The Bowtie Brand

   
   Chevrolet was founded on November 3, 1911 by race car driver Louis Chevrolet and William Durant (co-founder of General Motors). At the time that Chevrolet was first created Durant had recently been ousted from the management of General Motors and he desired to prove himself to potentially regain a foothold within the company. He assisted Louis Chevrolet in the design and development of the the first Chevrolet Automobile the Series C Classic Six. It was soon after the production of the Series C that Chevrolet adopted the bowtie emblem (1913). In 1915 Louis Chevrolet had become disgruntled with Durant and decided to sell his shares of Chevrolet Automobiles to Durant. Also around this time the company had become so profitable that in 1916 Durant was able to buy a controlling interest in General Motors Corporation.  In 1917 Chevrolet Automobiles and General Motors Corporation merged and Chevrolet became the first division under the General Motors (GM) Holding Company. By 1918 Chevrolet introduced the V8 engine into production and was the leading seller for V8 powered automobiles with their Model D.  As the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s progressed the most affordable automobiles were Plymouth Ford and Chevrolet, offering the most for the least amount of money. As the GM Holding Company grew, procuring Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, GMC Trucks, Cadillac and other brands, Chevrolet remained the brand that targeted the broadest market offering the most affordable vehicles. The GM business plan was to get people to buy Chevrolet and move up the lineup of divisions progressing to more luxurious brands such as Pontiac and Cadillac. In 1953 the revolutionary Corvette was born and began to represent Chevrolet with performance unmatched by any other brand. Since then and continuing to today, the Chevrolet Corvette is America's super-car. Also notable in 1955 Chevrolet developed the basic small-block V8 design, which has been utilized since its debut each year only with slight modifications, similar to a platform with beta updates in the web 2.0 webspace. In 1966 the Camaro was released to compete with the popular selling Ford Mustang. Also during the muscle car era the Nova, El Camino and Chevelle were released. 

    Today, Chevrolet produces the Silverado pick-up truck, Colorado sub compact pick-up truck, Avalanche mid-size pick-up, Express van, Sonic, Cruze and Aveo sub-compact cars, Malibu and Impala full-size cars, Camaro muscle/pony car, Corvette sportscar, Equinox and Traverse crossovers and the Volt for the growing hybrid market. I currently own a Camaro and it has been the nicest automobile I have owned for the amount of money I paid. My father owns a Silverado that was just as impressive. Chevrolet truly embraces the American Spirit.

iOctober 4....are you iReady?

With the iPhone 5 debut only 7 days away, Apple submitted a few clues to the media through a cleverly created collage of icons. The icons used were the ones from the iPhone OS that everyone who has ever looked at n iPhone is familiar with. The first icon was the calendar icon displaying Tuseday: 4 (indicating Tuesday October 4, 2011). The second icon was the clock icon displaying 10:00, followed by the map icon and a pin on the location of the Apple headquarters (where the event is to be held). The final most misunderstood icon was the phone icon with a red number 1 (usually used to indicate the number of missed calls). Then the words: "Let's talk iPhone."Analysts from digital magazines and online sites have been trying to figure out what this last icon is supposed to indicate. The most accepted theory is that although consumers and carriers have been hoping for a low end iPhone: that could be sold to carriers for cheap and inturn be sold to users for lower prices is still just a dream. Many thought that Apple would release a low end iPhone because it would offer affordable, unsubsidized phones that could potentially be use by carriers to penetrate more target markets. Also most analysts anticipate that the focus of the event on Tuesday October 4, 2011 will be focused on the unveiling of the iPhone 5, its projected A5 processor (same as iPad 2), and its new design features as well as iOS 5 and the cloud computing capabilities of iOS 5.  The final element many believe that Apple will stress is the fact that iPhone 5 will be available for AT&T, Verizon and now Sprint in the US and its availability in China. The "iCollage" can be seen below:

The relevancy to the industry in this case shows that with the release of the iPhone 5 only being the singular subsidized model, Apple is missing the opportunity to get into the lower class market share. If they create a low end model, as suggested by many analysts, both carriers and Apple would benefit. As an iPhone user, i frankly do not feel effected by this as I have Verizon and therefore am bound by contract. 

sources:

What to expect Oct 4 -Apple 2.0 CNN Money
Let's talk: 1 new iPhone, not 2? -Apple 2.0 CNN Money

Decepticons? No Problem!

I Drove It To The Levy But The Levy Was Dry

       Chevy! Who? Chevy! The company I decided to select for my analysis on web presence was Chevrolet, the division of General Motors. The major factor for my selecting this company was because I own a Chevrolet have not been happier with my purchase. Although many consider my buying the Chevrolet Camaro was an ill planned purchase, I feel I made a good decision and do not have buyer's remorse. This is not my first experience with Chevrolet or let alone a General Motor's (GM) product. In fact I have experience other brands such as Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Lexus and Chrysler. Growing up my family was not the best off and my parents could not afford the expensive American cars, this is when I had my first experience with Nissan and Toyota. Although both cars were reliable, they did not offer much for interior amenities without adding more money. The next purchases my family experienced in terms of automobiles was a Ford F-250 pickup truck and a Ford Thunderbird coupe. Although both had nice interior amenities, both suffered engine troubles almost monthly, I took note of this when I began to age around my teens. The next set of automobiles my parents bought were a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado pickup and a Chrysler LHS. The Silverado was extremely affordable and had almost all the amenities plus add-ons available, it truly was a cowboy's Cadillac. The Chrysler, however was a bit pricey and suffered interior problems: within months the window motors failed and the speakers blew. 

    Once I was old enough to purchase my first automobile, I found a 1998 Pontiac Trans Am (a former GM product) that I owned for nearly 6 years before I sold it. The only reason I sold it was because I was offered the Coast Guard Academy loan and had my sights set on the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. The Pontiac was still running strong when I sold it with no major issues at the age of 12 years. Currently as I stated I own a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro,  my mother owns a 2006 Lexus GS450, and my father owns a 2006 GMC Sierra (another GM product) as well as the 2000 Chevrolet Silverado which still runs strong and has only had 1 interior issue.

1998 Pontiac Trans Am WS6 "Priscilla"

   It is my belief that you can tell a lot about a person by the image they portray and that includes the car they drive. I myself consider my fascination with cars to be a hobby, as I like to work on my cars modifying them and maintaining them. It is for this reason I believe Chevrolet is a great fit for my needs of both image and lifestyle, thus leading to the reason I chose the company to analyze.

2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS "Nickki"

iReturn Soon

The new, highly sought after iPhone 5 is planned to be unveiled October 4, 2011 at a special event. The next question after the unveiling will inevitably be 'When can I buy the new iPhone?' In an attempt to answer this question, John Paczkowski of All Things Digital (a department of the Wall Street Journal),  analyzed the lag times of previous Apple products. The following was discovered:

As can be seen on the chart to the left, the original iPhone took 171 days to become available from the time it was unveiled. That time frame was reduced with the iPhone 3G which took 32 days, and the iPhone 3GS with 11 days. The iPhone 4, however took longer than the 3GS with 17 days from unveiling to release. Analyzing these figures was important for Mr. Paczkowski to estimate the availability of the iPhone 5 from the release date of Oct 4.

Paczkowski estimated that based on the trends from the chart that the iPhone 5 will be available in the month of October. He estimates roughly 2-3 weeks after the special event that wireless phone providers such as Verizon and AT&T will have the product on their shelves ready for purchase. Another factor that Paczkowski utilized was the fact that Apple will be now selling the iPhone 5 through 228 carriers world wide, including the Republic of China. With this many potential buyers, Paczkowski believes Apple will be more likely to reduce the lag time between the unveiling and the sales periods.

This is important again once to me as a potential iPhone 5 buyer but also to corporations. The corporations are beginning to reanalyze the use of smartphones in the industry. Many companies are switching from RIM's Blackberry to Android and iPhones. I have seen also many potential clients in the entertainment industry, as my uncle sets up events for high profile clients of his hotel company. With the release of the iPhone 5 the market share will probably shift and Apple stocks will rise.

iWin.....again

The highly anticipated iPhone 5, rumored to be released sometime after October has proven to be on many iPhone 4 users' wish lists, at least for those 2,200 surveyed by ChangeWave. The revolutionary Apple iPhone 5 is confirmed to be available to Verizon and AT&T customers with a rumor of availability to Sprint subscribers. The iPhone 4 was released in 2010 and when the same survey was conducted the numbers showed promise of many purchasing the iPhone 4, with the new survey the numbers are higher than the previous. The results are displayed below:

From the chart on the Left it is obvious that the iPhone 5 is anticipated to out sell its predecessor. Those reporting to "somewhat likely" buy the iPhone increased by 5%. Also the "very likely" category also increased, however only by 1%.

Even with Sprint only being rumored to carry the iPhone 5, 54% of those surveyed (that were Sprint customers) said they would likely switch from their current phone to an iPhone 5. Of those surveyed who were already iPhone users, 66% said they were likely to switch to the newer iPhone 5 upon release.

Why is this relevant to industry and business? Well consider the fact that a majority of people nowadays utilizes a cellular phone. Also consider the fact that Apple's CEO Steve Jobs just retired. Also consider the fact that most executives carry cellular phones. This article is especially relevant to me because of the fact that I own an iPhone 4 and am a fan of Apple products. I believe that Apple stocks will succeed from the much anticipated release of this product.

source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/09/13/survey-shows-unprecedented-demand-for-apples-iphone-5/

Defining 3 Brands That Define Me

Today's automobiles offer a multitude of options and come with many standard features that often define or set the brands appart from one another. Chevrolet is no different, although it may be  celebrating it's 100th birthday in November. As an automotive company, Chevrolet always strived to offer above average experiences and options to everyday priced vehicles. Founded by race car driver Louis Chevrolet and William Durant, the company was to offer Chevrolet auto bodies with Buick engines, but soon both automobile companies were under General Motors Holdings. This offered Durant a new opportunity to evolve Chevrolet into the affordable auto brand. As General Motors grew in size via aquiring companies, Chevrolet became the company known for making technology and performance affordable, a description which is still known today. In the late 1950's the small block V8 was introduced to the world by Chevrolet and with it's arrival the auto industry was revolutionized as small blocks were producing more horsepower than before. The break thru was so advanced for it's time that even today similarly based small block V8 engines are used in models today such as the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette. The company offers a range of vehicles for the buyers' needs, trucks, vans, SUVs, sedans and sports cars. The company offers car sales service, repair service and financing service through General Motors, as Chevrolet is a brand or division of General Motors. (http://www.chevrolet.com/culture/article/chevrolet-centennial/)

Computers are supposed to make life easier but how does someone who has been described as a techno-phobe survive in an IT world? simple solution, as I myself can be considered a techno-phone, I use Apple Inc. 's Macintosh Computer on a daily basis and I get my work done. Since 1976, Steves and Steve Wozniak's co-founding company ha revolutionized the way the user experiences the personal computer. The first Apple product was the Apple 1 which was a basic motherboard that required the buyer to build into a computer for use, later down the line the Apple product line up offered a fully complete computer known as the Macintosh, or MAC in 1984. It was during the 1984 Superbowl that the company released a provocative advertisement for their product which would forever symbolize them as a major player in the computer market. Since then, the computer lineup has been as follows: Macintosh II (1987-1990), LC(1990-1995), Powerbook Laptop G1-G4(1989-2005), Power Macintosh PC Tower(1995-2006), iMac(1998-present), Mac Pro(2006-present), Macbook and Macbook Pro(2006-2011). The company also specializes in Mp3 players with the iPod line up and the tablet market with the iPad as well as the cellular phone market with the iPhone line up. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.#History)

When a young man or woman wants to accessorize themselves with a product that sets them appart from the crowd, most tend to opt for jewelry. When they do opt for jewelry a lot of people will try to find the best looking watch or chain. Nixon Watches offers the best watches at great prices. Since 1997, the Nixon watch line up has far exceeded expectations of a surf and skateboard watch company in quality and extravagance. Founded by surfer/skateboard Chad DiNenna, and his friend Andy Laats, a mechanical engineer with a degree from Cornell University, Nixon has separated themselves from the normal outdoor companies when it comes to making watches of quality or even accessories of quality. Their lineup includes but is not limited to: The Player, Automatic, Regent, The Mayor, The Ticket and many other models. Nixon also makes wallets, jackets, purses (for females) belts and beanies.

(http://www.nixonreviews.com/history-of-nixon-watches/  and http://www.nixonnow.com/home/)

All three companies are for profit organizations and all three companies were chose for a reason. The reason I picked Chevrolet, Apple Inc, and Nixon is because all three companies influence my life through style and I utilize their product on a daily basis. These brands define me as myself therefore I chose to highlight them from the crowd of brands and companies as they do so for me with the crowd.