1. Briefly explain why some governments are concerned with monopolies.
Monopoly, means that a firm is sole seller of a product without any close substitutes, controls over the prices the firms charge. Government sometime grants a monopoly because doing so is viewed not only to be in the public interest, but also to encourage it with price incentives. However, monopolies fail to meet their resource allocation efficiently, producing less than the socially desirable quantities of output and charging prices above marginal cost. Thus, this inefficiency of monopoly causes the quantity sold to fall short of social needs. In order to handle the problems, policymakers in the government regulate the behavior of monopolies and try to make monopolized industries more competitive
2. How does De Beers maintain its monopoly power?
In previous years De Beers owned a key resource for diamond production – mines. The monopoly’s power stemmed from the company’s ability to collect the world’s rough diamonds and send them out again, anonymously and bereft of origin. Because of turmoil which the company was facing on all fronts: illegal flow of diamonds from Sierra Leone and Angola, Russia’s diamond fiefdoms, etc; the formerly closely-held corporation had to undergo some rapid changes.
Today De Beers maintains its monopoly power through marketing activities such as active advertising, e.g. the millennial campaign which was the company’s first attempt to brand gems, to sell a “De Beers diamond” rather than a regular diamond. De Beers tries to remove substitutes for its product and to make it unique in order to increase its market power. The possible substitutes for diamonds can be emeralds, rubies and sapphires. If people view them as diamond’s substitute, De Beer’s market power will be relatively little. On the other hand, if the company tries to increase the price for its product, some people can switch to other gemstones. That’s why De Beer’s makes so much effort to distinguish its product from any others and to support its image of a scarce and unique product.
De Beers supports a symbiotic relationship between production and sales. The formation of a single marketing channel contributed to the diamonds price increase. In the past two and a half decades, rough diamonds have out-performed commodities such as gold, oil, and aluminum. Also the diamond prices have been more stable when compared with other commodities.
3. De Beers claims that its monopoly power benefits consumers. How?
De Beers claims that its market power benefits consumers because by supporting the scarce amount of diamonds and actively advertising it as a unique product De Beers fulfils customers emotional, rather than practical needs.
From our research, Anheuser-Busch is content with being the number one beer company in the world, increasing sales each year in operation. We found that Anheuser-Busch met many views associated with the world, business, and behavioral dimensions. The company also displayed its stability as we reviewed one of its most successful products Budweiser, owned by Anheuser-Busch, under the marketing view and the financial view. Not only do they hold almost half of the market share in the industry but their stock prices, sales volume, and net sales have all increased from 2002 to 2003. We also looked at Budweiser in terms of geography and culture. We found due to the fact that the "western" countries consume the majority of beer, it only makes sense that Anheuser-Busch concentrates on that market. Along these lines, another key goal that is also important to Anheuser-Busch is to boost other beer markets that are located in other cultures, where at the time beer is not a major consumption.
Belgium is known for a culture of high-quality beer and this concept was formulated by an electrical engineer from Fort Collins, Colorado. The electrical engineer, Jeff Lebesch, was traveling through Belgium on his fat-tired mountain bike when he envisioned the same high-quality beer in Colorado. Lebesch acquired the special strain of yeast used in Belgium and took it back to his basement in Colorado and the experimentation process was initiated. His friends were the samplers and when they approved the beer it was marketed. In 1991, Lebesch opened the New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) with his wife, Kim Jordan, as the marketing director. The first beer and continued bestseller, Fat Tire Amber Ale, was named after the bike ride in Belgium. The operation went from a basement to an old railroad depot and then expanded into a custom-built facility in 1995. The custom-built facility included an automatic brew house, quality-assurance labs and technological innovations. NBB offers permanent, seasonal and one-time only beers with a mission to be a lucrative brewery while making their love and talent visible. In the cases presented by the noted authors (Ferrell & Simpson, 2008), discusses the inception, marketing strategy, brand personality, ethics and social responsibility that New Belgium Brewing Company has demonstrated. The key facts with New Belgium Brewing Company are the marketing strategy, promotion, internal environment and social responsibility with the critical issues of the public, brand slogan, growth and competition.
As Big Rock takes pride in its ingredients or more specifically, its non-preservative approach and the proven fact that many consumers enjoy the taste Big Rock beers (Reference something in market research articles?), it is suggested that Big Rock market itself as a great-tasting premium beer that is continuously produced through hard-work, dedication and most importantly, passion. It is recommended that these values be conveyed and marketed
DeBeers had the buying power to control over 80% of all mined diamonds. They also through cleaver strategic planning had control over most of the diamond cutting and polishing industry.
Market penetration involves with entering a new market with an existing products (Ansoff, 1957). Red Bull can make changes in the products they offer by introducing different flavours and non-caffeine drinks to penetrate the new market. This diversification of products will show their innovative skills to their customers. The company should improve their existing product and use market research, product adaptation analysis, and legal review to seek expansion for the existing products (McDonald,
The demand-side of this cartel was primarily driven by advertising and in 1948, its world-renowned statement of “A diamond in forever” won over consumers like nothing had ever before. This associated an idea of a diamond being an “heirloom”, decreasing the chances of the resale market of diamonds booming. They were seen as “priceless”, similarly to love: something that is just immeasurable. De Beers ingeniously lead consumers towards buying their most fancy and rare cut of diamond to act as the talisman for love for their “female associates”.
Deutsche Brauerei has been a family owned and operated corporation for 12 generations, which has created a high level of focus and control. Each generation has kept the management and operations processes relatively simple, centered on brewing practices and quality. Deutsche Brauerei’s rapid growth in recent years can be attributed to several factors. First and foremost, the company’s success is centered on the product itself, which has won numerous quality awards and is quite popular in Germany. Another contributing factor to the recent growth may have been a bit inadvertent. The purchase of new equipment in 1994, which was necessary as a result of a fire that destroyed the old equipment, allowed the company to increase brewing capacity and efficiency. Finally, Deutsche Brauerei’s decision to enter the Ukranian market in 1998 contributed significantly to the rapid growth. The collapse of the U.S.S.R. brought market reforms, and Deutsche Brauerei jumped on the opportunity to enter the fragmented beer industry, capture the large population and capitalize on the prime location in Europe. Lukas Schweitzer was savvy enough to hire local expert Oleg Pinchuk away from a competitor as the marketing manager, and Oleg was instrumental in building the business in Ukraine by securing accounts and implementing the field warehousing to support distributors. Deutsche’s beer was hugely popular in the Ukraine almost immediately, and volume sales more than offset the depreciation of the Ukrainian currency. Sales in Ukraine accounted for 28% of Deutsche’s total sales, and skyrocketed from 4,262 euros in 1998 to 25,847 euros in 2001.
As stated in the case, “the market for energy drinks was growing; between 2010 and 2012, the market for energy drinks had grown by 40%. It was estimated to be $8.5 billion in the United States in 2013 [and] forecasts projected that figure to reach $13.5 billion by 2018” (pg 5). However, much of this market’s revenue -- 85% in fact -- is dominated by five major brands, while the remaining 15% is split between approximately 30 regional and national companies. (pg. 5). With this saturated market, it might not be best for Crescent Pure to enter as a completely new product to the industry, as there is the possibility that it will be squeezed out of the profit shares by more established brands -- especially if it is not properly secure in its identity. In addition, while the market for energy drinks appeared to be growing at an exponential rate compared to the market for sports drinks -- which increased only 9% in five years and would be at approximately 60% of the rate for energy drinks in 2017 (pg 6) -- the consumers appeared to be wary of partaking in the market for several reasons, which would potentially harm the reach of Crescent Pure. These concerns included rising news reports discussing the safety of energy drinks (pg. 5). Taking into consideration the data provided in the case that concerns reasonings of why consumers choose specific drinks over others, there
Final contribution of de beers to the diamond pipeline is the promotion of diamond jewelry for the industry; through advertising campaigns developed from extensive market research; trade promotional activities and jewelry design competitions
Relationships with interest groups and the public policy makers has been one of the many things that the Boston Beer Company has strived to maintain and expand. The company realizes that these relationships are critical for the future success of the company. Being in the brewing industry the policies and publics opinion can influence the changes in future policies and procedures that would affect the industry. Developing and maintaining the relationships with the interest groups as well as the policy makers could prove to be very beneficial to not only the company but the brewing industry as a whole.
Santarossa, B. (2004, January 13). Diamonds: Adding lustre to the Canadian economy. Retrieved November 06, 2017, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2004008-eng.htm
[5] Diamond Industry Annual Review, De Beers Signs New Angolan Agreement, [internet] Accessed on: 13th November 2005, http://www.pacweb.org/e/images/stories/documents/addendum%20angola%202005-english.pdf
The brewing industry was once held to competition among many breweries in small geographic areas. That was almost a century ago. The U.S. brewing industry today is characterized by the dominance of three brewers, which I will talk about in this paper. There are many factors today that make the beer industry an oligopoly. Such factors include various advancements in technology (packaging, shipping and production), takeovers and mergers, economies of scale, barriers to entry, high concentration, and many other factors that I will cover in this paper. Over the course of the paper I will try to define an oligopoly, give a brief history of the brewing industry, and finally to show how the brewing industry today is an oligopoly.
The value of diamonds lies on their physical properties that make them suitable for many applications. Natural diamonds are only of high value if they are scarce in nature. Realizing this, De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed to control the supply of diamonds from mines across the world. The diamond market is influenced by mine production, rough diamond distribution, preparation/cutting, and retail markets. The project will be concentrating on the retail markets for diamonds and other high end jewelry.
The third determinant of the diamond – related and supporting industries looks at the industry suppliers and...