Name Recognition

I got this email this morning from buy.com that read: $10 Nano MP3 player. Of course, I knew there had to be a catch, like "only 70 available" or multiple rebate offers, but it never crossed my mind that the Nano MP3 player they were referring to was the Creative Zen Nano, and not Apple's iPod Nano. I don't know who stole the name from who (I suspect Creative) but it seems a little misleading that both companies can call their products "Nano." What if Dell called their new computer a Dimension G4? Or if another company came out with a video game called "Karaoke Hero"? Sure, the words Nano, G4 or Hero could be used freely, and while it might help to boost your product by using the name of a familiar (and popular) brand, wouldn't the best way to market be to have a superior product and increase your own unique name recognition?

Black Friday

I spent Black Friday in Maryland this year. Here are two photos from the day. This first one is from Circuit City around 4am, 1 hour before opening. The line was pretty long, and the green awning on the left isn't even the entrance to the store. The actual entrance was about 100 feet to the left. The scene got pretty bad once the doors opened, and people really ran around and formed a mob entering the store.

This second photo is from inside Staples, around 6:15am. Staples opened at 6am, but look how crowded it is!

Always Low Prices

I went to Walmart for the first time on Monday. There isn't a Walmart in any of the areas of New York that I've grown up or lived in, so I didn't know what the big deal was. We have Costco, Kmart and Target, but none of them prepared me for the spectacle of Walmart.

I had heard so much about Walmart, the way they do business, they way they screen products, the way they treat employees, and of course, the greeters.

When I stepped inside, there was a burly man in a blue Walmart apron in a wheelchair handing out shopping carts. "Ah! The greeters." I thought to myself, although I had imagined a pair of grandparents instead of the wheelchair fellow. Then as I stepped further into the store (or warehouse), I was taken aback by the giant supermarket that was connected to the giant everything else store. It was sort of similar to Costco, but at Costco you feel like it's "land of the giants" since everything comes in such large, bulk packaging. Walmart has individual items. And it was much larger than any Target or Kmart I'd ever seen.

The prices were so low, too. It's no wonder this company is so big and has such an impact on our country. I was so blown away by the enormity of the whole experience, I forgot what I had gone in there to buy (I had to go back the next day). I never did get a chance to consult the workers regarding their wages or health insurance. There was a Walmart greeter, however.