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Dear Exporter,
Welcome to another edition of The International Journal.
(If you are having trouble viewing this e- mail, you can
see it online.)
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What Starbucks Taught Us About Branding |
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Howard Schultz, the venerable founder and chief
brand architect of Starbucks, fears that the
company’s brand is being "commoditized." In a
February 14th memo, he warned company executives
that the chain may be diluting its brand and making
itself more vulnerable to competition from other
coffee shops and fast-food chains. The nearly
800-word memo questioned whether Starbucks'
automatic espresso machines, new store designs and
elimination of some in-store coffee grinding may
have compromised the "romance and theatre" of a
visit.
Mr. Schultz wrote that "stores no longer have the
soul of the past....Some people even call our stores
sterile, cookie cutter." He recognizes that
competitors are able to offer a unique advantage
relative to the sameness of Starbucks.
Has the brand lost its way on the road to growth?
What can we learn from Starbucks about developing
and more importantly, maintaining a brand?
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US Exports Growing Rapidly |
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Bill Conerly reports in his
Businomics Blog that US exports are growing more
than twice as fast as our underlying economy, with a
10.7% growth rate over the last 12 months. The
bottom line for US manufacturers: Now is a great
time to consider international trade--or, if you're
in the global market already, to gear up for
increased production capacity.
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US, South Korea Race to Meet Free Trade Deadline |
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Trade talks between the U.S. and South Korea heated
up this week as the deadline for a free trade
agreement looms. Both sides have dug in their heels
over key issues such as automobiles, rice, and
American beef.
Still, US Trade Representative's Office spokesman
Steve Norton expressed confidence that a deal could
be reached, and a Korean trade official reported
that negotiators were prepared to stay overnight
Friday if necessary.
A deal must be submitted to Congress on Monday,
April 2nd, in order to meet the 90-day review
requirement for fast-track status. President Bush’s
expedited trade authority expires on July 1.
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AMI Employee Spotlight |
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In recent issues, we've introduced you to members of
the AMI team. This issue, the spotlight falls on
Marketing Associate Amanda Schaufler.
A Northwesterner, Amanda grew up in the Olympia
area and graduated from Northwest University in
Kirkland with a degree in Communications. She went
on to work for DaVinci Gourmet, a leading gourmet
syrup producer in the specialty coffee industry,
where she served as the international customer
service representative for Asia and Latin America.
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What We're Reading |
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"Global Business Etiquette" Delivers Solid Advice
for the International Business Traveler
by Briony Nguyen
Having lived and traveled in a number of
countries, I’ve become somewhat wary of making
generalizations about different customs and
cultures. The terms "custom" and "culture" are
slippery by nature, and one individual's experience
of a particular country might differ quite
dramatically from that of another. So I was a bit
skeptical, but still intrigued when I came across
Jeanette S. Martin’s and Lillian H. Chaney's recent
guidebook
Global Business Etiquette: A Guide to International
Communication and Customs (Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2006).
I was pleasantly surprised by the authors' astute
writing, pertinent anecdotes and careful, rigorous
research, as evidenced by the numerous statistics
scattered throughout the book and the bibliographic
notes section.
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The Declining U$ Dollar - A Case for Exports
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For Americans holding U.S. dollars, and to
paraphrase Charles Dickens, these are the best of
times and the worst of times. They are worst of
times because, if you are planning to travel abroad
on vacation, you'll likely spend more than you
budgeted. They are the best of times because, if you
are a U.S. producer of goods and services, the
opportunities to sell in international markets have
never been better.
U.S. manufactured food and beverage products are now
less expensive overseas than at most any other time
in recent history. The U.S. dollar has declined
42.6% vs. the Euro during 2003- 2006, and 5% vs. the
Korean won in the past year. The only major foreign
currency which is depreciating vs. the U.S. dollar
is the Japanese yen.
What does all this mean for U.S. companies? It
means that if you are establishing a coffee shop in
Europe, your expenses in U.S. dollars will increase.
It means that sending your employees on foreign
business trips will cost you more money than
previously (although foreigners visiting the U.S.
will think of our country as a giant Wal-Mart!). But
it also means that foreign distributors, importers
and retail chains will demand your products and
services, which may now be less expensive than those
of local competitors. In short, your international
business should now be flourishing.
Read the full article |
Photo Highlight
Call it poetry in motion. Five hours of dripping milk
into coffee, countless attempts, and careful
finger/shutter coordination produced this amazing shot,
by prize-winning photographer Irene Muller.
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