Lemons or Lemonade

It was Saturday afternoon when I hopped in my car to run errands.  The thermostat in the car told me the temperature was a cool 93 degrees, but the sensation of walking into a sauna told me that the humidity in Atlanta was much higher.  As I put my basket of dry cleaning in the car I heard a little girl’s voice call out, “Lemonade!  Lemonade for sale!”  I looked over my shoulder and at the entrance of the next block were two sisters with a table, a pitcher, and a few plastic cups.  The younger of the two girls was clearly in charge of advertising, as she hopped up and down, yelling at passing cars to let them know the sale was on.

I grabbed my wallet and walked over to get a cup of lemonade for the road.  “Good afternoon ladies, I would like a glass.  How much is it?”  I remember how much my lemonade stand used to be, but with inflation, I had already located a $1.00 bill to hand to the little girls.

The oldest sister went directly into her sales pitch, “Our lemonade is fresh squeezed and is 25 cents.  We are also donating 25% to the local Humane Society.”

I have to say at that point I was actually shocked.  Here were two girls, who the oldest could not have been more than 7 years old, offering me a product of value.  The cost of the lemons and sugar that their parents purchased could not have been covered by the meager 25 cents per glass and yet on top of this, these little girls were donating 25% to a charity.

I smiled at the little girl and said, “Oh that’s wonderful.  I don’t have any change so I’m going to give you a whole dollar and you can keep the extra money.”

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Shanghai, Day 7: Chivas Regal captures China market

PM:  Do you drink scotch?

(class erupts in laughter)

RZ:  Yes.

With that one question, Dr. Moreton broke the ice faster than any guest speaker we’ve had prior.  That said, I’m not sure if I should be proud or offended at my classmates reaction to me being the recipient of that question…

PM:  How much is this bottle of Chivas Regal worth to you?

RZ:  Right now, with an afternoon’s worth of classes to go?  Not a whole lot!

Chivas Regal Strategy

Dr. Patrick Moreton from the Washington-Fudan EMBA program explains how Chivas Regal captured the Chinese market

In trying to illustrate the perception of the Chivas Regal brand in the U.S., Dr. Moreton couldn’t have picked a better person in the class than me.  While I’m not a single-malt purist, other than running through the ‘colors’ of Johnny Walker I’ve never really spent that many glasses exploring the world of blended scotch whiskeys.  Nor do I know anyone (as far as I know, at least) that prefers Chivas as their drink of choice.

According to Wikipedia, Chivas Regal was the drink of Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack; however, to this 30-something American male, that association doesn’t mean a whole lot.  More broadly, Chivas Regal isn’t spoken about in the U.S. in the same circles as single-malts like Macallan or The Glenlivet, or even Johnny Walker Black Label in the blended scotch whiskey segment.  And yet, in China, Chivas Regal is second only to Remy Martin cognac in the premium spirits segment.  How can this be?

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First Impressions: Shanghai

Maglev Train Shanghai

430 km/h and you don't feel a thing!

I’m already a little tardy on my posting, as these “first impressions” really constitute my morning after impression!  Regardless, the photo above says it all in terms of where China is in their path to ‘developed nation’ status.  The Maglev train, traveling 430 km/h, took us from the airport to downtown Shanghai in 7 minutes.  By the time I took a few photos of the speedometer, it was already time to get off the train!

The 14.5 hour flight yesterday was a breeze; it’s funny how you can get used to that level of discomfort, once you do the journey a few times!  As always, the person in-front of me in the Continental sardine box didn’t realize that his chair wasn’t broken, just that he was trying put the chair through my kneecaps.  We came to an agreement in the end; I put my knees on the back of his seat, then forced him to where I would allow his seat angle to be.  Problem solved!  Speaking of the Continental flight, I thought it was special that there was a bit of ‘rain’ on the inside from condensation moving through the cabin by the overhead bin.  Thankfully, it wasn’t dripping on me, but the guy across the aisle from me wasn’t so lucky.

After getting situated at the hotel, me, Ryan D., and Vijay headed over to Ian’s flat, literally across the street.  From there, we had a traditional “Ch-Ian-apino” dinner; not quite Chinese, not quite Filiapino, tasty all the same.  Mushroom soup, mixed veggies, black bean chicken, pork dumplings…and ample beer.  Ever the gracious host, Ian already had a few cold ones waiting for us when we got to his flat on the 19th floor, and I was Suntory Beer able to partake in one really tasty brew called Suntory.  For all you Dukies on the way, Suntory obliterates Kingfisher in terms of taste and drinkability.  It’s good with food, it’s good alone…it’s good for when you are walking down the street (I did all three!)  I’m still getting used to the fact that beers outside of the U.S. are a half-liter, or even 600 ml like this Suntory was.

After a long night of food, fun, and good friends, I got back to the hotel around 12:30 a.m., and promptly passed out.  I think it’s fair to say that there will be some jet-lag today…at +12 hours, I’m at the exact opposite of my normal schedule.  In a few hours, I’ll be back on a plane, off to Guilin Airport, to eventually land in Yangshuo.  This ought to be a fantastic few days!

In other news, grades finally came out for the 3rd semester, so I guess we can finally pronounce that chapter in our MBA experience to be complete.  I can’t say I’m disappointed in my grades, but I didn’t get the double SP that I was hoping for.  I’ll settle for the SP in Statistical Modeling though; I’d have been completely embarrassed otherwise.

Safe travels to all of you still in transit!  Oh, and btw, for all of my fellow Mountain Dew drinkers, I found the tasty green elixir no problem yesterday.  A residency first!