Love Shouldnt Hurt Essays - Abuse, Behavior, Human Behavior

Love Shouldn't Hurt Domestic Violence is emotional or physical abuse or the threat of physical abuse, used by one person in a relationship to gain control over the other person.(1) Rich, poor, Jewish, Christian, homosexual, heterosexual, abuse comes from all shapes and sizes. Domestic violence is the most prevalent cause for injury to woman in the United States. Often incidents of abuse start small with an abuser slowly taking control, as the relationship intensifies, the frequency as well as the intensity of the incidents also steadily increase. The incidents are then preceded with a phase in which the abuser may apologize, claim it will never happen again, express regret, promise to change, and/or blame their partner for what occurred. It is not easy for a person who is being abused to just walk away, and someone fleeing from their abuser will often return repeatedly before making a complete break. At the point in which a person is ready to walk away, they are normally battered, their life in danger, with no self-confidence, feeling they cannot live without their abuser. To a person who is not in an abusive relationship it is easy to tell someone being abused simply to walk away, but that person either doesn't know they are being abused, won't except it, or thinks it is their fault and they deserve it. Basically it is not as easy as it sounds. Domestic violence can take a number of forms, including: physical behavior such as slapping, punching, pulling hair or shoving, forced or coerced sexual acts or behavior such as unwanted fondling or intercourse, or jokes and insults aimed at sexuality, threats of abuse -- threatening to hit, harm or use a weapon on another, or to tell others confidential information, and psychological abuse -- attacks on self-esteem, controlling or limiting another's behavior, repeated insults and interrogation. When all is said and done, wife-beating results in more injuries requiring medical treatment than rape, auto accidents, and muggings combined.(2) Although on the surface domestic violence can appear to involve only the two parties of the abuser and their victim, the effects of abuse branch out to incorporate, indirectly all of society. It is not just a personal issue. Abuse goes outside the house, and affects every aspect of the victims life, because abuse is not about hitting the person, it is about controlling their lives. A child, by definition, is a person who is dependent upon adults and the environment for not only physical, but for emotional sustenance as well. This includes emotional warmth and nurture as well as protection from both external and internal threats to a child's sense of safety, self-esteem and well being. A parent and the home should provides a child with a safe space in which to experience their many complex and often intense emotions. Aggressive, passionate, sad or painful feelings arise in all human beings. The infant, toddler, and young child are helped by care taking adults to accept and tolerate frightening impulses and feelings. A child's idea of self worth and of belief in one's own goodness and in the general goodness of others -- is thus a fragile entity. When the adult surroundings are full of conflict, fear and p ain, a child's growth and emotional well-being are clearly jeopardized. There is a public education campaign about domestic violence currently being conducted on the New York City subway system. The poster used in the campaign has a picture of a child who is described as a highly sensitive recording device capable of detecting and remembering the abuse that occurs in his or her home. As the poster suggests, if tension, anger, and violence are present in the home, a child will know about it -- whether or not he or she has witnessed it directly and whether or not abuse is openly discussed. Regardless of how much effort has been made by adults to shield and protect a child by making sure that the violence takes place in private and by keeping it a secret, when a mother is being battered, a child becomes a victim too. The difference between the child and the adult victim is that the adult is, at least to some

Il Faut Laisser Maisons.. Essays - Pierre De Ronsard, Sonnet

Il Faut Laisser Maisons.. Essays - Pierre De Ronsard, Sonnet Il Faut Laisser Maisons.. Analysis of Il Faut Laisser Maisons... Il Faut Laisser Maisons... is a poem written by Pierre Ronsard and published in the book Derniers vers de Pierre de Ronsard in 1586. This poems central idea is that the spirit is more important than the body, because the spirit has far fewer limits than the body. As soon as one dies, the spirit is free from the bonds of the body. These lines: Laissant pourir a-bas sa dpouille de boue and Franc des liens du corps, pour ntre quun esprit. show that Ronsard succeeds in establishing the theme by making it clear that it is necessary to leave the possessions of this world and material things to become a spirit. Ronsard is the speaker of the poem which takes place late in his life. Cest fait! jai dvid le cours de mes destins and Jai vcu, jai rendu mon nom assez insigne, prove that Ronsard has lived awhile and accomplished some things in life. Ronsard intends to teach a significant moral lesson which is the theme. The message is implied, because Ronsard wishes and challenges the reader to interpret and look deeply to understand this moral lesson. He places most emphasis on ideas to help develop this message. Ronsard skillfully develops the poems mood, one of inspiration and thoughtfulness. He believes in the freedom of the spirit in life after death. This line: Heureux qui ne fut onc, plus heureux qui retourne illustrates the poets pensive mood and logical thinking. Ronsard feels that it is better to have lived than never to have lived at all. He thinks deeply about what must be given up and accomplished to become a spirit. Ronsard also knows that there is always hope once he becomes a spirit. Pierre Ronsard uses examples of personification and symbolism to emphasize the theme and to create a deeper meaning of the poem. One example of symbolism is the second line: que lartisan burine(that the artist engraves) which represents something eternal or everlasting that he leaves behind. Et chanter son obsque en la faon du cygne(And sings his funeral song in the manner of a swan) in the third line shows symbolism and personification. The symbolism of a funeral song of a swan signifies the end of something or death. Ronsard personifies a swan as a human singing his own funeral song. The words in line eleven, Jsus-Christ(Jesus Christ), represent salvation and everlasting hope for those seeking everlasting hope. This line: Dont le Sort, la Fortune et le Destin se joue(Fate, Fortune, and Destiny make fun) personifies that Fate, Destiny, and Fortune, like little children, play with the useless corpse of mud, while the bonds of the body are freed. The first three stanzas present the situation of the poem and the thoughts of Ronsard, while the final stanza has the greatest impact and strongest feelings of the author. This poem uses some description like the things he must leave behind(maisons et vergers et jardins, etc.). He frequently speaks of nature(flowers, trees, etc.) and of love. The examples of description help to create his intended effect by showing that he must be less concerned with material things. This lyric poem is a sonnet consisting of four stanzas(4,4,3,3) and fourteen lines. Written in meter verse with twelve syllables per line, the rhyme scheme is rime Embrasses: abba, abba, ccd, eef. The language contributes to the mood through such words as Jsus-Christ and Franc les liens. His concrete words include maisons et vergers, etc. while his connotative words are sa dpouille de boue and son obsque. His uses of assonance are laisser maisons and fait - dvid, while his diction is one of simplicity. Writing mostly Alexandrian poems and sonnets, Ronsard uses classical style which affects the meaning of the poem by his examples of nature such as vergers et jardins. His style also affects the mood through his personal experience, because he bases many of his poems on his life. This poem reveals that Ronsard is an optimistic and realistic man of action who closely observes life, especially nature. This poem is interesting, because it is about something that all will have to experience in life. The poem is good and lasting, because it teaches a

Womens lives during the sixteenth century colonial America Essay

Womens lives during the sixteenth century colonial America - Essay Example The socio-historical studies on women’s lives during the sixteenth century colonial America were monumental in shaping the status that women of the modern world today enjoy. From the twentieth century-woman perspective, it must have been an extremely difficult and daunting to live in that period. And we have our women ancestors to thank for what they have to endure and how it was able to shape the socio-cultural construction of womanhood. This essay will basically tackle the different experiences as survived by women during the historical colonization of Europe in the Americas. To begin with, the sixteenth century woman could be considered as someone who existed to uphold the domination of Europeans conquistador, even when they are unaware of it or even when they have exerted much effort to resist the colonizers mere presence in their lives. As women took the essential role of reproduction, whether slave or master, they were seen as a key factor to maintain the system of patri archy as well as the continuation of its bloodline. In the case of Spanish borderlands, women slaves were almost always subjected to sexual abuse by their masters. These women slaves themselves were not any given any rights to retaliate or file a cause against their perpetrators, except for the few lucky ones1 who were given certain privileges to live freely after servitude. And the product of these sexual abuses paved way to a second generation of hybrid children. These children, though born from a slave, had actually acquired with them a benefit not enjoyed by their mothers. These children were accepted in the master’s family and treated as part of the kin where they are given equal rights, a privilege they will never have being a slave. Patriarchy then is underscored as this circumstance displays the following characteristics: (1) the male as being reproductively potent and is able to procreate, and (2) the man’s ability to sustain the needs of his nuclear and even these additional and extended families. This more often than not violent relationship of masters and their women slaves have actually mutually benefited both parties. Without their full consciousness, masters have ensured for their women slaves economic benefits for their children while simultaneously these women slaves have ensured for their masters the persistence of his bloodline. Another case where women have more than just a reproductive functional role was in Chesapeake Bay. Women (and men) were imported as indentured slaves due to the lack of manpower to sustain the area’s tobacco production. They are then to serve their European masters while at the same time given the responsibility to toil the fields during planting and harvest periods. In this case, women were forced to double-hat various functions so they could acquire what was deemed as their prize for being slaves – freedom. By securing themselves trans-Atlantic passages and little property after the peri od of enslavement, these slaves were given power to ultimately take control of their lives anew. This new kind of power was an advantageous mechanism for them as they have already adapted and adopted the lifestyle and even the culture of their masters. Their agency allows them to subject themselves to servitude with the end goal of acquiring power through independence. With freedom being prized, it is almost wrong to say that these women are not empowered. Power was within their capacity in fact, but it was not naturally obtained. Certain efforts had to be exerted and many sufferings had to be endured for the end goal of achieving freedom. New England women, on the other hand, because of the nature of Puritanism, were never allowed to inherit the properties of their departed husbands in contrast to Chesapeake women who have the full autonomy over their husband properties upon being widowed. The Church was made the new and automatic owners of properties of widowed women. Looking at t he picture, it would seem to us that Chesapeake women had the upper hand over the New Englanders. But dissecting

Compare Three Stocks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Compare Three Stocks - Research Paper Example Its drug portfolio contains medicine of almost every discovered disease present on this earth. It is a renowned player in the drug industry and a benchmark for its practices as well. Abbot primarily serves retailers, wholesalers, hospitals and health care facilitators. As to date, Abbot’s market capitalization is 84.26B and its Enterprise Value is 93.96B. On December 31st, 2010 Abbot reported revenues of 38.44B and net income of 4.55B. It has 1.56B shares outstanding with a market price of $54.09/share. The quarterly growth of revenue calculated on a year-on-year basis is 13.20%. Amazon.com Inc is a service sector firm and belongs to catalog & mail order industry. The company was founded in 1994 and it is located in United States. The company is works as an online retailer in North America as well as internationally. The company focuses on selection, price and convenience of customers through its website. Moreover, it enables its customers to sell their product through Amazon and gives product developers a platform to market their products. As to date, Amazon.com’s market capitalization is 86.22B and its Enterprise Value is 85.50B. On December 31st, 2010 Amazon.com reported revenues of 43.59B and net income of 870.00 M. It has 454.75M shares outstanding with share price of $189.59/share. ... As to date, 3M Co.’s market capitalization is 56.34B and its Enterprise Value is 59.04B. On December 31st, 2010 Amazon.com reported revenues of 29.23B and net income of 4.26B. It has 700.84M shares outstanding with share price of $80.39/share. The quarterly growth of revenue calculated on a year-on-year basis is 9.60%. b. Calculate the average annual return for each stock. = Price at December 1st, 2010 = Price at December 1st, 2011 Abbot Laboratories (ABT): Amazon.com: 3M Co.: c. Which is the riskiest security and which is the least risky based on the SD? (Remember higher the standard deviation the riskier the stock will be). Standard deviation for the stock is calculated by taking stock price from Jan 1st,2011 to Dec 31st,2011. 3M Co.’s standard deviation is 6.61 Amazon.com’s standard deviation is 19.41 Abbot Laboratory’s standard deviation is 2.771 The riskiest security in terms of standard deviation is Amazon.com with 19.41. The stock price ranged from as low as $160.59 to as high as 246.71. The least risky security is Abbot Laboratory with more or less stable prices. The highest in year 2011 was price was $55.61 and lowest price was $45.07. 3M Co.’s stock had standard deviation of 6.61 with highest price of $98.19 and lowest price of 68.63. d. Please comment on the best performing stock and the worst performing stock and provide some justification. The best performing stock for a risk adverse investor would be Abbot Laboratories. The earnings have been stable over the year. However, for a risk taker it would be Amazon.com with quarterly revenue growth year-on-year of 43.90%. The standard deviation is high and the return associated with it is also high. For an investor who has held the stock for the whole year would enjoy a return of 10.58%.

About A Boy Summary English Literature Essay

About A Boy Summary English Literature Essay Will, 36 years old, is a single and fashionable guy. He doesnt work, because he had received money from his dads inheritance. His dad has made a very popular Christmas-song, thats why Will doesnt work. He doesnt live like a 36-year old guy, because he hasnt got any responsibilities. In the begin of the story Marcus and Will doesnt know each other. Marcus just moved to London, because his mother always got a different husband. Will meets Angie, which has a son. He falls in love with her and he tells her things that he has a son, called Ned, which he hasnt got. Will liked it when woman being attached to him. Then Angie broke up with Will. Will missed the feeling to be in love with a women, so he decided to go to SPAT. SPAT is a association for single parents. Will said he had a little son called Ned. There he met a girl called Suzie, who has a daughter called Paula. One day, theres a SPAT picnic. But how does Will go to that picnic without Ned? Will starts lying about Ned again, so he gets away with it. Fiona, Marcus mum, starts crying very often without a reason. Marcus is on a new school, where he gets being bullied a lot. One day, Fiona and Marcus go to the picnic from SPAT, because Suzie, also a friend of Fiona, asked them to come. Now, Will and Marcus will meet each other for the first time at the picnic. Marcus thinks its very boring, and decides to throw bread to ducks. But then, he kills a duck. The owner of the park starts getting angry, but Will helps Marcus. Marcus is very grateful for that. Will thinks Marcus is a very adult boy. Will brings Marcus and Suzie at home. But then, when they go inside Marcus house, they see Fiona half-dead on the couch. They go very quickly to the hospital. When Fionas in the hospital, Marcus finds a farewell letter from his mum. Then Marcus starts thinking that he hasnt got anyone besides his mother. So he decides to search people who want to be their friend, so then he isnt alone when his mother will pass out. Fiona gets back home, and she, Marcus and Will are going to diner together. Marcus wants that Fiona and Will start dating with each other, so he wont be alone anymore. This will be a very uncomfortable diner, because everybody still believes Will has a child (he bought a child seat, especially for the fact that he really has a son). Some days later, Marcus goes to Will, and concludes Ned doesnt exist. At Wills house, Marcus learns a lot of things. As example what the newest and coolest CDs are, and Will buys him some cool shoes. But the next day, the shoes are stolen. Marcus has to go to the direction, and there he meets a very notorious girl (Ellie). Marcus and Ellie start being friends, which Marcus likes a lot. Marcus daily comes at Wills place, but when Fiona hears that Will hasnt got a son, Marcus isnt allowed to go to Will anymore. But despite that, Marcus invites Will for a Christmas party, where Will meets Suzie. Will doesnt feel himself very comfortable, and Suzie isnt happy at all because Will lied to her. On New Years Eve, Will falls in love with Rachel. Rachel is a beautiful women, who has a son, named Ali. Very soon Will and Rachel talk about children. Will says to Rachel that Marcus is his son. So he asks Marcus to pretend if hes Wills son. They go to Rachel, which becomes a nightmare for Marcus. Ali threatens Marcus with the thing that Will and Rachel dont interact anymore. After that accident, it goes a lot better with Marcus and Will. It seems to be Rachel and Fiona like each other. A couple of days later, Marcus, Rachel and Fiona decide to go to a pub, but Rachel doesnt come. Marcus goes with Ellie to Cambridge, where Marcus dad lives. Marcus dad (Clive) has broken his collar bone with a stupid accident, so Clive wanted to see Marcus. En route, Ellie damages a window glass, because she was angry of the fact that Kurt Cobain (a famous singer which Eillie is a big fan from) committed suicide. So they have to go to the police station, where they will be picked up by Clive and his girlfriend (Lindsey). But they also are getting picked up by Fiona, Will and Ellies mum. Marcus starts getting a quarrel with Lindsey and Clive. But finally, everything will be resolved. Marcus goes to his dad, and Ellie will be guilty from the window-damage. Marcus becomes a real teenager now, Will tells Rachel he hasnt got a son and Fiona will be OK. Creative Assignment 15. Write a mini-biography of an author whose work you read. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Nick_Hornby_01.jpg/200px-Nick_Hornby_01.jpg Nicolas Peter John Hornby (Nick Hornby) was born at April 17th 1957, in the city Redhill in the United Kingdom. Nick Hornbys parents, called Derek Peter Hornby and Margaret Audrey Withers. Nick Hornbys dad was a businessman with a lot of success and Nick Hornbys mother was a secretary. His parents divorced when he was only eleven. So Nick Hornby lived in a single-parent family with his mum and his sister Gill Hornby, because his dad left Great-Britain and started a new live in France. Nick Hornby married With Vriginia Hornby in 1993, and they divorced in 1998. In 1993 Nick Hornbys son (Danny Hornby)was born. Nowadays Nick Hornby works and lives in Highbury in London. After he left the Maidenhead Grammar School, he started studying English at the Jesus college in Cambridge. After his study at the Jesus college, he started teaching English to students from other countries. After his career as a teacher, Nick Hornby started doing some journalism for the famous magazine, called New Musical Express. But that wasnt the thing he really liked, so he decided to become a writer. The head points of his books are often music and sports, where obvious behavior of men will be described. Nick Hornby is also an enormous Arsenal-fan, which you can find back in his books. He also uses actual things in his stories, like the death of Kurt Cobain in the book About a boy. The literary movements where Nick Hornbys books belongs to, are humor, roman and realistic stories. Very many people love his books, because they appeals the people. Nick Hornbys first book was Fever Pitch, published in 1992, where he described his feelings for the football-club Arsenal. With this book he launched a new literary: football-stories. Just like About a boy(1998) and High Fidelity(1995), Fever Pitch is based on his own life experiences. Other books that Nick Hornby had written are: How to be good (written in 2001, with this book Hornby won the WH Smith Award for Fiction), this is a story about someone who wants to be good for the whole world. 31 Songs (written in 2003), is a book about 26 popsongs which Nick Hornby liked. A long way down (written in 2005, this book was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award), this is a book about suicide, fear, etc. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree  (written in 2006), Nick Hornby explores in this book the how and when and why and what of reading. Slam (written in 2007), this book is about skateboarders and their problems. Juliet, Naked (written in 2009), this book is about a nerds idol who falls in love with the nerds girlfriend The books which are filmed, are: Fever pitch (filmed twice: in the years 1997 and 2005) High Fidelty (filmed in the year 2000) About a boy (filmed in the year 2002) Nick Hornby has also written 3 anthologies, called: My favourite Year (written in 1993) The Picador Book of Sportswriting  (written in 1996) Speaking with the Angel  (written in 2000) It is visible that Nick Hornby is a very popular writer, because he published a lot of books, and from a couple of these books there has been made a movie. Nick Hornbys biggest success is High Fidelty, because he won most of his trophies with this book. Many books of Nick Hornby are translated into Dutch and other languages, because he is also well-known in very many countries. But Nick Hornbys work hasnt been finished yet, because there is going to be a new film, called An Education.

Compare Popes and Swifts Ideas on Reason Essay -- essays research pape

Reason’s Significance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most important differences between humans and all other forms of life can be seen in our ability to think and rationalize our decisions and choices as humans. Without reason, we as humans would be no different than a cat or dog. God, in his infinite wisdom, blessed man with the ability to reason, but left it entirely up to us whether or not we choose to use it. Alexander Pope and Jonathon Swift, two prominent writers of the eighteenth century, take two very different approaches when it comes to the importance or insignificance of reason. Pope chooses to argue that reason is the balancing factor in our lives and helps us to achieve the most possible success if we listen to its judgment. Swift, on the other hand, chooses to take reason to the extreme and show the effects of its very possible distortion. Although entirely different, these men show the very best and worst applications of reason. In â€Å"Gulliver’s Travels,† Jonathon Swift shows what happens when we place too much emphasis on reason. In his satire, Swift pokes fun at those who are consumed with the Enlightenment way of thinking. He believes that to place reason in such high esteem is not as necessary as some are making it out to be. Although he seems to believe that reason has its place in our society and every day life, it is not the governing factor by which we should live. In â€Å"Gulliver’s Travels† we see what can happen when people loose touch with reason and the consequences that follow their decisions. In Gulliver’s third voyage to the island of Laputa, Swift pokes fun at those that are obsessed with learning science and abstract thought. He gives us a detailed account of the inhabitant’s lives and daily activities. He begins to describe the Laputians physically by saying that they always have their head tilted to one side or another. He also talks of the eyes of the citizens. He claims that one is poked out, looking upward and the other is turned slightly inward. Swift satirizes their attention span as well. He tells that someone must follow the inhabitants around and continuously poke their ears or mouths because their attention span is so short and they must be remind to pay attention. He even goes as far as to make fun of the clothes they wear. He tells that they are covered with musical instruments and various forms of celestial... ...oes on around us. Pope shows us the importance of having reason and how it serves as a guard for the ultimate fulfillment of our lives as both humans and individuals. Without the ability to reason, we would make many mistakes and would quite possibly be very disappointed in ourselves and in the way our lives turn out. He presents man as unique with only humans having the ability to reason. He also shows the importance of free choice showing that we ourselves chose whether or not we listen to reason. Animals merely give into their passions, but man has a choice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall I must say that I enjoyed both of these interesting, insightful and quite disturbing accounts of the importance of reason and what happens when it no longer used. I would have to say that I enjoyed reading Pope’s account of the importance of reason much more, but Swift was also quite interesting. It amazes me how two men are able to look at one principle and interpret it in two completely different manners. Whether we choose to value reason or cast it aside, I have learned we must be careful not to take it to either extreme, for therein the problems lie. Hope this helps all you guys!!!

Groupon Case

9-511-094 REV: JUNE 13, 2011 SUNIL GUPTA RAY WEAVER DHARMISHTA ROOD Gro oupon n e as of On November 29, 2010, the technology industry wa buzzing with rumors o Google’s bid for Group pon, a two-y year-old web bsite that pro omoted daily deals offeri y ing deep dis scounts from local merch hants. Google reportedly offered at lea $3 billion, eclipsing a r e o ast rival $2 billion bid from Y Yahoo. And as Groupon re a esisted, Goog quickly rai gle ised its offer t as much as $6 billion. 1 to s Ind dustry expert and financ analysts were sharply divided on Google’s mo and Grou ts cial w y ove upon’s poten ntial value. A multibillion A n-dollar valua ation for a com mpany that is in a busines with virtua no s ss ally barrie to entry an is younger than my tod ers nd r ddler is absurd Forrester Research reta analyst Su d,† ail uchitra Mulpuru said blun 2 David Kirkpatrick, a former Fort ntly. K tune magazin columnist, sniffed, â€Å"Gro ne oupon isn’t even a techn nology company, for goo odness’ sake. It’s a discou unter that ha appens to us the se Intern net. †3 Bu others rega ut arded the company highl emphasizi ly, ing its specta acular growt Forbes cro th. wned Group pon the â€Å"fast test growing company ev ver,†4 while m media indust veteran a try and journalist John t Battel marveled, â€Å"I’ve never seen anything like it—we since Goog And just as Google la lle s g ell, gle. t apped the Ye ellow Pages in a fraction of the time, Gr n roupon seems to be on trac to do the sa s ck ame to Googl 5 le. † At the end of a frantic week, Groupon surprised m t n many observe by rejecti ers ing Google’s offer. Shortl after, the company anno ly ounced that it had raised $ $950 million f from private investors, and was d rumored to be laying the groun ndwork for an initial publ offering. T events pr a lic The rompted a br roader debat about whether Silicon Valley—whic had recent seen very high valuati te V ch tly y ions for Face ebook, Twitte and Zyn er, nga—was sho owing signs of another b bubble. Jeff Clavier, man naging partn at ner SoftTe VC and a well-known angel inves ech n stor, predicte â€Å"There m not be a b implosion but ed, may big n, down the road there will be a bu n unch of blood and tears. †6 d Com mpany Origins Gr roupon, a por rtmanteau of the words â€Å"group† and â€Å" f â€Å"coupon,† gr rew out of Th Point, an o he online comm munity for col llective action The site hel n. ped people p propose and promote soci campaigns such ial s as com mpany boyco and chari fundraiser Each camp otts ity rs. paign’s creato specified i â€Å"tipping p or its point,† the pa articipation le evel that was required befo supporter were called to act. The ti ore rs d ipping featur was re _______ _______________ ____ ___________ ________________ _______________ _______________ _______________ ________________ ______ Professo Sunil Gupta an Ray Weaver an Research Asso ors nd nd ociate Dharmishta Rood prepared th case. The auth his hors thank Paul Bu utler for contribu uting to online dat collection. This case was develope from published sources. HBS case are developed solely as the basis f class ta c ed es for discussi ion. Cases are not in ntended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary d s data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective manageme s ent. Copyrig  © 2011 Presiden and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce ma ght nt H T n aterials, call 1-800-5 545-7685, write Ha arvard Business School Publishing, Bo oston, MA 02163, or go to www. hbsp o p. harvard. edu/edu ucators. This publica ation may not be d digitized, photoco opied, or otherwise reproduced, poste or transmitted, without the permis ed, w ssion of Harvard Bu usiness School. This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupon designed to allocate the community’s resources only when a campaign had broad support. It also gave advocates of a cause an incentive to recruit others. The Point was founded in 2007 by Andrew Mason, then a master’s student in public policy at the University of Chicago. When an investor approached him with a funding offer, Mason decided to drop out of school and focus on the project full-time. But with an audience too small for advertising to sustain it, The Point initially struggled to generate revenue. Then Mason noticed that many of the most popular campaigns banded consumers together to get volume discounts from retailers. He decided to try pre-arranging similar deals and promoting them on the site for commissions. 7 The experiment was such a success that in November 2008, it was spun off as a separate business, with 27year-old Mason its Founder and CEO. Two hallmarks of Groupon—a focus on local merchants and a self-imposed limit to a single promotion each day—were designed to cope with minimal scale and resources. Mason explained: Have a different [offer] but only one every day so our very small community will still be large enough so that if we channel it all into one thing we’ll be able to achieve the critical mass that we need in order to make a success†¦. That’s part of why we went local. It became possible to go around to the people in our office building for starters. We kicked it off with just 500 people that we got signed up on our mailing list. Sales representatives began pitching merchants across Chicago on the idea of promoting their businesses by selling aggressively discounted vouchers for services to Groupon’s customer base. In return, Groupon would take a cut of each sale. The concept resonated with both business owners and consumers, and Groupon quickly expanded to other cities , beginning with Boston, New York, and San Francisco. After six months, the company had run more than 100 deals and had acquired 60,000 email subscribers. 9 Running and Marketing Groupon Promotions Merchant Profiles and Sales To generate deals, Groupon initially relied on an inside sales team in Chicago that called on local merchants around the country, closing business over the phone and email. Over time, it also began building an outside sales force of account executives based in local markets, starting with large population centers and other cities in which its business had grown rapidly. Though Groupon featured a wide variety of businesses, some themes emerged. Services predominated, though deals for products were not uncommon, especially baked goods and other foods. There was a strong emphasis on leisure, entertainment and recreation (Table A), and occasionally on novel experiences such as helicopter tours and exotic car rentals. Utilitarian services were less popular. One early flop was pet daycare: â€Å"We learned over time that people don’t want to experiment with who is watching their animal,† a company spokesperson explained. 10 2 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 5 511-094 Table A e Merchan Category Mix nt M Category C Activities A Dining D Salon & Spa S Merchandise M Membership (e. g. Gym) M Tourism T Hotel H % of Deals 29% 28% 20% 15% 7% 1% 1% Source: Steve Carpenter, â€Å"What Makes Groupon Tick,† TechCrunch, Ma 2, 2010. Based on analysis of a deals run in Q 2010. s † ay d all Q1 A survey cond ducted by mar rketing servic firm Merc ces chantCircle fo ound that loca businesses faced al a vari iety of challen nges in reach hing customer For one th rs. hing, they had very tight b d budgets: more than e half of the 8,500 bu o usinesses surv veyed spent le than $2,50 on marketi annually. They often lacked ess 00 ing . he expertise to adopt new media and te a m echnologies (Figure A). Consequentl the lure of an ly, outsourced online promotion with no up-fro expense w compellin And comp w ont was ng. pared to tradi itional adver rtising, Group pon’s impact was relatively easy to obse w y erve and mea asure. Figur A re Local Business Mark B keting Budgets and Preferr Outl ets red Facebook or other social me edia pro? le Online yell low pages or local n news site Custom emails mer Blog Print yell low pages Direct mail D Print n newspaper 0% 10% 20% 30% 4 40% 50% 60% 70% Source: MerchantCircl Merchant Con le nfidence Index su urvey, February 2 2011. Prepa aring the De eal When a merch hant signed on for a prom o motion, it wo orked with G Groupon to d decide the sp pecific produ or service to be offered and its disco uct d ounted price, ordinarily at least 50% of list. As wit The , ff th Point’ social camp ’s paigns, the de was valid only if the nu eal umber of buy yers achieved a tipping poi set int by the merchant. Other terms included the voucher’s ex e O xpiration date and, in som cases, lim on e me mits 3 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 11-094 Groupon individual or total purchases. Groupon’s standard agreement was a 50/50 split of voucher revenues, but merchants sometimes negotiated better terms. Groupon’s editorial staff wrote advertising copy to promote each offer. Their descriptions were intended to be entertaining as well as informative, oft en striking an irreverent and offbeat tone. One early deal for a Swedish massage, for example, was accompanied by a FAQ that read: Q: Where is Sweden? A: Sweden is a moon colony where aliens have been teaching American astronauts advanced massage technique for hundreds of years. Q: What is so special about a Swedish massage? A: First of all, the technique comes from outer space. Second of all, it is very advanced. Finally, it relieves the body of lots of stress. Q: How big are the masseuses’ hands at Lincoln Park Massage? A: Good question, for hand size is extremely important in massage. They’re a size 25 on average. Q: That’s not like, disgustingly large monster hands, is it? A: No, that’s just a little above average for humans. Perfect for masseuses. Q: There’s gotta be a catch. Where is the fine print? A: There is no fine print. Here are the completely reasonable stipulations on today’s deal in totally normal size print†¦. The deal terms, ad copy and an accompanying photograph were then assembled for online presentation (see Exhibit 1 for an example, and Exhibit 2 for representative deals in selected cities). Groupon scheduled promotions according to merchant preferences, though it sometimes committed only to a launch window rather than a specific date. Running the Deal Consumers signed up at Groupon. com to get their city’s daily deals, and could request notifications via email, Facebook or Twitter feeds. Each deal was posted online at midnight; outgoing alerts followed in the early morning. Most Groupons were available for purchase for only 24 hours, and a virtual hourglass counted down the remaining time. The deal page also showed a running tally of vouchers sold throughout the day. Groupon processed consumers’ online transactions, then paid out the merchant’s cut of the revenue in three equal installments 5, 30, and 60 days later. Online accounts contained each subscriber’s available Groupons, which could be printed in advance or presented to the merchant on a smartphone. Groupons for online stores included a unique code to be entered at checkout. Although the vast majority of Groupons featured local businesses, national brands were occasionally promoted with deals that were coordinated across cities. Groupon ran its first such deal in August 2010 with The Gap, offering $50 worth of merchandise for $25. It was a huge hit, generating $11 million on sales of 445,000 units. 11 Subsequent offers from Nordstrom Rack and Barnes & Noble were even more popular. And in February 2011, a deal touting new routes on Virgin America sold out in eight minutes. 12 These big promotions generated buzz that increased Groupon’s brand awareness and motivated new customers to sign up. This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 Groupon Subscribers Marketing Groupon to Consumers Many people first learned about Groupon when friends or family alerted them to deals through email and social media. T o encourage this word of mouth, Groupon gave customers $10 toward a future purchase for each referral. 13 It also set up an affiliate marketing program for bloggers and websites to earn commissions of up to 15% on referred traffic. 4 Facebook and Twitter were Groupon’s top referring sites, accounting for 44% and 8% of traffic respectively in January 2010. 15 Groupon also got attention for a contest in which one customer was challenged to â€Å"Live Off Groupon† for an entire year. This â€Å"Groupawn† would be provided an unlimited supply of Groupons for things to eat, do, and buy across America, but could not spend any cash. If successful, he would win a $100,000 prize. Several hundred hopefuls applied, and 28-year-old Chicagoan Josh Stevens was chosen as the winner. Stevens began the challenge in May 2010, posting updates and pictures in various social media along the way. 6 Over time, Groupon began supplementing these efforts with paid advertising, spending h eavily on Google AdWords and AdSense. And in February 2011, the company launched its first TV campaign with a Super Bowl ad, for which each spot cost a reported $3 million. 17 The campaign tried to capture Groupon’s quirky sense of humor, but became a lightning rod for controversy. Each spot featured a celebrity who first appeared to be promoting a social or political cause, then segued into a Groupon endorsement. Actor Timothy Hutton, for example, intoned: The people of Tibet are in trouble. Their very culture is in jeopardy. But they still whip up an amazing fish curry. And since 200 of us bought at Groupon. com, we’re getting $30 of Himalayan food for just $15 at a Himalayan restaurant in Chicago. Many people took offense, accusing Groupon of trivializing and exploiting the Tibetans’ plight. Although Groupon was the second-most mentioned Super Bowl advertiser in online discussions, much of the conversation was unflattering: negative sentiment spiked from 10% in January to 60% the day after the game. 18 One viewer tweeted, â€Å"Groupon seems to have achieved the unique feat of paying $3M to lose customers who previously loved them. 19 Mason initially defended the campaign as tongue-in-cheek, but when criticism persisted, he decided to pull the ads. 20 Consumer Response Groupon became very popular among a customer base that tended to be young, well-educated, unmarried, and relatively affluent. Over three-fourths of subscribers were women (Exhibit 3). Consumers enthused not only about the m oney Groupon saved them, but also about its convenience, variety, and other benefits. I Love Groupon! From my first purchase, I have been hooked. I have purchased several Groupons and have never had a problem redeeming them. The merchants have always been appreciative of my participation in the Deal. 21 I think I’ve gained weight trying all the restaurant and bakery deals! But that’s where the cycling and exercise deals come in, along with some pampering specials. I’m on a wellbalanced Groupon diet! 22 5 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupo on Groupon al llows me to discover even d nts/activities in NYC—I’m a tourist in my hometow m wn 2 th hanks to this savvy group. 3 s Redem mptions typic cally began with a big su w urge in the f first month a after a deal w run, the was en declined to a fairly stea t ady, lower rat and finally spiked again shortly befo expiration (Figure B). te, y n ore n Figure B Typical Gro oupon Redem mption Pattern n Source: Me erchant Welcome Guide, downloa e aded from www w. groupon. com/p pages/day-of-yo our-feature. But so ome vouchers were never used. Buye sometime reported fe s r ers es eeling â€Å"Grou upon remorse e† when offe that had seemed irresi ers s istible became less appeal ling in retrosp pect. One Ch hicago residen nt recalled th hinking, â€Å"Wh doesn’t wa a Segway tour? † as he spent $160 for four tick ho ant y e kets, only to let them expire because he never got around using them. And a Boston wom with $25 in voucher h a g man 50 rs from vario group bu ous uying sites lam mented, â€Å"Ther just isn’t en re nough time in the day to d it all. I mad n do de a spreads sheet, and it’s so sad, the ey’re all com ming due. † Gr roupon didn’ disclose no ’t on-redemptio on rates, but various estim mates put the number betw e ween 10 and 30 percent. 4 Many state l laws, howeve er, stipulated that vouchers could be re d edeemed for their purchas price after e t se expiration, of ften for several years. Th remedy was explaine on Group his w ed pon’s websit though it was unclea how man te, t ar ny consumer were aware of it. rs e Value to Merchan t nts Positive Reactions R Many merchants he eartily endors Groupon for its ability to raise awa sed y areness, increa traffic, an ase nd 25 acquire ne customers Among them was Gerric Adachi, ow ew s. ck wner of Aiea G Grill in Portla and, Oregon:2 The concept is sheer genius The web-s e s. avvy, interac ctive format is so well th hought out forwar and backw rds wards. Who ever heard of acquiring 51 new, quali customers in one day e f 16 ity with no money up front? You were also righ about the G n w ht Groupon mem mber being a high grade custom mer, operatin at a sop ng phistication level far ab bove that o the typic of cal bargain hunter r/coupon cutter. Bill Ra aupp of San Diego Desserts concurred: â€Å"There is cle D : early no othe program th creates th er hat his brand aw wareness, with a positive direct effect to my bottom line. Groupo far outweighs any othe h d o m on er 26 advertisin or free adv ng vertising prog gram out there e. † 6 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 American Apparel ran a popular deal in which it offered $50 worth of clothing for $25, selling 133,000 vouchers. Afterwards, a company insider listed several positive effects. First, customers spent an average of $20 above the voucher’s face value when cashing in the deal. The promotion also attracted many new customers: â€Å"The killer was email address acquisition†¦. We converted approximately 25% of in store redemptions into signing up for our email list†¦ which is on track to generate an additional five to six figures in online revenue. † Finally, American Apparel negotiated a contract that gave Groupon â€Å"much much less than half† of the v oucher revenue. 27 Negative Reactions Despite such enthusiasm, Groupon’s effect on merchant profitability was hotly debated. One wellpublicized critique came from the owner of Posie’s Bakery and Cafe, who called using Groupon â€Å"the single worst decision I have ever made as a business owner†: I [told the Groupon sales representative] we would have to get at least 50% to cover our costs of product†¦. What I didn’t think clearly enough about was that that margin we mark up is what covers all of our other costs†¦ like staff, rent, utilities, etc. Our overhead is roughly $25,000/month, and this decision was about to make it so that we didn’t cover any of those other costs. [W]e met many, many wonderful new customers, and were so happy to have them join the Posie’s family. At the same time we met many, many terrible Groupon customers†¦ customers that didn’t follow the Groupon rules and used multiple Groupons for single transactions, and argued with you about it with disgusted looks on their faces, or who tipped based on what they owed (10% of $0 is zero dollars, so tossing in a dime was to them being generous). After three months of Groupons coming through the door, I started to see the results really hurting us financially. There came a time when we literally could not make payroll because at that point in time we had lost nearly $8,000 with our Groupon campaign. 28 U. S. Toy, a retailer in Kansas City, was also unsatisfied. It offered $20 worth of merchandise for $10, half of which went to Groupon. Customers snapped up 2,800 coupons, but managers became discouraged by their shopping patterns. Co-CEO Jonathan Freiden said, â€Å"It didn’t drive in new people, and the people that were coming in didn’t spend even our average sale. It was just sad. † He estimated that U. S. Toy lost money on three-quarters of the transactions, and that 90% of purchasers were existing customers. 29 Profit Drivers It became clear that the success of any particular daily deal depended on a ariety of factors, including the mix of new versus existing customers, upside spending at the time of redemption, and success in converting discount buyers into regular customers. Several surveys tried to measure these and assess merchant satisfaction, often with contrasting results (Table B). b a American Apparel’s gross profits averaged 53% of sales, accor ding to MSN Money. b Customer mix was not measured in any of these surveys. It was believed to vary widely, but a common assumption was that half of Groupon buyers were new customers. 7 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupon Table B Merchant Surveys about Experiences with Groupon and Other Daily Deals Merchant Responses Not reported 80 150 1,568 Promotional Partner(s) Groupon Groupon and others Groupon Groupon and others Spending Over Face Value avg redeemer spent 60% over face value Not asked 41% of redeemers exceeded face value Not asked % of Redeemers Who Made 1+ Repeat Visit 22% 19% 25% Not asked % of Merchants Who Would Run Another Deal 95% 93% 57% 45% Source Groupon Yipit daily deal aggregator Rice University marketing prof. MerchantCircle Sources: www. grouponworks. com/why-groupon; Ian Sherr, â€Å"Online Coupons Get Smarter,† The Wall Street Journal, August 25, 2010; Jim Moran, â€Å"Local Social Commerce: The Explosion of Group Buying,† blog. yipit. com, August 19, 2010; Utpal Dholakia, â€Å"How Effective Are Groupon Promotions for Business? †, September 28, 2010; MerchantCircle Merchant Confidence Index survey, February 2011. One cartoonist, poking fun at business owners’ potential naivete, summed up the dilemma this way: while Groupon â€Å"may bring in lots of customers,† merchants might â€Å"lose money on every sale† (Exhibit 4). Groupon, however, argued that bad outcomes were rare: 95% of merchants it surveyed were satisfied with their Groupon experience, and 96% would recommend it to others. 30 And in August 2010, the company reported a waiting list of 35,000 businesses. 31 Aggressive Growth Encouraged by its early success, Groupon expanded rapidly, replicating its model in new markets. By the end of 2009, the company operated in about 30 U. S. and Canadian cities, and business seemed to be booming in nearly every location (see Exhibit 5 for a sample). In 2010, Groupon set its sights on foreign territories, primarily by acquiring companies that had copied its model in their home countries—first in Western Europe, then South America, then Asia and elsewhere. The pace of this expansion was perhaps unprecedented: a little more than two years after its founding, Groupon had operations in more than 500 markets in 43 countries (Table C). One media outlet marveled, â€Å"We can’t think of a company—ever—that is so aggressive about going international so big, so fast. 32 The urgency was driven in part by the sense that an early mover could establish a lasting advantage. But some observers questioned Groupon’s ability to leverage its brand and experience overseas. 8 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 Table C Groupon’s Expansion Date Nov 08 Mar 09 Jun 09 Sep 09 Dec 09 Mar 10 Jun 10 Sep 10 Dec 10 Mar 11 Countries 1 1 1 1 1 1 18 29 35 43 Cities 1 2 7 18 28 40 150 230 300 500 Subscribers (Worldwide) Savings to Datea (North America) 50k 700k 1. 7M 3M 6M 13M 50M 60M $4. 5M $18M $42M $100M $285M $400M $900M a Aggregate consumer savings on Groupons sold in North American markets. Aggregate worldwide savings were $1,800M as of March 2011. Source: Compiled from company press releases archived at www. groupon. com/press. These acquisitions were funded in part by several rounds of venture capital financing: $30 million in December 2009, $135 million in April 2010, and $950 million in January 2011. As a result of its efforts, Groupon’s revenue exploded from $33 million in 2009 to $760 million in 2010. 33 Still, significant upside remained: only 6. % of respondents to the MerchantCircle survey had run a Groupon pro motion, with another 13% planning to do so in the coming months. And the local advertising market was estimated at $100 billion in the U. S. alone. 34 Growing Pains Groupon’s growth created significant management challenges, not least of which was the training and integration of newly hired and acquired personnel. The company ended 2010 with over 4,000 employees, up from just 120 the year before. 35 By comparison, Facebook’s employee count was less than 100 after two years in business, and around 2,000 in early 2011. This environment occasionally contributed to service failures and other snafus. One Groupon in Yokohama, Japan marketed home delivery from a local restaurant of osechi, a traditional New Year’s meal. Demand overwhelmed the business, and many osechi sets arrived late or in poor condition. In response, Mason posted an apology on YouTube, conceding that his company had â€Å"really messed up. † Customers were given refunds and credited 5,000 yen toward future purchases. 36 Another incident involved an FTD Valentine’s Day promotion. When browsing FTD’s website to redeem their purchases, customers noticed flower arrangements with sale prices (for which their vouchers weren’t valid) below the Groupon discounted price. Some accused FTD of overstating its retail prices to make the offer seem more attractive. FTD and Groupon denied this and called the situation a misunderstanding. Again, refunds were offered to the affected customers. 37 Groupons also sometimes adversely affected a merchant’s regular patrons, as one customer expressed in an online vent: I go to a Sushi bar who has offered a Groupon promotion. When I arrive there, I encounter a busy, under-staffed, ran-out-of-menu items restaurant where my full price is subsidizing the half-off diners who have destroyed a perfectly fine business for the next few days after the 9 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupon Groupon offer. It works for merchandise. For services, a Groupon success is a curse for regular customers/patrons. 8 To alleviate such problems, Groupon undertook a variety of measures, notably the expansion of its customer service organization to 1,000 employees. The company also rolled out new services to help merchants run promotions smoothly, including a capacity planning tool and a smartphone app for voucher verification and redemption. 39 Widespread Competition For all Groupon’s acclaim as a web darling—media had hailed it as â€Å"the next web phenomâ € 40 and â€Å"the it digital phenomenon of the moment†41—the operation was at its core remarkably simple. Groupon neither held inventory nor carried out fulfillment, relying instead on its merchant partners. Much of the technology required—email broadcasting, transaction processing, and a website that was fairly basic by Web 2. 0 standards—was mature and fairly cheap. In principle, nearly any organization with a customer database and a business sales function could offer its own daily deals. Accordingly, competitors sprang up in droves, numbering nearly 300 in the U. S. by early 2011. 42 Many closely imitated not only Groupon’s business model, but its look and feel as well (Exhibit 6). The largest of these rivals was Washington, D. C. -based LivingSocial. Although significantly smaller than Groupon, LivingSocial was also growing rapidly, and in January 2011 got a big boost by promoting $20 Amazon gift cards at half off. (Amazon had recently invested $175 million in the company. 43) Nearly 1. 2 million customers took the deal. By March, LivingSocial had 24 million subscribers, and was operating in more than 200 cities across 11 countries. 44 Established e-commerce properties also scrambled to participate in the daily deals phenomenon. Some of these served particular niches, such as OpenTable (restaurants), The Knot (wedding services), and Travelzoo (travel). A cottage industry of aggregators also emerged. These sites sourced no deals themselves, instead collecting and presenting a summary of others’ offers to earn commissions on referred traffic. But despite the onslaught, Groupon held a domestic market share of over 50%. 45 Some competitors tried to win merchants over by offering lower fees or leveraging other media. One of these was Double Take Deals, launched by Clipper Magazine, America’s largest distributor of local coupon magazines. The owner of Haydn Zug’s restaurant in Lancaster, PA, was persuaded. When I learned that Double Take Deals could pay out a higher percentage than Groupon,† he said, â€Å"I was intrigued. But when they offered me a free full-page ad in Clipper Magazine too, it sealed the deal. I knew that was something no one else could offer. †46 But perhaps the biggest threat came from the web heavyweights. Spurned by Groupon, Google began developing a competing service of its own cal led Google Offers. Industry experts expected Offers to promote deals that were relevant to a consumer’s current location, tying them to mobile phones and Google Maps (Exhibit 7). 7 Similarly, Facebook launched a location-aware product called Facebook Deals. It offered merchants a menu of promotions to suit different objectives, such as attracting new customers or encouraging repeat visits (Exhibit 8). Groupon 2. 0 To stay ahead of competitors, Groupon was developing a variety of innovations, sometimes collectively referred to as â€Å"Groupon 2. 0†. One of these was Groupon Stores, which enabled merchants 10 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 to set up virtual storefronts on Groupon’s website. From its store, each merchant could launch selfservice deals of its choosing, dictating the number and frequency of offers (Exhibit 9). Groupon took a commission of 10% of sales, rather than its customary 50%, on these promotions. Because this meant that consumers would have access to more than one deal at a time, Groupon created Deal Feed to collect and personalize each subscriber’s current offers. But the reception for these was lukewarm. One industry insider, noting that Groupon had quietly removed the â€Å"My Deal Feed† link from its navigation header, speculated that Groupon Stores was â€Å"dead on arrival. †48 A more ambitious initiative was Groupon Now. Its vision—similar to those of Google’s and Facebook’s new products—was to offer just-in-time, hyper-local promotions on GPS-equipped smartphones. Groupon Now featured a simple two-button interface: â€Å"I’m Hungry† and â€Å"I’m Bored. † The product was still in trials, but Mason made his ambitions clear: â€Å"It makes Google’s market look quite small if we get it right. It’s really tapping into the largest part of commerce in the U. S. —local. †49 Looking Ahead In a little more than two years, Groupon had transformed from an unknown startup into a global enterprise with 6,000 employees in more than 40 countries. A few months after Groupon turned down Google’s $6 billion offer, Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the company was in negotiations with bankers for an initial public offering that could value the company at $25 billion. 50 To some, Groupon appeared to be an unstoppable juggernaut. But detractors rattled off a laundry list of concerns. Could Groupon maintain the high fees it extracted from merchants? Would it be able to fight off Google, Facebook, and an army of copycats? Was the daily deals phenomenon a hot fad that would inevitably cool off? Some even questioned Groupon’s fundamental business model: did it deliver lasting value to merchants? Forrester’s Suchitra Mulpuru warned, â€Å"Everyone thinks this hyper growth is going to continue. If these merchants come to realize these consumers are not coming back, they’re not going to do more Groupons. And if they don’t do more Groupons the whole model falls apart. †51 Andrew Mason was acutely aware of these risks, laying them out in a 2010 year-end internal memo that cautioned his employees against complacency and challenged them to secure Groupon’s place among the great Internet businesses:52 Not only must we continue to beat the thousands of clones who lifted our idea and began at roughly the same time as we did, but now we must also beat the biggest, smartest technology companies in the world. They are coming HARD. If you feel a little like Frodo climbing Mount Doom, you can’t be blamed. Is it hopeless? How can we avoid the fate of the Internet darlings before us – Yahoo, MySpace, Friendster, AOL – that crashed as magnificently as they rose? Companies don’t lose to competitors – they lose to themselves. MySpace lost to itself, not Facebook. MySpace essentially handed Facebook the keys to the castle by devolving into a service that wasn’t delighting its customers. For whatever reason, it got stuck. It stopped innovating. By this time next year, we will either be on our way to becoming one of the great technology brands that define our generation, or a cool idea by people who were out executed and out innovated by others that were smarter and harder working. 11 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupon o Exhibit 1 Example Daily Deal D Source: Gro oupon. com. 12 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 Exhibit 2 Deal Profiles for Groupons Run in Various Cities Median Deal Terms City Austin, TX Boston, MA Charlotte, NC Chicago, IL Kansas City, MO Omaha, NE Phoenix, AZ San Francisco, CA Tampa, FL Vancouver, BC Launch Date Sep 2009 Mar 2009 Oct 2009 Oct 2008 Nov 2009 Feb 2010 Aug 2009 Jun 2009 Sep 2009 Apr 2010 Voucher Price $43 $42 $32 $37 $31 $29 $33 $42 $28 $46 Retail Value $110 $109 $86 $94 $90 $85 $96 $106 $82 $116 Tipping Point 59 94 25 130 51 24 37 56 42 54 Months Valid 5. 7 7. 6 7. 7 7. 3 7. 4 6. 6 7. 1 8. 1 7. 7 6. 9 Source: Compiled by case writers from deals run 10/08 – 12/10, archived on Groupon. com and ThePoint. com. 13 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupo on Exhibit 3 Groupon User Demogra U aphics Source: http p://www. group ponworks. com/w why-groupon/demographics. e 14 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 Exhib 4 bit A Cart toonist’s Take e Source: Tom Fishburn Marketoonist. com. ne, 15 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupon o Exhibit 5 Quarterly Results in Sel R lected Cities Source: Com mpiled by case writers from arch w hived deal results on Groupon. co m and ThePoint s o t. com. 16 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 5 511-094 Exhib 6 bit Some Competing Daily Deals C D Sources LivingSocial. com, BuyWithM s: Me. com, and GiltCity. com. C 17 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupon o Exhibit 7 Sample De from Goog Offers eal gle Source: http p://techcrunch. c com/2011/01/25 5/sneak-peak-google-offers/. o 18 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 Exhib 8 bit Facebo Deals ook Source: http://www. f facebook. com/deals/. e 19 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupo on Exhibit 9 Groupon Stores S Source: http p://www. group pon. com/merchants/welcome. a 20 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 Endnotes Evelyn Rusli and Claire Miller, â€Å"Google Is Said to Be Poised to Buy Groupon,† DealBook, The New York Times, November 30, 1010, http://dealbook. nytimes. com/2010/11/30/google-is-said-to-be-close-to-buyinggroupon/? ref=grouponinc, accessed December 2010. Evelyn Rusli and Jenna Wortham, â€Å"Google Gambit for Groupon Raises Concern,† DealBook, The New York Times, November 30, 2010, http://dealbook. nytimes. com/2010/11/30/googles-gambit-for-groupon-raisesconcerns/? partner=rss&emc=rss, accessed December 2010. 3 Tiernan Ray, â€Å"Does Google’s Groupon Deal Make Sense? Barron’s, December 4, 2010, http://online. barrons. com/article/SB50001424052970204033804575645052537926526. html? mod=BOL_twm_col, accessed December 2010. 4 Christopher Steiner, â€Å"Meet the Fastest Growing Company Ever,† Forbes. com, August 30, 2010, http://www. forbes. com/forbes/2010/0830/entrepreneurs-groupon-facebook-twitter-next-webphenom_2. html, accessed February 2011. 2 1 John Battelle, â€Å"Thinking Out Loud: What’s Driving Groupon? † businessinsider. com, December 19, 2010, http://www. businessinsider. com/battelle-groupon-2010-12#ixzz1CGRvk7Sb, accessed February 2011. Jenna Wortham and Evelyn Rusli, â€Å"A Silicon Bubble Shows Signs of Reinflating,† DealBook, The New York Times, December 3, 2010, http://dealbook. nytimes. com/2010/12/03/a-silicon-bubble-shows-signs-ofreinflating/, accessed December 2010. Christopher Steiner, â€Å"Meet the Fastest Growing Company Ever,† Forbes. com, August 30, 2010, http://www. forbes. com/forbes/2010/0830/entrepreneurs-groupon-facebook-twitter-next-webphenom_2. html, accessed February 2011. 8 9 7 6 5 Ibid. â€Å"Groupon Saves Consumers More Than $1 Million in Less Than Six Months Chicagoans, Bostonians Save Big Using Daily Discount Website,† Globenewswire. om, April 22, 2009, http://www. globenewswire. com/ newsroom/news. html? d=163568, accessed February 2011. 10 â€Å"Daily Deals Dissected: Where the Popular Offers are and Who is Buying,† mint. com, December 24, 2010, http://www. mint. com/blog/trends/groupon-12142010/, accessed February 2011. 11 Wailin Wong, â€Å"Gap’s Gro upon Pulls in $11 Million,† ChicagoTribune. com, August 20, 2010, http://articles. chicagotribune. com/2010-08-20/business/sc-biz-0821-groupon-20100820_1_gender-and-zipcode-chicago-startup-coupon-site, accessed February 2011. 12 Owen Thomas, â€Å"Can Groupon Take to the Skies with its First Airline Deal? venturebeat. com, February 17, 2011, http://venturebeat. com/2011/02/17/groupon-virgin-america/, accessed February 2011. 13 â€Å"New on Groupon: Referral Rewards,† goupon. com, October 5, 2009, http://www. groupon. com/blog/ cities/new-on-groupon-referral-rewards/, accessed February 2011. 14 â€Å"Groupon: Collective Buying Power,† groupon. com, http://www. groupon. com/pages/affiliates, accessed February 2011. 15 Lindsay Steinbach, â€Å"Do You Groupon? † blog. compete. com, March 10, 2010, http://blog. compete. com/2010/ 03/10/do-you-groupon/, accessed February 2011. 16 â€Å"One Brave Soul. Living only off Groupons,† http://liveoffgroupon. com/about/, accessed February 2011. 17 Stuart Elliott, â€Å"Super Bowl Marketers Try to Score Points, Too, nytimes. com, January 31, 2011. http://www. nytimes. com/2011/02/01/business/media/01adcol. html? _r=1&scp=3&sq=groupon&st=cse, accessed February 2011. 18 â€Å"Like new customers? Then you’ll love Groupon,† grouponworks. com, http://www. grouponworks. com/, accessed February 2011. 21 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG 511-094 Groupon Laurie Segall, â€Å"Groupon Spends Big on Controversial (Tasteless? ) Super Bowl Spots,† money. cnn. com, February 7, 2011, http://money. cnn. com/2011/02/06/technology/groupon_superbowl_ad/index. htm, accessed February 2011. Wailin Wong, â€Å"Groupon Pulls Controversial Tibet Ad,† chicagobreakingbusiness. com, February 11, 2011, http://chicagobreakingbusiness. com/2011/02/groupon-pulls-controversial-tibet-ad. html, accessed February 2011. 21 22 23 20 19 http://amplicate. com/love/groupon, opinion by User-7855g5, posted Jan 27 2011, accessed March 2011. http://www. roupon. com/press, accessed March 2011. Ibid. 24 Beth Teitell, â€Å"For Coupon Overreachers, a Chance to Recoup,† The Boston Globe, March 9, 2011, http://www. boston. com/lifestyle/articles/2011/03/09/market_for_groupon_remors e_allows_users_to_unload _coupons, accessed March 2011. â€Å"Too Much of a Good Thing? † groupon. com, September 16, 2010, http://www. groupon. co m/blog/cities/ too-much-of-a-good-thing, accessed February 2011. â€Å"What do you get with Groupon that you don’t get anywhere else? † grouponworks. com, http://www. grouponworks. com/why-groupon, accessed February 2011. William Wei, â€Å"American Apparel Source Raves about a $3 Million Groupon Deal—Reveals Sales Numbers that Will Erase ‘Ongoing Doubts about Groupon’,† BusinessInsider. com, December 14, 2010, http://www. businessinsider. com/american-apparel-groupon-2010-12, accessed March 2011. â€Å"Groupon in Retrospect,† posiecafe. com, September 11, 2010 http://posiescafe. com/wp/? p=316, accessed February 2011. Shira Ovide, â€Å"Groupon Merchant: ‘There’s a Flaw in their Business’,† DealJournal, WSJ. com, January 7, 2011, http://blogs. wsj. com/deals/2011/01/07/a-groupon-customer-speaks-why-groupon-didnt-work-for-me, accessed January 2011. 0 â€Å"What do you get with Groupon that you don’t get anywhere else? † grouponworks. com, http://www. grouponworks. com/why-groupon, accessed February 2011. 31 Rolfe Winkler, â€Å"Groupon Has a Chance to Cash This One In,† online. wsj. com, January 24, 2011, http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052748703398504576100203631870050. html? KEYWORDS=groupon, accessed February 2011. 32 Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, â€Å"Groupon Buys Up Competitors in Israel, South Africa, and India,† businesssinsider. com, January 11, 2011, http://www. businessinsider. com/groupon-snaps-up-more-internationalcompetitors-2011-1, accessed February 2011. 9 28 27 26 25 Michael Hickins, â€Å"The Groupon Frodo Memo,† WSJ Digits, February http://blogs. wsj. com/digits/2011/02/25/the-groupon-frodo-memo/, accessed March 2011. 33 25, 10, 2011, 2011, Bill Saporito, â€Å"The Groupon Clipper,† Time, February http://www. time. com/time/business/article/0,8599,2047215-1,00. html, accessed February 2011. 35 34 Michael Hickins, â€Å"Groupon Revenue Hit $760 Million, CEO Memo Shows,† The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2011, http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052748703408604576164641411042376. html? mod= WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews, accessed March 2011. 6  "Groupon CEO Apologizes to Japan Customers for ‘Osechi’ Mess-Up,† japantoday. com, January 18, 2011, http://www. japantoday. com/category/national/view/groupon-ceo-apologizes-to-japanese-customers-forosechi-mess-up, accessed February 2011. 37 Tim Krisher, â€Å"Groupon Users Furious about FTD Flower Deal,† HuffingtonPost. com, February 13, 2011, http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2011/02/13/groupon-ftd-deal_n_822360. html, accessed March 2011. 22 This document is authorized for use only by Boshen Wang in MACC 402 – Groupon taught by William Forster from August 2011 to December 2011. For the exclusive use of B. WANG Groupon 511-094 â€Å"Groupon CEO Apologizes to Japan Customers for ‘Osechi’ Mess-Up,† japantoday. com, January 18, 2011, http://www. japantoday. com/category/national/view/groupon-ceo-apologizes-to-japanese-customers-forosechi-mess-up, accessed February 2011. Kunur Patel, â€Å"Groupon Primes Itself to Become the Next Zappos,† AdAge Digital, March 1, 2011, http://adage. com/article/digital/groupon-primes-zappos/149141/, accessed March 2011. Christopher Steiner, â€Å"The Next Web Phenom,† forbes. com, September