Customer Experience
Apple TV+ Launches in November with 5 Shows
Competition in streaming is increasing, and Apple plans to enter the fray in November. “The iPhone maker is entering an increasingly crowded field, led by streaming pioneer Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. In the coming months, Walt Disney Co., AT&T Inc., and Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal will debut new offerings—all targeted at the growing ranks of viewers who are canceling cable-TV subscriptions or watching on mobile devices.”
Cereal Makers Try Again to Jump Start Stale Sales
Changing consumer behaviors present a major challenge to many legacy brands, and now cereal makers are struggling to make a comeback. “Cereal’s trials reflect broader challenges food makers face as they try to revitalize products that have been staples in American kitchens for decades to match changing tastes and heightened competition. Condensed soup sales at Campbell Soup Co. have fallen for years. Kraft Heinz Co.’s meats and cheese products have been hurt by store brands from retailers and organic alternatives.”
B2B
Giant Food Stores to Acquire Family-Owned Supermarket Chain
The grocery retailer has acquired Musser’s Markets. “Giant said the sale is expected to be completed at the end of October. The stores will temporarily close for about one week for remodeling.”
Amazon Offers Vendors ‘Amazon’s Choice’ Labels in Return for Lower Prices
Amazon’s algorithm for displaying top choices may have been trumped by bidding among vendors. “A pitch deck reviewed by Digiday details a 2017 bidding program for the Amazon’s Choice badge in a particular product category. The deck explained the Amazon’s Choice program, which launched in 2015, as valuable to brands in that it increases the visibility of a product listing in Amazon’s search results, which then drives an increase in units sold and revenue over time. An example for an Amazon’s Choice-recommended electronic product showed a 10 percent increase in units sold over one quarter and an immediate increase in the number of people going to the product page over a few weeks.”
Leadership
Beware of Employees Who Are Very Engaged in Their Work
While the benefits of an engaged employees has been well-documented, an article in The Wall Street Journal examines the downside. “New research shows that employees who are too engaged are likely to have difficulties in their personal lives and may take part in actions that negatively affect the company. In addition, such workers can become more difficult to manage over time and produce worse results.”