It is no secret that Americans love their fair share of fast food. Whether it’s sugary donuts or greasy burgers, Americans are suckers for fast food of any kind, hence making us the number one biggest consumer of fast food in the world. So what are some fast food economic indicators?

According to “The Economist” magazine, during economic downturns, fast food restaurants across the country surprisingly do well amidst the downfall. Fast food restaurants did much better than pricey, more sophisticated restaurants during this period of time. This is because people would want to spend as little money as possible during these downturns, and thus choosing the less expensive food over costly ones. In the event of when long term recession makes even fast food restaurants fail, these fast food restaurant chains can still continue to survive by cutting their prices and do more advertisements across the country.

Contrary to the last paragraph, no amount of cheap food can stop some people from eating at home to save money. During the 2008 recession, unemployment rates were at an all time high, thus fewer and fewer consumers were dining out. This led to the merger of Wendy’s and Arby’s, which expanded the market share of both fast food chains, making it the 3^rd largest food chain in USA. Due to this merger, the fast food chain also increased its costumer base, pulling consumers from 2 different fast food chains into 1. Therefore, I will not be surprised if more fast food chains do a merger in the future if there is ever going to be a recession again, as it will benefit the chains during this period of time.

Due to the health kick that everyone is in lately, consumers began to demand fruits and vegetables to be included in the menu of fast food restaurants. More and more Americans became more picky when it comes to the food they eat and the calories they burn each day. There was a sudden increase of menus with healthier options in well known fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Chickfila. They began introducing salads and fruit cups into their menus, some restaurants even began serving grilled chicken as a healthier alternative to fried chicken. According to QSR Magazine, 2011 sales for McDonald’s outperformed the company’s sales in 2009, by a whopping $1.5billion. The difference in sales was mainly due to the addition of fruit smoothies and salads into the fast food chain’s menu.

In conclusion, these are some of the economic indicators of the fast food chains in America. As long as there is never a repeat of the horrific 2008 recession in the near future, the future of the fast food industry seems to be bright in America.

Baseball may longer be America’s only favorite past time. Americans have sought after a much more cost efficient alterative to let loose and relax than pay the high cost of a stadium seat. It seems that more individuals are heading to the big screen to unwind.

It has been noted that by economists that there may be a strong correlation between movie ticket sales and the health of our economy. During our economy’s peak, Americans had a much more disposable income to spend on vacations and were able to pay higher costs for entertainment. However, as a result of the recession many individuals have now become hesitant to spend money.

However, as our economy slowly begins to recover from the economic recession that occurred in the late 2000s it has been observed that Americans are watching more films, whether they are heading to a theater or relaxing on the couch at home streaming Netflix or popping in a Redbox rental.

It has been recorded that summer box office sales hit a record high in 2011, with a grand total of $4.4 billion in overall revenue. That being a notable increase of approximately 1 percent over the prior year, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.

Looking back and comparing how our economy was in 2011 to our 2015 economic numbers, one would certainly hope that he or she would see some sort of upward trend indicating that we are on our way to recovery.

Therefore, what would we hope to see in terms of box office numbers for this summer season? Certainly, we’d hope to see less individuals heading to the theater as a form of entertainment of course.

While we will not know the exact box office numbers for the summer of 2015 until after Labor Day weekend, it can be stated that there has been a substantial decrease when paralleled to our 2011 numbers.

Currently, the summer season has brought in approximately $3.8 billion revenue domestically. However, it is expected that there should not be any significant spike in numbers within the remaining week or so of the season.

It can be stated that this summer season is up 9.7% compared to last year, but that increase is suspected to be a result of more family movies being released this summer, such as Jurassic World. In addition, labor day falls at a later date this year and provides an additional eight days to the summer season.

So the method of observing summer box office sales and comparing them to the economy may seem unusual,  but it may be a valid economic indicator.

 

 

 

Li Ka Shing, Hong Kong’s wealthiest man started his career as a high school drop out but he managed to grow his wealth alongside Hong Kong’s rapid financial boom. Anything good that has happened to him could be traced back to the fact that he was born in the right country, Hong Kong, at the right time, 1930s. He was not the only one to benefit from his birth, Warren Buffet, probably the world’s most successful investor was born around the same time in the United States. A quarter of a century ago, when The World in 1988 ranked 50 countries according to where would be the best place to be born in 1988, America indeed come top. But the question is, which country will be the best birthplace for the years to come?

To answer this, The economist has created a comparison of 80 countries which will provide the best opportunity for healthy, safe and prosperous in years ahead. The quality of life index (also known as the where-to-be-born index) links the results of subjective life satisfaction surveys – how happy people say they are- to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries. A high GDP per capita helps more than anything else however it is not all that counts. Things like crime and trust in government institution matter too. Overall, the index takes 11 indices into account, they are varied but all important considerations: some are factors hardly ever change (geography), and others change very slowly (social and cultural characteristics) and some factors depend on political environment and the state of the world economy.

Determinants of the Quality of Life

1. Material wellbeing

• GDP per person, at ppp in $.

2. Health

• Life expectancy at birth, years.

3. Political stability and security

• Political stability and security ratings.

4. Family life

• Divorce rate (per 1,000 population), converted into index of 1 (lowest divorce rates) to 5 (highest).

5. Community life

• Dummy variable taking value 1 if country has either high rate of church attendance or trade-union membership; zero otherwise.

6. Climate and geography

• Latitude, to distinguish between warmer and colder climes.

7. Job security

• Unemployment rate %.

8. Political freedom

• Average of indices of political and civil liberties. Scale of 1 (completely free) to 7 (unfree).

9. Gender equality

• Ratio of average male and female earnings, latest available data.

10. Governance

• Ratings for corruption

Surprising factors that weren’t included in the index are education levels, rate of GDP growth and income inequality. According to studies, education only had a small correlation to overall life satisfaction however, education levels can also impact political freedom, job security and gender equality.

A forward-looking element comes into play too. Although many of the determinants of the quality of life change rather slowly, these rankings are only a forecast. The2013 index will be for children born in that year and predict the year 2030 when they reach adulthood.

Small economies dominate the top ten places. Half of these countries are european but only one country is in the Euro Zone (Netherlands). The Nordic countries are ranked the highest whereas European economies with high unemployment rates lag behind (Greece and Spain) despite their advantage of a warm climate.

America, the number 1 country to be born in in 1988, is down in 16th place, despite their huge economy and political freedom, babies born today will inherit large debts of the boomer generation. None of the large manufacturing countries such as Brazil, India or China scored very impressively.

Many know more or less about the lipstick index, or the hemline index that both indicate certain relationship between economics and female fashion trends. Has anyone ever wondered what men’s fashion have to do with the economics? The Men’s Underwear Index tells you everything about the hidden ties between the sales of men’s underwear and current economic conditions.

 

The revenue generated by men’s underwear usually stays stable because they are regarded as daily necessity instead of luxury items. However, when the economy faces a downturn, men’s underwear industry is likely to suffer from a “prolonged purchase”, according to Marshal Cohen, because male tend not to purchase new pairs of underwear until the economy gets better. As a result, men’s underwear industry is likely to witness a decrease in sales when economy is bad.

 

On the other hand, however, since men’s underwear companies have discovered the underlying connection between the Men’s Underwear Index (MUI) and the economics, they start to utilize predictions for men’s underwear sales as an indicator for economy conditions as a whole. In the early 2000s, men start to explore a world where their choices of underwear are no longer limited to basic black and white boxers, since companies started to make colorful and modern designs underwear with high-tech materials. These advancements signify a growing economy, which is reflected by increasing sales numbers during the time. Had the economy been growing at a stable rate, the estimated sales of men’s underwear would look like this:

 

However, as time approaches the year of 2008, the relatively stable men’s underwear industry has observed a phenomenon, which men are increasingly willing to purchase single pairs of underwear instead of multi-packs of underwear. During the recession, men’s underwear sales dropped by 2.3 percent; and it is not until in 2010 when sales began to slowly climb up again. This transition represents the change of men’s habits during times when smooth economic growth is challenged: they tend to purchase underwear only when they absolutely need to. Of course, there are men who still purchase underwear regular basis during times when economy is slowing down; but what the MUI indicates is a big picture from which people can tell the economic conditions according to increase/decrease in men’s underwear sales numbers.

Overall, the Men’s Underwear Index can be regarded as a reliable economic indicator, thanks to its stable sales behavior throughout the years. When an economic downturn arrives, men are less likely to shop for underwear on a frequent basis, therefore extending the purchasing cycle and lowering sales in the long run.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/09/underwear-sales-growth-economy_n_1952214.html

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/30/AR2009083002761.html?hpid=topnews

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/mens-underwear-index-economy-indicator-2014-9

 

 

 

After reading dozens of lists of strange economic indicators, ranging from things like unclaimed corpses to baby diaper rashes, I settled on researching more about the Alligator Population Index. Believe it or not, generally when there are more alligators in the world, the economy usually is not doing so well.

The reason? Well think about it. Alligator skin is typically used to make high priced luxury goods like handbags, shoes, belts and more. Basically anything that comes in leather comes in alligator skin, except it is usually around triple the price. These items are sold in stores like Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bloomingdales. They’re produced by brands like Gucci, Hermes, Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo.

And who buys these goods? Generally it is the people who have the most money to spend. The trend starts from there. If the rich are not dropping $25,000 on an alligator skin handbag, then Gucci is not buying alligator skin from the tanneries, and then the tanneries are not buying the alligators from the farmers.

So the rich are watching their funds by not buying luxury goods. Then Gucci cuts back by not buying the skins at all. Then the tanneries have no reason to buy from the farmers. And the farmers lose A LOT of money.

A New York Times article from 2009 tells the story of Tommy Fletcher, a Floridian man who was forced to shut down his alligator farming business after 5 years. In 2008, Louisiana farmers gathered over 500,000 alligator eggs fro the wild. But in 2009, for the first time in a very long time, most farmers collected none.

The article names the economy as the “lead culprit.” It discusses how “even wealthy customers began balking at the price of alligator skin products, which can range from the expensive to the wildly expensive.” Once considered a bumper crop, there was now a large surplus in the alligator skin market. Alligator farming is a business that cannot sustain itself on even a shaky economy. It is an expensive business from top to bottom. It’s expensive to buy the eggs, raise the gators, buy the skin, produce the product, and then buying the finished product.

Since that large 2009 dip in alligator products, it has since shown signs of bouncing back, with the reopening of a few farms, and the re-production of products by the high-end brands.

At 6 p.m. on a Wednesday, things were desolate outside New Great Wall Books and Culture on North Broadway in Chinatown. In the past half an hour, one customer stopped into the bookstore, buying a 75-cent newspaper.

“It maybe the worst Chinatown in America. I think it’s already in the worst situation. Cannot be worse,” said Yupeng Yu, store manager.

Businesses are struggling, and residents are leaving. The now 75-year old Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles seems to be losing visitors as well as its Chinese taste. The question is why.

“Many stores close just after 6. We are waiting to die,” said the owner of NOM-HOA Fish Market, who refused to reveal his name.

Some local workers blame the downturn on a lack of parking, others focus on the competitive edge of Chinese restaurants and shops in the San Gabriel Valley.

“Young people are leaving,” a clerk in NOM-HOA Fish Market said, “Old people cannot drive. They are left here.” He has worked there over 10 years and witnessed the demographic changes in Chinatown.

According to an urban planning report released in 2013 by University of California, Los Angeles, in the 2010 Census, almost a quarter of Chinatown’s population is above the age of 65, significantly higher than the ratio of Los Angeles County’s (11 percent).

Inside NAM-HOA Fish Market is a huge poster that states, “ NAM-HOA Fish Market Inc. moving soon to 711 ¼ New High Street, LA, CA 90012.”

“We have rented the place over 30 years. The landlord suddenly wants to raise the rent. I don’t understand. We cannot afford it anymore. We have to move,” the clerk said.

The same thing happened to residents, too. On one hand, more and more Chinese new immigrants flood into Los Angeles. Chinatown with limited space cannot harbor them anymore, so they have to find other places to live. On the other hand, high rent and crowed apartments in Chinatown force original residents to find other affordable housing.

As early as 1970s, Chinese have begun to move eastward to the West San Gabriel Valley. According to Association of American Geographers, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Chinese-Vietnamese in Monterey Park, Arcadia, Alhambra and Rosemead have comprised 46 percent of the four cities’ total population.

“I live in Monterey Park. It’s cheaper to live there. And my children can have education from kindergarten to high school without moving,” Liya, who owns a fashion shop in Chinatown, said. In her neighborhood, 8 out of 10 households are Chinese.

Moving along with Chinese people are the businesses and services. Chinese restaurants, supermarkets, bakeries and KTVs are gathering in West San Gabriel valley, forming a “new Chinatown”.

“Even many Chinese people here hang out in San Gabriel Valley at night,” Yu said, “So the stores in Chinatown cannot get so many people.”

Compared to the “new Chinatown” in West San Gabriel Valley, the restaurants and services in Chinatown have limited choices but higher prices. Many Chinese are reluctant to make purchases here.

Liya says her customers are mainly Philippines, African-Americans and whites, but she barely has Chinese customers.

“My business is fair. But the shops near me are closing one by one.” Liya said.

There used to be a shoe store facing Liya’s fashion shop, but now the door is tightly closed. A glimpse through the dusty windows reveal an abandoned mess of shoes and shoe racks.

Last June, Empress Pavilion, a restaurant popular for dim sum, was evicted from Bamboo Plaza after running for 24 years. The eviction came after a combination of low sales and unaffordable rent.

Empress Pavilion’s leaving caused a chain of shutdowns in Bamboo Plaza. Now there are only two shops still open on the first two floors.

Los Angeles Chinatown Business Council refused to talk about the current situation in Chinatown and its future development plan.

Chester Chong, president of Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, thinks to improve the current situation, businesses in Chinatown should be more open-minded to welcome mainstream companies like Wal-Mart, which can bring in more visitors to Chinatown.

Chong is also working actively with city council members and Chinatown community leaders to develop more parking lots. “When you have convenient parking, people will come in,” he said.

Although facing fierce competition with businesses in other Chinese community, Chinatown, Chong said, is the only place that promotes real Chinese culture.

 

 

 

 

No one enjoys dealing with rejection, but “no” can be especially difficult to cope with when it concerns someone’s health. Brittany Smith*, who was diagnosed with Type I diabetes in 2012, knows this to be true. “I didn’t cry when I found out I had diabetes, “ Smith said. “But I found myself sobbing to the pharmacist at the back of a CVS the first time I couldn’t get the medication I needed.” Diabetics rely on the proper medication and medical devices to constantly monitor and maintain healthy blood glucose levels. Smith must constantly replenish lancets, test strips, and needles. In spite of her diligent efforts, a miscommunication between her family doctor and the pharmacy forced her to choose between spending a small fortune on a different brand of medication, or going without it. “Being diagnosed with a chronic illness is shocking, but you can learn to live with it. My medication is one of the few tings that I cannot live without.”

 

Recent reforms in healthcare law have the potential to simplify medication management and reduce costs for patients with chronic illnesses, like Smith, as well as

everyday consumers. Provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), affectionately known as ObamaCare, create financial incentives for providers and insurers to improve patient outcomes and reduce overall costs, as opposed to rewarding physicians based on the cost of services and medications. Healthcare payers are responding to these incentives by working with retail pharmacies to expand their services and adapt the role of pharmacists. Companies like Walgreens, Rite Aid and CVS are aggressively investing and trying to expand their retail pharmacy businesses. Their goal is to make healthcare services cheaper and more convenient for consumers, while also providing medication counseling. At they same time, they are helping to meet medical service demands that the current infrastructure cannot support well, while still turning a handsome profit. Healthcare payers are please because they will now benefit financially from improving patient outcomes. The nation should feel the same way, given that this model has strong potential to lower the unsustainably high cost of healthcare. Expanding retail pharmacies is not just a win-win situation, it’s a quadruple win. It is remarkable that this scenario could arise simply from properly aligned industry incentives. Is it too good to be true?

 

Time will tell, but the present is filled with promise. The changing healthcare landscape and the retail pharmacy model are poised to improve the consumer experience and better meet demands. The revolution will not come easily; healthcare retailers will face substantial competition from aggressive competitors and will remain beholden to price factors beyond their control. For consumers, however, the change has lasting transformative potential.

 

Why Now?

Retailers have compelling economic reasons for investing in or expanding their investment in the retail pharmacy space. They anticipate increased demand for healthcare because of the ever-aging population and because 30 million new customers are expected to enter the healthcare market thanks to Obamacare. Data indicates that consumers will buy more services if they make them cheaper and more convenient. A Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) study found that many people decline to pay for some preventative care solely because of cost. By reducing the costs, retail pharmacies can recapture that lost business while improving public health.

The time is ripe for the rise of retail pharmacies. Americans have begun taking more responsibility and initiative in their healthcare, albeit not necessarily by choice. Out of pocket costs increased 250% in the last five years. The ACA has led employers to switch to more high-deductible plans. Last year 13% of employers offered such plans, up from 3% in 2006. This change may be unpopular, but passing off costs created an unsustainable burden on the system. Increased deductibles are forcing people to take a more active role in managing their healthcare.

 

 

A Promising Prognosis

Retail pharmacies can make services and medications offered under the century-old traditional model cheaper and more accessible. Physicians, depending on the patient’s plan, are reimbursed by insurance companies or the government for volume of business, so the amount they bill directly correlates to their bottom line. In contrast, pharmacies make higher profit margins on generic medications than on more expensive brand names, so they are incentivized to encourage generic alternatives. For example, CVS has gradually increased the amount of prescriptions it fills with generics, rising from 71.5% in 2010 to 83% in 2013. Minor medical services, like administering vaccines, conducting physicals, and treating non life-threatening illnesses, are much cheaper at a pharmacy than at a doctor’s office or hospital. Rapidly improving medical technology makes it easier for pharmacists to diagnose illnesses, expanding their range of services and saving customers expensive trips to the doctor. Visiting a retail pharmacy costs $79-$89 on average, less than half the cost of the typical doctor visit. Picture this: the next time you fall ill, you can drive or walk five minutes to your nearest pharmacy, likely closer than your doctor’s office, get diagnosed, and pick up your medication on the spot. The trip cost you less time and money, and you’re home again before you can say “Uncle.”

 

In addition, retail pharmacies plan to offer services the current healthcare system cannot provide, such as medication management and adherence. While those terms may not sound significant, they are vital for people with chronic illnesses. Consider Smith, who notes, “When I think of management, I laugh about the ‘I have diabetes, but diabetes doesn’t have me’ phrases. No, it doesn’t run my life or prevent me from doing most things I want to do, but if I want to live a long, healthy life I have to make choices every day because of my illness”. She has to test her blood sugar levels 12 times a day, and administer an insulin shot when necessary. Along with maintaining and carrying a supply of medical equipment, Brittany has to have snacks and glucose tablets with her just in case. She is a model patient, and if every diabetic followed her regimen, the nation could potentially save billions on healthcare costs. Analysts estimate America spends $290 billion on healthcare services that could have been avoided if patients adhered to the medication they were prescribed. There is a clear need to help people manage their medicine, but meeting that need is not practical for doctors. They are dramatically overqualified, so it would not cost effective for them to fulfill this role, nor would it be convenient for patients. In contrast, national retail pharmacies can invest in the technology, like smartphone apps, websites, and backend software to help schedule prescriptions, notify patients when they are ready, and remind them to take their medication. Doctors would be hard-pressed to offer comparable services.

Side Effects

Fluctuations of brand name and generic drug prices have a significant impact on pharmacies’ profitability. They have no way to control significant price fluctuations; the best they can do is plan for them. Brand name drugs are considerably more expensive and are sold on lower margins. Consider that in 2009, generics accounted for only 9% of revenue, but 56% of profits for the biggest three wholesalers, while brand drugs accounted for 88% of revenue and only 38% of profits. The reason for this disparity is that the largest pharmacies can buy generic drugs directly from the manufacturers because they have the negotiating power and warehousing capabilities. They are uniquely poised to do this. Most other generic retailers, including supermarkets, small independent pharmacy chains, and physicians’ offices buy generics through drug wholesalers like McKesson, AmerisourceBergen or Cardinal Health. Nearly every drug retailer purchases brand name drugs through a wholesaler. Switching to generics can help make the retail pharmacy model more profitable, especially relative to competitors who lack comparable negotiating power; however, fewer drugs are expected to go off-patent in the coming years, which means generic substitutes may not be available. Those that are available may not be much cheaper, as the same economic principle applies to generics as to brand names. If they have a monopoly they will exploit it. Generics that are launched with exclusivity are priced just 10% below the reference brand.

 

 

 

Further complicating the economics for retail pharmacies, costumers are less concerned with brand loyalty than they are with cheaper prices. The Walgreens-Express Scripts dispute serves as a reminder of this reality. When the two companies parted ways because of a contract dispute in 2011, Walgreens lost customers and roughly $4 billion in revenue, or about 21 cents a share. Customers left Walgreens, not Express Scripts, because they cannot make decisions about their plan benefit manager, and were not infuriated because they could easily find another pharmacy.

 

Today’s market is highly competitive. Pharmacies are expanding, making it more convenient for people to go to any one. They all offer the same basic services and range of medications at similar prices, so location is key. Walgreens opened its first location in downtown Los Angeles in 2010, right across from the Rite Aid on 7^th and Broadway. In 2013 the company opened its second location on 5^th and Broadway, once again right across from a Rite Aid. Walgreens, CVS Rite Aid and the like are making strong efforts to acquire and retain customers. Their websites encourage visitors to create accounts to manage their prescriptions and take advantage of rewards programs. In comparison, Target, which has been less aggressive in its entrance to the market, displays its prices online and makes it easy to compare services. They make less effort to encourage signups, treating health services more like an impulse buy. Target’s profitability depends much less on its pharmacy business than a company dedicated to wellness though. Retail pharmacies must find ways to retain customers in a competitive market, because their services are so comparable that it is difficult for any one to stand out.

***

The retail pharmacy industry is trending in a very promising direction for consumers, which is refreshing given the state of the American healthcare system. There is clear opportunity for companies looking to break into this market or expand their business, but much of their success and profitability will hinge on finding ways to create customer loyalty. Retail pharmacies must generate enough demand in sufficiently large markets to avoid out-competing one another.

There will be more pharmacies in the future. May not hold promise to people with chronic conditions that they can get the specialty medication they need anywhere. But their options are improving, it’s a great start that stuff is cheaper and more convenient. Future will test how well these incentives are aligned.

After sitting in the Annenberg lobby for 30 minutes trying to muster up the courage to talk to the girl sitting next to television wall; she suddenly gathers her belongings, places them into her backpack and walks out the door. This is the third time this happened this month. Where do you turn? Our parents never taught us about how to talk to girls. School only taught us algebra and English. Naturally, you turn to the first place you go to find any information, Google. “How do I talk to girls?” The first three results are wikihows…. alright that does not help at all. Who do you know that is the best with girls? Well Stan never seemed to have any issue with girls, but it would be embarrassing to ask him. Okay back to Google. “How to…pickup girls?” Wow all these websites look so creepy. Maybe YouTube? A guy picking up girls in a fat suit? No way! These Simple Pickup guys actually look pretty normal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7PAYhmoKkA

This is the story of how several fans stumbled upon Simple Pickup’s YouTube channel. Bijan, the newest member of Simple Pickup team, explained in a personal interview that this is exactly how he found out about the YouTube personalities. There are many other pickup companies and YouTube channels that have come under fire for sexual harassment, however the guys at Simple Pickup have been able to set themselves apart from the negative coverage in the media.

Pickup has different meanings for different people. Google defines a pickup artist as a person who practices finding, attracting, and seducing sexual partners, usually women. There are many different individuals who claimed to have invented ‘pickup’ but the individuals that brought the subject into the public’s eye were Erik James Horvat-Markovic, also known as Mystery, and Neil Strauss, the author of “The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.” Mystery hosted a reality competition on VH1 called “The Pickup Artist.” After watching the show many people went out to seek additional resources and Neil Strauss’ book became a New York Times best seller.

Simple Pickup is one of three companies that provide instructional videos and bootcamps for men across the world that are interested in learning how to pickup women.

Real Social Dynamics or RSD, consists of a group of guys that were featured in in Neil Strauss’ book, “The Game.”

Neil Strauss created a website selling his books and instructional videos called Stylelife.com.
Currently these three companies dominate the market of pickup.

The traditional business models of these companies is to sell instructional DVD’s, teach in person workshops with one on one instruction called bootcamps, and host seminars teaching pickup to their customers. These seminars typically consist of one pick up teacher that stands in front of about 30-40 men teaching what they know about the subject. The two other companies both bootcamps that cost about $2,000 to attend.

Let’s break down each company and the products they offer:

Real Social Dynamics
They have the biggest variety of coaches and host seminars and bootcamps all over the world. A majority of the coaches were students of Mystery and decided to band together to create a global scale business for teaching pickup to men all over the world. Their most infamous coach’s name is Julian Blanc who has recently come under fire for teaching sexual harassment to his students. The information they teach is extremely technical and dissects social interactions as a step of actions, almost like a video game. RSD is heavily theory based.

Seminar: $1,000 (3 days, a coach speaks in front of 20-30 students)
Bootcamp: $2,000 (3 to 1 in person instruction with live feed back)
DVD’s: $600 (Instructional videos that teach students the foundations of pickup)

Resource: http://www.realsocialdynamics.com

Style Life
Created by Neil Strauss the author of “The Game.” There is also a lot of theory involved but ultimately tries to teach a lifestyle. The entire mood of his website and the information he teaches has a James Bond like feel. The site looks a bit archaic because Neil Strauss has decided to focus more on his writing career. Though products and books are still on sale.

One hour coaching calls:$125 (ask the coaches any questions related to pickup)
DVD’s: $140 (Instructional videos that teach students the foundations of pickup)
8 CD: $40 each (Audio lessons from various pickup artists that are friends of Neil Strauss)
Bootcamps: $2,000 (In person coaching, 3 days)
Online program: $1,850 (Most recent product after Simple Pickup introduced Simple 30)

Resource: http://web.stylelife.com

Simple Pickup
Simple Pickup approaches the business from different angle. They focus more on a lifestyle than the technicalities of pickup. Their products are dramatically less expensive than RSD and Style Life because they hope to reach a broader audience that discovered them through YouTube.

Project GO: $30 a month (a monthly subscription produces new content weekly for subscribers consisting of video, podcasts, and Q&A’s.)
Simple 30: $400 (an online bootcamp which Style Life models its online program after)
Simple Mixology: $20 (videos that teach you how to make 10 drinks for any situation)

Resource: http://go.simplepickup.com/s4/?sess=3d13167a1f9f413e14aa23328274c69c

RSD and Style Life both teach theory heavy content that relies on formulas and rehearsed lines. Out of these three of these companies, Simple Pickup is by far the most successful and socially accepted company in the public. They have been featured on NBC news, Good Morning America, and several international stations, Simple Pickup has been able to establish themselves as a company that does more than simply teaching guys how to be successful with women. They strongly discourage the use rehearse lines because they feel that social interactions should have a natural flow and stem form a place of authenticity. Their ability to have fun and inject humor into any social situation they are in makes them unique. Kong the Chief Executive Officer explained to me in an interview that they “want to provide a unique experience of fun and valuable information at the same time, we like to call it info-tainment.” They are masters at consistently crafting viral videos on YouTube, and backing project that have more social significance than simply just pickup.

Jesse Jhaj, Kong Pham, and Jason Roberts, three friends that met at Cal State Fullerton, created Simple Pickup 2011 and have since created three life style products for their subscribers, Project GO, Simple 30, and Simple Mixology. Unlike their predecessors, they have an extremely successful YouTube channel. Before even creating a product that they could sell, they understood the importance of establishing an audience first. The biggest issues surrounding previous pickup companies is the lack of trust consumers have with the product. $2,000 dollars is a lot to gamble away on an individual that claims to be an expert in their field without any proof. Jesse, Kong, and Jason decided to release videos of them picking up girls in a fat suit, talking in the voice of Batman, and dressing up in Game of Thrones costumes. All of this effort proves consumers that not only are they able to do this normally, but they are also able to do it in the more ridiculous circumstances. If they can dress up this ridiculously confidence is the most important factor, not appearance. After establishing that sense of trust with their consumers, they launched Project GO.

Project GO is a monthly subscription-based product that comes with a new instructional video, podcast, and Q&A video every Monday. The subscription costs $30 per month and has changed the business model for the pickup community dramatically. With the introduction of online content, consumers from all over the world can access the content. In the past, the high cost of shipping internationally deterred buyers from buying products from RSD and Style Life. What Simple Pickup does extremely well is 2-way communication that they learned from YouTube. Commenting on a video allows for a conversation not only with the other subscribers, but with the content creators as well. Simple Pickup can produce content that their audience actually wants to see. In comparison to the other pickup companies, Simple Pickup is projected to generate the most revenue over time because Project Go is a subscription-based product. Amazon makes a substantial amount of money through their Amazon Prime subscription; Costco’s entire business model is centered on a yearly subscription membership. Costco does not make any money from selling items at bulk to customers but instead charges $55 for a yearly subscription. They have 50 million subscribers and generate two billion seven hundred fifty million dollars a year. Project GO stylistically looks a lot better than its competitors.

Resource: http://go.simplepickup.com/s4/?sess=3d13167a1f9f413e14aa23328274c69c

The two main sources of revenue come from Project GO and bootcamps. As the company developed, Jesse, Kong and Jason realized that they did not have enough time to host bootcamps for their subscribers while the demand for them exponentially increased. In order to satiate the hunger of the consumers for bootcamps, they created Simple 30.

Resource: http://go.simplepickup.com/s4/?sess=3d13167a1f9f413e14aa23328274c69c

Simple 30 is an online bootcamp costing $400 that is a substitute for an in person bootcamp. The drop in cost and online distribution of the product provides a more efficient business model and allows more individuals to experience the bootcamp at a lower price point. For 30 days, you receive a daily challenge that is demonstrated by the guys, after completing the challenge; you will have a reflective exercise that gauges what you did well and what you can do better. The main focus of Project GO and Simple 30 is not to have sex with as many girls as possibly, but rather develop the confidence through social interactions to be the best version of you. Their most recent product, Simple Mixology, teaches how to make 10 drinks fit for any situation. Simple Pickup’s goal is to become the #1 resource for men around the world. Since launching Simple 30, Style Life has introduced a master guide that includes video challenges and sheet that tracks your progress overtime. RSD is quickly trying to create a product that matches the content of Simple Pickup.

One of the biggest concerns between the three pickup companies is the leaking of content. They are selling how to’s and this kind of product is hard to protect. The information because infinitely harder to protect when it is put on the Internet because of online piracy. Both Style Life and RSD’s content have been leaked online but I could not find anything on Simple Pickup. When I asked them about it, office intern Matthew Tran answered, “we go through great lengths to try to defend against online piracy and honestly our stuff is priced so low that I believe people support us by actually buying the content. Our fan base is pretty loyal and loves to tune in every week to hear Jesse and Kong share their thoughts on the podcast. We also have posted two free project go videos on our YouTube channel as a free sample so people get to see what they are buying.” Similar to Itunes and Amazon, Simple Pickup has lowered the price enough to make buying Simple Mixology and Project GO much more reasonable than products from RSD and Style Life. However since United States is one of the leaders in piracy not only in music but several other forms of entertainment, online distributors of content must take necessary measures to combat this.

Because they have crated light hearted and fun videos they have also brought in a larger consumer base, many people who do not know what pickup is will stumble upon their videos. Kong, Chief Executive Officer, explained that “[Simple Pickup] is the light hearted foundation people need to have when they start pickup. Once they are done learning from us then I suggest they learn from RSD but do remember to take their advice with a grain of salt. While they do teach some valuable stuff, some of it is crosses the line like the most recent incident with Julien Blanc.”

In the past three months, the scandal surrounding one of RSD’s coaches, Julien Blanc has tarnished the name of every company involved in pickup. Blanc was recorded in a seminar teaching his students to choke girls as a conversation starter in Japan because he claimed, “If you are white, you can get away with anything [in Asia].” The world broke out in rage. The United Kingdoms denied a visa application from Blanc, Australia canceled Blanc’s visa, and the Internet has petitioned to kick Blanc out of Brazil. The other pickup artists in this community have a tendency of objectifying and manipulating women. Simple Pickup teaches from day one that they frown upon any behavior that objectifies women. They have continually reinforced the idea their message of building confidence and leading a healthier social life, not objectifying and manipulating women. Most guys that are too afraid to approach women are typically nice guys that have amazing personalities but because of the lack of confidence, they are unable to share their personality with other people. Instead they cave under social pressure and are unable to live the social lives they would like to.

After interviewing the office intern from Simple Pickup, Matthew Tran revealed that there initially was a slight drop in subscribers on YouTube and Project GO after the Blanc incident. While not intentionally timed to combat the negative press, they released a Tinder experiment video with two of their friends dressed up in fat suits. Their friends Willy Beck and Sarah Smith set up dates with unknowing individuals on Tinder and showed up to the date in a fat suit. The video with Sarah created more buzz online than Willy’s because of the difference in reaction across the sexes. Four out of five of Sarah’s dates decided to leave after seeing Sarah in person simple because she was overweight. Only one girl left after seeing Willy’s transformation. This Tinder experiment set Simple Pickup apart from the various other prank channels and pickup companies because they understand the double standard that is present in the dating world and wanted to bring the subject to the forefront of conversation with one of the most popular dating apps used today. Many individuals on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have commended Simple Pickup on the success of their video. After this video released, they experienced a spike in subscribers seen on this graph:

Resource: http://channelgraphs.com/channel/SimplePickup/graphs

Simple Pickup continues to evolve the taboo and socially sensitive topic of pickup through their website and YouTube channel. Simple Pickup launches a new project every three months, either a product, informational public service announcement, or hilarious public image campaign, all of which continually reinforces them as a unique pickup company that teaches a healthy life style. Almost every single man deals with approach anxiety and their product is lesson in social interactions that men have never been taught.

Check them out at
https://www.youtube.com/user/SimplePickup
Project GO