Tiger at war on the Australian market

Tiger Airways today announced $9.95 one-way flights from Adelaide to Melbourne as part of their market-penetration strategy.

There has been much speculation of Tiger Airways’ introduction strategies into the Australian market but price-wars are nothing new in the aviation industry.

If I recall correctly Virgin Blue did it. Jetstar did it. What has been the product of this serious undercutting? Fierce competition!

To clarify for those spectators that sit there and wonder how this sort of behaviour is sustainable, I shall go over penetration-pricing.

Penetration-pricing means setting a low entry price to gain market-share and then increasing to a level that is realistic and within what the market is willing to pay. I see this as what Tiger Airways is doing.

I see them as wanting to gain market-share by creating an irresistible buzz which will ultimately lead to brand-loyalty.

They’re making their product accessible so people can see ‘what they’ve got’ and will hopefully choose them again when it comes to booking low-cost airfares.

H’s Place

 Last night I went to my good friend Holly’s 21st party. Here are a couple of pics taken at her place.

1st: The view from my tent this morning.

2nd: The view from the back of their house.

My views on the Pride March

I shall clarify my reasons as to not being interested in the Pride March over the following paragraphs.

People (not just you Luke, a few) imply that I come across as somewhat closed-minded for not attending the Pride March, having never been. I have concluded that it is not my ‘thing’ and have reached this decision without experiencing it first-hand: yes.

However, I put this down to their (Feast’s) communication tools. These tools are used to attract consumers to their product – in this instance, attendees to their event. The way the attempts have affected me is to see the march as being a small-town Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras comes across as a festival of sex; sexual innuendoes; bears in leather; twinks in hot-pants; dykes on bikes: stereotypes.

I’m not particularly closed to these types of people. They can do as they please. That’s entirely their right. I just feel that when used to create awareness of the gay community it’s entirely counter-productive. The whole spectacle puts the community in the light of being about the aforementioned stereotypes.

I understand the meaning of the march and Feast as a whole. We’ve come far: yes. We deserve to be treated as equals: yes.

Overall, I think my views here reflect the power of promotion. Here is an example:

If a restaurant presents itself a certain way (serving Italian food), one sets expectations (to consume Italian food) and will only be satisfied if those expectations are met or exceeded (they actually get Italian food). After being effected by the communications tools that Feast have used for the march I expect it to be about the stereotype I have explained. And sure, we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but a lot of my decision-making-process has become moot as my mind has been made up for me, so to speak.

Cibo on Pirie

Cibo Espresso have opened a new branch, number 97 Pirie Street I believe. I attempted to go there at my lunch break but there weren’t open. They are spreading even more. Would they just open up in Sydney/Melbourne already.

The Adelaide tram extension: Very good

Initially I was a critic but now my views have changed of the Adelaide tram extension. At first, I wondered (1) would it be feasible or just a waste of space and public money; and (2) do we really need an extended tram service when the buses are doing just fine?

Well, after catching the tram from the Rundle Mall stop to Greenhill Road to meet mum after work tonight, my views have changed.

Firstly, the disruption to traffic is absolutely minimal. Cars stick to their lane and the tram its own. If uninitiated drivers are confused by the roads and rules, well they shouldn’t be behind the wheel. It’s all fairly simple on the roads.

Secondly, the carriages are quite ample I feel. Apparently, there has been a lot of whinging in the media about the trams getting chock-a-block and reduced to standing room only. So? Passengers are there to commute not sit back and relax. It’s not the Ghan and shouldn’t be positioned to be. When I got on it today it was reasonably full: I stood but was comfortable.

Lastly, just think of transport like this: how quickly can a bus load 20 passengers? How quickly can a tram or train load 20 passengers? Which is more efficient and effective in a speed/load sense? The latter two, exactly. The old BeeLine bus would go from stop-to-stop; take 1-3 minutes to load its passengers through its two entry-points; would need to pull back out into the traffic… The tram (and trains) pulls up at a stop; passengers board autonomously; it’s loaded and off again in less than a minute. The tram does have to stop at lights but big deal.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience. I got from Rundle Street to my destination within 5-7 minutes and didn’t mind standing up in the well air conditioned carriage.

As much as this will ultimately be one of Rann’s trophies I think he’s done something that’s useful and sustainable. It does connect the beach ‘burbs and CBD with the West, education district of the city which is important considering the impending growth of that sector in Adelaide.

Tax Cuts?

Tax payers enjoy getting a break from time-to-time but could it be at the cost of the environment and equality? Yes, very much so… When these cuts are most saturated at the top-end of the scale, as Rudd recently put it, “where it’s not needed”, it really does have an affect on those at the lower-end. Read the following quote from Quarterly Essay by Lowe et al. (2007).

“Fifty years ago, Australia was one of the most equal societies in the World. Today, we are one of the most unequal of all the industrialised nations. Again, the mineral export industries are influential. The industry is capital-intensive and commodity prices have been driven up by demand in China, so mining companies can afford to pay very high wages compared with manufacturing or services. In cities like Perth, the high incomes of mining workers on fly-in fly-out contracts are driving house prices to levels that put the Australian dream beyond the reach of more and more young families. While the good times of the mining boom roll on, we should be using the revenue to invest in a cohesive social future, rather than allowing the windfall gains to widen inequality”.

My closing points on the environment at the moment: rather than just living we should live just. And, rather than finding better ways to produce more energy we should find better ways to use less energy…

Calafornian Bushfires

This morning on Sunrise, they featured a Hollywood reporter who reported on the Californian bushfires. It seemed all she was concerned about, and the media on the whole in a broader sense, was the risks to these celebrity homes and their material possessions. What’s the significance of this in such a state of desperation?

Yes, let’s be concerned about the celebrities and the “normal” people –anyone being affected by these fires. But, their homes and materials? What’s so special about theirs compared to Joe Bloggs house full of treasures? I think it’s ridiculous to convey such inequity. It’s treating the “standard” citizen as second rate.

Of course it would be devastating to lose ones home and things and I certainly think it’s a matter of concern but my annoyance comes from the onus on the celebs.

Lets blur the boundaries, we all shit the same.

Snobs, RH fans?

According to McCabe (2007) “at least 99.9 per cent of all Radiohead fans are the worst kind of musical snobs” [1]. There are two points of this claim I disagree with. Firstly, where is the evidence to back this claim? Secondly, “99.9%”? Who uses that pseudo-quantifier anymore?

McCabe, founder, editor and publisher of the subscription travel newsletter, Dream of Italy, goes on with equally baseless claims as “these pseudo-intellectual cultural elitists still pretend to like the unlistenable and inexcusably indulgent Kid A and Amnesiac records”.

I ask, why is Kid A –for instance– being falsely dubbed, by McCabe as unlistenable when its average peak chart ranking out of 18 countries music charts is 2.78 [2]? To me, that’s the indication of a pretty good album. Furthermore, it holds a position on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time [3].

I say three things about this journalist:

1. With her writing style she’s trying to deliver an objective view that represents a good portion of the interested public. However, she comes across as poorly educated, closed-minded and subjective.

2. She needs to lose the cliche, factless facts.

3. I take it her interest in music is quite basic and the complexity and meaning of albums like Kid A and Amnesiac was too much.

References:

[1] McCabe, K (2007). Most Radiohead Fans are Music Snobs.

[2] Wikipedia, (2000). Kid A: Charts.

[3] Wikipedia, (2007). Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Busy-ness

It’s been a busy few weeks. I have been working [1]; I’ve been sick [2]; I’ve been doing my best to get this assignment out of the way [3]; and I’ve become disappointed with the silly, waste-of-time show, Australian Idol [4].

1. Work is the same ol’ thing/place/activity.

2. Came down with the flu-type thing. All ok now. Poor PH now has it. I am sure I had something to do with that –my bad.

3.  Went to the library on Sunday and carved away a sizable chunk of the assignment. It’s quite good actually: I really like the topic. I’m heading for a HD for this one… Fingers n’ toes!

4.  Ben got voted out last night. Something I do not understand. As Dicko said, he expected Matt and Ben to be the two to get to the finale. They have the voices; the appeal and the fans!

I’m guessing that people thought they were so much of a sure-thing that they didn’t bother voting and subsequently they were in the bottom three. Alternately, perhaps Ben and Matt’s fan base don’t have the access to vote unlike the fans of more mature acts. For example: perhaps the average B/M fan is on limited, pre-paid mobile access; restricting the amount they can vote?

Anyways…

Gun laws in the US a joke

The Second Amendment, as passed by the House and Senate, reads:

“

A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.

”

The hand-written copy of the Bill of Rights which hangs in the National Archives had slightly different capitalization and punctuation inserted by William Lambert, the scribe who prepared it. This copy reads:

“

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

”

Both versions are commonly used in official US Government publications.

Maybe this all has something to do with the shit doing down in the US over the last few years where citizens, especially young, troubled, depressed citizens take the “heat” into their own hands through accessibility and education, and kill their brethren and selves.