Friday Oct.04, 2019
Corona Hard Seltzer vs. White Claw
_That tastes-like-seltzer-made-by-a-beer-company reaction_
Hey Snackers,
Tea party with a sheep in London? Now a thing (but seriously). Airbnb is doing animal-obsessed experiences now.
After dropping nearly 800 points this week, the Dow rebounded a tad before Friday's big unveil: The September jobs report.
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Sip
Liquor legend Constellation drops 6% — but jumps into hard seltzer
Good beer, bad cannabis... Constellation Brands already owns your one fancy buddy's liquor cabinet: High West whiskey, Ballast Point craft beer, Robert Mondavi wines, and Corona. But shares fell 6% because of its other vice: the $4B investment it made in the world's biggest pot company (Canopy Growth) dropped $1.3B in value over the last quarter. Even huge companies make bad stock investments.
Here, try this instead... A Corona-branded spiked seltzer. The experienced drinkers over at Constellation noticed that 90-calorie, anti-carb, alcohol-infused sparkling water had made "an impact" on their beer sales last summer. They also think the spiked seltzer trend is "here to stay," so they're making their own:
- 4 flavors: Mango, cherry, blackberry lime, and Tropical lime-flavored Corona Hard Seltzer.
- 1 trend: US sales of spiked seltzer nearly tripled over the last year to $295M.
You don’t just jump into a new category — you strategize into it... Constellation is targeting a specific area of spiked seltzer: Upscale. The execs believe there are laws when you're drinking White Claw, and that spiked seltzers will expand from low-end (where they are now) to high-end. Constellation doesn't like to play bottom-shelf, so its positioning Corona Hard Seltzer as your indulgent beachside date, not a bachelorette party default.
Hustle
The 4th Uber app has arrived: Uber Works is the Uber for temp workers
Who's going to make the "Uber for staffing"?... Turns out it's Uber. With deep profitability problems in its core ride/food delivery apps, Uber hopes this becomes its profit puppy: Uber Works. The new app is the essence of gig — connecting humans who want work with people who need work. It launched in Chicago, and here are some scenarios you could Uber Work for:
- 🍽 Events: Cook, bartend, set-up/clean-up. Uber Works finds the restaurant, bar, or party that's desperate for side-hustlers.
- 📦 Warehousing: Help with inventory, shipping, or packaging. Uber Works connects you with a factory in need.
Staffing is hard... and it's dominated by local or industry-specific firms sticking people like Ryan Howard into a role at Dunder Mifflin (and charging a fee for it). Uber Works replaces that with its app's secret algorithm to balance supply with demand through dynamic (aka "surge") pricing. The pricing in this case being an hourly wage.
Uber's got an "independent contractor" problem... but Uber Works probably won't face it. California recently passed a law requiring Uber to treat drivers as full-time employees with benefits (benefits = expensive.). With Works though, Uber is purely a middleman, taking a fee from a variety of businesses that find gig workers via Uber. It's a cleaner transaction with fewer legal question marks.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Venti: Starbucks is paying $20M to 8K farmers across Latin America to help them handle low prices of their crop (Starbucks needs its coffee-growers to stay in business)
- Flight: Bird raises $275M and is now worth $2.5B as it sends its scooters worldwide
- Copycat: Snap drops 4% after Facebook unveils a clone: "Threads" is a new Instagram messaging app with Snapchat vibes
- Luxe: Facebook was ordered by the EU to remove any content worldwide if a European country asks for it
- Restructured: HP is trying to remake itself — to start, it's cutting a hefty 7K-9K jobs
- Paid: MGM to pay up to $800M to the victims of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting (it's the biggest ever settlement of its kind)
Friday
- September's big jobs report
ID: 971778
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