Hey Snackers,
Domino's is bored with all its corona-conomy delivery success, so it's branching out to more highbrow pursuits. The pizza legend is launching a film festival. We're expecting masterpieces like: Pizzablanca, Lawrence of Pepperoni, and Some like it Garlic Knot.
The market ticked down on some Big Tech stock drops. The Senate GOP revealed its new stimulus plan, which includes checks of up to $1.2K and an extra $200/week in bonus unemployment pay (the $600/week bonus ends this week). TBD whether it'll pass.
Crank out the case interview books... Reckitt Benckiser is the consumer packaged goods company that makes Lysol. Now Lysol sales have surged a lemon-scented 70% during the pandemic. To expand on its success, Lysol's launching a new business line:
"Hygiene Consulting" could be big... Travel and hospitality have been decimated by the pandemic. Hotels and airlines know that the only way to get customers back is to make them feel safe. Instead of complimentary continental breakfast, hotels are touting obsessive cleanliness. Lysol has capitalized on that concern to bag some big corporate partners:
The value of brand equity... AKA brand clout. Brand equity is the extra value companies can squeeze from our perception of their brand. It's the reason why people pay $160 for Apple AirPods instead of $50 for generic wireless buds. Lysol and Clorox probably aren't more effective than a rando sanitizer that kills 99.99% of germs, but their brands allow them to capitalize on reputation. Hotels and airlines think they can piggy-back off that, too.
5th degree Zucking... Facebook's perpetual MO to crush competitors: bring their most successful feature to Instagram. In 2016, FB essentially crushed Snap Stories by launching Instagram Stories. In 2018, FB tried to take on YouTube by intro'ing IGTV. In May 2020, FB threatened Amazon by shipping "Shops" for ecommerce on Insta. Then FB started obsessing over the fact that TikTok has been downloaded over 2B times. So...
"Reel it in, I got a bag"... FB has the $$$ to not only nab TikTok's product, but also its content. According to the WSJ's infamous "people familiar with the matter" (#PFWTM):
Success breeds copycats... But not all copycats are created equal. FB isn't the only one trying to replicate TikTok features, and TikTok-style apps like Triller and Dubsmash were launched years before TikTok. Since these product ideas aren't something companies can patent, they're up for grabs when they launch. Companies in similar industries are always incorporating each others' successes. But because of their huge-ness, FB and other Big Techies are facing intense regulatory scrutiny (including by Congress today).
Dust off the 5th grade field trip prints... Kodak is back, baby. You might remember Kodak as the company that supplied disposable cameras for your early 2000s "Kodak moments" (don't forget to scroll wheel). Then iPhones took over and Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Now the 131-year-old former photo leader is back with a flashy headline:
Definitely frame-able... This is the 1st loan of its kind under the DPA, which was used earlier this year to speed up production of masks and ventilators. The US is heavily reliant on China for pharma drugs, so this domestic loan is a way to protect the supply chain in case something goes South (because, 2020). For Kodak, it's a big business pivot:
To successfully pivot, companies need to zoom out... Kodak's walking away from its OG camera reputation to focus on the chemicals that underlie it. It doesn't want to be "the company that makes chemicals for camera stuff" — it wants to be "the company that makes chemicals for anything." When BlackBerry realized its phones were doomed, it focused on the underlying software — Now it’s developing secure software for self-driving cars.
🍪 Thanks for Snacking with us! Want to share the Snacks? Invite your friends to sign up here.