associated Press, “The order to execute always came from the legislator and his son, who then alerted the TV crews to get to the scene before the police,” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/11/wallace-souza-brazilian-t_n_257061.html
Canal Livre is based on showing the rise of crime in and around Manaus, and the state of Amazonas. The city of Manaus has a population of 1.7 million people in a region that is otherwise sparsely populated, but largely lawless. It is a hub city for all sorts of goods as it sits on the confluence of the Negro and Solimoes rivers. It is also a hub for drug traffickers throughout the Northern part of South America.
Below is a clip from the Canal Livre show. It shows a Canal Livre reporter arriving at the scene of a homicide before the police where the victim was burned and the body was still smoking. WARNING: The video is not for the squeamish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jll87TT8yMY