As an avid golfer and gear-head I can say from experience that Callaway (ELY) is not the same company it was in the past. In many ways, Callaway became complacent with its position at the top. For much of the last decade, Callaway manufactured the best selling woods, irons, and putters in the game of golf. Callaway consistently earned a profit and had millions of loyal customers. Recently Callaway has stopped marketing aggressively and reduced spending on sponsorship of PGA LPGA tour players. Many customers no longer find Callaway's equipment exciting or cutting edge. Today Callaway's products lack the cutting edge technology and marketing appeal of its major competitor Taylormade (Adidas AG ADS). In this article I will examine both Callaway's products and financials to prove my investment thesis.

Products:

Callaway sprung on to the scene in a major way with the launch of the Big Bertha series woods and irons in the 90's. Not only was the Big Bertha line a commercial success, but it revolutionized golf equipment and afforded Callaway an increasingly loyal customer base. The Big Bertha series was the gold standard for equipment and a cash cow for Callaway for nearly a decade and a half. Callaway stopped manufacturing Big Bertha branded clubs in 2009. Recently the firm has made a series of colossal commercial flops. They spent millions in R to develop and market clubs that were discounted heavily before the end of the product cycle to move them from retailer's shelves. Among these flops has been Callaway's I-Mix technology drivers, FT-I series woods, Diablo series woods and FT series irons among others. These flops have alienated both Callaway's loyal customers and retailers.

While Callaway's product line has been weak, primary competitor Taylormade has produced game-changers such as the R9 series woods and irons, R11 woods and irons, and the Burner woods and irons. These successes have propelled Taylormade to the top spot as the #1 manufacturer of drivers, woods, and irons; categories that were in the past dominated by Callaway. Callaway's troubles are two-fold; not only is Callaway earning a smaller share of the market, but the market itself is shrinking. Across the country, participation in the domestic golf market has contracted for the last 3 years.

In recent years, I personally have much preferred offerings from Taylormade and Titleist. A local proshop where I purchase much of my equipment has gone so far as to stop carrying Callaway products. The owner finds them difficult to sell at full price and is therefore left with excess stock when Callaway decides to discount their products at the end of their yearly cycle.

Financials:

Callaway has not been profitable since 2008. Granted, some of their poor performance can be attributed to disruptions in demand caused by the financial crisis, but a majority of this can be attributed to loss in market share. This was evidenced by the fact that Taylormade recently had the most profitable quarter in company history. Callaway has been unable to cut expenses to cope with falling revenues. Callaway has cut its marketing budget, which made sense on paper as it was a variable expense and Callaway is an established brand. In practice, cutting marketing expenditures was not a wise decision.

Retailers and industry observers, however, maintain that Callaway has continued to make high-performance products, and that its miscues have come more on the marketing front. Aside from insufficient spending, some critics say Callaway's brand messaging in recent years hasn't resonated with consumers. (Golfweek)

These strategic misses by Callaway do not speak well of management.

Pundits may defend Callaway's valuation by pointing to its price to book ratio which stands quite impressively at .79, but a good deal ($230 million of the total $509 million) of Callaway's assets are inventory. In the golf industry, with clubs running on a 1 year products cycle, inventory depreciates at a rate of 50% yearly. Therefore, to get a more accurate picture of Callaway's balance sheet, I find it helpful to factor out inventory. Factoring out inventory, Callaway's price to book returns to a more conservative 1.33.

Callaway bulls may also point to Callaway becoming a possible acquisition target like Adams Golf was to Taylormade/Adidas earlier this year. Since Callaway does still have a fair amount of market share, antitrust laws would likely damper any acquisition by a competing golf company. Additionally, most large sports companies do have golf divisions; Nike (NKE)-Nike Golf, Puma- Cobra, Adidas- Taylormade, Fila- Titleist. A potential takeover by Under Armour (UA) does come to mind, but UA only has cash reserves of 100 Million making an acquisition unlikely. Under Armour is also quite established in the higher margin soft-goods (apparel and accessories) golf industry, so an expansion into less profitable hard-goods (equipment) may seem unattractive.

Take Away:

At this stage, Callaway is not a good investment due to product line and marketingAlienation of loyal customers and retailersLoss of market shareFundamental disruptions in the golf industryIncreased competition from industry titan TaylormadeLack of potential buyersCallaway does have brand equity and with an overhaul of marketing and the product line, it may one day return to profitability. However, for now, that seems like a costly, time consuming process.

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?Intro To Reusable Shopping Bags

Reusable bags are hot these days. You seen them at your local grocery store, at Wal-Mart, and maybe at your favorite department store. As more and more businesses strive to reduce waste and promote sustainability, customers are jumping into the game as well, saving bags from their favorite stores to use again and again, especially if the bags provided are well-made and fashionable. The trend has taken hold among all classes of shoppers, and businesses are beginning to realize the marketing potential that can be tapped by taking advantage of the tendency of their customers to reuse store bags.

The Evolution of Shopping Bags

In the past, shopping bags have been viewed by most businesses as a non-recoverable expense-a necessary item that gave little or no benefit to the store. These days, however, stores have begun to incorporate shopping bags into their marketing strategy. Stores that provide durable, trendy looking shopping bags for their customers see an increase in the number of people who save their store bags and use them again for everything from lunch carriers to dry-cleaning pickup. As these bags travel with the consumer throughout his or her sphere of operation, they act as moveable billboards, displaying the company name and logo to thousands of eyes that might never see or print or television ad.

For some consumers, the bags themselves become the target of shopping excursions, even more so than the merchandise they carry. Companies such as Lululemon Athletica have discovered that creating desirable shopping bags may create previously unanticipated problems. The yoga retailer desirable red, white, and black bags have led to customers asking for a bag without buying anything, or requesting large bags for small items. When the goal of creating reusable bags is to decrease the amount of plastic necessary over time, customers who hoard shopping bags ultimately defeat the purpose. As a result, some stores have begun offering incentives such as a charity donation for each customer who does not take a shopping bag with his or her purchase.

So how can small businesses cash in on the trend? The first step is to create a memorable bag that announces your business to the public. You can incorporate your store name and logo inexpensively by purchasing from a supplier that offers screen printing. Second, choose heavy duty bags that lend themselves to reuse rather than thin paper or plastic bags that seem disposable. Whatever material you choose for your bags, make sure it is something that can handle a little wear and tear. Handles made from cord, ribbon or plastic as opposed to thin paper handles also give a bag more durability. Third allot part of your marketing budget for shopping bags. While that may seem counterintuitive, really great bags will encourage customers to use them again and again, giving your business exposure in places you might never reach otherwise.

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Forecast of the industry in general, the jewelry spend sum of Chinese and Indian market is expected to catch up to U.S.A market by 2015. China will become the worlds biggest and the great developing potential of jewelry consumer market.But, China jewelry industry is still not mature, the whole industrial concentration is very low, in general, a huge market demand but a mess supply chains, and market split phenomenon is obvious. Outlook 2011, how the China jewelry industry movements? In this regard, the industry has said that jewelry enterprises will hasten to expand network sale market, the next 3 to 5 years, the share of network of sales will accounted for 20% of China jewelry industry; the e-commerce of China jewelry industry will appear and develop rapidly.

Statistics of Gemmological Association of China show that, China has become the world's second largest jewelry consumer market, but the construction of social faith system needs a process, formation of the habit to buy jewelry online still takes some time.That makes the share of network of sales just accounted for less than 5%, it has great room for growth. The industry is expected, jewelry marketing will enhance greatly in 2011, and network of sales is expected to 21.7 billion, and will grow 155% on year. The next 3 to 5 years, the share of network of sales will accounted for 20% of China Jewelry industry.

The sale share of jewelry e-commerce is increasing these years, however, some jewelry e-commerce enterprises are struggling to survive. The gross profit of the industry leader, like Diamond Bird, Devine, the Nine, looks not good in recent years. There are not many jewelry e- commerce enterprises can highlight oneself value, more than that are making price war, just to be another new channel of commodity circulation. An industry Mr. Huang said that malicious competition of price caused online stores had started to die constantly during 2008 and 2010.Concerned expert expresses jewelry e-commerce industry represents a new way of the global jewelry industry, there will be many China jewelry e-commerce enterprises get rid of the burden of operating loss, begin to realize gain in 2011. In the year of expect to usher in a new stage of development, China e-commerce will may be appear a blockbuster development.

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The fashion world has greatly been talking about the style, which has been added by the entry of these scarves into the fashion industry. When you go to any part or any other place, wearing these scarves, you would become the center of attention of that gathering. People would be coming to you for praising your style and taste. These scarves are available in many vibrant and attractive colors, which make them even more appealing. They fabric used in the making are very soft and attractive. They are also available in different shapes and styles. Even many of the celebrities like to wear these scarves because of the comfort and style they provide.

The colors of these scarves are so vibrant and catchy that you can hardly avoid them. Louis vuitton scarf is something which every woman desires to have. It is the symbol of purity and elegance. You can have their replicas at reduced and lowered prices. They look exactly the same as if they are the original ones and would provide you with the similar comfort and easiness which you can have with the original ones. The simple woman would turn into an elegant and classy lady when she would wear these scarves. She would be taken as a fashion icon, an idol just because of these scarves. When you want to look at your best, want to attract others and want to be the center of the part or any event then these scarves are a must for you. Your personality would get a boost with the help of these scarves.

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?How to Look Good and Golf

Golfing is a sport and you would expect to not have very many clothing options as a female for the sport. Most golf courses have strict dress codes that border on formal, which is probably the last thing you would expect for a sport. Formal clothes for women and sports that involve a lot of bending, twisting and swinging really don't work. If you're someone that is new to this and is planning on going out golfing, I thought I could help you out by showing you what you should be wearing that is formal, yet practical to properly play the sport.

The big formal thing that just about all golf courses requires is a collared shirt. It doesn't matter if you're male or female, they want to see that collar. For men it is a little simple for them because they usually have some sort of collared shirt lying around and they just put on black pants and they're all set. For women it is a little more difficult. They need to wear a polo shirt with a collar, which a lot of women don't wear. Pants are completely acceptable now a days for women, but I'm not personally a fan of them.

When women first started playing golf they were expected to wear skirts, but this is completely unpractical when you're bending over and twisting. This is why the skort was created. It is a mix of skirt and shorts. Essentially to someone looking at you, they'd assume that you're wearing a skirt, but underneath you really have the coverage of shorts. So when you're bending down you don't run into any problems at all.
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This is a CPrime review, hopefully by the end of this review you will have a better understanding of how it all works and what exactly this C Prime bracelet is all about. First off, CPrime's product is based in the health & wellness industry. CPrime is still in prelaunch, but it is a launching itself in the mlm business model, a very powerful distribution model for the C Prime Bracelets.

You probably guessed it, but the bracelet is a bracelet! It is made out of polyurethane, steel as well as some patent-pending technology that turns it into a bioatenna. This bioattenna when worn around the wrist will help you become stronger, more flexible and even helps with your balance according to the bracelet creators. Their research on this product is based off 3 investigators who had a combined clinical research experience of around 65 years, with the research conducted in San Diego & Los Angeles California.

Using their product you can harmonize the microscopic electron events that happen in your body every single day. By harmonizing these events, your body can become much more efficient in all aspects of its functioning. This of course leads to a much healthier lifestyle, and the bracelet is so simple that anyone can use it and put it to effect.

I mentioned earlier about this company being a mlm business, with any mlm business there is always two facets. Selling the product of that business, as well as the opportunity that goes along with that product. In a lot of ways, this company is pretty unique with its product when compared to your average lotions & potions deals, but it poses its own challenges as well. Since the bracelet won't self-destruct, and is not a product that you need to re-order every single month to get more of, you will have to become a lot more focused on sales skills versus prospecting skills that are traditionally the most important skills in network marketing. This can make building a residual income in it a whole lot more difficult, as you will need huge volume every month with the product going out to new customers, as well as loads of new distributors coming in every single week to duplicate your efforts.

As of this writing, they are still in pre-launch and thus has yet to come out with a full-fledge compensation plan. You will make money obviously on selling the product as well as the opportunity which is normal for a mlm. With that said, there is somethings you can still do to make sure of your success should you choose to side with the opportunity.

The most fundamental thing you can do right now is start building towards creating an attraction marketing funnel in this niche. By doing this you will have plenty of people to talk to day-in and day-out about your business, thus ensuring you will be able to make new sales every single month in your mlm business. This is extremely important, especially when dealing with prelaunch mlms like this one, as most prelaunches will fail. So even if the company doesn't become the next big thing in network marketing history, you've at least created a list of people who like, know and trust you, therefore you can move them on into the next opportunity you become passionate about. Which is an extremely liberating experience!

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