Thanksgiving. Turkey Day. The fourth Thursday in November. In the consumer world, it’s the day before the biggest ad and sale day in the US…that’s right, Thanksgiving is the day that precedes…(lightning flashes, thunder claps, the sky goes gray)…Black FridayBullitt video
. For consumers looking to score a killer deal, collectors looking to well, do some more collecting, or early-birds just looking to start Christmas shopping the first official day it’s acceptable, Black Friday is a dream come true.
For me, it is the day that I make sure not to leave the house. I dust, I make friendship bracelets, I jump rope, basically I do anything but shop. However, this year I have decided to enter the world o’ crazies and venture to the mall in search of some sweet savings.
My goal, to purchase a new computer.
My first choice, the Apple store.
Will I survive? Not likely.
Second choice, Best Buy. Probably worse off (see video). And if neither of those work, I will to retreat back to my lair and opt for my third choice, which brings me another extremely interesting day of the year, Cyber Monday.
Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday and is considered the beginning of the Christmas online shopping season. Last year, Cyber Monday resulted in a record sales volume of $733 million, up 21% over Cyber Monday 2006. The question remains as to whether 2008 will experience similar success. Quite frankly, I bet Cyber Monday will be a huge hit. Although gas prices have lowered over the last couple weeks, driving remains limited and online dealers will likely address the sub-par economy with lowered prices, crazy sales, and extra-great bargains, fueling a consumer shopping online frenzy. The downfall, it’s a Monday. A Monday after a break and I doubt many people have Cyber Monday off.
After many years and millions of emails, I finally received a SPAM message that I can finally take advantage of (insert assorted joke here).? Tremors 4: The Legend Begins hdToy Story video The US Local Business Association recently deemed gap intelligence, inc the 2008 Best Market Research & Analysis company of all of San Diego.? Naturally we are flattered to receive such a prestigious award and never thought that the day would come that we would receive top billing in America?s Finest City.*** Huge asterisk here for footnote below.?
We are thrilled about winning the Best of 2008 San Diego Award and hope to defend our title in 2009. ?We are actually considering expanding our eligible categories by entering the Best of ?Most Boston Red Sox Fans Employed?, ?Worst Air Conditioned / Heated Building?, and ?Most Coffee Consumed?.
WASHINGTON D.C., November 24, 2008 — GAP Intelligence has been selected for the 2008 Best of San Diego Award in the Market Research & Analysis category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA).
The USLBA “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USLBA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.
Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2008 USLBA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USLBA and data provided by third parties.
About U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA)
U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USLBA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.
Memoirs of a Geisha video The USLBA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.
CONTACT:
U.S. Local Business Association
Email: PublicRelations@USLBA.net
URL: http://www.USLBA.net
Congratulations to US!!
***Huge asterisk:? We are well aware that the US Local Business Association is a fictitious organization hoping to make money on the sale of their $1 plaques.? Rest Stop release
We never inquired about buying our own plaque, but could not pass the opportunity to exploit a free press release and image of our award.Bled hd
? If you are a small business owner and have received a similar award from the USLBA, please read the ?red flag? status the Better Business Bureau gave the organization earlier this year.
We always try to go big for theHolidays.City of God buyOutside of our constant flood of market intelligence reports and databases, one of the few occasions that our clients see us is through a company Holiday Card.The Postman Always Rings Twice pspPersonally, I have never understood why companies would send cards of a ?Snowy Pine Tree? or ?Cutesy Puppy Dog in a Stocking? to associates and colleagues.Holiday Cards are about giving and celebrations and we have always used them to show the fun side of our marketing research company.
For the 2009 Holiday Card, we went with the ?Baseball Fan? concept, where we would pose as rowdy baseball fans atPetcoPark, home of the San Diego Padres.
Once there, we realized that the stadium, which normally functions as a city park and is open to the public, was CLOSED because of the recent Madonna concert!!
In a pich, we called our good friends at Red Door Interactive, who have office space in the super luxurious Diamond View building and they were kind enough to give us access to the building?s top viewing deck on the 15thfloor.The scene was just awesome as we had PetcoParkThe Spirit movie downloadRocky Balboa move and the amazing
On the way up, we stuffed ourselves into the elevator, which resulted in some of the funnier ?cramped elevator? shots.
We took some group shots with the signs, a bunch of smaller group candid shots.None of these shots are used in the actual card ? but thought we would share some of the more creative moments of gap intelligence.
Bubble, Bubble, Bubble.. The aftermath of the last big bubble, analysis of the current bubble, how to guard against the next bubble. There is no avoiding it. Every time we turn around it seems we’re inundated by bubbles. Speculative bubbles are both everyone’s favorite scapegoat and next great opportunity. From Holland’s Tulip ManiaAmerican High School film
Bubble of 1637 to the more recent examples that are currently affecting our economy, speculative bubbles throughout history have followed the same general blueprint. It has been proven time and time again, excessive buying that results in unjustified price inflation will eventually result in market contraction. download Shuttle dvdThe Long Goodbye ipod
Ricoh completed its $1.6 billion acquisition of IKON Office Solutions last week, vaulting the manufacturer to the forefront of the office machine market and inciting what may prove to be the greatest run on dealer acquisitions to date – or the next big bubble. The deal is expected to allow Ricoh to surpass Xerox as the top selling office equipment manufacturer worldwide, as the company upgrades the estimated 720,000 non-Ricoh products that IKON has in the field. The acquisition also provides Ricoh with access to IKON’s impressive Fortune 500 and public sector client list, adds 400 sales and service locations, and significantly bolsters the manufacturer’s print services resume.
Since the merger was first announced in late August, rumors of impending consolidation and market-wide buying sprees have dominated conversations across the internet and around the water cooler. With memories of Xerox’ purchase of Global Imaging and Konica Minolta’s acquisition of Danka Imaging still fresh, manufacturers quickly turned their attention to independent dealers across the country to ensure that their foothold in the channel remains intact. By the end of September, Canon had already acquired office equipment distributor Newcal Industries, reportedly outbidding Xerox by 20 percent, and revealing plans to expand its sales network. Toshiba further fueled consolidation forecasts last week, announcing its acquisition of HPS Office Systems. Suddenly the value of the mom and pop copier dealership around the corner (not to mention regional distributor) is appreciating faster than a Southern Californian McMansion circa 2005 – and that was a big bubble.
It should be noted that the overlying theme of consolidation within the office machine channel is nothing new. All it takes is a Google search for “Independent Copier Dealer” to illustrate the fact that independent dealers are formed far less often than they are being acquired. In fact, IKON arguably had more influence in this phenomenon than any other company. IKON (then Alco) was among the first true copier dealer conglomerates, acquiring 450 independent dealers during the 1980s, and quickly emerging as a dominant player in the channel. IKON was also instrumental in educating manufacturers on the importance of maintaining control over channel partners, as it later dropped Sharp and slashed much of the vendor’s US presence almost overnight.
Beyond possibly jump-starting the independent dealer boom of 2009, the acquisition of IKON presents several very real challenges for both Ricoh and IKON’s now-former partner Canon. Canon devices represented roughly 60 percent of IKON’s revenue and the termination of the relationship is surely keeping both manufacturers up at night.
Late last week Canon notified its dealers that the manufacturer will no longer supply copiers to the new Ricoh-IKON entity, essentially green-lighting competition with its expiring IKON contracts. Similar to when Jerry Maguire was unceremoniously ousted from Sports Management International, you can guarantee that Canon’s network of Maguires plan to bring their share of Rod Tidwells
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with them. Like its previous contract terminations with both Danka and Global Imaging, it is very clear that Canon will not sell through its competition, even if it means a remarkable drop in channel presence. Canon will likely rely on dealer-friendly incentives as a short-term solution to its sudden loss in volume, but the vendor has no choice but to expand its direct and authorized network in order to maintain market share.
Despite Canon’s ongoing independent dealer push, the manufacturer has just 53 direct branches providing the company with few opportunities to make up for the lost channel presence in the near future. With the prospect of a 40 percent lower US channel presence on Canon’s mind and promises of an expanded sales network published, expanding its direct distribution network is undoubtedly at the top of the manufacturer’s priority list. Canon’s expected channel push will place similar pressure on every other vendor that relies on independent dealers to sell MFPs, laying the groundwork for an unprecedented year of acquisitions.
The supply void created by the end of Canon’s distribution partnership with IKON and the promise of aggressive competition for the manufacturer’s existing contracts provides Ricoh with its own set of challenges. Given the added financial burden created by the $1.6 billion acquisition, which comes in conjunction with the company’s first drop in quarterly sales in 15 years, Ricoh is ill-equipped to invest in rapid capacity expansion. With that, it is likely that Ricoh will look to competing manufacturers to sell though the new reseller entity, delaying returns on many of the advantages that it sought to gain through the acquisition. The deal also disrupts the distribution of Ricoh’s various brands and may concern some of its independent authorized dealers that share sales regions with IKON’s 400 locations.
And so it continues, as the worldwide economy tries to buy its way out of the latest bust, MFP manufacturers move forward on a trend that has all the makings of a bubble. The need to establish and expand direct sales bases have never been more emphasized and the number of available independent dealers has never seemed more limited. Many manufacturers will see little choice but to expand their direct sales network, likely resulting in aggressive bidding wars, unrealistically steep premiums, and some unsound business decisions. That said, with dealerships rapidly being purchased, manufacturers have little choice but to take part in the ongoing consolidation and unlike previous bubbles, the true winners will not be the parties that resisted the trend. As long as the current copier business model remains intact, manufacturers who remain conscious of dealers’ intrinsic value and make sound investments will be best positioned as the latest boom period concludes.