The City of Dawson Creek, BC has a population of 14,245.  Dawson Creek is also referred to as Mile ‘0’ of the Alaska Highway.  The primary industries are agriculture, natural gas & oil and lastly tourism.  It is a delight to visit Dawson Creek.  It has a very artsy feel to it.  Vintage & Restoration Love is a shop reminds me of something I would see in St. Jacobs, Ontario.  It was a pleasant surprise to find it in a city close to Fort St. John.  It is an eclectic mix of vintage and new home décor items, upcycled furniture and restored furniture.  Natasha Lacourse, the owner promotes local artisans and her store also features delicious local and BC food items. Natasha is a great resource when you are working on a paint DIY.  If you have issues with your project talk to Natasha she will be pleased to help you.  Vintage & Restoration Love is a thriving business and I wondered how Natasha uses social media for supply chain management.

Adidas’ and FIFA’s relationship dates back 47years, and since 1970 Adidas has been supplying the official match ball for all FIFA World Cup™ matches. The partnership was recently extended until 2030 granting adidas the Official Partner, Supplier and Licensee rights for the FIFA World Cup™ and all FIFA events until 2030. The announcement was made during a ceremony in Moscow by Thierry Weil, FIFA Marketing Director and Herbert Hainer, Adidas Group CEO. Adidas wants to preserve its position as the number one seller of soccer gear worldwide. In 2010 Adidas, was the first and only outfitter and licensee to disclose the list of suppliers/factories involved with the production of World Cup products of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Adidas Supply Chain Structure Adidas is currently outsourcing most of the production to more than 1,000 independent factories from around the world. Adidas products are manufactured in 63 countries and supply chain is global and multi-layered with different types of business partners, some are directly contracted factories, while others are not. The top five countries per region and by number of supplier sites in 2016 were: The Americas (26%): United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and Mexico. Asia (64%): China, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia and Japan. Europe, the Middle East and Africa (10%): Germany, Turkey, Italy, Spain and South Africa.  The Power of Social Media and Supply Chain Management Adidas has launched a #allin campaign on Twitter. The official World Cup 2014 soccer ball named the Brazuca was given its own Twitter handle (@brazuca) generating over 139,000 followers. The Adidas Football YouTube channel has 350,000 subscribers and is host to various videos showcasing Lionel Messi, featuring the new Battle Pack cleats that were launched in conjunction with World Cup content. One of the videos features the Brazuca that was fitted with cameras into the ball that was sent on a World Journey. In 2014 World Cup in Brazil the Adidas football Facebook page had over 17 million likes, containing pictures promotions, video links. Some of the promotions included signed soccer balls by designated players that could be won by customers by following Adidas soccer related Twitter accounts. This was a way for Adidas to connect to their customer base, fans and anyone interested in Soccer. Adidas is using Social Media to Improve Supply Chain Management The Sports Retail Industry is a highly competitive market and it is very important for companies to… Read more »

Budget Marine is the Caribbean’s leading marine chandlery with retail locations throughout the Caribbean.  In the Caribbean, most people use social media to let friends and family know where their latest landfall is, and for obtaining information through cruisers’ nets. Using social media as a tool to improve business performance is a new concept.  However, for companies like Budget Marine, it opens up vast new opportunities.  People may not think of the Caribbean when they think of “multinational companies,” but that is exactly what Budget Marine is.

LUSH Cosmetic Retail Ltd. is a cosmetics retailer headquartered in Poole, United Kingdom, founded by Herbal trichologist, Mark Constantine and his wife, Liz Weir in 1995. This UK-based handmade cosmetics firm is one company that now has over 800 stores worldwide and uses factories in more than 40 countries. Lush as a cosmetic retailer has always been a company that uses unconventional methods which have led them to success. Since its establishment, Lush has been inventing and designing its products to reduce usage of packaging, water, energy and also to reduce carbon emission and waste. 100% of Lush’s products are vegetarian, 65% of them are preservative free, and 58% of them are free from unnecessary packaging. Lush also created solid shampoo bars, massage bars and Bath Bombs that do not even need packaging. Lush says liquid soaps and shampoos need to be bottled and that one can prevent over 30 plastic bottles from entering the landfills by switching to solid bars from Lush. From making shampoo bars in solid form, rather than bottled, over 450,000 litres (118,800 gallons) of water is saved every year. The products in the retail store are displayed similar to how fruits and vegetables are displayed in a grocery store without extra packaging. It’s no surprise that Lush’s ethical supply chains and financial success aren’t mutually exclusive.

There’s no denying that social media has become a part of our every day lives. It has evolved far beyond individual and personal use, and is now a necessity in the business world. You would be hard pressed to find a company without a Facebook page, and any one that doesn’t won’t be around for very long. Even a business like Camp Grounded, a summer camp for adults that is built on the concept of “unplugging” and leaving all of your electronics at the door 1, has their own Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts on which they do their advertising. It is used everywhere. And while the primary function of social media among businesses is to stay connected with customers and to carry an online presence, it can also be used as a way to increase efficiency and improve upon supply chain management. One major issue most companies face when managing their supply chain is communication. It’s important that all suppliers and manufacturers work together, but especially if different components are being sourced from different time zones, maintaining efficient communication can be challenging. This is where social media comes into play; it’s all about communication! If used correctly, social media should help the supply chain become more streamlined and efficient.2

How it all Began Today, Stonyfield Organic is a New Hampshire based organic dairy brand specializing in the production of yogurt, smoothies, frozen yogurt, milk and cream as well as some lactose free soy based products. The mission of the company is to provide healthy organic options to everyone that are free of pesticides, antibiotics, artificial hormones or GMOs while helping family farms survive and doing it all in a sustainable manner. However, 3o years ago the two founders Samuel Kaymen and Gary Hirshberg didn’t think it would be their dairy products changing the world. Stonyfield began as non-profit organic farming school where the two men shared their love of healthy eating, protecting the environment and family farming. They needed a way to fund their school so they started to make organic yogurt with the 7 dairy cows that they had. They knew that they were staying true to their values by producing the organic yogurt they just didn’t know how much everyone else was going to love it! 30 years later and only 30 miles East of the original farm, the business is stronger than ever providing a plethora of tasty and healthy options with the same goals in mind from the start.

If you’re looking to get things done around your home or yard, many turn to the quintessential home improvement store – The Home Depot. The entire essence of their company is helping YOU, the customer, get things done. But they really have a knack for getting things done FOR you as well. Let’s take a step back. Supply chain management (SCM) and social media have a rather new connection. As Ranjan Sinha points out in his post on LinkedIn on the subject: “There was once a time when companies were adding policies that discouraged their employees from using social media while on the job. Over the course of the last few years, this notion has taken a turn for the opposite.” Of course, we already know this – there are jobs in all sorts of fields these days that completely revolve around social media. Managing a Twitter feed, Instagram account, or blog could be someone’s primary function in his or her employment. The marriage of SCM and social media is what has changed.

Being a mom, juggling work, and writing blogs for my Social Media for Business Performance course, keeps me very busy.  My biggest challenge these days is finding time to go to a grocery store… or two… or three, just to pick up things I need for this week’s meals. Thank goodness for price matching! Time, is one of our most precious commodities yet every day we struggle with having less of it and craving more. So much so that we often succumb to paying a hefty price for it. It has revolutionized the way people buy groceries, giving busy professionals, parents, elderly, student’s and even businesses back valuable time they don’t have to spend shopping. The increased demand for this type of service has resulted in a large number of companies entering this online space.  With competition being so fierce three factors will influence which business will rise to the top:  Innovation, Speed of Delivery and Efficiency in their Supply Chain. The application of social media in the supply chain process is no longer an option but rather a requisite in order for a company to accelerate and propel ahead of the pack. “Using modern technologies, such as social media, can improve an organization’s supply chain management. It can create more visibility, improve communication, increase control, and reduce operational and labor costs. When you have a more efficient and stable supply chain, you can enhance your customer satisfaction. The ripple effect of using social media to improve your supply chain management can expand outwardly across virtually your entire organization, which is great for business.”[1]