On Sat, 13 Jul 2002 12:10:38 Jim Elwell wrote: >As always, Marcus, we are close on some issues and world's apart on others.
Perhaps, but I'm not that sure sometimes (on the latter part of your sentence)... >I'll let you have most of the last word on this, but want to comment on one >thing you wrote: > Fine, fire away. >>One can be successful at selling a product *without* alienating the >>peoples these >>are being sold to. > >You can't sell products to people you have alienated. Evidently you misunderstood my comment, Jim. What I mostly meant was, if you know selling something to a certain public would go "against" their preferences, values, culture, etc, you are in actual fact being a bully of sorts. Besides, many times you may be the only *feasible* provider of a product that they could probably consider buying. They'd evidently prefer it if it had some *differences* but because there isn't any around they compromise on their preferences and end up consuming a less-than-satisfactory option. In any case, there is also the issue of others who would not consume it and who would "hate" you for trying to sell that "crap" around (just like you commented further below). This generates resentment, bad reputation, image, etc. You may be strong and powerful enough to simply disregard this wave of negative opinions about you, based on satisfactorily selling your product and raking enough profitability to keep on doing it, and continue to be... "successful", but ME, as a businessman, *I* would feel quite uneasy about this state of affairs. ... >I claim, Marcus, that you are making judgements about companies and >products (certainly your right), and then presuming that everyone feels >that way. Perhaps it could indeed be so, but when the "sentiment" is actually rather... "rampant" I don't think so (honestly!) - again I refer to the example I gave of football in *Brazil* (not Canada!). > I just don't believe that, because if everyone hated the company >or product, then it would fail. > Granted, but please notice that I was referring mostly to those cases where I'd fell pretty confident of stating what I stated. ... >BTW, I happen to like McDonald's, Taco Bell, etc., not because I think the >food is all that great, but because they are FAST -- and I rarely care to >waste an hour going to a restaurant for lunch. In other words, I (and I >think many people) value something very highly other than just the quality >of the food -- the speed with which we can get the food. > Excellent point, Jim! I feel precisely the same way. I think it's fair to say that McDonald's success is mostly due to this very important aspect of their business! >Marcus, I suspect that although you clearly detest American football, there >must be some Canadians who like it, or the efforts to take it to Canada >would never get off the ground. > I'm sorry if I confused you, my friend, I hold dual citizenship and I was referring to *Brazil*, not Canada. My mistake. >Oh, I did not know that McDonald's customized their menus to the locale, >but am delighted to learn it. I use them as an example just because I often >hear them denigrated. > Yes, it's the 'delightful' truth (fortunately). They offered quite interesting menu options in Brazil the last time I visited, options which are evidently NOT available anywhere else I can remember, especially in the ice cream territory. Marcus Is your boss reading your email? ....Probably Keep your messages private by using Lycos Mail. Sign up today at http://mail.lycos.com
