VIP Class Notes (Nick) [R]

Continue reading the Fashion Report.

Continue to learn new vocabulary and discuss the report.

Vocabulary

Landgrab – when people fight to get land that no one owns yet; when there is a new industry, the first ones to do something well will make a lot of money
e.g. With the invention of the computer, there was a landgrab of computer companies trying to get into the market and be number one. Eventually, Microsoft won.

Digital – things online, computers, electronics
e.g. Digital news has become much more important than newspapers.
Digit – a single number
e.g. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Intensify – for something to be more, to get stronger
e.g. In the morning, it is not very hot. But, as the day goes on and the Sun rises, the heat will intensify.
e.g. As we got closer to the speakers, the sound intensified until it almost hurt.

Innovate – to make something new, create
e.g. If an internet company wants to survive, it will have to innovate quickly.

Acquisition – to get something
e.g. With the acquisition of this new collection of clothing, we hope to be able to sell to younger customers.

Ecosystem – all the things that live together in nature and depend upon each other; a system
e.g. The fashion ecosystem creates new ideas and recycles old ideas to make new styles.

Margins – profits; the money you have from selling something after you take away the costs; (sales price) – cost = margin
e.g. Airlines are a small-margin industry, because the costs of buying and running planes are very high, and customers are very sensitive to prices.

Profitable – something that makes a lot of money; something with high-margins, large-margins
e.g. If your e-commerce company can become the platform of choice, it will be very profitable.

R&D – “research and development”; creating new things through studying a problem; how you innovate
e.g. If you don’t invest in R&D, you will never innovate and you will not stay at the top.

Emphasize – to show what is most important
e.g. When I was late for class, the Professor emphasized that if I was late again, I would lose points on my grade.

Dominance – to the biggest, strongest, richest, most important
e.g. Apple and Samsung’s dominance in the phone market has been challenged recently by Huawei.

Superior – better, or much better, than something else
e.g. It is worth spending more money for a superior product, because it will be better and last longer.

Segment – a part of something
e.g. In this segment of the market, we can expect a lot of growth this year.

Coverage – the area included or controlled by something or someone
e.g. We have good coverage of the Asian market, except in South Korea.

Theme – an idea that connects things; a style or reason
e.g. The theme of this party is traditional clothes.

Multi  – more than one

Decline – for something to get worse

Go Bankrupt – for a company to run out of money and stop doing business

Saturate – when something is full, has all it can hold, for liquids; when a market has no space for new businesses
e.g. Right now there are a lot of e-commerce companies, and the market is in decline. I think that the field is saturated.

Grammar

I know every word means – I know what every word means

I must be read – I must read it

For this brand I work in – The brand that I worked for

Pronunciation

Intensifies – be careful not put an “L” near the end: intensifiles

Margins – mar – jin

Th – put your tongue between your teeth!

Superior – su – peer – ee – or

State of Fashion Report